US008483141B2
`
`US 8,483,141 B2
`(10) Patent No.:
`a2) United States Patent
`Malkam§ikietal.
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Jul. 9, 2013
`
`
`(54) EXPANDED SIGNALLING CAPABILITY FOR
`NETWORK ELEMENT, USER EQUIPMENT
`AND SYSTEM
`°
`
`(75)
`
`Inventors: Esa Malkamaki, Espoo (FI); Jussi
`Kahtava, Mitaka (JP); Kari Rikkinen,Ii
`(FT)
`
`EP
`EP
`
`5/2002 Cooketal. wu... 455/434
`6,389,284 B1*
`
`6,483,822 B1* 11/2002 Lioyetal.
`........
`w 370/329
`3/2003 Lumelsky et al. 0.0.0... 709/218
`6,529,950 B1*
`(Continued)
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`0978958
`2/2000
`1 274 203 Al
`1/2003
`
`(73) Assignee: Nokia Corporation, Espoo (FI)
`
`(Continued)
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 976 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 11/444,156
`(22)
`Filed:
`May 30, 2006
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2007/0002812 Al
`Jan. 4, 2007
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`(60) Provisional application No. 60/686,852, filed on May
`27, 2005, provisional application No. 60/686,832,
`filed on May 27, 2005.
`
`(51)
`
`(2009.01)
`(2009.01)
`
`Int. Cl.
`HO4W 4/00
`HO4W 72/00
`(52) U.S.CL
`USPC one. 370/329; 370/328; 370/338; 455/450
`(58) Field of Classification Search
`USPC ooocccccccccccee 370/320, 335, 342, 431, 432, 438,
`370/439, 441, 328-330, 338; 455/450-453
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`5,663,958 A
`5,946,633 A
`6,031,827 A *
`
`9/1997 Ward
`8/1999 McAlinden ....... 455/551
`2/2000 Rikkinen et al. ............ 370/330
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`.
`hand .
`dated
`.
`b
`Su stantive Search an Examination Report
`ted Mar. 22, 2010 in
`corresponding Kenyan Patent Application No. AP/P/2007/004248 (3
`pages).
`
`Continued
`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner — Lester Kincaid
`Assistant Examiner — Daniel Lai
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Harrington & Smith
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`Several mobile station identifiers are allocated to one mobile
`station, one for each of a plurality of possible signalling
`channelstructures, parameters, or both. When receiving the
`signalling channels, the mobile station searches for all iden-
`tifiers allocated for it in the received signalling channels.
`Whenit finds one that matches, it may for instance check a
`mapping table (agreed at
`the connection setup between
`mobile station and the network by RRC signalling) to deter-
`mine whatthis identifier means. The signalling channelstruc-
`ture, parameters, or both, used in the transmission may be
`implicitly or explicitly indicated by the identifier. The mobile
`station (User Equipment) should monitorthe signalling chan-
`nels in the normal way. Instead of looking for only one iden-
`tifier, however, the mobile station should monitor several
`identifiers belongingto it.
`
`67 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets
`
`ALLOCATE UE ID
`TO A SERVICE
`
`‘NEGOTIATE WITH
`‘USER EQUIPMENT.
`
`NO_¢"
`
`NEGOTIATIONCOMPLETE?
`
`PROVIDE SERVICES
`
`522
`
`RETURN
`
`1
`
`
`
`516
`518
`>ES
`820
`
`APPLE 1012
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ASSOCIATE UE ID TO A
`
`SIGNALLING STRUCTURE,
`PARAMETERS, OR BOTH
`
`
`
`1
`
`APPLE 1012
`
`

`

`US 8,483,141 B2
`
`Page 2
`
`
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`6,681,112 Bl
`1/2004 Schwarz etal.
`:
`6,898,429 Bl
`§/2005 Vialen et al.
`6,970,438 B2
`11/2005 Mate et al.
`7,171,492 BI*
`1/2007 Borellaet al. oo... 709/245
`7,376,422 B2
`5/2008 Yagihashi
`2002/0068569 Al*
`6/2002 Chenetal. oo... 455/437
`2003/0007510 Al*
`1/2003 Yeo etal.
`.......
`. 370/469
`2003/0012149 Al*
`1/2003 Maggenti etal.
`. 370/260
`2003/0045288 A1l*
`3/2003 Luschi etal.
