METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTIVE ALLOCATION OF ADAPTIVE RESOURCE PARTITIONING INFORMATION (ARPI) TO PICO ENHANCED NODE B BY MACRO ENHANCED NODE B IN HETEROGENEOUS NETWORK

• US 20120243488A1
• Filed: 03/23/2012
• Published: 09/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Gupta, Ajay, Song, Osok, Vajapeyam, Madhavan Srinivasan, Barbieri, Alan, Prakash, Rajat
• Granted Patent: US 9,144,071 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/27 between access points

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for effectively allocating resource partitioning information (RPI) in a wireless communication network are provided. For certain aspects, a method for wireless communications generally includes receiving, at a first base station, such as a pico enhanced Node B (eNB), resource partitioning information (RPI) from at least one second base station, such as a macro eNB; determining one or more resources indicated in the RPI actually usable by the first base station; and sending, from the first base station to the at least one second base station, an indication of the actually usable resources.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communications, comprising:

receiving, at a first base station, resource partitioning information (RPI) from at least one second base station;

determining one or more resources indicated in the RPI usable by the first base station; and

sending, from the first base station to the at least one second base station, an indication of the usable resources.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending comprises sending the indication of the usable resources along with a resource status report (RSR).

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, from the first base station to the at least one second base station, a resource status report (RSR) before the receiving.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one second base station comprises two or more second base stations interfering with the first base station.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first base station is a pico base station and wherein the at least one second base station comprises at least one macro base station.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the RPI comprises a bitmap of almost blank subframes (ABSs).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one second base station comprises two or more second base stations and wherein the determining comprises:

comparing the RPI received from the two or more second base stations; and

selecting a set of the resources common among the RPI received from the two or more second base stations.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, from the first base station to the at least one second base station, another indication for the at least one second base station to redetermine the RPI.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein sending the other indication comprises periodically sending the other indication.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the other indication comprises at least one of a usable almost blank subframe (ABS) pattern or a flag in an ABS status information element (IE).

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the flag indicates that the first base station prefers to retain the resources released by the at least one second base station.

12. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

means for receiving resource partitioning information (RPI) from at least one base station;

means for determining one or more resources indicated in the RPI usable by the apparatus; and

means for sending an indication of the usable resources to the at least one base station.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the means for sending is configured to send the indication of the usable resources along with a resource status report (RSR).

14. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising means for sending, to the at least one base station, a resource status report (RSR) before the means for receiving receives the RPI.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one base station comprises two or more base stations interfering with the apparatus.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the apparatus is a pico base station and wherein the at least one base station comprises at least one macro base station.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the RPI comprises a bitmap of almost blank subframes (ABSs).

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one base station comprises two or more base stations and wherein the means for determining is configured to:

compare the RPI received from the two or more base stations; and

select a set of the resources common among the RPI received from the two or more base stations.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising means for sending, to the at least one base station, another indication for the at least one base station to redetermine the RPI.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for sending the other indication is configured to periodically send the other indication.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the other indication comprises at least one of a usable almost blank subframe (ABS) pattern or a flag in an ABS status information element (IE).

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the flag indicates that the apparatus prefers to retain the resources released by the at least one base station.

23. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

a processing system configured to;

receive resource partitioning information (RPI) from at least one base station;

determine one or more resources indicated in the RPI usable by the apparatus; and

send an indication of the usable resources to the at least one base station; and

a memory coupled to the processing system.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processing system is configured to send the indication by sending the indication of the usable resources along with a resource status report (RSR).

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processing system is configured to send, to the at least one base station, a resource status report (RSR) before the processing system receives the RPI.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at least one base station comprises two or more base stations interfering with the apparatus.

27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the apparatus is a pico base station and wherein the at least one base station comprises at least one macro base station.

28. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the RPI comprises a bitmap of almost blank subframes (ABSs).

29. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at least one base station comprises two or more base stations and wherein the processing system is configured to determine the one or more resources by:

comparing the RPI received from the two or more base stations; and

selecting a set of the resources common among the RPI received from the two or more base stations.

30. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processing system is further configured to send, to the at least one base station, another indication for the at least one base station to redetermine the RPI.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the processing system is configured to send the other indication by periodically sending the other indication.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the other indication comprises at least one of a usable almost blank subframe (ABS) pattern or a flag in an ABS status information element (IE).

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the flag indicates that the apparatus prefers to retain the resources released by the at least one base station.

34. A computer-program product for wireless communications, the computer-program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium having code for;

receiving, at a first base station, resource partitioning information (RPI) from at least one second base station;

determining one or more resources indicated in the RPI usable by the first base station; and

sending, from the first base station to the at least one second base station, an indication of the usable resources.

35. A method for wireless communications, comprising:

sending, from a first base station, resource partitioning information (RPI) to a second base station;

receiving an indication of one or more resources indicated in the RPI usable by the second base station; and

determining whether to adjust the RPI based on the indication.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising determining whether another base station is interfering with the second base station based on the indication of the usable resources.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the receiving comprises receiving the indication of the usable resources along with a resource status report (RSR).

