METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR WIRELESS NETWORKS WITH RELAYS

• US 20130016650A1
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Published: 01/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: ZHANG, HANG, MA, JIANGLEI, ZHU, PEIYING, FONG, MO-HAN, TONG, WEN
• Granted Patent: US 9,215,002 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/14 Relay systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/155 Ground-based stations H04B7/204 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2601 Multicarrier modulation systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/047 using dedicated repeater stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for use with wireless networks having one or more cell in which each cell includes a base station (BS), at least one relay station (RS) and at least one mobile station (MS). The at least one relay station can be used as an intermediate station for providing communication between the BS and MS. Methods are provided for allocating OFDM resources for communicating between the BS, RS and/or MS for example dividing transmission resources into uplink and downlink transmissions and methods of inserting pilot symbols into transmission resources used by the RS. In some embodiments on the invention, the methods are consistent and/or can be used in conjunction with existing standards such as 802.16e.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

transmitting R-MAP information in at least one frame of a series of frames, each frame comprising multiple OFDM symbols, to indicate configuration of a transmission resource and/or assignment of a transmission resource for downlink and uplink communication between a base station and at least one relay station one hop away from the base station, or between a relay station and at least one other relay station one hop away from the relay station,

wherein transmitting the R-MAP information comprises;

transmitting an indication that the information is R-MAP information,

transmitting a total number of transmission resource assignment information segments included in the R-MAP information; and

for each of the total number of transmission resource assignment information segments;

transmitting information defining a particular configuration of a transmission resource or an assignment of the transmission resource, for at least one frame of the series of frames,

wherein transmitting information defining a particular configuration of a transmission resource or an assignment of the transmission resource comprises transmitting at least one of;

configuration information for defining a basic resource unit (BRU) to be assigned;

configuration information for defining a region of time-frequency of the at least one frame to be assigned;

assignment information for assigning at least one BRU; and

assignment information for assigning at least one region of time-frequency of the at least one frame.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting configuration information for defining a basic resource unit (BRU) to be assigned comprises transmitting:

a length of the configuration information;

a first OFDM symbol index indicating an index of an OFDM symbol at which a downlink relay station (DL_RS) Zone begins;

a first number of OFDM symbols indicating a number of OFDM symbols which the DL_RS Zone occupies;

an indication of a number of sub-channels which are included in each downlink basic resource unit (DL BRU) of the DL_RS Zone;

a second OFDM symbol index indicating an index of an OFDM symbol at which an uplink relay station (UL_RS) Zone begins;

a second number of OFDM symbols indicating a number of OFDM symbols which the UL_RS Zone occupies;

an indication of a number of slots which are included in each uplink basic resource unit (UL BRU) of the UL_RS Zone;

an indication of a number of frames before the configuration takes effect, starting from the current frame.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting configuration information for defining a basic resource unit (BRU) to be assigned comprises transmitting configuration information in the form of an Information Element (IE) consistent with the following format:

4. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting configuration information for defining a region of time-frequency of the at least one frame to be assigned comprises transmitting:

a length of the configuration information;

a first OFDM symbol index indicating an index of an OFDM symbol at which a DL_RS Zone begins;

a first number of OFDM symbols indicating a number of OFDM symbols which the DL_RS Zone occupies;

an indication of a number of regions defined in the DL_RS Zone;

for each region of the number of regions defined in the DL_RS Zone;

an indication of a number of sub-channels in the DL region;

a second OFDM symbol index indicating an index of an OFDM symbol at which an UL_RS Zone begins;

a second number of OFDM symbols indicating a number of OFDM symbols which the UL_RS Zone occupies;

an indication of a number of regions defined in the UL_RS Zone;

for each region of the number of regions defined in the UL_RS Zone;

an indication of a number of slots an uplink basic resource unit (UL BRU) includes;

an indication of a number of frames before the configuration takes effect, starting from the current frame.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting configuration information for defining a region of time-frequency of the at least one frame to be assigned comprises transmitting configuration information in the form of an IE consistent with the following format:

6. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting assignment information for assigning at least one BRU comprises transmitting:

a relay station identifier (RSID) indicating a particular destination relay station to which the transmission resource is assigned;

an indication of a number of DL BRU assigned to an RS identified with the RSID;

an indication of the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for the transmission resource assigned to the RS identified with the RSID;

an indication of a number of UL BRU assigned to the RS identified with the RSID;

an indication of the MCS used for the transmission resource assigned to the RS identified with the RSID.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting assignment information for assigning at least one BRU comprises transmitting configuration information in the form of an IE consistent with the following format:

8. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting assignment information for assigning at least one region of time-frequency of the at least one frame comprises transmitting:

a relay station identifier (RSID) indicating a particular destination relay station that the resource assignment is directed to;

a DL region identifier (DL region ID) identifying a DL region assigned to the RS identified by the RSID;

an indication of the MCS used for the DL region identified by the DL region ID;

a UL region identifier (UL region ID) identifying a UL region assigned to the RS identified by the RSID;

an indication of the MCS used for the UL region identified by the DL region ID.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting assignment information for assigning at least one region of time-frequency of the at least one frame comprises transmitting configuration information in the form of an IE consistent with the following format:

10. A network device comprising:

at least one antenna;

transmit circuitry configured to;

transmit R-MAP information in at least one frame of a series of frames, each frame comprising multiple OFDM symbols, to indicate configuration of a transmission resource and/or assignment of a transmission resource for downlink and uplink communication between a base station and at least one relay station one hop away from the base station, or between a relay station and at least one other relay station one hop away from the relay station,

wherein the R-MAP information comprises;

an indication that the information is R-MAP information,

a total number of transmission resource assignment information segments included in the R-MAP information; and

for each of the total number of transmission resource assignment information segments;

information defining a particular configuration of a transmission resource or an assignment of the transmission resource, for at least one frame of the series of frames,

wherein the information defining a particular configuration of a transmission resource or an assignment of the transmission resource comprises at least one of;

configuration information for defining a basic resource unit (BRU) to be assigned;

configuration information for defining a region of time-frequency of the at least one frame to be assigned;

assignment information for assigning at least one BRU; and

assignment information for assigning at least one region of time-frequency of the at least one frame.

11. The network device of claim 10 wherein the configuration information for defining a basic resource unit (BRU) to be assigned comprises:

a length of the configuration information;

a first OFDM symbol index indicating an index of an OFDM symbol at which a downlink relay station (DL_RS) Zone begins;

a first number of OFDM symbols indicating a number of OFDM symbols which the DL_RS Zone occupies;

an indication of a number of sub-channels which are included in each downlink basic resource unit (DL BRU) of the DL_RS Zone;

a second OFDM symbol index indicating an index of an OFDM symbol at which an uplink relay station (UL_RS) Zone begins;

a second number of OFDM symbols indicating a number of OFDM symbols which the UL_RS Zone occupies;

an indication of a number of slots which are included in each uplink basic resource unit (UL BRU) of the UL RS Zone;

an indication of a number of frames before the configuration takes effect, starting from the current frame.

12. The network device of claim 10 wherein the configuration information for defining a basic resource unit (BRU) to be assigned comprises configuration information in the form of an Information Element (IE) consistent with the following format:

13. The network device of claim 10 wherein the configuration information for defining a region of time-frequency of the at least one frame to be assigned comprises:

a length of the configuration information;

a first OFDM symbol index indicating an index of an OFDM symbol at which a DL_RS Zone begins;

a first number of OFDM symbols indicating a number of OFDM symbols which the DL_RS Zone occupies;

an indication of a number of regions defined in the DL_RS Zone;

for each region of the number of regions defined in the DL_RS Zone;

an indication of a number of sub-channels in the DL region;

a second OFDM symbol index indicating an index of an OFDM symbol at which an UL_RS Zone begins;

a second number of OFDM symbols indicating a number of OFDM symbols which the UL_RS Zone occupies;

an indication of a number of regions defined in the UL_RS Zone;

for each region of the number of regions defined in the UL_RS Zone;

an indication of a number of slots an uplink basic resource unit (UL BRU) includes;

an indication of a number of frames before the configuration takes effect, starting from the current frame.

14. The network device of claim 10 wherein the configuration information for defining a region of time-frequency of the at least one frame to be assigned comprises configuration information in the form of an IE consistent with the following format:

15. The network device of claim 10 wherein the assignment information for assigning at least one BRU comprises:

a relay station identifier (RSID) indicating a particular destination relay station to which the transmission resource is assigned;

an indication of a number of DL BRU assigned to an RS identified with the RSID;

an indication of the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for the transmission resource assigned to the RS identified with the RSID;

an indication of a number of UL BRU assigned to the RS identified with the RSID;

an indication of the MCS used for the transmission resource assigned to the RS identified with the RSID.

16. The network device of claim 10 wherein the assignment information for assigning at least one BRU comprises configuration information in the form of an IE consistent with the following format:

17. The network device of claim 10 wherein the assignment information for assigning at least one region of time-frequency of the at least one frame comprises:

a relay station identifier (RSID) indicating a particular destination relay station that the resource assignment is directed to;

a DL region identifier (DL region ID) identifying a DL region assigned to the RS identified by the RSID;

an indication of the MCS used for the DL region identified by the DL region ID;

a UL region identifier (UL region ID) identifying a UL region assigned to the RS identified by the RSID;

an indication of the MCS used for the UL region identified by the DL region ID.

18. The network device of claim 10 wherein assignment information for assigning at least one region of time-frequency of the at least one frame comprises configuration information in the form of an IE consistent with the following format:

19. The network device of claim 10 wherein the network device is a base station or a relay station.