DOWNLINK AND UPLINK RESOURCE ELEMENT MAPPING FOR CARRIER EXTENSION

• US 20110090854A1
• Filed: 10/13/2010
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Montojo, Juan, Chen, Wanshi
• Granted Patent: US 9,247,547 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0023 Time-frequency-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/003 Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/563 of the wireless resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points

Abstract

A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided in which resource elements compatible with multiple different communication protocols, which may not be compatible with one another, may be mapped to a radio frame. For example, in an LTE network, equipment configured to be compatible with 3GPP release 8 standards (herein referred to as Rel. 8) may have certain limitations as to what bandwidth is available for use and access, while these limitations may not apply to later releases of LTE standards after Rel. 8 (herein referred to as “New”). Thus, a system bandwidth can be extended to include an extension portion, to which resource elements compatible with the New protocol may be mapped, and a non-extension portion, to which resource elements compatible with either Rel. 8 or the New protocol may be mapped, providing an effective multiplexing of system resources.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

mapping first resource elements corresponding to a first protocol to a non-extension portion of a first frame such that an extension portion of the first frame is exclusive of the first resource elements;

mapping second resource elements corresponding to a second protocol to the extension portion and the non-extension portion of a second frame; and

transmitting the first frame and the second frame,

wherein the extension portion of each of the first frame and the second frame respectively comprises a bandwidth extension unavailable to a user equipment operating in accordance with the first protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first frame and the second frame are each downlink frames, and the mapping of the first resource elements and the mapping of the second resource elements each follows a frequency-first, time-second mapping order.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first protocol is an LTE protocol in accordance with a 3GPP Release 8 standard, and the second protocol is an LTE protocol in accordance with a 3GPP standard subsequent to Release 8.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the mapping of the first resource elements and the mapping of the second resource elements each corresponds to a physical downlink shared channel.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the second frame is the same frame as the first frame;

the non-extension portion comprises a control region for carrying control information; and

the mapping of the first resource elements to the non-extension portion and the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion and the extension portion are treated together while skipping over the control region of the non-extension portion.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the second frame is the same frame as the first frame;

the non-extension portion comprises a control region for carrying control information; and

the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion is treated separately from the mapping of the first resource elements to the non-extension portion and the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion is performed before the mapping of the first resource elements to the non-extension portion and the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the mapping of the first resource elements to the non-extension portion and the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion are each performed before the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first frame and the second frame are each uplink frames;

the second frame is a different frame than the first frame; and

the mapping of the first resource elements and the mapping of the second resource elements each follows a time-first, frequency-second mapping order.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first protocol is an LTE protocol in accordance with a 3GPP Release 8 standard, and the second protocol is an LTE protocol in accordance with a 3GPP standard subsequent to Release 8.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the mapping of the first resource elements and the mapping of the second resource elements each corresponds to a physical uplink shared channel.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the non-extension portion comprises a control region for carrying control information, and

wherein the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion and the non-extension portion of the second frame are treated together while skipping over the control region of the non-extension portion.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the non-extension portion comprises a control region for carrying control information, and

wherein the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion of the second frame is treated separately from the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion of the second frame.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion of the second frame is performed before the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion of the second frame.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion of the second frame is performed before the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion of the second frame.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving an assignment of resources completely within a non-extension portion of a third uplink frame; and

mapping third resource elements corresponding to the first protocol, but not the second protocol, to the non-extension portion of the third uplink frame in response to the assignment of resources.

17. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving an assignment of resources within an extension portion and a non-extension portion of a third uplink frame; and

mapping third resource elements corresponding to the second protocol, but not the first protocol, to the extension portion and the non-extension portion of the third uplink frame in response to the assignment of resources.

18. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for mapping first resource elements corresponding to a first protocol to a non-extension portion of a first frame such that an extension portion of the first frame is exclusive of the first resource elements; and

means for mapping second resource elements corresponding to a second protocol to the extension portion and the non-extension portion of a second frame,

wherein the extension portion of each of the first frame and the second frame respectively comprises a bandwidth extension unavailable to a user equipment operating in accordance with the first protocol.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first frame and the second frame are each downlink frames, and the means for mapping the first resource elements and the means for mapping the second resource elements are each configured to follow a frequency-first, time-second mapping order.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first protocol is an LTE protocol in accordance with a 3GPP Release 8 standard, and the second protocol is an LTE protocol in accordance with a 3GPP standard subsequent to Release 8.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for mapping the first resource elements and the means for mapping the second resource elements are each configured to map their respective resource elements in correspondence to a physical downlink shared channel.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein:

the second frame is the same frame as the first frame;

the non-extension portion comprises a control region for carrying control information; and

the means for mapping the first resource elements to the non-extension portion and the means for mapping the second resource elements to the non-extension portion and the extension portion are each configured to treat their respective mapping together while skipping over the control region of the non-extension portion.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein:

the second frame is the same frame as the first frame;

the non-extension portion comprises a control region for carrying control information; and

the means for mapping the second resource elements is configured to treat the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion separately from the mapping of the first resource elements to the non-extension portion by the means for mapping the first resource elements and the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion by the means for mapping the second resource elements.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for mapping the second resource elements is configured to complete the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion prior to the mapping of the first resource elements to the non-extension portion by the means for mapping the first resource elements and the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion by the means for mapping the second resource elements.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for mapping the first resource elements to the non-extension portion and the means for mapping the second resource elements to the non-extension portion are each configured to complete the mapping of their respective resource elements to the non-extension portion prior to the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion by the means for mapping the second resource elements.

26. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein:

the first frame and the second frame are each uplink frames;

the second frame is a different frame than the first frame; and

the means for mapping the first resource elements and the means for mapping the second resource elements are each configured to follow a time-first, frequency-second mapping order.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the first protocol is an LTE protocol in accordance with a 3GPP Release 8 standard, and the second protocol is an LTE protocol in accordance with a 3GPP standard subsequent to Release 8.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the means for mapping the first resource elements and the means for mapping the second resource elements are each configured to map their respective resource elements in correspondence to a physical uplink shared channel.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the non-extension portion comprises a control region for carrying control information, and

wherein the means for mapping the second resource elements is configured to treat the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion and the non-extension portion of the second frame together while skipping over the control region of the non-extension portion of the second frame.

30. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the non-extension portion comprises a control region for carrying control information, and

wherein the means for mapping the second resource elements is configured to treat the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion of the second frame separately from the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion of the second frame.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the means for mapping the second resource elements is configured to complete the mapping the second resource elements to the extension portion of the second frame prior to the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion of the second frame.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the means for mapping the second resource elements is configured to complete the mapping of the second resource elements to the non-extension portion of the second frame prior to the mapping of the second resource elements to the extension portion of the second frame.

33. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

means for receiving an assignment of resources completely within a non-extension portion of a third frame; and

means for mapping third resource elements corresponding to the first protocol, but not the second protocol, to the non-extension portion of the third frame in response to the assignment of resources.

34. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

means for receiving an assignment of resources within an extension portion and a non-extension portion of a third frame; and

means for mapping third resource elements corresponding to the second protocol, but not the first protocol, to the extension portion and the non-extension portion of the third frame in response to the assignment of resources.

35. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

instructions for causing a computer to map first resource elements corresponding to a first protocol to a non-extension portion of a first frame such that an extension portion of the first frame is exclusive of the first resource elements; and

instructions for causing a computer to map second resource elements corresponding to a second protocol to the extension portion and the non-extension portion of a second frame, wherein the extension portion of each of the first frame and the second frame respectively comprises a bandwidth extension unavailable to a user equipment operating in accordance with the first protocol.

36. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processing system configured to;

map first resource elements corresponding to a first protocol to a non-extension portion of a first frame such that an extension portion of the first frame is exclusive of the first resource elements; and

map second resource elements corresponding to a second protocol to the extension portion and the non-extension portion of a second frame,

wherein the extension portion of each of the first frame and the second frame respectively comprises a bandwidth extension unavailable to a user equipment operating in accordance with the first protocol.

37. A method of wireless communication comprising:

mapping resource elements to an extension portion of an uplink frame;

mapping resource elements to a non-extension portion of the uplink frame, the non-extension portion comprising a control portion and a data portion; and

transmitting the uplink frame on an uplink,

wherein the mapping of the resource elements to each of the extension portion and the non-extension portion follows a time-first, frequency-second mapping order that skips over the control portion of the non-extension portion.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the mapping of the resource elements to each of the extension portion and the non-extension portion corresponds to a physical uplink shared channel.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the mapping of the resource elements to the extension portion is treated separately from the mapping of the resource elements to the non-extension portion.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the mapping of the resource elements to the extension portion is performed before the mapping of the resource elements to the non-extension portion.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the mapping of the resource elements to the non-extension portion is performed before the mapping of the resource elements to the extension portion.

42. The method of claim 37, wherein the mapping of the resource elements to the extension portion and the mapping of the resource elements to the non-extension portion are treated together.

43. An apparatus for wireless communication comprising:

means for mapping resource elements to an extension portion of an uplink frame;

means for mapping resource elements to a non-extension portion of the uplink frame, the non-extension portion comprising a control portion and a data portion; and

means for transmitting the uplink frame on an uplink,

wherein the means for mapping the resource elements to each of the extension portion and the non-extension portion is configured to follow a time-first, frequency-second mapping order that skips over the control portion of the non-extension portion.

44. A computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

instructions for causing a computer to map resource elements to an extension portion of an uplink frame;

instructions for causing a computer to map resource elements to a non-extension portion of the uplink frame, the non-extension portion comprising a control portion and a data portion; and

instructions for causing a computer to transmit the uplink frame on an uplink,

wherein the instructions for causing a computer to map the resource elements to each of the extension portion and the non-extension portion are configured to follow a time-first, frequency-second mapping order that skips over the control portion of the non-extension portion.

45. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processing system configured to;

map resource elements to an extension portion of an uplink frame;

map resource elements to a non-extension portion of the uplink frame, the non-extension portion comprising a control portion and a data portion; and

transmit the uplink frame on an uplink,

wherein the mapping of the resource elements to each of the extension portion and the non-extension portion is configured to follow a time-first, frequency-second mapping order that skips over the control portion of the non-extension portion.