WO2015139767A1

WO2015139767A1 - Combination of information transmitted over different channels

Info

Publication number: WO2015139767A1
Application number: PCT/EP2014/055683
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hans Thomas Hoehne; Alexander Sayenko; Karri Markus Ranta-Aho; Amaanat ALI
Original assignee: Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy
Priority date: 2014-03-21
Filing date: 2014-03-21
Publication date: 2015-09-24

Abstract

A method comprising: receiving system information on a first broadcast channel and receiving system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is received within a time period in a cell; buffering at least some of said received system information; and in response to determining that a received second information element is associated with a buffered first information element and that the second information element is suitable for combining with the first information element, performing a combining and decoding operation on said first and second information elements to obtain system information.

Description

COMBINATION OF INFORMATION TRANSMITTED OVER DIFFERENT CHANNELS

The present application relates to a method, apparatus and computer program, and in particular but not exclusively to a method, apparatus and computer program for transmitting and receiving broadcast information.

A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities such as fixed or mobile communication devices, base stations, servers and/or other communication nodes. A communication system and compatible communicating entities typically operate in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. For example, the standards, specifications and related protocols can define the manner how communication devices can access the communication system and how various aspects of communication shall be implemented between communicating devices. A communication can be carried on wired or wireless carriers. In a wireless communication system at least a part of the communication between at least two stations occurs over a wireless link.

Examples of wireless systems include public land mobile networks (PLMN) such as cellular networks, satellite based communication systems and different wireless local networks, for example wireless local area networks (WLAN). A wireless system can be divided into cells, and hence these are often referred to as cellular systems. A cell is provided by a base station. Cells can have different shapes and sizes. A cell can also be divided into sectors. Regardless of the shape and size of the cell providing access for a user equipment, and whether the access is provided via a sector of a cell or a cell, such area can be called radio service area or access area. Neighbouring radio service areas typically overlap, and thus a communication in an area can listen to more than one base station.

A user can access the communication system by means of an appropriate communication device. A communication device of a user is often referred to as user equipment (UE) or terminal. A communication device is provided with an appropriate signal receiving and transmitting arrangement for enabling communications with other parties. Typically a communication device is used for enabling receiving and transmission of communications such as speech and data. In wireless systems a communication device provides a transceiver station that can communicate with another communication device such as e.g. a base station of an access network and/or another user equipment. The communication device may access a carrier provided by a station, for example a base station, and transmit and/or receive communications on the carrier.

Examples of communication systems attempting to satisfy the increased demands for capacity are architectures that are being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as the long-term evolution (LTE), or the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technologies. The LTE aims to achieve various improvements, for example reduced latency, higher user data rates, improved system capacity and coverage, reduced cost for the operator and so on. A further development of the LTE is often referred to as LTE-Advanced. The various development stages of the 3GPP LTE specifications are referred to as releases. In LTE-Advanced the network nodes can be wide area network nodes such as a macro eNodeB (eNB) which may, for example, provide coverage for an entire cell. Alternatively in LTE-Advanced, network nodes can be small area network nodes such as Home eNBs (HeNB) (femto cells) or pico eNodeBs (pico-eNB). HeNBs may be configured to support local offload and may support any UE or UEs belonging to a closed subscriber group (CSG) or an open subscriber group (OSG). Pico eNBs can, for example, be configured to extend the range of a cell. In some instances a combination of wide area network nodes and small area network nodes can be deployed using the same frequency carriers (e.g. co-channel deployment). In UMTS multiple base stations (Node-Bs) may be controlled by one or more radio network controllers (RNCs). In a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) (as well as LTE or any other wireless access technology) there is a need to broadcast cell specific system information and parameters that a UE needs to get access to a cell, and perform other interactions with the network without having to establish a dedicated connectivity channel. As the UMTS system has evolved, the amount of system information that the network can put and/or should provide to enable all the advanced features has increased.

Accordingly, in a first aspect there is provided a method comprising: receiving system information on a first broadcast channel and receiving system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is received within a time period in a cell; buffering at least some of said received system information; and in response to determining that a received second information element is associated with a buffered first information element and that the second information element is suitable for combining with the first information element, performing a combining and decoding operation on said first and second information elements to obtain system information.

Preferably the content of the first information element and the second information element is the same.

Preferably the information elements are received in transport blocks, and the combining and decoding operation of the information elements takes place at the transport block level.

Preferably said first and second information elements are both received on one of said first and second broadcast channels. Preferably said first information element is received on one of said first and second broadcast channels, and the second information element is received on the other of said first and second broadcast channels.

Preferably the information received on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is repeated at least once with the same content.

Preferably the determining that a received second information element is associated with a buffered first information element and that the second information element is suitable for combining with the first information element comprises combining, decoding and verifying by means of a Cyclic Redundancy Check that the decoding was a success.

Preferably said time period comprises a time for a sufficient amount of data to be received to provide a desired coverage level in said cell. Preferably a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel, and wherein the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel. Preferably said information elements are carried in transport blocks and the transport blocks carry part or all of at least one of a master information block, a scheduling block, and a system information block. Preferably the method comprises determining from an information element that a change to transmissions on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is to occur.

Preferably said determination comprises receiving information of a system frame number at which said change will occur.

In a second aspect there is provided a computer program comprising computer executable instructions which when run on one or more processors perform the method of the first aspect. In a third aspect there is provided a method comprising: sending system information on a first broadcast channel and sending system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is sent within a time period in a cell; wherein said system information comprises at least a first information element and a second information element; and wherein the system information sent on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is repeated at least once with the same content, so as to enable a receiver of said system information to combine and decode said first and second information elements.

Preferably the content of the first information element and the second formation element is the same.

Preferably the information elements are sent in transport blocks.

Preferably said first and second information elements are both sent on one of said first and second broadcast channels.

Preferably said first information element is sent on one of said first and second broadcast channels, and the second information element is sent on the other of said first and second broadcast channels. Preferably a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel, and wherein the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel.

Preferably said information elements are carried in transport blocks and the transport blocks carry part or all of at least one of a master information block, a scheduling block, and a system information block. Preferably the method comprises sending information that a change to transmissions on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is to occur.

Preferably the method comprises sending information of a system frame number at which said change will occur.

