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`
`US011664889B2
`
`c12) United States Patent
`Howard
`
`(IO) Patent No.: US 11,664,889 B2
`(45) Date of Patent:
`May 30, 2023
`
`(54) COMMUNICATIONS IN A WIRELESS
`NETWORK
`
`(71) Applicant: Intellectual Ventures II LLC,
`Wilmington, DE (US)
`
`(58) Field of Classification Search
`CPC ... H04J 3/1694; H04L 5/0053; H04W 52/146;
`H04W 72/0406; H04W 72/042; H04W
`72/0446; H04W 72/121; H04W 72/1289
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(72)
`
`Inventor: Paul Howard, Bristol (GB)
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`(73)
`
`Assignee: Intellectual Ventures II LLC,
`Wilmington, DE (US)
`
`( *)
`
`Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by O days.
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`5,056,109 A
`5,265,119 A
`
`10/1991 Gilhousen et al.
`ll/ 1993 Gilhousen et al.
`(Continued)
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 17/870,425
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Jul. 21, 2022
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2022/0360325 Al
`
`Nov. 10, 2022
`
`(63)
`
`(51)
`
`(52)
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`Continuation of application No. 17 /583,369, filed on
`Jan. 25, 2022, now Pat. No. 11,411,642, which is a
`(Continued)
`
`Int. Cl.
`H04B 7126
`H04W72/04
`H04W72/12
`H04W52/14
`H04J 3/16
`
`(2006.01)
`(2023.01)
`(2023.01)
`(2009.01)
`(2006.01)
`(Continued)
`
`U.S. Cl.
`CPC .......... H04B 712643 (2013.01); H04J 3/1694
`(2013.01); H04L 510053 (2013.01); H04W
`521146 (2013.01); H04W 721042 (2013.01);
`H04W 7210406 (2013.01);
`(Continued)
`
`DE
`EP
`
`8/2002
`10201270
`10/2004
`1467582
`(Continued)
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`"3 UMTS Interfaces," UMTS Protocols and Protocol Testing, pp.
`9-14, located at <http://www.tek.com/Measurement/ App.sub. --Notes/
`2F.sub. --14251 Ieng/in!- erfaces.pdf>.
`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner - Ronald B Abelson
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm - Volpe Koenig
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`A user equipment (UE) is configured to receive a control
`message over a physical control channel in a first time slot,
`wherein the control message has power control bits for a
`plurality of UEs, wherein the plurality of UEs include the
`first UE. The UE is further configured to extract power
`control information for the first UE from the control mes(cid:173)
`sage, and to transmit a signal over a physical control channel
`to a base station in a second time slot at a transmission power
`level based on the extracted power control information.
`
`16 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets
`
`I
`lub 1
`
`I
`
`\
`\
`
`I Node-B ~ I
`
`I
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`
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`
`\
`112
`
`I
`
`lu 1
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`I
`I
`I
`I
`I
`
`118
`
`Extema!
`network
`
`124
`
`120
`
`122 CN
`
`116
`
`UE domain
`
`Radio access network (RAN)
`domain
`
`Core network (CN) domain
`
`

`

`US 11,664,889 B2
`Page 2
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`continuation of application No. 17/339,550, filed on
`Jun. 4, 2021, now Pat. No. 11,239,908, which is a
`continuation of application No. 16/682,854, filed on
`Nov. 13, 2019, now Pat. No. 11,032,000, which is a
`continuation of application No. 14/458,693, filed on
`Aug. 13, 2014, now Pat. No. 11,044,010, which is a
`continuation of application No. 13/176,298, filed on
`Jul. 5, 2011, now Pat. No. 8,811,356, which is a
`continuation of application No. 11/646,692, filed on
`Dec. 27, 2006, now Pat. No. 8,009,639.
`
`(51)
`
`(52)
`
`(2006.01)
`(2023.01)
`(2023.01)
`(2009.01)
`
`Int. Cl.
`H04L 5100
`H04W 721121
`H04W 7210446
`H04W 52/54
`U.S. Cl.
