Patent Description:
A wireless network may support communication with mobile devices. Accordingly, control messages may be exchanged between the mobile devices and a base station as part of the communication. In some cases, the reliability of such exchanges may affect system performance in terms of throughput, capacity or other measure. As an example, diversity techniques or other techniques may improve the reliability in some cases. As such, there is a general need for methods and systems of exchanging control messages between the mobile devices and the base station in these and other scenarios.

<CIT> relates to a method for transmitting acknowledgement/negative ACK (ACK/NACK) in a wireless communication system which supports carrier aggregation, and to an apparatus for the method. A method in which a terminal transmits ACK/NACK in a wireless communication system that supports carrier aggregation comprises the following steps: receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); receiving a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) indicated by the PDCCH; and transmitting ACK/NACK for the PDSCH via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). A PUCCH format for transmitting ACK/NACK is selected by taking the number of aggregated carriers into account.

<CIT> discloses a method of handling of a plurality of PUCCH resources of a network of a wireless communication. The method comprises assigning the plurality of PUCCH resources to a mobile device in the wireless communication system dynamically by using a dynamic signaling or semi-statically by using a higher layer signaling.

The object of the present application is solved by the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are described by the dependent claims.

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.

<FIG> is a functional diagram of a <NUM> GPP network in accordance with some embodiments. The network comprises a radio access network (RAN) (e.g., as depicted, the E-UTRAN or evolved universal terrestrial radio access network) <NUM> and the core network <NUM> (e.g., shown as an evolved packet core (EPC)) coupled together through an SI interface <NUM>. For convenience and brevity sake, only a portion of the core network <NUM>, as well as the RAN <NUM>, is shown.

The core network <NUM> includes a mobility management entity (MME) <NUM>, a serving gateway (serving GW) <NUM>, and packet data network gateway (PDN GW) <NUM>. The RAN <NUM> includes Evolved Node-B's (eNBs) <NUM> (which may operate as base stations) for communicating with User Equipment (UE) <NUM>. The eNBs <NUM> may include macro eNBs and low power (LP) eNBs. In accordance with some embodiments, the eNB <NUM> may transmit a downlink control message to the UE <NUM> to indicate an allocation of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) channel resources. The UE <NUM> may receive the downlink control message from the eNB <NUM>, and may transmit an uplink control message to the eNB <NUM> in at least a portion of the PUCCH channel resources. These embodiments will be described in more detail below.

The MME <NUM> is similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN). The MME <NUM> manages mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The serving GW <NUM> terminates the interface toward the RAN <NUM>, and routes data packets between the RAN <NUM> and the core network <NUM>. In addition, it may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-eNB handovers and also may provide
an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. The serving GW <NUM> and the MME <NUM> may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. The PDN GW <NUM> terminates an SGi interface toward the packet data network (PDN). The PDN GW <NUM> routes data packets between the EPC <NUM> and the external PDN, and may be a key node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. It may also provide an anchor point for mobility with non-LTE accesses. The external PDN can be any kind of IP network, as well as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) domain. The PDN GW <NUM> and the serving GW <NUM> may be implemented in one physical node or separated physical nodes.

The eNBs <NUM> (macro and micro) terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for a UE <NUM>. In some embodiments, an eNB <NUM> may fulfill various logical functions for the RAN <NUM> including but not limited to RNC (radio network controller functions) such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. In accordance with embodiments, UEs <NUM> may be configured to communicate Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with an eNB <NUM> over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique. The OFDM signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

The S1 interface <NUM> is the interface that separates the RAN <NUM> and the EPC <NUM>. It is split into two parts: the S1-U, which carries traffic data between the eNBs <NUM> and the serving GW <NUM>, and the S1-MME, which is a signaling interface between the eNBs <NUM> and the MME <NUM>. The X2 interface is the interface between eNBs <NUM>. The X2 interface comprises two parts, the X2-C and X2-U. The X2-C is the control plane interface between the eNBs <NUM>, while the X2-U is the user plane interface between the eNBs <NUM>.