In a fourth aspect there is provided a computer program comprising computer executable instructions which when run on one or more processors perform the method of the third aspect. In a fifth aspect there is provided a method comprising: sending system information on first and second broadcast channels, wherein a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, and wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel. Preferably the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel.

In a sixth aspect there is provided a computer program comprising computer executable instructions which when run on one or more processors perform the method of the fifth aspect.

In a seventh aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive system information on a first broadcast channel and receive system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is received within a time period in a cell; buffer at least some of said received system information; and in response to determining that a received second information element is associated with a buffered first information element and that the second information element is suitable for combining with the first information element, perform a combining and decoding operation on said first and second information elements to obtain system information.

Preferably said apparatus is configured to receive both said first and second information elements on one of said first and second broadcast channels.

Preferably said apparatus is configured to receive said first information element on one of said first and second broadcast channels, and to receive the second information element on the other of said first and second broadcast channels.

Preferably said time period comprises a time for a sufficient amount of data to be received to provide a desired coverage level in said cell.

Preferably a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel, and wherein the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel. Preferably said information elements are carried in transport blocks and the transport blocks carry part or all of at least one of a master information block, a scheduling block, and a system information block. Preferably the apparatus is configured to determine from an information element that a change to transmissions on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is to occur.

In an eighth aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: send system information on a first broadcast channel and send system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is sent within a time period in a cell; wherein said system information comprises at least a first information element and a second information element; and repeat the system information sent on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels at least once with the same content, so as to enable a receiver of said system information to combine and decode said first and second information elements.

Preferably the information elements are sent in transport blocks.

Preferably said apparatus is configured to send both said first and second information elements on one of said first and second broadcast channels.

Preferably said apparatus is configured to send said first information element on one of said first and second broadcast channels, and to send said second information element on the other of said first and second broadcast channels. Preferably a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel, and wherein the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel.

Preferably said information elements are carried in transport blocks and the transport blocks carry part or all of at least one of a master information block, a scheduling block, and a system information block.

Preferably the apparatus is configured to send information that a change to transmissions on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is to occur.

Preferably the apparatus is configured to send information of a system frame number at which said change will occur.

In a ninth aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: send system information on first and second broadcast channels, wherein a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, and wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel.

Preferably the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel. In a tenth aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for receiving system information on a first broadcast channel and receiving system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is received within a time period in a cell; means for buffering at least some of said received system information; means for determining that a received second information element is associated with a buffered first information element and that the second information element is suitable for combining with the first information element, and in response to said determining, means for performing a combining and decoding operation on said first and second information elements to obtain system information. Preferably the content of the first information element and the second information element is the same. Preferably the information elements are received in transport blocks, and the combining and decoding operation of the information elements takes place at the transport block level. Preferably said apparatus comprises means for receiving both said first and second information elements on one of said first and second broadcast channels.

Preferably said apparatus comprises means for receiving said first information element on one of said first and second broadcast channels, and for receiving the second information element on the other of said first and second broadcast channels.

Preferably the information received on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is repeated at least once with the same content. Preferably the determining that a received second information element is associated with a buffered first information element and that the second information element is suitable for combining with the first information element comprises combining, decoding and verifying by means of a Cyclic Redundancy Check that the decoding was a success. Preferably said time period comprises a time for a sufficient amount of data to be received to provide a desired coverage level in said cell.

Preferably a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel, and wherein the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel.

Preferably the apparatus comprises means for determining from an information element that a change to transmissions on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is to occur. Preferably said determination comprises receiving information of a system frame number at which said change will occur.

In an eleventh aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for sending system information on a first broadcast channel and sending system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is sent within a time period in a cell; wherein said system information comprises at least a first information element and a second information element; and wherein the apparatus comprises means for repeating the system information sent on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels at least once with the same content, so as to enable a receiver of said system information to combine and decode said first and second information elements.

Preferably the information elements are sent in transport blocks.

Preferably said apparatus comprises means for sending both said first and second information elements on one of said first and second broadcast channels.

Preferably said apparatus comprises means for sending said first information element on one of said first and second broadcast channels, and for sending said second information element on the other of said first and second broadcast channels.

Preferably the apparatus comprises means for sending information that a change to transmissions on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is to occur. Preferably the apparatus comprises means for sending information of a system frame number at which said change will occur. In a twelfth aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for sending system information on first and second broadcast channels, wherein a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, and wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel.

Preferably the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel.

Some embodiments will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying figures, where:

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a network according to some embodiments;

Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a communication device according to some embodiments;

Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of a control apparatus according to some embodiments;

Figure 4 shows the content of a broadcast channel according to an embodiment;

Figure 5 is a flow chart according to an embodiment;

Figure 6 is a flow chart according to an embodiment;

Figure 7 is a flow chart according to an embodiment;

Figure 8 is a flow chart according to an embodiment;

Figures 9A) to 9C) show the mapping of information elements according to an embodiment;

Figure 10 shows corresponding first and second broadcast channels according to an embodiment;

Figure 1 1 shows an embodiment of combining transport blocks on a broadcast channel where content of the blocks is changing. In the following certain exemplifying embodiments are explained with reference to a wireless or mobile communication system serving communication devices. Before explaining in detail the exemplifying embodiments, certain general principles of a wireless communication system, access systems thereof, and communication devices are briefly explained with reference to Figures 1 to 3 to assist in understanding the technology underlying the described examples.

A communication device or user equipment 101 , 102, 103, 104 is typically provided wireless access via at least one base station or similar wireless transmitter and/or receiver node of an access system. In Figure 1 three neighbouring and overlapping access systems or radio service areas 100, 1 10 and 120 are shown being provided by base stations 105, 106, and 108.

However, it is noted that instead of three access systems, any number of access systems can be provided in a communication system. An access system can be provided by a cell of a cellular system or another system enabling a communication device to access a communication system. A base station site 105, 106, 108 can provide one or more cells. A base station can also provide a plurality of sectors, for example three radio sectors, each sector providing a cell or a subarea of a cell. All sectors within a cell can be served by the same base station. A radio link within a sector can be identified by a single logical identification belonging to that sector. Thus a base station can provide one or more radio service areas. Each communication device 101 , 102, 103, 104, and base station 105, 106, and 108 may have one or more radio channels open at the same time and may send signals to and/or receive signals from more than one source.

