UPLINK RADIO FRAMES APPORTIONED FOR PLURAL MULTIPLE ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES

• US 20090131110A1
• Filed: 10/27/2008
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Koorapaty, Havish, Ramesh, Rajaram, BALACHANDRAN, Kumar, Thakare, Kiran, Ernstrom, Per
• Granted Patent: US 8,155,701 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/561
• 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 27/2601 Multicarrier modulation systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT

Abstract

Frames of information are communicated between a base station (28) of a radio access network (RAN) and plural types of wireless terminals (30). Frame handlers of the base station and of certain types of wireless terminals (30-2) process differing portions of the frame according to respective differing multiple access technologies. In differing embodiments and implementations, modulation techniques of the differing multiple access technologies can be apportioned to differing portions of the frame in various manners, such as (for example) to differing subframes of a multi-sub-framed frame or to differing burst fields or sections of an uplink (UL) burst.

Claims

1. A base station of a radio access network comprising:

a transceiver configured for communicating a frame of information over an air interface with a wireless terminal participating in a connection with the base station;

a frame handler arranged to process differing portions of the frame according to respective differing multiple access technologies.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the frame handler is arranged to modulate differing downlink portions of the frame according to respective differing multiple access technologies.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the frame handler is arranged to demodulate differing uplink portions of the frame according to respective differing multiple access technologies.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one of the differing multiple access technologies is orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and another of the multiple access technologies is single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA).

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the frame handler is arranged to process the frame as plural subframes, and wherein the frame handler is arranged with a capability of processing differing ones of the plural subframes as being formatted according to the respective differing multiple access technologies.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the frame handler is arranged to process one subframe of the frame according to a first type of multiple access technology and to process another subframe of the frame according to a second type of multiple access technology, and wherein the first type of multiple access technology is orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and the second type of multiple access is single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA).

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the frame handler is arranged to dynamically select whether to process at least one subframe of the frame according to a first multiple access technology or a second multiple access technology.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the frame handler is arranged to process an uplink burst of a first subframe according to the second multiple access technology and to dynamically select whether to process an uplink burst of a second subframe according to either the first multiple access technology or the second multiple access technology.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the frame comprises an uplink burst comprising plural burst fields, and wherein the frame handler is arranged to process differing ones of the plural burst fields as being formatted according to the respective differing multiple access technologies.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the frame further comprises a downlink burst, and wherein the frame handler is arranged to associate in the downlink burst at least one of the plural burst fields as belonging to a first multiple access technology and at least one of the plural burst fields as belonging to a second multiple access technology.

11. A wireless terminal which participates in a connection with a base station of a radio access network, the wireless terminal comprising:

a transceiver configured for communicating a frame over an air interface with a base station;

a frame handler arranged to process differing portions of the frame according to respective differing multiple access technologies.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the frame handler is arranged to modulate differing uplink portions of the frame according to respective differing multiple access technologies.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the frame handler is arranged to demodulate differing downlink portions of the frame according to respective differing multiple access technologies.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein one of the differing multiple access technologies is orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and another of the multiple access technologies is single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA).

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the frame handler is arranged to prepare the uplink portions of the frame as plural subframes, and wherein the frame handler is arranged with a capability of preparing differing ones of the plural subframes as being formatted according to the respective differing multiple access technologies.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the frame handler is arranged to prepare one subframe of the frame according to a first type of multiple access technology and to prepare another subframe of the frame according to a second type of multiple access technology;

and wherein the first type of multiple access technology is orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and the second type of multiple access is single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA).

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the frame handler is arranged to dynamically determine based on content of a downlink burst of the frame whether to prepare at least one subframe of the frame according to a first multiple access technology or a second multiple access technology.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the frame handler is arranged to prepare an uplink burst of a first subframe according to the second multiple access technology and to dynamically determine based on content of a downlink burst of the frame whether to prepare an uplink burst of a second subframe according to either the first multiple access technology or the second multiple access technology.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the frame comprises an uplink burst comprising plural burst fields, and wherein the frame handler is arranged to prepare differing ones of the plural burst fields as being formatted according to the respective differing multiple access technologies.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the frame further comprises a downlink burst, and wherein the frame handler is arranged to determine from the downlink burst at least one of the plural uplink burst fields as belonging to a first multiple access technology and at least one of the plural burst fields as belong to the second multiple access technology.

21. A method of operating a radio access network comprising a base station which communicates over a radio interface with plural types of wireless terminals using frames of information, the method comprising:

transmitting a downlink portion of the frames to a first type of wireless terminal and a second type of wireless terminal;

at the first type of wireless terminal, processing the frames according to a first type of multiple access technology;

at the second type of wireless terminal, processing the frames according to a second type of multiple access technology.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

at the first type of wireless terminal, preparing a first part of an uplink portion of the frames according to a first type of multiple access technology;

at the second type of wireless terminal, preparing at least a second part of the uplink portion of the frames according to a second type of multiple access technology.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

at the first type of wireless terminal, processing a first part of an downlink portion of the frames according to a first type of multiple access technology;

at the second type of wireless terminal, processing at least a second part of the downlink portion of the frames according to a second type of multiple access technology.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein one of the differing multiple access technologies is orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and another of the multiple access technologies is single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA).

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising, at the second type of wireless terminal, preparing a first part of an uplink portion of the frames according to the first type of multiple access technology.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising the wireless terminal preparing the frames as plural subframes, with differing ones of the plural subframes as being formatted according to the respective differing multiple access technologies.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising the wireless terminal preparing one subframe of the frames according to a first type of multiple access technology and to prepare another subframe of the frames according to a second type of multiple access technology;

and wherein the first type of multiple access technology is orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and the second type of multiple access is single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA).

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising the wireless terminal dynamically determining in accordance with content of a downlink burst of a specific frame whether to prepare at least one subframe of the specific frame according to a first multiple access technology or a second multiple access technology.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising the wireless terminal preparing an uplink burst of a first subframe according to the second multiple access technology and dynamically determining whether to prepare an uplink burst of a second subframe according to either the first multiple access technology or the second multiple access technology.

30. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

formatting the frame to comprise an uplink burst comprising plural burst fields;

preparing differing ones of the plural burst fields as being formatted according to the respective differing multiple access technologies.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

including a downlink burst in the frames;

designating in the downlink burst at least one of the plural uplink burst fields as belonging to the first multiple access technology and at least one of the plural burst fields as belong to the second multiple access technology.