BR112016024116B1 - CONTINUOUS PACKET CONNECTIVITY (CPC) WITH DEDICATED CHANNEL (DCH) ENHANCEMENTS - Google Patents

Abstract

CONTINUOUS PACKET CONNECTIVITY (CPC) WITH DEDICATED CHANNEL (DCH) ENHANCEMENTS. This description presents aspects for the elization of continuous packet connectivity (CPC) with dedicated channel (DCH) enhancements in a user equipment (UE). For example, the aspects may include identifying whether DTX is authorized in association with CPC on the UE during a period of time, determining whether DTX is authorized in association with DCH enhancements on the UE during the period of time, and performing DTX on the UE during the period of time when both CPC and DCH enhancements enable DTX. With such, CPC with DCH enhancement in a UE can be realized.

Description

Priority Claim

[0001] The present patent application claims the priority of U.S. non-provisional patent application No. 14/569,362, filed December 12, 2014, entitled "Continuous Packet Connectivity (CPC) with Dedicated Channel (DCH) Enhancements," and U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/969,026, filed March 21, 2014, entitled "CPC with DCH Enhancements," which is assigned to the assignee of this application, and is thereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

Fundamentals

[0002] Aspects of the present description relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to continuous packet connectivity (CPC) with dedicated channel (DCH) enhancements in a user equipment (UE).

[0003] Wireless communication networks are widely developed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasting and so on. Such networks, which are typically multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing available system resources. An example of such a network is a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). UTRAN is the radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile telephone technology supported by the 3rd Partnership Project. Generation (3GPP). UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies, currently supports several air interface standards such as Broadband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), and Time Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Synchronized Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA). UMTS also supports enhanced 3G data communications protocols, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), which provides increased data transfer speeds and capacity for associated UMTS networks.

[0004] Continuous packet connectivity (CPC) provides battery power savings in a user equipment (UE) by utilizing discontinuous transmission (DTX) in an uplink (UL) and/or discontinuous reception (DRX) in a downlink ( DL). However, CPC is not authorized if the dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) accessory is configured on the UE since DCH is circuit-switched in nature and CPC is packet-switched in nature.

[0005] Therefore, there is a desire to create improvements in the operation of continuous packet connectivity (CPC) in a user equipment (UE).

summary

[0006] Below is a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all aspects covered, and is not intended to identify key or critical elements of all aspects, nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified way as an introduction to the more detailed description that will be presented later.

[0007] The present description presents an illustrative method and apparatus for discontinuous transmission (DTX) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) are configured in a user equipment (UE). For example, the present disclosure presents an illustrative method for identifying whether DTX is permitted in association with CPC in the UE during a period of time, determining whether DTX is permitted in association with DCH enhancements in the UE during the period of time, and performing DTX on the UE during the time period when both CPC and DCH enhancements enable DTX.

[0008] Additionally, this description presents an illustrative apparatus for discontinuous transmission (DTXT) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) are configured in a user equipment (UE) that may include means for identifying whether DTX is permitted in association with CPC on the UE during a period of time, means for determining whether DTX is permitted in association with DCH enhancements on the UE during the period of time, and means for performing DTX on the UE during the period of time when both CPC and DCH enhancements enable DTX.

[0009] In a further aspect, the present disclosure presents an illustrative non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable code for performing discontinuous transmission (DTX) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel enhancements (DCH ) are configured in a user equipment (UE) that may include a code for identifying whether DTX is permitted in association with CPC on the UE over a period of time, a code for determining whether DTX is permitted in association with DCH enhancements on the UE during the time period, and a code to perform DTX on the UE during the time period when both the CPC and the DCH enhancements allow DTX.

[0010] Additionally, in one aspect, the present description presents an illustrative apparatus for performing discontinuous transmission (DTX) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) are configured on a user equipment (UE) which may include a CPC configuration component to identify whether DTX is permitted in association with CPC on the UE over a period of time, a DCH enhancements configuration component to determine whether DTX is permitted in association with DCH enhancements on the UE during the time period, and a DTX component to perform DTX in the UE during the time period when both the CPC and the DCH enhancements enable DTX.

[0011] To achieve the above purposes and other related purposes, one or more aspects comprise the characteristics hereinafter fully described and particularly highlighted in the claims. The following description and the attached drawings present in detail certain illustrative characteristics of one or more aspects. These characteristics are indicative, however, of only a few of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be employed, and this description must include all said aspects and their equivalences.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless system illustrative of aspects of the present description;

[0013] Figure 2 is a block diagram of uplink frames over time, illustrating an illustrative aspect of continuous packet connectivity;

[0014] Figure 3 is a block diagram of uplink frames over time, illustrating an illustrative aspect of DCH improvements;

[0015] Figure 4 is a block diagram of uplink frames over time, illustrating an illustrative aspect of the present description;

[0016] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating aspects of an illustrative method in aspects of the present description;

[0017] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating aspects of an illustrative user equipment including a configuration manager in accordance with the present description;

[0018] Figure 7 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a telecommunications system including user equipment with a configuration manager in accordance with the present description;

[0019] Figure 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a radio protocol architecture for the user and control plane that can be used by the user equipment of the present description; It is

[0021] Figure 10 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a Node B communicating with a UE, which includes a configuration manager in accordance with the present description, in a telecommunications system.

Detailed Description

[0022] The detailed description presented below with respect to the attached drawings is intended to serve as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein can be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an in-depth understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known components are illustrated in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0023] The present description presents an illustrative method and apparatus for discontinuous transmission (DTX) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) are configured in a user equipment (UE). For example, the illustrative method may include identifying whether DTX is permitted in association with CPC on the UE during a period of time, determining whether DTX is permitted in association with DCH enhancements on the UE during the period of time, and performing DTX on the UE during the period of time when both the CPC and DCH enhancements enable DTX.

[0024] Referring to Figure 1, a wireless communication system 100 is illustrated that facilitates the configuration of continuous packet connectivity (CPC) with dedicated channel (DCH) enhancements in a user equipment (UE). For example, the system 100 includes a UE 102 that may communicate with a network entity 110 and/or a base station 112 via one or more over-the-air links 114 and/or 116. For example, the UE 102 may communicate with the base station 112 on an uplink (UL) 114 and/or downlink (DL) 116. The UL 114 is generally used for communication from the UE 102 to the base station 112 and/or the DL 116 is generally used for communication from the base station 112 to the UE 102.

