CN111034288B

CN111034288B - Method and communication node for allocating system bandwidth

Info

Publication number: CN111034288B
Application number: CN201780092178.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张晨晨; 毕峰; 郝鹏
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2017-06-16
Filing date: 2017-06-16
Publication date: 2023-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 2037-06-16
Also published as: WO2018227594A1; CN111034288A

Abstract

A method and a communication node for allocating network resources are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the method and communication node are configured to perform: the system bandwidth is divided into a plurality of sub-bandwidths based on at least a first sub-carrier interval of a plurality of sub-carrier intervals, wherein each of the plurality of sub-bandwidths corresponds to a respective number of resource blocks, and wherein the respective number of resource blocks is each determined based on a second sub-carrier interval of the plurality of sub-carrier intervals, the second sub-carrier interval being greater than or equal to the first sub-carrier interval.

Description

Method and communication node for allocating system bandwidth

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to systems and methods for allocating system bandwidth.

Background

In a conventional Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, a system bandwidth (e.g., 100 MHz) is divided into a plurality of channel bandwidths, each of which may be selected from: 1.4MHz, 3MHz, 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz and 20MHz. When an end user (e.g., user Equipment (UE)) in a legacy LTE network uses a particular carrier (also referred to as conveying a modulated waveform for a corresponding physical channel) to transmit/receive signals, it is often required that the UE use the entire channel bandwidth associated with the particular carrier. However, in a network employing an emerging network standard (e.g., a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication standard) (hereinafter referred to as a "5G network"), there are various communication demands (e.g., internet of things (IoT), large-scale machine type communication (mctc), etc.) for respective applications. Thus, in a 5G network, the respective bandwidth capacity and/or bandwidth requirements may vary significantly between different end users. The conventional channel bandwidth used in conventional LTE networks may not be sufficient to meet such significantly varying bandwidth capacity and/or bandwidth requirements. Thus, the prior art for allocating system bandwidth is not entirely satisfactory.

Disclosure of Invention

The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving one or more problems associated with the prior art and providing additional features that will become apparent when reference is made to the following detailed description in conjunction with the following drawings. According to various embodiments, exemplary systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are given by way of example and not limitation, and that various modifications of the disclosed embodiments may be made while remaining within the scope of the invention as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art having read this disclosure.

In one embodiment, a method comprises: the system bandwidth is divided into a plurality of sub-bandwidths based on at least a first sub-carrier interval of a plurality of sub-carrier intervals, wherein each of the plurality of sub-bandwidths corresponds to a respective number of resource blocks, and wherein the respective number of resource blocks is each determined based on a second sub-carrier interval of the plurality of sub-carrier intervals, the second sub-carrier interval being greater than or equal to the first sub-carrier interval.

In yet another embodiment, a method includes: a signal transmitted using one of a plurality of sub-bandwidths, wherein the plurality of sub-bandwidths is separated from a system bandwidth based on at least a first sub-carrier interval of a plurality of sub-carrier intervals, wherein each of the plurality of sub-bandwidths corresponds to a respective number of resource blocks, and wherein the respective number of resource blocks is each determined based on a second sub-carrier interval of the plurality of sub-carrier intervals, the second sub-carrier interval being greater than or equal to the first sub-carrier interval.

In another embodiment, a communication node comprises: at least one processor configured to divide a system bandwidth into a plurality of sub-bandwidths based on at least a first sub-carrier interval of a plurality of sub-carrier intervals, wherein each of the plurality of sub-bandwidths corresponds to a respective number of resource blocks, and wherein the respective number of resource blocks is each determined based on a second sub-carrier interval of the plurality of sub-carrier intervals, the second sub-carrier interval being greater than or equal to the first sub-carrier interval; and a transmitter configured to transmit at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths to a communication node by indicating one or more of a frequency range, a boundary, and a midpoint of the at least first sub-bandwidth.

