I 1111111111111111 11111 111111111111111 11111 11111 1111111111111111 IIII IIII IIII
`US009860044B2
`
`02) United States Patent
`Astely et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 9,860,044 B2
`*Jan.2,2018
`
`(54) PUCCH RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR
`CARRIER AGGREGATION IN
`LTE-ADVANCED
`
`(71) Applicant: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
`(publ), Stockholm (SE)
`
`(72)
`
`Inventors: David Astely, Bronuna (SE); Robert
`Baldemair, Solna (SE); Dirk
`Gerstenberger, Stockholm (SE);
`Daniel Larsson, Stockholm (SE); Lars
`Llndbom, Karlstad (SE); Stefan
`Parkvall, Bromma (SE)
`
`(73) Assignee: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM
`ERICSSON (PUBL), Stockholm (SE)
`
`(") Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. J54(b) by 0 days.
`
`TI1is patent is subject to a terminal dis(cid:173)
`claimer.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 15/350,360
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Nov. 14, 2016
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 20 17/0063506 Al Mar. 2, 20 17
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`( 63) Continuation of application No. 12/896,993, filed on
`Oct. 14, 20 10, now Pat. No. 9,497,004.
`(Continued)
`
`(51)
`
`lut. CI.
`H04M 1100
`H04L 5/00
`
`(2006.0 1)
`(2006.01)
`(Continued)
`
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`CPC ............ H04L 5/0053 (201 3.01); H04L 5/001
`(2013.0 1); H04L 5/0094 (2013.01); H04W
`28126 (2013.01);
`
`(Continued)
`
`(58) Field of Classification Search
`CPC .. H048 1/3833; H04M 1/0247; H04M 1/0237
`(Continued)
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`8,194,603 B2 * 6/2012 Nimbalker .............. H04L 5/001
`370/329
`8,265,030 B2 * 9/2012 Miki .. ...... ...... ... H04W 72/1257
`370/330
`
`(Continued)
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`CN
`WO
`
`101765208 A
`2009022474 Al
`
`6/2010
`2/2009
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`3rd Generation Partnership Project, Motorola (source), "Control
`Signalling Design for Supporting Carrier Aggregation," 3GPPTSG
`RA.N'l #56, R!-090792, Athens, GR. Feb. 9-13, 2009.
`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner - Md Talukder
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm - Coats & Bennett, PLLC
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`Systems and methods of signaling uplink control informa(cid:173)
`tion in a mobile communication network using carrier
`aggregation are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a
`method may include scheduling downlink transmissions lo a
`first user tenninal on a single downlink component carrier
`(CC) associated with a primary cell and scheduling down(cid:173)
`link transmissions lo a second user tenninal on multiple
`downlink CCs or on a downlink CC associated with a
`non-primary cell. Further, the method may include receiv(cid:173)
`ing, on a first set of radio resources, control information
`associated with the downlink transmissions to the first user
`tenninal. In addition, the method may include receiving, on
`(Continued)
`
`12
`
`100
`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
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`

`

`US 9,860,044 B2
`Page 2
`
`2011/0243039 Al* 10/2011 Papasakellariou .... H04L 1/1861
`370/280
`2011/0310856 Al* 12/2011 Hariharan ............. H04L 1/1607
`370/336
`1/2012 Ishii ...................... H04L 1/1854
`370/329
`3/2012 Chung .................. H04L 1/1893
`370/329
`4/2012 Huang .................. H04L 5/0007
`370/329
`H04W 72/082
`370/328
`
`2012/0020317 Al*
`
`2012/0051306 Al*
`
`2012/0082125 Al*
`
`2012/0140708 Al*
`
`6/2012 Choudhury .
`
`6/2012 Matsumoto et al.
`2012/0147847 Al
`2012/0314675 Al* 12/2012 Vujcic ..................... H04L 5/001
`370/329
`H04W 76/028
`370/331
`1/2013 Aiba ..................... H04L 1/1812
`370/329
`2/2013 Aiba ..................... H04L 1/0026
`370/329
`H04W 72/0413
`370/329
`3/2014 Seo ....................... H04L 1/1822
`370/280
`
`2013/0003700 Al*
`
`1/2013 Zhang .