[0025] In one aspect, network entity 110 may include one or more of any type of network components, for example, an access point, including a base station (BS) or Node B or eNode B or a femto cell , a relay, a peer-to-peer device, an authentication, authorization and billing (AAA) server, a mobile switching center (MSC), a radio network controller (RNC), etc., which can activate the UE 102 to communicate and/or establish and maintain wireless communication links 114 and/or 116, which may include a communication session over a frequency or band of frequencies that form a communication channel, to communicate with network entity 110 and/or the base station 112. In a further aspect, for example, the base station 112 may operate in accordance with the radio access technology (RAT) standard, e.g., GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, HSPA or long-term evolution (LTE).

[0026] In a further aspect, the UE 102 may be a mobile device and may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, an apparatus, a terminal, an agent and user, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0027] In one aspect, the UE 102 may be configured to include a configuration manager 104 to perform discontinuous transmission (DTX) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) are configured on the UE 102. For example, configuration manager 104 may include a CPC configuration component 106 to identify whether DTX is permitted in association with CPC in the UE over a period of time. Additionally, the UE 102 may be configured to include a DCH enhancements configuration component 108 to determine whether DTX is permitted in association with the DCH enhancements on the UE during the time period.

[0028] As such, in a further aspect, when both the CPC and the DCH enhancements enable DTX during the time period, the configuration manager 104 may configure the UE 102 to perform discontinuous transmission on the UE (e.g., from one or more uplink channels) during the time period.

[0029] In an additional or optional aspect, the configuration manager 104 may configure the UE 102 to receive a transmit power control (TPC) bit on a dedicated downlink physical control channel (DL DPCCH) in the time period , where the period of time is the same period of time for receiving a fractional dedicated physical channel (F-DPCH).

[0030] In an additional or optional aspect, the UE 102 may be configured to include a configuration manager 104 to perform discontinuous reception (DRX) on the UE during the period of time when both CPC and DCH enhancements allow DRX. For example, the configuration manager 104 may include the CPC configuration component 106 to identify whether discontinuous reception (DRX) is allowed in association with CPC on the UE during the time period. Additionally, the UE 102 may be configured to include the DCH enhancements configuration component 108 to determine whether DRX is enabled in association with the DCH enhancements on the UE during the time period. As such, when both CPC and DCH enhancements enable DRX during the time period, the configuration manager 104 may configure UE 102 to perform discontinuous reception on the UE (e.g., from one or more uplink channels) during the time period. .

[0031] Additional aspects, which can be performed in combination with the above aspects or independently thereof, are discussed below and may result in the CPC configuration with DCH enhancements in the UE 102.

[0032] Figure 2 illustrates an illustrative aspect of a frame structure 200 of radio frames for CPC 202 with 2 ms TTI, which can be used by the UE.

[0033] CPC or CPC feature generally includes discontinuous transmission (DTX) of one or more uplink channels 114 and/or discontinuous reception (DRX) of one or more downlink channels 116 at the UE to reduce cell interference, increase system capacity and/or reduce battery consumption.

[0034] The discontinuous transmission associated with CPC allows the UE 102 to transmit discontinuously in the uplink during periods of inactivity in data transmission. For example, in one aspect, the UE 102 may transmit discontinuously on an uplink channel, e.g., the uplink dedicated physical control channel (UL DPCCH), the high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS DPCCH) , etc. during periods of inactivity in data transmission. For example, with DTX, the UE 102 may transmit UL DPCCH or HS DPCCH in certain patterns or cycles during periods of inactivity.

[0035] Additionally, for example, discontinuous reception (DRX) associated with CPC allows the UE 102 to receive discontinuously in downlink during periods of inactivity in data reception. For example, in one aspect, the UE 102 may receive a downlink channel (e.g., DL DPCCH) discontinuously in DL instead of listening continuously and thereby save battery power in the UE. DRX at the UE can be particularly useful if the nature of the data being downloaded is periodic or in short bursts, and there is no need for the UE to receive the downlink control channel during periods of inactivity.

[0036] In one aspect, the UE 102 may notify the network entity 110 and/or the base station 112 (e.g., at configuration time) whether the UE 102 supports CPC. The UE 102 may identify whether it supports CPC based on a UE Version number (e.g., Rel 10, 11, 12, etc.) and one or more capabilities of the UE (e.g., UMTS, HDDPA, LTE, etc.) . Once the network entity 110 and/or the base station 112 receives the notification from the UE 102, the network entity 110 and/or the base station 112 decides whether to configure the UE 102 with CPC (e.g., trigger a CPC mode ) based on, for example, network configuration, and sends CPC configuration information (e.g., TTI duration, number of TTIs that the UE will be transmitting/receiving, number of TTIs in which the UE enters the DTX/DRX state , etc.), and the UE 102 is configured accordingly.

[0037] For example, in one aspect, the UE 102 may be configured to enable CPC. As described with reference to Figure 2, CPC 202 may be configured with 2 ms TTI with the UE 102 transmitting under normal or typical power conditions (e.g., indicated by "ON" in Figure 2) during the first TTI 210 and performing a discontinuous transmission (e.g., no transmission) during the next three TTIs (e.g., TTIs 212, 214, and 216). That is, the UE 102 transmits normal power conditions from 0 ms to 2 ms and performs discontinuous transmission from 2 ms to 8 ms. This behavior, transmitting for 2 ms and performing discontinuous transmission for 6 ms may be repeated based on the CPC configuration information received from the network entity 110 and/or base station 112. Additionally, the UE 102 may be transmitting normally (e.g. non-discontinuously) from 8 ms to 10 ms (e.g. TTI 218), performing discontinuous transmission (e.g. no transmission) from 10 ms to 16 ms (e.g. TTIs 220, 222 and 224 ), transmitting normally from 16 ms to 18 ms (e.g., TTI 226), transmitting discontinuously (e.g., no transmission) from 18 ms to 24 ms (e.g., TTIs 228, 230, and 232), transmitting normally from 24 ms to 26 ms (e.g., TTI 234), performing discontinuous transmission (e.g., no transmission) from 26 ms to 30 ms (e.g., TTIs 236 and 238), and so on, as illustrated in Figure 2 .

[0038] Although an example of the radio frames for CPC 202 is illustrated (figure 2) and described (above) with reference to DTX for uplink channels, CPC 202 may similarly apply to DRX for downlink channels in the UE 102. In a further aspect, CPC 202 can be implemented using other DTX and/or DRX parameters, and the DTX/DRX rules associated with CPC are based on 3GPP Releases prior to Release 12.

[0039] Figure 3 illustrates an illustrative aspect of a frame structure 300 of radio frames for the DCH enhancements 302 with 10 ms TTI operation, which can be used by the UE 102.

