Method and apparatus for transmitting control information via upper layer

• US 8,897,266 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2010
• Issued: 11/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Gheorghiu, Valentin Alexandru, Palanki, Ravi
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Huy D
• Assistant Examiner(s): HALL, TEISHA DANEA
• Application Number:
  US12/729,765
• Publication Number:
  US 20100246518A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,708 Days
• Field of Search: 370/335
• US Class Current: 370/332
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0028 Formatting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0073 Special arrangements for feedback channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1607 Details of the supervisory signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1861 Physical mapping arrangements for ACK signaling see also H04L5/0053
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols

Abstract

Techniques for supporting communication for wireless devices in a wireless network are described. The wireless network may support transmission of control information on a first physical channel having a first minimum SNR for reliable reception. Some wireless devices may require operation at a lower SNR. In an aspect, low SNR operation may be supported by transmitting control information for a lower layer (e.g., Layer 1 or 2) in a protocol stack via an upper layer (e.g., Layer 3) in the protocol stack. This transmission scheme may allow the control information to be transmitted on a second physical channel instead of the first physical channel normally used to transmit the control information. The second physical channel may have a lower minimum SNR than the first minimum SNR. This transmission scheme may also allow the control information to be transmitted multiple times to improve reliability.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

obtaining control information for a lower layer in a protocol stack;

determining whether to transmit the control information via the lower layer or an upper layer in the protocol stack based on a category of a wireless device transmitting or receiving the control information; and

transmitting the control information via the upper layer in the protocol stack in response to a determination to transmit the control information via the upper layer,

wherein the control information is sent on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is sent on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer, and wherein the first physical channel has a first minimum signal-to-noise ratio and the second physical channel has a second minimum signal-to-noise ratio that is lower than the first minimum signal-to-noise ratio.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the lower layer corresponds to physical layer or link layer, and wherein the upper layer corresponds to Layer 3.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the category of the wireless device is determined based at least on a signal-to-noise ratio requirement of the wireless device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first physical channel is sent in a first region of a subframe and the second physical channel is sent in a second region of the subframe.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information is sent in a single instance of the first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is sent in one or more instances of the second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information comprises acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement information, or channel quality indicator information, or a scheduling request, or a grant, or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting or receiving data via the lower layer based on the control information transmitted via the upper layer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information is transmitted by a base station on downlink to control data transmission on the downlink to the wireless device or to control data transmission on uplink by the wireless device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information is transmitted by the wireless device on uplink to control data transmission on downlink by a base station.

10. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for obtaining control information for a lower layer in a protocol stack;

means for determining whether to transmit the control information via the lower layer or an upper layer in the protocol stack based on a category of a wireless device transmitting or receiving the control information; and

means for transmitting the control information via the upper layer in the protocol stack in response to a determination to transmit the control information via the upper layer,

wherein the control information is sent on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is sent on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer, and wherein the first physical channel has a first minimum signal-to-noise ratio and the second physical channel has a second minimum signal-to-noise ratio that is lower than the first minimum signal-to-noise ratio.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the category of the wireless device is determined based at least on a signal-to-noise ratio requirement of the wireless device.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first physical channel is sent in a first region of a subframe and the second physical channel is sent in a second region of the subframe.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the control information is sent in a single instance of the first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is sent in one or more instances of the second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer.

14. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

obtain control information for a lower layer in a protocol stack,

determine whether to transmit the control information via the lower layer or an upper layer in the protocol stack based on a category of a wireless device transmitting or receiving the control information, and

transmit the control information via the upper layer in the protocol stack in response to a determination to transmit the control information via the upper layer,

wherein the control information is sent on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is sent on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer, and wherein the first physical channel has a first minimum signal-to-noise ratio and the second physical channel has a second minimum signal-to-noise ratio that is lower than the first minimum signal-to-noise ratio.

15. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to obtain control information for a lower layer in a protocol stack,

code for causing the at least one computer to determine whether to transmit the control information via the lower layer or an upper layer in the protocol stack based on a category of a wireless device transmitting or receiving the control information; and

code for causing the at least one computer to transmit the control information via the upper layer in the protocol stack in response to a determination to transmit the control information via the upper layer,

wherein the control information is sent on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is sent on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer, and wherein the first physical channel has a first minimum signal-to-noise ratio and the second physical channel has a second minimum signal-to-noise ratio that is lower than the first minimum signal-to-noise ratio.

16. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

receiving control information for a lower layer of a protocol stack via an upper layer of the protocol stack, wherein the control information is received on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is received on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer, and wherein the first physical channel has a first minimum signal-to-noise ratio and the second physical channel has a second minimum signal-to-noise ratio that is lower than the first minimum signal-to-noise ratio; and

controlling data transmission via the lower layer based on the control information received via the upper layer.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the controlling data transmission comprises determining whether to send another transmission of a transport block based on acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement information obtained from the control information.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the controlling data transmission comprises determining a rate for data transmission via the lower layer based on channel quality indicator information obtained from the control information.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the controlling data transmission comprises scheduling data transmission via the lower layer based on a scheduling request obtained from the control information.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the controlling data transmission comprises transmitting or receiving data via the lower layer based on a grant obtained from the control information.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the control information is received in a first region of a subframe if transmitted via the lower layer and is received in a second region of the subframe if transmitted via the upper layer.

22. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving control information for a lower layer of a protocol stack via an upper layer of the protocol stack, wherein the control information is received on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is received on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer, and wherein the first physical channel has a first minimum signal-to-noise ratio and the second physical channel has a second minimum signal-to-noise ratio that is lower than the first minimum signal-to-noise ratio; and

means for controlling data transmission via the lower layer based on the control information received via the upper layer.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for controlling data transmission comprises means for determining whether to send another transmission of a transport block based on acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement information obtained from the control information.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for controlling data transmission comprises means for determining a rate for data transmission via the lower layer based on channel quality indicator information obtained from the control information.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for controlling data transmission comprises means for scheduling data transmission via the lower layer based on a scheduling request obtained from the control information.

26. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to receive control information for a lower layer of a protocol stack via an upper layer of the protocol stack, and to control data transmission via the lower layer based on the control information received via the upper layer, wherein the control information is received on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is received on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer, and wherein the first physical channel has a first minimum signal-to-noise ratio and the second physical channel has a second minimum signal-to-noise ratio that is lower than the first minimum signal-to-noise ratio.

27. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to receive control information for a lower layer of a protocol stack via an upper layer of the protocol stack, wherein the control information is received on a first physical channel if transmitted via the lower layer and is received on a second physical channel if transmitted via the upper layer, and wherein the first physical channel has a first minimum signal-to-noise ratio and the second physical channel has a second minimum signal-to-noise ratio that is lower than the first minimum signal-to-noise ratio, and

code for causing the at least one computer to control data transmission via the lower layer based on the control information received via the upper layer.

28. A method implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

determining, via the apparatus, a category of a wireless device based at least on a signal-to-noise ratio requirement of the wireless device, wherein the category of the wireless device is one of a plurality of categories associated with a plurality of signal-to-noise ratio requirements, and wherein each category of the plurality of categories is associated with a respective set of at least one protocol to use for wireless devices in said each category;

determining, via the apparatus, a plurality of possible protocols available for a protocol stack of the wireless device; and

determining, via the apparatus, at least one protocol to use for the wireless device, from among the plurality of possible protocols available for the protocol stack of the wireless device, based on the category of the wireless device.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the category of the wireless device is associated with relaxed reliability and delay requirements, and wherein the at least one protocol comprises User Datagram Protocol.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the category of the wireless device is associated with more stringent reliability and delay requirements, and wherein the at least one protocol comprises Transmission Control Protocol.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

determining whether to use data compression for the wireless device based on the category of the wireless device.

32. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for determining a category of a wireless device based at least on a signal-to-noise ratio requirement of the wireless device, wherein the category of the wireless device is one of a plurality of categories associated with a plurality of signal-to-noise ratio requirements, and wherein each category of the plurality of categories is associated with a respective set of at least one protocol to use for wireless devices in said each category;

means for determining a plurality of possible protocols available for a protocol stack of the wireless device; and

means for determining at least one protocol to use for the wireless device, from among the plurality of possible protocols available for the protocol stack of the wireless device, based on the category of the wireless device.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the at least one protocol comprises User Datagram Protocol if the category of the wireless device is associated with relaxed reliability and delay requirements and comprises Transmission Control Protocol if the category of the wireless device is associated with more stringent reliability and delay requirements.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising:

means for determining whether to use data compression for the wireless device based on the category of the wireless device.

35. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

determine a category of a wireless device based at least on a signal-to-noise ratio requirement of the wireless device, wherein the category of the wireless device is one of a plurality of categories associated with a plurality of signal-to-noise ratio requirements, and wherein each category of the plurality of categories is associated with a respective set of at least one protocol to use for wireless devices in said each category,

determine a plurality of possible protocols available for a protocol stack of the wireless device, and

determine at least one protocol to use for the wireless device, from among the plurality of possible protocols available for the protocol stack of the wireless device, based on the category of the wireless device.

36. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to determine a category of a wireless device based at least on a signal-to-noise ratio requirement of the wireless device, wherein the category of the wireless device is one of a plurality of categories associated with a plurality of signal-to-noise ratio requirements, and wherein each category of the plurality of categories is associated with a respective set of at least one protocol to use for wireless devices in said each category,

code for causing the at least one computer to determine a plurality of possible protocols available for a protocol stack of the wireless device, and

code for causing the at least one computer to determine at least one protocol to use for the wireless device, from among the plurality of possible protocols available for the protocol stack of the wireless device, based on the category of the wireless device.