JP2011514784A - Method and apparatus for data centric multiplexing and asynchronous command interface to encoder and multiplexer modules - Google Patents

Abstract

In a wireless communication system comprising a plurality of channels, an apparatus and method for data centric multiplexing allocates a first resource to a first plurality of channels and a second plurality of channels to a second plurality of channels. Allocating a second resource that is not one resource, allocating a third resource that is not the first resource or the second resource to a third plurality of channels, a first resource, a second resource, By puncturing at least one of the resource or the third resource, the fourth resource is allocated to the fourth plurality of channels, and the first resource, the second resource, or the third resource Including skipping the remaining unpunctured. Further disclosed is an apparatus and method for an asynchronous command interface to an encoder module and a multiplexer module in a wireless communication system.

Description

Priority claim

  This application is filed on March 31, 2008, entitled “Data-Centric MUX Engine Architecture” and assigned to the assignee of the present application 61 / 040,758, and filed on March 31, 2008. And claims priority to US Provisional Application 61 / 040,775, entitled “Asynchronous Command Interface to the Encoder and Multiplexer Modules” and assigned to the assignee of the present application. These applications are expressly incorporated herein.

  The present disclosure relates generally to apparatus and methods for multiplexing. More particularly, this disclosure relates to data-centric multiplexing in wireless communication channels.

  Wireless communication systems have been widely developed to provide various types of content such as voice, data, and the like. These systems can be multiple access systems that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (eg, bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access systems are code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP LTE systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA). Including systems.

  In general, a wireless multiple-access communication system can support simultaneous communication for multiple wireless terminals. Each terminal may communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (ie, downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals (eg, mobile stations), and the reverse link (ie, uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. The communication link may be established by a single input single output, multiple input single output, or multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system.

A MIMO system uses multiple (N _T ) transmit antennas and multiple (N _R ) receive antennas for data transmission. The MIMO channel formed by N _T transmit antennas and N _R receive antennas is divided into N _S independent channels, also referred to as spatial channels. Here, N _S ≦ min {NT, N _R }. Each of the N _S independent channels corresponds to a dimension. When additional dimensions generated by multiple transmit and receive antennas are utilized, a MIMO system provides improved performance (eg, higher throughput and / or higher reliability). For example, a MIMO system may support time division duplex (TDD) and frequency duplex (FDD) systems. In a TDD system, the forward link transmission and the reverse link transmission are in the same frequency domain so that the reciprocal principle allows the estimation of the forward link channel from the reverse link channel. This allows the access point to extract beamforming gain on the forward link when multiple antennas are available at the access point.

  Today's broadcast radio systems require efficient and powerful hardware such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) that support high rate data communications. It also requires a very flexible device that supports various control channels. The data channel typically applies standard modulation techniques such as quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), and the like. However, control channels that include different pilot channels require special handling. The control channel inherently has low throughput, but requires high reliability. As a result, control channels often have special modulation schemes, irregular and various tone / orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol resource allocation, channel-specific hopping, and tone resource between different channels. Use reuse. In addition, as part of wireless standard development, control channels are often changed over time. In addition, the control channel formats between different standards, such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and Long Term Evolution (LTE), are quite different to adapt to one standard or the other. In addition, flexibility in the system is required in many applications.

  Disclosed are apparatus and methods for data-centric multiplexing. According to one aspect, in a wireless communication system comprising a plurality of channels, a method for data centric multiplexing comprises allocating a first resource to a first channel of the plurality of channels; Allocating a second resource that is not the first resource to the second channel of the plurality of channels and not being the first resource or the second resource to the third channel of the plurality of channels Allocating the third resource, puncturing at least one of the first resource, the second resource, or the third resource, and the first resource, the second resource, or the third resource By skipping the remaining non-punctured ones, the fourth resource can be allocated to the fourth channel of the plurality of channels. Provided with a door.

  According to another aspect, a method for use in a wireless communication system, the method comprising encoding a data bit and encoding to generate a symbol to be transmitted on a data channel. Without specifying the symbol to be transmitted on the control channel, generating a tile descriptor specifying the tone to be used for data channel control and control channel transmission, Generating a channel priority parameter that determines which of the data channel or control channel to paint first, and at least one of the tones of the data channel or control channel Generate a tone marker to identify which one is occupied and specified for the same tone Generating a puncture bitmap that determines whether one of the data channel or control channel is punctured by another one of the data channel or the control channel, and the tile descriptor, channel priority Multiplexing the control channel and the data channel for transmission according to at least one of degrees, tone markers, or puncture bitmaps.

