(19)
(11)EP 3 520 282 B1

(12)EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION

(45)Mention of the grant of the patent:
04.11.2020 Bulletin 2020/45

(21)Application number: 17769055.9

(22)Date of filing:  18.09.2017
(51)International Patent Classification (IPC): 
H04L 5/00(2006.01)
H04L 1/18(2006.01)
H04L 1/16(2006.01)
(86)International application number:
PCT/EP2017/073461
(87)International publication number:
WO 2018/059986 (05.04.2018 Gazette  2018/14)

(54)

INFRASTRUCTURE EQUIPMENT, WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HARQ-ACK BUNDLING

INFRASTRUKTURAUSRÜSTUNG, DRAHTLOSTELEKOMMUNIKATIONSSYSTEM UND VERFAHREN ZUR BÜNDELUNG VON HARQ-ACK

ÉQUIPEMENT D'INFRASTRUCTURE, SYSTÈME DE TÉLÉCOMMUNICATIONS SANS FIL, ET PROCÉDÉ DE GROUPAGE HARQ-ACK


(84)Designated Contracting States:
AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR

(30)Priority: 30.09.2016 EP 16191974

(43)Date of publication of application:
07.08.2019 Bulletin 2019/32

(73)Proprietors:
  • Sony Corporation
    Tokyo 108-0075 (JP)
  • Sony Europe Limited
    Brooklands Weybridge Surrey KT13 0XW (GB)
    Designated Contracting States:
    AL 

(72)Inventors:
  • WONG, Shin Horng
    Basingstoke Hampshire RG22 4SB (GB)
  • BEALE, Martin Warwick
    Basingstoke Hampshire RG22 4SB (GB)

(74)Representative: D Young & Co LLP 
120 Holborn
London EC1N 2DY
London EC1N 2DY (GB)


(56)References cited: : 
US-A1- 2016 254 900
  
  • SIERRA WIRELESS: "Ack Bundling Design Considerations", 3GPP DRAFT; R1-166680 ACK_BUNDLING, 3RD GENERATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECT (3GPP), MOBILE COMPETENCE CENTRE ; 650, ROUTE DES LUCIOLES ; F-06921 SOPHIA-ANTIPOLIS CEDEX ; FRANCE , vol. RAN WG1, no. Gothenburg, Sweden; 20160822 - 20160826 21 August 2016 (2016-08-21), XP051125503, Retrieved from the Internet: URL:http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Meetings_3GPP_ SYNC/RAN1/Docs/ [retrieved on 2016-08-21]
  • SONY: "Higher data rate for feMTC", 3GPP DRAFT; R1-166660 - REL-14 FEMTC - HIGH SPEED, 3RD GENERATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECT (3GPP), MOBILE COMPETENCE CENTRE ; 650, ROUTE DES LUCIOLES ; F-06921 SOPHIA-ANTIPOLIS CEDEX ; FRANCE , vol. RAN WG1, no. Gothenburg, Sweden; 20160822 - 20160826 21 August 2016 (2016-08-21), XP051125496, Retrieved from the Internet: URL:http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Meetings_3GPP_ SYNC/RAN1/Docs/ [retrieved on 2016-08-21]
  
Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention).


Description

BACKGROUND


Field of Disclosure



[0001] The present disclosure relates to infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless telecommunications system for communicating with a communications device, and specifically to mechanisms for employing half duplex frequency division duplexing (HD-FDD) in such telecommunications systems.

Description of Related Art



[0002] The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

[0003] Third and fourth generation wireless communications systems, such as those based on the third generation partnership project (3GPP) defined UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture are able to support sophisticated services such as instant messaging, video calls as well as high speed internet access. For example, with the improved radio interface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, a user is able to enjoy high data rate applications such as mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing that would previously only have been available via a fixed line data connection. The demand to deploy third and fourth generation networks is therefore strong and the coverage area of these networks, i.e. geographic locations where access to the networks is possible, is expected to increase rapidly. However, whilst fourth generation networks can support communications at high data rate and low latencies from devices such as smart phones and tablet computers, it is expected that future wireless communications networks will need to support communications to and from a much wider range of devices, including reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, enhanced MTC (eMTC) devices, wearable devices, devices which require little or no mobility, high resolution video displays and virtual reality headsets. As such, the supporting of such a wide range of communications devices, and the device-to-device (D2D) communications between them, can represent a technical challenge for a wireless communications network.

[0004] A current technical area of interest to those working in the field of wireless and mobile communications is known as "The Internet of Things" or IoT for short. The 3GPP has proposed to develop technologies for supporting narrow band (NB)-IoT using an LTE or 4G wireless access interface and wireless infrastructure. Such IoT devices are expected to be low complexity and inexpensive devices requiring infrequent communication of relatively low bandwidth data. It is also expected that there will be an extremely large number of IoT devices which would need to be supported in a cell of the wireless communications network. Furthermore such NB-IoT devices are likely to be deployed indoors and /or in remote locations making radio communications challenging. A similar class of devices is the Further Enhanced MTC (fe-MTC) [3]. Current areas of development are aimed at improving the operation of these types of low cost devices so that they are power efficient and can operate in extended coverage, such as inside basements [2][4]. One of the desires is to increase the throughput of the IoT devices, especially for devices using half-duplex frequency division duplexing (HD-FDD).

[0005] Non-patent document "Ack Bundling Design Considerations" (Sierra Wireless, R1-166680, RAN WG1, no. Gothenburg, Sweden, 21 August 2016) discusses the design considerations for the ACK bundling design, including a first method where the uplink/downlink subframes are fixed based on a preset configuration and a second method where the uplink/downlink subframes are dynamically determined.

[0006] US 2016/0254900 A1 relates to a method for effectively transmitting a control signal in a wireless communication system.

[0007] "Higher data rate for feMTC" (Sony) discusses the objective of introducing a higher data rate to an MTC device, including half duplex FDD and full duplex FDD UEs, particularly focussing on HARQ-ACK bundling and 10 downlink HARQ processes.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE



[0008] The invention is defined by the appended claims.

[0009] The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by way of general introduction, and are not intended to limit the scope of the following claims. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS



[0010] A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of a mobile telecommunication system;

Figure 2 illustrates an example of a Rel-13 eMTC HD-FDD PDSCH transmission;

Figure 3 illustrates an example of HARQ-ACK bundling with 4-PDSCH bundles in a Rel-13 eMTC HD-FDD PDSCH transmission;

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a missed MPDCCH detection in a PDSCH bundle transmitted as shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 illustrates a first example of a Downlink Assignment Index in LTE TDD;

Figure 6 illustrates a second example of a Downlink Assignment Index in LTE TDD;

Figure 7 illustrates an example of a PDSCH transmission for maximum throughput in accordance with embodiments of the present technique;

Figure 8 illustrates an example of a division of PDSCH transmissions into multiple bundles in accordance with embodiments of the present technique;

Figure 9 illustrates an example of an implicit downlink to uplink switch indicator in accordance with embodiments of the present technique; and

Figure 10 shows a flow diagram describing a process in accordance with embodiments of the present technique.


DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS


Conventional Communications System



[0011] Figure 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating some basic functionality of a mobile telecommunications network / system operating in accordance with LTE principles and which may be adapted to implement embodiments of the disclosure as described further below. Various elements of Figure 1 and their respective modes of operation are well-known and defined in the relevant standards administered by the 3GPP (RTM) body, and also described in many books on the subject, for example, Holma H. and Toskala A [1]. It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications network which are not specifically described below may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to the relevant standards.

[0012] The network 100 includes a plurality of base stations 101 connected to a core network 102. Each base station provides a coverage area 103 (i.e. a cell) within which data can be communicated to and from communications devices 104. Data is transmitted from base stations 101 to communications devices 104 within their respective coverage areas 103 via a radio downlink. Data is transmitted from communications devices 104 to the base stations 101 via a radio uplink. The uplink and downlink communications are made using radio resources that are licenced for exclusive use by the operator of the network 100. The core network 102 routes data to and from the communications devices 104 via the respective base stations 101 and provides functions such as authentication, mobility management, charging and so on. Communications devices may also be referred to as mobile stations, user equipment (UE), user device, mobile radio, and so forth. Base stations may also be referred to as transceiver stations / infrastructure equipment / NodeBs / eNodeBs (eNB for short), and so forth.

[0013] Wireless communications systems such as those arranged in accordance with the 3GPP defined Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture use an orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) based interface for the radio downlink (so-called OFDMA) and a single carrier frequency division multiple access scheme (SC-FDMA) on the radio uplink.

[0014] Mobile communications networks may further include relay nodes, to try to extend a radio coverage area provided by the network to reach communications devices which would otherwise be out of range of the mobile communications network or to improve the ratio of successful transmissions between a terminal and a base station. Relay nodes further allow power consumption at the terminal to be reduced, as the range of transmission for that terminal will be reduced.

HD-FDD UEs and Telecommunications Systems



[0015] An half-duplex frequency division duplexing (HD-FDD) UE can either receive or transmit, but cannot perform both at the same time. It also needs to switch between frequency bands when it switches between transmitting and receiving. In Rel-13 eMTC, the HD-FDD UE is expected to take 1 ms (i.e. one subframe) to switch between receive and transmit (downlink (DL) to uplink (UL)) and 1 ms (i.e. one subframe) to switch from transmit to receive (UL to DL). In Rel-13 eMTC, cross subframe scheduling is used for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), in which an MTC-physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH) carrying downlink control information (DCI) for a downlink grant is transmitted in subframe n and the corresponding scheduled PDSCH is transmitted in subframe n+2 (shown by 206 in Figure 2). Once the UE receives the PDSCH, it has three subframes to decode, generate a feedback (acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK)) and transmit this feedback with timing advance, i.e. it needs to transmit the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) carrying the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback in subframe n+6; two subframes (shown by 206 in Figure 2) between MPDCCH and PDSCH, plus four subframes (shown by 208 in Figure 2) between PDSCH and PUCCH.

[0016] An example of this is shown in Figure 2, where in subframe 0, an MPDCCH carrying a downlink grant is transmitted and this is followed by a PDSCH in subframe 2. The UE would then transmit the PUCCH carrying the HARQ feedback 204 in subframe 6. DL to UL switching 201 for the transmitting device takes place in subframe 5, and UL to DL switching 202 for the receiving device takes place in subframe 9. In order to achieve peak throughput, an HD-FDD UE needs to transmit as many contiguous PDSCH as possible. Due to the timing constraints described, the HD-FDD UE can only transmit three contiguous PDSCH per radio frame (i.e. 10 subframes) as shown in Figure 2. Since the maximum TBS (Transport Block Size) in Rel-13 eMTC is 1000 bits, the maximum downlink throughput that can be achieved by an HD-FDD UE is 300 kbps.

[0017] One of the methods to improve HD-FDD throughput is to introduce HARQ Feedback (HARQ-ACK) Bundling, where a single PUCCH (ACK/NACK) is used to acknowledge more than one PDSCH, i.e. a bundle of PDSCHs. An AND operation is used for the feedback; that is the UE sends:
  • An ACK if all of the PDSCHs in the bundle pass the CRC check; or
  • A NACK if one or more PDSCHs in the bundle fail the CRC check.


[0018] A known inefficiency of HARQ-ACK bundling is that if the eNB receives a NACK, it would not know which of the PDSCH(s) in the bundle failed to reach the UE since an AND operator is used for the feedback. In this case, the eNB has to retransmit all the PDSCH in the bundle.

[0019] In using HARQ-ACK bundling in fe-MTC, the four subframes timing relationship between PDSCH and PUCCH needs to be changed. For example in Figure 3, a HARQ-ACK bundle size of 4 PDSCHs is used and here the PDSCH transmitted in subframe 2, 3 and 4 would not be able to provide the feedback four subframes later. In [4], it is suggested that only the last PDSCH in the PDSCH bundle (i.e. the PDSCH in subframe 5 of Figure 3) conforms to the 4 subframe timing. That is the PUCCH is provided 4 subframes later after the last PDSCH in the PDSCH bundle (i.e. PUCCH providing the feedback 304 is transmitted in subframe 9 in Figure 3). DL to UL switching 301 for the transmitting device takes place in subframe 6, and UL to DL switching 302 for the receiving device takes place in subframe 0 in the following radio frame. As shown in Figure 3, using HARQ-ACK bundle size of 4, the UE maximum downlink throughput is increased to 364 kbps (assuming a maximum downlink TBS of 1000 bits).

[0020] As described previously, when a NACK is received, the eNB does not know which PDSCH(s) in the bundle is (are) not received correctly and it has to retransmit the entire bundle. Another issue with HARQ-ACK bundling is, even if an ACK is received, the eNB is not sure if the UE has received all the PDSCHs in the bundle since the UE may have missed one or more PDSCHs. For example in Figure 4, an eNB transmits a bundle of four PDSCHs in subframes 2, 3, 4 & 5, which are scheduled by four corresponding MPDCCHs in subframes 0, 1, 2 & 3. Since the targeted block error rate (BLER) for MPDCCH is 1%, it is possible that the UE missed the detection of an MPDCCH. In this example, the UE missed MPDCCH 410 in subframe 1 thereby it will not decode PDSCH in subframe 3. The UE decodes the remaining PDSCHs (in subframe 2, 4 & 5) correctly and hence would feedback an ACK 404 in subframe 9 even though PDSCH in subframe 3 was not decoded. Again, in Figure 4, DL to UL switching 401 for the transmitting device takes place in subframe 6, and UL to DL switching 402 for the receiving device takes place in subframe 0 in the following radio frame.