In yet another embodiment, a communication node comprises: a receiver configured to receive a signal transmitted using one of a plurality of sub-bandwidths, wherein the plurality of sub-bandwidths are separated from a system bandwidth based at least on a first sub-carrier interval of a plurality of sub-carrier intervals, wherein each of the plurality of sub-bandwidths corresponds to a respective number of resource blocks, and wherein the respective number of resource blocks is determined based each on a second sub-carrier interval of the plurality of sub-carrier intervals, the second sub-carrier interval being greater than or equal to the first sub-carrier interval.

Drawings

Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings. The drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and depict only exemplary embodiments of the invention to facilitate the reader's understanding of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings should not be taken as limiting the breadth, scope, or applicability of the invention. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, the drawings are not necessarily made to scale.

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary cellular communication network in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary base station and user equipment according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3A and 3B illustrate a System Bandwidth (SBW) divided into a plurality of bandwidth portions (BWP), each bandwidth portion being associated with a channel bandwidth, respectively, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, and 4F illustrate a System Bandwidth (SBW) divided into a plurality of bandwidth portions (BWP), each bandwidth portion being associated with a transmission bandwidth, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively.

Fig. 5 illustrates an exemplary System Bandwidth (SBW) that is divided into multiple sets of bandwidth portions (BWP) using respective different subcarrier spacings according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. As will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications may be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, the invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. In addition, the particular order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein is only an exemplary approach. The particular order or hierarchy of steps in the disclosed methods or processes may be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present invention based upon design preferences. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or acts in an example order, and that the invention is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically stated otherwise.

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication network 100 in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary communication network 100 includes a base station 102 (hereinafter "BS 102") and a user equipment 104 (hereinafter "UE 104") capable of communicating with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel), and a cluster of

conceptual cells

126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 that cover a geographic area 101. In fig. 1, BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within the geographic boundaries of cell 126. Each of the

other cells

130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 may include at least one base station operating with its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate wireless coverage to its intended users. For example, the base station 102 may operate with an allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide sufficient coverage to the UE 104. Base station 102 and UE 104 may communicate via downlink radio frame 118 and uplink radio frame 124, respectively. Each radio frame 118/124 may be further divided into subframes 120/126 that may include data symbols 122/128. In the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 104 are described herein as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes" that may generally practice the methods disclosed herein. According to various embodiments of the present invention, such communication nodes are capable of wireless and/or wired communication.

Fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system 200 for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM/OFDMA signals) in accordance with some embodiments of the invention. The system 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operational features that need not be described in detail herein. In one exemplary embodiment, as described above, system 200 may be used to transmit and receive data symbols in a wireless communication environment, such as wireless communication environment 100 of fig. 1.

The system 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter "BS 202") and a user equipment 204 (hereinafter "UE 204"). BS 202 includes BS (base station) transceiver module 210, BS antenna 212, BS processor module 214, BS memory module 216, and network communication module 218, each of which are coupled and interconnected to each other as needed via data communication bus 220. The UE204 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each coupled and interconnected with each other as needed via a data communication bus 240. BS 202 communicates with UE204 via communication channel 250, which communication channel 250 may be any wireless channel or other medium known in the art suitable for data transmission as described herein.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the system 200 may also include any number of modules in addition to those shown in fig. 2. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware, computer readable software, firmware, or any practical combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those familiar with the concepts described herein may implement such functionality in a suitable manner for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present invention.

According to some embodiments, UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 230, which includes RF transmitter and receiver circuitry, each coupled to an antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time duplex manner. Similarly, BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 210, according to some embodiments, that includes RF transmitter and receiver circuitry that are each coupled to an antenna 212. The downlink duplex switch may alternatively couple a downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in a time duplex manner. The operation of the two transceivers 210 and 230 are coordinated in time such that the uplink receiver is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 to receive transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 while the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212. Preferably there is a tight time synchronization with only a minimum guard time between duplex direction changes.

