KR101475448B1 - Communicating between user equipment(ue) and independent serving sectors in a wireless communications system - Google Patents

Abstract

The wireless communication system transmits the data to HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) by allowing a radio network controller (RNC) to allocate portions of data to be transmitted to the user equipment to the first serving cell and the second serving cell. The first serving cell transmits data onto the first downlink carrier to the user equipment. A second serving cell independent from the first serving cell transmits data onto the second downlink carrier to the user equipment. In an optional aspect, the RNC receives measurement reports from the user equipment on the first uplink carrier via at least one of the first serving cell and the second serving cell.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for communicating between a user equipment (UE) and independent serving sectors in a wireless communication system. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 1 >

This patent application is a continuation-in-part of US application entitled " COMMUNICATING BETWEEN A USER EQUIPMENT (UE) AND A PLURALITY OF INDEPENDENT SERVICE SECTORS IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM " filed October 13, 2010, 61 / 392,915, the disclosures of which are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

The present application relates to communication between a user equipment (UE) and a plurality of independent serving sectors in a wireless communication system.

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and the like. These networks, which are typically multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing available network resources. An example of such a network is the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). UTRAN is a radio access network (RAN) defined as part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). UMTS, which is a successor to the General Purpose Systems (GSM) technologies for mobile communications, is currently deployed in wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), time division-code division multiple access (TD- SCDMA). ≪ / RTI > UMTS also supports advanced 3G data communication protocols, such as High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), which provide higher data rates and capacity to associated UMTS networks.

In the design of such communication systems, when available resources are provided, it is desirable to maximize the number or capacity of users that the system can reliably support.

The following description provides a simplified summary of one or more aspects thereof in order to provide a basic understanding of one or more aspects. This summary is not a comprehensive overview of all contemplated aspects, nor is it intended to identify key or critical elements of all aspects or to delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In one aspect, the invention provides a method of receiving data from HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) from two independent cells or sectors. The user equipment (UE) receives data on a first downlink carrier from a first serving cell. The UE receives data on a second downlink carrier from a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell. In an exemplary aspect, the UE transmits channel feedback on at least one of a first serving cell and a second serving cell on a first uplink carrier.

In another aspect, there is provided at least one processor for receiving data from HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. The first module receives data from the first serving cell onto the first downlink carrier. The second module receives data on a second downlink carrier from a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell. In an exemplary aspect, the third module transmits channel feedback on at least one of the first serving cell and the second serving cell onto the first uplink carrier.

In an additional aspect, the present invention provides a computer program product for receiving data from HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. Non-volatile computer-readable storage media include stored sets of code. The first set of codes allows a computer to receive, at the user equipment, data from a first serving cell onto a first downlink carrier. A second set of codes allows a computer to receive, at the user equipment, data on a second downlink carrier from a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell. In an exemplary aspect, a third set of codes allows a computer to transmit, by user equipment, channel feedback onto at least one of a first serving cell and a second serving cell on a first uplink carrier.

In a further aspect, the invention provides an apparatus for receiving data from HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. The apparatus comprises, at the user equipment, means for receiving data from a first serving cell onto a first downlink carrier. The apparatus comprises means for receiving, at the user equipment, data on a second downlink carrier from a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell. In an exemplary aspect, an apparatus includes means for transmitting, by user equipment, channel feedback on at least one of a first serving cell and a second serving cell onto a first uplink carrier.

In another aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for receiving data from HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. The first receiver receives, at the user equipment, data on a first downlink carrier from a first serving cell. The second receiver receives, at the user equipment, data on a second downlink carrier from a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell. In an exemplary aspect, a first transmitter transmits channel feedback on at least one of a first serving cell and a second serving cell by a user equipment on a first uplink carrier.

In yet another additional aspect, the present invention provides a method of transmitting data from HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. A Radio Access Network (RAN) allocates, by a Radio Network Controller (RNC), portions of data for transmission to a user equipment to a first serving cell and a second serving cell. The RAN transmits data on the first downlink carrier to the user equipment by the first serving cell. The RAN transmits data to the user equipment over a second downlink carrier by a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell. In an optional aspect, the RAN receives channel feedback from the user equipment on the first uplink carrier, via at least one of the first serving cell and the second serving cell, by the RNC.

In another aspect, the invention provides at least one processor for transmitting data from two independent cells or sectors to HSDPA. The first module allocates, by the RNC, portions of data for transmission to the user equipment to the first serving cell and the second serving cell. The second module transmits data on the first downlink carrier to the user equipment by the first serving cell. The third module transmits data on the second downlink carrier to the user equipment by a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell. In an optional aspect, the fourth module receives channel feedback from the user equipment on the first uplink carrier via at least one of the first serving cell and the second serving cell.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a computer program product for transferring data from HSDPA to two independent cells or sectors. Non-volatile computer-readable storage media include stored sets of code. The first set of codes allows a computer to assign, by the RNC, portions of data for transmission to a user equipment to a first serving cell and a second serving cell. A second set of codes allows a computer to transmit data to a user equipment over a first downlink carrier by a first serving cell. A third set of codes allows a computer to transmit data to a user equipment on a second downlink carrier, by a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell. Optionally, a fourth set of codes allows a computer to receive channel feedback from a user equipment on a first uplink carrier via at least one of a first serving cell and a second serving cell.

In a further aspect, the invention provides an apparatus for transmitting data from two independent cells or sectors to HSDPA. The apparatus includes means for assigning, by the RNC, portions of data for transmission to a user equipment to a first serving cell and a second serving cell. The apparatus includes means for transmitting, by a first serving cell, data to a user equipment on a first downlink carrier. The apparatus includes means for transmitting data to a user equipment on a second downlink carrier by a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell. In an optional aspect, the apparatus comprises means for receiving channel feedback from a user equipment on a first uplink carrier via at least one of a first serving cell and a second serving cell.

In another aspect, the invention provides an apparatus for transmitting data from two independent cells or sectors to HSDPA. The RNC allocates portions of data for transmission to the user equipment to the first serving cell and the second serving cell. The first serving cell transmits data onto the first downlink carrier to the user equipment. A second serving cell independent from the first serving cell transmits data onto the second downlink carrier to the user equipment. In an optional aspect, the RNC receives channel feedback from the user equipment on the first uplink carrier via at least one of the first serving cell and the second serving cell.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects of the one or more aspects. It is to be understood, however, that these features are indicative of only some of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed, and that the description includes all such aspects and equivalents of such aspects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features, nature, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which like reference characters identify correspondingly throughout, and in which: FIG.

