CONTROL SIGNAL AGGREGATION IN A MULTI-CARRIER WCDMA SYSTEM

• US 20110110337A1
• Filed: 11/09/2009
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Wallén, Anders, Wang, Yi-Pin Eric, Grant, Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 8,451,785 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/335
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/707 using direct sequence modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/001 applied to control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0027 Scheduling of signalling, e.g. occurrence thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0029 Reduction of the amount of signalling, e.g. retention of useful signalling or differential signalling power control H04W52/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0016 Time-frequency-code
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0055 Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/06 the signals being represented by different frequencies combined with time-division multiplexing H04L5/26
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for transmitting data to a remote node via each of two or more transmitted carrier signals, wherein a distinct outbound packet data traffic channel is mapped to each transmitted carrier signal. In an exemplary method, aggregated control channel data is formed by combining control channel data corresponding to each of two or more received carrier signals, simultaneously transmitting traffic channel data to the remote node on each of the two or more outbound packet data traffic channels, and transmitting the aggregated control channel data using one or more physical control channels mapped to a first one of the transmitted carrier signals. In particular, these methods and apparatus may be applied to a multi-carrier High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) system.

Claims

1. A method in a wireless transceiver for transmitting data to a remote node via each of two or more transmitted carrier signals, wherein a distinct outbound packet data traffic channel is mapped to each transmitted carrier signal, the method comprising:

forming aggregated control channel data by combining first control channel data corresponding to a first received carrier signal with second control channel data corresponding to a second received carrier signal, wherein a distinct inbound packet data traffic channel is mapped to each of the first and second received carrier signals;

simultaneously transmitting traffic channel data to the remote node on each of the two or more outbound packet data traffic channels; and

transmitting the aggregated control channel data using one or more physical control channels mapped to a first one of the transmitted carrier signals.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second control channel data comprise one or more control channel data types selected from the group consisting of:

power control commands corresponding to each of the first and second received carrier signals;

absolute grant data corresponding to each of the first and second received carrier signals, the absolute grant data indicating a maximum data rate for transmission on the inbound packet data traffic channel for the corresponding received carrier signal;

relative grant data corresponding to each of the first and second received carrier signals, the relative grant data indicating a change in data rate for transmission on the inbound packet data traffic channel for the corresponding received carrier signal;

acknowledgement data, negative acknowledgement data, or both, corresponding to packet data received on the inbound packet data traffic channels for each of the first and second received carrier signals; and

channel quality data corresponding to each of the first and second received carrier signals.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein forming aggregated control channel data further comprises combining third and fourth control channel data with the first and second control channel data, the third and fourth control channel data corresponding to the first one of the transmitted carrier signals and a second one of the transmitted carrier signals, respectively.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the third and fourth control channel data comprise one or more control channel data types selected from the group consisting of:

transmit buffer status data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channels for each of the first and second transmitted carrier signals;

automatic repeat request process data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channels for each of the first and second ones of the transmitted carrier signals; and

transport format data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channels for each of the first and second ones of the transmitted carrier signals.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a pilot channel via each of the transmitted carrier signals.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

time-multiplexing the outbound packet data traffic channel for a second one of the transmitted carrier signals with third control channel data to form an outbound combined physical channel; and

spreading the outbound combined physical channel with a spreading code to form an outbound spread spectrum signal;

wherein simultaneously transmitting traffic channel data to the remote node on each of the two or more outbound packet data traffic channels comprises transmitting the outbound spread spectrum signal via the second one of the transmitted carrier signals.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the third control channel data comprises one or more control channel data types selected from the group consisting of:

transmit buffer status data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channels for the second one of the transmitted carrier signals;

automatic repeat request process data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channel for the second one of the transmitted carrier signals; and

transport format data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channels for the second one of the transmitted carrier signals.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the aggregated control channel data using one or more physical control channels mapped to the first one of the transmitted carrier signals comprises time-division multiplexing the first and second control channel data by mapping the bits of the first and second control channel data to time slots of the first one of the transmitted carrier signals according to a pre-determined mapping pattern that associates one or more time slots to control data for each of the first and second received carrier signals.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein combining the first control channel data with the second control channel data comprises:

masking a first error-detecting code generated from the first control channel data with a first radio identifier corresponding to the remote node;

masking a second error-detecting code generated from the second control channel data with a second radio identifier corresponding to the remote node and differing from the first radio identifier; and

including the masked first and second error-detecting codes among the aggregated control channel data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein combining the first control channel data with the second control channel data comprises time-division multiplexing the first and second control channel data using first and second subframes of the first one of the transmitted carrier signals.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein combining the first control channel data with the second control channel data comprises code-division multiplexing the first and second control channel data using first and second channelization codes, respectively.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein combining the first control channel data with the second control channel data comprises:

encoding the first control channel data with a first signature sequence previously assigned to the remote node;

encoding the second control channel data with a second signature sequence, differing from the first signature sequence and also previously assigned to the remote node; and

including the encoded first control channel data and the encoded second control channel data among the aggregated control channel data.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein transmitting the aggregated control channel data using one or more physical control channels mapped to the first one of the transmitted carrier signals comprises code-division multiplexing the encoded first control channel data and the encoded second control channel data using first and second channelization codes.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein transmitting the aggregated control channel data using one or more physical control channels mapped to the first one of the transmitted carrier signals comprises time-division multiplexing the encoded first control channel data and the encoded second control channel data using first and second subframes of the first one of the transmitted carrier signals.