38. The method of claim 35, wherein the determining comprises:

determining a number of allocated resources indicated in the RPI;

determining a number of the usable resources; and

determining whether the number of the usable resources is smaller than the number of the allocated resources.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising adjusting the RPI if the number of the usable resources is smaller than the number of the allocated resources.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the adjusting comprises:

incrementing the number of the usable resources by 1; and

allocating resources indicated in the adjusted RPI such that the number of the allocated resources equals the incremented number of the usable resources.

41. The method of claim 35, further comprising sending another RPI from the first base station, wherein the other RPI is based on the usable resources.

42. The method of claim 35, wherein the first base station is a macro base station and wherein the second base station is a pico base station.

43. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving, at the first base station from the second base station, another indication for the first base station to redetermine the RPI;

based on the reception of the other indication, redetermining the RPI; and

sending the redetermined RPI to the second base station.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein receiving the other indication comprises periodically receiving the other indication.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the other indication comprises at least one of a usable almost blank subframe (ABS) pattern or a flag in an ABS status information element (IE).

46. The method of claim 43, further comprising deciding, based on the reception of the other indication, not to retract a resource from the redetermined RPI if the first base station has available resources.

47. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

means for sending resource partitioning information (RPI) to a base station;

means for receiving an indication of one or more resources indicated in the RPI usable by the base station; and

means for determining whether to adjust the RPI based on the indication.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, further comprising means for determining whether another base station is interfering with the base station based on the indication of the usable resources.

49. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the means for receiving is configured to receive the indication of the usable resources along with a resource status report (RSR).

50. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the means for determining is configured to:

determine a number of allocated resources indicated in the RPI;

determine a number of the usable resources; and

determine whether the number of the usable resources is smaller than the number of the allocated resources.

51. The apparatus of claim 50, further comprising means for adjusting the RPI if the number of the usable resources is smaller than the number of the allocated resources.

52. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein the means for adjusting is configured to:

increment the number of the usable resources by 1; and

allocate resources indicated in the adjusted RPI such that the number of the allocated resources equals the incremented number of the usable resources.

53. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the means for sending the RPI is configured to send another RPI based on the usable resources.

54. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the apparatus is a macro base station and wherein the base station is a pico base station.

55. The apparatus of claim 47, further comprising:

means for receiving, from the base station, another indication for the apparatus to redetermine the RPI;

means for redetermining the RPI based on the reception of the other indication, the RPI; and

means for sending the redetermined RPI to the base station.

56. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the means for receiving the other indication is configured to periodically receive the other indication.

57. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the other indication comprises at least one of a usable almost blank subframe (ABS) pattern or a flag in an ABS status information element (IE).

58. The apparatus of claim 55, further comprising means for deciding, based on the reception of the other indication, not to retract a resource from the redetermined RPI if the apparatus has available resources.

59. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

a processing system configured to;

send resource partitioning information (RPI) to a base station;

receive an indication of one or more resources indicated in the RPI usable by the base station; and

determine whether to adjust the RPI based on the indication; and

a memory coupled to the processing system.

60. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the processing system is configured to determine whether another base station is interfering with the base station based on the indication of the usable resources.

61. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the processing system is configured to receive the indication of the usable resources along with a resource status report (RSR).

62. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the processing system is configured to determine whether to adjust the RPI by:

determining a number of allocated resources indicated in the RPI;

determining a number of the usable resources; and

determining whether the number of the usable resources is smaller than the number of the allocated resources.

63. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the processing system is configured to adjust the RPI if the number of the usable resources is smaller than the number of the allocated resources.

64. The apparatus of claim 63, wherein the processing system is configured to adjust the RPI by:

incrementing the number of the usable resources by 1; and

allocating resources indicated in the adjusted RPI such that the number of the allocated resources equals the incremented number of the usable resources.

65. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the processing system is configured to send another RPI based on the usable resources.

66. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the apparatus is a macro base station and wherein the base station is a pico base station.

67. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

receive, from the base station, another indication for the apparatus to redetermine the RPI;

redetermine the RPI based on the reception of the other indication; and

send the redetermined RPI to the base station.

68. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the processing system is configured to receive the other indication by periodically receiving the other indication.

69. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the other indication comprises at least one of a usable almost blank subframe (ABS) pattern, a flag in an ABS status information element (IE), or an ABS without an ABS pattern information IE.

70. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising wherein the processing system is configured to decide, based on the reception of the other indication, not to retract a resource from the redetermined RPI if the apparatus has available resources.

71. A computer-program product for wireless communications, the computer-program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium having code for;

sending, from a first base station, resource partitioning information (RPI) to a second base station;

receiving an indication of one or more resources indicated in the RPI usable by the second base station; and

determining whether to adjust the RPI based on the indication.