Base stations 105, 106, 108 are typically controlled by at least one appropriate controller apparatus 109, 107 so as to enable operation thereof and management of communication devices 101 , 102, 103, 104 in communication with the base stations 105, 106, 108. The control apparatus 107, 109 can be interconnected with other control entities. The control apparatus 109 can typically be provided with memory capacity 301 and at least one data processor 302. The control apparatus 109 and functions may be distributed between a plurality of control units. Although not shown in Figure 1 , in some embodiments each base station 105, 106 and 108 can comprise a control apparatus 109, 107. The cell borders or edges are schematically shown for illustration purposes only in Figure 1. It shall be understood that the sizes and shapes of the cells or other radio service areas may vary considerably from the similarly sized omni-directional shapes of Figure 1. In particular, Figure 1 depicts two wide area base stations 105, 106, which can be macro- eNBs 105, 106 in an LTE system. The macro-eNBs 105, 106 transmit and receive data over the entire coverage areas of the cells 100 and 1 10 respectively. Figure 1 also shows a smaller area base station or access point which in some embodiments can be a pico, a femto or Home eNB 108. The coverage of the smaller area base station 108 is generally smaller than the coverage of the wide area base stations 105, 106. The coverage provided by the smaller area node 108 overlaps with the coverage provided by the macro-eNBs 105, 106. Pico eNBs can be used to extend coverage of the macro-eNBs 105, 106 outside the original cell coverage 100, 1 10 of the macro-eNBs 105, 106. The pico eNB can also be used to provide cell coverage in "gaps" or "shadows" where there is no coverage within the existing cells 100, 1 10 and/or may serve "hot spots". In some embodiments, the smaller area node can be a femto or Home eNB which can provide coverage for a relatively small area such as the home. Some environments may have both pico and femto cells.

As shown, the radio service areas can overlap. Thus signals transmitted in an area can interfere with communications in another area (macro to macro, pico/femto to either one or both of the macro cells, and/or pico/femto to pico/femto).

The communication devices 101 , 102, 103, 104 can access the communication system based on various access techniques, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), or wideband CDMA (WCDMA). Other examples include time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and various schemes thereof such as the interleaved frequency division multiple access (I FDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA) and so on.

Some non-limiting examples of the recent developments in communication systems are the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) that is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). As explained above, further development of the LTE is referred to as LTE-Advanced. Non-limiting examples of appropriate access nodes are a base station of a cellular system, for example what is known as NodeB (NB) in the vocabulary of the 3GPP specifications. The LTE employs a mobile architecture known as the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). Base stations of such systems are known as evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and may provide E-UTRAN features such as user plane Radio Link Control/Medium Access Control/Physical layer protocol (RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol terminations towards the user devices. Other examples of radio access systems include those provided by base stations of systems that are based on technologies such as wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). In Figure 1 the base stations 105, 106, 108 of the access systems can be connected to a wider communications network 1 13. A controller apparatus 107, 109 may be provided for coordinating the operation of the access systems. A gateway function 1 12 may also be provided to connect to another network via the network 1 13. The smaller area base station 108 can also be connected to the other network by a separate gateway function 1 1 1. The base stations 105, 106, 108 can be connected to each other by a communication link for sending and receiving data. The communication link can be any suitable means for sending and receiving data between the base stations 105, 106 and 108 and in some embodiments the communication link is an X2 link. The other network may be any appropriate network. A wider communication system may thus be provided by one or more interconnected networks and the elements thereof, and one or more gateways may be provided for interconnecting various networks.

It will be appreciated that embodiments may also be applicable to a UMTS network. In a UMTS network user equipment 101 ', 102', 103' and 104' may be in communication with NodeBs 105' and 106'. The Node Bs 105' and 106' may themselves be controlled by an RNC 1 12'

The communication devices will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 2. Figure 2 shows a schematic, partially sectioned view of a communication device 101 that a user can use for communication. Of course the other communication devices shown in Figure 1 may have the same or similar features. Such a communication device is often referred to as user equipment (UE) or terminal. An appropriate communication device may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. The communication device may be mobile or may be generally stationary. Non-limiting examples include a mobile station (MS) such as a mobile phone or what is known as a 'smart phone', a portable computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility, personal data assistant (PDA) provided with wireless communication capabilities, a computer or any combinations of these or the like. A communication device may provide, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and so on. Users may thus be offered and provided numerous services via their communication devices. Non-limiting examples of these services include two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services or simply an access to a data communications network system, such as the Internet. Users may also be provided broadcast or multicast data. Non-limiting examples of the content include downloads, television and radio programs, videos, advertisements, various alerts and other information.

The device 101 may receive signals over an air interface 207 via appropriate apparatus for receiving and may transmit signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. In Figure 2 transceiver apparatus is designated schematically by block 206. The transceiver apparatus 206 may be provided for example by means of a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the communication device.

The communication device is also typically provided with at least one data processing entity 201 , at least one memory 202 and other possible components 203 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access systems and other communication devices. The data processing, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and/or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference 204.

The user may control the operation of the communication device by means of a suitable user interface such as key pad 205, voice commands, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. A display 208, a speaker and a microphone can be also provided. Furthermore, a communication device may comprise appropriate connectors (either wired or wireless) to other devices and/or for connecting external accessories, for example hands-free equipment, thereto. Figure 3 shows an example of a control apparatus 109 for a communication system, for example to be coupled to and/or for controlling a station of an access system. In some embodiments the base stations 105, 106, and 108 comprise a control apparatus 109. In some embodiments, each base station will have a control apparatus. In other embodiments the control apparatus can be another network element. The control apparatus 109 can be arranged to provide control of communications by communication devices that are in the service area of the system. The control apparatus 109 can be configured to provide control functions in association with generation and communication of transmission patterns and other related information by means of the data processing facility in accordance with certain embodiments described below. For this purpose the control apparatus 109 comprises at least one memory 301 , at least one data processing unit 302, 303 and an input/output interface 304. Via the interface the control apparatus can be coupled to a receiver and a transmitter of the base station. The control apparatus 109 can be configured to execute an appropriate software code to provide the control functions.