`..
`. 455/434
`2003/0135626 Al*
`7/2003 Rayetal. ou. 709/228
`soeotavoss ‘i
`Sons Pater
`1
`3003/0189918 Al
`10/2003 Das “ al
`.
`.
`soooovocee ‘i
`ILowos erenesse!et al.
`2004/0057401 Al
`3/2004 Dicket al.
`2004/0180675 Al
`9/2004 Choietal.
`2005/0063345 AL™*
`3/2005 Wuetals cccccccccccoccscsceeee 370/335
`2005/0073974 A1*
`4/2005 Kimetal. wu 370/329
`2005/0135403 Al
`6/2005 Ketchum etal.
`2005/0207335 Al
`9/2005 Schmidetal.
`2005/0220116 Al
`10/2005 Ahnetal.
`2006/0140143 Al
`6/2006 Bauer
`2007/0002812 Al
`1/2007 Malkamaki et al.
`2007/0010268 Al
`1/2007 Kim et al.
`
`EP
`EP
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`1274203
`1/2003
`1517499
`3/2005
`
`GB
`JP
`Wo
`wo
`Wo
`Wo
`
`12/2004
`2402846
`12/2005
`2005-123995
`9/2000
`00/54521
`9/2000
`WO 00/54521
`8/2002
`02067594
`11/2006
`2006126085
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`*
`
`Chinese Office Action mailed May 25, 2010 in parallel Chinese
`Patent Application No. 200680024090-1 (8 pages) and an English
`translation thereof (11 pages).
`Japanese Office Action mailed Aug. 3, 2010 in parallel Japanese
`Patent Application No. 2008-5 12946 (2 pages) and an English trans-
`lation thereof (4 pages).
`Patent Abstracts of Japan, Publication No. 2005-123993, Date of
`Publication: Dec. 5, 2005, 1 page.
`Siemens; “EDCHidentity priority’; document R2-042494 for dis-
`cussion, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 Meeting #43; Shin Yokohama, Japan,
`Nov.15-19, 2004, Agenda item 12.3.2 (2 pages).
`3GPP TS 25.11 V6.4.0 (Mar. 2005), Technical Specification, 3’”
`Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group
`Radio Access Network; Physical Channels and Mapping ofTransport
`Channelsonto Physical Channels (FDD) (Release 6), (59 pages).
`3GPP TS 25.212 V6.4.0 (Mar. 2005), Technical Specification, 3°
`Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group
`Radio Access Network; Multiplexing and Channel Coding (FDD)
`(Release 6), (85 pages).
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`2
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 9, 2013
`
`Sheet 1 of 7
`
`US 8,483,141 B2
`
`RECEIVER
`
`
`MODULE
`
`5 14
`
`ALLOCATION
`
`MODULE
`
`
`24
`
` ASSOCIATION
`
`MODULE
`
` 28
`
`
` NEGOTIATION
`
`MODULE
`
` 36
`38
`
`
`
`SERVICE
`
`
`MODULE
`
`
`'
`
`SIGNAL|
`
`32
`
`10
`
`FIG. 1A
`
`3
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 9, 2013
`
`Sheet 2 of 7
`
`US 8,483,141 B2
`
`Lees
`
`'|
`
`SOIAUAS
`
`ATNGOW
`
`YALLINSNVUL
`
`ATAGOW
`
`NOILVILODAN
`
`AINGOW
`
`NOILVIOOSSV
`
`ATINGOW
`
`NOILVOOTIV
`
`FINGOW
`
`qINGOW
`
`NOILVIDOSSV
`
`qINGOW
`
`NOILVILODAN
`
`TINGOW
`
`SOIAYHS
`
`qINGOW
`
`NOILVOOTIV
`
`-
`
`YAATFOTY
`
`dJINGOW
`
`YELLINSNVALIossao0ud'TYNDIS
`
`JINGOW
`
`4
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 9, 2013
`
`Sheet 3 of 7
`
`US 8,483,141 B2
`
`| HS-PDSCH |
`
`| __HS-SCCH#2A |
`
`UEid in HS-SCCHpart #1 indicates the HS-SCCH
`structure in the other two timeslots of HS-SCCH
`
`FIG. 2
`
`Core bandSoooeeeSOOoOe
`
`Band D
`
`Band C
`
`Band B
`
`
`
`
`THs-PDSCH
`
`HS-SCCH
`
`FIG. 3A
`
`UE ID 1
`DO-DSCH
`
`DO-DSCH
`
`DO-DSCH
`
`
`
`DO-DSCH
`
`
` UE ID 3
`
`
`
`
`5
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 9, 2013
`
`Sheet 4 of 7
`
`US 8,483,141 B2
`
`Band D
`
`Band C
`
`Core band
`
`Tus-
`HS-PDSCH
`
`
`
`DO-DSCH
`
`DO-DSCH
`
`DO-DSCH
`
`DO-DSCH
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`HS-SCCH
`
`FIG. 3B
`
`6
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 9, 2013
`
`Sheet 5 of 7
`
`US 8,483,141 B2
`
`Band D
`
`SSS BS TTTEEPEWII WW WS
`
`BAKA AAA A AA
`
`SAAN AA KX AX
`
`Band C
`
`Band B
`
`Tus-ppscu
`Core band
`
`
`
`
`PAPAis-SCCHEHEHHH
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Channelization code A
`
`Channelization code B
`
`
` BORoN
`FIG. 4WHEI ChannelizationcodeD
`
`55 50
`POS
`OOng
`
`Jo5005
`.