`
`2013/0010721 Al*
`
`2013/0034073 Al*
`
`2013/0136084 Al*
`
`5/2013 Zhang .
`
`2014/0078941 Al*
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`3rd Generation Partnership Project, ZTE (source), "Uplink Control
`Channel Design for LTE-Advanced," TSG-RAN WGl #58,
`Rl-093209, Shenzhen, China, Jun. 25-Aug. 29, 2009.
`3rd Generation Partnership Project, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Net(cid:173)
`works (source), "Ll Control Signaling with Carrier Aggregation in
`LTE-Advanced," 3GPP TSG-RAN WGl Meeting #54bis,
`Rl-083730, Prague, Czech Republic, Sep. 29-Oct. 3, 2008.
`3rd Generation Partnership Project, Nokia Siemens Networks,
`Nokia (source), "Channelization of SRI and Persistent ACK/NACK
`on PUCCH," 3GPP TSG RAN WGl Meeting #52bis, Rl-081460,
`Shenzhen, China, Mar. 31-Apr. 4, 2008.
`3rd Generation Partnership Project, Qualcomm Europe, "Clarifying
`PUSCH Resource Allocation," 3GPP TSG-RAN WGl Meeting
`#54, Rl-083181, Jeju, Korea, Aug. 18-22, 2008 .
`NTT DOCOMO, Inc., "UL Layered Control Signal Structure in
`LTE-Advanced", 3GPP Draft RAN WGl Meeting #54bis;
`RI-083679 UL Layered Control Signal, 3rd Generation Partnership
`Project (3GPP), Mobile Competence Centre ; 650, Route Des
`Lucioles ; F-06921 Sophia-Antipolis Cedex ; France, vol. Ran
`WGl, no. Prague, Czech Republic; Sep. 29, 2008-Oct. 3, 2008, Sep.
`29, 2008 (Sep. 29, 2008), KP050597042, [retrieved on Sep. 24,
`2008].
`ZTE (source), "ACK/NACK Design for LTE-Advanced," TSG(cid:173)
`RANWGl #58bis, Rl-093821, Miyazaki, Japan, Oct. 12-16, 2009.
`Infineon Technologies (source), "Clarification of UL DPCCH slot
`format information usage in IE 'DTX-DRX Information'," 3GPP
`TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #65, Tdoc R2-091165, Athens, Greece
`Feb. 9-13, 2009.
`NTT DocCoMo, Inc. (source), "UL ACK/NACK resource alloca(cid:173)
`tion for DL semi-persisent scheduling," 3GPP TSG RANWG2 #62,
`R2-082485 (resubmission of R2-081857), Kansas City, Missouri,
`USA, May 5-9, 2008.
`Huawei, PUCCH design for carrier aggregation, 3GPP TSG RAN
`WGl Meeting #58 Rl-093046, 3GPP, Aug. 24, 2009.
`Texas Instruments: "Dynamic ACK/NAK Channelization on
`PUCCH", 3GPP Draft; Rl-081375-DACKNAK, 3rd Generation
`Partnership Project (3GPP), Mobile Competence Centre; 650,
`Route Des Lucioles; F-06921 Sophia-Antipolis Cedex; France, vol.
`RAN WGl, no. Shenzhen, China; Mar. 27, 2008, XP050109796.