[0040] For example, in one aspect, the UE 102 may notify the network entity 110 and/or the base station 112 (e.g., at configuration time) whether the UE 102 supports the DCH enhancements 302. The UE 102 may identify whether it supports DCH enhancements based on a version number of the UEs (e.g., Rel 10, 11, 12, etc.) and/or based on UE capabilities. If the UE 102 supports the DCH enhancements, the UE 102 may notify the network entity 110 and/or the base station 112 whether the UE 102 supports the DCH enhancements in "basic mode" or "full mode". For example, in full mode, the UE 102 may utilize a downlink (DL) premature frame termination (FET) feature, which is a subfeature of DCH enhancements that are supported only in full mode. Furthermore, in both basic and full modes, the UE 102 can utilize 10 ms/20 ms dynamic switching in UL, which is another sub-feature of the DCH enhancements that are supported in both modes. For example, with 10 ms/20 ms dynamic switching, the UE 102 decides for each voice packet to use 10 ms or 20 ms transmission in the UL based on, for example, power headroom (e.g., power transmission available) in the UE using procedures as defined in the 3GPP Specifications>

[0041] The FET DL feature can generally be defined as periodically decoding received voice frames (e.g., at base station 112) and sending an acknowledgment (e.g., to UE 102) after well decoding. success of a voice frame at base station 112. This allows the UE 102 to terminate transmission to the base station 112 early, resulting in reduced utilization of radio resources, reduced interference, and reduced power consumption. The 10 ms TTI operation of the UE 102 in UL can generally be defined as the UE 102 transmitting a 20 ms voice frame in 10 ms by compressing the frame (e.g., compressed mode of operation). For example, compressed mode of operation can be achieved by reducing the spreading factor by 2:1 (e.g. increasing data rate so that bits are sent at twice the speed), punching bits (e.g. , removes bits from the original data and reduces the amount of information that needs to be transmitted), or changing higher layer programming to use fewer time slots for user traffic.

[0042] Once the network entity 110 and/or the base station 112 receives notification from the UE 102 regarding support for the DCH enhancements 302, the network entity 110 and/or the base station 112 decide whether to configure the UE 102 with DCH enhancements based on, for example, the network configuration, and sends the DCH enhancement configuration information to the UE 102.

[0043] For example, in one aspect, the UE 102 may be configured to enable the DCH enhancements 302. As described with reference to Figure 3, although the DCH enhancements 302 may be configured with 20 ms TTI 340, the UE 102 may be transmitting under normal conditions (e.g., indicated by "ON" in Figure 3) during the first 10 ms 310 of the TTI 340 and performing discontinuous transmission (e.g., no transmission) during the second 10 ms 320 of the TTI 340. That is, the UE 102 normally transmits from 0 ms to 10 ms and performs discontinuous transmission from 10 ms to 20 ms. This behavior, normal transmission for 10 ms and performing discontinuous transmission (e.g., no transmission) for 10 ms may be repeated based on DCH enhancement configuration information received from network entity 110 and/or base station 112. Additionally, The UE 102 may be transmitting normally (e.g., non-discontinuously) from 20 ms to 30 ms, for example, at 330, and so on as illustrated in Figure 3.

[0044] Although an example of the radio frames for the DCH enhancements 302 is illustrated (figure 3) and described (above) with reference to DTX for uplink channels, the DCH enhancements 302 can apply in a similar way to DRX for downlink channels in the UE 102. In a further aspect, the DCH 302 enhancements may be implemented using other DTX and/or DRX standards, and the DTX/DRX rules associated with the DCH 302 enhancements based on 3GPP versions prior to version 12.

[0045] Figure 4 is a block diagram of uplink frames 400 over time, illustrating an example of realizing DTX (or DRX) when both CPC and DCH enhancements 402 are configured, in an aspect of the present description.

[0046] In one aspect, with reference to the radio frames for CPC and DCH enhancements 402, the UE 102 and/or the configuration manager 104 may perform discontinuous transmission on the UE (e.g., of one or more uplink channels, and/or discontinuous reception of one or more downlink channels) on the UE 102 during the period of time in which both CPC and DCH enhancements are permitted. It should be noted that the separate radio frames for CPC 202 and DCH 302 enhancements are illustrated for reference purposes only.

[0047] For example, in one aspect of the uplink frames for CPC and DCH enhancements 402, the UE 102 may transmit normally (e.g., "ON" transmission) for 0 ms to 10 ms, at 410, perform discontinuous transmission ( for example, no transmission) from 10 ms to 16 ms on 412, transmit normally (e.g. "ON" transmission) from 16 ms to 18 ms on 414, and discontinuous transmission of all uplink channels of 18 ms to 20 ms, 416, and so on. That is, the UE 102 and/or the configuration manager 104 perform discontinuous transmission on the UE during the time periods 412 and 416 where the time periods for CPC and DCH enhancements overlap or align, as illustrated in Figure 4.

[0048] Although an example of the radio frames for CPC and DCH enhancements 402 are illustrated (figure 4) and described (above) with reference to DTX for the uplink channels, CPC and DCH enhancements 402 may apply similarly to DRX for downlink channels in UE 102. In a further aspect, CPC and DCH 402 enhancements can be implemented using other DTX and/or DRX standards.

[0049] In a further aspect, as described with reference to Figure 4, the UE 102 and/or the configuration manager 104 may suspend or temporarily stop uplink transmission on the UE 102 when all uplink channels are performing discontinuous transmission. (DTX) (e.g., at 412 and 416) and/or temporarily suspend or interrupt downlink reception at UE 102 when all downlink channels are performing discontinuous reception (DRX).

[0050] Figure 5 illustrates an illustrative methodology 500 for performing discontinuous transmission (DTX) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) are configured on a user equipment (UE).

[0051] In one aspect, in block 502, methodology 500 may include identifying whether DTX is permitted in association with CPC in the UE over a period of time. For example, in one aspect, the UE 102 and/or the configuration manager 104 may include a specially programmed processor module, or a processor executing specially programmed code stored in a memory, to identify whether DTX is permitted in association with CPC ( at 202) in the UE 102 for a period of time (e.g., from 10 ms to 16 ms, as illustrated in Figure 2).

[0052] For example, in one aspect, as described above with reference to Figure 2, for example, one or more UL channels, for example, UL DPCCH, HS DPCCH, etc. can be configured for discontinuous transmission during TTIs 220, 222 and 224 (e.g., 10 ms to 16 ms). For example, in one aspect, the configuration manager 104 may configure CPC on the UE 102 based on CPC configuration information received, through a communication component (e.g., transceiver) of the UE 102 from the network entity 110 and/or base station 112. In one aspect, the configuration manager 104 may include a CPC configuration component 106 to perform this functionality.

[0053] In one aspect, in block 504, methodology 500 may include determining whether DTX is authorized in association with DCH enhancements in the UE during the time period. For example, in one aspect, the UE 102 and/or the configuration manager 104 may include a specially programmed processor module, or a processor executing specially programmed code stored in a memory, to determine whether DTX is permitted in association with the enhancements. DCH in the UE 102 during the period of time (e.g., from 10 ms to 16 ms, as illustrated in Figure 3).