With cellular networks, LP cells are typically used to extend coverage to indoor areas where outdoor signals do not reach well, or to add network capacity in areas with very dense phone usage, such as train stations. As used herein, the term low power (LP) eNB refers to any suitable relatively low power eNB for implementing a narrower cell (narrower than a macro cell) such as a femtocell, a picocell, or a micro cell. Femtocell eNBs are typically provided by a mobile network operator to its residential or enterprise customers. A femtocell is typically the size of a residential gateway or smaller and generally connects to the user's broadband line. Once plugged in, the femtocell connects to the mobile operator's mobile network and provides extra coverage in a range of typically <NUM> to <NUM> meters for residential femtocells. Thus, a LP eNB might be a femtocell eNB since it is coupled through the PDN GW <NUM>. Similarly, a picocell is a wireless communication system typically covering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping malls, train stations, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. A picocell eNB can generally connect through the X2 link to another eNB such as a macro eNB through its base station controller (BSC) functionality. Thus, LP eNB may be implemented with a picocell eNB since it is coupled to a macro eNB via an X2 interface. Picocell eNBs or other LP eNBs may incorporate some or all functionality of a macro eNB. In some cases, this may be referred to as an access point base station or enterprise femtocell.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from an eNB <NUM> to a UE <NUM>, while uplink transmission from the UE <NUM> to the eNB <NUM> may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Each column and each row of the resource grid correspond to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element (RE). Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks (RBs), which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements in the frequency domain and may represent the smallest quanta of resources that currently can be allocated. With particular relevance to this disclosure, two of these physical downlink channels are the physical downlink shared channel and the physical down link control channel.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data and higher-layer signaling to a UE <NUM> (<FIG>). The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It also informs the UE <NUM> about the transport format, resource allocation, and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (e.g., assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs <NUM> within a cell) may be performed at the eNB <NUM> based on channel quality information fed back from the UEs <NUM> to the eNB <NUM>, and then the downlink resource assignment information may be sent to a UE <NUM> on the control channel (PDCCH) used for (assigned to) the UE <NUM>.

The PDCCH uses CCEs (control channel elements) to convey the control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols are first organized into quadruplets, which are then permuted using a sub-block inter-leaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH is transmitted using one or more of these control channel elements (CCEs), where each CCE corresponds to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as resource element groups (REGs). Four QPSK symbols are mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of DCI and the channel condition. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM>).

Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software.

<FIG> is a functional diagram of a User Equipment (UE) in accordance with some embodiments. The UE <NUM> may be suitable for use as a UE <NUM> as depicted in <FIG>. In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> may include application circuitry <NUM>, baseband circuitry <NUM>, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry <NUM>, front-end module (FEM) circuitry <NUM> and one or more antennas <NUM>, coupled together at least as shown. In some embodiments, other circuitry or arrangements may include one or more elements and/or components of the application circuitry <NUM>, the baseband circuitry <NUM>, the RF circuitry <NUM> and/or the FEM circuitry <NUM>, and may also include other elements and/or components in some cases. As an example, "processing circuitry" may include one or more elements and/or components, some or all of which may be included in the application circuitry <NUM> and/or the baseband circuitry <NUM>. As another example, "transceiver circuitry" may include one or more elements and/or components, some or all of which may be included in the RF circuitry <NUM> and/or the FEM circuitry <NUM>. These examples are not limiting, however, as the processing circuitry and/or the transceiver circuitry may also include other elements and/or components in some cases.

The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors,
application processors, etc.).

The baseband circuitry <NUM> may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM>. Baseband processing circuity <NUM> may interface with the application circuitry <NUM> for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry <NUM>. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include a second generation (<NUM>) baseband processor 204a, third generation (<NUM>) baseband processor 204b, fourth generation (<NUM>) baseband processor 204c, and/or other baseband processor(s) 204d for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (<NUM>), <NUM>, etc.). The baseband circuitry <NUM> (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 204a-d) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry <NUM>. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. A central processing unit (CPU) 204e of the baseband circuitry <NUM> may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 204f. The audio DSP(s) 204f may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry <NUM> and the application circuitry <NUM> may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the RF circuitry <NUM> may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include mixer circuitry 206a, amplifier circuitry 206b and filter circuitry 206c. The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include filter circuitry 206c and mixer circuitry 206a. RF circuitry <NUM> may also include synthesizer circuitry 206d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry <NUM> based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 206d. The amplifier circuitry 206b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 206c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry <NUM> for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 206d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry <NUM>. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry <NUM> and may be filtered by filter circuitry 206c. The filter circuitry 206c may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and/or upconversion respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a may be arranged for direct downconversion and/or direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 206d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+<NUM> synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 206d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. The synthesizer circuitry 206d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 206a of the RF circuitry <NUM> based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 206d may be a fractional N/N+<NUM> synthesizer.

