System and Method for Multi-User Multiplexing

• US 20100150173A1
• Filed: 12/17/2008
• Published: 06/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Research In Motion Corporation (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: YU, Yi, CAI, Zhijun, WOMACK, James Earl
• Granted Patent: US 8,311,061 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/474
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15528 Control of operation parameters of a relay station to exploit the physical medium
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/004 in the uplink, i.e. towards network

Abstract

A relay node. The relay node includes a processor configured to multiplex a plurality of medium access control layer (MAC) packet data units (PDUs) that correspond to a plurality of user agents to form a Super-MAC PDU.

Claims

1. A relay node comprising:

a processor configured to multiplex a plurality of medium access control layer (MAC) packet data units (PDUs) that correspond to a plurality of user agents to form a Super-MAC PDU.

2. The relay node of claim 1 wherein the Super-MAC PDU comprises a Super-MAC PDU header, wherein the Super-MAC PDU header includes a plurality of Super-MAC PDU subheaders, and wherein ones of the Super-MAC PDU subheaders correspond with ones of the plurality of MAC PDUs.

3. The relay node of claim 2 wherein a Super-MAC PDU subheader comprises at least one of the following:

user agent Identity information;

a length of a corresponding MAC PDU; and

an extension indicator.

4. The relay node of claim 1 wherein the number of MAC PDUs that are multiplexed into the Super-MAC PDU can vary depending on the channel conditions.

5. The relay node of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to demultiplex a super-MAC PDU received from the access node.

6. The relay node of claim 5 wherein the processor is further configured to transmit, after demultiplexing, ones of a plurality of MAC PDUs contained in the super-MAC PDU to corresponding ones of the plurality of user agents.

7. The relay node of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a total amount of data for the plurality of MAC PDUs and to form a single buffer status report (BSR)

8. The relay node of claim 7 wherein the processor is further configured to cause the BSR to be transmitted to the access node.

9. The relay node of claim 8 wherein the processor is further configured to monitor only one radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for the scheduling grant, and wherein the RNTI corresponds to the relay node.

10. The relay node of claim 9 wherein only one hybrid automatic-repeat-request (HARQ) is used with respect to transmitting a Super-MAC PDU that is formed by multiplexing the plurality of MAC PDUs.

11. The relay node of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to append the Super-MAC PDU with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits at the physical layer for error detection and correction.

12. A method implemented in a relay node, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of medium access control layer (MAC) packet data units (PDUs) at the relay node; and

multiplexing the plurality of MAC PDUs to form a Super-MAC PDU.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the Super-MAC PDU comprises the plurality of MAC PDUs and a Super-MAC PDU header that includes a plurality of Super-MAC PDU subheaders, and wherein ones of the Super-MAC PDU subheaders correspond with ones of the plurality of MAC PDUs.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein a Super-MAC PDU subheader comprises at least one of the following:

user agent identity information;

a length of the corresponding MAC PDU; and

an extension indicator.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the number of MAC PDUs that are multiplexed into the Super-MAC PDU can vary depending on the channel conditions.

16. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

receiving a second Super MAC PDU from an access node; and

demultiplexing the second Super-MAC PDU into a second plurality of MAC PDUs.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

transmitting the second plurality of MAC PDUs to corresponding ones of a plurality of user agents.

18. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

calculating a total amount of data for the plurality of MAC PDUs; and

forming a single buffer status report (BSR).

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

causing the BSR to be transmitted to the access node.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

receiving an indication of a grant on a physical downlink control channel using one relay node identification (RN ID).

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

monitoring one radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for a scheduling grant, wherein the RNTI corresponds to the relay node.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

using only one hybrid automatic-repeat-request (HARQ) with respect to transmitting the Super-MAC PDU.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising:

appending the Super-MAC PDU with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits at the physical layer for error detection and correction.

24. An access node comprising:

a processor configured to multiplex a plurality of medium access control layer (MAC) packet data units (PDUs) into a Super-MAC PDU, wherein the plurality of MAC PDUs are related to a plurality of user agents camped on a relay node.

25. The access node of claim 24 wherein the Super MAC PDU comprises the plurality of MAC PDUs and a Super-MAC PDU header that includes a plurality of Super-MAC PDU subheaders, and wherein ones of the Super-MAC PDU subheaders correspond with ones of the plurality of MAC PDUs, and wherein the access node is further configured to transmit the Super-MAC PDU to the relay node.

26. The access node of claim 25 wherein a Super-MAC PDU subheader comprises at least one of the following:

user agent identity information;

a length of the corresponding MAC PDU; and

an extension indicator.

27. The access node of claim 24 wherein the number of MAC PDUs that are multiplexed into the Super-MAC PDU can vary depending on the channel conditions.

28. The access node of claim 24 wherein the processor is further configured to demultiplex a second Super-MAC PDU received from the relay node.

29. The access node of claim 24 wherein the processor is further configured to receive a single buffer status report (BSR)

30. The access node of claim 29 wherein the processor is further configured such that one relay node identification (RN ID) is used on a physical downlink control channel to indicate a grant of resources to the relay node from the access node.

31. The access node of claim 30 wherein the processor is further configured to provide one radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for the scheduling grant, wherein the RNTI corresponds to the relay node.

32. The access node of claim 31 wherein only one hybrid automatic-repeat-request (HARQ) is used with respect to transmitting the Super-MAC PDU to the relay node.

33. The access node of claim 32 wherein the processor is further configured to append the Super-MAC PDU with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits at the physical layer for error detection and correction.

34. A method implemented in an access node, the method comprising:

multiplexing a plurality of medium access control layer (MAC) packet data units (PDUs) into a Super-MAC PDU, wherein the plurality of MAC PDUs are related to a plurality of user agents.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein multiplexing is performed such that the Super-MAC PDU comprises the plurality of MAC PDUs and a Super-MAC PDU header that includes a plurality of Super-MAC PDU subheaders, and wherein ones of the Super-MAC PDU subheaders correspond with ones of the plurality of MAC PDUs, and wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting the Super-MAC PDU to a relay node.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein a Super-MAC PDU subheader comprises at least one of the following:

user agent identity information;

a length of the corresponding MAC PDU; and

an extension indicator.

37. The method of claim 34 wherein the number of MAC PDUs that are multiplexed into the Super-MAC PDU can vary depending on the channel conditions.

38. The method of claim 34 further comprising:

demultiplexing a second Super-MAC PDU received from a relay node.

39. The method of claim 35 further comprising:

receiving a single buffer status report (BSR).

40. The method of claim 39 further comprising:

using one relay node identification (RN ID) on a physical downlink control channel to indicate a grant of resources to a relay node from the access node.

41. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

providing one radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for the scheduling grant, wherein the RNTI corresponds to the relay node.

42. The method of claim 41 further comprising:

using only one hybrid automatic-repeat-request (HARQ) with respect to transmitting the Super-MAC PDU to the relay node.

43. The method of claim 42 further comprising:

appending the Super-MAC PDU with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits at the physical layer for error detection and correction.