METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SETTING BACKHAUL LINK SUBFRAME IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM HAVING CARRIER AGGREGATION TECHNIQUE APPLIED THERETO

• US 20130315135A1
• Filed: 02/29/2012
• Published: 11/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Seungmin, Kim, Hakseong, Seo, Hanbyul
• Granted Patent: US 9,083,497 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1678 where the control information is for timing, e.g. time stamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1854 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0093 Point-to-multipoint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0097 Relays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• 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 5/0092 Indication of how the channel is divided
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/1469 using time-sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/047 using dedicated repeater stations

Abstract

Disclosed in the present invention is a method for a base station to set a backhaul link subframe for a relay node in a wireless communication system, to which a carrier aggregation technique is applied. More particularly, the present invention comprises the steps of: determining one of the plurality of subframe settings as a first subframe setting for a main component carrier allocated to the relay node; composing subframe setting candidates for one or more subcomponent carriers allocated to the relay node, one the basis of the determined first subframe setting; and determining a second subframe setting for each of the one or more subcomponent carriers, using the composed subframe setting candidates, wherein a subframe aggregation according to the first subframe setting and subframe aggregations according to each of the subframe setting candidates do not overlap when downlink subframes and uplink subframes of the different component carriers are identical, and a downlink subframe aggregation according to the second subframe setting is included in a downlink subframe aggregation according to the first subframe setting.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a backhaul link subframe for a relay node at a base station in a wireless communication system using carrier aggregation, the method comprising:

determining one of a plurality of subframe configurations as a first subframe configuration for a primary component carrier allocated to the relay node;

determining subframe configuration candidates for one or more secondary component carriers allocated to the relay node according to the determined first subframe configuration;

determining a second subframe configuration for each of the one or more secondary component carriers from among the determined subframe configuration candidates; and

transmitting and receiving a signal to and from the relay node according to the first and second subframe configurations,

wherein a downlink subframe set of the second subframe configuration is included in a downlink subframe set of the first subframe configuration.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of subframe configurations are divided into a plurality of groups each group including one or more subframe configurations and the first and second subframe configurations belong to the same group.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a downlink control channel transmitted to the relay node on the primary component carrier includes information required to schedule at least one of a downlink data channel transmitted to the relay node on the one or more secondary component carriers and an uplink data channel received from the relay node on the one or more secondary component carriers.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the index #n of a subframe carrying the downlink data channel on the one or more secondary component carriers is identical to the index of a subframe carrying the downlink control channel on the primary component carrier.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein an uplink ACKnowledgement/Negative ACKnowledgement (ACK/NACK) for the downlink data channel transmitted on the one or more secondary component carriers is transmitted in a specific uplink subframe of the primary component carrier according to the first subframe configuration, corresponding to the index #n of a subframe carrying the downlink data channel on the one or more secondary component carriers.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the specific uplink subframe of the primary component carrier is an uplink subframe of the primary component carrier corresponding to an ACK/NACK transmission timing of a downlink subframe #m (m≧

n) of the primary component carrier and the downlink subframe #m of the primary component carrier is a downlink subframe of the primary component carrier, closest to the subframe #n carrying the downlink data channel on the one or more secondary component carriers.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the specific uplink subframe of the primary component carrier is an uplink subframe of the primary component carrier, which has an index #(n+k) (k is an integer equal to or larger than 4) from among uplink subframes of the primary component carrier according to the first subframe configuration and is closest to the subframe #n carrying the downlink data channel on the one or more secondary component carriers.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein downlink subframes and uplink subframes of different component carriers are not overlapped at the same time points in a subframe set of the first subframe configuration and a subframe set of each of the subframe configuration candidates.

9. A base station in a wireless communication system using carrier aggregation, the base station comprising:

a processor for determining one of a plurality of subframe configurations as a first subframe configuration for a primary component carrier allocated to the relay node, determining subframe configuration candidates for one or more secondary component carriers allocated to the relay node according to the determined first subframe configuration, and determining a second subframe configuration for each of the one or more secondary component carriers from among the determined subframe configuration candidates; and

a wireless communication module for transmitting and receiving a signal to and from the relay node according to the first and second subframe configurations,

wherein a downlink subframe set of the second subframe configuration is included in a downlink subframe set of the first subframe configuration.

10. The base station according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of subframe configurations are divided into a plurality of groups each group including one or more subframe configurations and the first and second subframe configurations belong to the same group.

11. The base station according to claim 9, wherein a downlink control channel transmitted to the relay node on the primary component carrier includes information required to schedule at least one of a downlink data channel transmitted to the relay node on the one or more secondary component carriers and an uplink data channel received from the relay node on the one or more secondary component carriers.

12. The base station according to claim 11, wherein the index #n of a subframe carrying the downlink data channel on the one or more secondary component carriers is identical to the index of a subframe carrying the downlink control channel on the primary component carrier.

13. The base station according to claim 11, wherein an uplink ACKnowledgement/Negative ACKnowledgement (ACK/NACK) for the downlink data channel transmitted on the one or more secondary component carriers is transmitted in a specific uplink subframe of the primary component carrier according to the first subframe configuration, corresponding to the index #n of a subframe carrying the downlink data channel on the one or more secondary component carriers.

14. The base station according to claim 13, wherein the specific uplink subframe of the primary component carrier is an uplink subframe of the primary component carrier corresponding to an ACK/NACK transmission timing of a downlink subframe #m (m≧

n) of the primary component carrier, and the downlink subframe #m of the primary component carrier is a downlink subframe of the primary component carrier, closest to the subframe #n carrying the downlink data channel on the one or more secondary component carriers.

15. The base station according to claim 13, wherein the specific uplink subframe of the primary component carrier is an uplink subframe of the primary component carrier, which has an index #(n+k) (k is an integer equal to or larger than 4) from among uplink subframes of the primary component carrier according to the first subframe configuration and is closest to the subframe #n carrying the downlink data channel on the one or more secondary component carriers.

16. The base station according to claim 9, wherein downlink subframes and uplink subframes of different component carriers are not overlapped at the same time points in a subframe set of the first subframe configuration and a subframe set of each of the subframe configuration candidates.