  According to another aspect, an apparatus for data centric multiplexing allocates a first resource to a first channel of a plurality of channels and to a second channel of the plurality of channels, A second resource that is not the first resource is allocated, a first resource or a third resource that is not the second resource is allocated to a third channel of the plurality of channels, the first resource, the second resource Of the plurality of channels by puncturing at least one of the first resource, or the third resource, and skipping the unpunctured remaining of the first resource, the second resource, or the third resource. A processor and circuitry configured to allocate a fourth resource to a fourth channel of the first channel.

  According to another aspect, an apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory encodes and encodes data bits to generate symbols to be transmitted on a data channel. Without specifying the symbols to be transmitted on the control channel, generating tile descriptors specifying the tones to be used for data and control channel transmission, and at least one of the tones For one thing, generating a channel priority parameter that determines whether the data channel or control channel will paint first, and at least one of the tones is occupied by either the data channel or the control channel Generate a tone marker that identifies whether you want to Generating a puncture bitmap that determines whether one of the data channel or control channel is punctured by another one of the data channel or control channel, and the tile descriptor, channel priority Program code executable by a processor to perform multiplexing of control and data channels for transmission according to at least one of degrees, tone markers, or puncture bitmaps including.

  According to another aspect, an apparatus for data centric multiplexing, the apparatus comprising: means for allocating a first resource to a first channel of a plurality of channels; Means for allocating a second resource that is not the first resource to a second channel, and a first channel that is not the first resource or the second resource to a third channel of the plurality of channels. And puncturing at least one of the first resource, the second resource, or the third resource, and allocating the first resource, the second resource, or the third resource. Means for allocating a fourth resource to a fourth channel of the plurality of channels by skipping a non-punctured remainder.

  According to another aspect, an apparatus for data centric multiplexing comprising means for encoding data bits to generate symbols to be transmitted on a data channel; Means for specifying symbols to be transmitted on the control channel without encoding, means for generating tile descriptors specifying tones to be used for data channel control and control channel transmission; Means for generating a channel priority parameter to determine whether a data channel or a control channel first paints on at least one of the tones; and at least one of the tones on the data channel or control channel Means to generate a tone marker that identifies which one of the Means for generating a puncture bitmap for determining one of a data channel or control channel punctured by another one of the recorded data channel or control channel, and a tile descriptor, channel priority Means for multiplexing the control channel and the data channel for transmission according to at least one of: a tone marker or a puncture bitmap.

  According to another aspect, a computer-readable medium including stored program code includes: program code for assigning a first resource to a first channel of the plurality of channels; and of the plurality of channels. A program code for allocating a second resource that is not the first resource to the second channel of the first channel, and the first resource or the second resource to a third channel of the plurality of channels Puncturing at least one of the first resource, the second resource, or the third resource and a program code for allocating a third resource that is not, the first resource, the second resource, Or skip the 4th of the multiple channels by skipping the unpunctured remainder of the 3rd resource. And a program code for assigning a fourth resource to Yaneru.

  According to another aspect, a computer readable medium including stored program code comprises program code for encoding data bits to generate symbols to be transmitted on a data channel; Generate a program code to specify the symbols to be transmitted on the control channel and tile descriptors that specify the tones to be used for data and control channel transmissions without encoding steps A program code for generating a channel priority parameter for determining whether a data channel or a control channel is to be painted first on at least one of the tones; and At least one of the data channel or control channel Of the data channel or control channel by a program code for generating a tone marker that identifies what they occupy and another one of the data channel or control channel specified for the same tone Transmit according to at least one of a program code and tile descriptor, channel priority, tone marker, or puncture bitmap for generating a puncture bitmap that determines whether one of the two is punctured And a program code for multiplexing the control channel and the data channel.

  Further disclosed is an apparatus and method for an asynchronous command interface to an encoder module and a multiplexer module in a wireless communication system. According to one aspect, a method for loosely or coarsely synchronizing constraints between encoder hardware, multiplexer hardware, and associated firmware is disclosed. Thus, according to an aspect, a method used in a wireless communication system includes synchronizing an encoder and multiplexer to a frame, pushing a job from the encoder to a pending queue, and a job in the pending queue being , Determine if they are from frames, and if jobs are from the same frame, push these jobs from the pending queue to the active queue, and multiplex jobs from the same frame To prepare.

According to another aspect, an apparatus operable in a wireless communication system includes means for synchronizing an encoder and multiplexer to a frame, means for pushing a job from the encoder to a pending queue, and jobs in the pending queue are Multiplexing jobs from the same frame with means to determine if they are from frames, and if the jobs are from the same frame, push these jobs from the pending queue to the active queue According to another aspect, comprising: means for synchronizing to the machine the encoder and multiplexer to the frame, and pushing a job from the encoder to a pending queue when executed by the machine; Jobs in the pending queue Determine if it is from a frame, and if jobs are from the same frame, push these jobs from the pending queue to the active queue, and multiplex jobs from the same frame And a machine readable medium comprising instructions for causing an operation to be performed.