`:
`S555 5 eS ee
`Woeeeeg Channelization code C
`-©.0.@0.0.0.0.0.0.4
`
`SS 700
`
`ISIGNAL PROCESSOR
`
`7
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 9, 2013
`
`Sheet 6 of 7
`
`US 8,483,141 B2
`
`500
`
`ENTER
`
`502
`
`RECE] VE REQUEST FROM
`UE FOR SERVICES
`
`504
`
`PROCESS REQUEST
`
`506
`
`ALLOCATEUE ID
`
`TO A SERVICE
`
`
`
`
`508
`
`NO
`
`514
`
`510
`
`512
`
`NO
`
`516
`
`518
`
`YES
`
`520
`
`MORE SERVICES
`REQUESTED?
`
`SIGNAL RESULTANT
`UE IDs & SERVICES
`
`
`
`
`
`ASSOCIATE UEID TOA
`SIGNALLING STRUCTURE,
`PARAMETERS, OR BOTH
`
`MORE UEIDs ?
`
`NEGOTIATE WITH
`USER EQUIPMENT
`
`
`
`NEGOTIATION COMPLETE?
`
`PROVIDE SERVICES
`
`522
`
`RETURN
`
`
`
`8
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jul. 9, 2013
`
`Sheet 7 of 7
`
`US 8,483,141 B2
`
`ENTER
`
`DECIDEIN UE THAT
`
`SERVICES ARE NEEDED
`
`ALLOCATEUE ID
`
`FOR EACH SERVICE
`
`
`
`ASSOCIATE EACH
`ASSIGNED UE 1D TO
`A SIGNALLING
`STRUCTURE,
`PARAMETERS, OR
`BOTH
`
`SEND REQUEST FROM UE
`TO NETWORK FOR SERVICES
`
`NEGOTIATE WITH NETWORK
`
`606
`
`608
`
`610
`
`612
`
`NEGOTIATION
`COMPLETE?
`
`RECEIVE SERVICES
`
`RETURN
`
`FIG.6
`
`
`
`9
`
`

`

`US 8,483,141 B2
`
`1
`EXPANDED SIGNALLING CAPABILITY FOR
`NETWORK ELEMENT, USER EQUIPMENT
`AND SYSTEM
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
`Patent Application Nos. 60/686,852 filed May 27, 2005 and
`60/686,832 filed May 27, 2005.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Technical Field
`Thefield of the invention is mobile communications and,
`moreparticularly, to signalling used therein, for instance in
`the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)
`Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) of the Third Generation
`Partnership Project (3GPP) and beyond.
`2. Discussion of Related Art
`for
`In further evolution of mobile communications,
`example, inthe WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple
`Access) system, all services could be implemented with
`HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access)/HSUPA
`(High Speed Uplink Packet Access) (including real time (RT)
`services which usesa very short duration frame (transmission
`time interval or TTI)). Also, traditionally circuit-switched
`services are moving into the packet-switched domain.
`Althoughdisclosedin the context of the current mobile com-
`munications environment, the present inventionis not limited
`thereto but should be broadly seen as applicable to future
`evolution thereof as well.