[0054] For example, in an aspect as described above with reference to Figure 3, for example, an uplink channel, for example, HS DPCCH may be configured for discontinuous transmission during TTI 320 (e.g., from 10 ms to 20 ms). For example, in one aspect, the configuration manager 104 may configure the DCH enhancements in the UE 102 based on a DCH enhancement configuration information received through a communications component (e.g., transceiver) of the UE 102, from the network entity 110 and/or base station 112. In one aspect, configuration manager 104 may include a DCH enhancement configuration component 108 to accomplish this functionality.

[0055] In one aspect, in block 506, methodology 500 may include performing DTX on the UE during the period of time when both CPC and DCH enhancements allow DTX. For example, in one aspect, the UE 102 and/or the configuration manager 104 may include a specially programmed processor module, or a processor executing specially programmed code stored in a memory, to perform DTX on UE 102 during the period of time (e.g., 10 ms to 16 ms, represented by 412 in Figure 4) when both CPC and DCH enhancements enable DTX.

[0056] For example, in an aspect as described above with reference to Figure 4, for example, one or more UL channels, for example, UL DPCCH, HS DPCCH, etc. can be configured for discontinuous transmission from 10 ms to 16 ms, at 412. For example, in one aspect, the configuration manager 104 can perform DTX on the UE during the period of time when both CPC and DCH enhancements allow DTX through a communication component (e.g., transceiver) of the UE 102. In one aspect, the configuration manager 104 may include a discontinuous transmission (DTX) component 512 to perform this functionality.

[0057] In an additional or optional aspect, the configuration manager 104 may be configured to turn off transmission of all channels in an uplink (or downlink) in the UE 102 during the period of time when discontinuous transmissions (or reception) of CPC and DCH overlap (or align) as illustrated at 412 and 416 in Figure 4. In one aspect, the CPC configuration component 106, the DCH enhancement component 108 and/or the DTX component 512 can perform this functionality.

[0058] In an additional or optional aspect, the configuration manager 104 may be configured for a transmit power control (TPC) component to receive a transmit power control (TPC) bit on a dedicated physical control channel downlink channel (DL DPCCH) in the time period, where the time period is the same time period for receiving a fractional dedicated physical channel (F-DPCH). In one aspect, the TPC component 514 can perform this functionality.

[0059] In an additional or optional aspect, the UE 102 and/or the configuration manager 104 may identify whether discontinuous reception (DRX) is authorized in association with CPC on the UE during the period of time (e.g., 412), determine whether DRX is authorized in association with the DCH enhancements on the UE during the time period (e.g., 412), and perform DRX on the UE during the time period (e.g., 412) when both the CPC and the DCH enhancements permit DRX. In one aspect, the CPC configuration component 106, the DCH enhancements component 108, and/or the DRX component 516 may perform this functionality.

[0060] In a further aspect, current CPC rules (e.g., CPC rules prior to 3GPP Release 12), such as determining transitions to the longer DTX cycle based on traffic activity, transmission of preambles and postambles before and after data bursts, etc., remain unchanged and independent of activity or packets carried on DCH. Additionally, it may not be necessary to specify additional preambles and postambles for emerging from and re-entering the DTX state due to the start or end of activity in DCH as the necessary preambles/postambles for this can be specified as part of the DCH enhancements, regardless of whether whether CPC has been configured or not.

[0061] In an additional or optional aspect, configuration manager 104 may define new defaults for CPC transmit (ON) and DTX (and, similarly, for receive (ON) and DRX) to align the CPC DTX and DRX periods with the expected opening periods (e.g., DTX/ON, DRX/ON) of the DCH enhancements. For example, in one aspect, since an opening pattern of DCH enhancements may exhibit periodic behavior with a voice frame duration of 20 ms, alignment may be achieved with the existing CPC implementation by choosing DTX and DRX cycles. of CPC as multiples or factors of 20 ms. Since 10 ms, 20 ms and 40 ms cycles are already supported for CPC, no further optimization of the DTX or DRX pattern may be required (in addition to the required alignment described above with reference to figure 4 above). Additionally, because DCH transmit/receive has priority over CPC DTX/DRX, CPC can be configured even with legacy DCH, where DCH would function as if CPC had not been configured.

[0062] In one aspect, when CPC and DCH enhancements are configured, the transmit power control (TPC) bit is carried in DL DPCCH since both the fractional dedicated physical channel (F-DPCH) and DPCH are not allowed simultaneously . In a further aspect, if current rules (e.g. rules before version 12) require F-DPCH transmission by Node B/reception by UE at a particular time (e.g. partition), then CPC with DCH enhancements may require the transmission/reception of the TPC bit in DL DPCCH in the same time partition. In a further aspect, DL DPCCH can be transmitted/received in this same time partition, and DL DPDCH can be opened if allowed by the DCH enhancements since DL DPDCH transmission is not mandatory.

[0063] In this way, as described above, continuous packet connectivity (CPC) with dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) in a user equipment (UE) can be realized.

[0064] Referring to Figure 6, in one aspect, the UE 102, for example, including the configuration manager 104, may be or may include a computer device specially programmed or configured to perform the functions described herein. In one aspect of the implementation, the UE 102 may include the configuration manager 104 and its subcomponents, including the CPC configuration component 106, the DCH enhancements configuration component 108, the discontinuous transmission (DTX) component 512, a TPC component 514, and/or the discontinuous reception component (DRX) 516, such as in specially programmed computer-readable instructions or code, firmware, hardware, or some combination thereof.

[0065] In one aspect, for example as represented by dashed lines, the configuration manager 104 may be implemented in or executed using one or any combination of processor 602, memory 604, communications component 606, and data store 608 For example, configuration manager 104 may be defined or otherwise programmed as one or more processor modules of processor 602. Additionally, for example, configuration 104 may be defined as a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium) stored in memory 604 and/or data store 608 and executed by processor 602. Furthermore, for example, inputs and outputs related to operations of configuration manager 104 may be provided or supported by the communications component 606, which may provide a bus between components of the UE 102 or an interface for communicating with external devices or components.

[0069] Additionally, the data store 608 may be any suitable combination of hardware and/or software, which provides mass storage of information, databases and programs employed with respect to the aspects described herein. For example, data store 608 may be a data store for applications that are not currently being executed by processor 602.