1 is a timing diagram of an aspect of a user equipment and a network device in a wireless communication system;
2A is a flow diagram of one aspect of a method for communication using data received from independent serving cells, performed by a user device.
2B is a flow diagram of an aspect of a method for communication using data transmitted from independent serving cells, performed by a network device.
3 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of an aspect of a telecommunication system.
4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of an aspect of an access network;
5 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of an aspect of a Node B communicating with a UE in a telecommunication system.
Figure 6 illustrates an example of an aspect of a hardware implementation for an apparatus using a processing system;
Figure 7 illustrates one aspect of a method for transmitting data onto a plurality of carriers within a single sector to a legacy UE.
Figure 8 illustrates one aspect of connections established between a user equipment (UE) and a serving sector as determined during the method of Figure 7;
9A illustrates a method of transmitting data to a UE via multiple serving sectors in accordance with aspects of the innovation of the present invention.
Figure 9b illustrates a method of transmitting data to a UE via multiple serving sectors in accordance with another aspect of the innovation of the present invention.
Figures 10A-10G illustrate a block diagram of an aspect of connections, respectively, established between a given UE and multiple serving sectors, in accordance with the methods of Figures 9A and 9B, respectively.
11A is a block diagram of an aspect of a system of logical groups of electrical components for communication using a dual uplink transmission time interval performed by a user equipment.
11B is a block diagram of an aspect of a system of logical groups of electrical components for communication using a dual uplink transmission time interval performed by a network device.

The user equipment (UE) simultaneously sets the first serving sector and the second serving sector. The first serving sector is configured to transmit to the UE on at least one downlink carrier from the first set of carriers and the second serving sector is configured to transmit to the UE on the downlink carrier of at least one of the second set of carriers Respectively. The UE is assigned one uplink carrier, the UE may transmit feedback to the first and second serving sectors by one uplink carrier, and the uplink carrier may be transmitted between the first and second sets of carriers . The UE receives data transmissions from the first and second serving sectors onto their respective downlink carriers. The UE measures the pilot signals of the local sectors and provides channel feedback on the uplink carrier. The access network maintains the active set for the UE based on the measurement report.

The following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, is intended as a description of various aspects and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring those concepts.

1, in a wireless communication system 100, a network device, depicted as a radio access network (RAN) 102, is depicted as a user equipment (UE) 114 on a plurality of carriers And an independent serving cell transmission controller 101 for managing independent serving cells to transmit. In an aspect, the RAN 102 includes a first serving cell 106 provided by a first base node 108 and a second serving cell 110 served by a second serving cell 110 served by a second base node 112 And transmits data 104 to UE 114 from HSDPA cells in HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access). In one aspect, the scheduler, illustrated as RNC (Radio Network Controller) 116 of RAN 102, executes independent serving cell transmission controller 101 and consequently data 104 for transmission to UE 114, To the first serving cell 106 and to the second serving cell 110. < RTI ID = 0.0 > In particular, the first serving cell 106 transmits data 104 to the UE 114 on the first downlink carrier 118. The second serving cell 110 independent from the first serving cell 106 transmits the data 104 onto the second downlink carrier 120 to the UE 114. [ The RNC 116 and / or the independent serving cell transmission controller 101 may transmit the UE 114 (e.g., a first serving cell) and a second serving cell 110 (Not shown). The first and second base nodes may each include a transmitter 126 and a receiver 128 using at least one antenna 130 for transmission and reception.

Similarly, an independent serving cell receive controller 103 for managing independent serving cells on a plurality of carriers at a UE 114 may, in an aspect, allow the UE 114 to communicate with two independent cells or sectors Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > HSDPA. ≪ / RTI > A first receiver 132 receives data 104 from a first serving cell 106 onto a first downlink carrier 118. The second receiver 134 receives data 104 from the second serving cell 110, which is independent of the first serving cell 106, onto the second downlink carrier 120. The first transmitter 136 transmits channel feedback 122 onto at least one of the first serving cell 106 and the second serving cell 110 onto the first uplink carrier 124.

In an exemplary aspect, the UE 114 has a second transmitter 138 for transmitting a second uplink carrier 140, which may be an anchor carrier. The first and second receivers 132 and 134 and the first and second transmitters 136 and 138 use one or more antennas 142.

A carrier may be considered an anchor carrier in that the anchor carrier carries a control channel for the non-anchor carrier. Alternatively or additionally, measurements of anchor carriers may be the basis for determining mobility. Alternatively or additionally, a single uplink also means that a single active set is supported by the UE (and network) only on an anchor carrier.

In current multi-carrier HSPA, W-CDMA Rel. 8, 9 and 10, all downlink carriers have the same serving cell. While such implementations simplify certain operations on MAC (Medium Access Control) and RLC (Radio Link Control) layers, this also limits the UE data rate in many situations. The innovation of the present invention enables a wireless communication system of more than one independent sector or cell, wherein the serving cell of each carrier can be selected independently. Channel feedback on one or more uplink carriers from the UE is addressed. In particular, carriers may be grouped into carrier groups. Each carrier group has one uplink carrier and thus one active set. The serving cell for each downlink carrier is selected from among the member cells in the active set for that carrier group. The mobility may be based on an anchor carrier, or may be independent for each carrier group. The HS-DPCCH may be coded into one codeword, transmitted via an anchor uplink carrier, coded on a per carrier group basis, and transmitted on an uplink carrier linked to that carrier group.

Thus, in an aspect, the first serving cell and the second serving cell are received from the active set based on the measurement report 143, for example, by the RNC 116 executing an independent serving cell transmission controller 101 Can be selected.

In another aspect, the first serving cell 106 transmits a first HS-SCCH (High Speed Shared Control Channel) for the first downlink carrier 118. The second serving cell 110 transmits a second HS-SCCH for the second downlink carrier 120. In an aspect, in response to the operation of the independent serving cell reception controller 103, the encoder 144 at the UE 114 transmits an HS-DPCCH (HS-SCCH) based at least in part on the first HS- And encodes the channel feedback 122 containing the High Speed Dedicated Physical Control Channel (CID) information into one codeword on the first uplink carrier 124. One codeword may be decoded by the decoder 146 in the RAN 102.

By way of the foregoing, in FIG. 2A, the method 200 performed by the user equipment 114 of FIG. 1, for example, is to receive data from HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) from two independent cells or sectors . The user equipment receives data from the first serving cell on the first downlink carrier (block 202). The user equipment receives data from a second serving cell independent of the first serving cell on a second downlink carrier (block 204). In an optional aspect, the user equipment transmits channel feedback on the first uplink carrier to at least one of the first serving cell and the second serving cell (block 206).

In an exemplary aspect, the first serving cell and the second serving cell are selected by an RNC (Radio Network Controller) from the active set based on the measurement report.

In another exemplary aspect, the method comprises: monitoring a first HS-SCCH (High Speed Shared Control Channel) transmitted by a first serving cell for a first downlink carrier; And monitoring a second HS-SCCH transmitted by a second serving cell for a second downlink carrier. The user equipment may encode the channel feedback including HS-DPCCH (High Speed Dedicated Physical Control Channel) information at least partially based on the first HS-SCCH and the second HS-SCCH into one codeword on the first uplink carrier do. In a particular aspect, the user equipment transmits data onto a second uplink carrier to at least one of a first serving cell and a second serving cell, wherein the first uplink carrier comprises an anchor carrier.

