NARROW BAND PARTITIONING AND EFFICIENT RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR LOW COST USER EQUIPMENTS

• US 20130322363A1
• Filed: 05/16/2013
• Published: 12/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Chen, Wanshi, Xu, Hao, Gaal, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 9,622,230 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques that may be utilized to perform communications using narrow bands partitioned from available bandwidth. In some cases, a base station may select at least one narrow band, from a number of narrow bands partitioned from an available system bandwidth, for communications with a user equipment (UE), signal information regarding the selected narrow band to the UE, and communicat with the UE using the selected narrow band. The UE may receive the information regarding the selected at least one narrow band, and communicate with at least one base station using the at least one narrow band.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communications by a base station, comprising:

selecting at least one narrow band, from a number of narrow bands partitioned from an available system bandwidth, for communications with a user equipment (UE);

signaling information regarding the selected narrow band to the UE; and

communicating with the UE using the selected narrow band.

2. The method claim 1, wherein one of the narrow bands is designated as a primary narrow band for the UE.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary narrow band contains at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), or a common search space.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the narrow bands partitioned from the available system bandwidth are contiguous in frequency.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the narrow bands comprises resource blocks centered within the available system bandwidth.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein at least two of the narrow bands are symmetric around a center of the available system bandwidth.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the narrow bands is aligned with a set of subbands partitioned for downlink channel state information measurement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the narrow bands for uplink transmissions is partitioned differently than at least one of the narrow bands for downlink transmissions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the information is signaled via at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or an enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH).

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the information comprises:

a first field indicating an index of an allocated narrow band; and

a second field indicating a resource allocation within the allocated narrow band.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the communications between the at least one UE and the base station involves a plurality of the number of narrow bands over different time periods.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the communications comprise hopping across the plurality of the number of narrow bands.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising prohibiting use of different narrow bands for communications between the UE and the base station in adjacent subframes.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said selecting the at least one narrow band comprises scheduling a narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of at least one data channel; and

wherein the method further comprises scheduling uplink resources for at least one reference signal (RS), based on the narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of at least one data channel to the base station.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising dropping a report of said RS if the narrow band for said RS and the narrowband for said at least one data channel are not aligned.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein said selecting the at least one narrowband is done semi-statically.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein said selecting the at least one narrowband is done dynamically.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein a bandwidth of the uplink resources for receiving a SRS comprises a fraction of the bandwidth of the narrow band of operation for uplink transmission of said at least one data channel.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a bandwidth for a sounding reference signal based on the bandwidth of the narrow band.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the bandwidth for the narrow band is divisible by the bandwidth for the sounding reference signal.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a narrow band for downlink channel state information (CSI) measurement.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is determined based on the selected narrowband.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is separately signaled.

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

receiving information regarding at least one narrow band, selected from a number of narrow bands partitioned from an available system bandwidth, for communications with at least one base station; and

communicating with the at least one base station using the at least one narrow band.

25. The method claim 24, wherein one of the narrow bands is designated as a primary narrow band for the UE.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the primary narrow band contains at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), or a common search space.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the narrow bands partitioned from the available system bandwidth are contiguous in frequency.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one of the narrow bands comprises resource blocks centered within the available system bandwidth.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein at least two of the narrow bands are symmetric around a center of the available system bandwidth.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one of the narrow bands is aligned with a set of subbands partitioned for downlink channel state information measurement.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one of the narrow bands for uplink transmissions is partitioned differently than at least one of the narrow bands for downlink transmissions.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein the information is signaled via at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or an enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH).

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the information comprises:

a first field indicating an index of an allocated narrow band; and

a second field indicating a resource allocation within the allocated narrow band.

34. The method of claim 24, wherein the communications between the at least one UE and the base station involves a plurality of the number of narrow bands over different time periods.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the communications comprise hopping across the plurality of the number of narrow bands.

36. The method of claim 24, wherein use of different narrow bands for communications between the UE and the base station in adjacent subframes is prohibited.

37. The method of claim 24, wherein:

said information indicates a narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of at east one data channel to the base station; and

the method further comprises transmitting one reference signal (RS) based on the narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of said at least one data channel to the base station.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising not transmitting a report of said RS if the narrow band for said RS and the narrowband for said at least one data channel are not aligned.