`CPC ..... H04W 7210446 (2013.01); H04W 721121
`(2013.01); H04W 7211289 (2013.01); H04W
`52/54 (2013.01)
`
`H04M 1/00
`
`(56)
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`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`EP
`EP
`GB
`JP
`JP
`WO
`WO
`WO
`WO
`
`1615384
`1681780
`2417167
`11261544
`2006197318
`2005083897
`2006015984
`2006019263
`2006063138
`
`1/2006
`7/2006
`* 2/2006
`9/1999
`7/2006
`9/2005
`2/2006
`2/2006
`6/2006
`
`............... H04Q 7/32
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`"3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group
`Radio Access Network; Feasibility Study for Evolved UTRA and
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`"3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group
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`Services and System Aspects; Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Ser(cid:173)
`vice (MBMS); Architecture and Functional Description (Release 6);
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`"UMTS Protocols and Protocol Testing," Tektronix, The Interna(cid:173)
`tional Engineering Consortium, pp. 1-45, located at <http://www.
`rfpeople.corn/docs/umts.pdf>.
`3rd Generation Partnership Project. "Technical Specification Group
`Radio Access Network; Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol
`Specification (Release 7)," 3GPP TS 25.331 V7.3.0, Dec. 2006.
`Advisory Action, U.S. Appl. No. 14/458,693, dated Aug. 25, 2016.
`Examiner's Answer to Appeal Brief, U.S. Appl. No. 14/458,693,
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`Final Rejection, U.S. Appl. No. 13/176,298, dated Nov. 6, 2013.
`Final Rejection, U.S. Appl. No. 14/458,693, dated May 10, 2016.
`Final Rejection, U.S. Appl. No. 14/458,693, dated Mar. 21, 2017.
`Final Rejection, U.S. Appl. No. 14/458,693, dated May 17, 2018.
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`zg.sub.--mac.htrnl> visited on Jun. 20, 2007. (9 pages).
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`located at <http://www.iec.org/ online/tutorials/umts/topic02 .html>
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`2013.
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`2016.
`
`

`

`US 11,664,889 B2
`Page 3
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Non-Final Rejection, U.S. Appl. No. 14/458,693, dated Oct. 23,
`2017.
`Non-Final Rejection, U.S. Appl. No. 16/682,854, dated Feb. 7,
`2020.
`Non-Final Rejection, U.S. Appl. No. 16/682,854, dated Oct. 21,2020.
`Notice of Allowance issued by USPTO, dated Feb. 2, 2011 for U.S.
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`Notice of Allowance issued by USPTO, dated May 17, 2011 for
`U.S. Appl. No. 11/646,692.
`Notice of Allowance, U.S. Appl. No. 13/176,298, dated Apr. 15,
`2014.
`Notice of Allowance, U.S. Appl. No. 14/458,693, dated Nov. 16,
`2015.
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`Notice of Allowance, U.S. Appl. No. 17/339,550, dated Sep. 30,
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`
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`Radio Access Network; Multiplexing and channel coding (Release
`8)," 3GPP TS 36.212 V0.2.1 (Nov. 2006).
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`

`

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`FIG. 1
`
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`
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`
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`
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`....
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`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`May 30, 2023
`
`Sheet 5 of 5
`
`US 11,664,889 B2
`
`-••
`
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`
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`
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`
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`
`

`

`US 11,664,889 B2
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`1
`COMMUNICATIONS IN A WIRELESS
`NETWORK
`
`CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`This application is a continuation of U.S. patent applica(cid:173)
`tion Ser. No. 17 /583,369, filed Jan. 25, 2022, which will
`issue as U.S. Pat. No. 11,411,642 on Aug. 9, 2022, which is
`a continuation of Ser. No. 17/339,550, filed Jun. 4, 2021
`which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,239,908 on Feb. 1, 2022,
`which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
`16/682,854, filed Nov. 13, 2019, which issued as U.S. Pat.
