METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR AN EXTENSIBLE AND SCALABLE CONTROL CHANNEL FOR WIRELESS NETWORKS

• US 20130114525A1
• Filed: 07/24/2012
• Published: 05/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Ahmadi, Sassan
• Granted Patent: US 9,705,654 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0062 Avoidance of ingress interference, e.g. ham radio channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0073 Allocation arrangements that take into account other cell interferences for intercell interference mitigation or co-ordination in orthogonal multiplex systems H04J11/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to enable an extensible and scalable control channel for wireless networks. In one embodiment, an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (ePDCCH) is disclosed that is implemented with a flexible number of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs). Advantages of the ePDCCH include, for example: more efficient spectral utilization, better frequency management across multiple serving entities (e.g., base stations and remote radio heads), and extensible payload capabilities that can scale to accommodate higher or lower control information payloads, as compared to prior art PDCCH solutions.

Claims

1. A wireless device, comprising:

a wireless interface, the wireless interface configured to communicate with a wireless network;

a processor; and

a computer readable apparatus having a storage medium with at least one computer program stored thereon, the at least one computer program configured to, when executed on the processor;

determine one or more frequency partitions, where each frequency partition contains one or more control channel regions, and each control channel region comprises a logical mapping of resource blocks;

identify a corresponding one of the one or more control channel regions for receiving control channel information; and

extract control information based on the logical mapping of resource blocks.

2. The wireless device of claim 1, where the logical mapping of resource blocks is permuted over a number of physical resource blocks.

3. The wireless device of claim 1, where the determination of the one or more frequency partitions is performed dynamically.

4. A wireless device, comprising:

a wireless interface, the wireless interface configured to communicate with a wireless network;

logic configured to determine one or more frequency partitions, where each frequency partition contains one or more control channel regions, and each control channel region comprises a logical mapping of resource blocks;

logic configured to identify a corresponding one of the one or more control channel regions for receiving control channel information; and

logic configured to extract control information based on the logical mapping of resource blocks.

5. The wireless device of claim 4, where the extracted control information comprises one or more reference signals specific to the wireless device.

6. The wireless receiver of claim 4, where the identification of one or more control channel regions is based at least on a message received from the wireless network.

7. A method for receiving control information, comprising:

determining one or more frequency partitions, where each frequency partition contains one or more control channel regions, and each control channel region comprises a logical mapping of resource blocks;

identifying a corresponding one of the one or more control channel regions for receiving control channel information; and

extracting control information based on the logical mapping of resource blocks.

8. The method of claim 7, where the logical mapping of resource blocks is permuted over a number of physical resource blocks.

9. The method of claim 7, where the logical mapping of resource blocks changes over a number of transmissions.

10. The method of claim 7, where the logical mapping of resource blocks is fixed.

11. A method of transmitting control information, comprising:

partitioning one or more frequency resources into a number of frequency partitions, where each frequency partition contains one or more control channel regions, and each control channel region comprises a logical mapping of resource blocks;

associating one or more wireless devices to a corresponding one of the one or more control channel regions;

assigning the corresponding one of the one or more control channel regions to one or more remote radio entities; and

transmitting control information for the associated one or more wireless devices.

12. The method of claim 11, where the number of resource blocks is dynamically determined.

13. The method of claim 11, where the one or more remote radio entities are geographically distinct.

14. The method of claim 13, where associating of one or more wireless devices to the corresponding one of the one or more control channel regions is based at least in part on a location of the one or more wireless devices.

15. The method of claim 13, where the one or more remote radio entities share a common identifier.

16. The method of claim 11, where the logical mapping is permuted over a number of transmissions.

17. A wireless network apparatus, comprising:

a wireless interface, the wireless interface configured to communicate with one or more wireless devices;

a network interface, the network interface configured to communicate with a plurality of remote radio entities associated with the wireless network apparatus;

logic configured to partition one or more frequency resources into a number of frequency partitions, where each frequency partition contains one or more control channel regions, and each control channel region comprises a logical mapping of resource blocks;

logic configured to associate a first set of wireless devices to a first control channel region;

logic configured to assign the first control channel region to a first remote radio entity associated with the wireless network apparatus; and

logic configured to cause the transmission of control information for the first set of wireless devices in the first control channel region.

18. A wireless network apparatus, comprising:

a wireless interface, the wireless interface configured to communicate with a plurality of wireless devices;

a network interface, the network interface configured to communicate with a plurality of remote radio entities associated with the wireless network apparatus;

a processor; and

a computer readable apparatus having a storage medium with at least one computer program stored thereon, the at least one computer program configured to, when executed on the processor;

partition one or more frequency resources into a number of frequency partitions, where each frequency partition contains one or more control channel regions, and each control channel region comprises a logical mapping of resource blocks;

associate one or more of the plurality of the wireless devices to a corresponding one of the one or more control channel regions;

assign the corresponding one control channel region to at least one remote radio entity associated with the base station; and

transmit control information for the associated one or more mobile devices via the corresponding one of the one or more control channel regions.

19. The wireless network apparatus of claim 18, where the at least one remote radio entity shares a common identifier with the wireless network apparatus.

20. The wireless network apparatus of claim 18, where the transmitted control information includes at least one reference signal specific to at least one of the associated one or more mobile devices.