15. A wireless transceiver comprising a transmitter circuit configured to transmit data to a remote node via two or more distinct outbound packet data channels mapped to corresponding transmitted carrier signals, a receiver circuit configured to receive first and second distinct inbound packet data traffic channels mapped respectively to first and second received carrier signals, and a control circuit configured to:

form aggregated control channel data by combining first control channel data corresponding to the first received carrier signal with second control channel data corresponding to the second received carrier signal;

simultaneously transmit traffic channel data to the remote node on each of the two or more outbound packet data traffic channels, via the transmitter circuit; and

transmit the aggregated control channel data using one or more physical control channels mapped to a first one of the transmitted carrier signals, using the transmitter circuit.

16. The wireless transceiver of claim 15, wherein the first and second control channel data comprise one or more control channel data types selected from the group consisting of:

power control commands corresponding to each of the first and second received carrier signals;

absolute grant data corresponding to each of the first and second received carrier signals, the absolute grant data indicating a maximum data rate for transmission on the inbound packet data traffic channel for the corresponding received carrier signal;

relative grant data corresponding to each of the first and second received carrier signals, the relative grant data indicating a change in data rate for transmission on the inbound packet data traffic channel for the corresponding received carrier signal;

acknowledgement data, negative acknowledgement data, or both, corresponding to packet data received on the inbound packet data traffic channels for each of the first and second received carrier signals; and

channel quality data corresponding to each of the first and second received carrier signals.

17. The wireless transceiver of claim 15, wherein the control circuit is configured to form aggregated control channel data by further combining third and fourth control channel data with the first and second control channel data, the third and fourth control channel data corresponding to the first one of the transmitted carrier signals and a second one of the transmitted carrier signals, respectively.

18. The wireless transceiver of claim 17, wherein the third and fourth control channel data comprise one or more control channel data types selected from the group consisting of:

transmit buffer status data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channels for each of the first and second transmitted carrier signals;

automatic repeat request process data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channels for each of the first and second ones of the transmitted carrier signals; and

transport format data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channels for each of the first and second ones of the transmitted carrier signals.

19. The wireless transceiver of claim 15, wherein the transmitter circuit is further configured to transmit a pilot channel via each of the transmitted carrier signals.

20. The wireless transceiver of claim 15, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

time-multiplex the outbound packet data traffic channel for a second one of the transmitted carrier signals with third control channel data to form an outbound combined physical channel;

spreading the outbound combined physical channel with a spreading code to form an outbound spread spectrum signal; and

transmitting traffic channel data to the remote node on each of the two or more outbound packet data traffic channels by transmitting the outbound spread spectrum signal via the second one of the transmitted carrier signals.

21. The wireless transceiver of claim 20, wherein the third control channel data comprises one or more control channel data types selected from the group consisting of:

transmit buffer status data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channels for the second one of the transmitted carrier signals;

automatic repeat request process data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channel for the second one of the transmitted carrier signals; and

transport format data corresponding to the outbound packet data traffic channels for the second one of the transmitted carrier signals.

22. The wireless transceiver of claim 15, wherein the control circuit is configured to transmit the aggregated control channel data using one or more physical control channels mapped to the first one of the transmitted carrier signals, using the transmitter circuit, by time-division multiplexing bits of the first and second control channel data to time slots of the first one of the transmitted carrier signals according to a pre-determined mapping pattern that associates one or more of the time slots to control data for each of the first and second received carrier signals.

23. The wireless transceiver of claim 15, wherein the control circuit is configured to combine the first control channel data with the second control channel data by:

masking a first error-detecting code generated from the first control channel data with a first radio identifier corresponding to the remote node;

masking a second error-detecting code generated from the second control channel data with a second radio identifier corresponding to the remote node and differing from the first radio identifier; and

including the masked first and second error-detecting codes among the aggregated control channel data.

24. The wireless transceiver of claim 15, wherein the control circuit is configured to combine the first control channel data with the second control channel data by code-division multiplexing the first and second control channel data using first and second channelization codes, respectively.

25. The wireless transceiver of claim 15, wherein the control circuit is configured to combine the first control channel data with the second control channel data by time-division multiplexing the first and second control channel data using first and second subframes of the first one of the transmitted carrier signals.

26. The wireless transceiver of claim 15, wherein the control circuit is configured to combine the first control channel data with the second control channel data by:

encoding the first control channel data with a first signature sequence previously assigned to the remote node;

encoding the second control channel data with a second signature sequence, differing from the first signature sequence and also previously assigned to the remote node; and

including the encoded first control channel data and the encoded second control channel data among the aggregated control channel data.

27. The wireless transceiver of claim 26, wherein the control circuit is configured to transmit the aggregated control channel data using one or more physical control channels mapped to the first one of the transmitted carrier signals by code-division multiplexing the encoded first control channel data and the encoded second control channel data using first and second channelization codes.

28. The wireless transceiver of claim 26, wherein the control circuit is configured to transmit the aggregated control channel data using one or more physical control channels mapped to the first one of the transmitted carrier signals by time-division multiplexing the encoded first control channel data and the encoded second control channel data using first and second subframes of the first one of the transmitted carrier signals.