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`H04W 52/10
`370/248
`6/2013 Baldemair ............ H04L 5/0053
`370/318
`1/2014 Damnjanovic ....... H04L 1/1861
`370/329
`7/2014 Lim ........................ H04L 25/02
`375/260
`H04W 28/26
`455/452.1
`1/2010 Koyanagi ............. H04L 1/0003
`455/450
`4/2010 Bala ........................ H04L 5/001
`370/329
`8/2010 Papasakellariou .... H04L 1/1614
`370/329
`H04W 72/1289
`370/329
`2010/0271970 Al * 10/2010 Pan ....................... H04L 1/0026
`370/252
`2010/0285809 Al* 11/2010 Lindstrom .............. H04L 5/001
`455/450
`2010/0296389 Al* 11/2010 Khandekar ........... H04L 5/0007
`370/216
`2010/0322173 Al* 12/2010 Marini er .. ... ... ... .. H04W 76/048
`370/329
`1/2011 Choi ..................... H04L 5/0007
`370/329
`1/2011 Moon ................... H04L 5/0053
`370/329
`4/2011 Lee ......................... H04L 5/003
`455/450
`4/2011 Astely ..................... H04L 5/001
`455/509
`
`a second set of radio resources, control information associ(cid:173)
`ated with the downlink transmissions to the second user
`terminal.
`
`41 Claims, 12 Drawing Sheets
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`(60) Provisional application No. 61/248,661, filed on Oct.
`5, 2009.
`
`(51)
`
`(2009.01)
`(2009.01)
`(2009.01)
`(2009.01)
`(2009.01)
`(2009.01)
`(2009.01)
`
`Int. Cl.
`H04W28/26
`H04W72/04
`H04W72/12
`H04W 8/24
`H04W 48/16
`H04W 88/02
`H04W 88/08
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`CPC ... H04W 7210453 (2013.01); H04W 7211273
`(2013.01); H04L 5/0005 (2013.01); H04W
`8/24 (2013.01); H04W 48/16 (2013.01); H04W
`88/02 (2013.01); H04W 88/08 (2013.01)
`( 58) Field of Classification Search
`USPC ......... 455/451, 452.1, 509, 456.1, 522, 137,
`455/103, 575, 456.6
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`8,447,343 B2 *
`
`5/2013 Gerstenberger
`
`8,472,368 B2 *
`
`8,634,358 B2 *
`
`8,792,830 B2 *
`
`2002/0160784 Al* 10/2002 Kuwahara.
`
`2010/0003997 Al*
`
`2010/0098012 Al*
`
`2010/0208679 Al*
`
`2010/0232373 Al*
`
`9/2010 Nory.
`
`2011/0007695 Al*
`
`2011/0007699 Al*
`
`2011/0081913 Al*
`
`2011/0081932 Al*
`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan.2,2018
`
`Sheet 1 of 12
`
`US 9,860,044 B2
`
`FIG. 1
`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 2, 2018
`
`Sheet 2 of 12
`
`US 9,860,044 B2
`
`----j f- GON"TROL. REGION
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`ONE SUBFRAJ\,1E
`
`FIG. 2
`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan.2,2018
`
`Sheet 3 of 12
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`US 9,860,044 B2
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`Samsung Ex. 1001
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan.2, 2018
`
`Sheet 4 of 12
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`US 9,860,044 B2
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`~ ...... .
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`' '
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`
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`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

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`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan.2, 2018
`
`Sheet 7 of 12
`
`US 9,860,044 B2
`
`_L
`T
`
`ONE REf,OUf.:CE
`
`(cid:127) PUCCH FORMAT 2
`II PUCGH FOR.Ml>.T ·t (STAr!C P/\Rf)
`~ PUCCH FORMAT 1 (DYNAMIC PART}
`
`FIG. 7
`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan.2, 2018
`
`Sheet 8 of 12
`
`US 9,860,044 B2
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 2, 2018
`
`Sheet 9 of 12
`
`US 9,860,044 B2
`
`✓-50
`/'
`
`SCHEDULE DOWNLINK TRANSMlSSlONS
`TO A USER TERMINAL ON ONE
`OR MORE DCCs
`
`54
`
`I
`
`•
`
`IF USER TERMIN.AL IS SCHEDULED TO
`RECEIVE DOWNLINK TRANSMISSIONS
`ON SINGLE DCC WffH ASSOCIATED
`HEL-8 HESOURCES ON AN UL PCC,
`RECEIVE UPLINK CONTROL
`INFORMATION FROM THE USER
`TERMINAL ON A FIRST SET OF
`RADIO RESOURCES ON THE UL PCC I
`
`~ .. ..-................ ...,_,.,._,,;
`
`56
`
`W USER TERMlN,t...L :s SCHEDULED TO
`RECEIVE DOWNLINK TRANSMISSIONS
`ON MULTIPLE DCCs, OR ON A DCC
`OTHER THAN THE DCC WITH
`ASSOCIATED RELN8 RESOURCES ON
`THE UL PCC, RECEIVE UPUNl<: CONTROL
`INFORMATION FROM THE USER
`TERMINAL ON A SECOND SET OF RADIO
`RESOURCES ON THE UL PCC
`
`FIG~ 9
`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

`e .
