U.S. patent application number 17/247183 was filed with the patent office on 2021-03-25 for method of data channel resource allocation in 5g.
The applicant listed for this patent is QUALCOMM INCORPORATED. Invention is credited to Sony Akkarakaran, Wenjun Li, Tao Luo, Atul Maharshi, Sundar Subramanian.
Application Number | 20210092743 17/247183 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005253638 |
Filed Date | 2021-03-25 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20210092743 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Akkarakaran; Sony ; et
al. |
March 25, 2021 |
Method of Data Channel Resource Allocation in 5G
Abstract
Wireless communications systems and methods related to
allocating resource blocks and resource block groups in a system
band in order to reduce overhead associated with resource
allocation. To reduce overhead, the wireless communication device
communicates a signal in a control channel that indicates a general
area and a resource block in the general area that stores data. The
wireless communication device then communicates multiple resource
blocks that include the resource block and communicates the data in
the resource block using the signal. To reduce overhead, the
wireless communication device also communicates multiple mappings
for each resource block group into a set of resource blocks and a
signal in a control channel that selects one of the multiple
mappings. The communication device then determines resource blocks
that are included in the resource block group according to the
mapping, and communicates data in these resource blocks.
Inventors: |
Akkarakaran; Sony; (Poway,
CA) ; Luo; Tao; (San Diego, CA) ; Li;
Wenjun; (Basking Ridge, NJ) ; Maharshi; Atul;
(South Orange, CA) ; Subramanian; Sundar;
(Bridgewater, NJ) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005253638 |
Appl. No.: |
17/247183 |
Filed: |
December 2, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
15637409 |
Jun 29, 2017 |
10863505 |
|
|
17247183 |
|
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62380252 |
Aug 26, 2016 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 16/10 20130101;
H04W 72/085 20130101; H04L 5/0037 20130101; H04W 74/002 20130101;
H04W 72/0453 20130101; H04W 72/12 20130101; H04W 72/0446 20130101;
H04L 5/0044 20130101; H04W 72/1231 20130101; H04L 5/0094 20130101;
H04W 72/04 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 72/04 20060101
H04W072/04; H04W 74/00 20060101 H04W074/00; H04L 5/00 20060101
H04L005/00; H04W 72/12 20060101 H04W072/12; H04W 16/10 20060101
H04W016/10; H04W 72/08 20060101 H04W072/08 |
Claims
1. A method for wireless communications, comprising: communicating,
by a wireless communication device, a signal in a control channel
that indicates a general area and at least one resource block in
the general area that stores data; communicating a plurality of
resource blocks that include the at least one resource block; and
communicating data from the at least one resource block using the
signal.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation application of
U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 15/637,409, filed
Jun. 29, 2017, which claims priority to and the benefit of the U.S.
Provisional Patent Application No. 62/380,252, filed Aug. 26, 2016,
which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The embodiments described herein relate to resource
allocation, and more specifically to allocating resource blocks and
resource block groups in a frequency band in order to reduce
overhead.
INTRODUCTION
[0003] In conventional systems, user equipment (UE) is scheduled
with a set of contiguously allocated localized resource blocks
(RBs). Conventionally, the RBs are allocated in the sub-frame. RBs
are also allocated into resource block groups (RBG) in contiguous
chunks of fixed size. When RBs are allocated into RBGs, each RBG
consists of a resource allocation field which includes a resource
indication value that corresponds to a starting RB size and a
length in terms of the contiguously allocated RBs.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES
[0004] The following summarizes some aspects of the disclosure to
provide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This
summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated features
of the disclosure, and is intended neither to identify key or
critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate
the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose
is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the
disclosure in summary form as a prelude to the more detailed
description that is presented later.
[0005] For example, in an aspect of a disclosure, a method for
wireless communications includes communicating, by a wireless
communication device, a signal in a control channel that indicates
a general area and a resource block in the general area that stores
data, communicating a plurality of resource blocks that include the
resource block, and communicating data from the resource block
using the signal.
[0006] In an additional aspect of a disclosure, an apparatus
includes a transceiver of a wireless communication device
configured to communicate a signal in a control channel that
indicates a general area and a resource block in the general area
that stores data, communicate a plurality of resource blocks that
include the resource block, and communicate data from the resource
block using the signal.
