CN106685610B

CN106685610B - Method and apparatus for control channel resource allocation

Info

Publication number: CN106685610B
Application number: CN201510751071.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨莉; 王河
Original assignee: Alcatel Lucent SAS
Current assignee: Alcatel Lucent SAS
Priority date: 2015-11-06
Filing date: 2015-11-06
Publication date: 2020-05-12
Anticipated expiration: 2035-11-06
Also published as: CN106685610A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for controlling channel resource allocation in a wireless communication system. The method includes transmitting a scheduling message to a device over a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data to the device; transmitting the downlink data to the device on the indicated resources; determining uplink control channel resources for receiving feedback from the device for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an Aggregation Level (AL) used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is transmitted; and receiving the feedback from the device over the determined uplink control channel resources. The present disclosure also provides a corresponding apparatus. According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the conflict of the uplink control channel resource can be reduced, and the utilization efficiency of the uplink control channel resource can be improved.

Description

Method and apparatus for control channel resource allocation

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to resource allocation and conflict resolution for control channels in a wireless communication system.

Background

A Machine Type Communication (MTC) device is a User Equipment (UE) used by a machine for a specific purpose. In the third generation partnership project (3GPP), in order to reduce the complexity/cost of MTC, the concept of low complexity MTC (LC-MTC) has been proposed. One technique to reduce complexity is to reduce the radio frequency (RF, otherwise known as radio frequency) bandwidth of the LC-MTC device to 1.4MHz, i.e., to operate the device in a narrow band of 6 Physical Resource Block (PRB) sizes in the LTE system bandwidth. It has been agreed at 3 GPP's Rel-13 RAN1#82 conference for LC-MTC devices that LC devices only need to support a radio frequency bandwidth of 1.4MHz in the uplink and downlink.

On the other hand, considering that some MTC devices may operate in poor channel conditions (for example, a smart meter may be placed in a basement and thus experience severe penetration loss), how to provide Coverage Enhancement (CE) for such MTC devices becomes an important research topic. Such a device is called coverage enhancement CE-MTC-UE.

During the research on coverage enhancement, it was recognized that repeated transmission is the main approach to CE resolution. The number of repetitions required may be different for different physical channels, and different devices may also require different coverage enhancement levels, each with a corresponding number of repetitions (or repetition level). It has been agreed at the 3GPP RAN1#82 conference that for a UE in a radio resource control CONNECTED (RRC _ CONNECTED) state, two Coverage Enhancement (CE) modes are specified. Wherein CE mode a describes a set of behaviors of the device that are not repeated or are repeated only a small amount in the communication; while CE mode B describes a set of behaviors of the device that are largely duplicated in the communication.

In the current LTE system, the terminal device needs to feed back a positive Acknowledgement (ACK) or a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) after receiving downlink data from the base station to support hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ). The feedback may be transmitted in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

Currently, for a Low Complexity (LC) device operating in a narrow band and/or a device requiring Coverage Enhancement (CE), how to feed back ACK/NACK through PUCCH still has many problems that are not solved. For example, how to determine PUCCH resources for feedback, and how to avoid collision of PUCCH resources.

In response to at least some of these problems, embodiments of the present disclosure propose improved methods and apparatus.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of various embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of various embodiments. This summary is not intended to identify key elements or to delineate the scope of the various embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is discussed later.

A first aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for resource allocation in a wireless communication system. The method includes transmitting a scheduling message to a device over a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data to the device; transmitting the downlink data to the device on the indicated resources; determining uplink control channel resources for receiving feedback from the device for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an Aggregation Level (AL) used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is transmitted; and receiving the feedback from the device over the determined uplink control channel resources.

In one embodiment, the wireless communication system may comprise a plurality of narrowband resources for a downlink control channel, and wherein the determination is further based on an index of a first narrowband resource used to transmit the scheduling message among the plurality of narrowband resources.

In another embodiment, determining the uplink control channel resource for feedback may include calculating an index of the uplink control channel resource by

If the downlink control channel employs distributed resource transmission, then

If the downlink control channel employs centralized resource transmission, then

Wherein n is_ECCEA lowest index indicating an Enhanced Control Channel Element (ECCE) for transmitting the scheduling message, AL_minRepresents a minimum value of an aggregation level AL used by the downlink control channel in all the narrowband resources in the first subframe, n_{epdcch_NBidx}An index representing the first narrowband resource for transmitting the scheduling message, M represents a total number of ECCEs in each narrowband resource,

represents the number of ECCEs contained in each Resource Block (RB), n' is a value determined for an antenna port used for a downlink control channel transmitting the scheduling message, and

a starting point offset representing the uplink control channel resource.

In one embodiment, the method may further comprise passing throughSignaling to the device an AL (e.g., AL) for calculating the uplink control channel resource_min) Is static or semi-static.