Referring to a UTRAN system a UE, such as device 101 , may be configured to receive System Information (SI). SI comprises system information scheduling information which may indicate information pertaining to the location and repetition information of SIBs, and System Information Blocks (SIBs) that are transmitted from UTRAN (or E-UTRAN) to UE. The SI is required by the UE in order for it to function correctly. Typically SI may be sent from the UTRAN (e.g. communications network 1 13) to the UE 101 using one or more of the following channels: BCCH (broadcast control channel - logical channel); BCH (broadcast channel - transport channel); PCCPCH (Primary Common Control Physical Channel);and SCCPCH (Secondary Common Control Physical Channel). In some embodiments the system information is repeated infinitely at a given frequency. As will be explained in more detail below, the UE may perform soft-combining over at least two of these instances. The content of the SI may change occasionally, and at that time the UE may be provided with an indication of the change.

Different system information blocks may have different characteristics, for example regarding their repetition rate and the requirement(s) for UEs to update stored information. A master information block (MIB) may be used to specify which system information blocks and/or scheduling blocks (SB) are in use in a cell, and how they are scheduled. A scheduling block may also contain scheduling information for another system information block.

The system information blocks are sent from the network 1 13 or RNC 1 12' to the UE 101 , for example via a base station 105. A typical design of any wireless access system may assume a fixed rate capacity of the channel for system information, so if a channel capacity reaches its limit and new features are deployed, the network may have to either sacrifice data, for instance neighbour-cell lists, or increase the system information repetition cycle, which may impact negatively on other features, such as cell selection and reselection, voice call establishment, state transition etc. To address limited capacity of the channel carrying system information the introduction of a second broadcast channel (BCH) has been proposed.

In this document the term "cycle" may be the period over which a broadcast signal repeats. In some instances where the broadcast signal is updated with new content, the cycle may be interrupted in those cases. Otherwise, the cycle length is given by the maximal value of SIB_REP of all SIBs carried on that BCH (BCH1 or BCH2). Take the following illustrative example: BCH1 has SIB1 with SIB_REP = 2, and SIB2 with SIB_REP =3, BCH2 has SIB8 with SIB_REP = 16, and SIB2 with SIB_REP = 6. Then the BCH1 cycle length is given by SIB_REP value 3, and the BCH2 cycle length is given by SIB_REP value 16.

There are features in the UMTS/HSPA system that depend on the system information, and in particular, that depend on how fast a UE can receive all the SIBs. All the system information is grouped logically into those blocks based on the functional or logical relevance, e.g., neighbour cell lists, access class barring, cell selection and reselection parameters, control information for enhanced DL and UL in CELL_FACH, etc. Except for a few cases, a UE typically has to receive and correctly decode all the blocks before it can get an access to the cell and/or perform other actions such as call establishment.

As discussed above, the data rate of the BCH is limited, so the scheduling of "new" or additional SIBs may lead to less frequent transmission of SIBs. This may also lead to longer cycling for transmission/reception of all SIBs, which may accordingly mean that UEs need to stay in a higher power consuming state for longer thus leading to accelerated draining of the UE battery. As will be discussed in more detail below, some embodiments may reduce the transmission and reception cycle times for at least some UEs in a cell, whilst maintaining a comparable link budget for all users in the cell. In embodiments data received on at least one of first and second broadcast channels is combined so that the total information that is required for correct UE operation is received more quickly at the UE. This may be considered a form of soft-combining. More particularly, in some embodiments it is particular information elements received on broadcast channels in the same cell that is combined in order to provide the UE with the necessary information contained in those elements. The information elements may be, by way of example only, one or more of transport blocks (TBs), scheduling blocks (SBs), master information blocks (MIBs), system information blocks (SIBs) etc. In some embodiments the information elements that are combined are the same. That is the data content of a first information element is the same as the data content of a second information element with which the first information element is being combined. In some embodiments the combining is mandatory; that is the UE is instructed or programmed to combine information received on the broadcast channels in the prescribed manner. The combining may take place if it has been determined that an earlier attempt to decode a particular information element has failed. In embodiments the UE buffers information whilst waiting for further, corresponding information to be received. At least some embodiments relate to the combining of information received on transmissions other than HARQ transmissions. The embodiments relate to implementations where there are at least first and second broadcast channels. However, the information that is combined may have been received on only one of those channels. For example, where there are two channels BCH1 and BCH2, the information that is combined may have been received on BCH2 only. In other embodiments, information received on BCH1 can be combined with information received on BCH2, and vice versa.

In embodiments a number of copies of the same information is broadcast in a cell on the two or more channels to ensure, by combining the information at the UEs in the cell, that a minimum coverage level can be achieved in the cell. In embodiments a determination is made at the one or more UEs as to whether information received is suitable for combining with information which has been previously received at the UE. This determination may include reading signals and conditions set by the network which inform the UE whether the soft-combining can take place. In some embodiments the UE performs "blind" soft combining and decoding aided by the knowledge that for a certain number of subsequent transmissions the information contained therein will not change.

Figure 4 shows example information received on a broadcast channel BCH 402. The content blocks or information elements received on the BCH 402 comprise a mixture of system information blocks (SIBs) 404 and 406, scheduling blocks 408, 410, 412, and 414. The BCH 402 also comprises a master information block (MIB) 416. The MIBs, SBs and SIBs may be collectively referred to as "information elements". It will of course be understood that this arrangement of MIBs, MBs and SIBs is by way of example only and that other arrangements are possible

The BCH cycle time is shown by arrow 418. The BCH cycle time 418 may be considered the time within which a given number of information blocks are transmitted/received. In this embodiment two cycles are shown: Cycle 1 , 420; and Cycle 2, 422. The information sent in Cycle 2 is the same as the information sent in Cycle 1 , and at the same rate. That is Cycle 2 is a repetition of Cycle 1 . During one cycle of the BCH 402 a SIB may appear once or several times. If the BCH content and scheduling does not change, in a subsequent cycle the same information is transmitted.

In one embodiment, which will be discussed in more detail with respect to Figures 5 and 6 below, soft-combining of full or complete cycles is carried out. In this embodiment the UE performs buffering and soft-combining for a "coverage period", where the coverage period is a period required to achieve a certain coverage. In other words the coverage period is an amount of time required for the UE to receive sufficient information to achieve a predetermined or desired coverage level. The buffering period may be related to the coverage period. In an embodiment the buffering period is the same as the coverage period. In other embodiments the buffering period may be a factor of the coverage period. In some embodiments the buffering period is an integer multiple of the cycle time of at least one of the first and second broadcast channels. In one example, the rate of the second broadcast channel is twice that of the first broadcast channel. That is two cycles take place on the second broadcast channel for every cycle on the first broadcast channel. In such an example the UE is required to buffer two cycle periods on the second broadcast channel, and the coverage period is two cycles. In embodiments a base station is transmitting the second broadcast channel BCH2 at a rate in proportion to the buffering factor, so that soft- combining yields similar coverage as normal rate transmission.