[0007] In an additional aspect of a disclosure, an apparatus
includes a transceiver of a wireless communication device
configured to communicate a plurality of mappings for each resource
block group into a set of resource blocks in a shared channel,
communicate, by the wireless communication device, a signal in a
control channel that selects a mapping from the plurality of
mappings, and communicating data in resource blocks. The apparatus
also includes a processor configured to determine the resource
blocks in the shared channel that are included in the resource
block group according to the mapping.
[0008] Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the disclosure
will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon
reviewing the following description of specific, exemplary
embodiments of the disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying
figures. While features of the disclosure may be discussed relative
to certain embodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the
present invention can include one or more of the advantageous
features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more
embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous
features, one or more of such features may also be used in
accordance with the various embodiments of the invention discussed
herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may be
discussed below as device, system, or method embodiments it should
be understood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in
various devices, systems, and methods.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary wireless communications
environment according to an embodiment.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of exemplary user equipment (UE)
according to an embodiment.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary base station
according to an embodiment.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of carriers in a system band
divided into sub-frames which include resources for carrying data,
according to an embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of resource blocks being assigned
to a carrier using a contiguous scheme, according to an
embodiment.
[0014] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of resource blocks being assigned
to resource block groups having a dynamic size, according to an
embodiment.
[0015] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a multi-level indication for
resource block allocation, according to an embodiment.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of non-contiguous group resource
blocks, according to an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] The detailed description set forth below, in connection with
the appended drawings, is intended as a description of various
configurations and is not intended to represent the only
configurations in which the concepts described herein may be
practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for
the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various
concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art
that these concepts may be practiced without these specific
details. In some instances, well-known structures and components
are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such
concepts.
[0018] The techniques described herein may be used for various
wireless communication networks such as code-division multiple
access (CDMA), time-division multiple access (TDMA),
frequency-division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal
frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA
(SC-FDMA) and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are
often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio
technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA),
cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other
variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856
standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may
implement a radio technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra
Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX),
IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of
Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term
Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new (e.g., 4G
networks) releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS,
LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described in documents from an organization
named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB
are described in documents from an organization named "3rd
Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). The techniques described
herein may be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies
mentioned above as well as other wireless networks and radio
technologies, such as a next generation (e.g., 5th Generation (5G))
network.
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network 100 in
accordance with various aspects of the disclosure. The wireless
network 100 may include a number of base stations 104 and a number
of user equipment (UE) 106, all within one or more cells 102 as
illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, FIG. 1 shows base stations
104a, 104b, and 104c associated with cells 102a, 102b, and 102c,
respectively. The communications environment 100 may support
operation on multiple carriers (e.g., waveform signals of different
frequencies). Multi-carrier transmitters can transmit modulated
signals simultaneously on the multiple carriers. For example, each
modulated signal may be a multi-carrier channel modulated according
to the various radio technologies described above. Each modulated
signal may be sent on a different carrier and may carry control
information (e.g., pilot signals, control channels, etc.), overhead
information, data, etc. The communications environment 100 may be a
multi-carrier LTE network capable of efficiently allocating network
resources. The communications environment 100 is one example of a
network to which various aspects of the disclosure apply.
[0020] A base station (BS) 104 as discussed herein can have various
characteristics. In some scenarios, it may include an evolved Node
B (eNodeB or eNB) in the LTE context, for example. A base station
104 may also be referred to as a base transceiver station or an
access point. It will be recognized that there could be one to many
base stations, as well as be an assortment of different types such
as macro, pico, and/or femto base stations. The base stations 104
may communicate with each other and other network elements via one
or more backhaul links. The base stations 104 communicate with the
UEs 106 as shown, including via direct wireless connections or
indirect, e.g., via relay devices. A UE 106 may communicate with a
base station 104 via an uplink and a downlink. The downlink (or
forward link) refers to the communication link from a base station
104 to a UE 106. The uplink (or reverse link) refers to the
communication link from a UE 106 to a base station 104.
