Methods and apparatus for transitioning between states

• US 7,787,826 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Issued: 08/31/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Dugad, Rakesh, Uppala, Sathyadev Venkata, Laroia, Rajiv, Li, Junyi, Anigstein, Pablo, Srinivasan, Murari
• Primary Examiner(s): RAMPURIA, SHARAD K
• Application Number:
  US11/486,809
• Publication Number:
  US 20080014920A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,509 Days
• Field of Search: 455/574, 455/343.3, 455450-4522, 455423-425, 455/509, 455/67.11, 370/328, 370/338, 370/331
• US Class Current: 455/67.11
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate transitioning between states associated with a wireless terminal. The wireless terminal may transition to and/or from a split-tone on state, which may enable increasing overall user capacity related to a base station or sector. Further, such state transitions may reduce power consumption associated with the wireless terminal.

Claims

1. A method that facilitates transitioning between wireless terminal states, comprising:

utilizing a first state whereby the wireless terminal utilizes all segments comprising a beaconslot of a tone of an uplink dedicated control channel (DCCH) to transmit control information;

transitioning from the first state to a split-tone on state whereby the wireless terminal utilizes an assigned subset of the segments composing the beaconslot to transmit the control information to reduce power consumption associated with the wireless terminal, the subset being less than a total number of segments comprising the beaconslot; and

utilizing the split-tone on state;

wherein the first state is a hold state and the wireless terminal directly transitions from the hold state to the split-tone on state;

wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel greater than a rate associated with the hold state and or a rate of power control greater than that of the hold state.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first state is a full-tone on state and the transitioning is effectuated without transitioning through an access state.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel lower than a rate associated with the full-tone on state or a diminished rate of power control as compared to the full-tone on state.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first state is a sleep state and the transitioning includes transitioning through an access state.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transitioning is base station initiated.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the transitioning is wireless terminal initiated.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the split-tone on state employs a 1/N split of segments comprising the beaconslot, where N is an integer.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the split-tone on state utilizes a ⅓

split of the the segments comprising the beaconslot and supports three wireless terminals on the uplink dedicated control channel.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the split-tone on state further comprises inhibiting transmission and utilization of associated circuitry during segments not assigned to the wireless terminal.

10. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a memory that retains a state assignment associated with a first state, the first state causing the wireless apparatus to utilize all segments comprising a beaconslot of a tone of an uplink dedicated control channel (DCCH) to transmit control information; and

a processor that utilizes the first state, transitions to a split-tone on state from the first state to tailor resource utilization to wireless terminal usage, and employs the split-tone on state the split-tone state causing the wireless apparatus to utilize an assigned subset of the segments comprising the beaconslot to transmit the control information, the subset being less than a total of all segments comprising the beaconslot;

wherein the first state is a hold state and the wireless terminal directly transitions from the hold state to the split-tone on state;

wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel greater than a rate associated with the hold state and or a rate of power control greater than that of the hold state.

11. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor changes from the first state to the split-tone on state via a contention-free transition, the first state being at least one of a full-tone on state or a hold state.

12. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor transitions to the split-tone on state by transmitting a request to a base station via the uplink.

13. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor transitions to the split-tone on state upon receipt of a state transition channel segment via a downlink.

14. A wireless communications apparatus that enables transitioning between states associated with a wireless terminal, comprising:

means for utilizing a first state to transmit control information using all segments comprising a beaconslot of a tone of an uplink dedicated control channel (DCCH);

means for transitioning from the first state to a split-tone on state from that causes the wireless transmitter to transmit the control information using an assigned subset of the segments less than a total of all segments comprising the beaconslot to reduce a rate associated with power control; and

means for utilizing the split-tone on state;

wherein the first state is a hold state and the wireless terminal directly transitions from the hold state to the split-tone on state;

wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel greater than a rate associated with the hold state and or a rate of power control greater than that of the hold state.

15. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first state is at least one of a full-tone on state, a hold state, or the split-tone on state, and transitioning is performed without transitioning through an access state.

16. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the transitioning is base station initiated.

17. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the transitioning is wireless terminal initiated.

18. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions for:

employing a split-tone on state whereby a wireless terminal utilizes an assigned subset of segments comprising a beaconslot of a tone of an uplink dedicated control channel (DCCH) to transmit control channel reports, the subset being less than a total number of segments comprising the beaconslot;

transitioning from the split-tone on state to a second state whereby the wireless terminal utilizes all of the segments comprising the beaconslot to transmit the control channel reports; and

employing the second state;

wherein the first state is a hold state and the wireless terminal directly transitions from the hold state to the split-tone on state;

wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel greater than a rate associated with the hold state and or a rate of power control greater than that of the hold state.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the second state is at least one of a full-tone on state, a hold state, or the split-tone on state and the transitioning occurs without transitioning through an access state.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the split-tone on state utilizes a 1/N split of the total number of segments comprising the beaconslot, where N is an integer.

21. A processor that executes the following instructions:

utilizing a first state to transmit channel quality information using all segments comprising a beaconslot of a tone of an uplink dedicated control channel (DCCH);

changing from the first state to a split-tone on state in response to receiving a state transition channel segment; and

utilizing the split-tone on state to transmit the channel quality information using an assigned subset of the segments comprising the beaconslot, the subset being less than a total number of the segments comprising the beaconslot;

wherein the first state is a hold state and the wireless terminal directly transitions from the hold state to the split-tone on state;

wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel greater than a rate associated with the hold state and or a rate of power control greater than that of the hold state.