In another embodiment, alternatively or additionally, determining the uplink control channel resource may further comprise: determining the uplink control channel resources based on a repetition level used when transmitting the scheduling message. In yet another embodiment, determining the uplink control channel resources based on a repetition level used when transmitting the scheduling message comprises: determining a starting point offset of the uplink control channel resource based on the repetition level, and calculating an index of the uplink control channel resource based on the starting point offset.

A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a method on the terminal side corresponding to the method of the first aspect. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a scheduling message from a base station through a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data; receiving the downlink data from the base station on the indicated resources; determining uplink control channel resources for sending feedback to the base station for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an aggregation level used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is received; and transmitting the feedback to the base station through the determined uplink control channel resource.

A third aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus corresponding to the method of the first aspect, the apparatus including a first transmitting unit configured to transmit a scheduling message to a device over a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data to the device; a second transmitting unit configured to transmit the downlink data to the device on the indicated resource; a determining unit configured to determine uplink control channel resources for receiving feedback from the device for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an aggregation level used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is transmitted; and a receiving unit configured to receive the feedback from the device through the determined uplink control channel resource.

A fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus corresponding to the method of the second aspect, the apparatus including a first receiving unit configured to receive a scheduling message from a base station over a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data; a second receiving unit configured to receive the downlink data from the base station on the indicated resource; a determining unit configured to determine uplink control channel resources for sending feedback to the base station for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an aggregation level used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is received; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the feedback to the base station through the determined uplink control channel resource.

A fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to: the apparatus, in conjunction with the at least one processor, is caused to perform the method of the first aspect of the disclosure.

A sixth aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to: the apparatus, in conjunction with the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to perform the method of the second aspect of the disclosure.

According to the method or the device of the embodiment of the disclosure, the resource conflict of the uplink control channel for feedback can be reduced or eliminated. And according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the resource location for feedback can be implicitly determined, signaling overhead is reduced, and system efficiency is improved.

The methods and apparatus according to embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to implementation in the context of 3GPP LTE, nor to resolving resource conflicts caused by LC and/or CE devices, but may be applied broadly in any communication system where similar issues exist.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the embodiments to the particular forms disclosed.

Drawings

Objects, advantages and other features of embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following disclosure and claims. A non-limiting description of the preferred embodiments is given herein, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication network in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

fig. 2 schematically illustrates a scenario of PUCCH resource collision caused by LC and/or CE UEs;

3a-b show a flow chart of a method for resource allocation at the base station side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram illustrating conflict resolution according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

5a-b show a flow chart of a method at a terminal side for controlling channel resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for resource allocation at a base station side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and is

Fig. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for resource allocation at a terminal side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

In the following description, numerous details are set forth for the purpose of explanation. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced without these specific details. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.

It will be understood that the terms "first," "second," and the like, are used merely to distinguish one element from another. And in fact, a first element can also be referred to as a second element and vice versa. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, elements, functions, or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, functions, or components.

For ease of explanation, embodiments of the present disclosure will be presented herein in the context of low complexity and/or coverage enhanced MTC devices in LTE systems, however, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, embodiments of the present disclosure are in no way limited to the application environment of LTEMTC, but rather may be applied in any communication system where similar problems exist.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication network in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The wireless communication network 100 is shown in fig. 1 as a cellular structure for purposes of illustration only. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other network architectures, such as ad hoc (ad hoc), where similar problems exist. The wireless communication network includes one or more base stations 101, which are shown for exemplary purposes only as enhanced node bs (enbs, or enodebs) in a 3GPP LTE system. It is to be appreciated that the base stations can also take the form of node bs (nb), Base Station Subsystems (BSSs), relay stations, and the like. Base station 101 provides wireless connectivity for a plurality of wireless devices (e.g., 102-104), which may be User Equipment (UE). The term "user equipment" is also known as mobile communication terminals, wireless terminals, mobile stations, Machine Type Communication (MTC) devices, etc. and includes mobile phones, smart meters, sensors, wearable devices, computers with wireless communication capabilities, etc. The UE may be a low complexity device (LC UE), and/or a device requiring coverage enhancement (CE UE).

In current LTE systems, a base station transmits a scheduling message to a UE through a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH), which may indicate Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) resources for downlink data transmission, etc. HARQ is supported in LTE, that is, after receiving downlink data from a base station in PDSCH, the UE needs to feed back ACK or NACK in uplink, which can be transmitted in Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

It has been agreed on a 3GPP RAN1#82 conference that LC devices and CE devices can support PUCCH formats 1/1a/2/2a and derive PUCCH resources in the same way as specified in LTE Rel-12 release, i.e. the PUCCH resources are determined by PDCCH or EPDCCH. For the determination of PUCCH resources in the existing LTE standard, see chapter 10 of TS36.213V12.2.0 (6 months 2014).