In a further exemplary aspect, the user equipment receives a first allocation of a first downlink carrier and a first uplink carrier for a first carrier group and a second allocation of a second downlink carrier and a second uplink carrier for a second carrier group, And receives a second allocation of link carriers. The user equipment transmits channel feedback on the first uplink carrier to the first serving cell and channel feedback on the second uplink carrier to the second serving cell. In a particular aspect, the user equipment determines channel feedback for the selected carrier group by monitoring the HS-SCCH for each downlink carrier assigned to the selected carrier group. In a more specific aspect, the user equipment triggers mobility between serving cells for a selected group of carriers in response to the channel quality being below a threshold of either the first downlink carrier or the second downlink carrier.

In a further exemplary aspect, the user equipment triggers mobility between serving cells in response to the channel quality being below a threshold of a selected one of a first downlink carrier and a second downlink carrier designated as an anchor carrier. In a particular aspect, the user equipment measures the channel quality using the compressed mode of the third downlink carrier transmitted by the new cell to update the active set of neighboring cells and sectors.

In another aspect, the user equipment triggers mobility between serving cells in response to the channel quality being below a threshold of either the first downlink carrier or the second downlink carrier.

In yet another additional aspect, the first serving cell may comprise a first serving sector and the second serving cell may comprise a second serving sector.

In FIG. 2B, for example, a method 250 performed by a network device, for example, the RAN 102 of FIG. 1, is for transmitting data from two independent cells or sectors to HSDPA. The RAN allocates, by the RNC, portions of data for transmission to the user equipment to the first serving cell and the second serving cell (block 252). The RAN sends data to the user equipment on the first downlink carrier by the first serving cell (block 254). The RAN transmits data to the user equipment over a second downlink carrier by a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell (block 256). In an exemplary aspect, the RAN receives channel feedback from the user equipment on the first uplink carrier, via at least one of the first serving cell and the second serving cell, by the RNC (block 258).

In an aspect, a first serving cell and a second serving cell are selected by the RNC from the active set based on a measurement report, which may support legacy UEs.

In another aspect, the RAN transmits a first HS-SCCH by a first serving cell for a first downlink carrier and a second HS-SCCH by a second serving cell for a second downlink carrier . RAN is a channel received with one codeword on a first uplink carrier, including HS-DPCCH (HS-DPCCH) information based at least in part on a first HS-SCCH and a second HS- And decodes the feedback. In an exemplary aspect, the RAN receives data from a user equipment on a second uplink carrier by at least one of a first serving cell and a second serving cell, wherein the first uplink carrier comprises an anchor carrier .

In an additional aspect, the RAN assigns a first downlink carrier and a first uplink carrier to a first carrier group and a second downlink carrier and a second uplink carrier to a second carrier group. The RAN receives channel feedback from a user equipment on a first uplink carrier by a first serving cell. The RAN receives channel feedback from the user equipment on the second uplink carrier by the second serving cell. In an exemplary aspect, the RAN receives channel feedback for a selected carrier group based on the HS-SCCH for each downlink carrier assigned to the selected carrier group. In a particular aspect, the RAN triggers mobility between serving cells for a selected group of carriers in response to the channel quality being below a threshold of either the first downlink carrier or the second downlink carrier.

In a further aspect, the RAN transmits data to the other user equipment using the second downlink carrier by the first serving cell. The RAN selects, through operation of the RNC, a first serving cell for transmitting a first downlink carrier and a second serving cell for transmitting a second downlink carrier to the user equipment for increased throughput.

In another aspect, the RAN transmits data by a first serving cell using a second downlink carrier. The RAN uses the first uplink carrier to transmit data to the other user equipment by the second serving cell. The RAN selects, through the operation of the RNC, a first serving cell for transmitting a first downlink carrier and a second serving cell for transmitting a second downlink carrier for load balancing to the user equipment.

In yet another additional aspect, the RAN triggers mobility between serving cells in response to the channel quality being below a threshold of a selected one of a first downlink carrier and a second downlink carrier designated as an anchor carrier.

In yet another additional aspect, the RAN triggers mobility between serving cells in response to the channel quality being below a threshold of either the first downlink carrier or the second downlink carrier.

In an aspect, a first serving cell comprises a first serving sector and a second serving cell comprises a second serving sector.

Various concepts presented throughout the present invention can be implemented over a wide variety of telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards. As a non-limiting example, aspects of the invention illustrated in FIG. 3 are presented with reference to UMTS system 300 using a W-CDMA air interface. The UMTS network includes three interaction domains: Core Network (CN) 304, UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) 302, and User Equipment (UE) In this example, the UTRAN 302 provides various wireless services including telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and / or other services. The UTRAN 302 may include a plurality of radio network subsystems (RNSs), such as the RNS 303, each of which is controlled by a respective radio network controller (RNC), such as the RNC 306. A serving radio network subsystem (SRNS) is also used interchangeably herein for the RNS. Herein, UTRAN 302 may include any number of RNCs 306 and RNSs 303 in addition to RNCs 306 and RNSs 303 illustrated herein. The RNC 306 is, among other things, a device responsible for allocating, reconfiguring, and releasing radio resources within the RNS 303. The RNC 306 may be interconnected to other RNCs (not shown) in the UTRAN 302 via various types of interfaces, such as direct physical connections, virtual networks, etc., using any suitable transport network.

The communication between the UE 310 and the Node B 308 may be considered to include a physical (PHY) layer and a medium access control (MAC) layer. In addition, the communication between UE 310 and RNC 306 by each Node B 308 may be considered to include a radio resource control (RRC) layer. In the instant specification, the PHY layer can be considered as layer 1, the MAC layer can be considered as layer 2, and the RRC layer can be considered as layer 3. The following information herein utilizes the terminology introduced in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification, 3GPP TS 25.331 v9.1.0, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The geographic area covered by the SRNS 303 may be divided into a plurality of cells, and the wireless transceiver device serves each cell. A wireless transceiver device is generally referred to as a Node B in UMTS applications but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base station (BS), a base transceiver station (BTS), a wireless base station, a wireless transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS) An extended service set (ESS), an access point (AP), or some other suitable term. For clarity, although three Node Bs 308 are shown in each SRNS 303, SRNSs 303 may include any number of wireless Node Bs. Node Bs 308 provide wireless access points to the core network (CN) 304 for any number of mobile devices. Examples of mobile devices include, but are not limited to, cellular phones, smart phones, SIPs, laptops, notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning system (GPS) A video device, a digital audio player (MP3 player), a camera, a game console, or any other similar functional device. A mobile device is generally referred to as a user equipment (UE) in UMTS applications but may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, May be referred to as a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal (AT), a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, In a UMTS system, the UE 310 may further include a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) 311 that includes subscription information of the user for the network. For purposes of example, one UE 310 is shown communicating with a number of Node Bs 308. In FIG. The downlink (DL), also referred to as the forward link, refers to the communication link from the Node B 308 to the UE 310 and the uplink (UL), also referred to as the reverse link, from the UE 310 to the Node B 308 Refers to a communication link.