In another embodiment the buffering period is derived from the available soft buffers in the UE. For instance, a UE may be provisioned with buffers according to its capabilities for other purposes, and the buffering period for the soft combining may be limited to those available buffers.

In another embodiment the information cycle length is limited to the available soft buffers. For instance, when soft buffers for a certain period T are available the cycle length is limited to T or slightly below T. In some embodiments the SIB content is not changed until the coverage period has expired. Therefore in some embodiments a fixed or predetermined number of repetitions of the BCH2 cycle is performed for the period that the UE is performing soft-combining of the information carried on BCH2, or BCH1 and BCH2. By way of example only, with a factor rate of 2 the cycle is repeated twice on BCH2 before any changes are made to the content of the transmissions. It will of course be understood that other factor rates may be applied.

In embodiments, SIB content on the broadcast channels BCH1 and BCH2 is not changed until the BCH2 has been cycled for at least the amount of time that the UE is performing the soft-combining operation.

In some embodiments the odd-numbered cycles are set to always be a copy of a corresponding even-numbered cycle. In some embodiments an information element is transmitted which enables a receiver (e.g. a UE) to determine whether the cycle is odd or even-numbered. For example, a one-bit cycle counter may be contained in MIB or SB fields of the BCH2 to enable a UE to determine the even and odd cycles.

In some embodiments a one-bit indicator may be used to indicate whether information content has changed relative to the previous occurrence of the information, and hence should not be combined

In another embodiment the UE performs a soft combining of two subsequent received information elements (n-2) and (n-1 ) without knowing whether they are suitable for combining. If the UE fails to decode the combined information it combines (n-1 ) and (n) and attempts decoding again. This is more likely to succeed assuming it is agreed that the information will be repeated exactly once. The success or failure of decoding can be determined from a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) contained within the information element. This may be the same as shown in Figure 5 or 6 or 7, where the condition "same ... condition met?" involves the step of combining and decoding.

In some embodiments the soft combining buffer is dimensioned to hold all the information elements contained in one BCH cycle.

In some embodiments the BCH1 cycle has a length which is a multiple of the length of the BCH2 cycle, and that during one BCH1 cycle the contents of the BCH2 transmissions do not change.

In one slight variation some special blocks such as the MIB or SBs or SIB 7, if meant to be transmitted on BCH2, may change within one cycle but only after they have appeared according to the repeat factor within one cycle. In some embodiments the UE is aware of the exact occurrences of the special blocks or information that repeats, and can combine and decode them within one cycle, that is before all other information blocks have appeared.

A flowchart according to an embodiment in which full cycles are combined is shown at Figure 5, which starts at step S1.

At step S2 synchronisation information is required e.g. for acquiring synchronisation information of the BCH1 and BCH2. Also a "set same cycle" field is set to "false" (because in this embodiment a new cycle is starting). In other words this field is re-set. The UE buffer is also erased/reset.

At step S3, it is determined whether information stored in the buffer can be decoded. If the answer is "yes", then the information is decoded and the process ends at step S4. If the answer is "no" then the process continues to step S5, at which the next cycle on BCH2 is waited for.

At step S6 information in the next cycle is received and the cycle content is read. At step S7 a determination is made as to whether a "same cycle" condition has been met. This is a determination of whether the newly received cycle information is associated with information received in a previous cycle, and therefore whether the information in the separate cycles is suitable for combining. If the answer to this determination is "no" then the process continues to step S8 where the previous cycle soft buffer is erased.

If on the other hand the answer to the determination at step S7 is "yes" (or after step S8 has been completed), then the process continues to step S9 at which the newly read cycle information (i.e. the contents received at step S6) is combined with information stored in the cycle soft buffer. In this embodiment this combination is made prior to the decoding of the information.

At step S10 the result is placed in the cycle soft buffer. In embodiments the result that is placed in the soft buffer is the content of the "current" cycle combined with stored contents of the soft buffer. Therefore by way of example if the soft buffer contained information from a previous or earlier cycle, the soft buffer is updated to contain the previous cycle with the current (or latest) cycle combined. The new contents are fed to decoding in step s3.

If the soft buffer was previously empty, the newly added contents from the "current" cycle become the new stored information in the buffer.

The flowchart of Figure 6 shows an embodiment where selected transport blocks (TBs) within one or more cycles may be combined, and starts at step S1 .

At step S2 synchronisation information is acquired. For example information is acquired regarding synchronisation of the BCH1 and BCH2. Also TB information stored in the soft buffer is erased and the "set same TB X" field is set to "false" (i.e. that field is reset).

At step S3 it is determined whether information received in a TB X can be decoded. In some embodiments the transport block may span one radio frame, in other embodiments two or more radio frames. The TB may carry one or more segments of one or more SIBs or SBs or MIBs. The relation of TBs and segments and SIBs/MIBs/SBs is illustrated in Figure 9A), 9B) and 9C). The information or information elements that are combined are in this embodiment the TB. If the answer is "yes" then the process continues to step S4 where a further determination is made whether to decode all TBs of one cycle. If all TBs can be decoded then the process continues to step S5 where the process ends. If the answer at step S4 is "no" then the process continues to step S6 where the frames are decoded sequentially or in parallel.

If, on the other hand, the answer to the determination at step S3 is "no", then the process continues to step S7 at which the process waits for the next occurrence of TB X. The next occurrence may according to the chosen scheduling be in the same cycle, but may in other embodiments arrive in a subsequent cycle. At step S8 the same TB, TB X, is read in its next occurrence.

At step S9, a determination or a check is made that the same TB condition is met i.e. that the TB X read at step S8 is the same TB as the TB previously received. If the answer at step S9 is "no", then the process continues to step S10 where the TB X is erased from the soft buffer.

If the answer to the determination at step S9 is "yes" then the process continues to step S1 1 where the TB X read at step S8 is combined with TB X stored in the soft buffer. In this embodiment this occurs prior to decoding of the TB X.

