METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING CONTROL INFORMATION VIA UPPER LAYER

• US 20100246518A1
• Filed: 03/23/2010
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Palanki, Ravi, Gheorghiu, Valentin Alexandru
• Granted Patent: US 8,897,266 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0028 Formatting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0073 Special arrangements for feedback channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1607 Details of the supervisory signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1861 Physical mapping arrangements for ACK signaling see also H04L5/0053
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols

Abstract

Techniques for supporting communication for wireless devices in a wireless network are described. The wireless network may support transmission of control information on a first physical channel having a first minimum SNR for reliable reception. Some wireless devices may require operation at a lower SNR. In an aspect, low SNR operation may be supported by transmitting control information for a lower layer (e.g., Layer 1 or 2) in a protocol stack via an upper layer (e.g., Layer 3) in the protocol stack. This transmission scheme may allow the control information to be transmitted on a second physical channel instead of the first physical channel normally used to transmit the control information. The second physical channel may have a lower minimum SNR than the first minimum SNR. This transmission scheme may also allow the control information to be transmitted multiple times to improve reliability.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

obtaining control information for a lower layer in a protocol stack; and

transmitting the control information via an upper layer in the protocol stack.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the lower layer corresponds to physical layer or link layer, and wherein the upper layer corresponds to Layer 3.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether to transmit the control information via the lower layer or the upper layer based on a category of a wireless device transmitting or receiving the control information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information is sent on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is sent on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first physical channel has a first minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the second physical channel has a second minimum SNR that is lower than the first minimum SNR.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the first physical channel is sent in a first region of a subframe and the second physical channel is sent in a second region of the subframe.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information is sent in a single instance of a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is sent in one or more instances of a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information comprises acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information, or channel quality indicator (CQI) information, or a scheduling request, or a grant, or a combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting or receiving data via the lower layer based on the control information transmitted via the upper layer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information is transmitted by a base station on downlink to control data transmission on the downlink to a wireless device or to control data transmission on uplink by the wireless device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information is transmitted by a wireless device on uplink to control data transmission on downlink by a base station.

12. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for obtaining control information for a lower layer in a protocol stack; and

means for transmitting the control information via an upper layer in the protocol stack.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

means for determining whether to transmit the control information via the lower layer or the upper layer based on a category of a wireless device transmitting or receiving the control information.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the control information is sent on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is sent on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the control information is sent in a single instance of a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is sent in one or more instances of a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer.

16. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to obtain control information for a lower layer in a protocol stack, and to transmit the control information via an upper layer in the protocol stack.

17. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to obtain control information for a lower layer in a protocol stack, and

code for causing the at least one computer to transmit the control information via an upper layer in the protocol stack.

18. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

receiving control information for a lower layer of a protocol stack via an upper layer of the protocol stack; and

controlling data transmission via the lower layer based on the control information received via the upper layer.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the controlling data transmission comprises determining whether to send another transmission of a transport block based on acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information obtained from the control information.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the controlling data transmission comprises determining a rate for data transmission via the lower layer based on channel quality indicator (CQI) information obtained from the control information.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the controlling data transmission comprises scheduling data transmission via the lower layer based on a scheduling request obtained from the control information.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the controlling data transmission comprises transmitting or receiving data via the lower layer based on a grant obtained from the control information.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the control information is received on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is received on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer.

24. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving control information for a lower layer of a protocol stack via an upper layer of the protocol stack; and

means for controlling data transmission via the lower layer based on the control information received via the upper layer.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for controlling data transmission comprises means for determining whether to send another transmission of a transport block based on acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information obtained from the control information.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for controlling data transmission comprises means for determining a rate for data transmission via the lower layer based on channel quality indicator (CQI) information obtained from the control information.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for controlling data transmission comprises means for scheduling data transmission via the lower layer based on a scheduling request obtained from the control information.

28. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to receive control information for a lower layer of a protocol stack via an upper layer of the protocol stack, and to control data transmission via the lower layer based on the control information received via the upper layer.

29. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to receive control information for a lower layer of a protocol stack via an upper layer of the protocol stack, and

code for causing the at least one computer to control data transmission via the lower layer based on the control information received via the upper layer.

30. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

determining a category of a wireless device; and

determining at least one protocol to use for the wireless device from among a plurality of possible protocols based on the category of the wireless device.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein a plurality of categories of wireless devices are supported, each category being associated with a respective set of at least one protocol to use for wireless devices in the category.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the category of the wireless device is associated with relaxed reliability and delay requirements, and wherein the at least one protocol comprises User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the category of the wireless device is associated with more stringent reliability and delay requirements, and wherein the at least one protocol comprises Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

34. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

determining whether to use data compression for the wireless device based on the category of the wireless device.

35. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for determining a category of a wireless device; and

means for determining at least one protocol to use for the wireless device from among a plurality of possible protocols based on the category of the wireless device.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein a plurality of categories of wireless devices are supported, each category being associated with a respective set of at least one protocol to use for wireless devices in the category.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the at least one protocol comprises User Datagram Protocol (UDP) if the category of the wireless device is associated with relaxed reliability and delay requirements and comprises Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) if the category of the wireless device is associated with more stringent reliability and delay requirements.

38. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising:

means for determining whether to use data compression for the wireless device based on the category of the wireless device.

39. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to determine a category of a wireless device and to determine at least one protocol to use for the wireless device from among a plurality of possible protocols based on the category of the wireless device.

40. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to determine a category of a wireless device, and

code for causing the at least one computer to determine at least one protocol to use for the wireless device from among a plurality of possible protocols based on the category of the wireless device.