Reference signal design for LTE A

• US 8,676,133 B2
• Filed: 09/17/2009
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Montojo, Juan, Palanki, Ravi, Farajidana, Amir, Bhattad, Kapil
• Primary Examiner(s): Hseih, Ping
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hanidu, Ganiyu A
• Application Number:
  US12/561,984
• Publication Number:
  US 20100075706A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,643 Days
• Field of Search: 455/82, 455/16, 455/424, 455/25, 455/562.1, 455/423, 455/63.4, 455/63.1, 455/70, 455/522, 370/329, 370/203, 370/342
• US Class Current: 455/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/061 using feedback from receiving side
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/063 Parameters other than those covered in groups H04B7/0623 - H04B7/0634, e.g. channel matrix rank or transmit mode selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0632 Channel quality parameters, e.g. channel quality indicator [CQI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0634 Antenna weights or vector/matrix coefficients
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0671 using different delays between antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0691 using subgroups of transmit antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0874 using subgroups of receive antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0091 Signaling for the administration of the divided path
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1273 of downlink data flows

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate creating antenna ports to correspond to two or more groups of user equipment (UEs). The subject innovation can organize two or more groups of user equipment and signal to each of the two or more groups a respective antenna port. The subject innovation can further communicate mapping information, a reference signal, or delay related to a linear combination in order to identify antenna ports. Based on such communicated information, the reference signal can be decoded in order to identify each antenna port.

Claims

1. A method used in a wireless communications system, comprising:

identifying at least two groups of user equipment (UEs);

signaling a different number of antenna ports to the least two groups of UEs;

creating a number of antenna ports for each group of UEs, wherein each antenna port corresponds to a linear combination of a subset of a number of physical transmit antennas and the number of created antenna ports is the number of antenna ports signaled to that group of UEs, and wherein the linear combination employed for different antenna ports for a particular group of UEs is linearly independent; and

transmitting a first reference signal for each of the antenna ports signaled to a first group of UEs using the linearly independent combination of transmit antennas associated with each antenna port for the first group of UEs and transmitting a second reference signal for each of the antenna ports signaled to a second group of UEs using the linearly independent combination of transmit antennas associated with each antenna port for the second group of UEs,

wherein the first group of UEs comprises at least one non-legacy UE and the second group of UEs comprises at least one legacy UE, wherein the first group of UEs supports a greater number of antenna ports than the second group of UEs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein some of the antenna ports for different groups of UEs are the same.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the linear combination is chosen to convert transmit diversity to frequency diversity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the linear combination is frequency dependent.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the linear combination is cyclic delay diversity (CDD).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the linear combination employed for different antenna ports for a particular group of UEs are linearly independent.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a linear combination of the antenna ports corresponding to the first group of UEs with a larger number of signaled antenna ports is used as an antenna port for the second group of UEs with a smaller number of antenna ports.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising communicating the linear combination and delay to the first group of UEs.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting at least one of the reference signals, Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ Channel (PHICH), and Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and PDSCH to one of the groups of UEs using the antenna ports previously signaled to the second group of UEs.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, to one of the groups of UEs using the antenna ports previously signaled to the other group of UEs.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising one of the groups of UEs providing feedback to a base station, wherein the feedback is related to at least one channel quality conditions for the antenna ports previously signaled only to a subset of one of the other groups of UEs.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

scheduling transmission to an UE on Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) resources that are frequency distributed; and

transmitting PDSCH to a UE using the antenna ports corresponding to one of the groups of UEs to which the UE belongs.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the second reference signal relates to at least one corresponding antenna ports previously signaled to one of the groups of UEs.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the transmitted reference signal to different groups of UEs have different patterns, different tone density per resource block and different periodicity.

15. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

identify at least two groups of user equipment (UEs);

signal a different number of antenna ports to the least two groups of UEs;

create a number of antenna ports for each group of UEs, wherein each antenna port corresponds to a linear combination of a subset of a number of physical transmit antennas and the number of created antenna ports is the number of antenna ports signaled to that group of UEs, and wherein the linear combination employed for different antenna ports for a particular group of UEs is linearly independent; and

transmit a first reference signal for each of the antenna ports signaled to a first group of UEs using the linearly independent combination of transmit antennas associated with each antenna port for the first group of UEs and transmitting a second reference signal for each of the antenna ports signaled to a second group of UEs using the linearly independent combination of transmit antennas associated with each antenna port for the second group of UEs, wherein the first group of UEs comprises at least one non-legacy UE and the second group of UEs comprises at least one legacy UE, wherein the first group of UEs supports a greater number of antenna ports than the second group of UEs; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

16. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein some of the antenna ports for different groups of UEs are the same.

17. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the linear combination is chosen to convert transmit diversity to frequency diversity.

18. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the linear combination is frequency dependent.

19. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the linear combination is cyclic delay diversity (CDD).

20. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the linear combination employed for different antenna ports created for a particular group of UEs are linearly independent.

21. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein a linear combination of the antenna ports corresponding the first group of UEs with a larger number of advertised antenna ports is used as an antenna port for the second group of UEs with a smaller number of antenna ports.

22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to communicate the linear combination and delay to the first group of UEs.

23. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit at least one of the reference signals, Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ Channel (PHICH), and Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and PDSCH to one of the groups of UEs using the antenna ports previously signaled to the second group of UEs.

24. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, to one of the groups of UEs using the antenna ports previously signaled to the other group of UEs.

25. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide feedback from one of the groups of UEs, wherein the feedback is related to at least one channel quality conditions for the antenna ports previously signaled only to a subset of one of the other groups of UEs.

26. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

schedule transmission to an UE on Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) resources that are frequency distributed; and

transmit PDSCH to a UE using the antenna ports corresponding to one of the groups of UEs to which the UE belongs.

27. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second reference signal relates to at least one corresponding antenna ports previously signaled to one of the groups of UEs.

28. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 27, wherein the reference signals transmitted to different groups of UEs have different patterns, different tone density per resource block and different periodicity.

29. A wireless communications apparatus that optimizes configuration of transmit antennas, comprising:

means for identifying at least two groups of user equipment (UEs);

means for signaling a different number of antenna ports to the least two groups of UEs;

means for creating a number of antenna ports for each group of UEs, wherein each antenna port corresponds to a linear combination of a subset of a number of physical transmit antennas and the number of created antenna ports is the number of antenna ports signaled to that group of UEs, and wherein the linear combination employed for different antenna ports for a particular group of UEs is linearly independent; and

means for transmitting a first reference signal for each of the antenna ports signaled to a first group of UEs using the linearly independent combination of transmit antennas associated with each antenna port for the first group of UEs and transmitting a second reference signal for each of the antenna ports signaled to a second group of UEs using the linearly independent combination of transmit antennas associated with each antenna port for the second group of UEs, wherein the first group of UEs comprises at least one non-legacy UE and the second group of UEs comprises at least one legacy UE, wherein the first group of UEs supports a greater number of antenna ports than the second group of UEs.

30. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, wherein some of the antenna ports for different groups of UEs are the same.

31. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, wherein the linear combination is chosen to convert transmit diversity to frequency diversity.

32. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, wherein the linear combination is frequency dependent.

33. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, wherein the linear combination is cyclic delay diversity (CDD).

34. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, wherein the linear combination employed for different antenna ports created for a particular group of UEs are linearly independent.

35. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, wherein a linear combination of the antenna ports corresponding the first group of UEs with a larger number of advertised antenna ports is used as an antenna port for the second group of UEs with a smaller number of antenna ports.

36. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 35, further comprising means for communicating the linear combination and delay to the first group of UEs.

37. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, further comprising means for transmitting at least one of the reference signals, Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ Channel (PHICH), and Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and PDSCH to one of the groups of UEs using the antenna ports previously signaled to the second group of UEs.

38. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, further comprising means for sending PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, to one of the groups of UEs using the antenna ports previously signaled to the other group of UEs.

39. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, further comprising means for providing feedback from one of the groups of UEs, wherein the feedback is related to at least one channel quality conditions for the antenna ports previously signaled only to a subset of one of the other groups of UEs.

40. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, further comprising:

means for scheduling transmission to an UE on Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) resources that are frequency distributed; and

means for transmitting PDSCH to a UE using the antenna ports corresponding to one of the groups of UEs to which the UE belongs.

41. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, wherein the second reference signal relates to at least one corresponding antenna ports previously signaled to one of the groups of UEs.

42. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 41, wherein the reference signals transmitted to different groups of UEs have different patterns, different tone density per resource block and different periodicity.

43. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to identify at least two groups of user equipment (UEs);

code for causing at least one computer to signal a different number of antenna ports to the least two groups of UEs;

code for causing at least one computer to create a number of antenna ports for each group of UEs, wherein each antenna port corresponds to a linear combination of a subset of a number of physical transmit antennas and the number of created antenna ports is the number of antenna ports signaled to that group of UEs, and wherein the linear combination employed for different antenna ports for a particular group of UEs is linearly independent; and

code for causing at least one computer to transmit a first reference signal for each of the antenna ports signaled to a first group of UEs using the linearly independent combination of transmit antennas associated with each antenna port for the first group of UEs and transmitting a second reference signal for each of the antenna ports signaled to a second group of UEs using the linearly independent combination of transmit antennas associated with each antenna port for the second group of UEs, wherein the first group of UEs comprises at least one non-legacy UE and the second group of UEs comprises at least one legacy UE, wherein the first group of UEs supports a greater number of antenna ports than the second group of UEs.

44. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein some of the antenna ports for different groups of UEs are the same.

45. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the linear combination is chosen to convert transmit diversity to frequency diversity.

46. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the linear combination is frequency dependent.

47. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the linear combination is cyclic delay diversity (CDD).

48. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the linear combination employed for different antenna ports created for a particular group of UEs are linearly independent.

49. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein a linear combination of the antenna ports corresponding the first group of UEs with a larger number of advertised antenna ports is used as an antenna port for the second group of UEs with a smaller number of antenna ports.

50. The computer program product of claim 49, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing at least one computer to communicate the linear combination and delay to the first group of UEs.

51. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing at least one computer to transmit at least one of the reference signals, Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ Channel (PHICH), and Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and PDSCH to one of the groups of UEs using the antenna ports previously signaled to the second group of UEs.

52. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing at least one computer to send PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, to one of the groups of UEs using the antenna ports previously signaled to the other group of UEs.

53. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing at least one computer to provide feedback from one of the groups of UEs, wherein the feedback is related to at least one channel quality conditions for the antenna ports previously signaled only to a subset of one of the other groups of UEs.

54. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises:

code for causing at least one computer to schedule transmission to an UE on Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) resources that are frequency distributed; and

code for causing at least one computer to transmit PDSCH to a UE using the antenna ports corresponding to one of the groups of UEs to which the UE belongs.

55. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the second reference signal relates to at least one corresponding antenna ports previously signaled to one of the groups of UEs.

56. The computer program product of claim 54, wherein the reference signals transmitted to different groups of UEs have different patterns, different tone density per resource block and different periodicity.

57. A method used in a wireless communications system, comprising:

identifying a group of legacy user equipments (UEs) and a group of non-legacy UEs;

signaling a different number of antenna ports to the group of legacy UEs and the group of non-legacy UEs;

creating a number of antenna ports for each group of UEs, wherein each antenna port corresponds to a linear combination of a subset of a number of physical transmit antennas and the number of created antenna ports is the number of antenna ports signaled to that group of UEs, and wherein the linear combination employed for different antenna ports for a particular group of UEs is linearly independent; and

transmitting a first reference signal for each of the antenna ports signaled to the group of non-legacy UEs using the linearly independent combination of transmit antennas associated with each antenna port for the group of non-legacy UEs and transmitting a second reference signal for each of the antenna ports signaled to the group of legacy UEs using the linearly independent combination of transmit antennas associated with each antenna port for the group of legacy UEs;

wherein the first group of UEs comprises at least one non-legacy UE and the second group of UEs comprises at least one legacy UE, wherein the first group of UEs supports a greater number of antenna ports than the second group of UEs.