Patent ID: 8494517
Filing Date: 2013-07-23
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of control channel communication within a cellular communications network, the method comprising: determining, within a cell of the cellular communications network, data which relates to a range of a user communications device and which is determined by a distance from a base station; selecting at least one of a plurality of modulation and coding schemes for a control channel for that communications device on a basis of the determined range data, the selected modulation and coding scheme being dependent on the distance between the user communications and the base station; separately identifying the selected modulation and coding scheme to the user communications device; providing a control channel for that user communications device using the selected modulation and coding scheme, by making the control channel correspond to an aggregation of control channel elements (CCEs) concerned with the selected modulation and coding scheme; and transmitting the aggregation of the CCEs to the user communications device.