METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR UPLINK POWER CONTROL

• US 20130250875A1
• Filed: 03/11/2013
• Published: 09/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Chen, Wanshi, Gaal, Peter, Xu, Hao
• Application Number:
  US13/793,587
• Publication Number:
  US 20130250875A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/024 Co-operative use of antennas of several sites, e.g. in co-ordinated multipoint or co-operative multiple-input multiple-output [MIMO] systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/146 Uplink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/244 Interferences in heterogeneous networks, e.g. among macro and femto or pico cells or other sector / system interference [OSI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/365 Power headroom reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/367 Power values between minimum and maximum limits, e.g. dynamic range

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and apparatus for uplink power control when at least two separate power control algorithms are utilized for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on one or more uplink channels to one or more access points. The method includes transmitting one or more power headroom report (PHR) based on channel and/or system parameters. In addition, methods are presented to match power control for uplink channels when different power control algorithms are used for those uplink channels. Furthermore, methods are proposed to compensate for a switch between reference signals on which the power control algorithms are based.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on a same uplink channel to at least one access point; and

transmitting a single power headroom report (PHR) regardless of the number of separate power control algorithms utilized, the single PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink channel to the at least one access point is on a single component carrier.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the two separate power control algorithms are used for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on two or more uplink channels.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one access point is part of a set of access points involved in coordinated multipoint (CoMP) operations with the UE.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a relationship between the at least two separate power control algorithms is deterministic, such that an access point may determine power conditions corresponding to the at least two separate power control algorithms from the single PHR.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least two separate power control algorithms comprise:

at least two power control algorithms for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); and

at least one power control algorithm for a physical uplink control channel.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the single PHR is generated based on a first power control algorithm of the at least two power control algorithms.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission of the single PHR is based on a semi-static configuration

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission of the single PHR is event-trigger based.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the single PHR is generated as one of at least two types, the at least two types comprising a first type based on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) only, and a second type based on a PUSCH and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

11. A method for wireless communications by an access point, comprising:

receiving uplink transmission from a user equipment (UE) utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power on a same uplink channel to the access point; and

receiving a single power headroom report (PHR) regardless of the number of separate power control algorithms utilized, the single PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the uplink channel to the at least one access point is on a single component carrier.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the two separate power control algorithms are used for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on two or more uplink channels.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein a relationship between the at least two separate power control algorithms is deterministic, such that the access point may determine power conditions corresponding to the at least two separate power control algorithms from the single PHR.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the single PHR is generated based on a first power control algorithm of the at least two power control algorithms.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the single PHR is generated by the UE as one of at least two types, the at least two types comprising a first type based on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) only, and a second type based on a PUSCH and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

17. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on a same uplink channel to at least one access point; and

transmitting at least two power headroom reports (PHRs), each PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the uplink channel to the at least one access point is on a single component carrier.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the two separate power control algorithms are used for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on two or more uplink channels.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein a relationship between the at least two separate power control algorithms is non-deterministic, such that an access point may not readily determine power conditions corresponding to all of the at least two separate power control algorithms from a single PHR.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the number of PHRs transmitted depends on a number of uplink channels for which at least two separate power control algorithms are utilized.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein:

at least two power control algorithms are used for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH);

a first PHR is generated based, at least in part, on a first power control algorithm used for the PUSCH; and

a second PHR is generated based, at least in part, on a second power control algorithm for the PUSCH.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein:

at least two power control algorithms are used for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH);

at least two power control algorithms are used for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH);

a first PHR is generated based on at least one of a first power control algorithm used for the PUSCH or a first power control algorithm used for the PUCCH; and

a second PHR is generated based on at least one of a first power control algorithm used for the PUSCH or a second power control algorithm used for the PUCCH.

24. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining a virtual cell ID utilized by each of the separate power control algorithm for each of the at least one uplink channel; and

determining an association of each of the separate power control algorithm for each of the at least one uplink channel with one of the at least two PHRs based on at least the virtual cell ID.