22. The processor of claim 21, wherein the first state is at least one of a full-tone on state, a hold state, or the split-tone on state.

23. The processor of claim 22, wherein the processor directly changes to the split-tone on state from the first state without transitioning through an access state.

24. A method that facilitates increasing a number of users capable of simultaneously being supported by a base station, comprising:

communicating with a wireless terminal in a first state using all segments comprising a beaconslot of a tone of a dedicated control channel (DCCH);

evaluating characteristics of usage related to the wireless terminal in the first state;

transitioning the wireless terminal from the first state to a split-tone on state to increase user capacity based on the characteristics of usage; and

communicating with the wireless terminal in the split-tone on state using an assigned subset of the segments comprising the beaconslot, the subset being less than a total number of segments comprising the beaconslot;

wherein the first state is a hold state and the wireless terminal directly transitions from the hold state to the split-tone on state;

wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel greater than a rate associated with the hold state and or a rate of power control greater than that of the hold state.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein communicating with the wireless terminal in the first state comprises communicating in at least one of a full-tone on state or a hold state.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the transitioning comprises transitioning without utilizing an access state.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the transitioning the wireless terminal from the first state to the split-tone on state comprises transitioning from a null state or a sleep state to the split-tone on state via an intermediate access state.

28. The method of claim 24, further comprising effectuating the transitioning based upon an evaluation by a base station of at least one of usage, mobility, channel conditions, a current number of connected wireless terminals, or a quality of service profile.

29. The method of claim 24, further comprising effectuating the transitioning based upon a received request from the wireless terminal.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein evaluating the characteristics of usage comprises analyzing wireless channel conditions.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein evaluating the characteristics of usage comprises evaluating a data usage pattern of the wireless terminal.

32. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

analyzing a quality of service profile associated with the wireless terminal to determine a level of service associated with the wireless terminal;

selectively transitioning between the split-tone on state and a full-tone on state based on the level of service.

33. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a memory that retains measured characteristics associated with a wireless terminal; and

a processor that determines when to transition the wireless terminal from a full-tone on state to a split-tone on state, transmits a state transition channel segment instructing the wireless terminal indicating to switch to the split-tone on state, receives an acknowledgement from the wireless terminal that the switch has been completed, and communicates with the wireless terminal in the split-tone on state;

wherein the full-tone state causes the wireless terminal to transmit Dedicated Control Reports (DCRs) using a total number of segments comprising a beaconslot of a tone of an uplink dedicated control channel (DCCH), and the split-tone on state causes the wireless terminal to transmit DCRs using an assigned subset of the segments less than the total;

wherein the first state is a hold state and the wireless terminal directly transitions from the hold state to the split-tone on state;

wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel greater than a rate associated with the hold state and or a rate of power control greater than that of the hold state.

34. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 33, wherein the split-tone on state employs a 1/N split of the total number of segments comprising the beaconslot, where N is an integer.

35. A wireless communications apparatus for controlling base station capacity, comprising:

means for receiving a request to transition from a first state to a split-tone on state for a wireless terminal, wherein the first state allows communication with the wireless terminal using all segments comprising a beaconslot of a tone of a dedicated control channel (DCCH);

means for transmitting a state transition channel segment to the wireless terminal to change from the first state to the split-tone on state; and

means for communicating with the wireless terminal in the split-tone on state using an assigned subset of the segments comprising the beaconslot, the assigned subset being less than a total of all segments comprising the beaconslot;

wherein the first state is a hold state and the wireless terminal directly transitions from the hold state to the split-tone on state;

wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel greater than a rate associated with the hold state and or a rate of power control greater than that of the hold state.

36. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 35, further comprising means for determining whether to transition the wireless terminal from the first state to the split-tone on state.

37. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for transitioning comprises means for transitioning from a full-tone on state or a hold state to the split-tone on state without passing through an access state.

38. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions for:

evaluating available control channel resources;

transmitting a state transition channel request to a wireless terminal in a full-tone on state to effectuate transitioning to a split-tone on state that causes the wireless terminal to communicate using an assigned subset of segments comprising a beaconslot of a tone of an uplink dedicated control channel (DCCH), the subset being less than a total number of segment comprising the beaconslot; and

receiving an acknowledgement from the wireless terminal that the transitioning was effectuated;

wherein the first state is a hold state and the wireless terminal directly transitions from the hold state to the split-tone on state;

wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel greater than a rate associated with the hold state and or a rate of power control greater than that of the hold state.

39. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 38, wherein the state transition channel request includes at least one duration for the transition and or a rate associated with the split-tone on state.

40. A processor that executes the following instructions:

receiving a request to switch from a first state to a split-tone on state for a wireless terminal, wherein the first state causes communication with the wireless terminal to be performed using all segments comprising a beaconslot of a tone of a dedicated control channel (DCCH);

sending a state transition channel segment to the wireless terminal to change from the first state to the split-tone on state; and

communicating with the wireless terminal in the split-tone on state using an assigned subset of the segments comprising the beaconslot, the assigned subset being less than a total of all segments comprising the beaconslot;

wherein the first state is a hold state and the wireless terminal directly transitions from the hold state to the split-tone on state;

wherein the split-tone on state is associated with at least one of a rate related to the uplink dedicated control channel greater than a rate associated with the hold state and or a rate of power control greater than that of the hold state.

41. The processor of claim 40, wherein the first state is at least one of a full-tone on state, a hold state, or the split-tone on state.