[0070] The UE 102 may further include a user interface component 610 operable to receive records from a user from the user equipment 102, and further operable to generate outputs for presentation to the user. The user interface component 610 may include one or more input devices, including, but not limited to, a keyboard, a numeric keypad, a mouse, a touch monitor, a navigation key, a function key, a microphone, a speech recognition component, any other mechanism capable of receiving a record from a user, or any combination thereof. Additionally, the user interface component 610 may include one or more output devices, including, but not limited to, a monitor, a speaker, a haptic feedback mechanism, a printer, any other mechanism capable of presenting an output to a user, or any combination thereof.

[0071] The various concepts presented throughout this description can be implemented across a wide variety of telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards.

[0072] With reference to Figure 7, by way of example and without limitation, aspects of the present description are presented with reference to a UMTS system 700 employing a W-CDMA air interface, and may include a UE 102 executing an aspect of the manager 104 of Figure 1. A UMTS network includes three interaction domains: a Core Network (CN) 704, a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) 702, and a UE 102. In one aspect, as noted, the UE 102 (Figure 1) may be configured to perform the functions thereof, for example, including performing discontinuous transmission (DTX) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) are configured on the UE . Additionally, UTRAN 702 may comprise network entity 110 and/or base station 112 (Figure 1), which, in this case, may be the respective B Nodes 708. In this example, UTRAN 702 provides various wireless services including telephony, video, data, messages, broadcasts and/or other services. The UTRAN 702 may include a plurality of Radio Network Subsystems (RNSs) such as an RNS 705, each controlled by a respective Radio Network Controller (RNC) such as an RNC 706. Here, UTRAN 702 may include any number of RNCs 706 and RNSs 705 in addition to the RNCs 706 and RNSs 705 illustrated here. The RNC 706 is a device responsible for, among other things, assigning, reconfiguring and releasing radio resources within the RNS 705. The RNC 706 can be interconnected to other RNCs (not illustrated) in the UTRAN 702 through various types of interfaces such such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, or similar, using any suitable transport network.

[0073] Communication between UE 102 and Node B 708 can be considered to include a physical layer (PHY) and a medium access control (MAC) layer. Additionally, communication between the UE 102 and the RNC 706 via a respective Node B 708 may be considered to include a radio resource control (RRC) layer. In the present specification, the PHY layer can be considered layer 1; the MAC layer can be considered layer 2; and the RRC layer can be considered layer 3. The information below uses the terminology introduced in the RRC Protocol Specification, 3GPP TS 77.331 v7.1.0, incorporated herein by reference.

[0074] The geographic region covered by the RNS 705 can be divided into a number of cells, with a radio transceiver apparatus serving each cell. A radio transceiver apparatus is commonly referred to as a Node B in UMTS applications, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base station (BS), a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a transceiver radio, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), an access point (AP), or some other terminology. For clarity, three B Nodes 708 are illustrated in each RNS 705; however, the RNSs 705 may include any number of wireless Node Bs. The B Nodes 708 provide wireless access points to a CN 704 for any number of mobile devices, such as the UE 102, and may be the network entity 110 and/or base station 112 of Figure 1. Examples of a mobile device include a cell phone, a smartphone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a notebook, a netbook, a smartbook, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a system device, global positioning (GPS), a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio device (e.g. MP3 player), a camera, a game console, or any other device of similar functioning. The mobile device in this case is commonly referred to as a UE in UMTS applications, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, an apparatus , a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0075] For illustration purposes, a UE 102 is illustrated in communication with multiple Node B 708. DL, also called forward link, refers to the communication link from a Node B 708 to a UE 102 (e.g. link 116), and the UL, also called reverse link, refers to the communication link from a UE 102 to a Node B 708 (e.g., link 114).

[0076] CN 704 interfaces with one or more access networks, such as UTRAN 702. As illustrated, CN 704 is a GSM core network. However, as those skilled in the art will recognize, the various concepts presented throughout this description can be implemented in a RAN, or other suitable access network, to provide UEs with access to types of CNs other than GSM networks.

[0077] CN 704 includes a circuit-swapped domain (CS) and a packet-swapped domain (PS). Some of the circuit-swapped elements are a Mobile Service Switching Center (MSC), a visitor location record (VLR), and an Access Circuit MSC. The packet-swapped elements include a Server GPRS Support Node (SGSN), and a GPRS Access Circuit Support Node (GGSN). Some network elements such as EIR, HLR, VLR, and AuC can be shared by both circuit-swapped and packet-swapped domains. In the illustrated example, CN 704 supports circuit-swapped services with an MSC 712 and a GMSC 714. In some applications, GMSC 714 may be referred to as a medium access circuit (MGW). One or more RNCs, such as RNC 706, may be connected to the MSC 712. The MSC 712 is an apparatus that controls call setup, call routing, and UE mobility functions. MSC 712 also includes a VLR that contains subscriber-related information for the duration that a UE is in the coverage area of the MSC 712. The GMSC 714 provides an access circuit through the MSC 712 for the UE to access a network exchanged by circuit 716. GMSC 714 includes a source location record (HLR) 715 containing subscriber data, such as data reflecting details of services to which a particular user has subscribed. HLR is also associated with an authentication center (AuC) that contains subscriber-specific authentication data. When a call is received for a particular UE, GMSC 714 searches HLR 715 to determine the location of the UEs and sends the call to the particular MSC serving that location.

[0078] CN 704 also supports packet data services with a GPRS supporting node (SGSN) 718 and an access circuit GPRS supporting node (GGSN) 720. GPRS, which stands for General Packet Radio Service, is designed to provide packet data services at speeds greater than those available with standard circuit-switched data services. GGSN 720 provides a connection to UTRAN 702 to a packet-based network 722. The packet-based network 722 may be the Internet, a private data network, or some other suitable packet-based network. The primary function of GGSN 720 is to provide UEs 104 with packet-based network connectivity. Data packets can be transferred between GGSN 720 and UEs 102 via SGSN 718, which performs essentially the same functions in the packet-based domain as MSC 712 performs in the circuit-switched domain.

[0079] An air interface for UMTS may utilize a Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access and spread spectrum (DS-CDMA) system. DS- Spread spectrum CDMA spreads user data by multiplying it across a sequence of pseudorandom bits called chips. The "wideband" W-CDMA air interface for UMTS is based on such direct sequence spread spectrum technology and additionally needs frequency division duplexing (FDD). FDD uses a different carrier frequency for UL and DL between a Node B 708 and a UE 102. Another air interface for UMTS that uses DS-CDMA, and utilizes time division duplexing (TDD), is the TD-SCDMA air interface . Those skilled in the art will recognize that although several examples described herein may refer to a W-CDMA air interface, the underlying principles may be equally applicable to a TD-SCDMA air interface.

[0080] An HSPA air interface includes a number of enhancements to the 3G/W-CDMA air interface, facilitating higher throughput and reduced latency. Among other modifications from previous versions, HSPA uses hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), shared channel transmission, and adaptive modulation and coding. The standards that define HSPA include HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) and HSUPA (high-speed uplink packet access, also referred to as an enhanced uplink, or EUL).

[0081] HSDA uses the high-speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH) as its transport channel. HS-DSCH is implemented by three physical channels; the high-speed physical downlink shared channel (HS-PDSCH), the high-speed shared control channel (HS-SCCH), and the high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS-DPCCH).

[0082] Among these physical channels, HS-DPCCH carries ACK/NACK HARQ signaling in uplink to indicate whether the corresponding packet transmission has been successfully decoded. That is, with respect to downlink, the UE 102 provides feedback to the Node B 708 via HS-DPCCH to indicate whether it has correctly decoded a downlink packet.

[0083] HS-DPCCH further includes feedback signaling from UE 102 to assist Node B 708 in making the correct decision in terms of modulation scheme and weight selection coding and pre-coding, such feedback signaling including CQI and PCI.

[0084] Evolved HSPA or HSPA+ is an evolution of the HSPA standard that includes MIMO and 64-QAM, allowing increased throughput and greater performance. That is, in one aspect of the description, the Node B 708 and/or the UE 102 may have multiple antennas supporting MIMO technology. Using MIMO technology allows the Node B 708 to explore the spatial domain to support spatial multiplexing, beamforming and transmission diversity

[0085] Multiple Inputs and Multiple Outputs (MIMO) is a term generally used to refer to multiple antenna technology, that is, multiple transmitting antennas (multiple channel inputs) and multiple receiving antennas (multiple channel outputs). MIMO systems generally improve data transmission performance by allowing diversity gains to reduce multipath fading and increase transmission quality, and spatial multiplexing gains to increase data throughput.

[0086] Spatial multiplexing can be used to transmit different sequences of data simultaneously on the same frequency. The data streams may be transmitted to a single UE 102 to increase the data rate or to multiple UEs 102 to increase the overall system capacity. This is achieved by spatially pre-coding each data sequence and then transmitting each spatially pre-coded sequence through a different downlink transmitting antenna. The spatially pre-coded data sequences arrive at the UEs 102 with different spatial signatures, which allow each of the UEs 102 to retrieve one or more of the data sequences intended for that UE 102. In uplink, each UE 102 may transmit one or more spatially pre-coded data sequences, while allowing the Node B 7108 to identify the source of each spatially pre-coded data sequence.

[0087] Spatial multiplexing can be used when channel conditions are good. When channel conditions are less favorable, beamforming can be used to focus transmission energy in one or more directions, or to optimize transmission based on channel characteristics. This can be achieved by spatially pre-coding a data sequence for transmission across multiple antennas. To achieve good coverage at the cell edges, single-sequence beamforming transmission can be used in combination with transmission diversity.

[0088] Generally, for MIMO systems using n transmitting antennas, n transport blocks can be transmitted simultaneously over the same carrier using the same channelization code. Note that different transport blocks sent through n transmit antennas may have the same modulation and coding schemes or others as each other.

[0089] On the other hand, Single Input and Multiple Outputs (SIMO) generally refers to a system using a single transmitting antenna (a single input to the channel) and multiple receiving antennas (multiple channel outputs). Thus, in a SIMO system, a single transport block is sent through the respective carrier.

[0090] Referring to Figure 8, an access network 800 in a UTRAN architecture is illustrated, and may include one or more UEs 830, 832, 834, 836, 838 and 840, which may be the same as or similar to UE 102 (Figure 1) as they are configured to include configuration manager 104 (Figure 1; e.g., illustrated here as being associated with UE 836) for performing discontinuous transmission (DTX) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel (DCH) enhancements are configured on a user equipment (UE). The multiple access wireless communication system includes multiple cellular regions (cells), including cells 802, 804, and 806, each of which may include one or more sectors. The multiple sectors can be formed by groups of antennas with each antenna being responsible for communicating with the UEs in a part of the cell. For example, in cell 802, antenna groups 812, 814, 816 may each correspond to a different sector. In cell 804, antenna groups 818, 820, and 822 each correspond to a different sector. In cell 806, antenna groups 824, 826 and 828 each correspond to a different sector. The UEs, for example, 830, 832, etc. may include various wireless communication devices, e.g., User Equipment or UEs, including configuration manager 104 of FIG. 1, which may be in communication with one or more sectors of each cell 802, 804, or 808. For example, UEs 830 and 832 may be in communication with Node B 842, UEs 834 and 836 may be in communication with Node B 844, and UEs 838 and 840 may be in communication with Node B 846. Here, each Node B 842, 844, 846 is configured to provide an access point for a CN 704 (Figure 7) for all UEs 830, 832, 834, 836, 838, 840 in respective cells 802, 804 and 806. Additionally, each Node B 842, 844, 846 may be the base station 112 and/or the UEs 830, 832, 834, 836, 838, 840 may be the UE 102 of Figure 1 and may perform the methods highlighted here.

[0091] As the UE 834 moves from the location illustrated in cell 804 into cell 806, a serving cell change (SCC) or handover may occur in which communication with the UE 834 transitions from cell 804, which may be referred to as the source cell, to cell 806, which may be referred to as the target cell. Management of the handover procedure may occur in the UE 834, in the B nodes corresponding to the respective cells, in a radio network controller 706 (Figure 7), or in another suitable node in the wireless network. For example, during a call with the source cell 804, or at any other time, the UE 834 may monitor various parameters of the source cell 804 in addition to various parameters of neighboring cells such as cells 806 and 802. Additionally, depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE 834 can maintain communication with one or more neighboring cells. During this time, the UE 834 may maintain an Active Set, that is, a list of cells to which the UE 834 is simultaneously connected (i.e., the UTRA cells that are currently designating a dedicated physical DPCH downlink channel or a physical dedicated F-DPCH fractional downlink to UE 834 may constitute the Active Set).

[0092] Additionally, the modulation and multiple access scheme employed by access network 800 may vary depending on the particular telecommunications standard being developed. By way of example, the standard might include Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB). EV-DO and UMB are air interface standards promulgated by the 3rd Partnership Project. Generation 2 (3GPP2) as part of the CDMA2000 family of standards and employs CDMA to provide broadband Internet access to mobile stations. The standard may alternatively be Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) employing Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variations of CDMA, such as TD-SCDMA; Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) employing TDMA; and Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 1002.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 1002.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 1002.20, and Flash-OFDM employing OFDMA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, Advanced LTE and GSM are described in 3GPP organization documents. The actual wireless communication standard and multiple access technology employed will depend on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0093] Radio protocol architecture can take several forms depending on the particular application. An example for an HSPA system will now be presented with reference to Figure 9. Figure 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example radio protocol architecture for the user and control planes.

[0094] Turning to Figure 9, the radio protocol architecture for the UE, for example, the UE 102 of Figure 1 configured to include configuration manager 104 (Figures 1 and 9) to perform discontinuous transmission (DTX ) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) are configured on a user equipment (UE) is illustrated with three layers: Layer 1 (L1), Layer 2 (L2), and Layer 3 (L3 ). Layer 1 is the lowest minimum and implements several physical layer signal processing functions. Layer 1 (L1 layer) is referred to here as the physical layer 906. Layer 2 (L2 layer) 908 is above the physical layer 906 and is responsible for the connection between the UE and Node B through the physical layer 906.

[0095] In the user plane, the L2 layer 908 includes a media access control (MAC) sublayer 910, a radio link control (RLC) sublayer 912, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) sublayer ) 914, which are terminated at Node B on the network side. Although not illustrated, the UE may have several upper layers above the L2 layer 908 including a network layer (e.g., IP layer) that is enclosed in a PDN access circuit on the network side, and an application layer that is terminated at the other end of the connection (e.g. far-end UE, server, etc.).

[0096] PDCP sublayer 914 provides multiplexing between different radio bearers and logical channels. The PDCP sublayer 914 also provides header compression for upper-layer data packets to reduce radio transmission overhead, security for encrypting the data packets, and handoff support for UEs between Nodes B. The RLC sublayer 912 provides segmentation and reassembly of upper-layer data packets, retransmission of lost data packets, and reordering of data packets to compensate for out-of-order reception due to hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ). The MAC sublayer 910 provides multiplexing between the logical and transport channels. The MAC sublayer 910 is also responsible for allocating the various radio resources (e.g., resource blocks) in a cell among the UEs. The MAC 910 sublayer is also responsible for HARQ operations.

[0097] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a Node B 1010 in communication with a UE 1050, where the Node B 1010 may be the base station 112 of the network entity 110 and/or the UE 1050 may be the same or a UE similar to 102 of Figure 1 in that it is configured to include configuration manager 104 (Figure 1) to perform discontinuous transmission (DTX) when continuous packet connectivity (CPC) and dedicated channel enhancements (DCH) are configured in a user equipment (UE), controller/processor 1090 and/or memory 1092. In downlink communication, a transmission processor 1020 may receive data from a data source 1012 and control signals from a controller/processor 1040. The transmission processor 1020 provides various signal processing functions for data and control signals, in addition to reference signals (e.g., pilot signals). For example, transmission processor 1020 may provide cyclic redundancy check (CRC) codes for error detection, encoding and interleaving to facilitate forward error correction (FEC), mapping to signal constellations based on various transmission schemes. modulation (e.g. binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M phase shift keying (M-PSK), M quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), and the like), spreading with orthogonal variable spreading factors (OVSF), and multiplying with encryption codes to produce a series of symbols. Channel estimates of a processor and channel 1044 may be used by a controller/processor 1040 to determine coding, modulation, spreading and/or encryption schemes for the transmission processor 1020. These channel estimates may be derived from a signal reference transmitted by UE 1050 or return from UE 1050. Symbols generated by transmission processor 1020 are provided to a transmission frame processor 1030 to create a frame structure. The transmit frame processor 1030 creates this frame structure by multiplexing the symbols with information from the controller/processor 1040, resulting in a series of frames. The frames are then provided to a transmitter 1032, which provides various signal conditioning functions including amplification, filtering and modulation of frames on a carrier for downlink transmission over the wireless medium via the antenna 1034. The antenna 1034 may include a or more antennas, for example, including bidirectional adaptive beam steering antenna arrays or other similar beam technologies.

[0098] In the UE 1050, a receiver 1054 receives the downlink transmission via an antenna 1052 and processes the transmission to recover the modulated information on the carrier. The information retrieved by the receiver 1054 is provided to a receive frame processor 1060, which analyzes each frame, and provides frame information to a channel processor 1094 and the data, control and reference signals to a receive processor 1070. receiving processor 1070 then performs the inversion of the processing performed by transmitting processor 1020 at Node B 1010. More specifically, receiving processor 1070 decrypts and unscatters the symbols, and then determines the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by Node B 1010 based on the modulation scheme. These soft decisions may be based on the channel estimates computed by the channel processor 1094. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data, control and reference signals. The CRC codes are then checked to determine whether the frames were successfully decoded. The data carried by the successfully decoded frames will then be provided to a data store 1072, which represents applications running on the UE 1050 and/or various user interfaces (e.g., monitor). The control signals carried by the successfully decoded frames will be provided to a controller/processor 1090. When the frames are unsuccessfully decoded by the receiving processor 1070, the controller/processor 1090 may also utilize an acknowledgment (ACK) protocol and /or negative acknowledgment (NACK) to support retransmission requests for these frames.

[0099] In uplink, data from a data source 1078 and control signals from the controller/processor 1090 are provided to a transmission processor 1080. The data source 1078 may represent applications running on the UE 1050 and various user interfaces ( e.g. keyboard). Similar to the functionality described with respect to downlink transmission by Node B 1010, the transmission processor 1080 provides various signal processing functions including CRC codes, coding and interleaving to facilitate FEC, mapping into signal constellations, spreading with OVSFs, and encryption. to produce a series of symbols. Channel estimates, derived by channel processor 1094 from a reference signal transmitted by Node B 1010 or from feedback contained in the midamble transmitted by Node B 1010, may be used to select coding, modulation, spreading and/or or encryption. Symbols produced by processor and transmission 1080 will be provided to a processor and frame and transmission 1082 to create a frame structure. The transmit frame processor 1082 creates this frame structure by multiplexing the symbols with information from the controller/processor 1090, resulting in a series of frames. The frames are then provided to a transmitter 1056, which provides various signal conditioning functions including amplification, filtering, and modulation of the frames on a carrier for uplink transmission over the wireless medium via the antenna 1052.

[00100] The uplink transmission is processed at Node B 1010 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function at UE 1050. A receiver 1035 receives the uplink transmission via antenna 1034 and processes the transmission to recover the modulated information on the carrier. The information retrieved by the receiver 1035 is provided to a receive frame processor 1036, which analyzes each frame, and provides frame information to the channel processor 1044 and the data, control and reference signals to a receive processor 1038. receiving processor 1038 performs the inversion of the processing performed by the transmitting processor 1080 in the UE 1050. The data and control signals carried by the successfully decoded frames can then be provided to a data store 1039 and controller/processor, respectively. If some of the frames are unsuccessfully decoded by the receiving processor, the controller/processor 1040 may also utilize an acknowledgment (ACK) and/or negative acknowledgment (NACK) protocol to support retransmission requests for these frames.

[00101] The controller/processor 1040 and 1090 can be used to direct the operation on the Node B 1010 and the UE 1050, respectively. For example, the controller/processors 1040 and 1090 may provide various functions including timing, peripheral interfaces, voltage, regulation, power management, and other control functions. The computer-readable medium of memories 1042 and 1092 can store data and software for Node B 1010 and UE 1050, respectively. A scheduler/processor 1046 in Node B 1010 may be used to allocate resources to the UEs and schedule downlink and/or uplink transmissions to the UEs.

[00102] Various aspects of a telecommunications system have been presented with reference to a W-CDMA system. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this description can be extended to other telecommunications systems, network architectures and communication standards.

[00103] By way of example, various aspects can be extended to other UMTS systems such as TD-SCDMA, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Packet Access in High Speed Plus (HSPA+) and TD-CDMA. Various aspects can also be extended to systems employing Long Term Evolution (LTE) (in FDD, TDD or both modes). LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) (in FDD, TDD, or both modes), CDMA2000, Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Bluetooth, and/or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunications standard, network architecture and/or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[00104] According to various aspects of the description, an element, or any part of an element, or any combination of elements can be implemented with a "processing system" that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete circuits and hardware, and other hardware configured to perform the various functionalities described throughout this description. One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software should be considered broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects , executable elements, execution sequences, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A non-transitory computer-readable medium includes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g. card, stick, key drive), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, a removable disk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and/or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium may also include, by way of example, a carrier wave, a transmission line, and any other suitable medium for transmitting software and/or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium may be resident in the processing system, may be outside the processing system, or distributed across multiple entities including the processing system. The computer-readable medium may be embodied in a computer program product. By way of example, a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality presented throughout this description depending on the particular application and the general design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[00105] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the described methods is an illustration of the illustrative processes. Based on design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The attached method claims the present elements of several steps in a sampling order, and shall not be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically mentioned herein.

[00106] The foregoing description is provided to enable anyone skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined here may be applied to other aspects. Accordingly, the claims should not be limited to the aspects illustrated here, but should be agreed to the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, where reference to an element in the singular does not mean "one and only one" unless specifically mentioned in that way , but instead refers to "one or more". Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more. A phrase referencing "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including singular elements. As an example, "at least one of: a, b or c" must cover: a; B; w; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b and c. All structural and functional equivalences to elements of the various aspects described throughout this description that are known today or will later become known to those skilled in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are to be encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing described here is intended for the public regardless of whether such description is explicitly mentioned in the claims. No element of a claim shall be considered under 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly mentioned using the phrase "means to" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is mentioned using the phrase "step to".

Claims (15)

1. Method for performing discontinuous transmission, DTX, when continuous packet connectivity, CPC, and dedicated channel enhancements, DCH, are configured in a user equipment (102), UE, characterized by the fact that it comprises: identifying (502) whether DTX is allowed in association with CPCs in the UE for a first period of time (212, 214, 216); determining (504) whether DTX is permitted in association with the DCH enhancements in the UE (102) during a second period of time (320); and performing (506) DTX on the UE (102) during a third time period (412, 416) when the first time period (212, 214, 216) and the second time period (320) allow DTX, at least partially , and wherein the third time period (412, 416) is a duration during which the DTX of the CPC overlaps the DTX of the DCH enhancements. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that it further comprises: receiving a transmit power control bit, TPC, on a dedicated downlink physical control channel, DL DPCCH, during the third period of time, and wherein the third time period is the same time period for receiving a fractional dedicated physical channel, F-DPCH. 3. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the CPC is configured with a transmission time interval, TTI, of 2 ms and the DCH enhancements are configured with a TTI of 10 ms. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification is based on whether the UE is performing a DTX of a dedicated uplink physical control channel, UL DPCCH. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification and determination are based on a release number or radio access capabilities of the UE. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the embodiment includes performing DTX of all uplink channels in the UE during the third period of time. 7. Method for performing discontinuous reception, DRX, when continuous packet connectivity, CPC, and dedicated channel enhancements, DCH, are configured in a user equipment (102), UE, characterized by the fact that it comprises: identifying (502) whether discontinuous reception, DRX, is permitted in association with the CPC in the UE during a first period of time (212, 214, 216); determining (504) whether DRX is permitted in association with DCH enhancements in the UE (102) during a second period of time (320); and performing (506) DRX on the UE (102) during a third time period (412, 416) when the first time period (212, 214, 216) and the second time period (320) allow DRX at least partially, and wherein the third time period (412, 416) is a duration during which the DRX of the CPC overlaps the DRX of the DCH improvements. 8. Apparatus for performing discontinuous transmission, DTX, when continuous packet connectivity, CPC, and dedicated channel enhancements, DCH, are configured in a user equipment (102), UE, characterized by the fact that it comprises: means for identifying whether DTX is allowed in association with CPC in the UE (102) for a first period of time (212, 214, 216); means for determining whether DTX is permitted in association with DCH enhancements in the UE (102) during the second time period (320); and means for performing DTX on the UE (102) during a third time period (412, 416) when the first time period (212, 214, 216) and the second time period (320) allow DTX, at least partially, and wherein the third period of time (412, 416) is a duration during which the DTX of the CPC overlaps the DTX of the DCH enhancements. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising: means for receiving a transmit power control bit, TPC, on a dedicated downlink physical control channel, DL DPCCH, during the third period of time, and wherein the third period of time is the same period of time to receive a fractional dedicated physical channel, F-DPCH. 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the identification is based on whether the UE is performing a DTX of a dedicated uplink physical control channel, UL DPCCH. 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the identification and determination is based on a release number or radio access capabilities of the UE. 12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the means for performing includes means for performing DTX of all uplink channels in the UE during the third period of time. 13. Apparatus for performing discontinuous reception, DRX, when continuous packet connectivity, CPC, and dedicated channel enhancements, DCH, are configured in a user equipment (102), UE, characterized by the fact that it comprises: means for identifying whether discontinuous reception, DRX, is permitted in association with the CPC in the UE (102) for a first period of time (212, 214, 216); means for determining whether DRX is permitted in association with DCH enhancements in the UE (102) during a second period of time (320); and means for performing DRX on the UE during a third period of time when the first period of time (212, 214, 216) and the second period of time (320) allow DRX, at least partially, and wherein the third period time (412, 416) is a duration during which the DRX of the CPC overlaps the DRX of the DCH enhancements. 14. Computer-readable memory characterized by the fact that it comprises instructions stored therein which, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 6. 15. Computer-readable memory characterized by the fact that it comprises instructions stored therein that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method as defined in claim 7.