APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING FRAME INFORMATION IN MULTI-HOP RELAY BROADBAND WIRELESS ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20120269114A1
• Filed: 06/28/2012
• Published: 10/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: OH, Chang-Yoon, Kang, Hyun-Jeong, Cho, Jae-Weon, Lim, Hyoung-Kyu, Lee, Sung-Jin, Chang, Young-Bin, Rakesh, Taori, Son, Yeon-Moon
• Granted Patent: US 9,264,130 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/155 Ground-based stations H04B7/204 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2606 Arrangements for base station coverage control, e.g. by using relays in tunnels

Abstract

An upper node is provided for use in a wireless communication system using a relay scheme. The upper node includes means for transmitting, upon a request of a lower relay station for an initial connection of the lower relay station, downlink section information for communication with the lower relay station for a relay service to the lower relay station; and means for transmitting, after the initial connection with the lower relay station, frame configuration information for communication with the lower relay station for a relay service to the lower relay station through the downlink section. The downlink section information includes configuration information of the downlink section for communication with the lower relay station for a relay service.

Claims

1. An upper node in a wireless communication system using a relay scheme, the upper node comprising:

means for transmitting, upon a request of a lower relay station for an initial connection of the lower relay station, downlink section information for communication with the lower relay station for a relay service to the lower relay station; and

means for transmitting, after the initial connection with the lower relay station, frame configuration information for communication with the lower relay station for a relay service to the lower relay station through the downlink section,

wherein the downlink section information includes configuration information of the downlink section for communication with the lower relay station for a relay service.

2. The upper node of claim 1, wherein the means for transmitting the downlink section information to the lower relay station generates a first control message including the downlink section information in the format of one of a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD), a Media Access Control (MAC) message, and a Media Access Protocol (MAP) message including the downlink section information in the format of an information element, and transmits the first control message to the lower relay station.

3. The upper node of claim 2, wherein the first control message further includes at least one of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) symbol information for starting a downlink section for communication with the lower relay station for a relay service, OFDMA symbol length information of the downlink section, Transmission and Reception, (TX/RX) mode information for indicating in which one of a TX mode, an RX mode, and an idle mode the lower relay station operates in the downlink section, information for indicating whether a control message is included in the downlink section, information for indicating whether a synchronization channel is included in the downlink section, frame number information for the lower relay station to start communication through the downlink section, and position information of the synchronization channel included in the downlink section.

4. The upper node of claim 1, wherein the upper node is a base station or an upper relay station.

5. The upper node of claim 1, wherein the means for transmitting the frame configuration information to the lower relay station generates a second control message including uplink section information for communication with the lower relay station of a relay service, in the format of one of a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD), a Media Access Control (MAC) message, and a Media Access Protocol (MAP) message including uplink section information in the format of an information element, and transmits the second control message to the lower relay station.

6. The upper node of claim 5, wherein the second control message includes at least one of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) symbol information for starting an uplink section for communication with the lower relay station and an uplink section for the lower relay station to communicate with another lower relay station subordinate to the lower relay station, OFDMA symbol length information of the uplink sections, Transmission and Reception, (TX/RX) mode information for indicating in which one of a TX mode, an RX mode, and an idle mode the lower relay station operates in the uplink sections, information for indicating whether a control message is included in the uplink sections, information for indicating whether a synchronization channel is included in the uplink sections, frame number information for the lower relay station to start communication using the information of the uplink sections, and position information of the synchronization channel included in the uplink sections.

7. The upper node of claim 5, wherein the means for transmitting the frame configuration information to the lower relay station generates a third control message containing downlink section information for the lower relay station to communicate with another lower relay station subordinate to the lower relay station for a relay service, in the format of one of a DCD, an MAC message, and an MAP message including the downlink section information in the format of an information element.

8. The upper node of claim 7, wherein the third control message includes at least one of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) symbol information for starting a downlink section for the lower relay station to communicate with another lower relay station subordinate to the lower relay station, OFDMA symbol length information of the downlink section, Transmission and Reception, (TX/RX) mode information for indicating in which one of a TX mode, an RX mode, and an idle mode the lower relay station operates in the downlink section, information for indicating whether a control message is included in the downlink section, information for indicating whether a synchronization channel is included in the downlink section, frame number information for the lower relay station to start communication using the downlink section information, and position information of the synchronization channel included in the downlink section.

9. The upper node of claim 1, further comprising:

means for communicating with the lower relay station using the frame configuration information transmitted to the lower relay station;

means for determining whether subframes of a frame for communication with the lower relay station are changed;

means for generating, if the subframes are changed, a fourth control message including the changed information of the structure of the subframes; and

means for transmitting the fourth control message to the lower relay station.

10. The upper node of claim 9, wherein the fourth control message includes the changed information of the structure of the subframes in the format of one of a frame control header, a MAP message including downlink section information in the format of an information element, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, and a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD).

