Method and apparatus for control channel decoding in multi-node system

• US 9,781,704 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2012
• Issued: 10/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Park, Sung Ho, Chun, Jin Young, Kim, Ki Tae, Kim, Su Nam, Kang, Ji Won, Ihm, Bin Chul
• Primary Examiner(s): Mills, Donald
• Assistant Examiner(s): Baron, Henry
• Application Number:
  US14/353,466
• Publication Number:
  US 20140286285A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,806 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0025 Transmission of mode-switching indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0038 Blind format detection for detection of modulation format H04L27/0012
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/0008 arrangements for allowing a transmitter or receiver to use more than one type of modulation negotiating modulation type for two-way transmission paths H04L5/1453
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management

Abstract

Provided are a method and an apparatus for control channel decoding of a terminal in a multi-node system. The method sets a search space for searching a control channel and can perform the decoding by using different demodulation methods according to aggregation levels capable of constituting the control channel within the search space. In addition, the method determines the DCI format to be searched according to a transmission mode and can use different demodulation methods according to the determined DCI format. Furthermore, the method modulates DCI format to a first modulation degree when demodulating the DCI format, and can demodulate the DCI format to a second modulation degree when the DCI format is not detected.

Claims

1. A method of decoding a control channel of a user equipment (UE) in a multi-node system, the method comprising:

configuring a control channel, wherein the control channel is included within a data region of a control region, the control region including initial N orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols and the data region which includes remaining OFDM symbols in a subframe including a plurality of OFDM symbols,

wherein N is an integer having any one of the values from 0 to 4,

wherein the control channel is an enhanced physical downlink control channel (E-PDCCH);

decoding the E-PDCCH using a first aggregation level or a second aggregation level,

wherein the first aggregation level is used when the E-PDCCH is composed of one or two resource blocks, and the second aggregation level is used when the E-PDCCH is composed of 4 or 8 resource blocks,

wherein when the E-PDCCH is decoded with the first aggregation level, the E-PDCCH is demodulated by 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), and when the E-PDCCH is decoded with the second aggregation level, the E-PDCCH is demodulated by quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK),

wherein blind decoding is first performed on the E-PDCCH demodulated by 16QAM, and then blind decoding is performed on the E-PDCCH demodulated by QPSK,

wherein a configuration of each of multiple DCI formats is represented by the most significant bit (MSB) of an indicator when the E-PDCCH is demodulated by 16QAM, and

wherein if the MSB of the indicator has a first value, each of the multiple DCI formats is configured with a combination of a downlink (DL) grant and an uplink (UL) grant, and if the MSB of the indicator has a second value, each of the multiple DCI formats is configured with the DL grant or the UL grant.

2. A user equipment (UE) for decoding a control channel in a multi-node system, the UE comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) unit which transmits and receives a wireless signal; and

a processor connected to the RF unit,

wherein the processor;

configures a control channel,

wherein the control channel is included within a data region of a control region, the control region including initial N orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols and the data region which includes remaining OFDM symbols in a subframe including a plurality of OFDM symbols,

wherein N is an integer having any one of the values from 0 to 4,

wherein the control channel is an enhanced physical downlink control channel (E-PDCCH);

decodes the E-PDCCH using a first aggregation level or a second aggregation level,

wherein the first aggregation level is used when the E-PDCCH is composed of one or two resource blocks, and the second aggregation level is used when the E-PDCCH is composed of 4 or 8 resource blocks,

wherein when the E-PDCCH is decoded with the first aggregation level, the E-PDCCH is demodulated by 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), and when the E-PDCCH is decoded with the second aggregation level, the E-PDCCH is demodulated by quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK),

wherein blind decoding is first performed on the E-PDCCH demodulated by 16QAM, and then blind decoding is performed on the E-PDCCH demodulated by QPSK,

wherein a configuration of each of multiple DCI formats is represented by the most significant bit (MSB) of an indicator when the E-PDCCH is demodulated by 16QAM, and

wherein if the MSB of the indicator has a first value, each of the multiple DCI formats is configured with a combination of a downlink (DL) grant and an uplink (UL) grant, and if the MSB of the indicator has a second value, each of the multiple DCI formats is configured with the DL grant or the UL grant.