DOWNLINK COVERAGE ENHANCEMENTS

• US 20140044056A1
• Filed: 02/12/2013
• Published: 02/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Chen, Wanshi, Xu, Hao, Gaal, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 9,635,644 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0617 for beam forming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1812 Hybrid protocols; Hybrid automatic repeat request [HARQ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• 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 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/14 WLL [Wireless Local Loop]; RLL [Radio Local Loop]

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatus for enhancing downlink coverage for certain user equipments (UEs) (e.g., low cost, low data rate UEs). Certain types of UEs may have limited coverage or should receive enhanced coverage relative to other types of UEs. For example, some types of low cost UEs may have only a single receive chain, thereby limiting DL coverage, while other types of UEs benefit from multiple receive chains. One example method generally includes identifying a first type of one or more UEs that is to receive enhanced downlink (DL) coverage relative to a second type of UEs and utilizing one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques when communicating with the first type of UEs, the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques designed to adjust at least for reduced DL processing gain of the first type of UEs relative to the second type of UEs.

Claims

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

identifying a first type of one or more user equipments (UEs) that is to receive enhanced downlink (DL) coverage relative to a second type of UEs; and

utilizing one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques when communicating with the first type of UEs, the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques designed to adjust at least for reduced DL processing gain of the first type of UEs relative to the second type of UEs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reduced DL processing gain is due to at least one of:

a reduced number of receive chains relative to the second type of UEs;

reduced downlink transmission power;

or

narrower bandwidth operation relative to the second type of UEs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques comprise reducing a payload size of one or more control channels when transmitting to the first type of UEs relative to a payload size of the same control channels when transmitting to the second type of UEs.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

a first payload size is used when transmitting a unicast message of a first type of control channel; and

a second payload size is used when transmitting a non-unicast message of the first type of control channel.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques comprise increasing resources available for one or more control channels to support a reduced coding rate.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the increase in resources is relative to a number of resources available when transmitting the same control channels to the second type of UEs.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the same information is repeated in different sets of resource elements (REs) of the increased resources.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising receiving signaling indicating one or more subframes in which a control channel is to be transmitted using the increased resources.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques comprise transmission time interval (TTI) bundling wherein redundant versions of a downlink channel are transmitted over a bundle of multiple DL subframes.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the bundle comprises N consecutive DL subframes.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the bundle comprises N consecutive non-Multimedia Broadcast Single Frequency Network (non-MBSFN) DL subframes.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein different numbers of resource blocks (RBs) are used to transmit the downlink channel for DL subframes in the bundle with and without a downlink pilot time slot (DwPTS).

13. The method of claim 9, wherein a same aggregation level is used for transmitting the downlink channel in each subframe in the bundle.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein different aggregation levels are used for transmitting the downlink channel in different subframes in the bundle.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein an aggregation level used in a subframe is dependent on available resources in that subframe.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein a version of the downlink channel in each subframe in the bundle is individually coded, modulated, and mapped to resources.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein:

different sets of control channel elements (CCEs) are used to transmit versions of the downlink channel in different subframes; and

locations of the different sets of CCEs in the different subframes are linked.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein the downlink channel comprises a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the TTI bundling comprises transmitting a single transport block (TB) over multiple subframes.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the TB is transmitted in each subframe of the bundle using a same modulation and coding scheme (MCS).

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the TB is transmitted in each subframe of the bundle using a same number of resource blocks (RBs).

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the TB is transmitted in each subframe of the bundle using different locations of resource blocks (RBs).

23. The method of claim 9, wherein a scheduling timing between a control channel and a corresponding physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmitted via the TTI bundling is determined based on a first subframe in the bundle.

24. The method of claim 9, wherein a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) timing between a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmitted via the TTI bundling and a corresponding HARQ response is determined based on a last subframe in the bundle.

25. The method of claim 9, wherein a number of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes supported is dependent on a TTI bundling size.

26. The method of claim 9, wherein a same decoding candidate is used for transmitting the downlink channel in each subframe in the bundle.

27. The method of claim 9, wherein a subframe offset for a starting subframe in the bundle is determined at least one of semi-statically or dynamically.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the subframe offset for the starting subframe in the bundle is cell-dependent.

29. The method of claim 9, wherein a size of the bundle is at least one of fixed or semi-statically configured.

30. The method of claim 9, wherein one or more physical layer (PHY) operations for transmitting a version of the downlink channel vary in different subframes in the bundle.

31. The method of claim 9, wherein a size of the bundle is dynamically configured.

32. The method of claim 9, wherein one or more physical layer (PHY) operations for transmitting a version of the downlink channel are the same in different subframes in the bundle.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques comprises utilizing a first technique for a control channel and utilizing a second technique for a data channel for the first type of UEs.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein cross-subframe scheduling is utilized, such that a control channel sent in a first subframe schedules a data transmission in a subsequent subframe.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques comprise utilizing additional beamforming gain.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein different DL coverage enhancement techniques are used for DL channels transmitted in different decoding candidates.

37. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

means for identifying a first type of one or more user equipments (UEs) that is to receive enhanced downlink (DL) coverage relative to a second type of UEs; and

means for utilizing one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques when communicating with the first type of UEs, the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques designed to adjust at least for reduced DL processing gain of the first type of UEs relative to the second type of UEs.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the reduced DL processing gain is due to at least one of:

a reduced number of receive chains relative to the second type of UEs;

reduced downlink transmission power;

or

narrower bandwidth operation relative to the second type of UEs.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques comprise reducing a payload size of one or more control channels when transmitting to the first type of UEs relative to a payload size of the same control channels when transmitting to the second type of UEs.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein:

a first payload size is used when transmitting a unicast message of a first type of control channel; and

a second payload size is used when transmitting a non-unicast message of the first type of control channel.

41. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques comprise increasing resources available for one or more control channels to support a reduced coding rate.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the increase in resources is relative to a number of resources available when transmitting the same control channels to the second type of UEs.

43. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the same information is repeated in different sets of resource elements (REs) of the increased resources.

44. The apparatus of claim 41, further comprising means for receiving signaling indicating one or more subframes in which a control channel is to be transmitted using the increased resources.

45. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques comprise transmission time interval (TTI) bundling wherein redundant versions of a downlink channel are transmitted over a bundle of multiple DL subframes.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the bundle comprises N consecutive DL subframes.

47. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the bundle comprises N consecutive non-Multimedia Broadcast Single Frequency Network (non-MBSFN) DL subframes.

48. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein different numbers of resource blocks (RBs) are used to transmit the downlink channel for DL subframes in the bundle with and without a downlink pilot time slot (DwPTS).

49. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein a same aggregation level is used for transmitting the downlink channel in each subframe in the bundle.

50. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein different aggregation levels are used for transmitting the downlink channel in different subframes in the bundle.

51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein an aggregation level used in a subframe is dependent on available resources in that subframe.

52. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein a version of the downlink channel in each subframe in the bundle is individually coded, modulated, and mapped to resources.

53. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein:

different sets of control channel elements (CCEs) are used to transmit versions of the downlink channel in different subframes; and

locations of the different sets of CCEs in the different subframes are linked.

54. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the downlink channel comprises a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

55. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein the TTI bundling comprises transmitting a single transport block (TB) over multiple subframes.

56. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the TB is transmitted in each subframe of the bundle using a same modulation and coding scheme (MCS).

57. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the TB is transmitted in each subframe of the bundle using a same number of resource blocks (RBs).

58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the TB is transmitted in each subframe of the bundle using different locations of resource blocks (RBs).

59. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein a scheduling timing between a control channel and a corresponding physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmitted via the TTI bundling is determined based on a first subframe in the bundle.

60. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) timing between a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmitted via the TTI bundling and a corresponding HARQ response is determined based on a last subframe in the bundle.

61. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein a number of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes supported is dependent on a TTI bundling size.

62. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein a same decoding candidate is used for transmitting the downlink channel in each subframe in the bundle.

63. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein a subframe offset for a starting subframe in the bundle is determined at least one of semi-statically or dynamically.

64. The apparatus of claim 63, wherein the subframe offset for the starting subframe in the bundle is cell-dependent.

65. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein a size of the bundle is at least one of fixed or semi-statically configured.

66. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein one or more physical layer (PHY) operations for transmitting a version of the downlink channel vary in different subframes in the bundle.

67. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein a size of the bundle is dynamically configured.

68. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein one or more physical layer (PHY) operations for transmitting a version of the downlink channel are the same in different subframes in the bundle.

69. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the means for utilizing the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques is configured to utilize a first technique for a control channel and to utilize a second technique for a data channel for the first type of UEs.

70. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein cross-subframe scheduling is utilized, such that a control channel sent in a first subframe schedules a data transmission in a subsequent subframe.

71. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques comprise utilizing additional beamforming gain.

72. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein different DL coverage enhancement techniques are used for DL channels transmitted in different decoding candidates.

73. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

identify a first type of one or more user equipments (UEs) that is to receive enhanced downlink (DL) coverage relative to a second type of UEs; and

utilize one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques when communicating with the first type of UEs, the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques designed to adjust at least for reduced DL processing gain of the first type of UEs relative to the second type of UEs; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

74. A computer program product for wireless communications, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions executable by one or more processors for:

identifying a first type of one or more user equipments (UEs) that is to receive enhanced downlink (DL) coverage relative to a second type of UEs; and

utilizing one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques when communicating with the first type of UEs, the one or more DL coverage enhancement techniques designed to adjust at least for reduced DL processing gain of the first type of UEs relative to the second type of UEs.