At step S12 the result is placed in the soft buffer.

In this embodiment the result that is placed in the softbuffer replaces the previous content of the soft buffer. If the soft buffer was empty before the combining, it will now contain only the "current" TB. If it contained the previous occurrence of the TB it will not contain the combined occurrences of the TB.

In another embodiment, discussed with respect to Figure 7, a particular SIB in a cycle can be combined with the same SIB received in a previous cycle. This may occur following the procedure of the acquisition of a MIB/SB, which will be discussed in more detail below with respect to Figure 8. The SIB will be assembled from SIB segments, and in the following we just refer to those segments (see also Figure 9) Returning to Figure 7, the process starts at step S1 .

At step S2 synchronisation information is acquired e.g. for synchronising the BCH1 and BCH 2. Also the "segment x" and "same segment x" fields are set to "false". At step S3 a determination is made as to whether a certain received segment, segment x, is okay, in other words whether the segment x received will need to be combined in order for it to be properly read. If the answer at step S3 is "yes" i.e. the segment x is okay, then the process ends at step S4. If the answer at step S3 is "no", then the process continues to step S4 where the received segment x is read. At step S5 a determination is made as to whether it is the same segment x as a previously received segment x. If the determination at step S5 is "no", then the process continues to step S6 where the previously received segment x is erased from the soft buffer.

If the determination at step S5 is "yes", then the process proceeds to step S7 where the segment x received and read at step S4 is combined with the previous segment x which is stored in the soft buffer. This process may occur pre-decoding or post-decoding. In embodiments where the BCH transmission block contents have undergone interleaving, and since one transmission block can contain segments of more than one SB/SIB, a successful soft-combining can be applied if none of the transmission blocks contain segments that have changed across cycles. This may place a constraint on the mixing of transmission blocks with different repetition factors for different SIBs in one cycle, which may require that SIBs with different repetition factors are not concatenated into the same transmission block.

In the embodiment of Figure 7 the UE may perform a buffering and soft-combining operation for the coverage period required to achieve a certain coverage. The buffering period may also be set to be an amount of data related to the amount of unique SIBs in BCH2 and their transmission rates. That is the buffering period may be a period of time it takes to receive a certain amount of data. For example, if a given SIB, SIBx (consisting of one or more segments), appears twice in the cycle and another SIB, SIBy appears once, with both SIBx and SIBy transmitted at the same rate, the UE needs to buffer only one SIBx and one SIBy, but not both SIBx. In this embodiment the UE is configured to decide which part of the received data constitutes which SIB. In other words the UE is configured to be able to discriminate between different SIBs. This is in particular possible if the UE has knowledge of the scheduling information for those SIBs on BCH2. The acquisition of the scheduling information for instance contained in an SB on BCH2 is explained further below and with respect to Figure 8.

In this embodiment the base station may be transmitting BCH2 or the SIBs in BCH2 at a rate in proportion to the buffering factor so that soft-combining yields similar coverage as per the normal rate transmission. In this embodiment transmissions may be controlled so that a change to SIB content is not applied until the cycle has been repeated often enough to achieve the desired coverage. In some embodiments the cycle needs to be repeated at least twice. In some embodiments this means that the BCH2 cycles are not changed, or that particular special blocks such as the MIB or SB may change within one cycle, but only after they have appeared according to the repeat factor within one cycle. As discussed previously, the master information block (MIB) and scheduling block (SB) carried on BCH2 may be obtained and combined as shown in the flow chart of Figure 8. The flow chart of Figure 8 may act as a precursor to each of the processes shown in the flowcharts of Figures 5 to 7. Referring to Figure 8, the process start at step S1 .

In some embodiments the SB on BCH2 will be sent at known time instances.

At step S2 the synchronisation information is acquired, and the "MIB/SB" and "same MIB/SB" fields are set to "false". In other words these fields are reset.

At step S3 a determination is made as to whether a received MIB and/or SB is okay i.e. whether combining will be required in order to successfully read the MIB/SB. If the answer at step S3 is "yes" i.e. the MIB/SB is okay, then the process proceeds to step S4 where further SIB reading can take place (e.g. as per the example of Figure 7), and the process is ended at step S5.

If, on the other hand, the determination at step S3 is "no" i.e. the MIB/SB is not okay, then the process continues to step S4 where the MIB/SB is read.

Following this, at step S5 a determination is made as to whether the MIB/SB is the same as a MIB/SB previously received i.e. whether they are suitable for soft-combining.

If the answer to the determination at step S5 is "no" then the previous MIB/SB soft buffer is erased at step S8.

If the determination at step S7 is "yes" then the MIB/SB can be combined with a previous MIB/SB stored in the buffer. This can occur pre-decoding or post-decoding. The implementation of the soft-combining will now be discussed in more detail. The soft- combining is in one embodiment carried out pre-decoding, and in an alternative embodiment is carried out post-decoding. In the pre-decoding embodiments the soft-combining combines the physical channel bits, after the de-rate-matching prior to decoding.

In the embodiments where the soft-combining is carried out post-decoding, then the soft- combining combines the channel decoded bits. This embodiment may be used if subsequent optional iterative decoding algorithms are carried out.

In another embodiment the BCH is combined on a secondary common control physical channel (S-CCPCH), as shown in Figures 9A) to 9C).

Figure 9A) shows first a transport block (TB) 902 mapped on to one radio frame 904, then mapped onto two radio frames 906 and 908. A TB can be decoded by the UE. If the TBs are identical they can be combined. The TB may contain a CRC. The CRC indicates after decoding whether decoding was a success. Since it may be unlikely that decoding will be a success when combining two unequal TBs, the CRC can serve also as an indicator of whether two TBs are combinable, by way of combining and decoding them and checking the CRC.

Figure 9B) shows that one TB 1002 can contain one SIB segment or multiple SIB segments 1004.

Figure 9C) shows a SIB 1 102 spanning 3 segments 1 104, 1 106, and 1 108. A SIB may span also only one segment. In any case the soft combining and soft buffering may happen on the level of the transport blocks.