`No. 11,032,000 on Jun. 8, 2021, which is a continuation of
`U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/458,693, filed Aug. 13,
`2014, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,044,010 on Jun. 22,
`2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.
`No. 13/176,298, filed Jul. 5, 2011, which issued as U.S. Pat.
`No. 8,811,356 on Aug. 19, 2014, which is a continuation of
`U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/646,692, filed Dec. 27,
`2006, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,009,639 on Aug. 30,
`2011, which are all incorporated by reference as if fully set
`forth.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`Time division-code division multiple access (TD-CDMA)
`is an air interface technology that combines the benefits of
`the three elemental concepts in a universal mobile telecom(cid:173)
`munication system (UMTS): time division multiple access
`(TDMA); code division multiple access (CDMA); and time
`division duplex (TDD). TDD, in particular, uses the same
`radio channel for both uplink and downlink communica(cid:173)
`tions, and discriminates between signals by separating the
`transmissions in time. One of the benefits obtained by 35
`operating both links on the same frequency is the ability to
`exploit channel reciprocity.
`Channel reciprocity gives equipment the ability to derive
`information about uplink channel conditions from downlink
`channel conditions based upon signals received by the user 40
`equipment (UE). Pathloss is one example of channel infor(cid:173)
`mation that can be obtained from channel reciprocity.
`Knowledge of the uplink pathloss enables open-loop power
`control to be employed for uplink transmissions. For
`example, uplink power control is important for the operation 45
`of the CDMA element of TD-CDMA as it counteracts the
`near-far effect that would otherwise be encountered if all
`UEs transmitted at a fixed power regardless of the uplink
`pathloss.
`The open-loop uplink power control feature provides a 50
`significant advantage when coupled with a multiple access
`data transmission system that is used for packet-based
`communication and/or shared channels. When access to a
`limited number of uplink channels is shared between a large
`population of terminals it is imperative that access to the 55
`channels can be switched between terminals with minimal
`latency. A data terminal that can derive information needed
`to access uplink channels from the downlink transmissions
`(beacon signals) has a significant advantage over a terminal
`that relies on the (lengthy) configuration of a dedicated
`channel in order to establish a feedback channel.
`However, channel reciprocity cannot always be guaran(cid:173)
`teed. For example TDD transmissions may not be permitted
`in certain frequency spectrum allocations; this is a regula(cid:173)
`tory issue and may be used to protect other wireless equip- 65
`ment in the same or adjacent frequency bands. In these
`situations the correlation between uplink and downlink
`
`2
`channels is lost because the channels are transported on
`carrier frequencies that are separated in frequency by an
`amount that is greater than the coherence bandwidth of the
`channel (usually, only a few MHz separation is sufficient to
`5 cause the uplink and downlink fading profiles to be inde(cid:173)
`pendent).
`In high speed mobile applications, the time delay between
`downlink and uplink transmissions may exceed the coher(cid:173)
`ence time of the channel. The maximum time delay that can
`10 be tolerated is a function of the mobile speed and the RF
`carrier frequency used, with the coherence time reducing
`with increasing speed and RF carrier frequency. Also, the
`use of multiple transmit and/or receive antennas at the
`network and/or the mobile terminal can introduce uninten-
`15 tional decorrelation between the uplink and downlink chan(cid:173)
`nels.
`If the TD-CD MA air interface is to be used in applications
`where the correlation between the uplink and downlink path
`loss is not guaranteed, then it would be advantageous to find
`20 a substitute for channel reciprocity.
`
`BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`Although it is desirable to support air interfaces where the
`25 pathloss is not reciprocal, known conventional methods do
`not deal directly with the evolution or adaptation of an air
`interface that uses channel reciprocity to deliver key features
`and advantages where channel reciprocity is not guaranteed.
`The adaptation provided in embodiments of the invention
`30 introduces a new technique for uplink channel control that
`uses a feedback scheme as a substitute for the absence of
`channel reciprocity, with minimal impact on the ability of
`the air interface to support uplink shared channels.
`Embodiments of the present invention enable active feed-
`back control between a base station and user equipment
`(UE). In particular, the operation of a system designed for
`TDD, or unpaired operation, is expanded to operate in FDD,
`or paired, mode. For example, an uplink beacon function
`(for power control) and a modified random access process
`substitute for the information lost due to the lack of channel
`reciprocity in paired operation. Embodiments of the inven-
`tion allow a terminal to transmit the uplink physical channel
`control signal (UL_Beacon) independently from the uplink
`physical channel. Therefore, the implementation of closed
`loop feedback may operate in the absence of an uplink
`physical channel. In one embodiment, a UE allocates a time
`slot for a beacon signal separated from the time slots for data
`in a frame. A second time slot is allocated within the frame
`for the base station to transmit a control signal in response
`to the beacon signal. The control signal instructs the UE to
`adjust a transmission parameter.
`A UL_Beacon signal may be combined with a physical
`layer common control channel (PLCCH) to form a feedback
`system. A dedicated timeslot groups all of the UL_Beacon
`signals from multiple UEs in a specific uplink timeslot. By
`grouping the UL_Beacon signals together, embodiments
`obtain separation between the UL_Beacon signals and the
`standard uplink physical channels. Additionally, in a syn(cid:173)
`chronous system embodiments of the invention detect and
`60 cancel the UL_Beacon signals from other cell sites (inter(cid:173)
`cell interference). The PLCCH carries feedback information
`to the UEs that are transmitting UL_Beacon signals. The
`PLCCH can share a timeslot with other physical channels by
`exploiting the CDMA aspect of the system.
`In other embodiments, the number of supported UEs can
`be increased by fractionating the use of the UL_Beacon and
`PLCCH across a multiframe period. Fractionation may also
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`US 11,664,889 B2
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`3
`prevent timeslot blocking where half duplex UEs have a
`long UL/DL switching time. Additionally, support for half
`duplex terminals is implicit due to the nature of the TDMA
`frame structure. The system may manage the allocation of
`resource across the population of terminals such that the full 5
`capacity of the base station can be utilized even when only
`half-duplex terminals are deployed. In embodiments of the
`invention, full-duplex terminals can be still be supported
`along with half duplex UEs.
`Moreover, in other embodiments, a radio resource control 10
`(RRC) connected state covers the subset of terminals that are
`in cell forward access channel (Cell_FACH), which are also
`transmitting UL_Beacon and receiving PLCCH, thus creat(cid:173)
`ing an active control feedback channel. Management of the
`UEs that are in Cell_Active state may remove users that are 15
`less active, and may add users that are newly active while
`retaining users that may have on-going data transfer require(cid:173)
`ments.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`4
`Office, 650 Route des Lucioles-Sophia Antipolis, Val(cid:173)
`bonne-FRANCE, which are incorporated by reference
`herein.
`Further details regarding exemplary communications sys(cid:173)
`tems that may implement embodiments of the invention may
`be found in 3GPP UMTS technical specifications, such as
`TR 23.882, "3GPP System Architecture Evolution: Report
`on Technical Options and Conclusions"; TR 25.912, "Fea(cid:173)
`sibility Study for Evolved UTRAand UTRAN"; TS 23.101,
`"General Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
`(UMTS) Architecture," all of which are incorporated by
`reference herein.
`TDD to FDD Evolution
`A system designed for operation in Time Division Duplex
`(TDD) mode has base stations and terminals that transmit
`and receive at orthogonal points in time. In normal operation
`terminals are in receive mode when the base station is
`transmitting, and base stations are in receive mode when
`20 terminals are transmitting. In conventional TDD implemen(cid:173)
`tations, neither base stations nor the terminals are able to
`transmit and receive at the same points in time because the
`same frequency is used for uplink and downlink communi(cid:173)
`cation.
`Such a system can be adjusted to operate in Frequency
`Division Duplex (FDD) mode, where the uplink and down(cid:173)
`frequencies.
