Methods and systems for sticky region allocation in OFDMA communication systems

• US 8,483,041 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2008
• Issued: 07/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Lee, Chun Woo, Kim, Doo Seok, Kim, Je Woo
• Primary Examiner(s): Jiang, Charles C
• Application Number:
  US12/137,540
• Publication Number:
  US 20090310477A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,853 Days
• Field of Search: 370203-211, 375259-260
• US Class Current: 370/208
• 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 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0096 Indication of changes in allocation

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for allocating a data region (termed “sticky region allocation”) in an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame so that a user terminal can receive/send data bursts for multiple OFDM/OFDMA frames, rather than inserting a MAP information element (MAP IE) for each user terminal in every frame, are provided. In this manner, the size of the control overhead, such as the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) MAP messages, may be reduced. The reduced control overhead may increase the frame resources available for data traffic and thus, may boost the overall efficiency and performance of wireless systems using OFDM/OFDMA.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a first signal based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a first MAP information element (IE) comprising a frame number of a starting OFDMA frame;

locating a data region related to a data burst in the starting OFDMA frame according to the first MAP IE;

receiving a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is received later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame;

locating the data region related to a different data burst in the second OFDMA frame without using a second MAP IE; and

decoding the second OFDMA frame without using a MAP IE different from the first MAP IE.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data region is a downlink (DL) data region and the first MAP IE is a DL-MAP IE.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data region is an uplink (UL) data region and the first MAP IE is a UL-MAP IE.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein an uplink map (UL-MAP) for the second OFDMA frame has a starting slot offset appearing before all MAP IEs in the UL-MAP such that the data region may be located correctly.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first MAP IE contains a message having region information for determining a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the region information comprises at least one of a symbol offset, a subchannel offset, a number of symbols, a number of subchannels, a boosting level, a permutation type, and a repetition coding type.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the region information comprises at least one of a slot offset, a slot duration, and a repetition coding type.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the message comprises the starting frame number and an allocation interval related to the data region.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the message comprises at least one of an allocation identifier, an ending frame number, a Downlink Interval Usage Code (DIUC) or an Uplink Interval Usage Code (UIUC), and acknowledgment (ACK) region information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first MAP IE is from the starting OFDMA frame.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising locating the data region in one or more subsequent signals based on subsequent OFDMA frames until a MAP IE that specifies termination of allocation of the data region is received.

12. A method comprising:

receiving a first signal based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a first MAP information element (IE) comprising a frame number of a starting OFDMA frame;

locating a data region related to a data burst in the starting OFDMA frame according to the first MPA IE;

receiving a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is received later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame; and

locating the data region related to a different data burst in the second OFDMA frame without using a second MAP IE, wherein the first MAP IE contains a message having region information for determining a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames, wherein locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame comprises using the starting frame number and the region information and locating the data region in the second OFDMA frame comprises using the allocation interval and the region information in the message of the first MAP IE such that the second frame is received a number of OFDMA frames after the starting frame according to the allocation interval.

13. A receiver for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor and memory containing logic configured to locate a data region comprising a data burst in a starting orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame of a first signal received by the receiver according to a first MAP information element (IE), wherein the first MAP IE comprises a frame number of the starting OFDMA frame; and

a processor and memory containing logic configured to locate and decode, without using a second MAP IE, the data region comprising a different data burst in a second OFDMA frame of a second signal received by the receiver, wherein the second signal is received later than the first signal.

14. The receiver of claim 13, wherein the data region is a downlink (DL) data region and the first MAP IE is a DL-MAP IE.

15. The receiver of claim 13, wherein the data region is an uplink (UL) data region and the first MAP IE is a UL-MAP IE.

16. The receiver of claim 13, wherein the first MAP IE contains a message comprising:

region information for determining a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval.

