EP2875683A1

EP2875683A1 - A method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP2875683A1
Application number: EP12721854.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jari Olavi Lindholm
Original assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2012-05-18
Filing date: 2012-05-18
Publication date: 2015-05-27
Also published as: WO2013170902A1

Abstract

A method comprises receiving control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equipment, the power of each of plurality of signals being individually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A.

Description

DESCRI PTION

TITLE

A method and Apparatus Embodiments relate to a method an d apparatus a nd i n particu la r but not exclusively to a method and apparatus for the communication of control information.

A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities such as fixed or mobile communication devices, base stations, servers and/or other communication nodes. A communication system and compatible communicating entities typically operate in accordance with a given standard or specification . A communication can be carried on wired or wireless carriers. In a wireless communication system at least a part of the communication between at least two stations occurs over a wireless link.

Examples of wireless systems include public land mobile networks (PLMN) such as cellular networks, satellite based communication systems and different wireless local networks, for example wireless local area networks (WLAN).

A user can access the commu nication system by means of an a ppropriate communication device. A communication device of a user is often referred to as user equipment (U E) or termi nal. Typically a com mun ication device is used for enabling receiving and transmission of communications such as speech and data. I n wireless systems a communication device provides a transceiver station that can communicate with another communication device such as e.g. a base station of an access network and/or another user equipment. The communication device may access a carrier provided by a station, for example a base station, and transmit and/or receive communications on the carrier.

An example of commu n ication systems attem pti ng to satisfy the increased demands for capacity is an architecture that is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The communication system is often referred to as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology with the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommun ications System (U MTS) rad io- access technology. The LTE enhancements aim to achieve various improvements, for example red uced latency, high er user data rates, im proved system capacity and coverage, reduced cost for the operator and so on. A further development of the LTE is often referred to as LTE-Advanced. The various development stages of the 3GPP LTE specifications are referred to as releases.

According to an embodiment, there is provided a method comprising: receiving control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equ ipment, the power of each of plurality of signals being individually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A.

The plurality of different signals may comprise at least one of a physical uplink shared channel and a physical uplink control channel. The plurality of different signals may comprise at least one reference signal.

The at least one reference signal may comprise at least one sounding reference signal.

The control information may comprise control information for controlling a power of a plurality of signals, different ones of said signals being for transmission to different base stations.

The control information may comprise control information for controlling a power of a plurality of reference signals, different ones of said reference signals being for transmission to different base stations.

The control information may comprise for the or each of said signals an index which indicates which of a plurality of power commands is used for said respective signal.

The control information may comprise information associated with said index indicating a type of signal.

The control information may comprise a cyclic redu ndancy check which is dependent on identity information associated with one of said signals. The method may comprise transmitting said plurality of different signals with a power controlled in dependence on said control information.

An apparatus may be provided to perform any of the previous methods.

The method may be performed in an apparatus. The method may be performed in a user equipment. According to an embodiment, there is provided a method comprising: causing control information to be transmitted, said control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equipment, the power of each of plurality of signals being individually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A.

The plurality of different signals may comprise at least one of a physical uplink shared channel and a physical uplink control channel.

The plurality of different signals may comprise at least one reference signal.

The control information may comprise control information for controlling a power of a plu ral ity of reference signa ls, d ifferent ones of sa id reference signals being for transmission to different base stations.

The control i nformation may com prise a cyclic redu ndancy check wh ich is dependent on identity information associated with one of said signals.

The method may be performed in an apparatus. The method may be performed in a base station. According to another aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising com puter executable i nstructions wh ich when ru n cause the any one of the above methods to be performed.

According to another embodiment, there is provide an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to ca use the apparatus at least to: receiving control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equipment, the power of each of plu rality of signals being i nd ividually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A.

The plurality of different signals may comprise at least one reference signal.

The control information may comprise control information for controlling a power of a plu ral ity of reference sig nals, d ifferent ones of said reference signals being for transmission to different base stations.