  According to another aspect, an apparatus operable in a wireless communication system is disclosed. This device synchronizes the encoder and multiplexer to the frame, pushes the job from the encoder to the pending queue, determines if the job in the pending queue is from a frame, and the job is the same frame From the pending queue to the active queue, a processor configured to multiplex jobs from the same frame, and a memory connected to the processor for storing data With.

  The advantages of the present disclosure include special modulation schemes, irregular and altered tone / orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol resource allocation, channel-specific hopping, and reuse of tone resources between different channels. , Including versatility that can be adapted without extensive hardware modifications. A further advantage is the ability to change the control channel format between different standards.

  It will be understood that other aspects will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein it is shown and described various aspects by way of illustration. These drawings and detailed description are exemplary in nature and are not to be considered as limiting.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a multiple access wireless communication system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless MIMO communication system. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a transmit data processor with an encoder engine and a multiplexer engine for the UBM forward link. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a process flow diagram for resource multiplexing that solves the resource overlap problem in a wireless communication system. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a process flow diagram for resource multiplexing that solves the resource overlap problem in an OFDMA system. FIG. 6 shows an example of a useful device in accordance with the present disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a device 700 suitable for data centric multiplexing, eg, in a wireless communication system. FIG. 8 is an illustration of a superframe. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the relationship between encoders and multiplexers according to the present disclosure herein.

  The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various aspects of the present disclosure and is not intended to represent the only aspects in which the present disclosure may be implemented. Each aspect described in this disclosure is provided merely as an example or example of this disclosure, and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the present disclosure. For convenience and clarity only, acronyms and other descriptive terms are used, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

  For purposes of simplicity, the methods have been shown and described as a series of operations, but the methods have been shown and described herein in accordance with one or more aspects. It should be understood and appreciated that it is not limited by the order of operations as it may occur in a different order than it is or at the same time as other actions. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that these methods could instead be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with one or more aspects.

  The techniques described herein include, for example, code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) networks, single It is used for various wireless communication networks such as carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks. The terms “system” and “network” are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) and low chip rate (LCR). cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA system may implement radio technologies such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, and the like. UTRA, E-UTRA, and GSM are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the latest release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS, and LTE are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are known in the art.

  In addition, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) uses single carrier modulation, and frequency domain equalization is another wireless communication technique. SC-FDMA systems can have substantially the same complexity and comparable performance as OFDMA systems. SC-FDMA signals have a low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) due to their inherent single carrier structure. SC-FDMA has drawn great attention, especially in uplink communications where low PAPR is of great benefit to mobile terminals in terms of transmit power efficiency. Using SC-FDMA technology is currently assumed to be operating for an uplink multiple access scheme in 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) or Evolved UTRA. All of the above wireless communication technologies and standards are used with the data centric multiplexing algorithms described herein.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a multiple access wireless communication system. As illustrated in FIG. 1, an access point 100 (AP) includes a plurality of ones including 104 and 106, another one including 108 and 110, and another one including 112 and 114. Includes antenna groups. In FIG. 1, only two antennas are shown for each antenna group. However, for each antenna group, more or less than two antennas may also be utilized. Access terminal 116 (AT) is in communication with antenna 112 and antenna 114, which transmit information to access terminal 116 on forward link 120 and receive information from access terminal 116 on reverse link 118. To do. Access terminal 122 is in communication with antennas 106, 108 that transmit information to access terminal 122 on forward link 126 and receive information from access terminal 122 on reverse link 124. In an FDD system, communication links 118, 120, 124, 126 may use different frequencies for communication. For example, forward link 120 may use a different frequency than that used by reverse link 118. Each area and / or group of antennas that are designed to communicate is often referred to as a sector of access points. In one example, each antenna group is designed to communicate with access terminals in a sector of the area covered by access point 100.

  For communication on the forward links 120, 126, the transmit antenna at the access point 100 utilizes beamforming to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the forward link of another access terminal 116, 124. Furthermore, access points that use beamforming to transmit to access terminals that are randomly scattered over the coverage area are more accessible in neighboring cells than access points that transmit to a single antenna to all access terminals. Less interference to the terminal. The access point can be a fixed station. An access point may also be referred to as an access node, a base station, or some other similar term known in the art. An access terminal may also be referred to as a mobile station, user equipment (UE), a wireless communication device, or some other terminology.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless MIMO communication system. FIG. 2 shows a transmitter system 210 (also known as an access point) and a receiver system 250 (also known as an access terminal) in the MIMO system 200. In transmitter system 210, traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from a data source 212 to a transmit (TX) data processor 214. In one example, each data stream is transmitted through a respective transmit antenna. TX data processor 214 formats the traffic data for each data stream, encodes and interleaves based on the particular encoding scheme selected for this data stream, and encodes the encoded data. I will provide a.