[0021] The UEs 106 may be dispersed throughout the wireless network
100, and each UE 106 may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be
referred to as a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit,
etc. A UE 106 may be a cellular phone, a smartphone, a personal
digital assistant, a wireless modem, a laptop computer, a tablet
computer, entertainment device, medical device/equipment, biometric
devices/equipment, fitness/exercise devices, vehicular
components/sensors, etc. The wireless communication network 100 is
one example of a network to which various aspects of the disclosure
apply.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of UE 106 according to embodiments
of the present disclosure. The UE 106 may include a processor 202,
a memory 204, a transmission access resource selection module 208,
a transceiver 210, and an antenna 216. These elements may be in
direct or indirect communication with each other, for example via
one or more buses.
[0023] The processor 202 may include a central processing unit
(CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific
integrated circuit (ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate
array (FPGA) device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or
any combination thereof configured to perform the operations
described herein. The processor 202 may also be implemented as a
combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and
a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more
microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such
configuration.
[0024] The memory 204 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache
memory of the processor 442), random access memory (RAM),
magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable
read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read only memory
(EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory
(EEPROM), flash memory, solid state memory device, hard disk
drives, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or a
combination of different types of memory. In an embodiment, the
memory 204 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The
memory 204 may store instructions 206. The instructions 206 may
include instructions that, when executed by the processor 202,
cause the processor 202 to perform the operations described herein
with reference to the UE 106 in connection with embodiments of the
present disclosure. Instructions 206 may also be referred to as
code. The terms "instructions" and "code" may include any type of
computer-readable statement(s). For example, the terms
"instructions" and "code" may refer to one or more programs,
routines, sub-routines, functions, procedures, etc. "Instructions"
and "code" may include a single computer-readable statement or many
computer-readable statements. The transmission access resource
selection module 208 may be configured to select and assign
resources (e.g., time resources and/or frequency resources) for
transmission of uplink bursts from UE 106, discussed in more detail
below.
[0025] The transceiver 210 may include a modem subsystem 212 and a
radio frequency (RF) unit 214. The transceiver 210 is configured to
communicate bi-directionally with other devices, such as base
stations 104. The modem subsystem 212 may be configured to modulate
and/or encode the data from the memory 204 and/or the transmission
access resource selection module 208 (and/or from another source,
such as some type of sensor) according to a modulation and coding
scheme (MCS), e.g., a low-density parity check (LDPC) coding
scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional coding scheme, etc.
The RF unit 214 may be configured to process (e.g., perform analog
to digital conversion or digital to analog conversion, etc.)
modulated/encoded data from the modem subsystem 212 (on outbound
transmissions) or of transmissions originating from another source
such as a base station 104. Although shown as integrated together
in transceiver 210, the modem subsystem 212 and the RF unit 214 may
be separate devices that are coupled together at the UE 106 to
enable the UE 106 to communicate with other devices.
[0026] The RF unit 214 may provide the modulated and/or processed
data, e.g. data packets (or, more generally, data messages which
may contain one or more data packets and other information), to the
antenna 216 for transmission to one or more other devices. This may
include, for example, transmission of data to a base station 104
according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The antenna 216
may further receive data messages transmitted from a base station
104 and provide the received data messages for processing and/or
demodulation at the transceiver 210. Although FIG. 2 illustrates
antenna 216 as a single antenna, antenna 216 may include multiple
antennas of similar or different designs in order to sustain
multiple transmission links.
[0027] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary base station 104
according to embodiments of the disclosure. The base station 104
may include a processor 302, a memory 304, a resource coordination
module 308, a transceiver 310, and an antenna 316. These elements
may be in direct or indirect communication with each other, for
example via one or more buses. The base station 104 may be an
evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto
cell, a relay station, an access point, or another electronic
device operable to perform the operations described herein with
respect to the base station 104. The base station 104 may operate
in accordance with one or more communication standards, such as a
3rd generation (3G) wireless communication standard, a 4th
generation (4G) wireless communication standard, a long term
evolution (LTE) wireless communication standard, an LTE-advanced
wireless communication standard, or another wireless communication
standard now known or later developed (e.g., a next generation
network operating according to a 5G protocol).
[0028] The processor 302 may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, a
controller, a FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware
device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the
operations described herein with reference to the base station 104
introduced in FIG. 1 above. The processor 302 may also be
implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a
combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a
DSP core, or any other such configuration.
