UNIFIED FRAME STRUCTURE

• US 20160128056A1
• Filed: 05/22/2015
• Published: 05/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Jiang, Jing, Ang, Peter Pui Lok, Soriaga, Joseph Binamira, Mukkavilli, Krishna Kiran, Ji, Tingfang, Azarian Yazdi, Kambiz, Bhushan, Naga, Smee, John Edward
• Granted Patent: US 10,027,462 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2602 Signal structure
• 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: H04L 5/0092 Indication of how the channel is divided
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A unified frame structure design includes multiple structures to support multiple access requirements. In some aspects, different access requirements may relate to different access terminal categories and/or different applications. In some aspects, different access terminal categories may relate to different performance requirements of different access terminals. In some aspects, the disclosed unified frame structure design could support, for example, and without limitation, at least one of: a low latency mode, a low overhead mode, a low power mode (e.g., for micro-sleep and/or dynamic bandwidth switching), an access terminal with narrowband capability operating in wideband, or ultra-low-latency and nominal multiplexing. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.

Claims

1. An apparatus for communication comprising:

a memory device; and

a processing circuit coupled to the memory device and configured to;

identify, for each of a plurality of other wireless communication apparatuses, a performance requirement;

determine, based on a corresponding performance requirement for each of the other wireless communication apparatuses, different structures within a unified frame structure for communication; and

communicate an indication of the unified frame structure via a communication interface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the different structures comprise at least one of:

different transmission time intervals (TTIs), different frequency bands, or different control structures.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the different control structures comprise a time division multiplexing control channel structure and a frequency division multiplexing control channel structure.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the time division multiplexing control channel structure is for low power access and/or dynamic bandwidth switching.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the frequency division multiplexing control channel structure is for narrowband access and/or low latency access.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

initiate communication, via the communication interface, with a particular apparatus of the other wireless communication apparatuses;

identify a particular structure within the unified frame structure for the communication with the particular apparatus based on the corresponding performance requirement for the particular apparatus; and

communicate, via the communication interface, with the particular apparatus according to the identified structure within the unified frame structure.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein:

the performance requirement for the particular apparatus comprises mission critical access; and

the processing circuit is further configured to communicate, via the communication interface, a code block-level acknowledgement of a nominal access terminal that is in coexistence with the particular apparatus.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein:

the performance requirement for the particular apparatus comprises low overhead access; and

the processing circuit is further configured to communicate, via the communication interface, an indication that pilots from different transmission time intervals (TTIs) are to be used for channel estimation for the communication with the particular apparatus.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein:

the performance requirement for the particular apparatus comprises low overhead access; and

the identified structure comprises a lengthened transmission time interval (TTI).

10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein:

the performance requirement for the particular apparatus comprises low power access; and

the identified structure comprises a time division multiplexed (TDM) control channel and/or a narrowband control channel.

11. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein:

the performance requirement for the particular apparatus comprises low latency access; and

the identified structure comprises a shortened transmission time interval (TTI) and/or a control channel spread across transmission time intervals (TTIs).

12. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein:

the performance requirement for the particular apparatus comprises dynamic bandwidth switching; and

the identified structure comprises a narrowband control channel.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to determine the different structures within the unified frame structure based on at least one of:

different applications associated with the other wireless communication apparatuses, different bandwidth modes associated with the other wireless communication apparatuses, narrowband capability in a wideband environment associated with the other wireless communication apparatuses, micro-sleep mode associated with the other wireless communication apparatuses, or dynamic bandwidth switching associated with the other wireless communication apparatuses.

14. A method of communication comprising:

identifying, for each of a plurality of wireless communication apparatuses, a performance requirement;

determining, based on a corresponding performance requirement for each of the wireless communication apparatuses, different structures within a unified frame structure for communication; and

communicating an indication of the unified frame structure.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

initiating communication with a particular apparatus of the wireless communication apparatuses;

identifying a particular structure within the unified frame structure for the communication with the particular apparatus based on the corresponding performance requirement for the particular apparatus; and

communicating with the particular apparatus according to the identified structure within the unified frame structure.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the different structures comprise at least one of:

different transmission time intervals (TTIs), different frequency bands, or different control structures.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the different control structures comprise a time division multiplexing control channel structure and a frequency division multiplexing control channel structure.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the time division multiplexing control channel structure is for low power access and/or dynamic bandwidth switching.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the frequency division multiplexing control channel structure is for narrowband access and/or low latency access.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

communicating a code block-level acknowledgement of a nominal access terminal that is in coexistence with a mission critical access terminal if the performance requirement comprises mission critical access.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

communicating an indication that pilots from different transmission time intervals (TTIs) are to be used for channel estimation for communication with at least one of the wireless communication apparatuses if the performance requirement comprises low overhead access.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein, for a particular apparatus of the plurality of wireless communication apparatuses:

a determined structure for the particular apparatus comprises a lengthened transmission time interval (TTI) if the corresponding performance requirement for the particular apparatus comprises low overhead access.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein, for a particular apparatus of the plurality of wireless communication apparatuses:

if the corresponding performance requirement for the particular apparatus comprises low power access, a determined structure for the particular apparatus comprises a time division multiplexed (TDM) control channel and/or a narrowband control channel.