Reusing the existing method to derive PUCCH resources through PDCCH/EPDCCH has its advantages, e.g., less impact on the standard. However, this scheme may present problems in supporting LC and CE devices. For example, according to the existing method in the LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, assuming a case of one antenna port and one configured cell, PUCCH resources are used for distributed transmission (distributed transmission) and centralized transmission (localized transmission) of EPDCCH

Can be based on the parameter n_CCE,Δ_AROAnd

determined as shown in the following formulas (1) and (2), respectively:

for distributed transmission:

for localized transmission:

wherein n is_ECCEIs the lowest index, Δ, of an Enhanced Control Channel Element (ECCE) in the EPDCCH associated with the PUCCH_AROMay be from the HARQ-ACK resource offset field in the Downlink Control Information (DCI)In the case of a certain number of times,

indicating the number of ECCEs contained in each Resource Block (RB), n' is a value determined for the antenna port used by the downlink control channel transmitting the scheduling message, see, e.g., chapter 10 of TS36.213V12.2.0 (6 months 2014) and section 6.8a.5 of TS36.211 V12.2.0 (6 months 2014), whereas

Is the starting point offset of the PUCCH resource, which is currently configured through higher layer signaling.

However, for LC devices and CE devices, directly reusing existing methods to determine feedback resources would result in collision of PUCCH resources. For example, as previously described, an LC UE operates in a certain sub-band within the system bandwidth if DCI assignments for two LC UEs occupying different EPDCCH sub-bands have the same lowest ECCE index, i.e. its n_ECCEIf the values are the same, the values are calculated according to the above expression (1) or (2)

May be the same. This means that PUCCHs are likely to collide if their PUCCHs are located in the same subband. CE UEs may also cause PUCCH resource collision. Given that two CE UEs have different repetition levels, the time interval between their EPDCCH and PUCCH may be different, in which case if their PUCCHs are located in the same subband, the EPDCCH located in different subframes may map to PUCCH resources in the same subframe due to the different time intervals, resulting in collision of PUCCH resources. A scenario of PUCCH collision caused by LC and/or CE UEs is schematically shown in fig. 2. It is shown that for the reasons in the above two examples, EPDCCH of 6 UEs are mapped to the same PUCCH resource, causing severe collision.

To solve the above conflict problem, different Δ in equation (1-2) may be set for different UEs_ARODelta of this_AROCan be determined according to HARQ-ACK resource offset field in DCI format of corresponding EPDCCH, and can solve conflict to a certain extentThe sudden problem is solved. However, the value of this parameter is limited to [0, -1, -2,2 [ ]]This makes it limited to resolve conflicts. For example, for a system bandwidth of 20MHz, there may be up to 16 narrowbands in one subframe (assuming 6PRB sizes per narrowband), which results in up to 16 UEs in different narrowbands having the same n since ECCEs are numbered independently in each narrowband_ECCE，Δ_AROThe limited values of (a) do not solve the problem.

In 3GPP conference documents R1-155113, it is proposed that for CE MTC UEs can inform PUCCH resource location in narrowband based on explicit higher layer signaling to resolve collisions. Obviously, this scheme will bring a large signaling overhead.

In another conference document R1-155302 of 3GPP, it is proposed that ECCEs in different DL narrowband can be consecutively numbered, so that existing PUCCH resource mapping equations can be reused to derive PUCCH. Specifically, for DL MTC narrowband 1, ECCE indexes are from 0 to X-1, for DL MTC narrowband 2, ECCE indexes are from X to 2X-1, and so on. Where the X parameter is either predetermined or configured via higher layer signaling in a cell-specific manner. The scheme can solve the problem of PUCCH resource conflict caused by the same lowest ECCE index in different narrow bands. However, since consecutive numbering is performed, the range of ECCE indexes is large, which means that a large number of PUCCH resources are reserved, resulting in a waste of PUCCH resources.

In another document R1-155346 of 3GPP, it is proposed to determine PUCCH resources based on the PRB index of the last PDSCH for the case of no or small number of repetitions. For the case of a large number of repetitions, PUCCH resources are implicitly determined based on the narrowband index of the last PDSCH. Each MTC UE has only the index of the PRB of its last PDSCH. The method can avoid collision, but the range of the PRB index is also large, so that the waste of PUCCH resources is also caused.

In the present disclosure, to solve at least some of the above problems, a new solution is proposed to solve the conflict problem of feedback resources with different ideas, and without losing system efficiency.

A flow diagram of a method 300 for resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in fig. 3 a. The method 300 may be performed, for example, at a base station (e.g., base station 101 in fig. 1) side of a wireless communication system, although embodiments of the disclosure are not limited thereto, as the method may be performed by other suitable devices in other scenarios, such as in non-cellular scenarios.

