Interference Limitation for Retransmissions

• US 20080077837A1
• Filed: 03/10/2005
• Published: 03/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Optis Wireless Technology, LLC (Brevet Capital)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Lohr, Joachim, Seidel, Eiko, Petrovic, Dragan
• Granted Patent: US 7,783,949 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/748
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0003 by switching between different modulation schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0006 by adapting the transmission format
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0009 by adapting the channel coding H04L1/1812 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0025 Transmission of mode-switching indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1671 the supervisory signal being transmitted together with control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/18 Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1803 Stop-and-wait protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1812 Hybrid protocols; Hybrid automatic repeat request [HARQ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1819 with retransmission of additional or different redundancy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1861 Physical mapping arrangements for ACK signaling see also H04L5/0053
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1887 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0055 Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for transmitting data packets from a mobile terminal to a base station using a hybrid automatic repeat request protocol and soft combining of received data. Further, the present invention provides a base station and a mobile terminal both adapted to perform the respective method steps. Moreover, a communication system is provided which comprises at least one base station and at least one mobile terminal. The present invention also provides a computer-readable medium for storing instructions that, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to transmit data packets from a mobile terminal to a base station using a hybrid automatic repeat request protocol and soft combining of received data. In order to restrict the interference caused by retransmissions, the present invention suggests controlling the amount of information in the retransmissions and thus the transmission power required for their transmission by TFCS restriction.

Claims

1-24. -24. (canceled)

25. A method for controlling the amount of information in retransmission data packets transmitted from a transmitting entity to a receiving entity via at least one data channel using a hybrid automatic repeat request protocol and soft combining of received data, the method comprising:

transmitting a data packet from the transmitting entity to the receiving entity,

receiving a feedback message from the receiving entity at the transmitting entity, wherein the feedback message indicates whether the data packet has been successfully received by the receiving entity,

in case the feedback message indicates that the data packet has not been received successfully, receiving a control message at the transmitting entity for the unsuccessfully received data packet, wherein the control message restricts the amount of information to be sent in the retransmission data packet for the unsuccessfully received data packet, and

transmitting a retransmission data packet from the transmitting entity to the receiving entity comprising an amount of information indicated in said control message.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the control message indicates the maximum and minimum amount of information or a maximum amount of information in the retransmission data packet.

27. The method according to claim 25, wherein the transmission of the indicated amount of information requires a reduced transmission power compared to the transmission power used for the data packet.

28. The method according to claim 25, wherein the control message is transmitted in parallel or delayed to the feedback message from the receiving entity to the transmitting entity.

29. The method according to claim 25, wherein the feedback message is transmitted via an acknowledgment channel and the control message is transmitted via a scheduling related control channel.

30. The method according to claim 25, wherein the retransmission data packet is transmitted by the transmitting entity after a predetermined time span upon having received said feedback message.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein control message indicates not to transmit the retransmission data packet after a predetermined time span upon having received said feedback message

32. The method according to claim 25, wherein the control message is a TFC (Transmission Format Combination) control message.

33. The method according to claim 25, further comprising soft-combining the retransmission data packet and the transmitted data packet at the receiving entity at the receiving entity to obtain a combined data packet.

34. The method according to claim 33, further comprising decoding the combined data packet at the receiving entity.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein the transmitted control message indicates the retransmission data packet'"'"'s amount of information necessary for successfully decoding of the combined data packet.

36. The method according to claim 25, further comprising determining the amount of information for the retransmission data packet at the receiving entity based on the reception quality of the data packet or the combined data packet.

37. The method according to claim 25, further comprising transmitting said data packet via a first data channel from the transmitting entity to the receiving entity, wherein said retransmission data packet is transmitted via a second data channel from the transmitting entity to the receiving entity.

38. The method according to claim 37, wherein transmission time interval of the first data channel is smaller than the transmission time interval of the second data channel.

39. The method according to claim 25, wherein the transmitted data packet and the retransmission data packet are transmitted via at least one dedicated transport channel.

40. A receiving entity for receiving data packets from a transmitting entity via at least one data channel using a hybrid automatic repeat request protocol and soft combining of received data, the receiving entity comprising:

a receiving unit operable to receive a data packet from the transmitting entity, and

a transmitting unit operable to transmit a feedback message to the transmitting entity, wherein the feedback message indicates whether the data packet has been successfully received by the receiving entity,

wherein the transmitting unit is operable to transmit a control message to the transmitting entity for the unsuccessfully received data packet in case the feedback message indicates that the data packet has not been received successfully, wherein the control message restricts the amount of information to be sent in a retransmission data packet for the unsuccessfully transmitted data packet, and

wherein the receiving unit is operable to receive a retransmission data packet from the transmitting entity comprising an amount of information indicated in said control message.

41. A transmitting entity for transmitting data packets to a receiving entity via at least one data channel using a hybrid automatic repeat request protocol and soft combining of received data, the transmitting entity comprising:

a transmitting unit operable to transmit a data packet from the transmitting entity, and

a receiving unit operable to receive a feedback message from the receiving entity, wherein the feedback message indicates whether the data packet has been successfully received by the receiving entity,

wherein the receiving unit is operable to receive a control message at the transmitting entity for the unsuccessfully received data packet in case the feedback message indicates that the data packet has not been received successfully, wherein the control message restricts the amount of information in a retransmission data packet to be sent for the unsuccessfully received data packet, and

wherein the transmitting unit is operable to transmit a retransmission data packet to the receiving entity comprising an amount of information indicated in said control message.