Multi-carrier communications with adaptive cluster configuration and switching

• US 8,767,702 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2013
• Issued: 07/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kaon Systems, Inc. (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Adaptix, Inc. (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Inventors: Li, Xiaodong, Liu, Hui, Zhang, Wenzhong, Li, Kemin
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Ayaz
• Assistant Examiner(s): AGA, SORI A
• Application Number:
  US13/801,788
• Publication Number:
  US 20130195061A1
• Time in Patent Office: 475 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/344
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/336 Signal-to-interference ratio [SIR] or carrier-to-interference ratio [CIR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/345 Interference values signal-to-interference ratio [SIR] or carrier-to-interference ratio [CIR] H04B17/336
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/00 Orthogonal multiplex systems, e.g. using WALSH codesH04J13/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/003 at the transmitter transmission to multiple receive units in multiple input multiple output [MIMO] H04B7/0452; transmit antenna weighting H04B7/0615
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/005 of intercell interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0003 by switching between different modulation schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0005 applied to payload information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0009 by adapting the channel coding H04L1/1812 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0011 applied to payload information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0025 Transmission of mode-switching indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0026 Transmission of channel quality indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0079 Formats for control data H04L1/16 takes precedence; training sequences H04L25/00 and H04L27/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/04 using frequency diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/0226 sounding signals per se
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/0228 with direct estimation from sounding signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2601 Multicarrier modulation systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2602 Signal structure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0032 Distributed allocation, i.e. involving a plurality of allocating devices, each making partial allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0035 : Resource allocation in a cooperative multipoint environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0037 : Inter-user or inter-terminal allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0042 : intra-user or intra-terminal allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0046 : Determination of how many bits are transmitted on different sub-channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 : Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/005 : of common pilots, i.e. pilots destined for multiple users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/006 : Quality of the received signal, e.g. BER, SNR, water filling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0064 : Rate requirement of the data, e.g. scalable bandwidth, data priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0073 : Allocation arrangements that take into account other cell interferences for intercell interference mitigation or co-ordination in orthogonal multiplex systems H04J11/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0082 : at predetermined intervals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 : Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/023 : Multiplexing of multicarrier modulation signals multicarrier modulation H04L27/2601
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 : Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 : Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 : Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 : Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 : in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 : using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 : using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/04 : Scheduled access hybrid access H04W74/02

Abstract

A method and apparatus for allocating subcarriers in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) system is described. In one embodiment, the method comprises allocating at least one diversity cluster of subcarriers to a first subscriber and allocating at least one coherence cluster to a second subscriber.

Claims

1. A method of allocating clusters, each of the clusters comprising a plurality of subcarriers, by a base station which communicates with a plurality of subscriber stations using multiple access technology in a cell, the method comprising:

allocating to a first subscriber station a diversity cluster to be used for a first data transmission to the first subscriber station by providing a first cluster identification, the allocated diversity cluster including a plurality of disjoint subcarriers; and

allocating to a second subscriber station a coherence cluster to be used for a second data transmission to the second subscriber station by providing a second cluster identification, the second data transmission to occur during the same time period as the first data transmission to the first subscriber station using the allocated diversity cluster, the allocated coherence cluster including only consecutive subcarriers.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the first subscriber station, feedback information on channel performance of the clusters of the subcarriers used in the cell.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the allocation of the diversity cluster is based on the feedback information received from the first subscriber station.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, from the second subscriber station, feedback information on channel performance of the clusters of the subcarriers used in the cell, the allocation of the coherence cluster being based on the feedback information received from the second subscriber station.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers of the allocated diversity cluster are spread farther apart than a coherence bandwidth of a respective channel.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the consecutive subcarriers of the allocated coherence cluster are within a coherence bandwidth of a respective channel.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

indicating a modulation and coding format to be used for the respective first and second data transmissions over the respective allocated diversity and coherence clusters.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

subsequently allocating to the first subscriber station a different cluster by providing a different cluster identification.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the different allocated cluster is a different allocated diversity cluster or a different allocated coherence cluster.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the different allocated diversity cluster has at least one subcarrier that is different from at least one subcarrier associated with the allocated diversity cluster.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the allocated diversity cluster includes a first set of subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers at a first time slot and a second set of subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers at a second time slot, the second time slot being immediately subsequent to the first time slot, the first set of the subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers being the same as the second set of the subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the allocated diversity cluster includes a first set of subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers at a first time slot and a second set of subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers at a second time slot, the second time slot being immediately subsequent to the first time slot, the first set of the subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers being different than the second set of the subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the allocated diversity cluster includes a first subcarrier of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers at a first time slot and not at a second time slot, a second subcarrier of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers at the second time slot and not at the first time slot, the second time slot being immediately subsequent to the first time slot, the first subcarrier of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers being different and disjoint from the second subcarrier of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

allocating an additional coherence cluster to the second subscriber station for use at the same time as the allocated coherence cluster; and

providing an additional coherence cluster identification to the second subscriber station, which specifies the additional allocated coherence cluster.

15. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the received feedback information from the first subscriber, prior to the allocation of the diversity cluster, is less than the received feedback information from the second subscriber, prior to the allocation of the coherence cluster.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of a plurality of subscriber stations of a first set are allocated one of a plurality of diversity clusters for use at the same time as each one of a plurality of coherence clusters that are allocated to each of a plurality of subscriber stations of a second set, the number of subscriber stations in the plurality of the subscriber stations of the first and second sets change at a later time, a corresponding ratio between the number of the allocated diversity clusters to the plurality of the subscriber stations of the first set and the number of the allocated coherence clusters to the plurality of the subscriber stations of the second set also change.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the plurality of the subscriber stations of the first set and the plurality of the subscriber stations of the second set are decided based on at least one of a location and a mobility.

18. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving signal to interference noise information regarding at least one cluster from the first subscriber;

analyzing a variation of the received signal to interference noise information regarding the at least one cluster from the first subscriber, the allocation to the first subscriber of the diversity cluster being based on the analyzed variation of the received signal to interference noise information from the first subscriber;

receiving signal to interference noise information regarding at least one cluster from the second subscriber; and

analyzing a variation of the received signal to interference noise information regarding the at least one cluster from the second subscriber, the allocation to the second subscriber of the coherence cluster being based on the analyzed variation of the received signal to interference noise information from the second subscribe.

19. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the base station determines a location of the plurality of the subscriber stations of the first set based on a strength of signals received from the plurality of the subscriber stations of the first set.

20. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the analyzed variation of the received signal to interference noise information of the allocated diversity cluster is higher than the analyzed variation of the received signal to interference noise information of the allocated coherence cluster, the analysis of the variation of the received signal to interference noise information of the at least one cluster from the first subscriber and of the at least one cluster from the second subscriber occurring over a moving window of time.

21. A base station that communicates with a plurality of subscriber stations using multiple access technology in a cell and allocates clusters, each of the clusters comprising a plurality of subcarriers, the base station comprising:

a controller configured to;

allocate, to a first subscriber station, a diversity cluster to be used for a first data transmission to the first subscriber station by providing a first cluster identification, the diversity cluster allocated by the controller including a plurality of disjoint subcarriers; and

allocate, to a second subscriber station, a coherence cluster to be used for a second data transmission to the second subscriber station by providing a second cluster identification, the second data transmission occurring during the same time period as the first data transmission to the first subscriber station using the allocated diversity cluster, the coherence cluster allocated by the controller including only consecutive subcarriers; and

receive/transmit circuitry configured to;

provide the first and the second subscriber stations with the respective first and second cluster identifications for the respective allocated diversity and coherence clusters.

22. The base station as claimed in claim 21, wherein the receive/transmit circuitry is further configured to receive feedback information on channel performance of the clusters of the subcarriers used in the cell, the feedback information being used for the allocations of the diversity and the coherence clusters.

23. The base station as claimed in claim 21, wherein the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers of the allocated diversity cluster is spread farther apart than a channel coherence bandwidth.

24. The base station as claimed in claim 21, wherein the consecutive subcarriers of the allocated coherence cluster are within a coherence bandwidth of a respective channel.

25. The base station as claimed in claim 21, wherein the controller is further configured to indicate a modulation and coding format to be used for the respective first and second data transmissions over the respective allocated diversity and coherence clusters.

26. The base station as claimed in claim 21, wherein the controller is further configured to subsequently allocate to the first subscriber a different cluster by providing a different cluster identification.

27. The base station as claimed in claim 26, wherein the different cluster allocated by the base station is a different allocated diversity cluster or a different allocated coherence cluster.

28. The base station as claimed in claim 21, wherein the allocated diversity cluster includes a first set of subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers at a first time slot and a second set of subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers at a second time slot, the second time slot being immediately subsequent to the first time slot, the first set of the subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers being the same as the second set of the subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers.

29. The base station as claimed in claim 21, wherein the allocated diversity cluster includes a first set of subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers at a first time slot and a second set of subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers at a second time slot, the second time slot being immediately subsequent to the first time slot, the first set of the subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers being different than the second set of the subcarriers of the plurality of the disjoint subcarriers.

30. The base station as claimed in claim 21, wherein the controller is further configured to:

allocate an additional coherence cluster to the second subscriber for use at the same time as the allocated coherence cluster; and

provide an additional coherence cluster identification to the second subscriber, which specifies the additional coherence cluster allocated by the base station.