The core network 304 interfaces with one or more access networks, such as the UTRAN 302. As shown, the core network 304 is a GSM core network. However, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implemented in a RAN, or other suitable access network, to provide UEs with access to types of core networks other than GSM networks .

The core network 304 includes a circuit-switched (CS) domain and a packet-switched (PS) domain. Some of the circuit-switched elements are Mobile Services Switching Center (MSC), Visitor Location Register (VLR), and Gateway MSC. The packet-switching elements include Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). In the illustrated example, the core network 304 supports circuit-switched services via the MSC 312 and the GMSC 314. In some applications, the GMSC 314 may be referred to as a media gateway (MGW). One or more RNCs, such as the RNC 306, may be connected to the MSC 312. The MSC 312 is a device that controls call setup, call routing, and UE mobility functions. The MSC 312 also includes a visitor location register (VLR) that includes subscriber-related information during a duration in which the UE is within the coverage area of the MSC 312. [ The GMSC 314 provides a gateway through the MSC 312 to allow the UE to access the circuit-switched network 316. The GMSC 314 includes a home location register (HLR) 315 that contains subscriber data, such as data that reflects the details of services subscribed by a particular user. The HLR is also associated with an Authentication Center (AuC) that includes subscriber-specific authentication data. When a call to a particular UE is received, the GMSC 314 queries the HLR 315 to determine the location of the UE and forwards the call to the particular MSC serving the location. Some network elements such as EIR, HLR, VLR and AuC may be shared by both circuit-switched and packet-switched domains.

Core network 304 also supports packet-data services via a serving GPRS support node (SGSN) 318 and a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) GPRS, representing general packet radio services, is designed to provide packet-data services at higher rates than those available through standard line-switched data services. The GGSN 320 provides a connection to the packet-based network 322 to the URTAN 302. The packet-based network 322 may be the Internet, a private data network, or some other suitable packet-based network. The primary function of the GGSN 320 is to provide packet-based network connectivity to the UEs 310. Data packets may be transmitted between the GGSN 320 and the UE 310 via the SGSN 318 and the SGSN 318 may perform the same functions that the MSC 312 performs in the circuit- .

The UMTS air interface is a spread spectrum Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA) system. Spread Spectrum DS-CDMA spreads user data through multiplication by a sequence of pseudorandom bits called chips. The W-CDMA air interface for UMTS is based on such a direct sequence spread spectrum technique and also requires frequency division duplexing (FDD). The FDD uses different carrier frequencies for the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) between the Node B 308 and the UE 310. Another air interface for UMTS utilizing DS-CDMA and time division duplexing is the TD-SCDMA air interface. Although the various examples described herein may refer to a W-CDMA air interface, those skilled in the art will recognize that the basic principles are equally applicable to the TD-SCDMA air interface.

The HSPA air interface includes a series of enhancements to the 3G / W-CDMA air interface to facilitate greater throughput and reduced latency. Among other modifications to the conventional releases, the HSPA utilizes hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), shared channel transmission, and adaptive modulation and coding. Standards defining HSPA include high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) and high speed uplink packet access (HSUPA, also referred to as enhanced uplink or EUL).

HSDPA utilizes HS-DSCH (high-speed downlink shared channel) as its transport channel. The HS-DSCH is divided into three physical channels: a high-speed physical downlink shared channel (HS-PDSCH), a high-speed shared control channel (HS-SCCH) and a high-speed dedicated physical control channel .

Among these physical channels, the HS-DPCCH transmits HARQ ACK / NACK signaling on the uplink to indicate whether the corresponding packet transmission has been successfully decoded. That is, with respect to the downlink, the UE 310 provides feedback to the Node B 308 over the HS-DPCCH to indicate whether it correctly decoded the packet on the downlink.

The HS-DPCCH further includes feedback signaling from UE 310 to assist Node B 308 in making the correct decisions regarding the modulation and coding scheme and precoding weight selection, which may include CQI and PCI .

"HSPA Evolved" or HSPA + is an evolution of the HSPA standard, including MIMO and 64-QAM, which enables increased throughput and higher performance. That is, in an aspect of the present invention, Node B 308 and / or UE 310 may have multiple antennas supporting MIMO technology. The use of the MIMO technique makes it possible for the Node B 308 to use the spatial domain to support spatial multiplexing, beamforming and transmit diversity.

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is commonly used to refer to multiple antenna techniques, i.e., multiple transmit antennas (multiple inputs to a channel) and multiple receive antennas (multiple outputs from a channel) It is a term. MIMO systems generally improve data transmission performance, allowing diversity gains to reduce multipath fading and increase transmission quality, and enable spatial multiplexing gains to increase data throughput. On the other hand, a single input multiple output (SIMO) generally refers to a system that utilizes a single transmit antenna (a single input to a channel) and multiple receive antennas (multiple outputs from a channel). Thus, in a SIMO system, a single transport block is transmitted over each carrier.

UE 310, which may be the same or similar to user equipment 114 (FIG. 1), may be coupled to an independent serving cell receive controller (ISCRC) 103 (FIG. 1) to perform method 200 and other aspects as described herein 1) can be integrated. The UTRAN 302, which may be the same as or similar to the RAN 102 (FIG. 1), may also use an independent serving cell transmission controller (ISCTC) 101 (FIG. 1) to perform the method 250 and other aspects as described herein 1) can be integrated.

Referring to FIG. 4, an access network 400 in the UTRAN architecture is illustrated. A multiple access wireless communication system includes a plurality of cellular zones (cells), including cells 402, 404, and 406, each of which may include one or more sectors. The multiple sectors may be formed by groups of antennas that each antenna is responsible for communicating with UEs in a portion of the cell. For example, within cell 402, antenna groups 412, 414, and 416 may correspond to different sectors, respectively. Within cell 404, antenna groups 418, 420, and 422 each correspond to a different sector. In cell 406, antenna groups 424, 426 and 428 correspond to different sectors, respectively. Cells 402, 404, and 406 may include some wireless communication devices, such as user equipment or UEs, and UEs may communicate with one or more sectors of each cell 402, 404, or 406. For example, UEs 430 and 432 may communicate with Node B 442, UEs 434 and 436 may communicate with Node B 444, and UEs 438 and 440 may communicate with Node B 444. [ And may communicate with the Node B 446. Herein, each Node B 442, 444, 446 has access points to the core network for all UEs 430, 432, 434, 436, 438, 440 in each of the cells 402, .