`Even though only one frequency need be used, a UMTS
`operator has multiple 5 MHz frequency blocks available for
`implementing packet-switched services in the WCDMA sys-
`tem. It is foreseen that different numbers of DL and UL
`
`carriers may be in use simultaneously to meet potentially
`asymmetric capacity needs.
`Spectrum efficiency andflexible use of available spectrum
`will be elements of cost efficient future solutions. Efficient
`
`usage ofavailable radio resources in the DL direction requires
`fast and dynamic allocation of DL carriers to different users
`when multiple DL carriers are available in a system. The
`current WCDMA deploymentplans do not provide a signal-
`ling scheme/signal structure to enable fast allocation of
`HSDPA carriers from a pool of multiple DL carriers.
`WCDMAhasnot had multi-carrier solutionsso far.
`
`If new features are to be introduced to HSDPA (for
`example, the above-mentioned multicarrier, MIMO (multiple
`input multiple output) or additional new services such as
`voice over internet protocol (VoIP)),
`it may be that new
`parameters will have to be signalled (e.g., the carrier fre-
`quency in multicarrier system, stream identification or other
`stream specific parameters in case ofmulti-stream MIMO) or
`it may be that not all parameters or not the whole range of
`those parameters as presently specified may be needed(e.g.,
`with VoIP larger transport block sizes are never used due to
`the low data rate). Then it could be necessary to change the
`framestructure ofthe signalling channel (HS-SCCH)in order
`to beable to signal the new parameters orto signal the existing
`parameters more reliably (e.g., if the transport block size
`(TBS) field were to be shortened for VoIP, more channel
`coding would be possible).
`The HS-SCCHis used to signal parameters of the high
`speed data shared channel (HS-DSCH). One of the major
`parameters is the user equipmentidentifier (UE ID) which
`indicates which user
`equipment
`should decode
`the
`
`2
`HS-DSCH. Currently only one UE ID is allocated per user
`equipment (according to the current specifications). The
`parameters and the framestructure of the HS-SCCHisfixed.
`The existing structure of the HS-SCCH (High Speed
`Shared Control Channel) is specified for HSDPA in TS
`25.211 and TS 25.212 of the 3GPP WCDMAspecification,
`where a numberofbit fields are reserved for signalling to the
`UE. See, for example, Section 4.6 of 3GPP TS 25.212 V 6.4.0
`(2005-03). However, because of the above-mentioned evolu-
`tion, in later releases of WCDMA there mayarise a need to
`indicate different information to the UE receiving data on
`HS-PDSCH (High Speed Physical Downlink Shared Chan-
`nel), or the UE may need to receive multiple HS-DSCH (High
`Speed Downlink Shared Channel) sessions simultaneously
`from the BS (Base Station (called Node B in 3GPP)) MAC
`(Medium Access Control). There is currently no room in the
`HS-SCCHsignalling structure as defined in the 3GPPspeci-
`fications to indicate the frequency carrier or some other new
`L1/MACparameters that may be neededor possible.
`If the problem were merely that the user equipment only
`needs to receive a new set of parameters, then this could be
`informedto the user equipment by RRCsignaling. Then the
`UE would be able to receive parameters as it currently does
`but assuminga different framestructure. If, however, the UE
`needs to receive multiple services, then the UE may need to
`receive multiple HS-SCCH frame structures or formats
`depending on the service or some other factor. There is no
`mechanism to tell the UE which HS-SCCH framestructure
`
`(i.e., which parameters are signal, what is there value range
`and how they are channel encoded, etc.) is being used in a
`given transmission time interval (TTI).
`Provisioning for moreefficient use of DL (downlink) sig-
`nalling resources could be achieved by providing some new,
`different HS-SCCHstructures for DL HSDPAsignalling. For
`example, for some transmissions on HS-PDSCHnotall the
`specified fields are needed, potentially new signalling could
`be added, or a smaller numberof bits would be enough for
`some of the currently existing HS-SCCHfields. Specifying
`another HS-SCCHstructure in a later release of the 3GPP
`specifications is possible, but this would haveto be a different
`HS-SCCH with redesigned coding, puncturing, error detec-
`tion, etc. Just adding a new HS-SCCHto the system also
`brings the problem of the UE knowing which HS-SCCH
`structure it is to receive with. On the other hand, as suggested
`above, there may be multiple reasons for introducing new
`signalling structures in WCDMA,such as VoIP services and
`so on.