  The coded data for each data stream can be multiplexed with pilot data using OFDM techniques. The pilot data is typically a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner and may be used at the receiver system to estimate the channel response. The multiplexed pilot and coded data for each data stream is based on the specific modulation scheme (eg, BPSK, QPSK, M-PSK, or M-QAM) selected for the data stream Modulated (eg, symbol map) to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream can be determined by instructions executed by processor 230.

The modulation symbols for all data streams are provided to a TX MIMO processor 220 that processes the modulation symbols (eg, for OFDM). TX MIMO processor 220 then provides N _T modulation symbol streams to N _T transmitters (TMTR) 222a through 222t. In one example, TX MIMO processor 220 applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data stream and the antenna from which the symbols are transmitted. Each transmitter 222a through 222t receives and processes a respective symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further provides a modulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel. For this purpose, the analog signal is adjusted (eg, amplified, filtered, and upconverted). Further, _{N T} modulated signals from transmitters 222a through 222t are then transmitted from _{N T} antennas 224a through 224t.

At receiver system 250, the modulated signal transmitted are received by _{N R} antennas 252a through 252r, the received signal from each antenna 252a through 252r are provided to a respective receiver (RCVR) 254a through 254r The Each receiver 254a through 254r adjusts (eg, filters, amplifies, and downconverts) its respective signal, digitizes the adjusted signal to provide a sample, and further processes the sample to respond. To provide a “received” symbol stream.

RX data processor 260 receives the N _R symbol streams from N _R receivers 254a through 254r, received these symbol streams, and processing based on a particular receiver processing technique, Provide _NT “detected” symbol streams. RX data processor 260 demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes each detected symbol stream to recover the traffic data for this data stream. The processing by RX data processor 260 is complementary to that performed by TX MIMO processor 220 and TX data processor 214 at transmitter system 210. The processor 270 periodically determines which pre-encoding matrix to use (as described below). Further, processor 270 can define a reverse link message comprising a matrix index portion and a rank value portion.

  The reverse link message may comprise various types of information regarding the communication link and / or the received data stream. The reverse link message is processed by a TX data processor 238 that receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a data source 236, modulated by a modulator 280, coordinated by transmitters 254a-254r, and It is sent back to 210.

  At base station 210, the modulated signal from receiver system 250 is received by antennas 224a through 224r, conditioned by receivers 222a through 222t, demodulated by demodulator 240, processed by RX data processor 242, and received. The reverse link message sent by the aircraft system 250 is extracted. Thereafter, the processor 230 determines which precoding matrix to use to determine the beamforming weights and processes the extracted message. One skilled in the art will appreciate that transceivers 222a through 222r are referred to as transmitters on the forward link and receivers on the reverse link. Similarly, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that transceivers 254a through 254r are referred to as receivers on the forward link and transmitters on the reverse link.

  As a result of signal format dynamics, it is attractive to have fixed hardware for multiplexing and modulation without significant overhead. In most cases, it is inevitable to design a new multiplexer or modulator when the wireless communication standard changes or when there is a demand to implement a new wireless communication technology. This results in increased time and engineering costs. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a transmit (TX) data processor with an encoder engine and a multiplexer engine. Included in FIG. 3 is a generic and efficient data centric multiplexer (mux) engine with the ability to handle high data rate traffic throughput and the flexibility to handle various control channels. It is. In one example, the data centric multiplexer engine architecture includes tile descriptors, tone markers, and priorities. Multiplexer (mux) engines can also be reused by another communication standard such as LTE.

  In one example, high-throughput related blocks such as QPSK / QAM tone modulation are implemented in hardware, while firmware handles low-throughput control channel modulation. The firmware controls tone / OFDM symbol resource descriptors and resource allocation as well as channel-specific hopping. As a table-driven machine, the firmware operates with the hardware in a coordinated manner to provide overall control and achieve the desired multiplexer operation.

  In one aspect, function partitioning is performed for function assignment between hardware and software. Since the channel throughput is very high and the data channel generally does not change as the radio standard evolves, the hardware performs modulation of the forward link data channel (FLDCH). This means a more cost effective and efficient solution in hardware. Conversely for software, software implements all other control channels because of the relatively low channel throughput and because the control channels generally change as the radio standard evolves. This can be implemented efficiently in software. In addition, the software can control the hardware with various data settings and support wireless standards evolution beyond the Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) phase, for example.

  In another aspect, the data centric multiplexer assignment consists of two parts. One part is for pilot and the other part is for data. Each resource assigned to the pilot or data includes a tile descriptor, a buffer mode, and an input buffer pointer. For FLDCH data, the data bits are generated by the encoder engine. For the FLDCH pilot channel and all other control channels, the software specifies the modulated in-phase / quadrature (I / Q) symbols to be transmitted. In one example, a frequency hopping table is generated by software and downloaded to hardware. In one example, a frequency hopping table is used to assign (ie, map) tones as a function of time. In another example, tile assignment indicates which set of logical tiles are used in the assignment.