`VJ •
`
`RECEIVE RADIO RESOURCE
`ASSIGNMENT FOR DOWNLINK
`TRANSM!SSION FROM BASE STATION
`
`SINGLE DOWNLINK
`COrv1PONENT CARRIER
`ASSIGNED
`
`I t MULTIPLE DOWNLINK
`,--______ ........ _______ L .......
`
`COMPONENT CARRIERS
`ASSIGNED
`
`66
`
`TR/l.NSMlT CONTROL INFORMAT(.ON
`ASSOCIATED ViflTH THE DOWNLINK
`TRANSMISSION ON A FIRST SET OF
`RADIO RESOURCES ON THE UPLINK
`PR!f'vtt,RY COMPONENT CARRIER
`
`TRANSMIT CONTROL INFORMATION
`ASSOCIATED WITH THE DOWNLINK
`TRANSMISSION ON A SECOND SET OF
`R/\DlO RESOURCES ON THE UPUNK
`PRIMARY COMPONENT CARRIER
`
`FIG. 10
`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

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`
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`
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`RADIO RESOURCES ON A UPUMI-<
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`
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`RADIO RESOURCES ON THE UPLINK
`PR!fvt~RY COMPONENT CARRIER
`
`FIG. 11
`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan.2,2018
`
`Sheet 12 of 12
`
`US 9,860,044 B2
`
`3 2~ -- -- -
`PROCESSING
`CIRCUITS
`
`I
`
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`
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`
`34
`
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`CONTROLLER
`
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`
`110
`
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`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

`US 9,860,044 B2
`
`1
`PUCCH RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR
`CARRIER AGGREGATION IN
`LTE-ADVANCED
`
`2
`also create implementation issues due to inter-modulation
`products, and may lead to generally higher complexity for
`implementation and testing.
`
`RELATED APPLICATION
`
`SUMMARY
`
`This application is a continuation of U.S. patent applica(cid:173)
`tion Ser. No. 12/896,993, filed Oct. 4, 2010, now U.S. Pat.
`No. 9,497,004, issued Nov. 15, 2016, claiming the benefit of
`U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/248,661, filed Oct. 5,
`2009, all of which the contents are hereby incorporated by
`reference as if fully set forth below.
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`The present invention relates generally to carrier aggre(cid:173)
`gation in a mobile communication system and, more par(cid:173)
`ticularly, to an efficient resource allocation for the physical
`uplink control channel for carrier aggregation.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`Carrier aggregation is one of the new features being
`discussed for the next generation of Long Term Evolution
`(LTE) systems, which is being standardized as part of LTE
`Release 10 (known as LTE-Advanced). LTE Rel 8 currently
`supports bandwidths up to 20 MHz. In LTE-Advanced,
`bandwidths up to 100 MHz will be supported. The very high
`data rates contemplated for LTE-Advanced will require an
`expansion of the transmission bandwidth. In order to main- 30
`tain backward compatibility with LTE Rel-8 user terminals,
`the available spectrum is divided into Rel-8 compatible
`chunks called component carriers. Carrier aggregation
`enables the needed bandwidth expansion by allowing user
`terminals to transmit data over multiple component carriers 35
`comprising up to 100 MHz of spectrum. Carrier aggregation
`also ensures efficient use of a wide carrier for legacy
`terminals by making it possible for legacy terminals to be
`scheduled in all parts of the wideband LTE-Advanced ear(cid:173)
`ner.