`
`In view ofthe fact that HSDPA will be widely deployed for
`packet switched traffic in the near future and the need for
`enhancements of HSDPA, along with enhancements for the
`signalling, such as some new L1/MAC parameters, there
`would naturally be a desire to avoid changesto the high speed
`shared control channel (HS-SCCH). The present invention
`proposes how these new parameters could be signalled with-
`out changing the HS-SCCHstructure or how the existing
`HS-SCCHsignalling could be adapted to perform signalling
`using different signalling structure in a backwards compat-
`ible way, i.e., so as to be consistent with the existing HS-
`SCCHstructure.
`
`The problem hasnot been solvedearlier. It should be noted
`again that this invention is not specifically confined to multi-
`carrier WCDMA orVoIP.
`
`DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
`
`According to a first aspect of the invention, a method
`comprisesallocating a plurality of user equipmentidentifiers
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`10
`
`10
`
`

`

`US 8,483,141 B2
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
`
`FIG. 1A showsa device for carrying out the present inven-
`tion with a server of modules in combination.
`FIG. 1B shows two devices, each similar to the device of
`FIG. 1A, operating together as a system comprising a base
`station and user equipment.
`FIG. 2 presents the concept of how the UE ID located in
`HS-SCCHpart #1 may be used to indicate the HS-SCCH
`structure.
`
`FIG. 3A presents an implementation A for fast carrier
`assignment, where the DL carrier band (A(Core), B, C, or D)
`is explicitly indicated as embedded information that HS-
`SCCHcarries; it presents the UE ID indicating the frequency
`carrier/band.
`
`FIG. 3B showsanotherexplicit signalling method with an
`explicit DL carrier number parameter added to HS-SCCH.
`FIG.4 presents an implementation B forfast carrier assign-
`ment, where the DL carrier is implicitly mapped from the
`channelization code used on the HS-SCCHassigned for the
`UE.
`
`4
`According to a ninth aspect of the invention, a method for
`execution in user equipmentin a multi-carrier system, com-
`prises said user equipmentreceiving a radio signal on a down-
`link, and carrying out a fast downlink carrier assignment in
`said user equipment in said multi-carrier system in response
`to physical layer signaling in said radio signal received on
`said downlink.
`According to a tenth aspect of the invention, user equip-
`ment for use in a multi-carrier system, comprises a receiver,
`responsive to a radio signal on a downlink, and a signal
`processorfor carrying out a fast downlink carrier assignment
`in said user equipmentin said multi-carrier system according
`to physical layer signaling in said radio signal on said down-
`link.
`According to an eleventh aspect of the invention, user
`equipmentfor use in a multi-carrier system, comprises means
`for receiving a radio signal on a downlink in user equipment,
`and meansfor carrying out a fast downlink carrier assignment
`in said user equipmentin said multi-carrier system by physi-
`cal layer signaling in said radio signal on said downlink.
`
`3
`for a single user equipment, and associating parameters, for
`each of said plurality of user equipment identifiers from
`amonga plurality of different signalling parameters.
`According to a second aspect of the invention, a device
`comprises an allocation module, responsive to a request sig-
`nal, for providing a signal indicative of a plurality of user
`equipment identifiers for a single user equipment, and an
`association module, responsive to said signal indicative of
`said plurality of user equipment identifiers for associating
`signalling parameters for each of said plurality of user equip-
`mentidentifiers from among a plurality of different param-
`eters and for providing a signal indicative of the plurality of
`user equipment identifiers and their associated signalling
`parameters.
`Accordingto a third aspect ofthe invention, a device com-
`prises means for allocating a plurality of user equipment
`identifiers for a single user equipment, and meansfor associ-
`ating parameters for each of said plurality of user equipment
`identifiers from among a plurality of different signalling
`parameters.
`According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a computer
`program stored on a computer readable medium is for allo-
`cating a plurality of user equipmentidentifiers for a single
`user equipment, and for associating parameters for each of
`said plurality of user equipment identifiers from among a
`plurality of different signalling parameters.