The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link 250 and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna arrangement 212/232 that may support a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some example embodiments, the UE transceiver 210 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocol. Rather, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 may be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

According to various embodiments, BS 202 may be, for example, an evolved node B (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto station, or a pico station. In some implementations, the UE 204 may be embodied in various types of user equipment, such as mobile phones, smart phones, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, laptop computers, wearable computing devices, and the like. The processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented or realized with general purpose processors, content addressable memory, digital signal processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, any suitable programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, a processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, state machine, or the like. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a combination of multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

Furthermore, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by the processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. Memory modules 216 and 234 may be implemented as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, the memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, such that the processor modules 210 and 230 may read information from the memory modules 216 and 234 and write information to the memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some implementations, memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

Network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and/or other components of base station 202 that enable bi-directional communication between base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communicate with base station 202. For example, the network communication module 218 may be configured to support internet or WiMAX services. In an exemplary, without limitation, network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 ethernet interface so that base transceiver station 210 can communicate with a conventional ethernet-based computer network. In this manner, the network communication module 218 may include a physical interface (e.g., a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)) for connecting to a computer network.

The present disclosure provides various embodiments of systems and methods that divide a predefined system bandwidth (hereinafter "SBW") into one or more sub-bandwidths (also referred to as bandwidth portions (hereinafter "BWP")) to accommodate various applications used by various different end users in one SBW. Further, for example, various embodiments of the systems and methods provide techniques for partitioning an SBW into multiple BWP based on various parameter sets (numerology), such as global reference subcarrier spacing (SCS), respectively different SCS, maximum SCS, minimum SCS, etc., as will be discussed in detail below. In this way, BWP (each of which is used by a respective end user) may have a respective number of resource blocks, which may be used for transmission.

For example, referring again to fig. 1, before BS 102 and UE 104 communicate with each other via communication link 110, BS 102 may divide the SBW into multiple bwrs and use higher-level instructions (e.g., radio Resource Control (RRC) signals) to inform UE 104 of the respective bwrs to be allocated for use by UE 104. In some embodiments, such individual BWP may be in units of MHz, commonly referred to as individual "channel bandwidths" of the BWP, or in units of resource blocks, commonly referred to as individual "transmission bandwidths" of the BWP.

Fig. 3A and 3B illustrate that the exemplary SBW 300 is divided into a plurality of bwops (302, 304, 306, 308, etc.), each bwop being associated with a respective channel bandwidth in MHz. Note that SBW 300 of fig. 3A and 3B is symbolically shown in MHz along the frequency domain. Referring first to fig. 3A,

BWP

302, 304, and 306 divided from SBW 300 may each have a corresponding channel bandwidth in MHz, i.e., a corresponding frequency range. For example, BWP 302 has a first channel bandwidth 303 (MHz); BWP 304 has a second channel bandwidth 305 (MHz); and BWP 306 has a third channel bandwidth 307 (MHz). More specifically, each channel bandwidth is defined by a respective start frequency and end frequency. In some embodiments, the BS may inform the UE of the allocated BWP by providing at least one of a channel bandwidth (i.e., a frequency range) of the allocated BWP and a start frequency, a middle frequency, and an end frequency of the channel bandwidth. Referring now to FIG. 3B, in addition to the

BWPs

302, 304, and 306 shown in FIG. 3A, SBW 300 may include BWP 308, BWP 308 including

BWPs

302 and 304. Thus, BWP 308 has a channel bandwidth that is the sum of channel bandwidths 303 and 305, and has a start frequency aligned with the start frequency of BWP 302 and an end frequency aligned with the end frequency of BWP 304.

Fig. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, and 4F illustrate an exemplary SBW 400 divided into a plurality of bwtps (402, 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, 422, 424, 426, etc.) according to various configurations, each BWP being associated with a respective transmission bandwidth in resource blocks, according to various embodiments. It should be noted that the SBW 400 of fig. 4A-4F is symbolically shown in MHz along the frequency domain. As known to those of ordinary skill in the art, each resource block spans a predefined number of subcarriers, each subcarrier spans a frequency range, and the subcarriers are separated from each other by a subcarrier spacing (SCS) in kHz. Thus, for BWP with a corresponding channel bandwidth (MHz), a corresponding SCS may be used to further define (e.g., divide) a corresponding number of resource blocks of the BWP, i.e., a corresponding transmission bandwidth.