As shown in fig. 3a, the method 300 includes: at block S301, transmitting a scheduling message to a device over a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data to the device; transmitting downlink data to the device on the indicated resources, at block S302; determining uplink control channel resources for receiving feedback from the device for downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an Aggregation Level (AL) used by a downlink control channel in a subframe (referred to as a first subframe for ease of explanation) in which the scheduling message is transmitted, at block S303; and receiving the feedback from the device over the determined uplink control channel resources, at block S304.

In one embodiment, the wireless communication system may be an LTE or LTE-a system, and the downlink control channel used to transmit the scheduling message in block S301 may be an EPDCCH, although embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the uplink control channel resource determined at block S303 may be a PUCCH resource in LTE, and the channel is used for feeding back ACK/NACK for downlink data. However, as can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, embodiments of the present disclosure are not so limited, and the uplink control channel resource may also be other channels for feedback with respect to the downlink data. Only for the sake of brevity and for the purpose of illustration, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be mainly described below with EPDCCH and PUCCH as examples.

According to the existing LTE standard, the base station may select an appropriate AL to transmit a scheduling message according to channel conditions for a specific device, each AL indicating the number of ECCEs used for transmitting EPDCCH, at block S301. For example, current LTE supports AL ═ 1,2,4,8,16, 32 (see section 6.8 of 3GPP specification TS36.211 V12.2.0 (month 6 2014)). As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, however, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to using only existing AL values in LTE systems; for example, in some embodiments, other suitable AL values may be employed to accommodate different wireless communication standards or different versions thereof.

In the 3GPP RAN1#82 conference, it is agreed that PDCCH for MTC (M-PDCCH for short) may also have different AL for normal coverage or small coverage enhancement. In order to fully solve the PUCCH resource collision problem as described previously, the range of PUCCH resource offsets must be large enough to accommodate all possible PUCCH resource indices. This is clearly inefficient. Especially considering that n is in practical implementation_ECCEOnly a small number of possible values may be taken. For example, for a UE operating in a CE situation (e.g., a UE in poor channel conditions), only a large AL may be supported in order to reduce the number of repetitions. Whereas, as specified in 3GPP specification TS36.213V12.2.0 (6 months 2014), an EPDCCH comprising n consecutive ECCEs (i.e. AL ═ n) can only start from number i satisfying i mod n ═ 0, where i is the number of an ECCE. Thus, for the case of AL-8, the value of the UE-specific lowest ECCE index is n_ECCE8k, where k is an integer. This scenario means n_ECCEPUCCH resources corresponding to ECCE index values other than 8k will not be used, which undoubtedly results in a waste of PUCCH resources.

In view of the above, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the location of the PUCCH resource may be set as a function of the AL used in the transmission subframe of the scheduling message. In one embodiment, the AL may be used to determine the offset of the PUCCH resource relative to the PUCCH resource starting point, e.g., relative to that in equation (1)

Of (3) is detected. This enables n to be taken into account when a particular AL takes a value_ECCESo that n is no longer all_ECCEAnd the value is taken to reserve PUCCH resources, thereby reducing resource waste.

In one embodiment, the AL used to determine the PUCCH resource may be the AL used for transmission of the scheduling message.

In another embodiment, the base station may employ a different AL for EPDCCH for different UEs in the same scheduling subframe. At block S303, PUCCH resources may be determined based on the minimum AL used in EPDCCH for different UEs in the subframe, i.e. the location of the PUCCH resource may be set as a function of the minimum AL in the corresponding EPDCCH subframe.

For example, AL or minimum AL (denoted as AL)_min) Can be used for adjusting n in the formula (1-2)_ECCE,Δ_ARO,

The value of any one of them. For example, n may be_ECCEIs adjusted to be n'_ECCE＝n_ECCE/AL_min。

As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the present disclosure is not limited to determining PUCCH resources with any particular functional form of AL in block S303. The principle is to take the information of AL into account when determining PUCCH resources to reduce collisions and reduce resource waste.

In another embodiment, a plurality of narrowband resources for a downlink control channel may be included in the wireless communication system, and in block S303, the resources may additionally or alternatively be determined based on an index of a narrowband resource (referred to as a first narrowband resource for convenience of explanation) used for transmitting the scheduling message among the plurality of narrowband resources. That is, the feedback resource may be determined based on the index of the narrowband resource used alone or based on both the index of the narrowband resource and AL.

In one embodiment, at block S303, the index of the PUCCH resource for feedback may be calculated in the following manner

If the downlink control channel employs distributed resource transmission, then

If the downlink control channel employs centralized resource transmission, then

Wherein n is_ECCEIndicating the lowest index of the ECCE used for transmitting said scheduling message, AL_minRepresents a minimum value, n, of AL used by a downlink control channel in all narrow bands in a subframe transmitting the scheduling message_{epdcch_NBidx}An index indicating the narrowband resource transmitting the scheduling message, M indicating the total number of ECCEs in each narrowband resource, for a 6PRB narrowband, M-24;

indicates the number of ECCEs in one RB,

represents a starting point offset of the uplink control channel resource, and n' is a value determined by an antenna port used for a downlink control channel transmitting the scheduling message. In one embodiment, n' may have the same meaning as in formula (2), but embodiments of the disclosure are not limited thereto. In accordance with the principles of the present disclosure, an AL is utilized_minAnd n_{epdcch_NBidx}Determining

Any suitable n' may be used to make appropriate adjustments to the determination.