Another feature according to embodiments is the identification of information elements and/or frames for the soft-combining process. As discussed above the soft-combining may occur pre-decoding or post decoding. In embodiments a UE can soft-combine frames of subsequent cycles, without necessarily knowing the content of those frames, assuming that no change has occurred in between subsequent cycles. That is the information contained in a first cycle is the same as information contained in a second, subsequent cycle. Where a change has occurred, such that soft-combining is not suitable, a change notification may be carried in an SB and/or MIB on one of the BCHs, for example BCH1. By way of example, the length of the BCH1 cycle may be a multiple of the length of a BCH2 cycle. It may be mandated that within one BCH1 cycle no changes within the BCH2 cycle may occur. The UE can then determine the location of an information element and/or frame within the BCH1 cycle by reading the BCH1 content. The change notification may also carry a system frame number (SFN) indicating at what time/location the change is effective. Furthermore, the BCH1 may carry information in the MIB of an SFN of when the BCH2 cycle content may change. The BCH1 may also have a counter indicating a running number of the BCH2 cycle, to keep track of the BCH2 cycle number. This counter may also be used to determine whether it is an odd or an even cycle number. This counter may also be carried in the BCH2, and may be as short as one bit. The BCH1 may also carry a bit indicating when a change in the BCH2 occurred. The bit may be carried e.g. in the MIB.

In embodiments where it is agreed or known that the BCH2 content does not change within one BCH1 cycle and that the BCH2 content is repeated, the MIB may contain scheduling information for the BCH2 only referring to one cycle of the BCH2 (since it knows that this will be repeated).

In embodiments where the UE has not acquired the MIB or an SB, it can combine MIB and/or SB, HARQ or S-CCPCH frames within a cycle or across subsequent cycles in a pre- decoding fashion, when it knows where those frames are placed. This may work in conjunction with embodiments where the position of the MIBs are pre-agreed for the BCH1 . Again, the UE needs to know that the MIB/SB on BCH2 will not change during the soft- combining period, so that the combining can operate correctly. Again this can be arranged by convention or pre-agreements within one cycle, or changes can be indicated by change indications across cycles. The change notification may also carry an SFN and/or an index number in the cycle to indicate at what time the change is effective.

In other words, in embodiments where it is agreed that the BCH2 cycle will repeat exactly once or exactly a certain number of times without change, the occurrences of the SB for BCH2 on the BCH2 may be agreed as well, allowing the UE to retrieve information required for soft combining of SIBs on the BCH2.

In embodiments where it is agreed that the BCH2 cycle will repeat exactly once or exactly a number of times without change, the cycle duration of BCH2 may be communicated on BCH1 , allowing the UE to perform soft combining for the whole cycle of BCH2.

As discussed above, the soft-combining may also take place post-decoding. In such embodiments the UE can identify whether an HARQ frame or S-CCPCH frame can be combined or not, when either the conditions (a) and (b), or (a) and (c) below are true:

(a) a change identification transmitted outside the BCH2 indicates that change has not taken place since the last reception of the frame that it wants to combine with the current frame

(pre-decoding), or selected contents of the current frame (post decoding);

(b) the UE has acquired the MIB or SB and hence knows the contents of the frame (post decoding);

(c) the UE has acquired the MIB or SB of a previous cycle and hence knows the positions of the information elements and/or frames within the cycle (assuming no change identification has occurred) (post decoding). (d) the UE performs blind soft combining over a pre-defined number of times. If the decoding of the combined TB fails it attempts to combine the subsequent occurrence.

In some embodiments the UE cannot combine SIBs across cycles which are known not to trigger a change indication, such as SIB 7. Nevertheless a combination of such blocks can be made across periods where it is agreed that those blocks do not change over the coverage period. SIB 7 may be considered to already be transmitted at a sufficient frequency on BCH1 such that the information comprised in the SIB 7 can still be determined without the soft-combining. For higher rate transmissions the S-CCPCH coding parameters could be adjusted with a lower spreading factor (SF). For example the S-CCPCH can run on SF 128, and combine two 10ms frames into one.

For higher rate transmission on HS-DSCH, a possible mapping of BCH2 onto the HS- DSCH may use circuit switched voice over high speed packet access (CSoHS) parameters as a guideline. For example the BCH1 may have a nominal bit rate of about 12kb per second, as per a normal voice channel. CSoHS packets are transmitted every 20ms, that is every 10TTI at about the same power as the S-CCHPCH. Where no HARQ is available, a blind repetition of 3 would lead to a 1 % block error rate (BLER), which may be considered suitable for the required coverage. In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 10, soft-combining of information elements on BCH1 and BCH2 take place. The BCH1 is shown at 1302 and BCH2 is shown at 1320. The BCH1 cycle time is shown at 1318 and the BCH2 cycle time is shown at 1322. In this particular example the BCH1 cycle time is the same as the BCH2 cycle time, although in other examples they may differ. For example the BCH1 cycle time may be a multiple of the BCH2 cycle time.

These examples serve to illustrate that BCH1 and BCH2 contain combinable TBs, such as (1308, 1310, 1312, 1314, and 1326) and (1304, 1306, and 1324)

The change notifications discussed above are also applicable to the embodiment of Figure 1 1 . Where separate change notifications are defined for BCH1 and BCH2 cycles, then those can be evaluated jointly in the decision of whether a frame is combinable or not. In one embodiment the TTI length of BCH2 is 10ms, the SF is 128, and the TB size is 600 bits.

Figure 1 1 shows an example of soft combining on the secondary broadcast channel, BCH2, when SIB content is changing. This may be considered a form of "blind" soft-combining. TBs 1 to 4 comprise "Content 1 " 1402, TBs 5 to 8 comprise "Content 2" 1404; and TBs 9 to 12 comprise "Content 2" 1406 (that is content 2 is repeated at 1404 and 1406). The UE needs sufficient information in order to successfully decode the information. As the Content 2 TBs arrive then the UE soft-combines these with the earlier received TBs. For example the UE soft-combines TB 5 with corresponding TB 1 ; TB 6 with corresponding TB 2; and TB 7 with corresponding TB 3. Each of these decoding attempts fails because there is insufficient information for decoding. When TB 9 arrives then this information is soft-combined with TB 5 (the TB 5 having being stored in the buffer). The combination of TB 9 and TB 5 yields sufficient information for decoding to be successfully carried out, as shown. It will be appreciated that the displayed TBs 1 to 12 may be comprised in a single cycle, or across multiple cycles.

