Abstract:
A method and apparatus for processing enhanced uplink data is disclosed. A request for uplink resources is transmitted, wherein the request for uplink resources is a request to transmit data over an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH). An uplink scheduling grant is received in response to the request for uplink resources. Data from medium access control for dedicated channel (MAC-d) flows is multiplexed into a medium access control for enhanced uplink (MAC-e) protocol data unit (PDU). A transport format combination (TFC) is selected for transmission of the MAC-e PDU. The MAC-e PDU is transmitted over the E-DCH using an identified hybrid automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process. Feedback information is received in response to the transmitted MAC-e PDU. The MAC-e PDU is retransmitted using the identified H-ARQ process on a condition that the feedback information indicates a negative acknowledgment (NACK) of the MAC-e PDU transmission.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/117,626, filed on Apr. 28, 2005, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional No. 60/568,944, filed May 7, 2004, and No. 60/578,533, filed Jun. 10, 2004, all of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     The present invention is related to a wireless communication system including a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) and a Node-B. More particularly, the invention is related to medium access control (MAC) layer architecture and functionality for supporting enhanced uplink (EU) in the wireless communication system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Methods for improving uplink (UL) coverage, throughput and transmission latency are being investigated in Release 6 of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In order to successfully implement these methods, scheduling and assigning of UL physical resources have been moved from a radio network controller (RNC) to the Node-B such that the Node-B can make decisions and manage UL radio resources on a short-term basis more efficiently than the RNC, even if the RNC retains overall control of the Node-B. 
     One or more independent UL transmissions are processed on the enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH) between the WTRU and a universal mobile telecommunication systems (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) within a common time interval. One example of this is a MAC layer hybrid-automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) or a simple MAC layer ARQ operation where each individual transmission may require a different number of retransmissions to be successfully received by the UTRAN. 
     SUMMARY 
     A method and apparatus for processing enhanced uplink data is disclosed. A request for uplink resources is transmitted, wherein the request for uplink resources is a request to transmit data over an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH). An uplink scheduling grant is received in response to the request for uplink resources. Data from medium access control for dedicated channel (MAC-d) flows is multiplexed into a medium access control for enhanced uplink (MAC-e) protocol data unit (PDU). A transport format combination (TFC) is selected for transmission of the MAC-e PDU. The MAC-e PDU is transmitted over the E-DCH using an identified hybrid automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process. Feedback information is received in response to the transmitted MAC-e PDU. The MAC-e PDU is retransmitted using the identified H-ARQ process on a condition that the feedback information indicates a negative acknowledgment (NACK) of the MAC-e PDU transmission. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A more detailed understanding of the invention may be had from the following description of a preferred embodiment, given by way of example and to be understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a protocol architecture of a WTRU in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of MAC-e architecture in a WTRU in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of MAC-e architecture in a Node-B in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of MAC-e architecture of a WTRU and a Node-B along with signaling process between the WTRU and the Node-B in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereafter, the terminology “WTRU” includes but is not limited to a user equipment, a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a pager, or any other type of device capable of operating in a wireless environment. When referred to hereafter, the terminology “Node-B” includes but is not limited to a base station, a site controller, an access point or any other type of interfacing device in a wireless environment. 
     The features of the present invention may be incorporated into an integrated circuit (IC) or be configured in a circuit comprising a multitude of interconnecting components. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a wireless communication system  10  in accordance with the present invention. The system  10  comprises a WTRU  100 , a Node-B  200  and an RNC  300 . The RNC  300  controls overall EU operation by configuring EU parameters for the Node-B  200  and the WTRU  100  such as initial transmit power level, maximum allowed EU transmit power or available channel resources per Node-B. Between the WTRU  100  and the Node-B  200 , an E-DCH  102  is established for supporting EU transmissions. 