Suppose AL_minIs 8, then n is possible_ECCEThe value will be 0,8, 16. MTC UEs with an AL of 8 or greater from different EPDCCH narrow bands have only one PUCCH resource. Assuming a minimum AL of 24, the possible n in a narrow band_ECCEThe value is only {0 }. Likewise, MTC UEs with an AL of 24 from different EPDCCH narrow bands also have only one PUCCH resource. Taking distributed transmission as an example, shown in tables 1 and 2, respectively, at AL_minNot equal to 8 and AL_minIn both cases (24), the sum of the first two terms in formula (3), i.e. the value

Is taken from a value of, or

Under the circumstances

The value of (a).

TABLE 1 PUCCH resource allocation (Bandwidth 20MHz, AL)_min＝8)

TABLE 2 PUCCH resource allocation (Bandwidth 20MHz, AL)_min＝24)

The above proposed resource allocation scheme introduces the narrow-band index and AL value of EPDCCH as parameters when determining PUCCH resources, thereby ensuring that collisions can be resolved while resource utilization efficiency can be improved. Note that when the AL difference between different UEs is large, for example, as shown in table 1, if some UEs have AL equal to 8 and other UEs have AL equal to 24, some resources cannot be used by UEs having a high AL level (for example, UEs having AL equal to 24 in table 1 can only use resources 0,3,6, and 9 … at intervals), which results in a decrease in resource utilization efficiency. Thus, in some embodiments, the base station may configure the AL of the UE to similar values.

It should be noted that the above equation (3-4) is a specific example of determining PUCCH resources using both AL and narrowband resource indices in combination, but as can be understood by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and any suitable variations and modifications may be made on this basis. In some embodiments, PUCCH resources may also be determined using only the indices of AL or narrowband resources.

In one embodiment, the method 300 may further include signaling the device at block S310Feeding AL_minIs static or semi-static. For example, the base station may notify the value in system information or notify the UE of the value through higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). In another embodiment, the AL_minMay also be predetermined or may be implicitly determined by the UE so that no signaling is required.

As described above, for UEs with different repetition levels, the time interval between an EPDCCH and a corresponding PUCCH is different, and if the PUCCHs thereof are located in the same subband, the EPDCCH in different subframes may be mapped to the same PUCCH due to the same minimum ECCE value, resulting in resource collision. To this end, in another embodiment, alternatively, or additionally, in block S303, the uplink control channel resources may be determined based on a repetition level used when transmitting the scheduling message. For example, different regions in which the PUCCH is located may be determined according to different repetition levels, thereby avoiding PUCCH resource collision due to different repetition levels as described above in connection with fig. 2.

As an example, as shown in fig. 3b, the block S303 may include: at block S313, a starting point offset for uplink control channel resources is determined based on the repetition level, e.g., as in equations (1-4)

That is, make

A function of temporal repetition level; and, at block S323, an index of the uplink control channel resource is calculated based on the start point offset.

In one embodiment of the present invention,

possible values may be predefined as:

or

And wherein each value may correspond to one or more repetition levels. The base station may determine based on the used repetition level and the predetermined correspondence

And used to calculate the PUCCH resources (e.g., without limitation, according to any of the formulas (1-4)). Thus, PUCCHs of UEs of different repetition levels are located in different ranges, so that collisions can be avoided (if the respective ranges do not overlap) or reduced (if the respective ranges partially overlap).

A schematic diagram of conflict resolution according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in fig. 4. For example, the UE in narrowband 1 and the UE in narrowband 3 in fig. 4 have different repetition levels, which may be according to different

The values resolve possible conflicts. UEs in narrowband 5 and UEs in narrowband 6 have the same repetition level but may collide by having the same ECCE lowest index in different narrowband. Such collisions may be resolved by taking into account the narrowband index of the AL and/or EPDCCH when determining the PUCCH resources.

As described above, the method 300 of the embodiments of the present disclosure can alleviate or solve the PUCCH resource collision problem without reducing the efficiency of the system.

Referring now to fig. 5a, shown is a flow diagram of a method 500 for controlling channel resource allocation in a wireless communication system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 500 corresponds to the method 300 and may be performed by a terminal (e.g., the UE102 in fig. 1) in a wireless communication system.