`Accordingto a fifth aspect of the invention, a system com-
`prises a network element for allocating a plurality of user
`equipment identifiers for a single user equipment and for
`associating parameters for each of said plurality of user
`equipmentidentifiers from a plurality of different signalling
`parameters, and said user equipmentfor allocating said plu-
`rality ofuser equipment identifiers and for associating param-
`eters for each ofsaid plurality of user equipmentidentifiers
`from amongsaid plurality of different parameters.
`According to a sixth aspect of the invention, a method
`comprises receiving, in user equipment, radio signalling from
`a radio access network over a wireless interface concerning
`parameters needed to recover data in a data channelarriving
`after said signalling wherein said signalling is distinguishable
`by auser equipmentidentifier for said user equipment having
`assigned thereto multiple user equipmentidentifiers, and car-
`rying out a downlink carrier assignment in said user equip-
`ment according to said signalling for receiving said data
`channel in said user equipment.
`According to a seventh aspect of the invention, apparatus
`comprises user equipment receiver, responsive to radio sig-
`nalling from a radio access network over a wireless interface
`wherein said signalling is indicative of parameters needed to
`FIG.7showsa signal processorfor carrying out the inven-
`50
`tion.
`recover data in a data channelarriving after said signalling
`wherein said signalling is distinguishable by a user equip-
`ment identifier for said user equipment having assigned
`thereto multiple user equipmentidentifiers, and a signal pro-
`cessor for carrying out a downlink carrier assignmentin said
`user equipmentaccordingto said signalling for receiving said
`data channelin said user equipment.
`According to an eighth aspect of the present invention,
`apparatus comprises meansfor receiving in user equipment
`radio signalling from a radio access network over a wireless
`interface concerning parameters needed to recover data in a
`data channel arriving after said signalling wherein said sig-
`nalling is distinguishable by a user equipmentidentifier for
`said user equipment having assigned thereto multiple user
`equipmentidentifiers, and meansfor carrying out a downlink
`carrier assignmentin said user equipment according to said
`signalling for receiving said data channel in said user equip-
`ment.
`
`FIG.5 is a flowchart showinga series of steps which may
`be carried out in a network element according to the inven-
`tion.
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`FIG.6 is a flowchart showinga series of steps which may
`be carried out in user equipment according to the present
`invention.
`
`BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE
`INVENTION
`
`In the 3GPP WCDMA system the base station (Node B) is
`anetwork elementthat sends signalling (control) information
`on four different high speed shared control channels (HS-
`SCCHs) although more than four are possible. The
`HS-SCCHsare sentin parallel during the same recurring time
`interval, e.g., during a two millisecond transmission time
`interval (TTI). The HS-SCCHsare sent over the wholecell or
`parts thereof for monitoring by various user equipment (UEs)
`which maybepresentin the cell. During this time that UEs are
`sending back periodic (for instance every ten milliseconds)
`channel quality indicator (CQI) signals to the Node B. The
`control information for a given UE, accordingtothepriorart,
`is contained in one and only one of the four parallel HS-
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`US 8,483,141 B2
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`SCCHs. Ifa UE is able to check all four HS-SCCHs, it tries to
`find the HS-SCCHintendedfor it by checking its UE identi-
`fier in one of the four possible channels. Whenit detects the
`UE ID uniqueto itself in the first part ofthe HS-SCCH,it then
`reads the rest of the information in the second part of the
`HS-SCCHin question in orderto be able to properly process
`information contained in digital samples extracted from the
`HS-PDSCH (High Speed Physical Downlink Shared Chan-
`nel) whicharrives a short time later. The parameters needed to
`demodulate and decode (channelization code-wise)
`the
`physical channel are containedin thefirst part of each TTI,
`ie., in the first third of the two millisecond transmission time
`interval used for the HS-SCCH. The two millisecond TTIis
`broken down into three equal duration slots, the first part
`being oneslot in duration (twothirds ofa millisecond) and the
`second part being two slots in duration (four thirds of a
`millisecond) and containing information needed to further
`process the demodulated and decoded information. The HS-
`PDSCHframebeginsafter thefirst part of the HS-SCCH.
`According to the present invention, more than one UE
`identifier can be allocated or assigned for one UE and each
`identifier indicates which signaling structure is being used in
`a given transmission time interval, or it indicates some new
`parameter value, or both.