`link communications occur on different
`According to embodiments of the invention, to make full
`and efficient use of the frequency spectrum resources, the
`30 base stations are adapted to transmit and receive at the same
`time. This is possible since the uplink and downlink com(cid:173)
`munications now occur on different frequencies. The termi(cid:173)
`nals, however, retain the restriction of transmitting and
`receiving at orthogonal points in time to retain the simplicity
`35 of not having to transmit and receive at the same time ( e.g.,
`no duplexer required). The full use of the frequency spec(cid:173)
`trum is then obtained by allocating the resource across a
`plurality of terminals.
`Additional measures may be needed ifthere are aspects of
`40 the air interface that rely on the channel reciprocity that can
`be assumed for TDD systems. In the case of TD-CDMA,
`modifications may be made for the correct operation of
`uplink power control and rate adaptation. This can be
`achieved by defining an uplink physical control channel
`45 used for estimating the uplink channel conditions and a
`downlink channel used to feed back control information to
`the terminal. These channels may not need an associated
`data physical channel to be operational.
`Modifications may be made to the random access channel.
`This may be achieved by introducing an additional indicator
`step at the start of any physical random access. A new uplink
`physical channel carries the random access indicators. A new
`downlink physical channel carries the response to received
`uplink indicators.
`Uplink Physical Channel Control Signal
`When pathloss reciprocity is not available, the combina(cid:173)
`tion of an uplink physical channel control signal with a
`downlink feedback channel may be used to keep the termi-
`nal informed of the condition of the uplink channel. The
`uplink physical control signal is referred to herein as an
`"Uplink Beacon" (UL_Beacon).
`In general, a system that supports shared channels may
`also support shared access to a large number of terminals. To
`extract the maximum benefit from the resulting trunking
`65 gain, shared channels can be quickly and efficiently re(cid:173)
`allocated between the population of UEs. To obtain rapid
`access to the uplink shared channels, terminals can transmit
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates a cellular communication system
`according to embodiments of the invention;
`FIG. 2 illustrates a timeslot arrangement for uplink and
`downlink messages supporting the UL_Beacon and its cor- 25
`responding PLCCH within a TD-CDMA frame structure
`modified to support FDD according to embodiments of the
`invention;
`FIG. 3 illustrates fractionation in different frames at the
`base station according to embodiments of the invention;
`FIG. 4 illustrates UTRARRC connected modes according
`to embodiments of the invention;
`FIG. 5 illustrates a computer system that may be
`employed to implement embodiments of the invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`INVENTION
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a cellular communication
`system according to embodiments of the invention. The
`network includes a user equipment (UE) domain, a radio
`access network (RAN) domain, and a core network domain.
`The UE domain includes user equipment 110 that commu(cid:173)
`nicate with at least one base station 112 in the RAN domain
`via a wireless interface. The RAN domain may also include
`a network controller (RNC) 118 (e.g., radio network con(cid:173)
`troller), such as that used in UMTS systems. Alternatively,
`such functionality may be distributed between the Node Bs
`and an access gateway (AGW) (not shown) or other con(cid:173)
`troller in the core network. FIG. 1 also illustrates an optional 50
`radio resource manager (RRM) 114. The RRM may perform
`functions otherwise performed by the Node Bs or an AGW
`in some embodiments.
`The core network (CN) 116 includes, in this example, a
`serving GPRS support node (SGSN) 120, and a gateway 55
`GPRS support node (GGSN) 122. The core network is
`coupled to an external network 124. The SGSN 120 is
`responsible for session control, including keeping track of
`the location of the UEs. The GGSN 122 concentrates and
`tunnels user data within the core network 116 to the ultimate 60
`destination ( e.g., an Internet service provider) in the external
`network 124. Further details may be found in the 3GPP
`UMTS technical specifications, such as TS23.246 v6.4.0
`"3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification
`Group Services and System Aspects; Multimedia Broadcast/
`Multicast Service (MBMS); Architecture and Functional
`Description (Release 6)," published by the 3GPP Support
`
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`US 11,664,889 B2
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`5
`at the correct power with their first transmission so that
`latency can be kept to a minimum.