As shown in fig. 5a, the method 500 includes: receiving a scheduling message from a base station over a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data to the device, at block S501; receiving the downlink data from the base station on the indicated resources at block S502; determining uplink control channel resources for sending feedback to the base station for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an aggregation level used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is received, at block S503; and at block S504, sending the feedback to the base station over the determined uplink control channel resources.

In one embodiment, the scheduling message and downlink data received in blocks S501-S502 may be transmitted by the base station in accordance with the method 300, and the feedback transmitted in block S504 may be received by the base station in block S304 in accordance with the method 300. Similarly, the determination of uplink control channel resources performed in block S503 may be the same as the operations performed in block S303 in method 300. The description relating to fig. 3a-3b is therefore equally applicable here and is therefore not repeated one by one.

In one embodiment, in block S503, an offset of PUCCH resources for feedback relative to a PUCCH resource starting point may be determined based on AL, e.g., relative to equation (1)

Of (3) is detected. In another embodiment, AL can be used to adjust n in equation (1)_ECCE,Δ_ARO,

The value of any one of them.

In one embodiment, the AL used to determine the PUCCH resource may be the AL used by the received scheduling message. In another embodiment, the AL may be the smallest AL used for EPDCCH for different UEs in a subframe in which the scheduling message is received.

In another embodiment, the wireless communication system may include a plurality of narrowband resources for a downlink control channel, and wherein the PUCCH resource may be determined based on an index of a first narrowband resource for receiving the scheduling message among the plurality of narrowband resources in block S503.

In one example, the PUCCH index may be calculated by equation (3) or (4)

In another embodiment, the method 500 may further include, at block S510, receiving signaling from the base station indicating a static or semi-static value of AL used for determining the PUCCH resource, e.g., may indicate AL in equation (3-4)_minIs static or semi-static. In yet another embodiment, the AL_minMay be predetermined or implicitly determined by the UE such that operations in block S510 may be omitted.

In one embodiment, the operations in block S503 may instead comprise determining the uplink control channel resources based on a repetition level used by the received scheduling message. In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5b, in block S503, the method includes: a starting point offset of the uplink control channel resource is determined based on the repetition level at block S513, and an index of the uplink control channel resource is calculated based on the starting point offset at block S523.

As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be variously combined. For example, in one embodiment, PUCCH resources may be determined using the PUCCH resource starting point offset determined by the repetition level; in another embodiment, PUCCH resources may be determined from another offset (offset from the starting point) determined by AL and/or narrowband index; in yet another embodiment, PUCCH resources may be determined in combination with both.

Fig. 6 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus 600 for resource allocation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In one embodiment, apparatus 600 may be implemented as, or a part of, a base station (e.g., base station 101 in fig. 1). The apparatus 600 is operable to perform the method 300 described with reference to fig. 3a-b, as well as any other processes and methods. It should be understood that the method 300 is not limited to being performed by the apparatus 600, and that at least some of the blocks of the method 300 may be performed by other apparatuses or entities.

As shown in fig. 6, the apparatus 600 includes a first transmitting unit 601 configured to transmit a scheduling message to a device over a downlink control channel (e.g., EPDCCH), the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data to the device; a second transmitting unit 602 configured to transmit the downlink data to the device on the indicated resource; a determining unit 603 configured to determine uplink control channel (e.g., PUCCH) resources for receiving feedback from the device for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an Aggregation Level (AL) used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is transmitted; and a receiving unit 604 configured to receive the feedback (e.g., ACK/NACK) from the device over the determined uplink control channel resources.

In an embodiment, the determining unit 603 is configured to determine an offset of the PUCCH resources relative to a PUCCH resource starting point based on the Aggregation Level (AL). In another embodiment, the AL may be an AL used for transmitting the scheduling message, and in another embodiment, the AL may be a minimum AL used for EPDCCH in a subframe in which the scheduling message is transmitted.

In another embodiment, the wireless communication system may include a plurality of narrowband resources for EPDCCH, and wherein the determining unit may be further configured to determine the PUCCH resource based on an index of a narrowband resource used for transmitting the scheduling message among the plurality of narrowband resources.

In yet another embodiment, the determination unit may be configured to calculate the index of the PUCCH resource by formula (3) or (4) according to whether the EPDCCH is transmitted in a distributed or localized manner.

In one embodiment, the apparatus 600 may further include a third transmitting unit 610 configured to transmit the AL for calculating the PUCCH resource, for example, the parameter AL in the formula (3-4), to the device through signaling_minStatic or semi-static values of (d).

In another embodiment, the determining unit 603 may be further configured to determine uplink control channel resources for feedback based on a repetition level used when transmitting the scheduling message. In yet another embodiment, the determining unit may further include: a starting point offset determining unit 613 configured to determine a starting point offset of the uplink control channel resource based on the repetition level, and an index calculating unit 623 configured to calculate an index of the uplink control channel resource based on the starting point offset.