`If, according to one embodiment, more than one UE ID is
`allocated or assigned for one UE and the UE IDindicates
`which HS-SCCHframestructure is being used in the current
`TTI, it is in this way possible to dynamically change between
`different structures. For instance, if we have a need for dif-
`ferent HS-SCCHstructures suchasa first structure optimized
`for VoIP and anotherstructure for normaltraffic such as what
`
`has already been specified for other services, then two UE IDs
`could be allocated or assigned according to the invention for
`the single UE, one for VoIP and the other for everything else.
`Whenthe Node B sends a VoIP packetto the UE,it would use
`the UE ID allocated for VoIP usage and the UE would know
`based on the UE ID that now (in the current TTI) the HS-
`SCCHstructure is the new VoIP optimized structure. And for
`other data, the other UE ID and HS-SCCHframestructure
`would be used.
`
`Or, according to another embodiment, we could have a
`multicarrier system where only high data rates are allocated
`on somecarriers (DO-DSCH)and low data rates on the car-
`rier on the core band. You could then have a different HS-
`SCCHframestructure to support the high data rate carriers
`(that HS-SCCH would also indicate the carrier/band) and the
`normal structure to support the core bandtraffic. The UE
`would be allocated to two UE IDs, one for normal operation
`and the other for multicarrier operation. The UE ID would
`thenindicate on the HS-SCCH whichframestructure is used.
`
`Or, according to a third embodiment, a MIMO system
`could be provided, where high data rates are allocated to a
`multi-stream MIMOoperational mode and low data rates to a
`normal single-stream SIMO (single input multiple output)
`operational mode. The user equipment would be allocated to
`two or more UE IDs, one for the normal SIMO operational
`mode andthe others for the multi-stream MIMOoperational
`mode.
`The HS-SCCHstructure is currently specified in 3GPP TS
`25.212, V.6.4.0 (2005-03) and it currently carries the follow-
`ing parameters(see section 4.6 ofTS 24.212): the modulation
`scheme (1 bit) and the channelization code set (7 bits)
`assigned for the user, as well as the transport block size (6
`bits), the HARQ processID (3 bits), redundancy andconstel-
`lation version (3 bits), new data indicator (NDI) (1 bit) and
`UE specific CRC (16 bits). The UE specific CRCis calculated
`as anormal 16 bit CRC which is XORedwith the 16 bit UEID
`
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`(H-RNTI (HS-DSCHradio network temporary identifier)).
`In addition to its use in conjunction with the UE specific CRC,
`the UE ID is also used for UE specific maskingofthefirst slot
`of the HS-SCCH (as suggested above, the first slot of the
`HS-SCCH TTIincludes the modulation scheme and channel-
`
`ization code set parameters). For details of UE specific mask-
`ing and UE specific CRC, see, especially the FIG. 19 coding
`chain of the 3GPP specification TS25.212. Based on the UE
`specific masking ofthefirst slot of the HS-SCCH transmis-
`sion, the UE is quickly able to identify whetherthe transmis-
`sion is for it or not. If the masking matches, the UEstarts
`demodulating the indicated HS-PDSCH code channels and at
`the sametime reads the rest of the HS-SCCH (Part 2 with the
`further processing info). The UE specific CRC at the end of
`the HS-SCCH confirms that the transmission was intended
`for this UE as well as that the parameters are correctly
`received (withouterrors).
`Further according to the present invention, the multiple VE
`IDs associated with a given UE can indicate different HS-
`SCCHstructures,i.e., different from that just described above
`in the previous paragraph.
`Thus, according further to this invention, as shown for
`example in FIG. 2 hereof, it is proposed not only to allocate
`multiple UE IDs for one UE, e.g., one for each possible
`HS-SCCHstructure that the UE is able to receive, but also to
`makeit soa UE ID can be allocated so as to be associated with
`
`any one of multiple possible signalling structures. The map-
`ping between the UE ID andthe respective HS-SCCHstruc-
`ture can for instance be agreed to between UE and network
`via RRC signalling at the connection setup phase. The UE ID
`would be used on HS-SCCH in the same way asit is used
`today: both for UE specific maskingofthefirst slot as well as
`for the UE specific CRC except that a given UE mayhave the
`possibility of having more than one UEIDassignedto it.