  In another aspect, tile descriptors are used as generalized resource descriptors. The tile definition is an N × M rectangle, which is defined in the frequency (tone) -time domain. Here, N is the number of tones, and M is the number of symbols (for example, OFDM symbols). The allocation of tone resources and symbol resources (eg, OFDM symbol resources) within a tile is arbitrary and is described by a tile descriptor. In one example, the tile descriptor is downloaded to hardware by software. Another type of tile descriptor can be used to best describe the resource allocation within a tile (in terms of memory utilization efficiency). For example, a bitmap may be suitable for high density tiles such as FLDCH. For example, the index may be suitable for low density tiles, such as forward link cell null channel (FLCN). For example, the steps may be suitable for regularly arranged tiles such as forward link beacon channel (FLBCN).

  In another aspect, there may be four frequency hopping modes to support flexible logical to physical tone mapping. In one example, the hopping unit is a tile. The software can generate a hopping table and download it to the hardware. Hopping can be performed for each channel. The four hopping modes are logical vs. physical tile hopping, for example, no hopping (eg FLBCN), eg, FLDCH, Block Resource Channel (BRCH) hopping for the forward link control segment (FLCS) For example, forward link preamble (FLPREAMBLE), direct physical hopping such as FLCN, and distributed resource channel (DRCH) hopping.

  In another aspect, multiplexer job priority (ie channel priority) and tone markers are used to support flexible tone painting (ie tone mapping). In one example for UMB, a tone can be mapped to multiple channels. In the case of skipping, the tone is occupied by the previous channel so that the next channel goes around the tone, ie skips this tone. For example, the FLDCH tone will go around (ie, skip) around the tone occupied by the forward link channel quality indicator (FLCQI). In the case of puncturing, the tone is occupied by the previous channel and the next channel returns the tone, i.e. punctures out the modulation symbols generated by the previous channel. For example, the FLCN tone will only puncture the tone occupied by the FLDCH data tone. In another example, three parameters are implemented to support tone skipping or puncturing. 1) Channel priority: Determines which channel paints the tone first (ie, maps). 2) Tone markers: Each tone has an associated marker (eg, a 3-bit marker) that identifies which channel occupies the tone. 3) x bit puncture bitmap: Each channel has a puncture bitmap. x defines the number of bits. In one example, an 8-bit puncture bitmap defines that if one or more previous channels occupy the same tone mapped to the current channel, these channels can be punctured.

  In another aspect, buffer mode is implemented. Since the software downloads the FLDCH pilot and control channel modulation symbols, it is important to implement multiple buffer modes in order to reduce traffic between the software and hardware. The tile wrap mode handles FLDCH pilot modulation symbols. Marker only mode marks the tone described by the tile descriptor without memory access to the multiplexer output I / Q symbol buffer. This saves a lot of multiplexer memory. As an example, the FLBCN channel has only one tone of the modulated symbol, but all tones over the entire bandwidth need to be marked as occupied. This is handled by the marker-only mode without doubling the multiplexer output buffer bandwidth.

  In another aspect, an OFDMA resource multiplexing algorithm is used to solve the resource overlap problem. In an OFDMA radio system, radio resources are shared between different channels such as, for example, a pilot channel, a control channel, and a traffic channel. A defined multiplexing policy determines the usefulness of specific resources (tones or subcarriers) for a particular channel, and if a resource is already occupied, the defined multiplexing policy Determines whether it should be punctured or avoided (ie, skipped). For example, in a UMB forward link, the blocks of resources allocated to the FLDCH are FLDPI or FLDPICH (forward dedicated pilot channel), FLCQICH (forward channel quality indicator pilot channel), and FLBCN (forward link Beacon channel). Instead of puncturing the FLDCH (ie, modulation symbols are knocked out), the FLDCH avoids resources overlapped by these pilot channels and uses the next available resource. In another example, FLCH (Forward Link Cell Null Channel) uses only resources not occupied by any other channel (free resources) or resources occupied by FLDCH.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the transmit data processor 300 includes an encoder engine 310 and a multiplexer engine 320. These can be used, for example, in UMB forward links. Firmware 330 associated with processor 340 passes information to the encoder and multiplexer via a hardware command interface 331 to encoder engine 310. The encoder engine 310 receives the bits 301, encodes them into encoded bits 311, and sends them to the multiplexer engine 320. The encoder engine 310 also sends multiplexer information 312 to the multiplexer engine 320 including multiplexed job priority and puncture bitmap. The multiplexer engine 320 then modulates the encoded bits 311 into QPSK / QAM symbols 321 according to the multiplexer information 312 and places them into dedicated resources (tones).