     For E-DCH transmissions, the WTRU  100  sends a rate request to the Node-B  200  via an UL EU signaling channel  104 . In response, the Node-B  200  sends a rate grant to the WTRU  100  via a downlink (DL) EU signaling channel  106 . After EU radio resources are allocated for the WTRU  100 , the WTRU  100  transmits E-DCH data via the E-DCH  102 . In response to the E-DCH transmissions, the Node-B sends an acknowledge (ACK) or non-acknowledge (NACK) for H-ARQ operation via the DL EU signaling channel  106 . The Node-B  200  may also respond with rate grants to the WTRU  100  in response to E-DCH data transmissions. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of protocol architecture of the E-DCH  102  in accordance with the present invention. A new MAC entity for EU called MAC-e is created in the WTRU  100 , the Node-B  200  and the RNC  300  to handle all functions related to the transmission and reception of an E-DCH. A MAC-e entity  120  is incorporated into the WTRU  100  between a MAC-d entity  130  and a physical layer (PHY) entity  110 . The MAC-e  120  in the WTRU handles H-ARQ transmissions and retransmissions, priority handling, MAC-e multiplexing, and TFC selection. A MAC-e  220  entity is incorporated into the Node-B  200  which handles H-ARQ transmissions and retransmissions, E-DCH scheduling and MAC-e demultiplexing. A MAC-e entity  320  is incorporated into the RNC  300  to provide in-sequence delivery and to handle combining of data from different Node-Bs. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the MAC-e  120  architecture in a WTRU  100  in accordance with the present invention. The WTRU MAC-e  120  comprises an EU rate request/assignment entity  122 , a priority handling entity  124 , a TFC selection entity  126  and an H-ARQ entity  128 . It should be noted that  FIG. 3  is provided as an example of preferred embodiment of the present invention and that the entities shown in  FIG. 3  may be incorporated into a common MAC functional entity and that the functions may be implemented by more or less functional entities. 
     The EU rate request/assignment entity  122  is responsible for requesting radio resources from the Node-B  200  when the WTRU  100  has E-DCH data waiting to be transmitted via the E-DCH  102 . The EU rate request could be one of a traffic volume indicator, a requested data rate, a TFC index, and traffic volume measurement (TVM) quantities for each data flow. The rate request can be sent to the Node-B  200  via either physical or MAC layer signaling. Rate requests are generated based on radio link control (RLC) data TVM. The TVM may include traffic volume of data for E-DCH transmissions or optionally may further include data awaiting retransmission with active H-ARQ processes. 
     When the WTRU  100  receives a rate grant (i.e., rate and/or time scheduling) from the Node-Bs  200  (the WTRU may receive the rate grant from more than one Node-B), the EU rate request/assignment entity  122  notifies the priority handling entity  124  that resources are available for transmission of the data. The received rate grants determine the E-DCH transport format combination set (TFCS) subset, and/or start time, and duration (optional). 
     By sending the rate request, the WTRU  100  may ask the Node-B  200  to change the set of allowed UL TFCs within the TFCS, and the Node-B  200  can change the allowed UL TFCs within the TFCS by sending the rate grant. The WTRU  100  may send a scheduling information update to the Node-B  200  to provide buffer occupancy and/or available transmit power information so that a scheduling entity  222  in the Node-B  200  may determine appropriate TFCS indicator and transmission time interval. For fast rate scheduling by persistency control, the Node-B  200  may send parameters that represent the available interference the system can tolerate and thus prevent WTRUs in rate control mode from introducing additional interference. One way this can be accomplished is for the Node-B  200  to signal the allowed transmit power the WTRU  100  may use for EU transmissions in the rate grant. 
     The priority handling entity  124  manages the assignment of data flows and H-ARQ processes according to the priority of the data. Based on transmission feedback from associated DL EU signaling, either a new transmission or retransmission is determined. Furthermore, a queue identity (ID) and transmission sequence number (TSN) for each MAC protocol data unit (PDU) is determined. The TSN is unique to each priority class within an E-DCH, and is incremented for each new data block. Optionally, the priority handling entity  124  may preempt retransmission of lower priority data. A new transmission of higher priority data can be initiated instead of a pending retransmission of lower priority data at any time to support priority handling. 
     The TFC selection entity  126  selects a TFC for the data to be transmitted on the E-DCH  102  according to the information signaled in the rate grants, and multiplexes multiple MAC-d flows into one MAC-e PDU. The rate grant may be either absolute grant or relative grant. The absolute grant provides an absolute limitation of the maximum amount of UL resources that the WTRU may use. The relative grant increases or decreases the resource limitation compared to the previously used value. 
     The TFC selection is subject to maximum allowed transmit power, and the corresponding TFCS subset allowed by the rate grants from the Node-B  200 . TFC selection is based on logical channel priorities such that the TFC selection maximizes the transmission of higher priority data. The allowed combinations of MAC-d flows in one MAC-e PDU, which is configured by the RNC, are also considered in selecting the TFC. 
     The H-ARQ entity  128  handles all the tasks that are required for H-ARQ protocols. The H-ARQ entity  128  is responsible for storing MAC-e payloads and retransmitting them in the case of a failed transmission. The H-ARQ entity  128  may support multiple instances, (H-ARQ processes), of the H-ARQ protocol. There may be more than one H-ARQ process for the EU configured at the WTRU  100 . 
