Method, apparatus and computer program for signaling channel quality information in a network that employs relay nodes
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- receiving at an apparatus which comprises a relay node a grant from an access node of radio band resources that are available for allocation to the user equipments; and
allocating by the relay node to the user equipments at least some of the radio band resources;
receiving, by the apparatus from a plurality of user equipments, indications of channel quality experienced by the user equipments, wherein the indications are received at the relay node and are specific for a radio band resource allocated to the respective user equipment;
aggregating by the apparatus the indications received from the plurality of user equipments into a compound signal quality metric;
monitoring, by the apparatus, a buffer status of an apparatus buffer which comprises individual buffers for each of the plurality of user equipments; and
sending by the apparatus a combination of an indication of the compound signal quality metric and a further indication of the buffer status to an access node controlling a cell in which the user equipments operate,wherein the further indication of the buffer status comprises a buffer overload or a buffer underload state determined individually for one or more of the plurality of user equipments by prediction based on the compound signal quality metric.
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Abstract
A relay node receives from user equipments UE CQI reports which give a CQI value per radio band resource RBR, from which are aggregated across the RBRs and/or aggregated per UE across that UE'"'"'s RBR values. The relay node reports an indication of the average to its controlling access node (eNodeB), either explicitly or implicitly (e.g., a gain applied to the CQI of the downlink between the relay and access nodes). The relay node also checks the UEs'"'"' buffer status (actual or predicted) and reports either periodically or based on an underflow/overflow occurrence. For periodic reports, each UE buffer experiencing the overrun/underrun is reported.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving at an apparatus which comprises a relay node a grant from an access node of radio band resources that are available for allocation to the user equipments; and allocating by the relay node to the user equipments at least some of the radio band resources; receiving, by the apparatus from a plurality of user equipments, indications of channel quality experienced by the user equipments, wherein the indications are received at the relay node and are specific for a radio band resource allocated to the respective user equipment; aggregating by the apparatus the indications received from the plurality of user equipments into a compound signal quality metric; monitoring, by the apparatus, a buffer status of an apparatus buffer which comprises individual buffers for each of the plurality of user equipments; and sending by the apparatus a combination of an indication of the compound signal quality metric and a further indication of the buffer status to an access node controlling a cell in which the user equipments operate, wherein the further indication of the buffer status comprises a buffer overload or a buffer underload state determined individually for one or more of the plurality of user equipments by prediction based on the compound signal quality metric. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus comprising:
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a receiver configured to receive from a plurality of user equipments indications of channel quality experienced by the user equipments and configured to receive a grant from an access node of radio band resources that are available for allocation to the user equipments; a processor configured to allocate to the user equipments at least some of the radio band resources and to aggregate the indications received from the plurality of user equipments into a compound signal quality metric and to monitor a buffer status of an apparatus buffer which comprises individual buffers for each of the plurality of user equipments, wherein the received indications are specific for a radio band resource allocated to the respective user equipment; and a transmitter configured to send a combination of an indication of the compound signal quality metric and a further indication of the buffer status to an access node controlling a cell in which the user equipments operate, wherein the apparatus comprises a relay node, and the further indication of the buffer status comprises a buffer overload or a buffer underload state and the processor is further configured to determine the buffer overload or buffer underload individually for one or more of the plurality of user equipments by prediction based on the compound signal quality metric. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer readable memory embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital data processor to perform actions directed toward sending quality indications, the actions comprising:
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receiving at an apparatus which comprises a relay node a grant from the access node of radio band resources that are available for allocation to the user equipments; and allocating by the apparatus to the user equipments at least some of the radio band resources; receiving, by the apparatus from a plurality of user equipments, indications of channel quality experienced by the user equipments, wherein the indications are received at the relay node and are specific for a radio band resource allocated to the respective user equipment; aggregating by the apparatus the indications received from the plurality of user equipments into a compound signal quality metric; monitoring, by the apparatus, a buffer status of an apparatus buffer which comprises individual buffers for each of the plurality of user equipments; and sending by the apparatus a combination of an indication of the compound signal quality metric and a further indication of the buffer status to an access node controlling a cell in which the user equipments operate, wherein the further indication of the buffer status comprises a buffer overload or a buffer underload state determined individually for one or more of the plurality of user equipments by prediction based on the compound signal quality metric. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus comprising:
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a relay node further comprising; receiving means for receiving from a plurality of user equipments indications of channel quality experienced by the user equipments and for receiving a grant from the access node of radio band resources that are available for allocation to the user equipments; processing means for allocating to the user equipments at least some of the radio band resources and for aggregating the indications received from the plurality of user equipments into a compound signal quality metric and for monitoring a buffer status of an apparatus buffer which comprises individual buffers for each of the plurality of user equipments, wherein the received indications are at the relay node and are specific for a radio band resource allocated to the respective user equipment; and transmit means for sending a combination of an indication of the compound signal quality metric and a further indication of the buffer status to an access node that controls a cell in which the user equipments operate, wherein the apparatus comprises a relay node, and wherein the further indication of the buffer status comprises a buffer overload or a buffer underload state determined by the processing means using prediction individually for one or more of the plurality of user equipments based on the compound signal quality metric.
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22. A method comprising:
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receiving at an apparatus which comprises a relay node a grant from the access node of radio band resources that are available for allocation to the user equipments; and allocating by the apparatus in a first instance radio resources to a relay node for allocating by the relay node to the user equipments and for use by user equipments under control of the relay node; receiving by the apparatus from the relay node a combination of a compound signal quality metric that aggregates channel quality experienced on links between the user equipments and the relay node and an indication of the buffer status of a relay node buffer which comprises individual buffers for each of the plurality of user equipments, wherein the indication is received at the relay node and are specific for a radio band resource allocated to the respective user equipment, and wherein the further indication of the buffer status comprises a buffer overload or a buffer underload state determined individually for one or more of the plurality of user equipments by prediction based on the compound signal quality metric; deciding by the apparatus a new allocation of radio resources based at least in part on the compound channel quality metric and on the indication of the buffer status; and allocating by the apparatus in a second instance the new allocation of radio resources to the relay node.
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23. An apparatus comprising:
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a relay node configured to receive a grant from the access node of radio band resources that are available for allocation to the user equipments; and
to allocating to the user equipments at least some of the radio band resources;a transmitter configured to send to a relay node in a first instance radio resources for use by user equipments under control of the relay node; a receiver configured to receive from the relay node a combination of a compound signal quality metric that aggregates channel quality experienced on links between the user equipments and the relay node and an indication of the buffer status of a relay node buffer which comprises individual buffers for each of the plurality of user equipments, wherein the indications are received at the relay node and are specific for a radio band resource allocated to the respective user equipment, and wherein the further indication of the buffer status comprises a buffer overload or a buffer underload state determined individually for one or more of the plurality of user equipments by prediction based on the compound signal quality metric; a processor configured to decide a new allocation of radio resources based at least in part on the received compound channel quality metric and on the indication of the buffer status; and the transmitter is further to send to the relay node in a second instance the new allocation of radio resources.
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Specification