The apparatus may comprise a transmitter configured to transmit said plurality of different signals with a power controlled in dependence on said control information. A user equipment may comprise any of the above apparatus.

According to another embodiment, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to: cause control information to be transmitted, said control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equipment, the power of each of plurality of signals being individually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A.

The plurality of different signals may comprise at least one reference signal.

The control information may comprise control information for controlling a power of a plu rality of reference signals, different ones of said reference signals being for transmission to different base stations. The control information may comprise for the or each of said signals an index which indicates which of a plurality of power commands is used for said respective signal.

The apparatus may comprise a transmitter configured to transmit said control information.

A transmission point or base station may comprise any of the above apparatus.

Accordi ng to another em bod iment, there is provide an apparatus comprising means for receiving control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equipment, the power of each of plurality of signals being individually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A.

The control information may comprise control information for controlling a power of a plurality of reference signals, different ones of said reference signals being for transmission to different base stations. The control information may comprise for the or each of said signals an index which indicates which of a plurality of power commands is used for said respective signal.

The control information may comprise a cyclic redundancy check which is dependent on identity information associated with one of said signals.

The apparatus may comprise a transmitter means for transmitting said plurality of different signals with a power controlled in dependence on said control information.

A user equipment may comprise any of the above apparatus.

According to another embodiment, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for causing control information to be transmitted, said control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equipment, the power of each of plurality of signals being individually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A. The plurality of different signals may comprise at least one of a physical uplink shared channel and a physical uplink control channel.

The plurality of different signals may comprise at least one reference signal.

The at least one reference signal may comprise at least one sounding reference signal. The control information may comprise control information for controlling a power of a plurality of signals, different ones of said signals being for transmission to different base stations.

The control information may comprise control information for controlling a power of a plu rality of reference signals, different ones of said reference signals being for transmission to different base stations.

The control information may com prise a cyclic redundancy check which is dependent on identity information associated with one of said signals.

The apparatus may comprise a transmitter means for transmitting said control information. A transmission point or base station may comprise any of the above apparatus.

According to another embodiment, there is provided a communication network which operates according to any one of the above methods. The communication network may comprise one or more base stations and one or more mobile communication devices, e.g., as shown in figure 1. Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following examples and accompanying drawings, in which:

F i g u re 1 s h ows a sch e m atic d i ag ra m of a netwo rk a ccord i ng to so m e embodiments;

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

Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of a base station according to some embodiments;

Figure 4 shows a schematic view of a user equipment in communication with two base stations; and Figure 5 shows a method of an embodiment.

In the following certain exemplifying embodiments are explained with reference to a wireless or mobile communication system serving mobile communication devices. Before explaining in detail the exemplifying embodiments, certain general principles of a wireless communication system, access systems thereof, and mobile communication devices are briefly explained with reference to Figures 1 to 3 to assist in understanding the technology underlying the described examples.

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

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

The cell borders or edges are schematically shown for illustration purposes only in Figure 1 . It shall be understood that the sizes and shapes of the cells or other radio service areas may vary considerably from the similarly sized omni-directional shapes of Figure 1.

In particular, Figure 1 depicts two wide area base stations 105, 106, which can be macro-NBs (node B) 105, 106. The macro-NBs 105, 106 transmit and receive data over the entire coverage of the cells 100 and 1 10 respectively. Figure 1 also shows a smaller base station or access point which in some embodiments can be a pico NB 108. The coverage of the smaller base station 108 may generally be smaller than the coverage of the wide area base stations 105, 106. The coverage provided by the smaller node 108 overlap with the coverage provided by the macro-NBs 105, 106. In some embodiments, the smaller node can be a femto or Home NB. Pico NBs can be used to extend coverage of the macro-NBs 105, 106 outside the original cell coverage 100, 1 10 of the macro-NBs 105, 106. The pico NB can also be used to provide cell coverage in "gaps" or "shadows" where there is no coverage within the existing cells 100, 110 and/or may serve "hot spots".