24. The method of claim 14, wherein, for a particular apparatus of the plurality of wireless communication apparatuses:

if the corresponding performance requirement for the particular apparatus comprises low latency access, a determined structure for the particular apparatus comprises a shortened transmission time interval (TTI) and/or a control channel spread across transmission time intervals (TTIs).

25. The method of claim 14, wherein, for a particular apparatus of the plurality of wireless communication apparatuses:

a determined structure for the particular apparatus comprises a narrowband control channel if the corresponding performance requirement for the particular apparatus comprises dynamic bandwidth switching.

26. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, including code to:

identify, for each of a plurality of wireless communication apparatuses, a performance requirement;

determine, based on a corresponding performance requirement for each of the wireless communication apparatuses, different structures within a unified frame structure for communication; and

communicate an indication of the unified frame structure.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, further including code to:

initiate communication with a particular apparatus of the wireless communication apparatuses;

identify a particular structure within the unified frame structure for the communication with the particular apparatus based on the performance requirement for the particular apparatus; and

communicate with the particular apparatus according to the identified structure within the unified frame structure.

28. An apparatus for communication comprising:

a memory device; and

a processing circuit coupled to the memory device and configured to;

receive, at an access terminal, an indication of a unified frame structure from an access point, wherein different structures for different access requirements are multiplexed within the unified frame structure;

identify a particular structure within the unified frame structure, wherein the identification is based on a performance requirement for the access terminal; and

communicate with the access point via a communication interface according to the identified structure within the unified frame structure.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the different structures comprise different transmission time intervals (TTIs) and/or different frequency bands.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the different structures comprise different control structures.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the different control structures comprise a time division multiplexing control channel structure and a frequency division multiplexing control channel structure.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the time division multiplexing control channel structure is for low power access and/or dynamic bandwidth switching.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the frequency division multiplexing control channel structure is for narrowband access and/or low latency access.

34. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

use pilots from different transmission time intervals (TTIs) for channel estimation for the communication if the performance requirement comprises low overhead access.

35. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein:

the identified structure comprises a lengthened transmission time interval (TTI) if the performance requirement comprises low overhead access.

36. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein, if the performance requirement comprises low power access:

the identified structure comprises a time division multiplexed (TDM) control channel and/or a narrowband control channel.

37. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein, if the performance requirement comprises low latency access:

the identified structure comprises a shortened transmission time interval (TTI) and/or a control channel spread across transmission time intervals (TTIs).

38. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein:

the identified structure comprises a narrowband control channel if the performance requirement comprises dynamic bandwidth switching.

39. A method of communication for a wireless communication apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of a unified frame structure, wherein different structures for different access requirements are multiplexed within the unified frame structure;

identifying a particular structure within the unified frame structure, wherein the identification is based on a performance requirement for the wireless communication apparatus; and

communicating according to the identified structure within the unified frame structure.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the different structures comprise at least one of:

different transmission time intervals (TTIs), different frequency bands, or different control structures.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the different control structures comprise a time division multiplexing control channel structure and a frequency division multiplexing control channel structure.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the time division multiplexing control channel structure is for low power access and/or dynamic bandwidth switching.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein the frequency division multiplexing control channel structure is for narrowband access and/or low latency access.

44. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

using pilots from different transmission time intervals (TTIs) for channel estimation for the communication if the performance requirement comprises low overhead access.

45. The method of claim 39, wherein:

the identified structure comprises a lengthened transmission time interval (TTI) if the performance requirement comprises low overhead access.

46. The method of claim 39, wherein:

if the performance requirement comprises low power access, the identified structure comprises a time division multiplexed (TDM) control channel and/or a narrowband control channel.

47. The method of claim 39, wherein:

if the performance requirement comprises low latency access, the identified structure comprises a shortened transmission time interval (TTI) and/or a control channel spread across transmission time intervals (TTIs).

48. The method of claim 39, wherein:

the identified structure comprises a narrowband control channel if the performance requirement comprises dynamic bandwidth switching.

49. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code for a wireless communication apparatus, including code to:

receive an indication of a unified frame structure, wherein different structures for different access requirements are multiplexed within the unified frame structure;

identify a particular structure within the unified frame structure, wherein the identification is based on a performance requirement for the wireless communication apparatus; and

communicate according to the identified structure within the unified frame structure.