Control signaling and resource mapping for coordinated transmission

• US 8,902,842 B1
• Filed: 01/09/2013
• Issued: 12/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Marvell Asia Pte Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Original Assignee: Marvell International Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Inventors: Gomadam, Krishna Srikanth, Choi, Jihwan P., Sun, Yakun
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, David Q
• Application Number:
  US13/736,959
• Time in Patent Office: 692 Days
• Field of Search: 370/329, 370/255, 370/254, 370/341, 370/330, 370/338
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/024 Co-operative use of antennas of several sites, e.g. in co-ordinated multipoint or co-operative multiple-input multiple-output [MIMO] systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0023 Time-frequency-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0035 Resource allocation in a cooperative multipoint environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/005 of common pilots, i.e. pilots destined for multiple users or terminals
• 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 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated

Abstract

A method includes receiving in a mobile communication terminal signals from a group of cells that cooperate in a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) transmission scheme. Signaling information is received from a first cell in the group. The signaling information is indicative of a first pattern of time-frequency Resource Elements (REs) used by the first cell for transmitting reference signals, and is further indicative of a second pattern of the REs used by a second cell in the group for transmitting the reference signals. A third pattern of the REs, which are available for receiving data from the cells, is derived in the terminal from the signaling information that is indicative of the first and second patterns. The data from the cells is received in the terminal in one or more of the REs in the third pattern.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

in a mobile communication terminal, receiving signals from a group of cells that cooperate in a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) transmission scheme;

receiving, from a first cell in the group, signaling information which is indicative of a first pattern of time-frequency Resource Elements (REs) used by the first cell for transmitting reference signals, and is further indicative of a second pattern of the REs used by a second cell in the group for transmitting the reference signals;

deriving in the terminal from the signaling information, which is indicative of the first and second patterns, a third pattern of the REs that are available for receiving data from the cells, including omitting from the third pattern at least one RE that the signaling information indicates should be skipped; and

receiving in the terminal the data from the cells in one or more of the REs in the third pattern.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the signaling information comprises receiving an indication of a time-frequency shift of the second pattern, and wherein deriving the third pattern comprises determining the third pattern based on the shift.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the signaling information comprises receiving an indication of a number of symbols used by the second cell for transmitting a control channel prior to the second pattern, and wherein deriving the third pattern comprises determining the third pattern based on the indication.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the signaling information comprises receiving a list of the cells in the group, or a measurement list of the cells in a measurement group over which the terminal is to perform signal measurements.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein deriving the third pattern comprises including in the third pattern only the REs that do not belong to any of the first and second patterns.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein deriving the third pattern comprises selecting, based on the signaling information, a subset of the REs in which to receive the data from the cells in a given CoMP mode.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the signaling information comprises receiving one or more of a dynamic signaling and a semi-static signaling.

8. A method, comprising:

in a mobile communication terminal, receiving signals from a group of cells that cooperate in a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) transmission scheme;

receiving, from a first cell in the group, signaling information which is indicative of a first pattern of time-frequency Resource Elements (REs) used by the first cell for transmitting reference signals, and is further indicative of a second pattern of the REs used by a second cell in the group for transmitting the reference signals, including receiving an index that enumerates multiple possible combinations of the first and second patterns;

based on the index, deriving in the terminal from the signaling information, which is indicative of the first and second patterns, a third pattern of the REs that are available for receiving data from the cells; and

receiving in the terminal the data from the cells in one or more of the REs in the third pattern.

9. A method, comprising:

in a mobile communication terminal, receiving signals from a group of cells that cooperate in a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) transmission scheme;

receiving, from a first cell in the group, signaling information which is indicative of a first pattern of time-frequency Resource Elements (REs) used by the first cell for transmitting reference signals, and is further indicative of a second pattern of the REs used by a second cell in the group for transmitting the reference signals;

deriving in the terminal from the signaling information, which is indicative of the first and second patterns, a third pattern of the REs that are available for receiving data from the cells, including omitting from the third pattern the REs of a given symbol upon detecting that the first cell or the second cell transmit one or more of the reference signals in the given symbol; and

receiving in the terminal the data from the cells in one or more of the REs in the third pattern.

10. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a transceiver, which is configured to receive signals from a group of cells that cooperate in a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) transmission scheme, and to receive, from a first cell in the group, signaling information which is indicative of a first pattern of time-frequency Resource Elements (REs) used by the first cell for transmitting reference signals, and is further indicative of a second pattern of the REs used by a second cell in the group for transmitting the reference signals; and

a processor, which is configured to derive from the signaling information that is indicative of the first and second patterns, signaled by the first cell, a third pattern of the REs that are available for receiving in the transceiver data from the cells, and to control the transceiver to receive the data from the cells over one or more of the REs in the third pattern,

wherein the transceiver is configured to receive in the signaling information an indication of at least one RE that is to be skipped in derivation of the third pattern, and wherein the processor is configured to omit the at least one RE from the third pattern.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive in the signaling information an indication of a time-frequency shift of the second pattern, and wherein the processor is configured to derive the third pattern based on the shift.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive in the signaling information an indication of a number of symbols used by the second cell for transmitting a control channel prior to the second pattern, and wherein the processor is configured to derive the third pattern based on the indication.

13. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive in the signaling information a list of the cells in the group, or a measurement list of the cells in a measurement group over which the terminal is to perform signal measurements.

14. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to include in the third pattern only the REs that do not belong to any of the first and second patterns.

15. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to select, based on the signaling information, a subset of the REs in which to receive the data from the cells in a given CoMP mode.

16. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive the signaling information in one or more of a dynamic signaling and a semi-static signaling.

17. A mobile communication terminal comprising the communication apparatus of claim 10.

18. A chipset for processing signals in a mobile communication terminal, comprising the communication apparatus of claim 10.

19. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a transceiver, which is configured to receive signals from a group of cells that cooperate in a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) transmission scheme, and to receive, from a first cell in the group, signaling information which is indicative of a first pattern of time-frequency Resource Elements (REs) used by the first cell for transmitting reference signals, and is further indicative of a second pattern of the REs used by a second cell in the group for transmitting the reference signals, wherein the signaling information comprises an index that enumerates multiple possible combinations of the first and second patterns; and

a processor, which is configured to derive, based on the index, from the signaling information that is indicative of the first and second patterns, signaled by the first cell, a third pattern of the REs that are available for receiving in the transceiver data from the cells, and to control the transceiver to receive the data from the cells over one or more of the REs in the third pattern.

20. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a transceiver, which is configured to receive signals from a group of cells that cooperate in a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) transmission scheme, and to receive, from a first cell in the group, signaling information which is indicative of a first pattern of time-frequency Resource Elements (REs) used by the first cell for transmitting reference signals, and is further indicative of a second pattern of the REs used by a second cell in the group for transmitting the reference signals, wherein the signaling information comprises; and

a processor, which is configured to derive from the signaling information that is indicative of the first and second patterns, signaled by the first cell, a third pattern of the REs that are available for receiving in the transceiver data from the cells, to omit from the third pattern the REs of a given symbol upon detecting that the first cell or the second cell transmit one or more of the reference signals in the given symbol, and to control the transceiver to receive the data from the cells over one or more of the REs in the third pattern.