17. The receiver of claim 13, wherein the first MAP IE is from the starting OFDMA frame.

18. A receiver for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor and memory containing logic configured to locate a data region comprising a data burst in a starting orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame of a first signal received by the receiver according to a first MAP information element (IE), wherein the first MAP IE, the data region comprising a different data burst in a second OFDMA frame of a second signal received by the receiver, wherein the second signal is received later than the first signal, wherein the first MAP IE contains a message comprising;

region information for determining a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval,

wherein the logic is configured to locate the data region in the starting OFDMA frame by using the starting frame number and the region information and configured to locate the data region in the second OFDMA frame by using the allocation interval and the region information in the message of the first MAP IE, wherein the second frame is received a number of OFDMA frames after the starting frame according to the allocation interval.

19. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving a first signal based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a first MAP information element (IE) comprising a frame number of a starting OFDMA frame;

means for locating a data region comprising a data burst in the starting OFDMA frame according to the first MAP information element (IE), wherein the locating a data region comprising a data burst is performed by a processor and memory and the processor and memory extract frame location information from a start allocation downlink map;

means for receiving a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is received later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame; and

means for locating the data region comprising a different data burst in the second OFDMA frame without using a second MAP IE, wherein the locating the data region comprising a different data burst is performed by a processor and memory and the processor and memory extract frame information from a downlink map, and wherein the second OFDMA frame is decoded without using a second MAP IE.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the data region is a downlink (DL) data region and the first MAP IE is a DL-MAP IE.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the data region is an uplink (UL) data region and the first MAP IE is a UL-MAP IE.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first MAP IE contains a message comprising:

region information for determining a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval.

23. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving a first signal based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a first MAP information element (IE) comprising a frame number of a starting OFDMA frame;

means for locating a data region comprising a data burst in the starting OFDMA frame according to the first MAP information element (IE), wherein the locating a data region comprising a data burst is performed by a processor and memory;

means for receiving a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is received later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame;

means for locating the data region comprising a different data burst in the second OFDMA frame without using a second MAP IE, wherein the locating the data region comprising a different data burst is performed by a processor and memory; and

wherein the first MAP IE contains a message comprising;

region information for determining a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval, wherein the means for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is configured to use the starting frame number and the region information and the means for locating the data region in the second OFDMA frame is configured to use the allocation interval and the region information in the message of the first MAP IE, wherein the second frame is received a number of OFDMA frames after the starting frame according to the allocation interval.

24. A mobile device, comprising:

a receiver front end for receiving a first signal based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a first MAP information element (IE) comprising a frame number of a starting OFDMA frame and a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is received later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame; and

a processor and memory containing logic configured to locate a data region related to a data burst in the starting OFDMA frame according to the first MAP information element (IE); and

a processor and memory containing logic configured to locate and decode the data region related to a different data burst in the second OFDMA frame without using a second MAP IE.

25. The mobile device of claim 24, wherein the data region is a downlink (DL) data region and the first MAP IE is a DL-MAP IE.

26. The mobile device of claim 24, wherein the data region is an uplink (UL) data region and the first MAP IE is a UL-MAP IE.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a program for locating a data region in multiple orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frames, which, when executed by a processor, performs operations comprising:

receiving a first signal based on a first OFDMA frame having a first MAP information element (IE) comprising a frame number of a starting OFDMA frame;

locating a data region corresponding to a data burst in the starting OFDMA frame according to the first MAP information element (IE);

receiving a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is received later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame; and

locating the data region corresponding to a different data burst in the second OFDMA frame without using a second MAP IE,

decoding the data region corresponding to the different data burst in the second OFDMA frame without using a MAP IE that is different from the first MAP IE.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the data region is a downlink (DL) data region and the first MAP IE is a DL-MAP IE.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the data region is an uplink (UL) data region and the first MAP IE is a UL-MAP IE.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the first MAP IE contains a message comprising:

region information for determining a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval.

31. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a program for locating a data region in multiple orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frames, which, when executed by a processor, performs operations comprising:

receiving a first signal based on a first OFDMA frame having a first MAP information element (IE) comprising a frame number of a starting OFDMA frame;

locating a data region corresponding to a data burst in the starting OFDMA frame according to the first MAP information element (IE);

receiving a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is received later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame; and

locating the data region corresponding to a different data burst in the second OFDMA frame without using a second MAP IE wherein the first MAP IE contains a message comprising;

region information for determining a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval, wherein locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame comprises using the starting frame number and the region information and locating the data region in the second OFDMA frame comprises using the allocation interval and the region information in the message of the first MAP IE such that the second frame is received a number of OFDMA frames after the starting frame according to the allocation interval.