`The number of aggregated component carriers, as well as
`the bandwidth of the individual component carrier, may be
`different for Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL). A symmetric
`configuration refers to the case where the number of com(cid:173)
`ponent carriers in downlink and uplink is the same. An
`asymmetric configuration refers to the case where the num(cid:173)
`ber of component carriers is different. The number of
`component carriers configured for a geographic cell area
`may be different from the number of component carriers
`seen by a terminal. A user terminal, for example, may 50
`support more downlink component carriers than uplink
`component carriers, even though in the geographic cell area
`the same number of uplink and downlink component carriers
`is offered by the network.
`One consideration for carrier aggregation is how to trans- 55
`mit control signaling from the user terminal on the uplink
`from the user terminal. Uplink control signaling may include
`acknowledgement (ACK) signaling for hybrid automatic
`repeat request (HARQ) protocols, channel state and quality
`information (CSI, CQI) reporting for downlink scheduling, 60
`and scheduling requests (SRs) indicating that the user ter(cid:173)
`minal needs uplink resources for uplink data transmissions.
`One solution is to transmit the uplink control information on
`multiple uplink component carriers associated with different
`downlink component carriers. However, this option is likely 65
`to result in higher user terminal power consumption and a
`dependency on specific user terminal capabilities. It may
`
`The invention provides a signaling mechanism for effi(cid:173)
`cient transmission of control information in a communica(cid:173)
`tion system using carrier aggregation. The signaling mecha-
`lO nism allows the transmission, on a single uplink component
`carrier, of control information associated with downlink
`transmissions on multiple aggregated downlink component
`carriers. Semi-statically reserved resources for the transmis-
`15 sion of control information on the uplink component carrier
`may be dynamically shared by user terminals that are
`assigned multiple downlink component carriers for down(cid:173)
`link transmissions. Implicit or explicit resource indication
`can be used in combination with dynamic resource indica-
`20 tion.
`One exemplary embodiment of the invention comprises a
`method implemented by a base station of receiving control
`information from user terminals. The method comprises
`scheduling downlink transmissions to said user terminal on
`25 one or more downlink component carriers; if the user
`terminal is scheduled to receive downlink transmissions on
`a first single downlink component carrier, receiving control
`information associated with the downlink transmissions to
`the user terminal on a first set of radio resources on a uplink
`primary component carrier associated with said first down(cid:173)
`link component carrier; and if the user terminal is scheduled
`to receive downlink transmissions on a second single down(cid:173)
`link component carrier or multiple downlink component
`carriers, receiving control information associated with the
`downlink transmissions to the user terminal on a second set
`of radio resources on the uplink primary component carrier.
`Another exemplary embodiment of the invention com(cid:173)
`prises a base station for transmitting data to one or more user
`40 terminals. The base station comprises a transmitter to trans(cid:173)
`mit user data on one or more downlink component carriers
`to a user terminal; and a controller to schedule downlink
`transmissions to the user terminal. The controller is config(cid:173)
`ured to schedule downlink transmissions to the user terminal
`45 on one or more downlink component carriers; if the user
`terminal is scheduled to receive downlink transmissions on
`a first single downlink component carrier, receive control
`information associated with the downlink transmissions to
`the user terminal on a first set of radio resources on a uplink
`primary component carrier associated with said first down(cid:173)
`link component carrier; and, if the user terminal is scheduled
`to receive downlink transmissions on a second single down(cid:173)
`link component carrier or multiple downlink component
`carriers, receive control information associated with the
`downlink transmissions to the user terminal on a second set
`of radio resources on the uplink primary component carrier.