In fig. 4A,

BWP

402, 404, and 406 divided from SBW 400 may each have a corresponding transmission bandwidth in resource block units. More specifically, the number of resource blocks for each

BWP

402, 404, and 406 is defined by the corresponding different SCS. For example, BWP 402 with channel bandwidth 403 is defined by the first SCS as having a total of 8 resource blocks; BWP 404 with channel bandwidth 405 is defined by the second SCS to have a total of 4 resource blocks; and the BWP 406 having the channel bandwidth 407 is defined by the third SCS to have a total of 4 resource blocks, wherein in the current example, the first SCS, the second SCS, and the third SCS are different from each other. Fig. 4B is substantially similar to fig. 4A, except that SBW 400 in fig. 4B also includes

BWP

408 and 410,

BWP

408 and 410 having channel bandwidth 403 (of BWP 402) plus channel bandwidth 405 (of BWP 404), and channel bandwidth 407 (of BWP 406), respectively, but using different SCS, respectively, to define the number of resource blocks (shown in dashed lines). More specifically, even though BWP 402 and BWP 404 have 8 and 4 resource blocks, respectively, BWP 408 is defined by a fourth SCS (different from the first SCS and the second SCS used by BWP 402 and BWP 404, respectively) as having 8 resource blocks; and even though BWP 406 has 4 resource blocks, BWP 410 is defined by the fifth SCS (a third SCS different from BWP 406 use) as having 16 resource blocks.

In fig. 4C,

BWP

412, 414 and 416 divided from SBW 400 may each have a corresponding transmission bandwidth. However, the respective transmission bandwidths of

BWPs

412, 414, and 416 are defined by the global reference SCS, i.e., the common reference SCS is shared by the plurality of

BWPs

412, 414, and 416. In other words, although the

BWPs

412, 414, and 416 may have respective different channel bandwidths, the respective transmission bandwidths of the

BWPs

412, 414, and 416 are defined by the same SCS, which may be the largest SCS among a plurality of possible values of SCS available to the SBW 400. Fig. 4D is substantially similar to fig. 4C except that SBW 400 in fig. 4D also includes BWP 418 whose transmission bandwidth is the sum of the transmission bandwidths of

BWP

412 and 414.

In fig. 4E,

BWP

420, 422 and 426 divided from SBW 400 may each have a corresponding transmission bandwidth. However, the respective transmission bandwidths of

BWPs

420, 422, and 426 are also defined by another global reference SCS, which may be the smallest SCS among the multiple possible values of SCS available to SBW 400. Such a plurality of possible values of SCS may be predefined in the protocol of the system network using SBW 400. Fig. 4F is substantially similar to fig. 4E except that SBW 400 in fig. 4F also includes BWP 426 whose transmission bandwidth is the sum of the transmission bandwidths of

BWP

420 and 422.

As described above, when defining the respective transmission bandwidths of the plurality of BWP divided from the SBW, one or more of a plurality of possible values of SCS available to the SBW are used. In some embodiments, the respective transmission bandwidth of each divided BWP is limited by the transmission bandwidth when using the largest SCS of the multiple possible values of SCS, regardless of which SCS is selected for use. More specifically, the corresponding transmission bandwidth of each divided BWP may be divided by the transmission bandwidth when the largest SCS among the possible values of the plurality of SCSs is used. In some embodiments, the transmission bandwidth when using the largest SCS of the plurality of possible values of SCS may be expressed as:

or->

Wherein (1)>

Represents the number of resource blocks of BWP when the maximum SCS is used; />

Indicating the number of subcarriers of the resource block when the maximum SCS is used.