  Different channels are assigned to different multiplexed jobs and put into job queues with different priorities. In order to perform this multiplexing, each multiplexing job has the following information. 1) Multiplexed job priority: This information commands which channel is multiplexed first. 2) Marker: This is used to indicate which channel the resource is occupied by. An internal marker buffer holds information for all resources. When a resource is occupied by the current multiplexing job, the marker will be saved in the buffer for that resource. 3) Puncture bitmap: This information dictates whether the current multiplexed job returns resources already occupied by previous multiplexed jobs that have a high job priority. The marker level in the marker buffer is checked against the puncture bitmap. If a resource is occupied by a channel with a corresponding marker (bit position N in the bitmap corresponds to marker level N), a “1” in the bitmap will cause the channel to improve this resource. It means to go. This will cause the previous channel to be punctured. If not, resources are avoided (ie, skipped) and the previous channel remains on that channel.

  For example, in the UMB wireless system, the following channels are necessary for the transmission frame N. 1) FLBCN (forward beacon channel), 2) FLDPI (forward dedicated pilot channel), 3) FLDCH (forward data channel), 4) FLCN (forward cell null channel). In the UMB example, FLBCN is the first according to the UMB specification. In addition, FLDPI needs to avoid (ie skip) resources occupied by FLBCH, and FLDCH needs to avoid (ie skip) resources occupied by FLBCN and FLDPI. The FLCN must only puncture (ie, return) resources that are occupied by the FLDCH and avoid (ie, skip) resources that are occupied by another channel. In one example, for each channel in the firmware, the appropriate priority, marker, and puncture bitmap are assigned to meet UMB requirements.

  In one aspect, the data centric multiplexer has 8 job priorities and uses 3 bits for markers and 8 bits for puncture vipmaps. 1) FLDCH: priority 1, marker 1, puncture bitmap 00000010b, 2) FLCN: priority 0 (lowest), marker 2, puncture bitmap 00000010b, 3) FLBCN: priority 7 (highest), marker 7 Puncture bitmap 11111111b, 4) FLDPI: priority 2, marker 4, puncture bitmap 00010000b.

  FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a process flow diagram for resource multiplexing to solve the resource overlap problem in a wireless communication system having multiple channels. In one example, there are four channels. A channel having the highest priority (for example, the first channel) is set in advance. This is followed by another three channels (second channel, third channel, and fourth channel) with a preset priority. At block 410, the first channel assignment is performed by assigning the first resource to the first channel of the plurality of channels. After block 410, block 420 performs the allocation of the second channel by avoiding resources occupied by the first channel. That is, the second resource is allocated to the second channel among the plurality of channels. Here, the second resource is not the first resource. After block 420, block 430 performs third channel allocation by avoiding resources occupied by the first channel and the second channel. That is, the third resource is allocated to the third channel among the plurality of channels. Here, the third resource is neither the first resource nor the second resource. After block 430, at block 440, puncture at least one of the resources occupied by the first resource, the second resource, or the third resource, the first channel, the second channel, and The allocation of the fourth channel is performed by avoiding (ie, skipping) other resources occupied by the rest of the third channel. That is, by puncturing at least one of the first resource, the second resource, or the third resource, and being punctured of the first resource, the second resource, or the third resource. The fourth resource is allocated to the fourth channel of the plurality of channels by skipping the remaining ones. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that while the example of FIG. 4 is illustrated with four channels, other numbers of channels may be substituted without adversely affecting the scope or spirit of the present disclosure. Will.

  FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a process flow diagram for resource multiplexing that solves the resource overlap problem in an OFDMA system. In this example, FLBCN has the highest priority in the order listed, followed by FLDPI, FLDCH, and FLCN. At block 510, FLBCN allocation is first performed. Following block 510, block 520 performs FLDPI allocation by avoiding resources occupied by the FLBCN. Following block 520, block 530 performs FLDCH allocation by avoiding resources occupied by FLBCN and FLDPI. Following block 530, block 540 performs FLCN allocation by packing resources occupied by the FLDCH and avoiding resources occupied by other channels. Those skilled in the art are illustrated with four specific channels (FLBCN, FLDPI, FLDCH, and FLCN) in the example of FIG. 5, but other channels or other numbers of channels are disclosed in this disclosure. It will be appreciated that substitutions can be made without adversely affecting the scope or spirit.

  Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the steps disclosed in the example flow diagrams in FIGS. 4 and 5 may be interchanged in other orders without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. . Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that each step illustrated in the flowchart is not limiting and includes other steps, or one or more of the steps in the example flowchart are disclosed in this disclosure. It will be understood that it can be deleted without adversely affecting its scope and spirit.