[0029] The memory 304 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache
memory of the processor 302), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM,
flash memory, a solid state memory device, one or more hard disk
drives, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or a
combination of different types of memory. In an embodiment, the
memory 304 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The
memory 304 may store instructions 306. The instructions 306 may
include instructions that, when executed by the processor 302,
cause the processor 302 to perform the operations described herein
with reference to the base station 104 in connection with
embodiments of the present disclosure. Instructions 306 may also be
referred to as code, which may be interpreted broadly to include
any type of computer-readable statement(s) as discussed above with
respect to FIG. 2. The resource coordination module 308 may be
configured to coordinate resource usage (e.g., time resources
and/or frequency resources) among the base stations 104 when
communicating with the UEs 106, such as to mitigate or at least
reduce interference among the base stations 104.
[0030] The transceiver 310 may include a modem subsystem 312 and a
radio frequency (RF) unit 314. The transceiver 310 is configured to
communicate bi-directionally with other devices, such as UEs 106.
The modem subsystem 312 may be configured to modulate and/or encode
data according to a MCS, some examples of which have been listed
above with respect to FIG. 2. The RF unit 314 may be configured to
process (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion or digital to
analog conversion, etc.) of modulated/encoded data from the modem
subsystem 312 (on outbound transmissions) or of transmissions
originating from another source, such as an UE 106. Although shown
as integrated together in transceiver 310, the modem subsystem 312
and the RF unit 314 may be separate devices that are coupled
together at the base station 104 to enable the base station 104 to
communicate with other devices.
[0031] The RF unit 314 may provide the modulated and/or processed
data, e.g. data packets, to the antenna 316 for transmission to one
or more other devices such as UEs 106. The modem subsystem 312 may
modulate and/or encode the data in preparation for transmission.
The RF unit 314 may receive the modulated and/or encoded data
packet and process the data packet prior to passing it on to the
antenna 316. This may include, for example, transmission of data
messages to UEs 106 or to another base station 104, according to
embodiments of the present disclosure. The antenna 316 may further
receive data messages transmitted from UEs 106, and provide the
received data messages for processing and/or demodulation at the
transceiver 310. Although FIG. 3 illustrates antenna 316 as a
single antenna, antenna 316 may include multiple antennas of
similar or different designs in order to sustain multiple
transmission links.
[0032] As described above, carriers carry data in the
communications environment 100. FIG. 4 is a block diagram 400 of
the carriers divided into sub-frames which include resources for
carrying data, according to an embodiment. To carry data, carriers
may be divided into frames 402 of predefined time length. The
frames may further be divided into sub-frames 404. The sub-frames
404 may also be subdivided into resource blocks or RBs 406. Each RB
406 is the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a
user, such as a UE 104.
[0033] In a further embodiment, one or more RBs 406 may be
organized into a resource block group (RBG) 408. Conventionally,
the size of each RBG 408 in a carrier is static. However, depending
on the bandwidth of the carrier, the size of each RBG 408 may vary.
For example, in some instances the RBG 408 may include up to four
or more RBs 406. For example, bandwidths occupying a smaller number
of MHz may have a smaller number of RBs 406 in RBG 408, while
bandwidths occupying a larger number of MHz may have a larger
number of RBs 406 in RBG 408.
[0034] Each sub-frame 404 may also be subdivided into a control
channel 410 and a shared channel 412. Example control channel 410
may include a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) that
transmits control signals from base station 104 to UE 106 and a
Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) that transmits control
signals from UE 106 to base station 104. Although not shown in FIG.
4, control channel 410 may also be subdivided into RBs 406. Example
shared channel 412 may include a Physical Uplink Shared Channel
(PUSCH) and Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).
[0035] In an embodiment, control channel 410 carries control
information, while shared channel 412 carries data included in RBs
406. For example, control information may include a bitmap that
identifies RBs 406 and/or RBGs 408 that have been allocated to one
or more UEs 106. The embodiments described below in FIGS. 5-8
incorporate various techniques that may be used to assign RBs 406
to RBGs 408 in order to allocate resources to UE 106 and which
conserve resources and reduce overhead in the carrier.
[0036] FIG. 5 is a block diagram 500 of resource blocks being
assigned to a carrier using a contiguous scheme, according to an
embodiment. Some transmission schemes, such as a single-carrier
frequency-division multiplexing (SC-1-DM) transmission scheme,
requires RBs 406 to be assigned using a contiguous scheme. A
contiguous scheme is a scheme where RBs 406 allocated to the same
UE 106 are contiguously placed in the frequency domain. In an
embodiment, such scheme may be implemented on an up-link when data
is being transmitted from UE 106 to base station 104.
