Patent ID: 8867453
Filing Date: 2014-10-21
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A base station configured to operate in a network, the base station comprising: at least one transmitter configured to communicate with a plurality of subscriber stations in a coverage area of the network, the base station configured to allocate subbands to the plurality of subscriber stations for communication in an uplink and in a downlink, each of the subbands comprising a group of contiguous subcarriers, wherein the base station is configured to determine whether to allocate either i) a plurality of consecutive subbands or ii) a plurality of non-consecutive subbands to a first subscriber station according to at least one selectable criteria comprising a channel quality value associated with the first subscriber station, wherein the base station is configured to allocate to the first subscriber station one of the plurality of consecutive subbands and the plurality of non-consecutive subbands according to the at least one selectable criteria, wherein the base station is configured to allocate the plurality of non-consecutive subbands to the first subscriber station if the channel quality value is relatively high and to allocate the plurality of consecutive subbands to the first subscriber station if the channel quality value is relatively low, wherein the base station is configured to indicate the allocation of either the plurality of consecutive subbands or the plurality of non-consecutive subbands based on the determination using a format of a signaling message, and wherein the base station is configured to indicate allocation of the plurality of non-consecutive subbands to the first subscriber station using a bitmap indicator and to indicate allocation of the plurality of consecutive subbands to the first subscriber station using a start-end indicator.