CARRIER REUSE IN A MULTICARRIER WIRELESS COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT

• US 20100173637A1
• Filed: 01/05/2010
• Published: 07/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Bhushan, Naga, Montojo, Juan, Damnjanovic, Jelena M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,084,119 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/447
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0037 Inter-user or inter-terminal allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0062 Avoidance of ingress interference, e.g. ham radio channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/12 Fixed resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate employing fractional frequency reuse within carriers in a multicarrier heterogeneous wireless communication environment. Each carrier can be divided into a plurality of frequency reuse sets. Moreover, each of the frequency reuse sets from each carrier can be categorized as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse. Further, a downlink transmission can be scheduled upon resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth. For example, the resources can be scheduled based upon a power class of a base station, categorizations of the frequency reuse set (e.g., unrestricted reuse versus restricted reuse, . . . ), and/or received feedback related to downlink channel conditions.

Claims

1. A method that facilitates reusing carriers in a multicarrier heterogeneous wireless communication environment, comprising:

scheduling a downlink transmission upon resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth; and

sending the downlink transmission utilizing the resources as scheduled.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising scheduling the downlink transmission upon the resources of at least the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth based upon one or more of a power class of a base station, categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth, or an interference level experienced by an access terminal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein each of the frequency reuse sets of a base station is categorized as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each of the frequency reuse sets of the base station is categorized differently as compared to a different base station.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

dividing the first carrier bandwidth into the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth;

dividing the second carrier bandwidth into the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth;

categorizing each of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse as a function of the power class of the base station; and

categorizing each of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse as a function of the power class of the base station.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

categorizing each of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse further as a function of a carrier power level associated with the first carrier bandwidth; and

categorizing each of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse further as a function of a carrier power level associated with the second carrier bandwidth.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising identifying the interference level experienced by the access terminal based upon received feedback.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets when the base station is a low power base station and the interference level experienced by the access terminal on restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth is above a threshold.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets when the base station is a high power base station and the interference level experienced by the access terminal on restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth is above a threshold.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets and restricted reuse sets when the base station is a low power base station and the interference level experienced by the access terminal on the restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth is below a threshold.

11. The method of claim 2, further comprising sending the downlink transmission at a full power level of a low power base station on resources of unrestricted reuse sets and restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets and restricted reuse sets when the base station is a high power base station and the interference level experienced by the access terminal on the restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth is below a threshold.

13. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

sending the downlink transmission at a full power level of a high power base station on resources of unrestricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth; and

sending the downlink transmission at a lower power level of the high power base station on resources of restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising inhibiting transmission from a high power base station upon a reserved first M orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in a sub-frame across a carrier bandwidth for at least one of the first carrier bandwidth or the second carrier bandwidth when the at least one of the first carrier bandwidth or the second carrier bandwidth corresponds to a shared carrier with low power, wherein M is an integer.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a value of M is at least one of signaled via a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH) or predefined as 3.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring a reference signal as a function of carrier power level, power class of a base station, and categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from at least one of the first carrier bandwidth or the second carrier bandwidth.

17. The method of claim 16, configuring the reference signal further comprises selecting at least one of resources used for the reference signal or power level used for the reference signal.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the reference signal is configured to use at least one of low power on restricted reuse sets or high power on unrestricted reuse sets on a shared carrier with low power for a macro cell base station.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing a control channel for a low power base station on a shared carrier with unrestricted power within unrestricted reuse sets of the low power base station.

20. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a memory that retains instructions related to scheduling a downlink transmission upon resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth based upon one or more of a power class of a base station, categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth, or an interference level experienced by an access terminal, and sending the downlink transmission utilizing the resources as scheduled; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, configured to execute the instructions retained in the memory.

21. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to dividing the first carrier bandwidth into the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth, dividing the second carrier bandwidth into the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth, categorizing each of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse as a function of the power class of the base station and a carrier power level associated with the first carrier bandwidth, and categorizing each of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse as a function of the power class of the base station and a carrier power level associated with the second carrier bandwidth.

22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to recognizing the interference level experienced by the access terminal based upon received feedback.

23. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets when the base station is a low power base station and the interference level experienced by the access terminal on restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth is above a threshold.

24. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets when the base station is a high power base station and the interference level experienced by the access terminal on restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth is above a threshold.

25. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets and restricted reuse sets when the base station is a low power base station and the interference level experienced by the access terminal on the restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth is below a threshold.

26. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to sending the downlink transmission at a full power level of a low power base station on resources of unrestricted reuse sets and restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth.

27. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets and restricted reuse sets when the base station is a high power base station and the interference level experienced by the access terminal on the restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth is below a threshold.

28. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to sending the downlink transmission at a full power level of a high power base station on resources of unrestricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth, and sending the downlink transmission at a lower power level of the high power base station on resources of restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth.

29. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to inhibiting transmission from a high power base station upon a reserved first M orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in a sub-frame across a carrier bandwidth for at least one of the first carrier bandwidth or the second carrier bandwidth when the at least one of the first carrier bandwidth or the second carrier bandwidth corresponds to a shared carrier with low power, wherein M is an integer.

30. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, wherein a value of M is at least one of signaled via a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH) or predefined as 3.

31. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to configuring a reference signal as a function of carrier power level, the power class of the base station, and the categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from at least one of the first carrier bandwidth or the second carrier bandwidth by selecting at least one of resources used for the reference signal or power level used for the reference signal.

32. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to placing a control channel for a low power base station on a shared carrier with unrestricted power within unrestricted reuse sets of the low power base station.

33. A wireless communications apparatus that enables allocating resources in a multicarrier heterogeneous wireless communication environment, comprising:

means for scheduling a downlink transmission upon resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth based upon one or more of a power class of a base station, categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth, or received downlink channel condition feedback; and

means for sending the downlink transmission utilizing the resources as scheduled.

34. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 33, further comprising means for evaluating the received downlink channel condition feedback.

35. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 33, further comprising means for controlling a power level at which the downlink transmission is sent.

36. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

code for assigning resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth for a downlink transmission; and

code for sending the downlink transmission via the resources as assigned.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the resources are assigned based upon one or more of a power class of a base station, categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth, or an interference level indicated by an access terminal.

38. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for categorizing each of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse.

39. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for controlling a power level at which the downlink transmission is sent.

40. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a processor configured to;

recognize an interference level experienced by an access terminal based upon received feedback;

schedule a downlink transmission upon resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth based upon one or more of a power class of a base station, categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth, or the interference level experienced by the access terminal; and

send the downlink transmission utilizing the resources as scheduled.

41. A method that facilitates operating in a multicarrier heterogeneous wireless communication environment, comprising:

monitoring downlink channel conditions;

transmitting feedback corresponding to the downlink channel conditions; and

receiving a downlink transmission upon resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth assigned based at least in part upon the feedback.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the resources of at least the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth are assigned as a function of one or more of a power class of a base station or categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein each of the frequency reuse sets is categorized as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse as a function of a power class of the base station and respective carrier power levels.

44. The method of claim 41, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets when the base station is a low power base station and the downlink channel conditions on restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth are above a threshold.

45. The method of claim 41, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets when the base station is a high power base station and the downlink channel conditions on restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth are above a threshold.

46. The method of claim 41, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets and restricted reuse sets when the base station is a low power base station and the downlink channel conditions on the restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth are below a threshold.

47. The method of claim 41, wherein the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth include unrestricted reuse sets and restricted reuse sets when the base station is a high power base station and the downlink channel conditions on the restricted reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth are below a threshold.

48. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a memory that retains instructions related to monitoring downlink channel conditions, transmitting feedback corresponding to the downlink channel conditions, and receiving a downlink transmission upon resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth assigned based upon the feedback, a power class of a base station, and categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, configured to execute the instructions retained in the memory.

49. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 48, wherein each of the frequency reuse sets is categorized as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse as a function of the power class of the base station and respective carrier power levels.

50. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 48, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to monitoring the downlink channel conditions for each of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth.

51. A wireless communications apparatus that enables operating in a multicarrier heterogeneous wireless communication environment, comprising:

means for measuring downlink interference;

means for reporting the downlink interference; and

means for receiving a downlink transmission upon resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth allocated based at least in part upon the downlink interference.

52. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 51, wherein each of the frequency reuse sets is categorized as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse as a function of a power class of a base station and respective carrier power levels.

53. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 51, wherein the resources of at least the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth are allocated as a function of one or more of a power class of a base station or categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth.

54. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

code for reporting measured downlink interference; and

code for obtaining a downlink transmission upon resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth allocated based at least in part upon the measured downlink interference.

55. The computer program product of claim 54, wherein each of the frequency reuse sets is categorized as being for one of unrestricted reuse or restricted reuse as a function of a power class of a base station and respective carrier power levels.

56. The computer program product of claim 54, wherein the resources of at least the first subset of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second subset of the frequency reuse sets from the second carrier bandwidth are allocated as a function of one or more of a power class of a base station or categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth.

57. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a processor configured to;

monitor downlink channel conditions;

transmit feedback corresponding to the downlink channel conditions; and

receive a downlink transmission upon resources of at least a first subset of frequency reuse sets from a first carrier bandwidth and a second subset of frequency reuse sets from a second carrier bandwidth assigned based upon the feedback, a power class of a base station, and categorizations of the frequency reuse sets from the first carrier bandwidth and the second carrier bandwidth.