It should be noted that in some embodiments the pico NB or smaller NBs may not be present. In alternative embodiments, only pico or smaller NBs may be present. In some embodiments there may be no macro NBs.

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

Some no n-limiting examples of the recent developments in communication systems are the High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for uplink and downlink transmission or long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) that is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). As explained above, further development of the LTE is referred to as LTE-Advanced.

Non-limiting examples of appropriate access nodes are a base station of a cellular system, for example what is known as NodeB (NB) in the vocabulary of the 3GPP specifications. The LTE employs a mobile architecture known as the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). Base stations of such systems are known as evolved Node Bs (eN Bs) and may provide E-UTRAN features such as user plane Radio Link Control/Medium Access Control/Physical layer protocol (RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol terminations towards the user devices. Other examples of radio access system include those provided by base stations of systems that are based on technologies such as wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access).

Although not shown in Figure 1 , a base station may provide a plurality of cells. The base stations may be connected or coupled to a gateway which provides communication with a core network. One or more of the bases stations maybe connected or coupled to one or more other base stations.

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

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

The user equipment is also typically provided with at least one data processing entity 201 , at least one memory 202 and other possible components 203 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access systems and other communication devices. The data processing, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and/or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference 204. The user may control the operation of the user equipment by means of a suitable user interface such as a key pad 205, voice commands, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. A display 208, a speaker and a microphone can be also provided. Furthermore, a user equipment may comprise appropriate connectors (either wired or wireless) to other devices and/or for connecting external accessories, for example hands-free equipment, thereto.

Reference is made to Figure 3 which shows a base station 105. The base station comprises at least one memory 401 and at least one data processing unit 402 and 403. The base station is provided with a first interface 404 for interfacing with the RNC. The base station is provided with a second interface 405 which is a wireless interface for interfacing with user equipment.

It has been suggested in relation to some developments of the LTE specifications that up link co-ordinated multiple point reception be used. For example, release 1 1 has included some enhancements with respect to the UL CoMP operation. U L CoMP is where a user equipment transmits to more than one base station .

U plink CoM P may involve the joi nt reception of the transm itted signal from a user equipment at two or more reception points. In this case, a PUSCH (physical uplink shared channel) transmitted by the user equipment may be received at two or more reception points at the same time. This may for example improve the received signal quality. Alternatively or additionally, uplink CoMP may involve coordinated scheduling.

User scheduling and pre-coding selection decisions are made, coordinating between the different reception points. Data is intended for one point only.

A user equipment will transmit SRS (soundi ng reference signals). Sounding reference signal is used by the base station to estimate the quality of the uplink channel for large bandwidths outside the assigned bandwidth for a specific user equipment. The sounding reference signals are used by the base station to estimate the uplink channel conditions for each user equipment to decide the appropriate uplink scheduling.

The SRS may not necessarily be transmitted with any particular physical channel.

The S RS can be tran smitted with varyi ng different freq uencies . I n some embodiments, the SRS may be transmitted on the last symbol of a subframe. To avoid the overlap of SRS and P USCH transmissions from different user equipment, all user equipment in an area such as a cell may be aware in which subframes the SRS may be transmitted by a user equipment.

Some embodiments may be concerned with the power control associated with the

SRS. Alternatively or additionally a plurality of power control processes or loops for

PUCCH and/or PUSCH may be specified so that PC process is selected according to the intended reception point of the PUCCH/PUSCH. In some embodiments, the power control commands for multiple PC processes of a single U E could be sent in one DCI format 3/3A PDCCH. Some embodiments may be used where the user equipment sends the SRS to a reception point, which is different from the reception point for the PUSCH . The different reception points may be different base stations. The channels between a U E and a first base station may be quite different to the channels between the U E and a different base station. The PUSCH carries L1 U L transport data together with control information. This channel may use SC-FDMA (Single carrier frequency division multiple access).