For example, fig. 5 shows BWPs 502, 504, 506, 508, and 510 (having the same channel bandwidth) divided from SBW 500, with corresponding different transmission bandwidths when using different SCSs, according to some embodiments. In this example, there are four possible SCS values (15 kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, and 120 kHz) available to the SBW 500. When the transmission bandwidth of BWP502-510 is defined using the smallest SCS of the four (e.g., 15 kHz), each BWP of BWP502-510 has a total transmission bandwidth of 8 resource blocks; when the transmission bandwidth of BWP502-510 is defined using the first intermediate SCS of the four (e.g., 30 kHz), each BWP of BWP502-510 has a total of 4 resource blocks of transmission bandwidth; when the transmission bandwidth of BWP502-510 is defined using the second intermediate SCS of the four (e.g., 60 kHz), each BWP of BWP502-510 has a total transmission bandwidth of 2 resource blocks; and when the transmission bandwidths of BWP502-510 are defined using the maximum SCS of these four (e.g., 120 kHz), each BWP in BWP502-510 has a total transmission bandwidth of 1 resource block.

Thus, when the minimum SCS, the first SCS, and the second SCS are used to define the respective transmission bandwidths of the BWPs 502-510, the transmission bandwidths (e.g., 8, 4, and 2) may be divided by the transmission bandwidth (e.g., 1) when the maximum SCS is used, which corresponds to 120kHz in the above discussion. For example, when the transmission bandwidth of each of BWP502-510 is defined using the minimum SCS (15 kHz), the transmission bandwidth is 8, which may be divided by the transmission bandwidth (e.g., 1) of each of BWP502-510 when the maximum SCS (120 kHz) is used; when the transmission bandwidth of each of the BWP502-510 is defined using the first SCS (30 kHz) smaller than the maximum SCS, the transmission bandwidth is 4, which may be divided by the transmission bandwidth (e.g., 1) of each of the BWP502-510 when the maximum SCS (120 kHz) is used; when the transmission bandwidth of each of the BWP502-510 is defined using a second SCS (60 kHz) smaller than the maximum SCS, the transmission bandwidth is 2, which may be divided by the transmission bandwidth (e.g., 1) of each of the BWP502-510 when the maximum SCS (120 kHz) is used.

Further, it should also be noted that the respective transmission bandwidth of each of the BWP502-510 is bounded by the respective boundary 520 of the transmission bandwidth when the largest SCS is used, no matter which SCS is selected for use. For example, when the transmission bandwidth of each of BWP502-510 is defined using the minimum SCS (15 kHz), the transmission bandwidth of each of BWP502-510 is defined by boundary 520 (i.e., boundary 520 of the transmission bandwidth of each of BWP502-510 when the maximum SCS (120 kHz) is used); when the transmission bandwidth of each of BWP502-510 is defined using the first SCS (30 kHz), the transmission bandwidth of each of BWP502-510 is defined by boundary 520 (i.e., boundary 520 of the transmission bandwidth of each of BWP502-510 when the maximum SCS (120 kHz) is used); when the transmission bandwidth of each of the BWP502-510 is defined using the second SCS (60 kHz), the transmission bandwidth of each of the BWP502-510 is defined by the boundary 520, i.e., the boundary 520 of the transmission bandwidth of each of the BWP502-510 when the maximum SCS (120 kHz) is used.

As described above, in the conventional LTE network, channel bandwidths of 1.4MHz, 3MHz, 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, and 20MHz are used. For compatibility with the channel bandwidths of the LTE network, the respective channel bandwidths of the BWP (e.g., 302, 304, 306, 308, etc.) described above may be represented as a first order polynomial, where each of the first order polynomials is one of the channel bandwidths of the LTE network multiplied by 0 or a positive integer, i.e., n1×1.4+n2×3+n3×5+n4×10+n5×15+n6×20, or simply n1×1.4+n2×3+n3×5, where N1, N2, N3, N4, N5, and N6 are all positive integers or 0, according to some embodiments. For example, the channel bandwidth of BWP may be: 1×20+1×5+2×1.4=27.8 (MHz).

