Control and data channels for advanced relay operation

• US 8,929,303 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2010
• Issued: 01/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Wang, Yan, Zhang, Jianzhong, Cho, Joonyoung, Han, Jin-kyu
• Primary Examiner(s): LAMONT, BENJAMIN S
• Application Number:
  US12/732,547
• Publication Number:
  US 20100281323A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,747 Days
• Field of Search: 370/315, 370/329
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15507 Relay station based processing for cell extension or control of coverage area, network planning with network coordinated processing with regard to cell extension H04W16/26; network topologies using dedicated repeater stations H04W84/047; terminal devices adapted for relaying to or from an other terminal H04W88/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2606 Arrangements for base station coverage control, e.g. by using relays in tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/26 Cell enhancers or enhancement, e.g. for tunnels, building shadow
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

A relay station in a wireless communication system is configured to relay communications between the base station and a plurality of subscriber stations. The relay station includes at least one antenna configured to transmit and receive data and control information. The relay station also includes a controller coupled to the antenna. The controller is configured to transmit control information to a subscriber station during a first set of symbols in a relay station to subscriber station (RS-to-SS) subframe. The controller also switches the antenna to a receive mode; and receives control information during a second set of symbols in the RS-to-SS subframe.

Claims

1. A method of receiving control information from a base station by a relay station in a communication system, the method comprising:

receiving symbol information of a downlink subframe through which downlink control information for the relay station is received;

receiving the downlink control information for the relay station according to the symbol information,

wherein the downlink subframe includes a first slot and a second slot and the symbol information includes a location within the first slot of a starting symbol at which the downlink control information in the first slot begins and a location within the second slot of an ending symbol at which the downlink control information in the second slot terminates,

wherein the location of the ending symbol within the second slot is based upon whether subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned with each other, and

wherein the location of the ending symbol is a seventh symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are not aligned with each other.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the starting symbol is a fourth symbol of the first slot.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the ending symbol is a sixth symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned with each other.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the downlink control information for the relay station is received through a relay physical downlink control channel (R-PDCCH).

5. The method of one of claim 1, wherein the downlink subframe comprises a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframe.

6. A method of receiving control information from a base station by a relay station in a communication system, the method comprising:

receiving symbol information of a downlink subframe through which downlink control information for the relay station is received;

receiving the downlink control information for the relay station according to the symbol information,

wherein the downlink subframe includes a first slot and a second slot and the symbol information includes a location within the first slot of a first symbol at which receiving of the downlink control information begins and a location within the second slot of a second symbol at which receiving of the downlink control information terminates, and

wherein the second symbol is a sixth symbol of the second slot when subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned to each other, and is a seventh symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are not aligned to each other.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

transmitting downlink control information for a mobile station to the mobile station by the relay station in the downlink subframe,

wherein the downlink control information for the mobile station is transmitted during first to third symbols of the first slot.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the location of the first symbol is determined by a system bandwidth and the system bandwidth is larger than 10 resource blocks.

9. A relay station configured to receive control information from a base station in a communication system, the relay station comprising:

one or more antennas configured to transmit and receive downlink control information; and

a controller coupled to the one or more antennas, the controller configured to receive symbol information of a downlink subframe through which downlink control information for the relay station is received and to receive the downlink control information for the relay station according to the symbol information,

wherein the downlink subframe includes a first slot and a second slot and the symbol information includes a location within the first slot of a starting symbol at which the downlink control information for the relay station within the first slot begins and a location of an ending symbol at which the downlink control information for the relay station within the second slot terminates,

wherein the location of the ending symbol within the second slot is based upon whether subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned with each other, and

wherein the location of the ending symbol is a seventh symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are not aligned with each other.

10. The relay station of claim 9, wherein the location of the starting symbol is a fourth symbol of the first slot.

11. The relay station of claim 9, wherein the location of the ending symbol is a sixth symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned with each other.

12. The relay station of claim 9, wherein the downlink control information for the relay station is received through a relay physical downlink control channel (R-PDCCH) at a predetermined symbol of the downlink subframe.

13. The relay station of claim 9, wherein the downlink subframe comprises a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframe.

14. A relay station configured to receive control information from a base station in a communication system, the relay station comprising:

one or more antennas configured to transmit and receive downlink control information; and

a controller coupled to the one or more antennas, the controller configured to control transmission and reception of the downlink control information,

wherein the controller is configured to receive symbol information of a downlink subframe through which downlink control information for the relay station is received and to receive the downlink control information for the relay station according to the symbol information,

wherein the downlink subframe includes a first slot and a second slot and the symbol information includes a location of a first symbol of the first slot at which receiving of the downlink control information begins and a location of a second symbol of the second slot at which receiving of the downlink control information terminates, and wherein the second symbol is a sixth symbol of the second slot when subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned to each other, and is a seventh symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are not aligned to each other.

15. The relay station of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to control the relay station to transmit downlink control information for a mobile station to the mobile station in the downlink subframe,

wherein the downlink control information for the mobile station is transmitted during first to third symbols of the first slot.

16. The relay station of claim 15, wherein the location of the first symbol is determined by a system bandwidth and the system bandwidth is larger than 10 resource blocks.