  Those skilled in the art will further recognize that the various exemplary components, logic blocks, modules, circuits, and / or algorithm steps described in connection with the examples disclosed herein are electronic hardware. It will be understood that it is realized by firmware, computer software, or a combination thereof. To clearly illustrate the interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and / or algorithm steps are common in terms of their functionality. Described in Whether these functions are implemented as hardware, firmware, or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art can implement the functions described above in a manner that varies with each particular application. However, this application judgment should not be construed as a departure from the scope or spirit of the invention.

  For example, when implemented in hardware, the processing unit can be one or more application specific ICs (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic circuits (PLDs), field programmables. It can be implemented in a gate array (FPGA), processor, controller, microcontroller, microprocessor, other electronic unit designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof. Using software, it is implemented by modules (eg, procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. The software code can be stored in the memory unit and executed by the processor. In addition, the various exemplary flow diagrams, logic blocks, modules, and / or algorithm steps described herein are also computer readable on any computer readable medium known in the art. It can be coded as a set of instructions or implemented in any computer program product known in the art.

  In one example, illustrative components, flow diagrams, logic blocks, modules, and / or steps as described herein are implemented or implemented using one or more processors. In one aspect, the processor is connected to the memory. The memory stores data, metadata, program instructions, etc. that are to be executed by a processor to implement or implement the various flow diagrams, logic blocks, and / or modules described herein. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a device 600 that includes a processor 610 that communicates with a memory 620 for data centric multiplexing, eg, in a wireless communication system. In one example, the device 600 is used to implement the algorithm illustrated in either FIG. 4 or FIG. In one aspect, the memory 620 is located within the processor 610. In another aspect, the memory 620 resides outside the processor 610. In one aspect, the processor includes circuitry that implements or executes the various flow diagrams, logic blocks, and / or modules described herein.

  FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a device 700 suitable for data centric multiplexing, eg, in a wireless communication system. In one aspect, the device 700 comprises at least one or more modules configured to provide another aspect of data centric multiplexing as described in blocks 710, 720, 730, 740. Implemented by one processor. For example, each module includes hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. In one aspect, the device 700 is implemented with at least one memory in communication with at least one processor.

With reference to FIG. 8, a UMB superframe 800 is illustrated. The super frame comprises a preamble frame 802 followed by a forward link physical frame F _n 804. Here n = 1-24, all of which can be separated by a guard interval (not illustrated in FIG. 8). Each superframe 800 comprises 8 OFDM symbols. Generally speaking, each individual frame may contain information related to a particular transmission, including audio data, video data, and overhead information. Unless stated otherwise, in UMB, a frame is a time unit equal to 8 OFDM symbols.

  Different channels may start and end at different times in the superframe and individual frames. For example, the forward link data channel (FLDCH) always starts and ends at frame boundaries. However, there are many control channels (FLCQICH, FLBCH) that start and end in the middle of a frame. For example, the FLCQICH channel is transmitted on symbols 3 and 4 of the frame.

  In a typical transmitter configuration, the firmware contained within the device performs an encoding / multiplexing job for a control channel, such as the forward channel quality indicator pilot channel, for example, just in symbol 2 of the frame. Issuing in time, the job is included in symbol 3 and symbol 4 of the frame. This “just-in-time” relationship provides a tight coupling between device firmware and device hardware, complicating firmware design.

  To reduce the complexity of such a configuration, if the device firmware and device hardware are coarsely synchronized to the appropriate frame, not to a particular frame symbol, Would be desirable. If not stated otherwise, the encoded OFDM symbol output by the encoder and provided to the queue (or memory) associated with the multiplexer is in a frame that is not the particular frame symbol itself. If coarsely synchronized, the multiplexer is preferred because it allows these symbols to be properly configured into the appropriate frame.

  Further, in accordance with the disclosure herein, the firmware can push an encoding / multiplexing job to the job FIFO queue as long as the job is to be multiplexed in the next frame. The encoder module continuously pops and processes the encoding / multiplexing job from the FIFO. When the encoder completes the job, it pushes the job to the pending queue and provides it to the multiplexer.

  Each encoding / multiplexing job is associated with a job descriptor having in the field a startSymbol and numSymbol describing the job for each identified frame. startSymbol is a number from 0 to 7 indicating the symbol for which the job is activated, and numSymbol is a number indicating the number of symbols for which the job remains active when the job is started.

  Thus, for example, as described above, when an encoding / multiplexing job for the FLCQICH channel is transmitted in the third and fourth symbols of the frame, the job descriptor has a startSymbol of 2, Indicates that numSymbol is 2.

  For every frame to be multiplexed by the multiplexer, the multiplexer examines all jobs in the pending queue and pushes the job whose startSymbol matches the current number of symbols to one in the active queue. Here, for simplicity, only one such queue is illustrated, but multiple active queues are utilized and ordered according to priority. In addition, the multiplexer processes all jobs present in the active queue in order of priority. The multiplexer decrements the numSymbols count for each job processed. Finally, the multiplexer examines all active queues and removes all jobs that have timed out with the corresponding numSymbols count reaching zero.