The current LTE specifications (for example release 8, 9 and 10) control the power of the SRS based on the power control formula associated with the PUSCH . A semi statically configured power offset value is applied to the PUSCH power control formula. However, if the user equipment is targeting some of the SRS transmissions to a different reception point than where the PU SCH is received , then the power control values associated with that SRS transmissions would not be appropriate. Accordingly, in some embodiments separate power control processes for the SRS signals are advantageous. In some embodiments, the user equipment may send the SRS signal to only one or some of the set of reception points. However, in other embodiments, the user equipment may send the SRS to all of the reception points of the CoMP set. Reference is made to figure 4. In figure 4, a user equipment 104 is arranged to send the PUSCH to base station 105 and the S RS to another base station 1 08. As can be seen , 2 positions of the user eq ui pment are shown . As can be seen , using the power control formula wh ich is appropriate for the PUSCH will not be appropriate for the SRS. Additionally, as the user equipment moves , the compensation required by the SRS channel will change with respect to the power control associated with the PUSCH. The user equipment may be configured to provide a plurality of independent S S transmissions with separate SRS processes. The SRS power control process may have closed loop commands. The stationary user equipment, semi-statically configured power offset may provide a suitable control. However, for user equipment which is moving, closed loop commands are advantageous. In other words, the reception point will take a measurement of the received SRS (and/or other transmission from the UE) and provide a feedback signal to the user equipment which is used to control the power of a subsequent SRS transmission. The reception point may make a determination on the received power and provides a feedback command to increment or decrement the power. It has been proposed to provide closed loop power control commands for PUSCH using DCI (down link control information) format 0 or 4. One option may be to include closed loop power control commands for the SRS signals in the DCI format 0 and/or 4. This would require the adding of new bits. This would carry the power control commands for the SRS signals. It should be appreciated that instead of or as well as DCI (downlink control information) format 0 and/or 4, the new bits may be added to another DCI format used for down link allocation. However, it may be undesirable to add new bits to the DCI format.

An additional issue may arise when there is a plurality of SRS power control processes. The number of SRS processes will be dependent on the number of reception points in the CoMP set. Accordingly, the size of the DCI format may vary in dependence on the number of reception points.

Another way of sen di ng closed loop power control com mand s to the u ser equipment is to use DCI format 3/3A where one PDCCH (physical downlink control channel) transmission includes power control commands for a plurality of user equipment. DCI formats 3/3A are used for the transmission of power control commands for the

PUCCH and PUSCH. Currently, there are one bit or two bit power adjustment commands. These DCI formats may contain individual power control command for a group of user equipment. Format 0 is used for the transmission of resource grants for the PUSCH. This format may include a power control command for the PUSCH. Format 4 is used for the PUSCH when a user equipment is in the PUSCH transmission mode for uplink single user

MI MO (multiple input multiple output). The information transmitted is similar to that of format zero. The formats may differ between the FDD and TDD modes. User equipment may be configured to decode format 3/3A with TPC-PUCCH-RNTI (transmit power control-physical uplink control channel- radio network temporary identifier) or T P C-PUSCH-RNTI (transmit power control-physical uplink shared channel-radio network temporary identifier) in order to respectively receive the PUCCH or PUSCH power control commands. In some embodiments, a TPC-SRS-RNTI may be defined for the SRS signals. This may be undesirable in some embodiments as this may increase the number of blind decodes which need to be performed by a user equipment.

In some embodiments, the closed loop power commands associated with the SRS are sent with the TPC-PUCCH-RNTI or the TPC-PUSCH-RNTI. Thus, the content of format 3/3A would be modified. Size of DCI format 3/3A may be fixed in some embodiments. The 3/3A format contains power control commands for multiple UEs. Currently a UE can receive a 3/3A PDCCH that contains a PC command for its PUSCH transmission and UE can receive another 3/3A command that contains PC command for PUCCH. In some embodiment, the content of format 3/3A is modified so that the same 3/3A command that carries PUSCH or PUCCH PC command could carry also other PC commands for other PC processes in the UE.