Communication with UE 434 may be referred to as cell 404 - source cell - from cell 406 to target 406, as UE 434 moves from cell 406 to an exemplary location in cell 404. Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > (SCC) < / RTI > or handover may occur. Management of the handover procedure may occur at the UE 434, at the Node Bs corresponding to each cell, at the radio network controller (RNC) 405, or at another suitable node in the wireless network. For example, during a call with the source cell 404, or at some other time, the UE 434 may determine various parameters of the source cell 404 as well as various parameters of neighbor cells such as cells 406 and 402 Lt; / RTI > Also, depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE 434 may maintain communication with one or more of the neighboring cells. During this time, UE 434 may keep a list of cells in which the active set, i.e. UE 434, is concurrently connected. For example, UTRA cells currently assigning a downlink dedicated physical channel (DPCH) or a fractional downlink dedicated physical channel (F-DPCH) to the UE 434 may constitute an active set.

The modulation and multiple access schemes used by the access network 400 may vary depending on the particular telecommunications standard being deployed. By way of example, the standard may include Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB). EV-DO and UMB are air interface standards published by 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) as part of the standard family of CDMA2000 and use CDMA to provide broadband Internet access to mobile stations. The standard may alternatively be Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) using other variants of CDMA, such as Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and TD-SCDMA; Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) using TDMA; And FLASH-OFDM using Evolved UTRA, Ultra Mobile Broadband, IEEE 802.11, WiMAX, IEEE 802.20 and OFDMA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE Advanced and GSM are described in the literature from the 3GPP mechanism. CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from 3GPP2 mechanism. The actual wireless communication standard and multiple access technology used will depend on the overall design constraints imposed on the particular application and system.

A UE 432 that may be the same or similar to user equipment 114 (Figure 1) may be coupled to an independent serving cell receive controller (ISCRC) 103 (Figure 2) to perform the method 200 and other aspects as described herein 1) can be integrated. Node B 442, which may be the same as or similar to base node 108, 112 (FIG. 1), may also use an independent serving cell transmission controller ISCTC to perform method 250 and other aspects as described herein. (FIG. 1).

5 is a block diagram of a Node B 510 that communicates with a UE 550 where the Node B 510 may be a RAN 102 (Figure 1) and a UE 550 may be a user equipment 114 1). In downlink communications, the transmit processor 520 may receive data from the data source 512 and receive control signals from the controller / processor 540. The transmit processor 520 provides various signal processing functions for the reference signals (pilot signals) as well as data and control signals. For example, the transmit processor 520 may include cyclic redundancy check (CRC) codes for error detection, coding and interleaving to facilitate forward error correction (FEC), binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature mapping of signal constellation roads, orthogonal variable spreading factors (OVSF) based on various modulation schemes such as phase-shift keying (M-phase-shift keying), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M- And multiplexing with scrambling codes to generate a series of symbols. The channel estimates from channel processor 544 may be used by controller / processor 540 to determine coding, modulation, spreading, and / or scrambling schemes for transmit processor 520. These channel estimates may be derived from the reference signal transmitted by the UE 550 or from feedback from the UE 550. [ The symbols generated by the transmit processor 520 are provided to a transmit frame processor 530 to generate a frame structure. Transmission frame processor 530 generates this frame structure by multiplexing the information and symbols from controller / processor 540 to generate a series of frames. The frames are then provided to a transmitter 532 and the transmitter 532 may include various signal conditioning functions including amplifying, filtering and modulating frames on a carrier for downlink transmission over a wireless medium via antenna 534. [ Lt; / RTI > Antenna 534 may include one or more antennas, including, for example, beam-steering bi-directional adaptive antenna arrays or other similar beam technologies.

At the UE 550, the receiver 554 receives the downlink transmission via the antenna 552 and processes the transmission to recover the modulated information on the carrier. The information recovered by the receiver 554 is provided to a receive frame processor 560 which parses each frame and provides information from the frames to the channel processor 594 And provides data, control, and reference signals to receive processor 570. Receive processor 570 then performs an inverse of the processing performed by transport processor 520 in node B 510. [ More specifically, receive processor 570 descrambles and despreads the symbols and then determines the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by Node B 510 based on the modulation scheme. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by the channel processor 594. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data, control and reference signals. The CRC codes are then checked to determine if the frames were successfully decoded. The data conveyed by the successfully decoded frames will then be provided to the data sink 572, which represents the applications running on the UE 550 and / or various user interfaces (displays). The control signals delivered by the successfully decoded frames will be provided to the controller / processor 590. When frames are successfully decoded by the receive processor 570, the controller / processor 590 also sends an acknowledgment (ACK) and / or a negative acknowledgment (NACK) protocol to support retransmission requests for those frames Can be used.

In the uplink, data from data source 578 and control signals from controller / processor 590 are provided to transmit processor 580. Data source 578 may represent applications running on UE 550 and various user interfaces (keyboard). Similar to the functions described in connection with the downlink transmission by the Node B 510, the transmission processor 580 may include CRC codes, coding and interleaving to facilitate FEC, mapping to signal constellations, Spreading, and scrambling to generate a series of symbols. The channel estimates derived by the channel processor 594 from the reference signal transmitted by the Node B 510 or from the feedback contained in the midamble transmitted by the Node B 510 may be subjected to appropriate coding, And / or scrambling schemes. The symbols generated by the transmit processor 580 may be provided to the transmit frame processor 582 to generate a frame structure. Transmission frame processor 582 generates this frame structure by multiplexing the information and symbols from controller / processor 590 to generate a series of frames. The frames are then provided to a transmitter 556 and the transmitter 556 may be used to perform various signal conditioning operations including amplifying, filtering, and modulating frames on a carrier for uplink transmission over a wireless medium via an antenna 552. [ Functions.

The uplink transmission is processed at Node B 510 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function at UE 550. [ Receiver 535 receives the uplink transmission via antenna 534 and processes the transmission to recover the modulated information on the carrier. The information recovered by the receiver 535 is provided to a receive frame processor 536, which in turn parses each frame, provides information from the frames to the channel processor 554, And provides control and reference signals to the receive processor 538. The receive processor 538 performs the inverse of the processing performed by the transmit processor 580 at the UE 550. Data and control signals conveyed by the successfully decoded frames may then be provided to the data sink 539 and the controller / processor, respectively. Controller 540 may also use an acknowledgment (ACK) and / or a negative acknowledgment (NAK) protocol to support retransmission requests for those frames if some of the frames have been successfully decoded by the receiving processor. .

Controllers / processors 540 and 590 may be used to indicate operation at Node B 510 and UE 550, respectively. For example, controller / processors 540 and 590 may provide various functions including timing, peripheral interfaces, voltage regulation, power management, and other control functions. The computer readable media of memories 542 and 592 may store data and software for Node B 510 and UE 550, respectively. The scheduler / processor 546 at Node B 510 may be used to allocate resources to UEs and to schedule downlink and / or uplink transmissions for the UEs.

A UE 550 that may be the same as or similar to user equipment 114 (FIG. 1) includes an independent serving cell receive controller (ISCRC) 103 (FIG. 1) to perform the method 200 and other aspects as described herein 1) can be integrated. Node B 510, which may be the same as or similar to base node 108, 112 (FIG. 1), may similarly employ an independent serving cell transmission controller ISCTC to perform method 250 and other aspects as described herein. (FIG. 1).