  Thus, by providing a pending queue and an active queue at the interface between the encoder and the multiplexer, the synchronization constraints between the encoder / multiplexer HW block and firmware are relaxed.

  FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment 900 according to the present disclosure. Here, an encoder 902 is shown. The encoder 902 receives a job 904 (eg, like bit 301 in FIG. 3) and processes the job as described previously in this specification. In addition, however, a job descriptor is also provided that includes the startSymbol and numSymbol already described (eg, as in the multiplexer information 312 of FIG. 3). The output of encoder 902 is provided to pending queue 906. For simplicity of illustration, only three encoded OFDM symbols 908a, 908b, 908c are illustrated for a particular frame of the superframe.

  Further shown in this figure is a multiplexer 910 and an active queue 912 (such as multiplexer 320 in FIG. 3). Symbols 908 are placed in the active queue and multiplexed based on the priorities described above. That is, each job, i.e., symbol 908, will be examined to determine if it should be multiplexed into the same frame. If these jobs are from the same frame, they will be moved from the pending queue 906 to the active queue 912 for processing by the multiplexer 910.

  It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes disclosed is an example of a typical approach. Based on design choices, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in these processes may be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. The method claims present elements of the various steps in sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

  Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instruction groups, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips described throughout the above description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves.

  The above description of the disclosed aspects is applicable to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. .

Claims (13)

An apparatus operable in a wireless communication system,
Means for synchronizing the encoder and multiplexer to the frame;
Means for pushing a job from the encoder to a pending queue;
Means for determining whether a job in the pending queue is from the frame;
Means for pushing the jobs from the pending queue to the active queue if the jobs are from the same frame;
Means for multiplexing jobs from the same frame. The frame has 8 symbols, and each job is associated with a symbol,
The apparatus further comprises a job descriptor including a startSymbol and a numSymbol,
The startSymbol is a number from 0 to 7 indicating the symbol that the job has become active, and the numSymbol is a number that indicates the number of symbols that the job keeps active when the job is started. The apparatus according to claim 1.   The means for determining whether the job in the pending queue is from the frame, the means for determining whether the job is from the same frame, so as to determine whether the job is from the same frame The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the apparatus inspects the descriptor. A method used in a wireless communication system, comprising:
Synchronizing the encoder and multiplexer to the frame;
Providing a pending queue;
Pushing a job from the encoder to the pending queue;
Determining whether a job in the pending queue is from the frame;
Providing an active queue;
If the jobs are from the same frame, pushing them from the pending queue to the active queue;
Multiplexing the job in the active queue. The frame has 8 symbols,
Prepare a job descriptor containing startSymbol and numSymbol for each job,
The startSymbol is a number from 0 to 7 indicating the symbol that the job has become active, and the numSymbol is a number that indicates the number of symbols that the job keeps active when the job is started. The method according to claim 4, wherein   The step of determining whether a job in the pending queue is from a frame includes determining a job description of the job in the pending queue to determine whether the job is from the same frame. 6. The method of claim 5, comprising examining the child.   An electronic device configured to perform the method of claim 4. When executed by a machine,
Synchronizing the encoder and multiplexer to the frame;
Pushing a job from the encoder to a pending queue;
Determining whether a job in the pending queue is from a frame;
If the jobs are from the same frame, pushing them from the pending queue to the active queue;
Multiplexing jobs from the same frame;
A machine-readable medium comprising instructions for performing an operation including: Each job contains a job descriptor containing startSymbol and numSymbol,
The startSymbol is a number from 0 to 7 indicating the symbol that the job has become active, and the numSymbol is a number that indicates the number of symbols that the job keeps active when the job is started. The method of claim 8, wherein   The step of determining whether a job in the pending queue is from a frame includes determining a job description of the job in the pending queue to determine whether the job is from the same frame. The method of claim 9, comprising examining the child. An apparatus operable in a wireless communication system,
A processor, an encoder, a multiplexer, and a pending queue and an active queue provided between the encoder and the multiplexer;
The processor synchronizes the encoder and the multiplexer to a frame, pushes a job from the encoder to the pending queue, determines whether a job in the pending queue is from the frame, and If the jobs are from the same frame, they are configured to push these jobs from the pending queue to the active queue and multiplex the jobs from the same frame;
The apparatus further includes:
An apparatus connected to the processor and comprising a memory for storing data in the pending queue and the active queue. Each job contains a job descriptor containing startSymbol and numSymbol,
The startSymbol is a number from 0 to 7 indicating the symbol that the job has become active, and the numSymbol is a number that indicates the number of symbols that the job keeps active when the job is started. The apparatus according to claim 11.   The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to examine a job descriptor of a job in the pending queue to determine if the job is from the same frame.

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