39. The method of claim 37, further comprising placing said RS in the same narrow band in a subframe as that of the data channel in an adjacent subframe.

40. The method of claim 37, further comprising receiving bits indicating which narrowband location the UE transmits a RS.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein a bandwidth of the uplink resources for transmitting SRS comprises a fraction of the bandwidth of the narrow band of operation for uplink transmission of said at least one data channel.

42. The method of claim 24, further comprising determining a bandwidth for a sounding reference signal based on the bandwidth of the narrow band.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the bandwidth for the narrow band is divisible by the bandwidth for the sounding reference signal.

44. The method of claim 24, further comprising determining a narrow band for downlink channel state information (CSI) measurement.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is determined based the selected narrowband.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is separately signaled.

47. An apparatus for wireless communications by a base station, comprising:

means for selecting at least one narrow band, from a number of narrow bands partitioned from an available system bandwidth, for communications with a user equipment (UE);

means for signaling information regarding the selected narrow band to the UE; and

means for communicating with the UE using the selected narrow band.

48. The apparatus claim 47, wherein one of the narrow bands is designated as a primary narrow band for the UE.

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the primary narrow band contains at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), or a common search space.

50. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the narrow bands partitioned from the available system bandwidth are contiguous in frequency.

51. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein at least one of the narrow bands comprises resource blocks centered within the available system bandwidth.

52. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein at least two of the narrow bands are symmetric around a center of the available system bandwidth.

53. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein at least one of the narrow bands is aligned with a set of subbands partitioned for downlink channel state information measurement.

54. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein at least one of the narrow bands for uplink transmissions is partitioned differently than at least one of the narrow bands for downlink transmissions.

55. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the information is signaled via at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or an enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH).

56. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the information comprises:

a first field indicating an index of an allocated narrow band; and

a second field indicating a resource allocation within the allocated narrow band.

57. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the communications between the at least one UE and the base station involves a plurality of the number of narrow bands over different time periods.

58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the communications comprise hopping across the plurality of the number of narrow bands.

59. The apparatus of claim 47, further comprising means for prohibiting use of different narrow bands for communications between the UE and the base station in adjacent subframes.

60. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein said means for selecting the at least one narrow band comprises:

means for scheduling a narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of at least one data channel; and

wherein the apparatus further comprises means for scheduling uplink resources for at least one reference signal (RS), based on the narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of at least one data channel to the base station.

61. The apparatus of claim 60, further comprising means for dropping a report of said RS if the narrow band for said RS and the narrowband for said at least one data channel are not aligned.

62. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein said means for selecting the at least one narrowband selects the at least one narrowband semi-statically.

63. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein said means for selecting the at least one narrowband selects the at least one narrowband dynamically.

64. The apparatus of claim 63, wherein a bandwidth of the uplink resources for receiving a SRS comprises a fraction of the bandwidth of the narrow band of operation for uplink transmission of said at least one data channel.

65. The apparatus of claim 47, further comprising means for determining a bandwidth for a sounding reference signal based on the bandwidth of the narrow band.

66. The apparatus of claim 65, wherein the bandwidth for the narrow band is divisible by the bandwidth for the sounding reference signal.

67. The apparatus of claim 47, further comprising means for determining a narrow band for downlink channel state information (CSI) measurement.

68. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is determined based on the selected narrowband.

69. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is separately signaled.

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

means for receiving information regarding at least one narrow band, selected from a number of narrow bands partitioned from an available system bandwidth, for communications with at least one base station; and

means for communicating with the at least one base station using the at least one narrow band.

71. The apparatus claim 70, wherein one of the narrow bands is designated as a primary narrow band for the UE.

72. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the primary narrow band contains at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), or a common search space.

73. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the narrow bands partitioned from the available system bandwidth are contiguous in frequency.

74. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein at least one of the narrow bands comprises resource blocks centered within the available system bandwidth.

75. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein at least two of the narrow bands are symmetric around a center of the available system bandwidth.

76. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein at least one of the narrow bands is aligned with a set of subbands partitioned for downlink channel state information measurement.

77. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein at least one of the narrow bands for uplink transmissions is partitioned differently than at least one of the narrow bands for downlink transmissions.

78. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the information is signaled via at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or an enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH).

79. The apparatus of claim 78, wherein the information comprises:

a first field indicating an index of an allocated narrow band; and

a second field indicating a resource allocation within the allocated narrow band.

80. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the communications between the at least one UE and the base station involves a plurality of the number of narrow bands over different time periods.

81. The apparatus of claim 80, wherein the communications comprise hopping across the plurality of the number of narrow bands.

82. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein use of different narrow bands for communications between the UE and the base station in adjacent subframes is prohibited.

83. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein:

said information indicates a narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of at east one data channel to the base station; and

the apparatus further comprises means for transmitting one reference signal (RS) based on the narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of said at least one data channel to the base station.

84. The apparatus of claim 83, wherein the means for communicating is configured to not transmit a report of said RS if the narrow band for said RS and the narrowband for said at least one data channel are not aligned.

85. The apparatus of claim 83, further comprising means for placing said RS in the same narrow band in a subframe as that of the data channel in an adjacent subframe.

86. The apparatus of claim 83, further comprising means for receiving bits indicating which narrowband location the UE transmits a RS.

87. The apparatus of claim 86, wherein a bandwidth of the uplink resources for transmitting SRS comprises a fraction of the bandwidth of the narrow band of operation for uplink transmission of said at least one data channel.

88. The apparatus of claim 70, further comprising means for determining a bandwidth for a sounding reference signal based on the bandwidth of the narrow band.

89. The apparatus of claim 88, wherein the bandwidth for the narrow band is divisible by the bandwidth for the sounding reference signal.

90. The apparatus of claim 70, further comprising means for determining a narrow band for downlink channel state information (CSI) measurement.

91. The apparatus of claim 90, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is determined based the selected narrowband.

92. The apparatus of claim 90, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is separately signaled.

93. An apparatus for wireless communications by a base station, comprising:

at least one processor configured to select at least one narrow band, from a number of narrow bands partitioned from an available system bandwidth, for communications with a user equipment (UE), signal information regarding the selected narrow band to the UE, and communicate with the UE using the selected narrow band; and

a memory coupled with the at least one processor.

94. The apparatus claim 93, wherein one of the narrow bands is designated as a primary narrow band for the UE.

95. The apparatus of claim 94, wherein the primary narrow band contains at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), or a common search space.

96. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the narrow bands partitioned from the available system bandwidth are contiguous in frequency.

97. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein at least one of the narrow bands comprises resource blocks centered within the available system bandwidth.

98. The apparatus of claim 97, wherein at least two of the narrow bands are symmetric around a center of the available system bandwidth.

99. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein at least one of the narrow bands is aligned with a set of subbands partitioned for downlink channel state information measurement.

100. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein at least one of the narrow bands for uplink transmissions is partitioned differently than at least one of the narrow bands for downlink transmissions.

101. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the information is signaled via at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or an enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH).

102. The apparatus of claim 101, wherein the information comprises:

a first field indicating an index of an allocated narrow band; and

a second field indicating a resource allocation within the allocated narrow band.

103. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the communications between the at least one UE and the base station involves a plurality of the number of narrow bands over different time periods.

104. The apparatus of claim 103, wherein the communications comprise hopping across the plurality of the number of narrow bands.

105. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the at least one processor is configured to prohibit use of different narrow bands for communications between the UE and the base station in adjacent subframes.

106. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the at least one processor is configured to schedule a narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of at least one data channel and schedule uplink resources for at least one reference signal (RS), based on the narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of at least one data channel to the base station.

107. The apparatus of claim 106, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to drop a report of said RS if the narrow band for said RS and the narrowband for said at least one data channel are not aligned.

108. The apparatus of claim 106, wherein the at least one processor is configured to select the at least one narrowband is done semi-statically.

109. The apparatus of claim 106, wherein the at least one processor is configured to select the at least one narrowband is done dynamically.