Synthesizer circuitry 206d of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+<NUM> (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 206d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry <NUM> may include an IQ/polar converter.

In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface.

<FIG> is a functional diagram of an Evolved Node-B (eNB) in accordance with some embodiments. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the eNB <NUM> may be a stationary non-mobile device. The eNB <NUM> may be suitable for use as an eNB <NUM> as depicted in <FIG>. The eNB <NUM> may include physical layer circuitry <NUM> and a transceiver <NUM>, one or both of which may enable transmission and reception of signals to and from the UE <NUM>, other eNBs, other UEs or other devices using one or more antennas <NUM>. As an example, the physical layer circuitry <NUM> may perform various encoding and decoding functions that may include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. As another example, the transceiver <NUM> may perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range. Accordingly, the physical layer circuitry <NUM> and the transceiver <NUM> may be separate components or may be part of a combined component. In addition, some of the described functionality related to transmission and reception of signals may be performed by a combination that may include one, any or all of the physical layer circuitry <NUM>, the transceiver <NUM>, and other components or layers. The eNB <NUM> may also include medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry <NUM> for controlling access to the wireless medium. The eNB <NUM> may also include processing circuitry <NUM> and memory <NUM> arranged to perform the operations described herein. The eNB <NUM> may also include one or more interfaces <NUM>, which may enable communication with other components, including other eNBs <NUM> (<FIG>), components in the EPC <NUM> (<FIG>) or other network components. In addition, the interfaces <NUM> may enable communication with other components that may not be shown in <FIG>, including components external to the network. The interfaces <NUM> may be wired or wireless or a combination thereof.

The antennas <NUM>, <NUM> may comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas <NUM>, <NUM> may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> or the eNB <NUM> may be a mobile device and may be a portable wireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a wearable device such as a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), or other device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly. In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> or eNB <NUM> may be configured to operate in accordance with 3GPP standards, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. Mobile devices or other devices in some embodiments may be configured to operate according to other protocols or standards, including IEEE <NUM> or other IEEE standards. In some embodiments, the UE <NUM>, eNB <NUM> or other device may include one or more of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, speakers, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen including a touch screen.

Although the UE <NUM> and the eNB <NUM> are each illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storage device may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments may include one or more processors and may be configured with instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, an apparatus used by the UE <NUM> and/or eNB <NUM> may include various components of the UE <NUM> and/or the eNB <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. Accordingly, techniques and operations described herein that refer to the UE <NUM> (or <NUM>) may be applicable to an apparatus for a UE. In addition, techniques and operations described herein that refer to the eNB <NUM> (or <NUM>) may be applicable to an apparatus for an eNB.

In accordance with embodiments, the UE <NUM> may receive, from an eNB <NUM>, one or more downlink control messages that may indicate an allocation of PUCCH channel resources. The UE <NUM> may transmit an uplink control message in at least a portion of the allocated PUCCH channel resources. When the PUCCH channel resources are allocated according to an edge configuration, the PUCCH channel resources may be restricted to a lower edge portion and an upper edge portion of the network channel resources. When the PUCCH channel resources are allocated according to a distributed configuration, the PUCCH channel resources may include one or more middle portions of the network channel resources. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

<FIG> illustrates the operation of a method of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication in accordance with some embodiments. It is important to note that embodiments of the method <NUM> may include additional or even fewer operations or processes in comparison to what is illustrated in <FIG>. In addition, embodiments of the method <NUM> are not necessarily limited to the chronological order that is shown in <FIG>. In describing the method <NUM>, reference may be made to <FIG> and <FIG>, although it is understood that the method <NUM> may be practiced with any other suitable systems, interfaces and components.