The number of blind decodes is based on how many different locations there are where PDCCH may be and how many different RNTI values need to be tried to decode the PDCCH. In some embodiments, no new RNTI values are provided and so the number of blind decodes that UE has to perform, does not need to be increased.

A parameter TPC-index determines which TPC command in the format 3/3A is meant for a particular user equipment. In embodiments, another index is provided. This index is signalled to the user equipment by higher layers. By way of example, this index may be TPC-index-SRS. However, this name is by way of example only and other names may be used for this index in alternative embodiments. If the user equipment has a plurality of separate SRS transmissions with individual power control processes, a plurality of indices maybe configured, for example TPC-index-SRS 1 , TPC-index-SRS 2 and so on. In the case of uplink CoMP with dynamic reception point selection PUSCH, PUCCH and SRS transmission may be accommodated. In other words, different ones of PUSCH and/or PUCCH and/or SRS may be targeted to different reception points. The DCI format

3/3A may be enhanced so that it may contain separate power control commands for the plurality of power control processes and loops of one user equipment.

Reference is made to figure 5 which shows a method. In step S1 , the user equipment receives the PDCCH transmitted from one of the base stations. In this step S2, the user equipment checks to see if DCI format 0 and/or 4 are present in addition to format 3 and/or 3A. It may also be possible that none of the DCI formats 0, 4, 3/3A is detected and then no power control adjustments are made.

If so, the next step is step S3. The user equipment will use the correction value in DCI format 0/4 for the PUSCH power control. The user equipment will use the power control information in format 3/3A for the SRS signal.

If the DCI format 0/4 is not present, the next step is step S4. The user equipment will use the power control included in format 3/3A for the SRS, PUSCH and the PUCCH.

Operation according to current LTE specification is that one format 3/3A carries PUSCH PC command and the same command is used for SRS. Then there can be another format 3/3A DCI that carries TPC command for PUCCH. According to an embodiment one 3/3A PDCCH could contain a plurality of PC commands for one UE e.g. SRS power could be controlled independently from PUSCH and one 3/3A PDCCH could have separate power control commands for PUSCH and SRS. Thus s UE may in some embodiments receive a PDCCH from a plurality of base stations in case of carrier aggregation i.e. one DL carrier is transmitted from certain base station and another carrier from another base station. In this case two PDCCHs are processed by the UE at the same time. In case of DL CoMP (and/or dynamic transmission point selection), DL transmission point may change between subframes and depending on configuration UE may or may not be aware which base station is sending the PDCCH.

An example of a DCI format 3/3A will now be described. The content of DCI format 3 or 3A can be described as (TPC command number 1 , TPC command number 2,..., TPC command number N, CRC), see 36.212

TPC commands are 2 bit commands in case of format 3 and one bit in case of format 3A. The CRC (cyclic redundancy check) is dependent on the used RNTI

The UE, may be configured by higher layers (see 36.331 ) TPC-PUSCH-RNTI and TPC-PUCCH-RNTI. When UE receives TPC-PUSCH-RNTI value it is also configured with tpc-lndex which indicates which of the TPC command numbers 1..N is used in that UE. In embodiments, another index is configured, tpc-SRS-lndex, that indicates which TPC command number is used for separate SRS power control process. A UE may be configured to transmit a plurality of SRS signals targeted to be received in different base stations and then different power control processes may be used for each SRS transmission. Then there may be a plurality of indices: tpc-S S1 -Index, tpc-SRS2-lndex... configured for each SRS power control process.