`Referring now to FIG. 1A, adevice 10 is shown comprising
`areceiver module 12, a signal processor 14, and a transmitter
`module 16. The device 10 may for instance be a network
`element such as base station or Node B or may be user
`equipment or a mobile station. In such cases, to which the
`invention is not limited, the receiver module and transmitter
`module will communicate over a radio interface via one or
`more antennas with another device. If the device 10 is a base
`station or Node B network element,it will communicate over
`the radio interface with a mobile station, known as “user
`equipment” in 3GPPspecifications. If the device 10 is user
`equipmentthen it will communicate over the radio interface
`with the network element in the form of a Node B or base
`
`station. In either event, the concept is the same and will be
`described generally so that the device 10 shown in FIG. 1A
`can be understood as being in whole or in part at either the
`core network side, for instance at an access point, or at the
`user equipmentside of the radio interface. It should also be
`understood that although a series of modules are shown con-
`nected in series in a certain order, the ordering is flexible in
`that it can be rearranged so that the functions identified for
`each module can be performed before or after the sequence
`shownfor any given module or any combination of modules.
`Tt should also be understood that modules may be added or
`detracted without departing from the invention. In other
`words, it should also be understood that more of less modules
`than shown can be used in combination with those shown to
`
`carry out the invention. In other words, in certain embodi-
`ments, certain modules may be omitted or certain others may
`be added. Moreover, the illustrated functions can be carried
`out in different entities and need notbe carried out in the same
`“device.” Therefore, the word “device” should be understood
`in that sense. It might for instance be possible even for part of
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`US 8,483,141 B2
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`a given function to be carried out in one device while another
`part of the same function is carried out in another device.
`Whenpartitioning a function in this way,itis even possible to
`perform part of the function on one side of the wireless
`interface and anotherpart on the otherside. The description of
`the signal processing carried out in the device 10 of FIG. 1A
`should therefore be understood as being a flexible signal
`processing device or method with the capability of perform-
`ing the illustrated functionsin any orderor location according
`to the circumstances needed or according to the designer’s
`choice. The device 10 of FIG. 1A will first be described as a
`network elementor part thereof, e.g., a base station or Node B
`of the 3GPP network. The device of FIG. 1A will then be
`described,
`in connection with the system of FIG. 1B, as
`fulfilling the role ofuser equipmentorpart thereof in the same
`3GPP network.
`
`Assuming for the momentthe device 10 of FIG. 1A is a
`network element such as a Node B, the receiver module 12
`may receive a request signal on a line 18 from the user
`equipmentover the radio interface requesting multiple ser-
`vices from the network. The receiver module processes this
`request signal and provides a process request signal on a line
`20 to the signal processor 14 in the network element. This
`function as well as others to be described could be performed
`anywhere in the core network. According to an embodiment
`of the invention, an identification module 22 is responsive to
`the processed request signal on the line 20 for identifying a
`plurality of user equipment identifiers for the single user
`equipment that has made the request for multiple services.
`For instance, the identification module 22 could assign a
`separate user equipment identifier for each service requested
`by the single user equipment. Theresult of the identification
`process carried out by the identification module 22 is sig-
`nalled by a signal on a line 24 to an association module 26
`which, according to the present invention, associates a sig-
`nalling structure, or parameters, or both, for each of the plu-
`rality of user equipmentidentifiers identified by the signal on
`the line 24. These signalling structures, or parameters, or
`both, are selected by the association module from among a
`plurality of different signalling structures, or parameters, or
`both, availableto it. The association module mayassignstruc-
`tures, or parameters, or both that are appropriate for the ser-
`vices requested by the user equipment. The association mod-
`ule 26 then provides a signal on a line 28 indicative of the
`plurality of user equipment identifiers and their associated
`signalling structures, or parameters, or both, as selected by
`the association module and identified by the identification
`module. Although shown as two distinct modules 22, 26, it
`should be realized that one or both of these modules may be
`viewed as a single module for allocating or assigning a user
`equipmentidentifier which indicates the HS-SCCHstructure,
`or parameters, or both, or which indicates the presence of
`certain parameters in the existing HS-SCCHstructure.
`A negotiation module 30 may be provided, responsive to
`the signal on the line 28 from the association module 26 for
`providing a signal on a line 32 for transmission overthe radio
`interface back to the user equipmentfor the purpose of nego-
`tiating the plurality of user equipment identifiers and their
`associated signalling structures, or parameters, or both, with
`the user equipment before taking