Further, in the conventional LTE network, each channel bandwidth corresponds to a transmission bandwidth (in resource block units). More specifically, a channel bandwidth of 1.4 (MHz) corresponds to a transmission bandwidth of 6; a channel bandwidth of 3 (MHz) corresponds to a transmission bandwidth of 15; a channel bandwidth of 5 (MHz) corresponds to a transmission bandwidth of 25; a channel bandwidth of 10 (MHz) corresponds to a transmission bandwidth of 50; a channel bandwidth of 15 (MHz) corresponds to a transmission bandwidth of 75; and a channel bandwidth of 20 (MHz) corresponds to a transmission bandwidth of 100. Similarly, to be compatible with the transmission bandwidth of the LTE network, the corresponding transmission bandwidth (e.g., 402, 404, 406, 408, etc.) of the BWP described above may be expressed as a first order polynomial according to some embodiments, where each term of the first order polynomial is one of the transmission bandwidths of the LTE network multiplied by 0 or a positive integer, i.e., n1×6+n2×15+n3×25+n4×50+n5×75+n6×100, or simply n1×6+n2×15+n3×25, where N1, N2, N3, N4, N5, and N6 are all positive integers or 0. For example, the transmission bandwidth of BWP may be: 1×6+1×15+2×100=221 (i.e., a total of 221 resource blocks).

In some embodiments, when the BS allocates BWP to the UE, the BS may inform the UE of one or more of channel bandwidth, transmission bandwidth, boundary, and midpoint of the BWP. Further, in some embodiments, the boundary may be selected from the group consisting of: a resource block index corresponding to a start frequency of a channel bandwidth of BWP, a resource block index corresponding to an end frequency of the channel bandwidth of BWP, a subcarrier index corresponding to the start frequency of the channel bandwidth of BWP, and a subcarrier index corresponding to the end frequency of the channel bandwidth of BWP. In some embodiments, the midpoint may be selected from the group consisting of: a resource block index corresponding to a median frequency of the channel bandwidth of BWP and a subcarrier index corresponding to the median frequency of the channel bandwidth of BWP.

In some alternative embodiments, the channel bandwidth (in MHz) of each of the BWPs may be further divided into one or more Resource Block Groups (RBGs) based on the respective SCS. Such an RBG may include one or more resource blocks. And, when the BS allocates BWP to the UE, the BS may inform the UE of such BWP by indicating the corresponding RBG number of the BWP. For example, when the SBW has a bandwidth of 200MHz, the SBW is divided into BWP1 having a channel bandwidth of 50MHz, BWP 2 having a channel bandwidth of 100MHz, BWP 3 having a channel bandwidth of 50MHz, and BWP 4 having a channel bandwidth of 25 MHz. Note that the sum of bandwidths of BWP 1-4 is not necessarily equal to 200MHz, as one BWP may have a channel bandwidth that is the sum of two or more corresponding bandwidths of other BWP, as shown above with respect to fig. 3B, 4D and 4F.

Continuing with the above example, in one case, when BWP1 (50 MHz) is divided into a plurality of RBGs using an SCS of 15kHz and BWP3 (also 50 MHz) is divided into a plurality of RBGs using another SCS of 30kHz, the RBG numbers of BWP1 and BWP3 may be 4N and 2N, respectively (N is a positive integer). In another case, when BWP1 (50 MHz) is divided into a plurality of RBGs using SCS of 15kHz and BWP4 (25 MHz) is divided into a plurality of RBGs using the same SCS of 15kHz, the RBG numbers of BWP1 and BWP4 may be 4N and 4N, respectively (N is a positive integer). In still another case, when BWP2 (100 MHz) is divided into a plurality of RBGs using SCS of 60kHz and BWP1 (50 MHz) is divided into a plurality of RBGs using another SCS of 15kHz, the RBG numbers of BWP2 and BWP2 may be 2N and 4N, respectively (N is a positive integer).

While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Likewise, the various figures may depict exemplary architectures or configurations provided to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the exemplary features and functions of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention is not limited to the exemplary architectures or configurations shown, but can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, one or more features of one embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

It should also be understood that any reference herein to an element using names such as "first," "second," etc. generally does not limit the number or order of those elements. Rather, these names may be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, references to first and second elements do not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must somehow precede the second element.