In addition, while the method <NUM> and other methods described herein may refer to eNBs <NUM> or UEs <NUM> operating in accordance with 3GPP or other standards, embodiments of those methods are not limited to just those eNBs <NUM> or UEs <NUM> and may also be practiced on other mobile devices, such as a Wi-Fi access point (AP) or user station (STA). In addition, the method <NUM> and other methods described herein may be practiced by wireless devices configured to operate in other suitable types of wireless communication systems, including systems configured to operate according to various IEEE standards such as IEEE <NUM>. The method <NUM> may also refer to an apparatus for a UE <NUM> and/or eNB <NUM> or other device described above.

At operation <NUM> of the method <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may receive, from an eNB <NUM> configured to operate in a network, one or more downlink control messages that may indicate an allocation of PUCCH channel resources. In some embodiments, the PUCCH channel resources may be included in network channel resources. That is, the network channel resources may be allocated for the network for exchanging of data messages and/or control messages. A portion of the network channel resources may be allocated as PUCCH channel resources to accommodate PUCCH transmissions by UEs <NUM>. In some embodiments, the PUCCH channel resources may be reserved exclusively for the PUCCH transmissions, although embodiments are not limited as such. In addition, one or more portions of the network channel resources may also be allocated for other purposes. For instance, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) channel resources may be allocated for transmission of data by the UEs <NUM>. It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to the use of PUCCH and/or PUSCH arrangements that may be included in 3GPP or other standards, as other control channels and/or data channels may also be used in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the PUCCH channel resources may be allocated according to either an edge configuration or a distributed configuration, which will be described below. These embodiments are not limiting, however, as the PUCCH channel resources may be allocated according to any number of configurations in some embodiments, which may or may not include the edge configuration and/or the distributed configuration. As an example, a third configuration, or additional configurations, may be used in addition to the edge configuration and distributed configuration.

In some embodiments, the PUCCH channel resources may be allocated according to a legacy configuration for usage by UEs <NUM> configured as legacy UEs <NUM>, and further allocated according to a non-legacy configuration for usage by UEs <NUM> configured as non-legacy UEs <NUM>. As a non-limiting example, the edge configuration may be used as the legacy configuration and the distributed configuration may be used as the non-legacy configuration. These embodiments are not limiting, however, as the PUCCH channel resources may not necessarily be configured according to legacy/non-legacy operation in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the PUCCH channel resources may include a legacy portion and a non-legacy portion simultaneously. In some embodiments, the PUCCH channel resources may include either a legacy portion or a non-legacy portion.

The one or more downlink control messages indicate which type of allocation (distributed, edge and/or other) is to be used. The messages may also indicate other information related to the allocation in some cases. As an example, the particular portion(s) of the network channel resources to be allocated as PUCCH channel resources may be included or indicated. As another example, related information may be included or indicated to enable the UE <NUM> to determine the PUCCH channel resources (such as a size and/or frequency locations of the PUCCH channel resources).

In some embodiments, the network channel resources and/or the PUCCH channel resources may include one or more resource blocks (RBs), which may include multiple resource elements (REs). These embodiments are not limiting, however, as the network channel resources and/or the PUCCH channel resources may include any number of sub-carriers, sub-channels and/or other bandwidths or frequency spans. In some embodiments, time resources may include one or more slots, sub-frames, symbol periods, OFDM symbol periods or other. As a non-limiting example, a sub-frame may span a time duration of one millisecond and may include two non-overlapping consecutive slots of <NUM> microseconds each. Such time durations may be included in 3GPP and/or other standards, but embodiments are not limited as such.

In some embodiments, when the PUCCH channel resources are allocated according to the edge configuration, the PUCCH channel resources may be restricted to a lower edge portion and an upper edge portion of the network channel resources. The lower edge portion may be substantially near a lower edge of a frequency range of the network channel resources and the upper edge portion may be substantially near an upper edge of the frequency range of the network channel resources. As a non-limiting example, the lower edge portion may be included in approximately a lower <NUM> percent of the network channel resources and the upper edge portion may be included in approximately an upper <NUM> percent of the network channel resources. Embodiments are not limited to the threshold of <NUM> percent, however, as other suitable thresholds may be used, such as <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or other value of percentage.