Then base station can send PDCCH format 3/3A which contains PC commands for a plurality of PC processes of single UE Various different embodiments have been described. It should be appreciated that one or more em bod iments may be used at least partial ly in com bination . In some embodiments, one DCI format 3/3A message is used to provide power control information for at least two different signals. The two different signals can be any suitable signal. The two or more signals can be the same type of signal but for d ifferent base stations. Alternatively or additionally the two or more signals can be different types of signal. The two different signals may be a PUSCH signal and a PUCCH signal in some embodiments or any other combination.

Various different methods have been shown. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments one or more of the method steps may be combined into a single step. In some embodiments, one or more of the method steps may be changed in terms of order. In some embodiments, one or more steps may be omitted. In some embodiments, one or more additional steps may be included.

One or more of the steps of any of the methods may be implemented using a respective arrangement. The respective arrangement may comprise circuitry and/or may be performed by one or more processors run computer code. One or more arrangements may be provided by common circuitry and/or the same one or more processors as used by another arrangement. Where one or more processors are provided, these processors may operate in conjunction with one or more memories.

The required data processing apparatus and functions of a base station apparatus, user equipment and base station may be provided by mean s of on e or more d ata processors. These may perform one or more of the method steps of a respective method.

The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special pu rpose computers, microprocessors, d igital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non limiting examples. The data processing may be distributed across several data processing modules. A data processor may be provided by means of, for example, at least one chip. Appropriate memory capacity can also be provided in the relevant devices. The memory or memories may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory.

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

Some embodiments may be implemented by computer software executable by one or more data processors in conjunction with one or more memories of a base station, UE or RNC. One or more steps of a method of an embodi ment may be performed when computer executable instructions are run on one or more processors.

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

The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the exemplary embodiment of this invention.

However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description , when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and sim ilar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1 . A method comprising: receiving control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equipment, the power of each of plurality of signals being individually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said plurality of different signals comprise at least one of a physical uplink shared channel and a physical uplink control channel.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said plurality of different signals comprise at least one reference signal.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein said at least one reference signal comprises at least one sounding reference signal.

5. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said control information comprises control information for controlling a power of a plurality of signals, different ones of said signals being for transmission to different base stations.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said control information comprises control information for controlling a power of a plurality of reference signals, different ones of said reference signals being for transmission to different base stations.

7. A method as cl ai m ed in a ny of said preceding claims, wherein said control information comprises for the or each of said signals an index which indicates which of a plurality of power commands is used for said respective signal.

8. A method as claimed i n clai m 7, wherein said control information comprises information associated with said index indicating a type of signal.

9. A method as claimed in any preced ing claim , wherein said control information com prises a cycl ic redu ndancy check which is dependent on identity information associated with one of said signals.

10. A method comprising: causing control inform ation to be transmitted, said control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equipment, the power of each of plu rality of signals being i nd ividually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A.

1 1 . A computer program comprising computer executable instructions which when run cause the method of any one of the preceding claims to be performed.

12. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to: receive control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equ ipment, the power of each of plu rality of signals being individually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A.

13. Apparatus as claimed in clai m 12, wherein said plurality of different signals comprise at least one of a physical uplink shared channel and a physical uplink control channel.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 or 13, wherein said plurality of different signals comprise at least one reference signal.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein said at least one reference signal comprises at least one sounding reference signal.

16. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 12 to 15, wherein said control information comprises control information for controlling a power of a plurality of signals, different ones of said signals being for transmission to different base stations.

17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein said control information comprises control information for controlling a power of a plurality of reference signals, different ones of said reference signals being for transmission to different base stations.

18. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 12 to 17, wherein said control information comprises for the or each of said signals an index which indicates which of a plurality of power commands is used for said respective signal.

19. Apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein said control information comprises information associated with said index indicating a type of signal.

20. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to: cause control information to be transmitted, said control information for controlling power of a plurality of different signals to be transmitted by a user equipment, the power of each of plurality of signals being individually controllable, said control information for said plurality of different signals being provided in one downlink control information format 3/3A.