[0021] HARQ-ACK bundling is employed in LTE time division duplexing (LTE TDD). In LTE TDD, the subframes used for uplink and downlink transmission are configured based on a set of subframe configurations. For each configuration, a HARQ bundling window is defined where any PDSCH scheduled in this window would be bundled for HARQ-ACK bundling. Recognising the missed PDSCH detection issue in HARQ-ACK bundling, in LTE TDD, a Downlink Assignment Index (DAI) is used in the downlink grant in the PDCCH/EPDCCH (downlink control information, DCI) when scheduling each of the PDSCH in the bundle. The DAI is a counter that increases as the number of scheduled PDSCH increases in the bundle. That is, the DAI indicates to the UE that a scheduled PDSCH is the kth PDSCH in the bundle. This enables the UE to determine if any PDSCH is missing in the bundle. An example is shown in Figure 5, where a UL/DL subframe Configuration 4 is used. One of the fixed HARQ-ACK bundling windows 512 consists of (downlink) subframe 6, 7, 8 & 9 and their corresponding PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK 504 bundling is in subframe 3 in the following radio frame. In this example, the eNB transmit EPDCCH in subframe 6, 7, 8 & 9 between time τ0 and τ4, which schedules PDSCH in the same subframe. The DAI would indicate "1", "2", "3" and "4" for the PDSCH being scheduled in the DCI carried by the EPDCCH in subframe 6, 7, 8 & 9 respectively. The EPDCCH in subframe 7 (between time τ1 and τ2) is not detected by the UE and the corresponding PDSCH in the same subframe 7 is therefore not decoded. However, when the UE receives DCI in subframe 8 and 9 where the DAI indicates 3 and 4 respectively, the UE knows that the PDSCH transmitted in subframe 7 is missing and it would therefore feedback a NACK to the eNB in subframe 3 at time τ5. A special switching subframe 514 is introduced in place of subframe 1 in each radio frame, used for switching from DL to UL.

[0022] The DAI can be used to determine for missing PDSCHs that has already been scheduled in the bundle but it cannot indicate whether the last PDSCH or last few PDSCHs are missing. For example, consider the same LTE TDD Configuration 4 in Figure 6 - with bundling window 612, HARQ-ACK 604 in subframe 3 in the following radio frame, and special subframes 614 - where EPDCCH in subframe 9 at time τ3 is not detected leading to the corresponding PDSCH in subframe 9 not being decoded. The last detected EPDCCH and decoded PDSCH is in subframe 8, transmitted between time τ2 and τ3, and the DCI carried by the EPDCCH in subframe 8 indicates that 3 PDSCH has been scheduled leading to the UE to interpret that all PDSCH has been decoded and feedbacks an ACK to the eNB. This potential error scenario is overcome since the resource used to transmit the PUCCH (e.g. the code and frequency resources used in subframe 3 at time τ5) is a function of the subframe of the last detected PDSCH.

[0023] Unlike LTE TDD, fe-MTC HD-FDD does not have a fixed UL/DL subframe configuration, but instead the UE switches from DL to UL when there is an uplink transmission due to an UL grant or for HARQ feedback. Although a PDSCH bundle window similar to LTE TDD was proposed in [5], such a window would introduce restrictions on the eNB scheduling. In [6], a "Toggle Bit" is proposed where a single bit in the DCI would toggle between 0 and 1 for every successive PDSCH scheduled in a PDSCH bundle. This is designed to enable the UE to track for missing PDSCH, i.e. if the UE receives two consecutive 0s it knows that one PDSCH is missing. Embodiments of the present technique relate to a new mechanism for HD-FDD.

PDSCH Bundle Status (PBS)



[0024] Embodiments of the present technique introduce a PDSCH bundle status (PBS), or bundle status indicator, in the DCI that indicates the status of the MPDCCH/PDSCH bundle transmission to the UE.

[0025] Specifically, embodiments of the present technique, as shown in Figures 7 to 9 (which are described in detail below) relate an infrastructure equipment, or eNodeB, forming part of a wireless telecommunications system, which comprises transmitter circuitry for transmitting signals representing data via a wireless access interface of the wireless telecommunications system to a communications device, or UE, receiver circuitry for receiving signals representing data via the wireless access interface from the communications device, and controller circuitry (which may be a microprocessor, CPU, dedicated chipset, etc.) configured to control the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry to transmit and receive signals via the wireless access interface in accordance with a time divided structure in which the wireless access interface is divided into a plurality of repeating time units, or subframes. The controller circuitry of the infrastructure equipment/eNB is configured to provide, in each of a first plurality of the time units/subframes, one of a plurality of control channels (MPDCCHs) each configured to schedule one of a plurality of data channels (PDSCHs), and to provide, in each of a second plurality of time units/subframes of the signal transmitted to the communications device/UE, one of the plurality of data channels (PDSCHs), the plurality of data channels (PDSCHs) being formed of one or more bundles of data channels (PDSCHs), wherein the controller circuitry is configured to control the transmitter circuitry to transmit a bundle status indicator (PBS) in one or more of the plurality of control channels (MPDCCHs). Embodiments of the present technique also relate to the wireless telecommunications system itself, the wireless telecommunications system comprising both the infrastructure equipment (eNB) and the communications device (UE).

[0026] In an example, the PBS consists of an End of Bundle (EOB) indicator. This said EOB indicator would tell the UE whether the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI is the last PDSCH within the bundle. This would avoid the UE missing detection of the last MPDCCH and therefore not decode the last PDSCH in a bundle and sending the PUCCH early. If the UE fails to detect the EOB, it would not transmit a PUCCH to the eNB. If a fixed PUCCH and last PDSCH timing is used, e.g. the PUCCH is transmitted 4 subframes after the last PDSCH in the bundle [4], then using this example, the UE would avoid switching to the uplink and wasting battery power to transmit a PUCCH to carry the HARQ-ACK. An absence of a HARQ-ACK from the UE would indicate a NACK at the eNB. In other words, in this example, the bundle status indicator transmitted in a control channel comprises an end of bundle indicator indicating that a data channel scheduled by the control channel is the last data channel of one of the one or more bundles of data channels.

[0027] In another example, the PBS consists of a Start of Bundle (SOB) indicator. The SOB would indicate the start of a PDSCH bundle to the UE. The SOB can be used together with the EOB, for example if the UE fails to detect an EOB but instead receive a SOB at a later subframe, it would know that the previous PDSCH bundle can be discarded since the eNB failing to detect the HARQ-ACK for the previous bundle would retransmit them. Although the DAI, if used for fe-MTC, can act as a SOB (e.g. using DAI = 00 as the start of bundle), the DAI has a limitation since it is a 2 bit indicator and is used as a counter for PDSCH bundle size greater than 4 by resetting the counter whenever it reaches the max value. It should be appreciated that the EOB need not work together with the SOB. In other words, in this example, the bundle status indicator transmitted in a control channel comprises a start of bundle indicator indicating that a data channel scheduled by the control channel is the first data channel of one of the one or more bundles of data channels.

[0028] In an example the PBS indicates either a bitmap indicating which subframes contain PDSCH within the bundle or the number of consecutive PDSCH within the bundle. The UE would transmit an ACK/NACK in a known subframe after the last PDSCH indicated in this PBS.

[0029] The maximum throughput is achieved when PDSCH can be transmitted in consecutive subframes as long as possible, i.e., the largest bundle size would give the highest throughput. The size of the bundle is limited to the number of HARQ processes. In Rel-13 eMTC, the number of HARQ processes is 8, which may be increased to 10 in Rel-14 fe-MTC. Assuming 10 HARQ processes are used, the maximum throughput is achieved when the bundle size is 10 PDSCH as shown in Figure 7, which illustrates an example of the present technique, where a 10 PDSCH bundle 706 occurs between time τ1 and τ2 and the HARQ feedback 704 is transmitted in a bundle between time τ4 and τ5. For a maximum TBS of 1000 bits, the PDSCH transmissions in Figure 7 would give a maximum throughput of 588 kbps. In Figure 7, DL to UL switching 701 for the transmitting device (the infrastructure equipment/eNB) takes place in subframe 2 of the following radio frame, and UL to DL switching 702 for the receiving device (the communications device/UE) takes place in subframe 6 in the following radio frame.

[0030] As described above, HARQ-ACK bundling can cause unnecessary retransmission of PDSCH since the eNB does not know which PDSCH(s) has failed when a NACK is received. It is recognised that the inefficiency of this retransmission increases as the size of the bundle increases, i.e. the long bundle 706 shown in Figure 7 would lead to inefficient retransmission. Hence, it would be beneficial if the long PDSCH transmission can be divided into multiple bundles without introducing additional delay to the timeline shown in Figure 7. It is observed in Figure 7 that the subframes between time τ3 and τ4 (subframe 3 & 4) leading to the HARQ-ACK feedback are not utilised. These subframes can be used to provide two more additional HARQ-ACK feedbacks without causing any delay to the timeline. That is, the 10 PDSCH transmissions can be divided into three bundles.

[0031] An example is shown in Figure 8, which illustrates an embodiment of the present technique, where the 10 PDSCH transmissions are divided into Bundle #1 810, Bundle #2 820 and Bundle #3 830. Bundle #1 810 has a bundle size of 4 PDSCH occupying subframe 2, 3, 4 & 5 between time τ1 and τ2, Bundle #2 820 has a bundle size of 4 PDSCH occupying subframe 6, 7, 8 & 9 between time τ2 and τ4, and Bundle #3 830 has a bundle size of 2 PDSCH occupying subframe 0 & 1 between time τ4 and τ5. The corresponding HARQ-ACK bundling feedbacks 811 (for Bundle #1 810), 821 (for Bundle #2 820) and 831 (for Bundle #3 830) are transmitted between time in τ6 and τ9 in subframe 3, 4, and 5 respectively. This arrangement gives the maximum throughput with reduced retransmission inefficiency. As with the example shown in Figure 7, in Figure 8, DL to UL switching 801 for the transmitting device (the infrastructure equipment/eNB) takes place in subframe 2 of the following radio frame, and UL to DL switching 802 for the receiving device (the communications device/UE) takes place in subframe 6 in the following radio frame.

[0032] The EOB and SOB indications in previous examples can be used to indicate the start and end of multiple consecutive bundles shown in Figure 8. For example the DCI carried by the MPDCCH at time τ0 scheduling the 1st PDSCH of Bundle #1 810 can include a SOB 841 indicator and the DCI carried by the MPDCCH at time τ2 (subframe 3) scheduling the last PDSCH of Bundle #1 810 can include an EOB 842 indicator. In this way the UE knows the split of the bundles. However, the UE still needs to know when to switch to the uplink to transmit the HARQ-ACK feedback. It should be appreciated that the concept of "bundle window" as in LTE TDD is not used in HD-FDD.

[0033] Recognising this, in another embodiment, the PBS consists of a Switch indicator. This Switch indicator tells the UE when to switch to the uplink to transmit the HARQ-ACK feedback(s). For example in Figure 8 this Switch indicator 844 (together with an EOB 842) can be transmitted in the DCI at time τ4, which tells the UE to switch to the uplink after time τ6, i.e. after the corresponding PDSCH is received. It should be appreciated that the Switch indicator 844 can be transmitted in other subframes when the eNB decides that the UE needs to provide a feedback. In other words, in this embodiment, the bundle status indicator transmitted in a control channel comprises a switch indicator indicating to the communications device that a next time unit after a data channel scheduled by the control channel is configured for uplink communication to the infrastructure equipment.

[0034] In examples of the present technique, the PBS consists of a Middle of Bundle (MOB) indicator. This indicator tells the UE that the scheduled PDSCH is neither the end nor the start of the PDSCH bundle and the UE is to expect further PDSCHs. An example is shown in Figure 8, in the Bundle# 1 810, the MOB 843 is transmitted in DCI carried by the MPDCCH in subframe 1 and 2 (that schedule PDSCH in subframe 3 and 4). The UE would therefore understand that these PDSCH are in the middle of a bundle and expect more PDSCH to come. In other words, in this example, the bundle status indicator transmitted in a control channel comprises a middle of bundle indicator indicating that a data channel scheduled by the control channel is neither the first or last data channel of one of the one or more bundles of data channels.

[0035] In another example, the Switch indicator further includes a delay of X subframes before the UE switches to the uplink. This delay allows the eNB to provide an uplink grant (e.g. to allocate a PUCCH to transmit the ACK/NACK or a PUSCH for UE's data) for the UE prior to the DL to UL switching. In other words, in this example, the switch indicator indicates a delay of one or more time units after the data channel before the communications device should begin uplink communication to the infrastructure equipment.

[0036] In another example, instead of an explicit Switch indicator, the UE can switch to the uplink to transmit the HARQ-ACK bundle if there are no further DCI (carried by MPDCCH) detected for Y subframes after an EOB. The UE would then switch to the uplink Z subframes after the end of the last PDSCH (that correspond to the DCI with the EOB indicator). The values of Y and Z can be specified in the specifications or configured by the eNB using higher layer signalling such as RRC signalling. In other words, in this example, the communications device is configured to detect that a number of time units in which no data has been received from the infrastructure equipment exceeds a predetermined threshold, and to begin, in a predetermined time unit, uplink transmission to the infrastructure equipment.

[0037] An example where Y=2 & Z=2, is shown in Figure 9, where two bundles, Bundle #1 910 and Bundle #2 920 are transmitted by the eNB. At time τ0 a DCI carried by a MPDCCH is transmitted with a SOB 941 indication to indicate the start of a PDSCH bundle. The UE notes the start of the corresponding PDSCH (transmitted at time τ0 in subframe 2). It then further receives two more MPDCCH scheduling another two more PDSCHs (with MOB 943 indicators) and since no EOB 942 was indicated the UE, expects further PDSCH. At time τ2 the UE receives an EOB 942 indicator in the DCI carried by MPDCCH in subframe 3, which indicates that the corresponding PDSCH transmitted in subframe 5 at time τ3 will be the last PDSCH in the bundle (Bundle #1 910). The UE then start the counting down Y=2 subframes to determine whether it should switch to the uplink. The UE did not receive any MPDCCH or DCI at subframe 4 after the EOB 942 was detected in subframe 3. However, at subframe 5 at time t3, it detects a DCI with a SOB 941 indicating the start of another bundle (i.e. Bundle #2 920) where the start of the corresponding PDSCH is at time τ5. At time τ6, the UE receives an EOB 942 in the DCI carried by MPDCCH in subframe 8. The UE then bundles the PDSCH received between time τ5 and τ9 for HARQ-ACK. The UE then starts the countdown for Y=2 subframes after receiving the EOB 942 at time τ7 and at time τ9, the countdown ends (i.e. 2 subframes without any DCI detected) and the UE then starts another countdown for Z=2 subframes after the last PDSCH in Bundle #2 920 is received at time τ9. After Z=2 subframes at time τ10, the UE switches to the uplink to transmit the HARQ-ACK feedbacks 911 and 921 (for Bundle #1 910 and Bundle #2 920 respectively). In Figure 9, DL to UL switching 901 for the transmitting device (the infrastructure equipment/eNB) takes place in subframe 3 of the following radio frame, and UL to DL switching 902 for the receiving device (the communications device/UE) takes place in subframe 6 in the following radio frame.

[0038] In another example the uplink subframe used for HARQ-ACK feedback of a bundle is indicated in the DCI scheduling of the PDSCH bundle. For example, in Figure 8, one of the DCIs scheduling the PDSCH in Bundle #1 810 can indicate to the UE to transmit its HARQ-ACK feedback 811, 821, 831 between time τ7 and τ8, i.e. at subframe 3 of the next radio frame. In other words, in this example, one of the control channels comprises an indication of a time unit in which the communications device should transmit an acknowledgement of one of the bundles of data channels to the infrastructure equipment.

[0039] In another example the uplink subframe used for the HARQ-ACK feedback is implicitly indicated by the order of the bundle prior to the UE switching to the uplink. For example in Figure 8, the order of the PDSCH bundles are Bundle #1 810, Bundle #2 820 and Bundle #3 830. Here the first uplink subframe after the DL-UL switch 801 (between time τ6 and τ7) that has a PDSCH and PUCCH separation of at least 3 subframes (for the UE to process the PDSCH) shall be used to feedback 811 the first bundle, i.e. Bundle #1 810. The second available uplink subframe (satisfying the minimum PDSCH-PUCCH separation) would provide feedback 821 for the second bundle, i.e. Bundle #2 820 and the third available uplink subframe would provide feedback 831 for the third bundle, i.e. Bundle #3 830. In other words, in this example, an order of the one or more bundles of data channels indicates to the communications device that the communications device should transmit an acknowledgement of each of the one or more bundles of data channels during a next available time unit for uplink transmission to the infrastructure equipment in the order of the one or more bundles of data channels.

[0040] In another example, the PUCCH resource (i.e. frequency and code) used to carry the HARQ-ACK feedback is a function of the number of PDSCH in the bundle. This example is useful if the DAI is not used for fe-MTC and would provide the eNB an indication whether any PDSCH is missing in the bundle. In other words, in this example, the communications device is configured to transmit an acknowledgement of each of the one or more bundles of data channels in a communications resource of the wireless access interface which is a function of the number of data channels in the bundle.

[0041] Figure 10 shows a flow diagram describing a process in accordance with examples of the present technique, where the process entails a method of controlling communications in a wireless telecommunications system comprising an infrastructure equipment. The method begins in step S1. In step S2, the method comprises providing, in each of a first plurality of time units of a signal transmitted to a communications device, one of a plurality of control channels each configured to schedule one of a plurality of data channels. In step S4, the process comprises providing, in each of a second plurality of time units of the signal transmitted to the communications device, one of the plurality of data channels, the plurality of data channels being formed of one or more bundles of data channels. Step S6 of the method comprises transmitting a bundle status indicator in one or more of the plurality of control channels. The process ends in step S8.

[0042] Embodiments of the present disclosure therefore address issues with existing HD-FDD mechanisms and provide a new mechanism with increased efficiency and less restriction on eNB scheduling, which can be used to improve performance and efficiency of MTC or IoT devices.

[0043] In so far as embodiments of the disclosure have been described as being implemented, at least in part, by software-controlled data processing apparatus, it will be appreciated that a non-transitory machine-readable medium carrying such software, such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, semiconductor memory or the like, is also considered to represent an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity has described embodiments with reference to different functional units, circuitry and/or processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, circuitry and/or processors may be used without detracting from the embodiments.

[0045] Described embodiments may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. Described embodiments may optionally be implemented at least partly as computer software running on one or more data processors and/or digital signal processors. The elements and components of any embodiment may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other functional units. As such, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in a single unit or may be physically and functionally distributed between different units, circuitry and/or processors.

[0046] Although the present disclosure has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Additionally, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognize that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in any manner suitable to implement the technique.

References



[0047] 
  1. [1] LTE for UMTS: OFDMA and SC-FDMA Based Radio Access, Harris Holma and Antti Toskala, Wiley 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-99401-6.
  2. [2] RP-161324, "New work item proposal: Enhancements of NB-IoT," Vodafone, Huawei, HiSilicon, Ericsson, Qualcomm, RAN#72
  3. [3] RP-161321, "New WI proposal on Further Enhanced MTC", Ericsson, RAN#72
  4. [4] R1-166660 "Higher data rate for feMTC," Sony, RAN1#86
  5. [5] R1-167352, "Views on techniques to improve the data rate for Rel-14 MTC," NTT DOCOMO, RANI#86
  6. [6] R1-081373, "Explicit DTX Signaling with ACK/NAK Bundling in TDD," Texas Instruments, Huawei, RAN1#52bis



Claims

1. An infrastructure equipment (101) forming part of a wireless telecommunications system, the infrastructure equipment comprising
transmitter circuitry for transmitting signals representing data via a wireless access interface of the wireless telecommunications system to a communications device (104),
receiver circuitry for receiving signals representing data via the wireless access interface from the communications device, and
controller circuitry configured
to control the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry to transmit and receive signals via the wireless access interface in accordance with a time divided structure in which the wireless access interface is divided into a plurality of repeating time units,
to provide, in each of a first plurality of the time units, one of a plurality of control channels each configured to schedule one of a plurality of data channels, and
to provide, in each of a second plurality of time units of the signal transmitted to the communications device, one of the plurality of data channels, the plurality of data channels being formed of multiple consecutive bundles of data channels,
wherein the controller circuitry is configured to control the transmitter circuitry to transmit a bundle status indicator (844) in one or more of the plurality of control channels,
wherein the bundle status indicator comprises an end of bundle indicator, transmitted in a first control channel, indicating that a data channel scheduled by the first control channel is the last data channel of one of the multiple consecutive bundles of data channels, and
wherein the bundle status indicator comprises a switch indicator, transmitted in a second control channel, indicating to the communications device that a time unit after a data channel scheduled by the second control channel is configured for uplink communication to the infrastructure equipment.
 
2. An infrastructure equipment according to Claim 1, wherein the bundle status indicator comprises a start of bundle indicator, transmitted in a third control channel, indicating that a data channel scheduled by the third control channel is the first data channel of one of the multiple consecutive bundles of data channels.
 
3. An infrastructure equipment according to Claim 1, wherein the switch indicator indicates a delay of one or more time units after the data channel before the communications device should begin uplink communication to the infrastructure equipment.
 
4. An infrastructure equipment according to Claim 1, wherein the bundle status indicator comprises a middle of bundle indicator, transmitted in a fourth control channel, indicating that a data channel scheduled by the fourth control channel is neither the first or last data channel of one of the multiple consecutive bundles of data channels.
 
5. An infrastructure equipment according to Claim 1, wherein one of the control channels comprises an indication of a time unit in which the communications device should transmit an acknowledgement of one of the bundles of data channels to the infrastructure equipment.
 
6. An infrastructure equipment according to Claim 1, wherein an order of the multiple consecutive bundles of data channels indicates to the communications device that the communications device should transmit an acknowledgement of each of the multiple consecutive bundles of data channels during a next available time unit for uplink transmission to the infrastructure equipment in the order of the multiple consecutive bundles of data channels.
 
7. A wireless telecommunications system comprising an infrastructure equipment (101) and a communications device (104), the infrastructure equipment comprising
transmitter circuitry for transmitting signals representing data via a wireless access interface of the wireless telecommunications system to the communications device,
receiver circuitry for receiving signals representing data via the wireless access interface from the communications device, and
controller circuitry configured
to control the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry to transmit and receive signals via the wireless access interface in accordance with a time divided structure in which the wireless access interface is divided into a plurality of repeating time units,
to provide, in each of a first plurality of the time units, one of a plurality of control channels each configured to schedule one of a plurality of data channels, and
to provide, in each of a second plurality of the time units of the signal transmitted to the communications device, one of the plurality of data channels, the plurality of data channels being formed of multiple consecutive bundles of data channels,
wherein the controller circuitry is configured to control the transmitter circuitry to transmit a bundle status indicator (844) in one or more of the plurality of control channels,
wherein the bundle status indicator comprises an end of bundle indicator, transmitted in a first control channel, indicating that a data channel scheduled by the first control channel is the last data channel of one of the multiple consecutive bundles of data channels, and
wherein the bundle status indicator comprises a switch indicator, transmitted in a second control channel, indicating to the communications device that a time unit after a data channel scheduled by the second control channel is configured for uplink communication to the infrastructure equipment.
 
8. A wireless telecommunications system according to Claim 7, wherein the communications device is configured
to detect that a number of time units in which no data has been received from the infrastructure equipment exceeds a predetermined threshold, and
to begin, in a predetermined time unit, uplink transmission to the infrastructure equipment.
 
9. A wireless telecommunications system according to Claim 7, wherein the communications device is configured to transmit an acknowledgement of each of the multiple consecutive bundles of data channels in a communications resource of the wireless access interface which is a function of the number of data channels in the bundle.
 
10. A wireless telecommunications system according to Claim 7, wherein the bundle status indicator comprises a start of bundle indicator, transmitted in a third control channel, indicating that a data channel scheduled by the third control channel is the first data channel of one of the ultiple consecutive bundles of data channels.
 
11. A method of controlling communications in a wireless telecommunications system comprising an infrastructure equipment (101), the method comprising
providing (S2), in each of a first plurality of time units of a signal transmitted to a communications device (104), one of a plurality of control channels each configured to schedule one of a plurality of data channels,
providing (S4), in each of a second plurality of time units of the signal transmitted to the communications device, one of the plurality of data channels, the plurality of data channels being formed of multiple consecutive bundles of data channels, and
transmitting (S6) a bundle status indicator (844) in one or more of the plurality of control channels,
wherein the bundle status indicator comprises an end of bundle indicator, transmitted in a first control channel, indicating that a data channel scheduled by the first . control channel is the last data channel of one of the multiple consecutive bundles of data channels, and
wherein the bundle status indicator comprises a switch indicator, transmitted in a second control channel, indicating to the communications device that a time unit after a data channel scheduled by the second control channel is configured for uplink communication to the infrastructure equipment.
 


Ansprüche

1. Infrastrukturausrüstung (101), die einen Teil eines drahtlosen Telekommunikationssystems bildet, wobei die Infrastrukturausrüstung Folgendes umfasst eine Senderschaltung zum Übertragen von Signalen, die Daten repräsentieren, via eine drahtlose Zugangsschnittstelle des drahtlosen Telekommunikationssystems zu einer Kommunikationsvorrichtung (104),
eine Empfängerschaltung zum Empfangen von Signalen, die Daten repräsentieren, via die drahtlose Zugangsschnittstelle von der Kommunikationsvorrichtung und
eine Steuerschaltung, die zu Folgendem ausgelegt ist Steuern der Senderschaltung und der Empfängerschaltung, um gemäß einer zeitgeteilten Struktur, in der die drahtlose Zugangsschnittstelle in eine Vielzahl von sich wiederholenden Zeiteinheiten geteilt ist, Signale via die drahtlose Zugangsschnittstelle zu übertragen und zu empfangen,
Bereitstellen von einem einer Vielzahl von Steuerkanälen, von denen jeder dazu ausgelegt ist, eine Vielzahl von Datenkanälen zu planen, in jeder einer ersten Vielzahl der Zeiteinheiten und
Bereitstellen von einem der Vielzahl von Datenkanälen in jeder einer zweiten Vielzahl von Zeiteinheiten des Signals, das zur Kommunikationsvorrichtung übertragen wird, wobei die Vielzahl von Datenkanälen aus mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündeln von Datenkanälen gebildet sind,
wobei die Steuerschaltung dazu ausgelegt ist, die Senderschaltung zu steuern, um eine Bündelstatusanzeige (844) in einem oder mehreren der Vielzahl von Steuerkanälen zu übertragen,
wobei die Bündelstatusanzeige eine Bündelendeanzeige umfasst, die in einem ersten Steuerkanal übertragen wird und anzeigt, dass ein Datenkanal, der vom ersten Steuerkanal geplant ist, der letzte Datenkanal von einem der mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündel von Datenkanälen ist, und
wobei die Bündelstatusanzeige eine Umschaltanzeige umfasst, die im zweiten Steuerkanal übertragen wird und der Kommunikationsvorrichtung anzeigt, dass eine Zeiteinheit nach einem Datenkanal, der vom zweiten Steuerkanal geplant ist, für eine Uplinkkommunikation zur Infrastrukturausrüstung ausgelegt ist.
 
2. Infrastrukturausrüstung nach Anspruch 1, wobei die Bündelstatusanzeige eine Bündelanfanganzeige umfasst, die in einem dritten Steuerkanal übertragen wird und anzeigt, dass ein Datenkanal, der vom dritten Steuerkanal geplant ist, der erste Datenkanal von einem der mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündel von Datenkanälen ist.
 
3. Infrastrukturausrüstung nach Anspruch 1, wobei die Umschaltanzeige eine Verzögerung von einer oder mehreren Zeiteinheiten nach dem Datenkanal, bevor die Kommunikationsvorrichtung mit der Uplinkkommunikation zur Infrastrukturausrüstung beginnen sollte, anzeigt.
 
4. Infrastrukturausrüstung nach Anspruch 1, wobei die Bündelstatusanzeige eine Bündelmitteanzeige umfasst, die in einem vierten Steuerkanal übertragen wird und anzeigt, dass ein Datenkanal, der vom vierten Steuerkanal geplant ist, weder der erste noch der letzte Datenkanal von einem der mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündel von Datenkanälen ist.
 
5. Infrastrukturausrüstung nach Anspruch 1, wobei einer der Steuerkanäle eine Anzeige einer Zeiteinheit umfasst, in der die Kommunikationsvorrichtung eine Bestätigung von einem der Bündel von Datenkanälen zur Infrastrukturausrüstung übertragen sollte.
 
6. Infrastrukturausrüstung nach Anspruch 1, wobei eine Reihenfolge der mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündel von Datenkanälen der Kommunikationsvorrichtung anzeigt, dass die Kommunikationsvorrichtung eine Bestätigung von jedem der mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündel von Datenkanälen während einer nächsten verfügbaren Zeiteinheit für eine Uplinkübertragung in der Reihenfolge der mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündel von Datenkanälen zur Infrastrukturausrüstung übertragen sollte.
 
7. Drahtloses Telekommunikationssystem, das eine Infrastrukturausrüstung (101) und eine Kommunikationsvorrichtung (104) umfasst, wobei die Infrastrukturausrüstung Folgendes umfasst eine Senderschaltung zum Übertragen von Signalen, die Daten repräsentieren, via eine drahtlose Zugangsschnittstelle des drahtlosen Telekommunikationssystems zur Kommunikationsvorrichtung, eine Empfängerschaltung zum Empfangen von Signalen, die Daten repräsentieren, via die drahtlose Zugangsschnittstelle von der Kommunikationsvorrichtung und
eine Steuerschaltung, die zu Folgendem ausgelegt ist Steuern der Senderschaltung und der Empfängerschaltung, um gemäß einer zeitgeteilten Struktur, in der die drahtlose Zugangsschnittstelle in eine Vielzahl von sich wiederholenden Zeiteinheiten geteilt ist, Signale via die drahtlose Zugangsschnittstelle zu übertragen und zu empfangen,
Bereitstellen von einem einer Vielzahl von Steuerkanälen, von denen jeder dazu ausgelegt ist, eine Vielzahl von Datenkanälen zu planen, in jeder einer ersten Vielzahl der Zeiteinheiten und
Bereitstellen von einem der Vielzahl von Datenkanälen in jeder einer zweiten Vielzahl der Zeiteinheiten des Signals, das zur Kommunikationsvorrichtung übertragen wird, wobei die Vielzahl von Datenkanälen aus mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündeln von Datenkanälen gebildet sind,
wobei die Steuerschaltung dazu ausgelegt ist, die Senderschaltung zu steuern, um eine Bündelstatusanzeige (844) in einem oder mehreren der Vielzahl von Steuerkanälen zu übertragen,
wobei die Bündelstatusanzeige eine Bündelendeanzeige umfasst, die in einem ersten Steuerkanal übertragen wird und anzeigt, dass ein Datenkanal, der vom ersten Steuerkanal geplant ist, der letzte Datenkanal von einem der mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündel von Datenkanälen ist, und
wobei die Bündelstatusanzeige eine Umschaltanzeige umfasst, die im zweiten Steuerkanal übertragen wird und der Kommunikationsvorrichtung anzeigt, dass eine Zeiteinheit nach einem Datenkanal, der vom zweiten Steuerkanal geplant ist, für eine Uplinkkommunikation zur Infrastrukturausrüstung ausgelegt ist.
 
8. Drahtloses Telekommunikationssystem nach Anspruch 7, wobei die Kommunikationsvorrichtung zu Folgendem ausgelegt ist
Detektieren, dass eine Anzahl von Zeiteinheiten, in der von der Infrastrukturausrüstung keine Daten empfangen wurden, einen vorbestimmten Schwellwert überschreitet, und
Beginnen einer Uplinkübertragung zur Infrastrukturausrüstung in einer vorbestimmten Zeiteinheit.
 
9. Drahtloses Telekommunikationssystem nach Anspruch 7, wobei die Kommunikationsvorrichtung dazu ausgelegt ist, in einer Kommunikationsressource der drahtlosen Zugangsschnittstelle, die eine Funktion der Anzahl von Datenkanälen im Bündel ist, eine Bestätigung von jedem der mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündel von Datenkanälen zu übertragen.
 
10. Drahtloses Telekommunikationssystem nach Anspruch 7, wobei die Bündelstatusanzeige eine Bündelanfanganzeige umfasst, die in einem dritten Steuerkanal übertragen wird und anzeigt, dass ein Datenkanal, der vom dritten Steuerkanal geplant ist, der erste Datenkanal von einem der mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündel von Datenkanälen ist.
 
11. Verfahren zum Steuern einer Kommunikation in einem drahtlosen Telekommunikationssystem, das eine Infrastrukturausrüstung (101) umfasst, wobei das Verfahren Folgendes umfasst
Bereitstellen (S2) von einem einer Vielzahl von Steuerkanälen, von denen jeder dazu ausgelegt ist, einen von einer Vielzahl von Datenkanälen zu planen, in jeder von einer ersten Vielzahl von Zeiteinheiten eines Signals, das zu einer Kommunikationsvorrichtung (104) übertragen wird,
Bereitstellen (S4) von einem der Vielzahl von Datenkanälen in jeder einer zweiten Vielzahl von Zeiteinheiten des Signals, das zur Kommunikationsvorrichtung übertragen wird, wobei die Vielzahl von Datenkanälen aus mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündeln von Datenkanälen gebildet sind, und
Übertragen (S6) einer Bündelstatusanzeige (844) in einem oder mehreren der Vielzahl von Steuerkanälen, wobei die Bündelstatusanzeige eine Bündelendeanzeige umfasst, die in einem ersten Steuerkanal übertragen wird und anzeigt, dass ein Datenkanal, der vom ersten Steuerkanal geplant ist, der letzte Datenkanal von einem der mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Bündel von Datenkanälen ist, und
wobei die Bündelstatusanzeige eine Umschaltanzeige umfasst, die im zweiten Steuerkanal übertragen wird und der Kommunikationsvorrichtung anzeigt, dass eine Zeiteinheit nach einem Datenkanal, der vom zweiten Steuerkanal geplant ist, für eine Uplinkkommunikation zur Infrastrukturausrüstung ausgelegt ist.
 


Revendications

1. Équipement d'infrastructure (101) faisant partie d'un système de télécommunication sans fil, l'équipement d'infrastructure comprenant :

une circuiterie d'émission pour émettre des signaux représentant des données par l'intermédiaire d'une interface d'accès sans fil du système de télécommunication sans fil vers un dispositif de communication (104),

une circuiterie de réception pour recevoir des signaux représentant des données par l'intermédiaire de l'interface d'accès sans fil en provenance du dispositif de communication, et

une circuiterie de contrôle, configurée pour :

contrôler la circuiterie d'émission et la circuiterie de réception pour émettre et recevoir des signaux par l'intermédiaire de l'interface d'accès sans fil selon une structure répartie dans le temps où l'interface d'accès sans fil est répartie en une pluralité d'unité de temps répétitives,

fournir, dans chaque unité de temps d'une première pluralité des unités de temps, un canal de contrôle d'une pluralité de canaux de contrôle, configurés chacun pour planifier un canal de données d'une pluralité de canaux de données, et

fournir, dans chaque unité de temps d'une seconde pluralité d'unités de temps du signal émis vers le dispositif de communication, un canal de données de la pluralité de canaux de données, la pluralité de canaux de données étant formée de multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données,

la circuiterie de contrôle étant configurée pour contrôler la circuiterie d'émission pour qu'elle émette un indicateur de statut de groupe (844) dans un ou plusieurs canaux de contrôle de la pluralité de canaux de contrôle,

l'indicateur de statut de groupe comprenant un indicateur de fin de groupe, émis dans un premier canal de contrôle, indiquant qu'un canal de données planifié par le premier canal de contrôle est le dernier canal de données d'un des multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données, et

l'indicateur de statut de groupe comprenant un indicateur de commutation, émis dans un deuxième canal de contrôle, indiquant au dispositif de communication qu'une unité de temps, après un canal de données planifié par le deuxième canal de contrôle, est configurée pour une communication en liaison montante vers l'équipement d'infrastructure.


 
2. Équipement d'infrastructure selon la revendication 1, dans lequel l'indicateur de statut de groupe comprend un indicateur de début de groupe, émis dans un troisième canal de contrôle, indiquant qu'un canal de données planifié par le troisième canal de contrôle est le premier canal de données d'un des multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données.
 
3. Équipement d'infrastructure selon la revendication 1, dans lequel l'indicateur de commutation indique un délai d'une ou plusieurs unités de temps, après le canal de données, avant que le dispositif de communication ne doive commencer une communication en liaison montante vers l'équipement d'infrastructure.
 
4. Équipement d'infrastructure selon la revendication 1, dans lequel l'indicateur de statut de groupe comprend un indicateur de milieu de groupe, émis dans un quatrième canal de contrôle, indiquant qu'un canal de données planifié par le quatrième canal de contrôle n'est ni le premier ni le dernier canal de données d'un des multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données.
 
5. Équipement d'infrastructure selon la revendication 1, dans lequel un des canaux de contrôle comprend une indication d'une unité de temps où le dispositif de communication doit émettre un accusé de réception d'un des groupes de canaux de données vers l'équipement d'infrastructure.
 
6. Équipement d'infrastructure selon la revendication 1, dans lequel un ordre des multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données indique au dispositif de communication que le dispositif de communication doit émettre un accusé de réception de chacun des multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données pendant une unité de temps suivante disponible pour une émission en liaison montante vers l'équipement d'infrastructure dans l'ordre des multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données.
 
7. Système de télécommunication sans fil comprenant un équipement d'infrastructure (101) et un dispositif de communication (104), l'équipement d'infrastructure comprenant :

une circuiterie d'émission pour émettre des signaux représentant des données par l'intermédiaire d'une interface d'accès sans fil du système de télécommunication sans fil vers le dispositif de communication,

une circuiterie de réception pour recevoir des signaux représentant des données par l'intermédiaire de l'interface d'accès sans fil en provenance du dispositif de communication, et

une circuiterie de contrôle, configurée pour :

contrôler la circuiterie d'émission et la circuiterie de réception pour émettre et recevoir des signaux par l'intermédiaire de l'interface d'accès sans fil selon une structure répartie dans le temps où l'interface d'accès sans fil est répartie en une pluralité d'unité de temps répétitives,

fournir, dans chaque unité de temps d'une première pluralité des unités de temps, un canal de contrôle d'une pluralité de canaux de contrôle, configurés chacun pour planifier un canal de données d'une pluralité de canaux de données, et

fournir, dans chaque unité de temps d'une seconde pluralité des unités de temps du signal émis vers le dispositif de communication, un canal de données de la pluralité de canaux de données, la pluralité de canaux de données étant formée de multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données,

la circuiterie de contrôle étant configurée pour contrôler la circuiterie d'émission pour qu'elle émette un indicateur de statut de groupe (844) dans un ou plusieurs canaux de contrôle de la pluralité de canaux de contrôle,

l'indicateur de statut de groupe comprenant un indicateur de fin de groupe, émis dans un premier canal de contrôle, indiquant qu'un canal de données planifié par le premier canal de contrôle est le dernier canal de données d'un des multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données, et

l'indicateur de statut de groupe comprenant un indicateur de commutation, émis dans un deuxième canal de contrôle, indiquant au dispositif de communication qu'une unité de temps, après un canal de données planifié par le deuxième canal de contrôle, est configurée pour une communication en liaison montante vers l'équipement d'infrastructure.


 
8. Système de télécommunication sans fil selon la revendication 7, dans lequel le dispositif de communication est configuré pour :

détecter qu'un nombre d'unités de temps où aucune donnée n'a été reçue en provenance de l'équipement d'infrastructure dépasse un seuil prédéterminé, et

commencer, dans une unité de temps prédéterminée, une émission en liaison montante vers l'équipement d'infrastructure.


 
9. Système de télécommunication sans fil selon la revendication 7, dans lequel le dispositif de communication est configuré pour émettre un accusé de réception de chacun des multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données dans une ressource de communication de l'interface d'accès sans fil, qui est fonction du nombre de canaux de données dans le groupe.
 
10. Système de télécommunication sans fil selon la revendication 7, dans lequel l'indicateur de statut de groupe comprend un indicateur de début de groupe, émis dans un troisième canal de contrôle, indiquant qu'un canal de données planifié par le troisième canal de contrôle est le premier canal de données d'un des multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données.
 
11. Procédé de contrôle de communications dans un système de télécommunication sans fil comprenant un équipement d'infrastructure (101), le procédé comprenant les étapes consistant à :

fournir (S2), dans chaque unité de temps d'une première pluralité d'unités de temps d'un signal émis vers un dispositif de communication (104), un canal de contrôle d'une pluralité de canaux de contrôle, configurés chacun pour planifier un canal de données d'une pluralité de canaux de données,

fournir (S4), dans chaque unité de temps d'une seconde pluralité d'unités de temps du signal émis vers le dispositif de communication, un canal de données de la pluralité de canaux de données, la pluralité de canaux de données étant formée de multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données, et

émettre (S6) un indicateur de statut de groupe (844) dans un ou plusieurs canaux de contrôle de la pluralité de canaux de contrôle,

l'indicateur de statut de groupe comprend un indicateur de fin de groupe, émis dans un premier canal de contrôle, indiquant qu'un canal de données planifié par le premier canal de contrôle est le dernier canal de données d'un des multiples groupes consécutifs de canaux de données, et

l'indicateur de statut de groupe comprenant un indicateur de commutation, émis dans un deuxième canal de contrôle, indiquant au dispositif de communication qu'une unité de temps, après un canal de données planifié par le deuxième canal de contrôle, est configurée pour une communication en liaison montante vers l'équipement d'infrastructure.


 




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Cited references

REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION



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Patent documents cited in the description




Non-patent literature cited in the description