It should be noted that, in some cases, the lower edge portion and upper edge portion may or may not include the lower edge and/or upper edge of the frequency range of the network channel resources. As an example, the lower edge portion may include the lower <NUM>%-<NUM>% of the frequency range, which is located within the lower <NUM>% of the range but does not include the lowest <NUM>% (and therefore the lower edge). Accordingly, the lower and upper edge portions may be concentrated near the edges of the frequency range but may not necessarily include the edges in some cases.

In some embodiments, when the PUCCH channel resources are allocated according to the distributed configuration, the PUCCH channel resources may include one or more middle portions of the network channel resources. As a non-limiting example, at least one of the middle portions may be included in a frequency range substantially near a center frequency of the network channel resources, such as within a middle <NUM> percent (or suitable number like <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or other) of the network channel resources. As another non-limiting example, the middle portions may be exclusive to lower edge and upper edge portions like those described previously. As another non-limiting example, the PUCCH channel resources when allocated according to the distributed configuration may also include at least a portion of the lower edge portion or the upper edge portion. Accordingly, the PUCCH channel resources may be distributed (in some manner) throughout the network channel resources when allocated according to the distributed configuration.

At operation <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may receive, from the eNB <NUM>, one or more downlink control messages that may indicate a portion of the allocated PUCCH channel resources for transmission of an uplink control message. At operation <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may determine the portion of the allocated PUCCH channel resources for the transmission of the uplink control message. Although not limited as such, in some cases the determination may be based at least partly on information included in the downlink control messages. At operation <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may transmit the uplink control message in at least a portion of the allocated PUCCH channel resources. In some embodiments, the portion may be determined at operations <NUM> and/or <NUM>. These embodiments are not limiting, however, as the portion may be determined using other techniques. For instance, in a persistent scheduling arrangement, the PUCCH channel resources to be used by the UE <NUM> may have been previously used (in previous frames or otherwise) by the UE <NUM> for transmission of uplink control messages and may be reused for such purpose.

In some embodiments, a physical RB (PRB) index and/or a PUCCH resource index and/or other information may be included in the messages to indicate a portion of RBs of the allocated PUCCH channel resources that are to be used by the UE <NUM>. As another example, an intermediate value or other information may be included in the downlink control message(s), and may be used, by the UE <NUM>, to determine the PRB index or the RBs to be used by the UE <NUM>. Examples of such intermediate values will be presented below.

In some embodiments, the one or more downlink control messages received at the UE <NUM> at operation <NUM> may include one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages that may be included in 3GPP or other standards. These embodiments are not limiting, however, as other suitable control messages may be used in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the PRB index and/or the PUCCH resource index may be included in a downlink control information (DCI) element included in the RRC messages. These embodiments are not limiting, however, as any suitable technique may be used for communication of the information to the UE <NUM> for determination of the PUCCH resources to be used.

In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> may receive a UE identifier that may identify the UE <NUM>. The UE identifier may be assigned to the UE <NUM> by the eNB <NUM>, although embodiments are not so limited. As an example, a number between <NUM> and <NUM> may be used for the UE identifier. As will be described below, such an identifier may be used to determine which PUCCH resources are to be used by the UE <NUM>. For instance, a many-to-one mapping of UE identifier to PUCCH RBs may be used or determined. The UE <NUM> may receive the UE identifier in one or more downlink control messages (such as RRC messages). For instance, the UE identifier may be communicated to the UE <NUM> as part of a setup or initialization process.

It should be noted that parameters, information or other values communicated to the UE <NUM> in downlink messages as described may be included in one or more such messages. Embodiments are not limited to individual downlink messages for such communication, however. For instance, a downlink message may communicate a configuration of PUCCH RBs to be used and a particular PUCCH RB to be used by the UE <NUM>. In addition, the downlink control messages may include dedicated control messages and/or broadcast control messages in some embodiments.

Several examples related to allocation of PUCCH channel resources will be presented below. <FIG> illustrates examples of allocation of channel resources for PUCCH communication in accordance with some embodiments. <FIG> illustrates another example of allocation of channel resources for PUCCH communication in accordance with some embodiments. <FIG> illustrates an example of a distributed, pair-wise allocation of channel resources for PUCCH communication in accordance with some embodiments. <FIG> illustrates an example of a distributed, cluster-based allocation of channel resources for PUCCH communication in accordance with some embodiments.

Although the examples shown in <FIG> may illustrate some aspects of techniques disclosed herein, it is understood that embodiments are not limited to these examples. Techniques and scenarios discussed are not limited to the number or types of channel resources, RBs, slots or other frequency units or time units shown in these examples, as any suitable number or types may be used.

Referring to <FIG>, in the example scenario <NUM>, a distributed configuration may be used for all PUCCH formats (semi-persistent, non semi-persistent and otherwise). Accordingly, the PUCCH channel resources indicated by <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> distributed throughout the channel resources may be used for those PUCCH formats. In the example scenario <NUM>, PUCCH channel resources <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are distributed throughout the channel resources, and may be used for non semi-persistent formats as shown. In addition, PUCCH channel resources <NUM>, <NUM> are located substantially near the edges of the channel resources, and may be used for semi-persistent formats as indicated. It should be noted that the number of regions for the distributed configurations are not limited to the three regions shown in the example of <FIG>. In addition, embodiments are not limited to the usage of the PUSCH regions as shown in the example scenarios <NUM>, <NUM>.

In some cases, when the distributed configuration is used (or available) for all PUCCH formats, more flexible RRC configurability may be used to better support PUCCH inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC). However, it may be easier to achieve scheduling gain for PUCCH formats like 1a, 1b, and <NUM> included in the 3GPP standards, as those formats utilize ACK/NAK bits and may be driven by physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission.

According to the invention, the uplink control message is transmitted according to a localized slot configuration or according to a non-localized slot configuration. As an example, when a first slot and a second slot are used, a first portion of the uplink control message may be transmitted during the first slot in a first RB and a second portion of the uplink control message may be transmitted during the second slot in a second RB. For the localized slot configuration, the first RB and second RB may be the same RB. For the non-localized slot configuration, the first RB and second RB may be different. Although not limited as such, the non-localized configuration may be applicable to legacy operation in some cases.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, the uplink control message may be transmitted on multiple slots and/or in multiple RBs, which may be performed by splitting the message, repeating the message or other technique. As an example, the message may be split across the multiple slots and/or multiple RBs. As another example, the message may be repeated on the multiple slots and/or multiple RBs for diversity purposes. The examples in <FIG> may employ these techniques, in some cases, but are not limited as such.

Referring to the example in <FIG>, a first slot <NUM> and a second slot <NUM> may be used for transmission of the uplink control message. As an example of a localized configuration, when the value of the intermediate variable m' (which will be described below) is zero, the uplink control message may be transmitted in RB <NUM> during both slots <NUM> and <NUM>. As another example of a localized configuration, when the value of m' is one, the uplink control message may be transmitted in RB <NUM> during both slots <NUM> and <NUM>. As an example of a non-localized configuration, when the value of the intermediate variable m (which will also be described below) is zero, the uplink control message may be transmitted in RB <NUM> during slot <NUM> and in RB <NUM> during slot <NUM>. As another example of a non-localized configuration, when the value of m is one, the uplink control message may be transmitted in RB <NUM> during slot <NUM> and in RB <NUM> during slot <NUM>.

As previously described, the intermediate value m (or m') may be determined based on a UE identifier or other parameters, such as a particular PUCCH format used (that may be included in 3GPP or other standards in some cases). As a non-limiting example, when PUCCH formats <NUM>, 1a, or 1b are used, m may be determined as:
<MAT>.

As another non-limiting example, when PUCCH formats <NUM>, 2a or 2b are used, m may be determined as:
<MAT>.

As another non-limiting example, when PUCCH format <NUM> is used, m may be determined as:
<MAT>.

In some embodiments, the intermediate variable m (or m') may be used to determine a physical RB (PRB) index. As a non-limiting example, the PRB index may be determined as:
<MAT>.

Some or all of the parameters used in the above formulas (and others presented below) may be similar to or may be based on parameters used in the 3GPP or other standards, although not limited as such. For instance, the parameter nPUCCH may be related to a UE identifier (as previously described), and m may therefore depend on the UE identifier. As another example, the parameter NULRB may be or may be related to a number of RBs in the network channel resources.