25. A method for wireless communications by an access point, comprising:

receiving uplink transmission from a user equipment (UE) utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power on a same uplink channel to the access point; and

receiving at least two power headroom reports (PHRs), each PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the uplink channel to the at least one access point is on a single component carrier.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the two separate power control algorithms are used for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on two or more uplink channels.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein a relationship between the at least two separate power control algorithms is non-deterministic, such that the access point may not readily determine power conditions corresponding to all of the at least two separate power control algorithms from a single PHR.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the number of PHRs transmitted by the UE depends on a number of uplink channels for which at least two separate power control algorithms are utilized.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein:

at least two power control algorithms are used by the UE for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH);

a first PHR is generated based, at least in part, on a first power control algorithm used by the UE for the PUSCH; and

a second PHR is generated based, at least in part, on a second power control algorithm used by the UE for the PUSCH.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein:

at least two power control algorithms are used by the UE for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH);

at least two power control algorithms are used by the UE for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH);

a first PHR is generated based on at least one of a first power control algorithm used by the UE for the PUSCH or a first power control algorithm used for the PUCCH; and

a second PHR is generated based on at least one of a first power control algorithm used by the UE for the PUSCH or a second power control algorithm used for the PUCCH.

32. The method of claim 25, wherein:

the at least two PHRs are generated based on an association of each of the separate power control algorithms for each of the at least one uplink channel with one of the at least two PHRs based on a virtual cell ID.

33. The method of claim 25, wherein the transmission of each of the PHR by the UE is based on separate semi-static configurations.

34. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on at least one uplink channel to at least one access point; and

taking action to match power control for uplink channels when different power control algorithms are used for those uplink channels.

35. The method of claim 34, where the at least one access point is part of a set of access points involved in coordinated multipoint (CoMP) operations with the UE.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the separate power control algorithms for two uplink channels utilize different reference signals (RSs) at least some of the time.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein taking action comprises basing transmit power control for at least some transmissions for the uplink channels on common reference signals.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein the separate power control algorithms for two uplink channels utilize different accumulative power control functions at least some of the time.

39. The method of claim 34, wherein taking action comprises:

utilizing a first power control algorithm for a first uplink channel for a first predetermined amount of time; and

utilizing a second power control algorithm for the first uplink channel for a second predetermined amount of time.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein utilizing different power control algorithms is based on uplink operation conditions.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the first and second predetermined amounts of time are based on signaling.

42. The method of claim 34, wherein taking action comprises:

applying a first power control algorithm for an uplink transmission in a subframe if there is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission in the subframe; and

applying a second power control algorithm for the uplink transmission in the subframe if there is not any PUSCH transmission in the subframe.

43. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

utilizing at least one power control algorithm for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on at least one uplink channel to at least one access point; and

taking action to compensate for a switch between reference signals (RSs) on which the at least one power control algorithm is based.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the action is taken to compensate for the switch between RS of the same type, but transmitted from different cells.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the switch is signaled to the UE.

46. The method of claim 43, wherein the action comprises resetting an accumulative power control function to a known value.

47. The method of claim 43, wherein the action comprises adjusting an accumulative power control function based on an estimated change in pathloss due to the switching.

48. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on a same uplink channel to at least one access point; and

means for transmitting a single power headroom report (PHR) regardless of the number of separate power control algorithms utilized, the single PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the uplink channel to the at least one access point is on a single component carrier.

50. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the two separate power control algorithms are used for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on two or more uplink channels.

51. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the at least one access point is part of a set of access points involved in coordinated multipoint (CoMP) operations with the UE.

52. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein a relationship between the at least two separate power control algorithms is deterministic, such that an access point may determine power conditions corresponding to the at least two separate power control algorithms from the single PHR.

53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the at least two separate power control algorithms comprise:

at least two power control algorithms for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); and

at least one power control algorithm for a physical uplink control channel.

54. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the single PHR is generated based on a first power control algorithm of the at least two power control algorithms.

55. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the transmission of the single PHR is based on a semi-static configuration

56. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the transmission of the single PHR is event-trigger based.

57. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the single PHR is generated as one of at least two types, the at least two types comprising a first type based on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) only, and a second type based on a PUSCH and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

58. An apparatus for wireless communications by an access point, comprising:

means for receiving uplink transmission from a user equipment (UE) utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power on a same uplink channel to the access point; and

means for receiving a single power headroom report (PHR) regardless of the number of separate power control algorithms utilized, the single PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

59. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the uplink channel to the at least one access point is on a single component carrier.

60. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the two separate power control algorithms are used for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on two or more uplink channels.

61. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein a relationship between the at least two separate power control algorithms is deterministic, such that the access point may determine power conditions corresponding to the at least two separate power control algorithms from the single PHR.

62. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the single PHR is generated based on a first power control algorithm of the at least two power control algorithms.

63. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the single PHR is generated by the UE as one of at least two types, the at least two types comprising a first type based on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) only, and a second type based on a PUSCH and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

64. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on a same uplink channel to at least one access point; and

means for transmitting at least two power headroom reports (PHRs), each PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

65. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the uplink channel to the at least one access point is on a single component carrier.

66. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the two separate power control algorithms are used for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on two or more uplink channels.

67. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein a relationship between the at least two separate power control algorithms is non-deterministic, such that an access point may not readily determine power conditions corresponding to all of the at least two separate power control algorithms from a single PHR.

68. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the number of PHRs transmitted depends on a number of uplink channels for which at least two separate power control algorithms are utilized.

69. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein:

at least two power control algorithms are used for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH);

a first PHR is generated based, at least in part, on a first power control algorithm used for the PUSCH; and

a second PHR is generated based, at least in part, on a second power control algorithm for the PUSCH.

70. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein:

at least two power control algorithms are used for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH);

at least two power control algorithms are used for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH);

a first PHR is generated based on at least one of a first power control algorithm used for the PUSCH or a first power control algorithm used for the PUCCH; and

a second PHR is generated based on at least one of a first power control algorithm used for the PUSCH or a second power control algorithm used for the PUCCH.

71. The apparatus of claim 64, further comprising:

means for determining a virtual cell ID utilized by each of the separate power control algorithm for each of the at least one uplink channel; and

means for determining an association of each of the separate power control algorithm for each of the at least one uplink channel with one of the at least two PHRs based on at least the virtual cell ID.

72. An apparatus for wireless communications by an access point, comprising:

means for receiving uplink transmission from a user equipment (UE) utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power on a same uplink channel to the access point; and

means for receiving at least two power headroom reports (PHRs), each PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

73. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein the uplink channel to the at least one access point is on a single component carrier.

74. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein the two separate power control algorithms are used for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on two or more uplink channels.

75. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein a relationship between the at least two separate power control algorithms is non-deterministic, such that the access point may not readily determine power conditions corresponding to all of the at least two separate power control algorithms from a single PHR.

76. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein the number of PHRs transmitted by the UE depends on a number of uplink channels for which at least two separate power control algorithms are utilized.

77. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein:

at least two power control algorithms are used by the UE for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH);

a first PHR is generated based, at least in part, on a first power control algorithm used by the UE for the PUSCH; and

a second PHR is generated based, at least in part, on a second power control algorithm used by the UE for the PUSCH.

78. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein:

at least two power control algorithms are used by the UE for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH);

at least two power control algorithms are used by the UE for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH);

a first PHR is generated based on at least one of a first power control algorithm used by the UE for the PUSCH or a first power control algorithm used for the PUCCH; and

a second PHR is generated based on at least one of a first power control algorithm used by the UE for the PUSCH or a second power control algorithm used for the PUCCH.

79. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein:

the at least two PHRs are generated based on an association of each of the separate power control algorithms for each of the at least one uplink channel with one of the at least two PHRs based on a virtual cell ID.

80. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein the transmission of each of the PHR by the UE is based on separate semi-static configurations.

81. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on at least one uplink channel to at least one access point; and

means for taking action to match power control for uplink channels when different power control algorithms are used for those uplink channels.

82. The apparatus of claim 81, where the at least one access point is part of a set of access points involved in coordinated multipoint (CoMP) operations with the UE.

83. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the separate power control algorithms for two uplink channels utilize different reference signals (RSs) at least some of the time.

84. The apparatus of claim 83, wherein the means for taking action comprises means for basing transmit power control for at least some transmissions for the uplink channels on common reference signals.

85. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the separate power control algorithms for two uplink channels utilize different accumulative power control functions at least some of the time.

86. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the means for taking action comprises:

means for utilizing a first power control algorithm for a first uplink channel for a first predetermined amount of time; and

means for utilizing a second power control algorithm for the first uplink channel for a second predetermined amount of time.

87. The apparatus of claim 86, wherein different power control algorithms are utilized based on uplink operation conditions.

88. The apparatus of claim 86, wherein the first and second predetermined amounts of time are based on signaling.

89. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the means for taking action comprises:

means for applying a first power control algorithm for an uplink transmission in a subframe if there is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission in the subframe; and

means for applying a second power control algorithm for the uplink transmission in the subframe if there is not any PUSCH transmission in the subframe.

90. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for utilizing at least one power control algorithm for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on at least one uplink channel to at least one access point; and

means for taking action to compensate for a switch between reference signals (RSs) on which the at least one power control algorithm is based.

91. The apparatus of claim 90, wherein the action is taken to compensate for the switch between RS of the same type, but transmitted from different cells.

92. The apparatus of claim 90, wherein the switch is signaled to the UE.

93. The apparatus of claim 90, wherein the action comprises resetting an accumulative power control function to a known value.

94. The apparatus of claim 90, wherein the action comprises adjusting an accumulative power control function based on an estimated change in path-loss due to the switching.

95. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising at least one processor configured to:

utilize at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on a same uplink channel to at least one access point, and

transmit a single power headroom report (PHR) regardless of the number of separate power control algorithms utilized, the single PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

96. An apparatus for wireless communications by an access point, comprising at least one processor configured to:

receive uplink transmission from a user equipment (UE) utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power on a same uplink channel to the access point, and

receive a single power headroom report (PHR) regardless of the number of separate power control algorithms utilized, the single PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

97. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising at least one processor configured to:

utilize at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on a same uplink channel to at least one access point, and

transmit at least two power headroom reports (PHRs), each PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

98. An apparatus for wireless communications by an access point, comprising at least one processor configured to:

receive uplink transmission from a user equipment (UE) utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power on a same uplink channel to the access point, and

receive at least two power headroom reports (PHRs), each PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

99. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising at least one processor configured to:

utilize at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on at least one uplink channel to at least one access point, and

take action to match power control for uplink channels when different power control algorithms are used for those uplink channels; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

100. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising at least one processor configured to:

utilize at least one power control algorithm for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on at least one uplink channel to at least one access point, and

take action to compensate for a switch between reference signals (RSs) on which the at least one power control algorithm is based; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

101. A computer-program product for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium with computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions operable for causing a processor to:

utilize at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on a same uplink channel to at least one access point; and

transmit a single power headroom report (PHR) regardless of the number of separate power control algorithms utilized, the single PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

102. A computer-program product for wireless communications by an access point, the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium with computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions operable for causing a processor to:

receive uplink transmission from a user equipment (UE) utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power on a same uplink channel to the access point; and

receive a single power headroom report (PHR) regardless of the number of separate power control algorithms utilized, the single PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

103. A computer-program product for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium with computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions operable for causing a processor to:

utilize at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on a same uplink channel to at least one access point; and

transmit at least two power headroom reports (PHRs), each PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

104. A computer-program product for wireless communications by an access point, the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium with computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions operable for causing a processor to:

receive uplink transmission from a user equipment (UE) utilizing at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power on a same uplink channel to the access point; and

receive at least two power headroom reports (PHRs), each PHR generated based on a comparison of a current uplink transmit power to a threshold value.

105. A computer-program product for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium with computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions operable for causing a processor to:

utilize at least two separate power control algorithms for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on at least one uplink channel to at least one access point; and

take action to match power control for uplink channels when different power control algorithms are used for those uplink channels.

106. A computer-program product for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium with computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions operable for causing a processor to:

utilize at least one power control algorithm for adjusting transmission power of uplink transmissions on at least one uplink channel to at least one access point; and

take action to compensate for a switch between reference signals (RSs) on which the at least one power control algorithm is based.