Inserting virtual carrier in conventional OFDM host carrier in communications system

• US 10,299,274 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2017
• Issued: 05/21/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SCA IPLA Holdings Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: SCA IPLA Holdings Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: McNamara, Darren, Lillie, Andrew, Darwood, Peter, Beale, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Musa, Abdelnabi O
• Application Number:
  US15/656,156
• Publication Number:
  US 20170325232A1
• Time in Patent Office: 669 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2626 Arrangements specific to the transmitter only
• 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 5/0039 Frequency-contiguous, i.e. with no allocation of frequencies for one user or terminal between the frequencies allocated to another
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0064 Rate requirement of the data, e.g. scalable bandwidth, data priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• 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 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/52 based on load

Abstract

A network element for use in a mobile communications system and a method of using a network element for communicating data to/from mobile communications devices in a mobile communications system. The network element can provide a wireless access interface for communicating data to/from the mobile communications devices, the wireless access interface including: on a downlink a host carrier, the host carrier providing plural resource elements across a first frequency range; transmit data for a first group of mobile communications devices, wherein the data is distributed within the plural resource elements across the first frequency range; a virtual carrier via the wireless access interface, the virtual carrier providing one or more resource elements within a second frequency range which is within and smaller than the first frequency range; and transmit data for a second group of mobile communications devices via the virtual carrier.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

circuitry configured to

locate, within a wireless access interface provided by a base station, a virtual carrier that includes a first plurality of resource elements across a first range of system resource blocks which is within and smaller than a second range of system resource blocks that span a system frequency bandwidth;

decode a control portion within the virtual carrier, the control portion identifying resource elements within the virtual carrier that are allocated to the electronic device;

locate the allocated resource elements within the virtual carrier based on the decoded control portion; and

receive data transmitted by the base station by decoding the allocated resource elements within the virtual carrier.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein

the control portion within the virtual carrier is included in a first sub-frame transmitted by the base station, and

the allocated resource elements are included in a second sub-frame, which is transmitted by the base station subsequent to the first sub-frame.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the second sub-frame immediately follows the first sub-frame.

4. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the allocated resource elements include a subset of resource elements in the virtual carrier of the second sub-frame.

5. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the allocated resource elements include an entirety of resource elements of the virtual carrier in the second sub-frame.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein

the allocated resource elements include network configuration information, and

the circuitry is configured to decode the allocated resource elements to identify the network configuration information.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to synchronize with the base station based on a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) transmitted by the base station.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the circuitry is configured to receive and decode a primary broadcast channel (PBCH) transmitted by the base station after performing the synchronization with the base station and before locating the virtual carrier.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first range of system resource blocks includes fewer than one hundred resource blocks.

10. An electronic device comprising:

circuitry configured to

locate, within a wireless access interface provided by a base station, a virtual downlink carrier that includes a first plurality of resource elements across a first range of system resource blocks which is within and smaller than a second range of system resource blocks that span a system frequency bandwidth;

decode a control portion within the downlink virtual carrier, the control portion identifying a physical random access channel (PRACH) to transmit a random access request to the base station; and

transmit a random access request to the base station on the PRACH based on the decoded control portion within the downlink virtual carrier.

11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the first range of system resource blocks includes fewer than one hundred resource blocks.

12. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein

the control portion identifies that the PRACH is in a virtual uplink carrier, and

the circuitry is configured to transmit the random access request to the base station on the PRACH included in the uplink virtual carrier.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the virtual uplink carrier includes a same number of resource elements as the downlink virtual carrier.

14. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein

the control portion identifies that the PRACH is in a host carrier bandwidth outside of a virtual uplink carrier, and

the circuitry is configured to transmit the random access request to the base station on the PRACH included in the host carrier bandwidth.

15. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein

the control portion identifies that the PRACH is included in a subset of a plurality of uplink sub-frames, and

the circuitry is configured to transmit the random access request to the base station on the PRACH included in subset of the plurality of uplink sub-frames.

16. An electronic device comprising:

circuitry configured to

locate, within a wireless access interface provided by a base station, a virtual carrier that includes a first plurality of resource elements across a first range of system resource blocks which is within and smaller than a second range of system resource blocks that span a system frequency bandwidth;

extract reference signals included in the virtual carrier;

estimate a channel function applied to data received on the virtual carrier based on the extracted reference signals;

decode a control portion within the virtual carrier based on the estimate channel function, the control portion identifying resource elements within the virtual carrier that are allocated to the electronic device;

locate the allocated resource elements within the virtual carrier based on the decoded control portion; and

receive data transmitted by the base station by decoding the allocated resource elements within the virtual carrier.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the first range of system resource blocks includes fewer than one hundred resource blocks.

18. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein density of reference signals included in the virtual carrier is greater than a density of reference signals included in the system bandwidth outside of the virtual carrier.

19. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the reference signals are included in edges of a frequency bandwidth of the virtual carrier.

20. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the circuitry is configured to use the reference signals to determine at least one of metrics for received signal power indications, automatic frequency control metrics and automatic gain control metrics.