6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 600 using the processing system 602, such as in the RAN 102 (FIG. 1) or the user equipment 114 (FIG. 1) . In this example, the processing system 602 may be implemented with a bus architecture, generally represented by bus 604. [ The bus 604 may include any number of interconnect busses and bridges depending on the particular application of the processing system 602 and overall design constraints. The bus 604 links together various circuits, including one or more processors generally represented by a processor 606, and computer-readable media generally represented by a computer-readable medium 608. The bus 604 may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and will thus not be further described any further . Bus interface 610 provides an interface between bus 604 and transceiver 612. The transceiver 612 provides a means for communicating with various other devices via a transmission medium. Depending on the nature of the device, a user interface 614, such as a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, may also be provided.

The processor 606 is responsible for managing the general processing and bus 604, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium 608. The software, when executed by the processor 606, causes the processing system 602 to perform the various functions described below for any particular device. The computer-readable medium 608 may also be used to store data operated by the processor 606 when executing software.

Computer readable medium 608 includes an independent serving cell receive controller (ISCRC) 103 (FIG. 1 (b)) for performing other aspects as described herein for method 200 and user equipment 114 ). Alternatively, a computer-readable medium 608 may be coupled to an independent serving cell transmission controller (ISCTC) 101 (FIG. 1) to perform other aspects as described herein for the method 250 and the RAN 102. [ . ≪ / RTI >

Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) utilizing single carrier modulation and frequency domain equalization is a wireless technology that builds on OFDMA. SC-FDMA has similar performance and fundamentally the same overall complexity as an OFDMA system. However, the SC-FDMA signal has the advantage of a lower peak-to-avergee power ratio (PAPR) due to its unique single carrier structure. SC-FDMA is particularly notable for uplink communications where lower PAPR is beneficial for mobile terminals in connection with transmission power efficiency. This is a hypothetical assumption for the uplink multiple access scheme in current 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) or adaptive UTRA.

7 illustrates a method 700 for transferring data from a single serving cell within a single sector onto a plurality of carriers to a legacy UE 702, where the radio access network (RAN) 704 includes a plurality of cells Or may transfer data independently from the sectors to the legacy UE 702. Referring to FIG. 7, RAN 704 determines that legacy UE 702 is limited to receiving data from a single serving cell (block 710). Legacy UE 702 sets sector 1 of RAN 704 as its serving sector (block 712). For example, setting the serving sector may involve the UE monitoring and measuring the pilot signal of sector 1 and then camping successfully on sector 1. After sector 1 is set as a serving sector for legacy UE 702, sector 1 allocates the uplink (UL_F1) of carrier F1 to legacy UE 702 and also downlink (DL_F1) of carrier (or frequency) (Block 714) to monitor the legacy UE 702 to also monitor the downlink of the carrier F2 to receive the mobile-incoming data from sector 1 on the downlink of the carrier F2. In the example, the uplink carrier UL_F1 may be used by the legacy UE 702 to report feedback that may be used to adjust the downlink transmission power and data rate from sector 1 to the legacy UE 702. [ In a further example, the downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 may be used to communicate with the legacy UE 702 in accordance with the MIMO physical layer of Release 7 and DC-HSDPA or dual-carrier DC-HSDPA of Releases 8 and / And may correspond to frequencies. The downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 may each comprise respective HS-DSCHs transmitted on different carriers on different carriers by sector 1. In addition, the uplink carrier UL_F1 may include a High-Speed Dedicated Physical Control Carrier (HS-DPCCH) that the legacy UE 702 may provide feedback to sector 1.

Sector 1 of RAN 704 begins to transmit to the legacy UE 702 on the downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 and the legacy UE 702 tunes to these downlink transmissions and receives it (block 716) Can be assumed. At block 718, the legacy UE 702 receives a downlink pilot signal from each sector and / or local cells or sectors in its active set to identify cells that are not already in the active set of the legacy UE 702 Lt; / RTI > 7, the legacy UE 702 may also monitor and transmit downlink data transmissions on DL_F1 and DL_F2 to provide physical layers (Channel Quality Indicators (CQIs) and / or H-ARQ information) And the physical layer may be transmitted on a reverse-link physical layer channel (HS-DPCCH). As will be appreciated, measurements made by legacy UE 702 may generate mobility events that may cause changes to the active set of legacy UE 702. [

After monitoring the downlink pilot signals for a time period at block 718, the legacy UE 702 transmits channel feedback to sector 1 on the uplink carrier UL_F1 (block 720). For example, the channel feedback may include at least one of an average signal strength of each of the monitored downlink pilot signals and / or an average pilot signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of each of the monitored downlink pilot signals . Channel feedback can be forwarded from the RAN 704 to the serving RNC and the serving RNC uses channel feedback to perform mobility management including changes to the active set. The channel feedback may be transmitted in RRC (Radio Resource Control) messages that are processed as data by the physical layer. Sector 1 of RAN 704 receives HS-DPCCH feedback from legacy UE 702 on uplink carrier UL_F1, forwards the channel feedback to serving RNC, and if necessary, the serving RNC sends the legacy UE 702) (block 722).

FIG. 8 illustrates a wireless communication system 800 that illustrates connections established between sector 1 and legacy UE 702 of RAN 704 of FIG. 8 thus illustrates two (2) downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 from sector 1 to legacy UE 702 and FIG. 8 also illustrates the uplink from legacy UE 702 to sector 1 of RAN 704 The link carrier UL_F1 is illustrated.

While communicating with target UEs on multiple frequency bands within a single serving sector can improve throughput compared to communicating with the same UEs over a single frequency band of a single serving sector, aspects of the innovation of the present invention Relates to improving throughput further through communication between a plurality of serving sectors and at least one target UE. In the aspects described below, the target UE is provided with physical layer feedback (CQIs and H_ARQ information) for each of its carriers (collectively forming a single 'carrier group') on multiple serving sectors, as in FIG. 9A (UL_F1 or UL_F2) to transmit the same HS-DPCCH feedback), or alternatively, as in FIG. 9b, to different "groups" of its carriers, which may be distributed among different sectors A plurality of uplink carriers (UL_F1 and UL_F2) for transmitting the physical layer feedback can be allocated. Also, channel feedback, such as the average signal strength and the average pilot SIR of the local downlink pilot signals from the sectors near UE 902, may be transmitted over any of the available uplink carriers RRC messages.

9A illustrates a method 900 of transmitting data to a given UE via a plurality of serving sectors, in accordance with an aspect of the innovation of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 9A, RNC 903 and UE 902 set sector 1 906 of RAN 904 as serving sector (block 950). For example, setting up sector 1 906 may include UE 902 monitoring and measuring the pilot signal of sector 1 906, and then camping successfully on sector 1 906. After sector 1 906 is set as a serving sector for the UE, sector 1 906 allocates an uplink carrier (UL_F1) to UE 902 and also receives mobile-incoming data from sector 1 906 (Block 916) the UE 902 to monitor one or more downlink carriers (or frequencies) DL_F1 and DL_F2 to be transmitted. Sector 1 906 communicates with UE 902 on a single downlink carrier (DL_F1 or DL_F2, but not both), as will be described in greater detail below in connection with the exemplary implementations of Figures 10A- Or alternatively can communicate with UE 902 simultaneously on both carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2.