Referring to the example in <FIG>, the PUCCH channel resources may be allocated according to a "pair-wise" allocation. Accordingly, the RBs <NUM>-<NUM> allocated may be non-contiguous. Therefore, the PUCCH channel resources for the uplink control message transmissions may be allocated according to a pair of slots <NUM>, <NUM> of the sub-frame <NUM> on each RB <NUM>-<NUM>. As an example, when the intermediate variable m ' has a value of <NUM>, the uplink control message may be transmitted in RB <NUM> during both slots <NUM> and <NUM>. The PRB index <NUM> may have a value of <NUM> in this case. As another example, when the intermediate variable m' has a value of <NUM>, the uplink control message may be transmitted in RB <NUM> during both slots <NUM> and <NUM>. In this case, the PRB index <NUM> may have a value of floor (<NUM>/<NUM> * NUL-RB), in which NUL-RB may be a number of RBs in the network channel resources, and may be the same as or related to the parameter NULRB also described herein.

It should be noted that the mapping of the PRB indexes <NUM>-<NUM> with the value of m' as shown in <FIG> is an example mapping that is not limiting, and any suitable mapping may be used. As a non-limiting example, the mapping shown in <FIG> may be determined using a formula such as: <MAT>
<MAT>.

It should be noted that the above formula and mapping may be for a localized configuration. As another non-limiting example, a distributed configuration may also be used, according to a formula such as
<MAT>.

Referring to the example in <FIG>, the PUCCH channel resources may be allocated according to a "cluster-based" allocation, in which the RBs included in the allocated PUCCH channel resources may be divided into one or more groups of contiguous RBs (or clusters). Accordingly, the RBs <NUM>-<NUM> may be allocated as a cluster, and may be indexed by <NUM>-<NUM>. These RBs may be used when values of the intermediate variable m' are <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, respectively, in this example. Additional clusters (such as <NUM>-<NUM>) are also shown. It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to the number and/or sizes of the clusters shown in the example of <FIG>, and are also not limited to the mappings shown in the example of <FIG>.

It should be noted that the mapping of the PRB indexes (like <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) with the value of m' as shown in <FIG> is an example mapping that is not limiting, and any suitable mapping may be used. As a non-limiting example, the mapping shown in <FIG> may be determined using a formula such as:
<MAT>.

In some embodiments, a resource index (PRB index) may be predefined in a standard such as 3GPP or other. For instance, for a scheduling request (SR) message, the resource index for the PUCCH transmission may be fixed.

In some embodiments, the resource index (PRB index) may be defined as a function of a variable such as nCCE. The eNB <NUM> may select an optimal frequency band for the UE <NUM> to transmit the PUCCH, and may indicate the optimal frequency band (portion of the network channel resources) by transmitting the value of m (or m') to the UE <NUM>. The value of m or m' may be determined using any suitable technique. As a non-limiting example, the formula below may be used:.

In some embodiments, the resource index may be explicitly signaled in a DCI for downlink assignment. This option may be applicable for the case of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) ACK/NACK and aperiodic channel state information (CSI) feedback. As an example, a field of two bits may be defined in the DCI to indicate the resource allocation for PUCCH transmission.

In some embodiments, the resource index may be included in RRC signaling dedicated to the UE <NUM>. This option may be applicable for the case of periodic CSI feedback and semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) based downlink transmission.

In some embodiments, parameters such as flag_pucchTXMode and/or Nblock and/or others may be used, by higher layers as part of the determination and/or indication of the PUCCH resources. As an example, the parameter flag_pucchTXMode may be used, by higher layers, to indicate whether the PUCCH format is in localized transmission mode or not. This parameter may be signaled via RRC signaling dedicated to the UE <NUM>, in some cases. As another example, the parameter Nblock may be used, by higher layers, to indicate a number of distributed RBs for the PUCCH allocation. For instance, a number of RBs in a cluster may be indicated. The parameter Nblock may be provided by a master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB) or UE specific RRC signaling. It may be used for cluster-based allocations of the PUCCH channel resources, in some cases.

<FIG> illustrates the operation of another method of PUCCH communication in accordance with some embodiments. As mentioned previously regarding the method <NUM>, embodiments of the method <NUM> may include additional or even fewer operations or processes in comparison to what is illustrated in <FIG> and embodiments of the method <NUM> are not necessarily limited to the chronological order that is shown in <FIG>. In describing the method <NUM>, reference may be made to <FIG>, although it is understood that the method <NUM> may be practiced with any other suitable systems, interfaces and components. In addition, embodiments of the method <NUM> may refer to eNBs <NUM>, UEs <NUM>, APs STAs or other wireless or mobile devices. The method <NUM> may also refer to an apparatus for an eNB <NUM> and/or UE <NUM> or other device described above.

It should be noted that the method <NUM> may be practiced at an eNB <NUM>, and may include exchanging of signals or messages with a UE <NUM>. Similarly, the method <NUM> may be practiced at a UE <NUM>, and may include exchanging of signals or messages with an eNB <NUM>. In some cases, operations and techniques described as part of the method <NUM> may be relevant to the method <NUM>. In addition, embodiments may include operations performed at the eNB <NUM> that are reciprocal or similar to other operations described herein performed at the UE <NUM>. For instance, an operation of the method <NUM> may include transmission of a message by the eNB <NUM> while an operation of the method <NUM> may include reception of the same message or similar message by the UE <NUM>.

In addition, previous discussion of various techniques and concepts may be applicable to the method <NUM> in some cases, including the network channel resources, PUCCH channel resources, various techniques for allocation of the PUCCH channel resources, downlink control messages, uplink control messages, and others. In addition, the example allocations shown in <FIG> may also be applicable, in some cases.

At operation <NUM>, the eNB <NUM> may transmit, to one or more UEs <NUM>, one or more downlink control messages that may indicate an allocation of PUCCH channel resources. As previously described, the downlink control messages may indicate a type of allocation or other parameters or information to enable the UEs <NUM> to determine the allocation.

At operation <NUM>, the eNB <NUM> may determine a portion of the allocated PUCCH channel resources for transmission of an uplink control message by a particular UE <NUM>. At operation <NUM>, the eNB <NUM> may transmit, to the UE <NUM>, one or more downlink control messages that may indicate the portion of the allocated PUCCH channel resources. At operation <NUM>, the eNB <NUM> may receive, from the UE <NUM>, an uplink control message in at least a portion of the allocated PUCCH channel resources. In some embodiments, the eNB <NUM> may perform operations <NUM> and/or <NUM> and/or <NUM> for multiple UEs <NUM>.

Claim 1:
An apparatus for User Equipment, UE (<NUM>, <NUM>), the apparatus comprising hardware processing circuitry, the hardware processing circuitry being configured to cause the UE (<NUM>,<NUM>) to:
receive (<NUM>), from an Evolved Node B, eNB (<NUM>, <NUM>), one or more downlink control messages that indicate an allocation of physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, channel resources that are included in network channel resources; and
transmit (<NUM>) an uplink control message in at least a portion of the allocated PUCCH channel resources, wherein:
when the PUCCH channel resources are allocated according to an edge configuration, the PUCCH channel resources are restricted to a lower edge portion and an upper edge portion of the network channel resources, wherein the lower edge portion is near a lower edge of a frequency range of the network channel resources and the upper edge portion is near an upper edge of the frequency range of the network channel resources,
when the PUCCH channel resources are allocated according to a distributed configuration, the PUCCH channel resources include one or more middle portions of the network channel resources, the middle portions partially overlapping with or not overlapping with the lower edge and upper edge portions,
the downlink control messages indicate that the PUCCH channel resources are allocated in accordance with either the edge configuration or the distributed configuration,
a first portion of the uplink control message is transmitted during a first slot in a first resource block, RB, included in the allocated PUCCH channel resources,
when the uplink control message is transmitted according to a localized slot configuration, a second portion of the uplink control message is transmitted during a second slot in the first RB, and
when the uplink control message is transmitted according to a non-localized slot configuration, the second portion of the uplink control message is transmitted during the second slot in a second RB included in the allocated PUCCH channel resources, and
wherein the slot configuration for the PUCCH transmission is based on the one or more downlink control messages.