In "blind" soft combining the UE may not need to receive an indication from the network (or elsewhere) that certain information elements are suitable for combining. Rather an iterative or learning process may be used. For example if a UE has successfully decoded combined information elements then it can determine that such a combination has been successful, and that the same combination can be used in future. The verification of whether the decoding was a success may use a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). On the other hand, if a certain combination has proved to be unsuccessful (e.g. could not be decoded), then it can be learnt not to employ soft-combining of those elements. In such an embodiment the UE can then choose different elements for soft-combining.

In some embodiments the number of soft-combining operations that are required to gather sufficient information for successful decoding of a TB may be dependent upon the distance of a UE in question from the centre of a cell. For example, a UE at a cell edge may be required to combine several copies of a BCH2 cycle before being able to decode the information blocks. A UE close to the centre of the cell may require fewer repetitions, or even no repetitions.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes exemplifying embodiments of the invention, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The required data processing apparatus and functions of a base station apparatus, a communication device and any other appropriate station may be provided by means of one or more data processors. The described functions at each end may be provided by separate processors or by an integrated processor. The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The data processing may be distributed across several data processing modules. A data processor may be provided by means of, for example, at least one chip. Appropriate memory capacity can also be provided in the relevant devices. The memory or memories may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory.

In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the invention may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

Some embodiments may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of the communication device, such as in the processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

Further in this regard it should be noted that any blocks of the logic flow as in the Figures may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media such as hard disk or floppy disks, and optical media such as for example DVD and the data variants thereof, CD.

The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory.

The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the exemplary embodiment of this invention. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims. Indeed there is a further embodiment comprising a combination of one or more of any of the other embodiments previously discussed.

Claims

Claims 1 . A method comprising:

receiving system information on a first broadcast channel and receiving system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is received within a time period in a cell;

buffering at least some of said received system information; and

in response to determining that a received second information element is associated with a buffered first information element and that the second information element is suitable for combining with the first information element, performing a combining and decoding operation on said first and second information elements to obtain system information.

2. A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the content of the first information element and the second information element is the same.

3. A method as set forth in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said first and second information elements are both received on one of said first and second broadcast channels.

4. A method as set forth in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said first information element is received on one of said first and second broadcast channels, and the second information element is received on the other of said first and second broadcast channels.

5. A method as set forth in any preceding claim wherein the determining that a received second information element is associated with a buffered first information element and that the second information element is suitable for combining with the first information element comprises combining, decoding and verifying by means of a Cyclic Redundancy Check that the decoding was a success.

6. A method as set forth in any preceding claim, wherein a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel, and wherein the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel.

7. A method as set forth in any of claims 1 to 4, comprising determining from an information element that a change to transmissions on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is to occur.

8. A method comprising:

sending system information on a first broadcast channel and sending system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is sent within a time period in a cell;

wherein said system information comprises at least a first information element and a second information element; and

wherein the system information sent on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is repeated at least once with the same content, so as to enable a receiver of said system information to combine and decode said first and second information elements.

9. A method as set forth in claim 8, wherein the content of the first information element and the second formation element is the same.

10. A method as set forth in any of claims 8 to 9, wherein said first and second information elements are both sent on one of said first and second broadcast channels.

1 1 . A method as set forth in any of claims 8 to 10, wherein said first information element is sent on one of said first and second broadcast channels, and the second information element is sent on the other of said first and second broadcast channels.

12. A method as set forth in any of claims 8 to 1 1 , wherein a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel, and wherein the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel.

13. A method as set forth in any of claims 8 to 1 1 , comprising sending information that a change to transmissions on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is to occur.

14. A method comprising: sending system information on first and second broadcast channels, wherein a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, and wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel.

15. A computer program comprising computer executable instructions which when run on one or more processors perform the method of any of claims 1 to 14.

16. An apparatus comprising

at least one processor;

and at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

receive system information on a first broadcast channel and receive system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is received within a time period in a cell;

buffer at least some of said received system information; and

in response to determining that a received second information element is associated with a buffered first information element and that the second information element is suitable for combining with the first information element, perform a combining and decoding operation on said first and second information elements to obtain system information.

17. An apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein the content of the first information element and the second information element is the same.

18. An apparatus as set forth in claim 16 or claim 17, wherein said apparatus is configured to receive both said first and second information elements on one of said first and second broadcast channels.

19. An apparatus as set forth in any of claims 16 to 18, wherein said apparatus is configured to receive said first information element on one of said first and second broadcast channels, and to receive the second information element on the other of said first and second broadcast channels.

20. An apparatus as set forth in any of claims 16 to 19 wherein the determining that a received second information element is associated with a buffered first information element and that the second information element is suitable for combining with the first information element comprises combining, decoding and verifying by means of a Cyclic Redundancy Check that the decoding was a success.

21 . An apparatus as set forth in any of claims 16 to 19, wherein a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel, and wherein the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel.

22. An apparatus as set forth in any of claims 16 to 19, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine from an information element that a change to transmissions on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is to occur.

23. An apparatus comprising

at least one processor;

and at least one memory including computer program code;

send system information on a first broadcast channel and send system information on a second broadcast channel, wherein said system information comprises information elements and is sent within a time period in a cell;

repeat the system information sent on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels at least once with the same content, so as to enable a receiver of said system information to combine and decode said first and second information elements.

24. An apparatus as set forth in claim 23, wherein the content of the first information element and the second formation element is the same.

25. An apparatus as set forth in claim 23 or claim 24, wherein said apparatus is configured to send both said first and second information elements on one of said first and second broadcast channels.

26. An apparatus as set forth in any of claims 23 to 25, wherein said apparatus is configured to send said first information element on one of said first and second broadcast channels, and to send said second information element on the other of said first and second broadcast channels.

27. An apparatus as set forth in any of claims 23 to 26, wherein a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel, and wherein the contents of the second broadcast channel do not change within one cycle of the first broadcast channel.

28. An apparatus as set forth in any of claims 23 to 26, wherein the apparatus is configured to send information that a change to transmissions on at least one of said first and second broadcast channels is to occur.

29. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

and at least one memory including computer program code;

send system information on first and second broadcast channels, wherein a cycle rate on the second broadcast channel is associated with a cycle rate on the first broadcast channel, and wherein the cycle rate on the first broadcast channel is a multiple of the cycle rate on the second broadcast channel.