11. The upper node of claim 9, wherein the fourth control message includes position information of the synchronization channel.

12. A relay station in a wireless communication system using a relay scheme, the relay station comprising:

means for acquiring, at an initial connection with an upper node of the relay station, downlink section information for communication with the upper node for a relay service from the upper node; and

means for acquiring, after the initial connection with the upper node, frame configuration information for communication with the upper node for a relay service through the downlink section information,

wherein the downlink section information includes configuration information of a downlink section for communication with the lower relay station for the relay service.

13. The relay station of claim 12, wherein the upper node is a base station or an upper relay station.

14. The relay station of claim 12, wherein the means for acquiring the downlink section information detects whether a first control message is received, the first control message including the downlink section information in the format of one of a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD), a Media Access Control (MAC) message, and a Media Access Protocol (MAP) message including the downlink section information in the format of an information element, and acquires, if the first control message is received, downlink section information for communication with the upper node for a relay service from the first control message.

15. The relay station of claim 14, wherein the first control message further comprises at least one of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) symbol information for starting a downlink section for communication with the upper node for a relay service, OFDMA symbol length information of the downlink section, Transmission and Reception, (TX/RX) mode information for indicating in which one of a TX mode, an RX mode, and an idle mode the relay station operates in the downlink section, information for indicating whether a control message is included in the downlink section, information for indicating whether a synchronization channel is included in the downlink section, frame number information for the lower relay station to start communication through the downlink section, and position information of the synchronization channel included in the downlink section.

16. The relay station of claim 12, wherein the means for acquiring of the frame configuration information further performs:

determining whether a control message is received through a downlink section for communication with the upper node for a relay service; and

if a second control message containing the uplink section information in the format of at least one of a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD), a Media Access Control (MAC) message, and a Media Access Protocol (MAP) message containing the uplink section information in the format of an information element is received through the downlink section, detecting at least one of uplink section information for communication with the upper node and uplink section information for communication with a lower relay station from the second control message.

17. The relay station of claim 12, wherein the second control message further includes at least one of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) symbol information for starting an uplink section for communication with the upper node and an uplink section for communication with the lower relay station, OFDMA symbol length information of the uplink sections, Transmission and Reception, (TX/RX) mode information for indicating in which one of a TX mode, an RX mode, and an idle mode the relay station operates in the uplink sections, information for indicating whether a control message is included in the uplink sections, information for indicating whether a synchronization channel is included in the uplink sections, frame number information for the lower relay station to start communication using the information of the uplink sections, and position information of the synchronization channel included in the uplink sections.

18. The relay station of claim 16, wherein the means for acquiring the frame configuration information detects, if a third control message including downlink section information in the format of one of a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD), a Media Access Control (MAC) message, and a Media Access Protocol (MAP) message including the downlink section information in the format of an information element, and detects the downlink section information for communication with the lower relay station from the third control message.

19. The relay station of claim 18, wherein the third control message further includes at least one of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) symbol information for starting a downlink section for communication with the lower relay station, OFDMA symbol length information of the downlink section, Transmission and Reception, (TX/RX) mode information for indicating in which one of a TX mode, an RX mode, and an idle mode the lower relay station operates in the downlink section, information for indicating whether a control message is included in the downlink section, information for indicating whether a synchronization channel is included in the downlink section, frame number information for the lower relay station to start communication using the downlink section information, and position information of the synchronization channel included in the downlink section.

20. The relay station of claim 12, further comprising:

means for communicating with the upper node using the frame configuration information acquired from the upper node;

means for determining whether a fourth control message including at least one of a frame control header, a Media Access Protocol (MAP) message including downlink section information in the format of an information element, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, and a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD) is received from the upper node; and

means for detecting, if the fourth control message is received, the changed information of the structure of subframes of a frame for communication with the upper node from the fourth control message.

21. An upper node in a wireless communication system using a relay scheme, the upper node comprising:

means for generating a control message including uplink section information for communication with a lower relay station for a relay service, in a format of one of a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD), a Media Access Control (MAC) message, and a Media Access Protocol (MAP) message including uplink section information in a format of an information element;

means for transmitting the control message to the lower relay station; and

means for communicating with the lower relay station using the frame configuration information transmitted to the lower relay station.

22. The upper node of claim 21, wherein the control message includes at least one of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) symbol offset information for starting an uplink section for communication with the lower relay station and an uplink section for the lower relay station to communicate with another lower relay station subordinate to the lower relay station, OFDMA symbol length information of the uplink sections, Transmission and Reception, (TX/RX) mode information for indicating in which one of a TX mode, an RX mode, and an idle mode the lower relay station operates in the uplink sections, information for indicating whether a control message is included in the uplink sections, information for indicating whether a synchronization channel is included in the uplink sections, frame number information for the lower relay station to start communication using the information of the uplink sections, and position information of the synchronization channel included in the uplink sections.