17. A method of transmitting control information to a relay station by a base station in a communication system, the method comprising:

transmitting symbol location information of a downlink subframe through which downlink control information for the relay station will be transmitted;

transmitting the downlink control information for the relay station according to the symbol location information,

wherein the downlink subframe includes a first slot and a second slot and the symbol location information includes a location within the first slot of a starting symbol at which the downlink control information in the first slot begins and a location within the second slot of an ending symbol at which the downlink control information in the second slot terminates,

wherein the location of the ending symbol within the second slot is based upon whether subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned with each other, and

wherein the location of the ending symbol is a seventh symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are not aligned with each other.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the location of the starting symbol is a fourth symbol of the first slot.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the location of the ending symbol is a sixth symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned with each other.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the downlink control information for the relay station is received through a relay physical downlink control channel (R-PDCCH).

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the downlink subframe comprises a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframe.

22. A method of transmitting control information to a relay station by a base station in a communication system, the method comprising:

transmitting symbol location information of a downlink subframe through which downlink control information for the relay station will be transmitted;

transmitting the downlink control information for the relay station according to the symbol location information,

wherein the downlink subframe includes a first slot and a second slot and the symbol location information includes a location of a first symbol of the first slot at which receiving of the downlink control information begins and a location of a second symbol of the second slot at which receiving of the downlink control information terminates, and

wherein the second symbol is a sixth symbol of the second slot when subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned to each other, and is a seventh symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are not aligned to each other.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the location of the first symbol is determined by a system bandwidth and the system bandwidth is larger than 10 resource blocks.

24. A base station configured to transmit control information to a relay station in a communication system, the base station comprising:

a controller configured to determine symbol location information of a downlink subframe through which downlink control information for the relay station will be transmitted; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the symbol location information to the relay station and to transmit the downlink control information for the relay station according to the symbol location information,

wherein the downlink subframe includes a first slot and a second slot and the symbol location information includes a location within the first slot of a starting symbol at which the downlink control information in the first slot begins and a location within the second slot of an ending symbol at which the downlink control information in the second slot terminates,

wherein the location of the ending symbol within the second slot is based upon whether subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned with each other, and

wherein the location of the ending symbol is a seventh symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are not aligned with each other.

25. The base station of claim 24, wherein the location of the starting symbol is a fourth symbol of the first slot.

26. The base station of claim 24, wherein the location of the ending symbol is a sixth symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned with each other.

27. The relay station of claim 24, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the downlink control information for the relay station through a relay physical downlink control channel (R-PDCCH).

28. The relay station of claim 24, wherein the downlink subframe comprises a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframe.

29. A base station configured to transmit control information to a relay station in a communication system, the base station comprising:

a controller configured to determine symbol location information of a downlink subframe through which downlink control information for the relay station will be transmitted; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the symbol location information to the relay station and to transmit the downlink control information for the relay station according to the symbol location information,

wherein the downlink subframe includes a first slot and a second slot and the symbol location information includes a location of a first symbol of the first slot at which receiving of the downlink control information begins and a location of a second symbol of the second slot at which receiving of the downlink control information terminates, and

wherein the second symbol is the sixth symbol of the second slot when subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned to each other, and is the seventh symbol of the second slot when subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are not aligned to each other.

30. The base station of claim 29, wherein the location of the first symbol is determined by a system bandwidth and the system bandwidth is larger than 10 resource blocks.

31. A communication system, comprising:

at least one base station; and

at least one relay station configured to relay communication between the at least one base station and a plurality of mobile stations,

wherein the relay station includes one or more antennas configured to transmit and receive data and downlink control information, and a controller coupled to the one or more antennas is configured to control transmission and reception of the downlink control information,

wherein the controller is configured to receive symbol information of a downlink subframe through which downlink control information for the relay station is received and to receive the downlink control information for the relay station according to the symbol information, and

wherein the downlink subframe includes a first slot and a second slot and the symbol information includes a location within the first slot of a starting symbol at which the downlink control information in the first slot begins and a location within the second slot of an ending symbol at which the downlink control information in the second slot terminates,

wherein the location of the ending symbol within the second slot is based upon whether subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned with each other, and

wherein the location of the ending symbol is a seventh symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are not aligned with each other.

32. The communication system of claim 31, wherein the location of the starting symbol is a fourth symbol of the first slot.

33. The communication system of claim 31, wherein the location of the ending symbol is a sixth symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned with each other.

34. The communication system of claim 33, wherein the downlink control information for the relay station is received through a relay physical downlink control channel (R-PDCCH).

35. The communication system of claim 31, wherein the downlink subframe comprises a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframe.

36. A communication system, comprising:

at least one base station; and

at least one relay station configured to relay communication between the at least one base station and a plurality of mobile stations,

wherein the relay station includes one or more antennas configured to transmit and receive data and downlink control information, and a controller coupled to the one or more antennas is configured to control transmission and reception of the downlink control information,

wherein the controller is configured to receive symbol information of a downlink subframe through which downlink control information for the relay station is received and to receive the downlink control information for the relay station according to the symbol information,

wherein the downlink subframe includes a first slot and a second slot and the symbol information includes a location of a first symbol of the first slot at which receiving of the downlink control information begins and a location of a second symbol of the second slot at which receiving of the downlink control information terminates, and

wherein the second symbol is the sixth symbol of the second slot when subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are aligned to each other, and is the seventh symbol of the second slot when the subframe boundaries of the base station and the relay station are not aligned to each other.

37. The communication system of claim 36, wherein the controller is configured to control the relay station to transmit downlink control information for a mobile station to the mobile station in the downlink subframe,

wherein the downlink control information for the mobile station is transmitted during first to third symbols of the first slot.

38. The communication system of claim 37, wherein the location of the first symbol is determined by a system bandwidth and the system bandwidth is larger than 10 resource blocks.