In the example, the uplink carrier UL_F1 may be used by the UE 902 to report channel feedback that may be used by the serving RNC to maintain the active set (s) for the UE. For example, the measured signal strength and / or SIR associated with the local cells or sectors causing the active set to be controlled by UL_F1 may be updated. In a further example, the downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 are different frequencies used to communicate with the UE 902 in accordance with the MIMO physical layer of Release 7 and DC-HSDPA or dual-carrier DC-HSDPA of Releases 8 and / As shown in FIG. The downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 may include two HS-DSCHs transmitted at different frequencies by sector 1 906. [ In addition, the uplink carrier UL_F1 may include a High-Speed Dedicated Physical Control Channel (HS-DPCCH).

Referring to FIG. 9A, sector 1 906 begins to transmit to the UE on downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 (block 914). UE 902 monitors downlink pilot signals from each sector and / or local cells or sectors in its active set to identify cells that are not yet in the UE's active set (block 916). As will be appreciated, measurements made by the UE 902 may generate mobility events that, when reported to the network, may cause the serving RNC 903 to change the active set of the UE 902. [ For example, measurements made by the UE 902 at block 916 through and without compression mode (CM) operation may be configured in the same manner as in Rel.8, Rel.9, and Rel.10 . After monitoring the downlink pilot signals for a time period at block 916, the UE 902 transmits channel feedback to the sector 1 906 on the uplink carrier UL_F1 (block 918). For example, the channel feedback may be based on the average signal strength of each of the downlink pilot signals monitored and / or the average pilot of each of the monitored downlink pilot signals based on measurements taken by the UE 902 at block 916. [ SIR. ≪ / RTI > Sector 1 906 of RAN 904 receives channel feedback from UE 902 on the uplink carrier UL_F1 and forwards the mobility to the serving RNC and if necessary the serving RNC 903 determines And updates the active set (s) for UE 902 (block 920).

Although not explicitly shown in FIG. 9A, the UE 902 may also transmit downlink data transmissions on DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 to provide physical layer feedback (CQIs (Channel Quality Indicators) and / or H-ARQ information) And physical layer feedback is sent to sector 1 906 on the reverse-link physical layer channel (HS-DPCCH) of UL_F1 and then data on DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 from sector 1 906 May be used by sector 1 906 (within the active set of the UE) to adjust the rate and / or transmit power level.

At some later time, assume that the UE 902 enters a handover zone between its current serving sector 1 906 and another sector ("sector 2 908") (block 922). As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, 'soft handover' as used in other wireless protocols is not typically supported by HSDPA since HSDPA is introduced in Release 5. Rather, the HSDPA in Release 5+ may be downlinked to ensure that only one serving cell is transmitting to the target UE 902 at any given time, even when the target UE 902 is in the way of handing off to a new serving cell. In terms of 'hard handover' form is supported. In other words, typically there is no overlapping period of coverage by multiple cells for the target UE 902 in HSDPA Release 5+.

9A, when adding both sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) as serving sectors of the UE 902 in block 924, sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) Different mobile incoming data from the serving RNC 903 of the RAN 904 may be provided for transmission to the UE 902. From the perspective of the uplink, sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) (and any other sectors in the active set of UE 902) are assigned to UE-Transmit on their respective carriers (UL_F1 and / or UL_F2) . In an exemplary version, sector 2 908 is selected as a serving cell or sector for UE 902 based in part on the presence of sector 2 908 in the active set of UE 902. As will be appreciated, in the example, the active set is strictly associated with uplink power control and scheduling grant calculations, and the number of active sets should be equal to or less than the number of uplink carriers allocated to the UE. Thus, by way of example, the maximum number of serving cells across all downlink carriers is equal to or less than the number of uplink carriers.

Thus, after sector 2 908 is set as the second serving sector for the UE, sector 2 908 transmits one or more downlink carriers (or frequencies) to receive mobile-incoming data from sector 2 908, (Block 926) UE 902 to monitor DL_F1 and DL_F2. Sector 2 908 may communicate with UE 902 on a single downlink carrier (DL_F1 or DL_F2, but not both), as will be described in more detail below with respect to the exemplary implementations of Figures 10A- Or alternatively may communicate with UE 902 on both carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2. As will be appreciated, the mobile-incoming data forwarded for transmission by sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) need not be the same and the amount of data need not be the same either. Rather, the serving RNC that controls sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) is configured to transmit DL_F1 and / or DL_F1 in sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) between sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) May be involved in load balancing to distribute data for transmission to UE 902 between DL_F2. This means that the serving RNC 903 can determine not only which sector is 'primary' and which sector is 'secondary' for a particular carrier, as well as the current loading on different sectors and different carriers, And can take into account other factors such as.

9A, sector 2 908 begins to transmit to the UE on downlink carriers DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 (block 928) and sector 1 906 begins to transmit on downlink carriers DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 phase To the UE (block 930). At blocks 928 and 930, it can be assumed that UE 902 is tuned to these downlink transmissions and receives it.

At block 932, the UE 902 monitors downlink pilot signals from each sector and / or local cells or sectors in its active set to identify cells that are not already in the UE's active set. As will be appreciated, measurements made by the UE 902 may generate mobility events that, when forwarded to the serving RNC, may cause the serving RNC to change the UE's active set. For example, measurements made by the UE 902 at block 932 through and without the compressed mode (CM) may be configured in the same manner as in Rel.8, Rel.9, and Rel.10. After monitoring the downlink pilot signals for a time period at block 932, the UE 902 transmits channel feedback on the uplink carrier UL_F1 (block 934). For example, the channel feedback may be based on the average signal strength of each of the monitored downlink pilot signals and / or the average signal strength of each of the monitored downlink pilot signals based on measurements taken by the UE 902 at block 932. [ SIR. ≪ / RTI > In the aspects of FIG. 9A, it can be assumed that sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) of RAN 904 receive channel feedback from UE 902 on uplink carrier UL_F1. For example, sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) may be in the active set of UL_F1, respectively, and sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) may activate uplink transmissions from UE 902 on UL_F1 This means that it is monitored in real time. Thus, when the UE 902 transmits on UL_F1 in block 934, both sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) receive the transmission. In this regard, sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) each forward channel feedback to serving RNC 903, and if necessary, serving RNC 903 sets the active set for UE 902 (S) (blocks 936, 938).

Although not explicitly depicted in FIG. 9A, the UE 902 may also receive information from sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) to provide physical layer feedback, such as Channel Quality Indicators (CQIs) and / or H- And physical layer feedback may be sent to sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) on the reverse-link physical layer channel of UL_F1, such as the HS-DPCCH, to monitor and measure downlink data transmissions on DL_F1 and / And may then be used by sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) to adjust the data rate and / or transmit power level on DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 from the respective sectors.