In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols, for example, that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will further appreciate that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented with electronic hardware (e.g., digital, analog, or a combination of both), firmware, various forms of program or design code containing instructions (which may be referred to herein as "software" or "software modules" for convenience), or any combination of these techniques. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of such techniques, depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented within or performed by an Integrated Circuit (IC) that may comprise a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logic, modules, and circuitry may further include an antenna and/or transceiver to communicate with various components within the network or within the device. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration, to perform the functions described herein.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Thus, the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be implemented as software stored on a computer readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that enables a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical, magnetic disk or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

In this document, the term "module" as used herein refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the relevant functions described herein. In addition, for purposes of discussion, the various modules are described as discrete modules; however, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs the relevant functions in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

In addition, in embodiments of the present invention, memory or other storage and communication components may be employed. It will be appreciated that for clarity, the above description has described embodiments of the invention with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the invention. For example, functions illustrated as being performed by separate processing logic elements or controllers may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Thus, references to specific functional units are only references to suitable means for providing the described functionality rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Various modifications to the embodiments described in the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles as disclosed herein, as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method for allocating system bandwidth, comprising:

dividing the system bandwidth into a plurality of sub-bandwidths based on at least a first sub-carrier interval of the plurality of sub-carrier intervals,

wherein each of the plurality of sub-bandwidths corresponds to a respective number of resource blocks,

and wherein the respective number of resource blocks is each determined based on a second subcarrier spacing of the plurality of subcarrier spacings, the second subcarrier spacing being greater than or equal to the first subcarrier spacing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the respective numbers of resource blocks is divisible by a respective number of sub-bandwidths that are dropped from the system bandwidth using a largest subcarrier spacing of the plurality of subcarrier spacings.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths is indicated to the communication node by transmitting an indication selected from one or more of a frequency range, a boundary and a midpoint of the at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the boundary comprises at least one of: a resource block index corresponding to a start frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, a resource block index corresponding to an end frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, a subcarrier index corresponding to a start frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, and a subcarrier index corresponding to an end frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the midpoint comprises: a resource block index corresponding to a median frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, and a subcarrier index corresponding to a median frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective number of resource blocks is each limited by a relationship selected from the group consisting of: n1×6+n2×15+n3×25+n4×50+n5×75+n6×100 and n1×6+n2×15+n3×25, where N1, N2, N3, N4, N5 and N6 are each a positive integer or 0.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of sub-bandwidths corresponds to a frequency range, and the range is limited by a relationship selected from: n1×1.4+n2×3+n3×5+n4×10+n5×15+n6×20 and n1×1.4+n2×3+n3×5, where N1, N2, N3, N4, N5 and N6 are each a positive integer or 0.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the method further includes indicating the second one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths to the communication node by transmitting an indication selected from one or more of a frequency range, a boundary, and a midpoint of at least the second one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, wherein the second one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths is determined by the second one of the plurality of subcarrier spacings.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

indicating a third sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths to a communication node by transmitting a respective number of resource block groups and a corresponding sub-carrier interval of the third sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, wherein the third sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths is determined by the corresponding sub-carrier interval, and wherein the number of resource block groups comprises a respective number of resource block subsets, and the respective number of resource block subsets is determined based on the corresponding sub-carrier interval and the third sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

10. A method for allocating system bandwidth, comprising:

a signal transmitted using one of a plurality of sub-bandwidths is received,

wherein the plurality of sub-bandwidths are separated from the system bandwidth based on at least a first sub-carrier interval of the plurality of sub-carrier intervals,

11. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the respective numbers of resource blocks is divisible by a respective number of sub-bandwidths that are dropped from the system bandwidth using a largest subcarrier spacing of the plurality of subcarrier spacings.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the respective number of resource blocks is each limited by a relationship selected from the group consisting of: n1×6+n2×15+n3×25+n4×50+n5×75+n6×100 and n1×6+n2×15+n3×25, where N1, N2, N3, N4, N5 and N6 are each a positive integer or 0.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of sub-bandwidths corresponds to a frequency range, and the range is limited by a relationship selected from: n1×1.4+n2×3+n3×5+n4×10+n5×15+n6×20 and n1×1.4+n2×3+n3×5, where N1, N2, N3, N4, N5 and N6 are each a positive integer or 0.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the signal indicates one or more of a frequency range, a boundary, and a midpoint of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the boundary comprises at least one of: a resource block index corresponding to a start frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, a resource block index corresponding to an end frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, a subcarrier index corresponding to a start frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, and a subcarrier index corresponding to an end frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the midpoint comprises: a resource block index corresponding to a median frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, and a subcarrier index corresponding to a median frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

17. A communication node, comprising:

at least one processor configured to divide a system bandwidth into a plurality of sub-bandwidths based on at least a first sub-carrier interval of a plurality of sub-carrier intervals,

and wherein the respective number of resource blocks is each determined based on a second subcarrier spacing of the plurality of subcarrier spacings, the second subcarrier spacing being greater than or equal to the first subcarrier spacing; and

a transmitter configured to indicate at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths to a communication node by transmitting an indication selected from one or more of a frequency range, a boundary, and a midpoint of the at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

18. The communication node of claim 17, wherein each of the respective numbers of resource blocks is divisible by a respective number of sub-bandwidths that are dropped from the system bandwidth using a largest subcarrier spacing of the plurality of subcarrier spacings.

19. The communication node of claim 17, wherein the boundary comprises at least one of: a resource block index corresponding to a start frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, a resource block index corresponding to an end frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, a subcarrier index corresponding to a start frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, and a subcarrier index corresponding to an end frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

20. The communication node of claim 17, wherein the midpoint comprises: a resource block index corresponding to a median frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, and a subcarrier index corresponding to a median frequency of at least a first sub-bandwidth of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

21. The communication node of claim 17, wherein the respective number of resource blocks is each limited by a relationship selected from: n1×6+n2×15+n3×25+n4×50+n5×75+n6×100 and n1×6+n2×15+n3×25, where N1, N2, N3, N4, N5 and N6 are each a positive integer or 0.

22. The communication node of claim 17, wherein each of the plurality of sub-bandwidths corresponds to a frequency range, and the range is limited by a relationship selected from: n1×1.4+n2×3+n3×5+n4×10+n5×15+n6×20 and n1×1.4+n2×3+n3×5, where N1, N2, N3, N4, N5 and N6 are each a positive integer or 0.

23. A communication node, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a signal transmitted using one of a plurality of sub-bandwidths,

24. The communication node of claim 23, wherein each of the respective numbers of resource blocks is divisible by a respective number of sub-bandwidths that are dropped from the system bandwidth using a largest subcarrier spacing of the plurality of subcarrier spacings.

25. The communication node of claim 23, wherein the respective number of resource blocks is each limited by a relationship selected from: n1×6+n2×15+n3×25+n4×50+n5×75+n6×100 and n1×6+n2×15+n3×25, where N1, N2, N3, N4, N5 and N6 are positive integers or 0, respectively.

26. The communication node of claim 23, wherein each of the plurality of sub-bandwidths corresponds to a frequency range, and the range is limited by a relationship selected from: n1×1.4+n2×3+n3×5+n4×10+n5×15+n6×20 and n1×1.4+n2×3+n3×5, where N1, N2, N3, N4, N5 and N6 are positive integers or 0, respectively.

27. The communication node of claim 23, wherein the signal is indicative of one or more of a frequency range, a boundary, and a midpoint of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

28. The communication node of claim 27, wherein the boundary comprises at least one of: a resource block index corresponding to a start frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, a resource block index corresponding to an end frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, a subcarrier index corresponding to a start frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, and a subcarrier index corresponding to an end frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.

29. The communication node of claim 27, wherein the midpoint comprises: a resource block index corresponding to a median frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths, and a subcarrier index corresponding to a median frequency of one of the plurality of sub-bandwidths.