In one embodiment,

units

601, 602, 603, 610, 613, 623 may be configured to perform the operations in

blocks

301, 302, 303, 310, 313, 323, respectively, of method 300. Accordingly, the description of the operations of the various blocks of method 300 with reference to FIGS. 3a-b is equally applicable here.

Fig. 7 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of another apparatus 700 for resource allocation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, apparatus 700 may be implemented as, or as part of, a terminal device (e.g., UE102 in fig. 1). Device 700 may communicate with device 600. The apparatus 700 is operable to perform the method 500 described with reference to fig. 5a-b, as well as any other processes and methods. It should be understood that the method 500 is not limited to being performed by the apparatus 700 and that at least some of the blocks of the method 500 may be performed by other apparatuses or entities.

As shown in fig. 7, the apparatus 700 includes a first receiving unit 701 configured to receive a scheduling message from a base station over a downlink control channel (e.g., EPDCCH), the scheduling message indicating resources (e.g., PDSCH resources) for transmitting downlink data to the device; a second receiving unit 702 configured to receive the downlink data from the base station on the indicated resources; a determining unit 703 configured to determine uplink control channel (e.g. PUCCH) resources for sending feedback to the base station for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an aggregation level used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is received; and a transmitting unit 704 configured to transmit the feedback (e.g., ACK/NACK) to the base station through the determined uplink control channel resource.

As described above in connection with method 500, the determination performed by the determining unit 703 may be based on the AL used by the scheduling message received by the first receiving unit, or on the AL used in receiving the scheduling messageMinimum AL used for EPDCCH in a subframe. In one embodiment, the determining unit 703 may be configured to determine an offset of PUCCH resources for feedback relative to a PUCCH resource starting point based on the AL, e.g. relative to equation (1)

Of (3) is detected.

In another embodiment, the wireless communication system may comprise a plurality of narrowband resources for EPDCCH, and wherein the determining unit 703 may be further configured to determine PUCCH resources for feedback based on an index of the narrowband resources in the plurality of narrowband resources for receiving the scheduling message.

In yet another embodiment, the determination unit 703 may be further configured to calculate the index of the PUCCH resource by formula (3) or (4) according to whether the EPDCCH is transmitted in a distributed or centralized manner.

In one embodiment, the apparatus 700 may further include a third receiving unit 710 configured to receive signaling from the base station, the signaling indicating AL (e.g., parameter AL in formula (3-4)) for calculating the PUCCH resource_min) Is static or semi-static.

In another embodiment, the determining unit 703 may be further configured to determine the uplink control channel resources for feedback based on a repetition level used by the scheduling message received by the first receiving unit 701. In yet another embodiment, the determining unit may further include: a starting point offset determining unit 713 configured to determine a starting point offset of the uplink control channel resource based on the repetition level, and an index calculating unit 723 configured to calculate an index of the uplink control channel resource based on the starting point offset.

As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the

devices

600 and 700, respectively, may also include other elements not shown in fig. 6-7. In some embodiments, certain elements of FIGS. 6-7 may also be omitted.

Advantages of the method and apparatus proposed by embodiments of the present disclosure include at least one of:

-collision of PUCCH resources can be reduced or eliminated;

-improving PUCCH utilization efficiency, reducing resource waste;

small impact on the standardization of the wireless communication system.

Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that blocks or steps of the various methods described above may be performed by a programmed computer. In the present disclosure, some embodiments are also intended to encompass program storage devices, e.g., digital data storage media, that are machine or computer readable and encode machine-executable or computer-executable programs of instructions, wherein the instructions perform some or all of the steps of the above-described methods. The program storage device may be, for example, a digital memory, a magnetic storage medium such as a magnetic disk and magnetic tape, a hard disk drive, or an optically readable digital data storage medium. This embodiment is also intended to cover a computer programmed to perform the steps of the above-described method. Some embodiments are also intended to encompass an apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to: the apparatus, in conjunction with the at least one processor, is caused to perform the

method

300 or 500.

The functions of the various elements of the apparatus shown in the figures may be provided through the use of software, dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software, or firmware, or a combination thereof. When provided by a processor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors. Furthermore, the term "processor" may include, but is not limited to, Digital Signal Processor (DSP) hardware, network processors, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Read Only Memories (ROMs) for storing software, Random Access Memories (RAMs) and non-volatile storage. Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of the disclosure. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and are included within its spirit and scope. Moreover, all examples set forth herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the disclosure and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the disclosure, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A method for resource allocation in a wireless communication system, comprising:

transmitting a scheduling message to a device over a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data to the device;

transmitting the downlink data to the device on the indicated resources;

determining uplink control channel resources for receiving feedback from the device for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an aggregation level AL used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is transmitted; and

receiving the feedback from the device over the determined uplink control channel resources.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication system comprises a plurality of narrowband resources for a downlink control channel, and wherein the determining is further based on an index of a first narrowband resource used to transmit the scheduling message among the plurality of narrowband resources.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining comprises calculating an index of the uplink control channel resource by