`Another exemplary embodiment of the invention com(cid:173)
`prises a method of transmitting control information imple(cid:173)
`mented by a user terminal in a mobile communication
`network. The method comprises receiving an assignment of
`radio resources for downlink transmissions from a base
`station; transmitting control information associated with the
`downlink transmissions on a first set of radio resources on an
`uplink component carrier if an assignment of single down(cid:173)
`link component carrier for the downlink transmission is
`received; and transmitting control information associated
`with the downlink transmissions on a second set of radio
`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

`
`
`US 9,860,044 B2
`
`3
`
`4
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`resources on the uplink component carrier if an assignment
`
`
`
`by a FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary method implemented
`
`
`
`
`
`of multiple downlink component carriers for the downlink
`
`
`
`
`base station of receiving control information from user
`
`transmission is received.
`
`
`
`
`
`terminals scheduled on a single carrier and multiple carriers.
`comof the invention Another exemplary embodiment
`
`
`
`
`
`
`by FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary method implemented
`
`
`
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`5 a user terminal of signaling control information to a base
`
`
`
`
`prises a user terminal confgured to send control information
`
`
`
`associated with downlink transmissions on one or more
`station.
`
`
`
`
`downlink component carriers. The user terminal comprises
`method impleFIG. 11 illustrates another exemplary
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`a receiver to receive downlink transmissions from a base
`
`
`
`mented by a user terminal of signaling control information
`
`
`
`
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`station; a transmitter to transmit control information asso
`to a base station.
`
`
`ciated with the downlink transmission to a base station; and 10
`
`with a FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary base station
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`a controller to select radio resources for transmission of
`
`
`
`controller for controlling downlink transmissions by the
`
`
`
`
`control information associated with the downlink transmis
`
`
`base station to one or more user terminals and associated
`
`
`
`sions. The controller is configured to select a frst set of radio
`
`
`
`transmissions of uplink control information by the user
`
`
`resources on an uplink component carrier if an assignment
`terminals
`
`
`
`
`
`
`of a single downlink component carrier for the downlink 15
`with a FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary user terminal
`
`
`
`
`
`transmission is received; and select a second set of radio
`
`
`
`controller for controlling transmission of uplink control
`
`
`
`resources on the uplink component carrier if an assignment
`
`information to a base station.
`
`
`
`
`of multiple downlink component carriers for the downlink
`
`transmission is received.
`com20
`
`
`of the invention Another exemplary embodiment
`an Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`prises an alternate method of transmitting control informa
`
`
`
`exemplary mobile communication network 10 for providing
`
`
`tion implemented by a user terminal in a mobile communi
`
`
`
`wireless communication services to user terminals
`100.
`
`
`
`cation network. The method comprises receiving an
`
`Three user terminals 100 are shown in FIG. 1. The user
`
`
`
`assignment of radio resources for a downlink transmissions
`
`
`
`
`cellular telefor example, terminals 100 may comprise,
`
`from a base station; transmitting control information asso25
`
`
`
`
`
`
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`phones, personal digital assistants, smart phones, laptop
`
`
`
`ciated with the downlink transmission on a frst set of radio
`
`
`
`
`computers, handheld computers, or other devices with wire
`
`
`resources on an uplink component carrier if an assignment
`
`
`less communication capabilities. The mobile communica
`of a frst downlink component carrier for the downlink
`
`
`
`
`
`
`geographic cell tion network 10 comprises a plurality of
`transmission is received; and transmitting control informa
`
`
`
`
`
`
`30 areas or sectors 12. Each geographic cell area or sector 12
`
`tion associated with the downlink transmission on a second
`
`
`
`
`to in LTE as is served by a base station 20, which is referred
`
`
`
`
`set of radio resources on the uplink component carrier if an
`
`a NodeB or Enhanced NodeB (eNodeB). A single base
`
`
`
`assignment of a second downlink component carrier for the
`
`
`
`
`
`geographic cell service in multiple station 20 may provide
`
`
`downlink transmission is received.
`
`
`
`signals areas or sectors 12. The user terminals 100 receive
`comof the invention Another exemplary embodiment
`
`
`
`
`
`35 from a serving base station 20 on one or more downlink
`
`
`
`
`prises a user terminal confgured to send control information
`
`
`
`
`
`(DL) charmels, and transmit signals to the base station 20 on
`
`
`
`associated with downlink transmissions on one or more
`one or more uplink (UL) channels.
`
`
`
`
`downlink component carriers. The user terminal comprises
`For illustrative purposes, of an exemplary embodiment
`
`
`
`
`
`
`a receiver to receive downlink transmissions from a base
`
`
`
`
`the present invention will be described in the context of a
`
`
`
`
`
`station; a transmitter to transmit control information asso
`
`
`
`in the art Those skilled 40 L ong Term Evolution (LTE) system.
`
`
`
`ciated with the downlink transmission to a base station; and
`
`
`
`
`will appreciate, however, that the present invention is more
`
`
`
`
`a controller to select radio resources for transmission of
`
`
`
`
`generally applicable to other wireless communication sys
`
`
`
`
`control information associated with the downlink transmis
`
`
`
`tems, including Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
`
`
`
`sion. The controller is confgured to select a frst set of radio
`
`(WCDMA) and WiMax (IEEE 802.16) systems.
`
`
`resources on an uplink component carrier if an assignment
`45
`
`
`
`LTE uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
`
`
`
`of a frst downlink component carrier for the downlink
`
`
`(OFDM) in the downlink and Discrete Fourier Transform
`
`
`
`transmission is received; and select a second set of radio
`
`
`(DFT) spread OFDM in the uplink. The basic LTE downlink
`
`
`
`resources on the uplink component carrier if an assignment
`
`
`physical resource can be viewed as a time frequency grid.
`
`
`of a second downlink component carrier for the downlink
`
`
`FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of an exemplary OFDM time
`
`transmission is received.
`
`
`
`
`timeGenerally speaking, the 50 frequency grid 50 for LTE.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`
`
`
`subframes. into one millisecond frequency grid 50 is divided
`
`
`Each subframe includes a number ofOFDM symbols. For a
`FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary OFDM communication
`
`
`
`
`normal cyclic prefx (CP) length, suitable for use in situa
`system.
`
`
`
`tions where multipath dispersion is not expected to be
`grid for an FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary time frequency
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`55 extremely severe, a subframe comprises fourteen OFDM
`OFDM system.
`
`
`
`
`symbols. A subframe comprises twelve OFDM symbols if
`
`
`
`structure for FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary time domain
`
`
`
`
`an extended cyclic prefx is used. In the frequency domain,
`an OFDM system.
`
`
`
`
`the physical resources are divided into adjacent subcarriers
`
`
`
`signaling transFIG. 4 illustrates uplink Ll/L2 control
`
`
`with a spacing of 15 kHz. The number of subcarriers varies
`
`mission on PUCCH.
`
`
`
`60 according to the allocated system bandwidth. The smallest
`
`FIG. 5 illustrates the PUCCH format 1 using a normal
`
`
`
`element. element of the time frequency grid 50 is a resource
`cyclic prefx.
`
`
`
`
`A resource element comprises one OFDM subcarrier during
`
`FIG. 6 illustrates the PUCCH format 2 using a normal
`
`one OFDM symbol interval.
`cyclic prefx.
`In LTE systems, data is transmitted to the user terminals
`
`
`
`
`FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary allocation of resource
`
`
`
`65 over a downlink transport channel known as the Physical
`blocks for PUCCH.
`
`
`
`Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). The PDSCH is a time
`
`FIG. 8 illustrates the concept of carrier aggregation.
`
`
`
`
`and frequency multiplexed channel shared by a plurality of
`
`CA
`
`Samsung Ex. 1001
`
`

`

`US 9,860,044 B2
`
`5
`user terminals. As shown in FIG. 3, the downlink transmis(cid:173)
`sions are organized into 10 ms radio frames. Each radio
`frame comprises ten equally-sized subframes. For purposes
`of scheduling users to receive downlink transmissions, the
`downlink time-frequency resources are allocated in units
`called resource blocks (RBs). Each resource block spans
`twelve subcarriers (which may be adjacent or distributed
`across the frequency spectrum) and one 0.5 ms slot ( one half
`of one subframe). The term "resource block pair" refers to
`two consecutive resource blocks occupying an entire one
`millisecond subframe.
`The base station 20 dynamically schedules downlink
`transmissions to the user terminals based on channel state
`and quality information (CSI, CQI) reports from the user
`terminals on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) 15
`or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). The CQI and
`CSI reports indicate the instantaneous channel conditions as
`seen by the receiver. In each subframe, the base station 20
`transmits downlink control information (DCI) identifying
`the user terminals that have been scheduled to receive data
`(hereinafter the scheduled terminals) in the current downlink
`subframe and the resource blocks on which the data is being
`transmitted to the scheduled terminals. The DCI is typically
`transmitted on the Physical Downlink Control Channel
`(PDCCH) in the first 1, 2, or 3 OFDM symbols in each
`subframe.
`Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) is used to
`mitigate errors that occur during transmission of data on the
`downlink. When the base station 20 indicates that a user
`terminal 100 is scheduled to receive a transmission on the
`PDSCH, the user terminal 100 decodes the PDSCH and
`transmits an acknowledgement (ACK/NACK message to
`base station 20 on the PUCCH or PUSCH. The acknowl(cid:173)
`edgement message informs the base station 20 whether the
`data packet was correctly received by the user terminal 100.
`The acknowledgement message could be either a positive
`acknowledgement (ACK) indicating a successful decoding
`or a negative acknowledgement (NACK) message indicat(cid:173)
`ing a decoding failure. Based on the acknowledgement
`message received from the user terminal 100, base station 20
`determines whether to transmit new data (ACK received) or
`to retransmit the previous data (NACK received).
`For uplink transmissions, the user terminals transmit
`scheduling requests (SRs) to the base station 20 on the
`PUCCH when the user terminals have data to send but no 45
`valid uplink grant. The base stations 20 allocate uplink
`resources responsive to the scheduling requests and transmit
`a scheduling grant to the user terminal 100 on the PDCCH.
`When the data is received, the base station 20 transmits
`ACK/NACK signaling to the user terminal 100 on the 50
`Physical Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Indicator Chan(cid:173)
`nel. (PRICH) to indicate whether the data is received
`correctly.
`If the user terminal 100 has not been assigned an uplink
`resource for data transmission, the Ll/L2 control informa- 55
`tion (CQI reports, ACK/NACKs, and SRs) is transmitted in
`uplink resources (resource blocks) specifically assigned for
`uplink transmission of Ll/L2 control information on the
`Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). As illustrated
`in FIG. 4, these resources are located at the edges of the total 60
`available cell bandwidth. Each PUCCH resource comprises
`of one resource block (twelve subcarriers) within each of the
`two slots of an uplink subframe. Frequency hopping is used
`to provide frequency diversity. The frequency of the
`resource blocks alternate at the slot boundary, with one 65
`resource block at the upper part of the spectrum within the
`first slot of a subframe and an equally sized resource block
`
`6
`at the lower part of the spectrum during the second slot of
`the subframe, or vice versa. If more resources are needed for
`the uplink Ll/L2 control signaling, e.g., in case of very large
`overall transmission bandwidth supporting a large number
`5 of users, additional resources blocks can be assigned adja(cid:173)
`cent the previously assigned resource blocks.
`The reasons for locating the PUCCH resources at the
`edges of the overall available spectrum are two-fold. First,
`the allocation maximizes the frequency diversity, particu-
`10 larly when frequency hopping is employed. Second, the
`allocation avoids fragmentation of the uplink spectrum,
`which would make it impossible to assign very wide trans(cid:173)
`mission bandwidths to a single user terminal 100 and still
`retain the single-carrier property of the uplink transmission.
`The bandwidth of one resource block during one sub-
`frame is too large for the control signaling needs of a single
`user terminal 100. Therefore, to efficiently exploit the
`resources set aside for control signaling, multiple user
`terminals can share the same resource block. This is done by
`20 assigning the differen