Multi-band channel aggregation

• US 9,854,577 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2016
• Issued: 12/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quarterhill Inc. (f/k/a Wi-LAN Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wi-LAN Inc.
• Inventors: Stanwood, Kenneth L., Khalona, Ramon, Wang, Lei, Bourlas, Yair, March, Gene W., Gilmore, Robert P., Porat, Ron, Piggin, Paul W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Jianye
• Application Number:
  US15/155,859
• Publication Number:
  US 20160262135A1
• Time in Patent Office: 589 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/18 Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/265 Fourier transform demodulators, e.g. fast Fourier transform [FFT] or discrete Fourier transform [DFT] demodulators H04L27/26524 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/06 the signals being represented by different frequencies combined with time-division multiplexing H04L5/26
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/14 Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections

Abstract

Multiple channels are aggregated. In an example embodiment, first data is transmitted on a first channel to a wireless device, and second data is simultaneously transmitted on a second channel to the wireless device. The first data and the second data are transmitted in a coordinated manner by aggregating the first channel and the second channel. Various example channel characteristics and combinations thereof are described. Different data allocation options for aggregated channels are described. Other alternative implementations are also presented herein.

Claims

1. A wireless device comprising:

a receive unit; and

a processor; and

the receive unit and the processor are configured to receive control data via control channels over at least a first communication channel or a second communication channel, the control data including a first assignment of downlink resources for the first communication channel and a second assignment of downlink resources for the second communication channel;

wherein the first communication channel and the second communication channel have different carrier frequencies;

wherein the first assignment of downlink resources indicates assigned orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM) subcarriers of the first communication channel and the second assignment of downlink resources indicates assigned OFDM subcarriers of the second communication channel; and

the receive unit and the processor are further configured to receive downlink data on the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the first communication channel and the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the second communication channel;

wherein at least a portion of the downlink data is received at least in part simultaneously on the first communication channel and the second communication channel; and

the processor is configured to combine at least a portion of the received downlink data from the first communication channel and the second communication channel to produce data for a single service.

2. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein the downlink data is received with automatic repeat request (ARQ) sequence numbers;

wherein the processor is further configured to combine the at least a portion of the downlink data using the ARQ sequence numbers.

3. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein the first communication channel and the second communication channel are in different frequency bands.

4. The wireless device of claim 1 further comprising a transmit unit;

wherein the transmit unit and the processor are configured to transmit, to a base station, an indication that the wireless device is capable of channel aggregation.

5. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein the processor uses a single medium access control (MAC) layer for processing the downlink data from both the first communication channel and the second communication channel.

6. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein transmission of downlink data is scheduled on a subframe basis.

7. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein a portion of the downlink data that is received on at least a portion of the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the first communication channel is processed using a first Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and a portion of the downlink data that is received on at least a portion of the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the second communication channel is processed using a second FFT that is different than the first FFT.

8. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein a portion of the downlink data that is received on a least a portion of the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the first communication channel is Frequency Division Duplexed (FDD) and a portion of the downlink data that is received on at least a portion of the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the second communication channel is Time Division Duplexed (TDD).

9. The wireless device of claim 1 further comprising one or more receive antennas, wherein the receive unit and the processor are further configured to receive the downlink data via the one or more receive antennas.

10. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein a portion of the downlink data that is received on a least a portion of the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the first communication channel is received from a first cell, and wherein a portion of the downlink data that is received on a least a portion of the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the second communication channel is received from a second cell.

11. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the control data received via the control channels is received over the first communication channel and is not received via the second communication channel.

12. A method for use by a wireless device, the method comprising:

receiving control data via control channels over at least a first communication channel or a second communication channel, the control data including a first assignment of downlink resources for the first communication channel and a second assignment of downlink resources for the second communication channel;

wherein the first communication channel and the second communication channel have different carrier frequencies;

wherein the first assignment of downlink resources indicates assigned orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM) subcarriers of the first communication channel and the second assignment of downlink resources indicates assigned OFDM subcarriers of the second communication channel; and

receiving downlink data on the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the first communication channel and the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the second communication channel;

wherein at least a portion of the downlink data is received at least in part simultaneously on the first communication channel and the second communication channel; and

combining at least a portion of the received downlink data from the first communication channel and the second communication channel to produce data for a single service.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving the downlink data with automatic repeat request (ARQ) sequence numbers; and

combining the at least a portion of the downlink data using the ARQ sequence numbers.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the first communication channel and the second communication channel are in different frequency bands.

15. The method of claim 12 further comprising transmitting, to a base station, an indication that the wireless device is capable of channel aggregation.

16. The method of claim 12 further comprising using a single medium access control (MAC) layer for processing the downlink data from both the first communication channel and the second communication channel.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein transmission of downlink data is scheduled on a subframe basis.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising processing a portion of the downlink data that is received on at least a portion of the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the first communication channel using a first Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and processing a portion of the downlink data that is received on at least a portion of the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the second communication channel using a second FFT that is different than the first FFT.

19. The method of claim 12 wherein data received via the first communication channel is Frequency Division Duplexed (FDD) and data received via the second communication channel is Time Division Duplexed (TDD).

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the receiving the downlink data includes receiving the downlink data via one or more receive antennas.

21. The method of claim 12, wherein a portion of the downlink data that is received on a least a portion of the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the first communication channel is received from a first cell, and wherein a portion of the downlink data that is received on a least a portion of the assigned OFDM subcarriers of the second communication channel is received from a second cell.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein the control data received via the control channels is received over the first communication channel and is not received via the second communication channel.