[0037] One way to assign resource blocks in a contiguous scheme is
to indicate a starting RB 406 and a number of RBs 406 needed to
transmit data. For example, by knowing the starting RB and the
number of RBs 406 allocated for the transmission, the UE 106 knows
where to begin to load data prior to transmitting the data to the
base station 104. In an embodiment, the index of the starting RB
406 and a number of RBs 406 may be transmitted via the control
channel 410. In an embodiment, an OFDMA transmission scheme may
also use contiguous allocation.
[0038] In another embodiment, rather than indicating a starting RB
406 and a number of RBs 406, the RBs 406 may be assigned as sets of
RBs 406. Each set, for example, may be a power of two or another
power. In this case, set 502 may include one RB 406, set 504 may
include two RBs 406, and set 506 may include four RBs 406, as
illustrated in FIG. 5. In an embodiment, when RBs 406 are assigned
using sets that are a power to two, the starting RB 406 and a power
may be transmitted via the control channel 410. Sets or RBGs where
the number of RBs 406 are constrained by a power of two (or another
power) may be implemented in millimeter-wave transmission
technologies. Restricting a number of RBs 406 in a set or RBG to a
power of two (or another power), can also simplify a Discrete
Fourier Transform (DFT) operation required for the SC-FDM
transmission because the algorithm may perform faster when the
number of RB's 406 are set to a power of two rather than an
arbitrary number of RBs 406.
[0039] FIG. 6 is a block diagram 600 of resource blocks being
assigned to RBGs having a dynamic size. In a non-contiguous
resource allocation scheme, it can be advantageous to enable
assignment flexibility and exploit frequency channel diversity. A
bitmap provides a way to enable assignment flexibility and exploit
channel diversity. For example, a bitmap may be used to indicate
resource assignment.
[0040] In an embodiment, resources such as RBs 406 are assigned to
UEs 106 when UEs 106 receive or transmit data from the base station
104. For example, base station 104 may assign different RBs 406
within sub-frame 404 to different UEs 106. In this case, the base
station 104 needs to track which RBs 406 are assigned to which UEs
106 and also needs to communicate the assignment to the UEs 106
over the control channel 410, which creates overhead. For example,
in a 60 kHz subcarrier spacing, there are 1200 usable subcarriers
(100 RBs 406) in a 80 MHz band, and 1488 usable subcarriers (124
RBs 406) in a 100 MHz band, if one RB includes 12 subcarriers. This
can result in the bitmap that includes RB allocation lead to having
an overhead of 100 bits and 124 bits, respectively.
[0041] One way to reduce the overhead is for the base station 104
to assign RBs 406 into RBGs 408 of a fixed size, as illustrated in
FIG. 4. When RBGs 408 are static and with a size of four RBs 406
per RBG 408, the overhead for transmitting the RBGs 408 allocation
in the 80 MHz band is reduced 25 bits, and in 100 MHz band is
reduced to 31 bits. The control channel 410 can include a bitmap or
another control signal that is at least 25 bits in the 80 MHz band
and at least 31 bits in the 100 MHz band, where the value of each
bit (e.g., 0 or 1) indicates to UE 106 whether RBG 408 that
corresponds to the bit is allocated for that UE 106 or not.
[0042] The number of RBs 406 within an RBG 408 may be dynamically
configured.
[0043] Because the number of RBs 406 may be dynamically configured
for each RBG 408, each RBG 408 may dynamically vary in size. As
illustrated in FIG. 6 in a non-limiting embodiment, the size of
RBGs 408 may be two, four, eight, or twelve RBs 406 per RBG 408. In
this case, when RBG size is four in a system bandwidth of 80 MHz,
the overhead for a bitmap is 25 bits. In another example, when RBG
size is eight in a system bandwidth that is 100 MHz, the overhead
for a bitmap is 16 bits. In these cases, the size of the bitmap
does not exceed 25 bits.
[0044] In one example, base station 104 may configure the size of
RBG 408 and communicate the size of RBG 408 to UE 106 via control
channel 410. Such configuration may occur when base station 104
initiates communication with UE 106 or during communication between
the base station 104 and UE 106. The UE 106 may receive a control
signal from base station 104 via control channel 410 that indicates
the size of the RBG 408 and based on the control signal may
allocate RBs 406 to RBG 408.
[0045] In an embodiment, UE 106 may be configured with a set of RBG
sizes. These sets may either be stored in memory 204 of the UE 106
or are hardwired into the hardware of the UE 106. In this case, UE
106 may receive a control signal via control channel 110 that
indicates the size of RBG 408 or indicates a position in the set of
RBG sizes that corresponds to the size of the RBG. The UE 106 may
then allocate the size of the RBG 408 based on the control
signal.
[0046] In a further embodiment, UE 106 may determine RBG 408 size
from the numerology used in the transmission. For example, the size
of RBG 408 may vary based on the tone spacing in the frequency
band. For example, the size of RBG 408 may vary when the tone
spacing is 60 kHz compared to when the tone spacing is 120 kHz.
[0047] FIG. 7 is a block diagram 700 of a multi-level indication
for resource block allocation, according to an embodiment. When UEs
106 and base stations 104 transmit data for different applications,
each application may require different allocation of RBs 406 or
RBGs 408. Further resource allocation may not be limited to
multiples of the size of the RBGs 408. For example, a voice
application may require a single RB 406. However, even when only
one RB 406 is allocated, the bitmap that indicates the location of
the RB 406 in the band still remains the same, and constitutes a
large overhead. For instance, for a 100 MHz bandwidth that includes
124 RBs 406, the bitmap may be 124 bits. This means that the
control channel 410 transmits a control signal that includes at
least 124 bits. When only a single RB 406 is allocated, the bitmap
may have a single bit out of 124 bits turned on, while the rest of
the bits in the bitmap are turned off.
[0048] In an embodiment, multi-level indication of the allocated
resources, such as RBs 406 and/or RBGs 408 may reduce the amount of
overhead required to transmit a bitmap with only a fraction of the
bits turned on. As illustrated in FIG. 7, a sub-frame includes
three RBGs 408A, 408B, and 408C, with only two RBs, RB 406A and RB
406C being allocated in RBG 408A and 408C, respectively.
[0049] In an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, a two-level bitmap
or another two-level indication may be used to reduce the bitmap
overhead when a few RBs 406 are allocated for an application. The
two-level indication includes two parts and may be used for
fine-granularity resource allocation, according to an embodiment.
The first part of the two-level indication indicates the location
of general area where one or more RBs 406 are located. Example
general area may be the RBG 408 that includes RB 406. In an
embodiment, the general area may refer to one or more sub-bands of
a carrier. In another embodiment, the general area may correspond
to the RBG index or indexes that correspond to the allocation. With
reference to FIG. 7, the general area may be the index of RBG 408A
and 408C.
[0050] In an embodiment, the second part of the two-level
indication indicates the location of the RB 406 within the general
area. For example, the second part of the two-level indication
indicates the location of one or more RB 406 within RBG 408. The
location may be indicated by the RB index or indexes within RBG
408. With reference to FIG. 7, the location of the RB 406 may be
the index or indices of RB 406A and 406C that correspond to the
location of RB 406A and 406C. Thus, with reference to FIG. 7,
instead of a bitmap that includes a bit for each RB 406 in the
band, the control signal transmitted in the control channel 410 may
include indices or a bitmap of indices for RBGs 408 and RBs 406
which indicate that RBG 408A, RB 406C and RBG 408C, RB 406C have
been allocated.
[0051] In an embodiment, when using the two-level indication with
128 RBs in the frequency band of the carrier or component of the
carrier with the RBG 408 size equal to eight, the two-level
indication is equal to the 24 bits, where 16 bits indicate one of
RBGs 408 and the 8 bits indicate the position of the RB 406 within
RBG 408 if the bitmap-based indication is used at both levels. In
another example, when using the two-level indication with 128 RBs
in the frequency band of the carrier or component of the carrier
with the RBG 408 size equal to eight, the single-index based
indication is equal to 7 bits, with 4 bits indicating the RBG 408
and 3 bits indicating the RB 406 within RBG 408. In an embodiment,
the single-index based indication can be used for localized
resource indication. In another embodiment, a combination of a
single-indexed based and bitmap based indication may also be used
with the two-level indication.