110. The apparatus of claim 109, wherein a bandwidth of the uplink resources for receiving a SRS comprises a fraction of the bandwidth of the narrow band of operation for uplink transmission of said at least one data channel.

111. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a bandwidth for a sounding reference signal based on the bandwidth of the narrow band.

112. The apparatus of claim 111, wherein the bandwidth for the narrow band is divisible by the bandwidth for the sounding reference signal.

113. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a narrow band for downlink channel state information (CSI) measurement.

114. The apparatus of claim 113, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is determined based on the selected narrowband.

115. The apparatus of claim 113, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is separately signaled.

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

at least one processor configured to receive information regarding at least one narrow band, selected from a number of narrow bands partitioned from an available system bandwidth, for communications with at least one base station and communicate with the at least one base station using the at least one narrow band; and

a memory coupled with the at least one processor.

117. The apparatus claim 116, wherein one of the narrow bands is designated as a primary narrow band for the UE.

118. The apparatus of claim 117, wherein the primary narrow band contains at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), or a common search space.

119. The apparatus of claim 116, wherein the narrow bands partitioned from the available system bandwidth are contiguous in frequency.

120. The apparatus of claim 116, wherein at least one of the narrow bands comprises resource blocks centered within the available system bandwidth.

121. The apparatus of claim 120, wherein at least two of the narrow bands are symmetric around a center of the available system bandwidth.

122. The apparatus of claim 116, wherein at least one of the narrow bands is aligned with a set of subbands partitioned for downlink channel state information measurement.

123. The apparatus of claim 116, wherein at least one of the narrow bands for uplink transmissions is partitioned differently than at least one of the narrow bands for downlink transmissions.

124. The apparatus of claim 116, wherein the information is signaled via at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or an enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH).

125. The apparatus of claim 124, wherein the information comprises:

a first field indicating an index of an allocated narrow band; and

a second field indicating a resource allocation within the allocated narrow band.

126. The apparatus of claim 116, wherein the communications between the at least one UE and the base station involves a plurality of the number of narrow bands over different time periods.

127. The apparatus of claim 126, wherein the communications comprise hopping across the plurality of the number of narrow bands.

128. The apparatus of claim 116, wherein use of different narrow bands for communications between the UE and the base station in adjacent subframes is prohibited.

129. The apparatus of claim 116, wherein:

said information indicates a narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of at east one data channel to the base station; and

the at least one processor is further configured to transmit one reference signal (RS) based on the narrow band of operation for uplink transmissions of said at least one data channel to the base station.

130. The apparatus of claim 129, the at least one processor is further configured to not transmit a report of said RS if the narrow band for said RS and the narrowband for said at least one data channel are not aligned.

131. The apparatus of claim 129, the at least one processor is further configured to place said RS in the same narrow band in a subframe as that of the data channel in an adjacent subframe.

132. The apparatus of claim 129, the at least one processor is further configured to receive bits indicating which narrowband location the UE transmits a RS.

133. The apparatus of claim 132, wherein a bandwidth of the uplink resources for transmitting SRS comprises a fraction of the bandwidth of the narrow band of operation for uplink transmission of said at least one data channel.

134. The apparatus of claim 116, the at least one processor is further configured to determine a bandwidth for a sounding reference signal based on the bandwidth of the narrow band.

135. The apparatus of claim 134, wherein the bandwidth for the narrow band is divisible by the bandwidth for the sounding reference signal.

136. The apparatus of claim 116, the at least one processor is further configured to determine a narrow band for downlink channel state information (CSI) measurement.

137. The apparatus of claim 136, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is determined based the selected narrowband.

138. The apparatus of claim 136, wherein the narrow band for downlink CSI measurement is separately signaled.

139. A computer program product for wireless communications by a base station, comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for:

selecting at least one narrow band, from a number of narrow bands partitioned from an available system bandwidth, for communications with a user equipment (UE);

signaling information regarding the selected narrow band to the UE; and

communicating with the UE using the selected narrow band.

140. A computer program product for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for:

receiving information regarding at least one narrow band, selected from a number of narrow bands partitioned from an available system bandwidth, for communications with at least one base station; and

communicating with the at least one base station using the at least one narrow band.