     In accordance with the present invention, a synchronous H-ARQ is preferably implemented. Therefore, H-ARQ operation is based on synchronous DL ACK and NACK and synchronous retransmissions in the UL. 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of MAC-e  220  architecture in a Node-B  200  in accordance with the present invention. The Node-B MAC-e  220  comprises a scheduler  222 , a demultiplexer  224  and an H-ARQ entity  226 . In the Node-B, one MAC-e entity  220  is preferably provided for each WTRU and one scheduler is preferably provided for each cell. The scheduler  222  manages E-DCH cell resources between WTRUs. 
     The scheduler  222  manages E-DCH resources between WTRUs and H-ARQ processes. Based on rate requests from WTRUs  100 , the scheduler  222  generates rate grants and sends them to the WTRUs  100  via DL EU signaling channels  106 . The rate grant provides information that determines the set of TFCs from which the WTRU  100  may choose and indicates the maximum resource that a WTRU is allowed to use for E-DCH transmissions. The scheduler  222  controls reception of rate request and transmission of rate grants on a corresponding EU signaling channel. Alternatively, a separate control entity (not shown) may be provided in the Node-B MAC-e  220  for reception of the rate requests and transmission of rate grants and the scheduler  222  may be provided out of the Node-B MAC-e  220 . 
     The demultiplexer  224  demultiplexes MAC-e PDUs into MAC-d PDUs. MAC-d flow to MAC-e PDU multiplexing is supported in the WTRU  100 . Multiple MAC-d flows can be configured for one WTRU and can be multiplexed in the same MAC-e PDU. The combination of MAC-d flows that can be multiplexed in one MAC-e PDU is configured by the RNC  300 . The multiplexed MAC-e PDUs are demultiplexed into MAC-d flows by the demultiplexer  224 . The Node-B demultiplexing may result in MAC-d or RLC PDU reordering, and MAC-e PDU reordering may be performed by the RNC  300 . 
     Reordering may be performed either in the Node-B MAC-e where the H-ARQ process number is known, or in the RNC MAC-e. Referring back to  FIG. 2 , the RNC MAC-e  320  includes a reordering entity for reordering received MAC-e PDUs according to the received transmission sequence number (TSN). MAC-e PDUs with consecutive TSNs are delivered to the disassembly function and PDUs with a missing lower TSN are not delivered to the disassembly function. The disassembly function removes the MAC-e header before sending it to a higher layer. The RNC  300  includes a plurality of reordering queues for reordering PDUs with different priority classes. 
     In the case that the reordering is performed in the RNC MAC-e, the Node-B  200  passes the H-ARQ process number with the successfully decoded data to the RNC  300 . The H-ARQ process may also be implicitly known by the time of reception at Node-B passed to the RNC. The H-ARQ process number may be implicitly derived from either a system frame number (SFN) or a connection frame number (CFN) along with the knowledge of the H-ARQ process allocation scheme in the WTRU  100 . 
     The H-ARQ entity  226  generates ACKs and NACKs indicating the delivery status of E-DCH transmissions. One H-ARQ entity may support multiple instances of stop and wait H-ARQ protocols. 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram of MAC-e architecture of a WTRU  100  and a Node-B  200  along with signaling processes between the WTRU  100  and the Node-B  200  in accordance with the present invention. When the WTRU MAC-e  120  receives data from WTRU RLC layer  140  to be transmitted via an E-DCH  102  at step  502 , the EU rate request entity  122  sends a rate request to the Node-B  200  (step  504 ). The Node-B  200  responds with a rate grant (step  506 ). Upon receipt of the rate grant, the EU rate request entity  122  notifies the priority handling unit  124  that radio resources are available for transmission of the data (step  508 ). The priority handling unit  124  then multiplexes data and assigns an H-ARQ process according to the priority of the data, and a TFC for the data is selected by the TFC selection entity (steps  510 ,  512 ). The data is transmitted with the assigned H-ARQ process via the E-DCH  102  (step  514 ). The Node-B  200  sends a feedback signal through DL EU signaling channel  106  (step  516 ). If the feedback is a NACK, the data may be autonomously retransmitted (step  518 ), or may be retransmitted after another rate grant is received (step  520 ). 
     Although the features and elements of the present invention are described in the preferred embodiments in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements of the preferred embodiments or in various combinations with or without other features and elements of the present invention. 
     While the present invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiment, other variations which are within the scope of the invention as outlined in the claims below will be apparent to those skilled in the art.