[0052] FIG. 8 is a block diagram 800 of non-contiguous group
resource blocks, according to an embodiment. In an embodiment, when
allocating resources by assigning one or more RBGs 408 rather than
RBs 406, the allocation reduces overhead. For instance, the bitmap
transmitted in the control channel 410 may need to include the
allocation for RBGs 408 rather than for individual RBs 408, and as
a result may require fewer bits. However, because RBGs 408 include
one or more contiguous RBs 406, allocating resources using RBGs 408
also reduces assignment flexibility.
[0053] In an embodiment, RBGs 408 may also be implemented as a
non-contiguous block of RBs 406. In one example, RBG 408 may be
defined as a set of RBs 406 that are equi-spaced in the frequency
band. For example, RBG 408A may include every second RB 406 in the
frequency band, while RBG 408B may include every fourth RBG 406 in
the frequency band. In a further embodiment, different RBGs 408 may
be defined so that multiple RBGs 408 cover the entire frequency
band, as shown with RBGs 408A, 408B and 408C. This way, one RBG,
such as RBG 408A can be allocated to one UE 106, while another RBG,
such as RBG 408B can be allocated to another UE 106. Further, with
equi-spacing the RBs 406 may no longer be contiguous within the RBG
408 but can be spread out throughout the frame in both frequency
and time.
[0054] Further, the spacing itself may be configurable and could be
selected via a control signal transmitted in the control channel
410. In an embodiment, the control signal may indicate the starting
RB 406 in the RBG 408 and the spacing between the RBs 406 in the
same RBG 408. By knowing the starting RB 406 and the spacing
between the RBs 406, UE 106 may determine the RBs 406 in the RBG
408 that was allocated to the UE 106.
[0055] In another example, the mapping of RBs 406 to different RBGs
408 may be coded into a table or another data structure. When the
mapping is coded into the table, the spacing between RBs 406 and
RBGs 408 may be arbitrary and not contiguous. For example, RBG 408C
may include RBs 406C in the first, third, fifth, and seventh
position in the frequency band, while RBG 408D may include RBs 406
that are in the second, fourth, sixth, and ninth position in the
frequency band. In a further embodiment, there may be multiple
tables that define different RBG 408 configurations. In a further
embodiment, the tables which store different RBG 408 configurations
may be stored or hardwired within the UE 106.
[0056] In an embodiment, the UE 106 may receive a control signal in
the control channel 410 (such as PDCCH or PUCCH) that may be used
to control the size of the RBG 408 used in sub-frame 404 or
multiple sub-frames 404 for the shared channel 412 (such as PDSCH,
PUSCH, or both). In yet another embodiment, the control signal may
select one of the tables that store the mapping of RBs 408 in RBGs
408. Based on the RBG configuration included in the table and
selected by the control signal, the UE 106 may allocate RBs 406
from sub-frame 404 to the RBG 408 in a non-contiguous manner.
[0057] In an embodiment, the mapping in the table may be a function
of the RBG index. In yet another embodiment, the mapping may also
be a function of numerology, such as tone spacing in the system
band. Example tone spacing may be 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 80 kHz,
100 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, or other suitable spacing.
[0058] In yet another embodiment, the non-contiguous RBGs 408
described in FIG. 8 may be implemented in conjunction with the
dynamic sizes of RBGs 408 discussed in FIG. 6. For example, a
control signal in the control channel 410 may indicate the size of
RGB 408. The UE 106 may then select one of the mappings that
include the RBG size indicated in the control signal from the
tables stored in UE 106.
[0059] In an embodiment, the base station 104 may use a radio
resource control (RRC) message to configure a set of mappings for
RBGs 408 and transmit the mappings to the UE 106. The RRC message
may include instructions that UE 106 uses to configure a new set of
mappings in the tables stored in UE 106. The base station 104 may
then transmit a control signal in the control channel 410 to
dynamically select one or more mappings for the RBG 408 set using
RRC.
[0060] There are multiple embodiments that may be implemented with
different aspects of the disclosure. For example, in an aspect of
the disclosure, a method for wireless communication includes
communicating, by a wireless communication device, a signal in a
control channel that indicates a size of a resource block group and
allocating one or more resource blocks to the wireless
communication device according to the resource block groups
allocated to the wireless communication device and the indicated
size of the resource block group.