`According to embodiments of the invention, the RNC or
`other controller (e.g., other controller having its functional(cid:173)
`ity in the core network) allocates resources so that the 5
`physical channel control signal is separate from the uplink
`(shared) physical channel. Thus, terminals are able to trans(cid:173)
`mit an UL_Beacon independently of their access to the
`uplink shared channel. The system may implement a closed
`loop control system, in which the base station detects the
`received power and/or other channel information from the
`UL_Beacon, and sends controlling commands back to each
`terminal to keep the terminal informed of the channel
`conditions observed at the base station.
`In certain embodiments, the closed loop control system is
`simply based on the UL_Beacon power received at the base
`station. The base station may send power control commands
`on a shared downlink channel to each terminal based on the
`power received from the UL_Beacon signal. Each power
`control command may, for example, indicate whether ter(cid:173)
`minal power should be increased or decreased by a prede(cid:173)
`termined amount. This downlink channel is referred to as the
`"Physical Layer Control Channel" (PLCCH). The capacity
`of the PLCCH may be matched to the number of bits
`required in the feedback field and the number ofUL_Beacon
`signals that can be simultaneously supported. That is, each
`UL_Beacon may correspond to one bit of the PLLCH. All
`terminals transmitting UL_Beacon signals may receive this
`channel and extract the relevant feedback field.
`It is possible to extend the complexity of the control loop 30
`by sending control commands based on other aspects of the
`UL_Beacon signal as received by the base station, such as
`time-of-arrival, and channel impulse response. The amount
`of resource that is required for the feedback channel
`increases with the size (in bits) of the feedback information
`to each UE.
`For example, for air interface technologies with a TDMA
`element, it is possible to adapt the TDMA frame structure to
`provide separation between the UL_Beacon and the normal
`physical channels by dedicating at least one uplink time slot
`per frame (or at least one time slot per multi-frame) to
`carrying UL_Beacon signals.
`By placing UL_Beacon signals in a dedicated timeslot, a
`dedicated detection scheme can be applied which may
`include performance enhancing features such as intra-cell 45
`cancelling (for alleviating the effects of cross-correlation
`interference between UL_Beacon signals transmitted by
`multiple terminals in the same cell), or inter-cell cancelling
`(for reducing the interference from neighboring cells in the
`case where the UL_Beacon timeslots are time synchro- 50
`nized). Cross-interference between UL_Beacon and normal
`uplink bursts is avoided by the separation obtained from the
`use of separate time slots.
`Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are a large
`number of possibilities for the arrangement of a UL_Beacon 55
`and its associated PLCCH within the frame structure accord-
`ing to embodiments of the invention. More than one
`UL_Beacon and PLCCH per frame could be supported if the
`feedback update rate is required to be faster than the frame
`rate (at the expense of system capacity). For system appli- 60
`cations that can tolerate a slower feedback rate, embodi(cid:173)
`ments may fractionate the use of the UL_Beacon timeslot
`(and the associated PLCCH).
`When fractionation is employed, the RNC or other con(cid:173)
`troller may allocate the UL_Beacon timeslot in a given 65
`frame to a group of terminals depending on the current
`fractionation phase, thus increasing the number of terminals
`
`6
`that can be supported with active physical channel feedback
`control. The maximum fractionation cycle length may be
`determined by the feedback update rate that the system
`requires in order to meet its performance targets.
`FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a timeslot arrangement
`supporting the UL_Beacon and its corresponding PLCCH
`within a TD-CDMA frame structure modified to support
`FDD. In this example, the PLCCH 212 shares a timeslot
`with another downlink shared channel. This is possible since
`10 normal downlink physical channels are used to transmit the
`PLCCH. The downlink frame also comprises a downlink
`beacon timeslot 206, an access control timeslot 208, and
`normal traffic carrying timeslots 210. The uplink frame
`15 comprises a UL_Beacon control timeslot 216, an a