32. A method comprising:

transmitting a first signal comprising a data burst in a data region based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a MAP information element (IE) for locating the data region in a starting OFDMA frame, wherein the MAP IE comprises a starting frame number of the starting OFDMA frame; and

transmitting a second signal comprising a different data burst based on a second OFDMA frame without a MAP IE for locating the data region in the second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is transmitted later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the data region is a downlink (DL) data region and the MAP IE for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is a DL-MAP IE.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the data region is an uplink (UL) data region and the MAP IE for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is a UL-MAP IE.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein an uplink map (UL-MAP) for the second OFDMA frame has a starting slot offset appearing before all MAP IEs in the UL-MAP such that the data region may be located correctly.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein the MAP IE contains a message having region information for establishing a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the region information comprises at least one of a symbol offset, a subchannel offset, a number of symbols, a number of subchannels, a boosting level, a permutation type, and a repetition coding type.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the region information comprises at least one of a slot offset, a slot duration, and a repetition coding type.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the message comprises the starting frame number and an allocation interval.

40. The method of claim 36, wherein the message comprises at least one of an allocation identifier, an ending frame number, a Downlink Interval Usage Code (DIUC) or an Uplink Interval Usage Code (UIUC), and acknowledgment (ACK) region information.

41. The method of claim 32, wherein the starting OFDMA frame is the first OFDMA frame and the first signal is the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame.

42. The method of claim 32, wherein the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame is transmitted later than the first signal.

43. The method of claim 32, further comprising transmitting a third signal comprising a MAP IE specifying termination of allocation of the data region.

44. A method comprising:

transmitting a first signal comprising a data burst in a data region based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a MAP information element (IE) for locating the data region in a starting OFDMA frame, wherein the MAP IE comprises a starting frame number of the starting OFDMA frame; and

transmitting a second signal comprising a different data burst based on a second OFDMA frame without a MAP IE for locating the data region in the second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is transmitted later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame, and wherein the MAP IE contains a message having region information for establishing a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames, wherein the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame is transmitted according to the starting frame number and the second signal based on the second OFDMA frame is transmitted a number of OFDMA frames after the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame according to the allocation interval in the message of the MAP IE.

45. A transmitter for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor and memory containing logic for transmitting, from a base station, a first signal comprising a data burst based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a MAP information element (IE) for locating a data region comprising the data burst in a starting OFDMA frame, wherein the MAP IE comprises a starting frame number of the starting OFDMA frame; and

a processor and memory containing logic for transmitting, from the base station, a second signal comprising a different data burst based on a second OFDMA frame without a MAP IE for locating the data region comprising the different data burst in the second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is transmitted later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame.

46. The transmitter of claim 45, wherein the data region is a downlink (DL) data region and the MAP IE for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is a DL-MAP IE.

47. The transmitter of claim 45, wherein the data region is an uplink (UL) data region and the MAP IE for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is a UL-MAP IE.

48. The transmitter of claim 45, wherein the MAP IE contains a message comprising:

region information for establishing a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval.

49. The transmitter of claim 45, wherein the starting OFDMA frame is the first OFDMA frame and the first signal is the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame.

50. The transmitter of claim 45, wherein the logic is configured to transmit the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame later than the first signal.

51. A transmitter for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor and memory containing logic for transmitting, from a base station, a first signal comprising a data burst based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a MAP information element (IE) for locating a data region comprising the data burst in a starting OFDMA frame, wherein the MAP IE comprises a starting frame number of the starting OFDMA frame;

a processor and memory containing logic for transmitting, from the base station, a second signal comprising a different data burst based on a second OFDMA frame without a MAP IE for locating the data region comprising the different data burst in the second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is transmitted later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame, wherein the MAP IE contains a message comprising;

region information for establishing a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval, wherein the logic is configured to transmit the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame according to the starting frame number and configured to transmit the second signal based on the second OFDMA frame a number of OFDMA frames after the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame according to the allocation interval in the message of the MAP IE.

52. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for transmitting, from a base station, a first signal based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a MAP information element (IE) for locating a data region in a starting OFDMA frame and comprising a data burst in the data region, wherein the MAP IE comprises a starting frame number of the starting OFDMA frame, wherein the first signal is prepared for transmission by a processor and memory; and

means for transmitting, from the base station, a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame without a MAP IE for locating the data region in the second OFDMA frame and comprising a different data burst in the data region, wherein the second signal is transmitted later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is prepared for transmission by a processor and memory.

53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the data region is a downlink (DL) data region and the MAP IE for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is a DL-MAP IE.

54. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the data region is an uplink (UL) data region and the MAP IE for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is a UL-MAP IE.

55. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the MAP IE contains a message comprising:

region information for establishing a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval.

57. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the means for transmitting the second signal is configured to transmit the second signal based on the second OFDMA frame a number of OFDMA frames after the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame according to the allocation interval in the message of the MAP IE.

56. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for transmitting, from a base station, a first signal based on a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a MAP information element (IE) for locating a data region in a starting OFDMA frame and comprising a data burst in the data region, wherein the MAP IE comprises a starting frame number of the starting OFDMA frame, wherein the first signal is prepared for transmission by a processor and memory; and

means for transmitting, from the base station, a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame without a MAP IE for locating the data region in the second OFDMA frame and comprising a different data burst in the data region, wherein the second signal is transmitted later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is prepared for transmission by a processor and memory, wherein the MAP IE contains a message comprising;

region information for establishing a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval and further comprising a means for transmitting the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame, wherein the means for transmitting the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame is configured to transmit the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame a number of OFDMA frames after the first signal according to the starting frame number in the message of the MAP IE.

58. A base station, comprising:

a processor and memory containing logic configured to generate a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame having a MAP information element (IE) for locating a data region comprising a data burst in a starting OFDMA frame, wherein the MAP IE comprises a starting frame number of the starting OFDMA frame, and configured to create a second OFDMA frame without a MAP IE for locating the data region comprising a different data burst in the second OFDMA frame; and

a transmitter front end for transmitting a first signal based on the first OFDMA frame, a second signal based on the second OFDMA frame, and a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is transmitted later than the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame.

59. The base station of claim 58, wherein the data region is a downlink (DL) data region and the MAP IE for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is a DL-MAP IE.

60. The base station of claim 58, wherein the data region is an uplink (UL) data region and the MAP IE for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is a UL-MAP IE.

61. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a program for transmitting multiple orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frames, which, when executed by a processor, performs operations comprising:

transmitting, from a base station, a first signal based on a first OFDMA frame having a MAP information element (IE) for locating a data region comprising a data burst in a starting OFDMA frame, wherein the MAP IE comprises a starting frame number of the starting OFDMA frame; and

transmitting, from the base station, a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame without a MAP IE for locating the data region comprising a different data burst in the second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is transmitted later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame.

62. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 61, wherein the data region is a downlink (DL) data region and the MAP IE for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is a DL-MAP IE.

63. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 61, wherein the data region is an uplink (UL) data region and the MAP IE for locating the data region in the starting OFDMA frame is a UL-MAP IE.

64. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 61, wherein the MAP IE contains a message comprising:

region information for establishing a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

an allocation interval.

65. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a program for transmitting multiple orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frames, which, when executed by a processor, performs operations comprising:

transmitting, from a base station, a first signal based on a first OFDMA frame having a MAP information element (IE) for locating a data region comprising a data burst in a starting OFDMA frame, wherein the MAP IE comprises a starting frame number of the starting OFDMA frame; and

transmitting, from the base station, a second signal based on a second OFDMA frame without a MAP IE for locating the data region comprising a different data burst in the second OFDMA frame, wherein the second signal is transmitted later than a signal based on the starting OFDMA frame, wherein the MAP IE contains a message comprising;

region information for establishing a fixed position for the data region within the starting and the second OFDMA frames;

the starting frame number; and

wherein the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame is transmitted according to the starting frame number and the second signal based on the second OFDMA frame is transmitted a number of OFDMA frames after the signal based on the starting OFDMA frame according to the allocation interval in the message of the MAP IE.