[0061] In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus for
wireless communication includes a wireless device comprising a
transceiver and a processor, the transceiver configured to
communicate a signal in a control channel that indicates a size of
a resource block group and the processor configured to allocate one
or more resource blocks to the wireless communication device
according to the resource block groups allocated to the wireless
communication device and the indicated size of the resource block
group.
[0062] In an additional aspect of the disclosure, embodiments
include a computer-readable medium having program code recorded
thereon, the program code comprising code for causing a wireless
communication by a wireless communication device that comprises
communicating a signal in a control channel that indicates a size
of a resource block group and allocating one or more resource
blocks to the wireless communication device according to the
resource block groups allocated to the wireless communication
device and the indicated size of the resource block group.
[0063] In an additional aspect of the disclosure, embodiments
include a wireless communication device comprising means for
wirelessly communicating a signal in a control channel that
indicates a size of a resource block group and allocating one or
more resource blocks to the wireless communication device according
to the resource block groups allocated to the wireless
communication device and the indicated size of the resource block
group.
[0064] In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method for
wireless communications includes communicating, by a wireless
communication device, a signal in a control channel that indicates
an index into a set of allowed values for a number of resource
blocks and allocating the plurality of resource blocks to the
wireless communication device according to the index. In yet
another aspect of the disclosure, the set of allowed values for the
number of resource blocks in the method consists of powers of
two.
[0065] In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus for
wireless communication includes a wireless device comprising a
transceiver and a processor, the transceiver configured to
communicate a signal in a control channel that indicates an index
into a set of allowed values for a number of resource blocks and
the processor configured to allocate the plurality of resource
blocks to the wireless communication device according to the index.
In yet another aspect of the disclosure, the set of allowed values
for the number of resource blocks in the apparatus consists of
powers of two.
[0066] In an additional aspect of the disclosure, embodiments
include a computer-readable medium having program code recorded
thereon, the program code comprising code for causing a wireless
communication by a wireless communication device that comprises
communicating a signal in a control channel that indicates an index
into a set of allowed values for a number of resource blocks and
allocating the plurality of resource blocks to the wireless
communication device according to the index. In yet another aspect
of the disclosure, the set of allowed values for the number of
resource blocks in the computer-readable medium having the program
code recorded thereon consists of powers of two.
[0067] In an additional aspect of the disclosure, embodiments
include a wireless communication device comprising means for
wirelessly communicating a signal in a control channel that
indicates an index into a set of allowed values for a number of
resource blocks and allocating the plurality of resource blocks to
the wireless communication device according to the index. In yet
another aspect of the disclosure, the set of allowed values for the
number of resource blocks in the wireless communication device
consists of powers of two.
[0068] Information and signals may be represented using any of a
variety of different technologies and techniques. For example,
data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols,
and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description
may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves,
magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any
combination thereof.
[0069] The various illustrative blocks and modules described in
connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or
performed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA
or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor
logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof
designed to perform the functions described herein. A
general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the
alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,
controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also
be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a
combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a
DSP core, or any other such configuration).
[0070] The functions described herein may be implemented in
hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any
combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a
processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as
one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.
Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the
disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of
software, functions described above can be implemented using
software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring,
or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions
may also be physically located at various positions, including
being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented
at different physical locations.
[0071] Also, as used herein, including in the claims, "or" as used
in a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a
phrase such as "at least one of" or "one or more of"') indicates an
inclusive list such that, for example, a list of [at least one of
A, B, or C] means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and
B and C). It is also contemplated that the features, components,
actions, and/or steps described with respect to one embodiment may
be structured in different order than as presented herein and/or
combined with the features, components, actions, and/or steps
described with respect to other embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0072] As those of some skill in this art will by now appreciate
and depending on the particular application at hand, many
modifications, substitutions and variations can be made in and to
the materials, apparatus, configurations and methods of use of the
devices of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit
and scope thereof. In light of this, the scope of the present
disclosure should not be limited to that of the particular
embodiments illustrated and described herein, as they are merely by
way of some examples thereof, but rather, should be fully
commensurate with that of the claims appended hereafter and their
functional equivalents.
* * * * *