If the downlink control channel employs distributed resource transmission, then

If the downlink control channel employs centralized resource transmission, then

Wherein n is_ECCEIndicating the lowest index of an enhanced control channel element, ECCE, used for transmitting said scheduling message, AL_minRepresents a minimum value of an aggregation level AL used by downlink control channels in all narrowband resources in the first subframe, n_{epdcch_NBidx}An index representing the first narrowband resource, M represents a total number of ECCEs in each narrowband resource,

represents the number of ECCEs in one resource block RB, n' is a value determined by an antenna port used for a downlink control channel for transmitting the scheduling message, and

a starting point offset representing the uplink control channel resource.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

signaling the AL to the device_minIs static or semi-static.

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the determining further comprises:

determining the uplink control channel resources based on a repetition level used when transmitting the scheduling message.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the uplink control channel resources based on a repetition level used when transmitting the scheduling message comprises:

determining a starting point offset of the uplink control channel resource based on the repetition level, an

Calculating an index of the uplink control channel resource based on the starting point offset.

7. A method for resource allocation in a wireless communication system, comprising:

receiving a scheduling message from a base station through a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data;

receiving the downlink data from the base station on the indicated resources;

determining uplink control channel resources for sending feedback to the base station for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an aggregation level used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is received; and

transmitting the feedback to the base station over the determined uplink control channel resources.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the wireless communication system comprises a plurality of narrowband resources for a downlink control channel, and wherein the determining is further based on an index of a first narrowband resource used to receive the scheduling message among the plurality of narrowband resources.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining comprises calculating an index of the uplink control channel resource by

If the downlink control isThe channel adopts distributed resource transmission, then

If the downlink control channel employs centralized resource transmission, then

represents the number of ECCEs in one resource block RB, n' is a value determined by an antenna port used for a downlink control channel transmitting the scheduling message,

a starting point offset representing the uplink control channel resource.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving signaling from the base station, the signaling indicating the AL_minIs static or semi-static.

11. The method of any of claims 7-10, wherein the determining further comprises:

determining the uplink control channel resources based on a repetition level used by the received scheduling message.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the uplink control channel resources based on a repetition level used by the received scheduling message comprises:

13. An apparatus for resource allocation in a wireless communication system, comprising:

a first transmitting unit configured to transmit a scheduling message to a device through a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data to the device;

a second transmitting unit configured to transmit the downlink data to the device on the indicated resource;

a determining unit configured to determine uplink control channel resources for receiving feedback from the device for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an aggregation level used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is transmitted; and

a receiving unit configured to receive the feedback from the device over the determined uplink control channel resources.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the wireless communication system comprises a plurality of narrowband resources for a downlink control channel, and wherein the determining unit is further configured to determine the uplink control channel resource based on an index of a first narrowband resource used to transmit the scheduling message in the plurality of narrowband resources.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the determining unit is configured to calculate the index of the uplink control channel resource by

If the downlink control channel employs distributed resource transmission, then

If the downlink control channel employs centralized resource transmission, then

a starting point offset representing the uplink control channel resource.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

a third transmitting unit configured to transmit the AL to the device by signaling_minIs static or semi-static.

17. The apparatus according to any of claims 13-16, wherein the determining unit is further configured to:

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the determining unit further comprises:

a starting point offset determination unit configured to determine a starting point offset of the uplink control channel resource based on the repetition level, an

An index calculation unit configured to calculate an index of the uplink control channel resource based on the start point offset.

19. An apparatus for resource allocation in a wireless communication system, comprising:

a first receiving unit configured to receive a scheduling message from a base station through a downlink control channel, the scheduling message indicating resources for transmitting downlink data;

a second receiving unit configured to receive the downlink data from the base station on the indicated resource;

a determining unit configured to determine uplink control channel resources for sending feedback to the base station for the downlink data, wherein the determination is based at least on an aggregation level used by a downlink control channel in a first subframe in which the scheduling message is received; and

a transmitting unit configured to transmit the feedback to the base station through the determined uplink control channel resource.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the wireless communication system comprises a plurality of narrowband resources for a downlink control channel, and wherein the determining unit is further configured to determine the uplink control channel resource based on an index of a first narrowband resource used to receive the scheduling message in the plurality of narrowband resources.

21. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the determining unit is configured to include calculating the uplink byIndexing of control channel resources

If the downlink control channel employs distributed resource transmission, then

If the downlink control channel employs centralized resource transmission, then

a starting point offset representing the uplink control channel resource.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising:

a third receiving unit configured to receive signaling from the base station, the signaling indicating the AL_minIs static or semi-static.

23. The apparatus according to any of claims 19-22, wherein the determining unit is further configured to:

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the determining unit further comprises: