Apparatus and method for selecting frame structure in multihop relay broadband wireless access communication system

• US 8,681,743 B2
• Filed: 12/10/2007
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Oh, Chang-Yoon, Kang, Hyun-Jeong, Chang, Young-Bin, Cho, Jae-Weon, Lim, Hyoung-Kyu, Son, Yeong-Moon, Lee, Sung-Jin
• Primary Examiner(s): KHAJURIA, SHRIPAL K
• Application Number:
  US11/953,358
• Publication Number:
  US 20080137584A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,297 Days
• Field of Search: 370/332
• US Class Current: 370/332
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/047 using dedicated repeater stations

Abstract

Apparatus and method for selectively using a frame structure adequate for a system environment in a multihop relay wireless communication system are provided. The method includes generating a control signal including the frame information; and transmitting the control signal to a child Relay Station (RS). Accordingly, the frame structure adequate for the system environment can be used, and the transmission delay and the tradeoff between the overheads in each frame structure can be freely selected.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting frame information at a Base Station (BS) in a multihop relay wireless communication system, the method comprising:

generating a control signal including the frame information;

transmitting the control signal including the frame information to a Relay Station (RS);

when a frame structure used to communicate with the RS is changed, confirming the changed frame structure and information of a time when accessing RSs change the frame structure; and

transmitting a control signal containing the changed frame structure and the change time information to the RS,

wherein the frame information includes structure information of a frame for relay service, such that the structure information distinguishes between subframes corresponding to a relay service and subframes corresponding to direct communications between the BS and at least one Mobile Station (MS), and

wherein the structure information includes information indicating whether the frame for relay service is a single frame or a super frame which unites at least two single frames.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the structure information further includes a number of subframes constituting the frame used to communicate with the RS.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the structure information is determined according to system environment information including length information of the frame used in the wireless communication system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

initially accessing the RS according to an initial access request from the RS,

wherein, before the initial access request is received from the RS, in the process of the initial access to the RS, or after the initial access to the RS, a control signal containing the frame information is generated and transmitted to the RS.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the control signal includes a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD) message or a control message of a last procedure of initial access procedures of the RS.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the control signal containing the changed frame structure and the change time information is one of a DCD message, a DownLink (DL)-MAP message, and a frame structure change message.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the DL-MAP message includes a frame structure and the frame structure change time information as one of a field value, an Information Element (IE), and a physical (PHY) synchronization field value.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the DL-MAP message includes the changed frame structure by dividing into a number of frames used for the communication.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the structure information further includes information of a time point for the RS to commence the relay service using the frame structure of the frame information.

9. A method for confirming a frame structure at a Relay Station (RS) in a multihop relay wireless communication system, the method comprising:

when a control signal containing frame information is received from a Base Station (BS), confirming from the frame information a frame structure of a frame for relay service, such that the structure information distinguishes between subframes corresponding to a relay service and subframes corresponding to direct communications between the BS and at least one Mobile Station (MS);

communicating using the frame structure at the time for commencing the relay service;

when a control signal containing frame structure change information is received from the BS while communicating using the frame structure, confirming, from the control signal containing the frame structure change information, a changed frame structure and change time information of the frame structure; and

communicating using the changed frame structure at the frame structure change time, wherein the serving node is a Base Station (BS) or a parent RS,

wherein the frame structure indicates whether the frame for relay service is a single frame or a super frame which unites at least two single frames.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

requesting an initial access to the BS and initially accessing the BS,

wherein the control signal containing the frame information is received before the initial access to the BS is requested, in the process of the initial access, or after the initial access to the BS.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the control signal containing the frame information includes a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD) message or a control message of a last procedure of initial access procedures.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the control signal containing the frame structure change information is one of a DCD message, a Down Link (DL)-MAP message, and a frame structure change message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the DL-MAP message includes the frame structure and the change time point information as one of a field value, an Information Element (IE), and a physical (PHY) synchronization field value.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the DL-MAP message includes the changed frame structure by dividing into a number of frames used for the communication.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the structure information further includes information of a time point for the RS to commence the relay service using the frame structure of the frame information.

16. A Base Station (BS) in a multihop relay wireless communication system, the serving node comprising:

a frame structure confirmer for confirming a frame structure used to relay service;

a message generator for generating a control message that includes information of the frame structure; and

a transmitter for sending the control message that includes the information of the frame structure to the RS,

wherein the control message that includes the information of the frame structure further includes structure information of a frame for relay service, such that the structure information distinguishes between subframes corresponding to a relay service and subframes corresponding to direct communications between the BS and at least one Mobile Station (MS),

wherein the structure information includes information indicating whether the frame for relay service is a single frame or a super frame which unites at least two single frames, and

wherein, when a frame structure used to communicate with the RS is changed, the frame structure confirmer confirms the changed frame structure and information of a time when accessing RSs change the frame structure, and the transmitter sends a control message containing the changed frame structure and the change time information to the RS.

17. The BS of claim 16, wherein the frame structure confirmer confirms a frame structure selected based on a system environment that includes a length of the frame used in the wireless communication system.

18. The BS of claim 16, wherein the message generator generates a message that includes the frame structure information and time information for commencing a relay service using the frame structure as one of a Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD) message and a control message of a last procedure of initial access procedures, and

wherein the control message containing the changed frame structure and the change time information is one of a DCD message, a DL-MAP message, and a frame structure change message.

19. The BS of claim 18, wherein the message generator generates the DL-MAP message that includes the frame structure and the frame structure change time information, as one of a field value, Information Element (IE), and a physical (PHY) synchronization field value.

21. The BS of claim 16, wherein the structure information further includes information of a time point for the RS to commence the relay service using the frame structure of the frame information.