In the aspects of FIG. 9A discussed above, UE 902 is assigned a single uplink carrier UL_F1 to transmit physical layer feedback to serving sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908). Thus, with respect to power control, the downlink carriers DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 from sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) are such that each carrier from each sector is a single uplink carrier UL_F1 Carrier ") in that they are controlled based on physical layer feedback from the < RTI ID = 0.0 > In the aspects of FIG. 9B, described below, UE 902 is assigned a plurality of uplink carriers to provide feedback. In this version, different carrier groups may be associated with each uplink carrier assigned to the UE.

FIG. 9B illustrates another method of transmitting data to UE 902 via multiple serving sectors, in accordance with aspects of the innovation of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 9B, blocks 910-924 are as described in FIG. 9A, and will not be further described herein for the sake of brevity.

9B, after adding sector 2 908 as an additional serving sector in block 924, sector 2 908 may transmit one or more downlink (s) to receive mobile-incoming data from sector 2 908, The UE 902 is instructed to monitor the carriers (or frequencies) DL_F1 and DL_F2 (block 940), and block 940 is similar to block 926 of FIG. 9A. However, unlike FIG. 9A, sector 2 908 also allocates a second uplink carrier (UL_F2) to UE 902 at block 940.

9B, sector 2 908 begins to transmit to the UE on downlink carriers DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 (block 942) and sector 1 906 begins to transmit on downlink carriers DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 phase (Block 944) to the UE. At blocks 942 and 944, the UE 902 is tuned to these downlink transmissions and receives it. At block 946, the UE 902 sends downlink pilot signals from each sector and / or local cells or sectors in its active set to identify cells that are not already in the active set of the UE 902 Monitoring. As will be appreciated, the measurements made by the UE 902 can cause the serving RNC 903 to generate mobility events that, when forwarded to the serving RNC 903, can cause the UE 902 to change the active set have. For example, measurements made by the UE 902 in and out of the compressed mode (CM) at block 946 may be configured in the same manner as in Rel.8, Rel.9, and Rel.10.

As discussed briefly above, each of the uplink carriers UL_F1 and UL_F2 may be associated with its own active set and its own carrier group, with each carrier group having its own downlink transmission power and / or data rate Corresponds to a set of sectors that are controlled based in part on the physical layer feedback provided from one of the uplink carriers UL_F1 or UL_F2. As in FIG. 9B, when there are two or more uplink carriers, each of the carrier groups is configured to control the network (i. E., Sectors 1 and 2 906,908) such that carriers in the same carrier group have similar coverage areas The serving RNC 903 of the network). For example, carriers supported by the same serving sector may collectively form part of a carrier group. In Figure 9b, there are two carrier groups (if the anchor carriers are not used on the uplink) since the two uplink carriers UL_F1 and UL_F2 of the DCHSUPA must each have their own active set.

In the example, each of the two uplink carriers UL_F1 and UL_F2 can independently control their respective carrier groups (with respect to modification of data rate and / or transmit power). Alternatively, one of the uplink carriers may comprise an " anchor " carrier and the other uplink carrier at least includes a carrier that is paired with a secondary uplink carrier. Other " unloaded " downlink carriers may be placed in any one of the two carrier groups. Grouping can be implemented in such a way that carriers in the same carrier group have similar handover boundaries.

Measurements of downlink pilot signals made by UE 902 at block 946 may trigger 'mobility events'. With respect to mobility, in an anchor carrier version, each mobility event (or each trigger for a potential active set change, such as soft handover, switching to a new or different serving cell, dropping of an old serving cell, etc.) (UL_F1). In this case, the secondary uplink carrier UL_F2 is treated as 'unused' and event 2x will be used for measurements. The ability of the UE 902 to measure the secondary uplink carrier without the compressed mode (CM) may be advantageous in identifying new cells on this frequency. For example, assume that UL_F1 is an uplink anchor carrier, as UE 902 moves from sector 1 906 to sector 2 908, the service from DL_F1 on sector 1 906 is transferred to sector 1 906 May be added only when DL_F2 of UL_F2 is added to the active set of UL_F2. New mobility events may also facilitate UE 902 to report DL_F2 strength while UL_F1 is an anchor carrier.

In an alternative version, instead of triggering reports from UE 902 based on channel quality of cells only on an anchor frequency, reports may also be sent from UE 902 based on measured channel quality on other non-anchor frequencies Can be triggered, which can aid in uneven loading in the network.

In yet another alternative version, mobility event management may be implemented on a per carrier group basis instead of through a single anchor carrier. As noted above, the active set is maintained per carrier group. In the example, suppose that the UE maintains two independent active sets (one for each carrier group), and the search on both carrier groups can be performed without a CM. In this case, when the UE 902 leaves sector 2 908 and moves toward sector 1 906, the service on DL_F1 from sector 1 906 is established such that DL_F2 on sector 1 906 is set to the active set of UL_F2 May be added when DL_F1 on sector 1 906 is added to the active set on UL_F1 instead of being added to UL_F1. This causes a larger extension of the DL_F1 service from sector 1 906. [ These options may require DC-HSUPA support. Also, the issue of the physical layer feedback channel on the uplink is mitigated by allowing the HS-DPCCH for each downlink carrier (DL_F1, DL_F2) to be separately transmitted onto each paired uplink carrier (UL_F1, UL_F2) .

Sector 2 908 includes a UE 902 and a UE 902 set on a single downlink carrier (DL_F1 or DL_F2, but not both), as will be described in greater detail below with respect to the exemplary implementations of Figures 10A- Or alternatively can communicate with UE 902, which is concurrently set on both carriers (DL_F1 and DL_F2). The downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 in sector 2 908 (if present) are transmitted in sector 1 906 (if present) with the downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 (if present), except that they are transmitted from different serving sectors of a given UE It can be considered to be constructed in a substantially similar manner.

9b, after monitoring the downlink pilot signals for a time period at block 946, the determined UE 902 transmits channel feedback to sector 1 906 on the uplink carrier UL_F1 (block 948 ) And also transmits channel feedback to sector 2 908 separately on the uplink carrier UL_F2 (block 950). Thus, the exemplary version of FIG. 9B corresponds to a non-anchor carrier version, whereby the carrier groups for UL_F1 and UL_F2 are separately controlled. 9B, an alternative to this approach is an anchor carrier version (described in more detail below), whereby a single uplink carrier (UL_F1 or UL_F2) can be used to provide channel feedback for both carrier groups (I.e., the measured pilots of both carrier groups may be transmitted via an anchor carrier). In an example, the uplink carrier UL_F1 is associated with a first carrier group that includes at least downlink carriers DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 in sector 1 906, and the uplink carrier UL_F2 is associated with at least a downlink carrier RTI ID = 0.0 > DL_F1 < / RTI > and / or DL_F2. Also, the channel feedback sent in blocks 948 and 950 may be based on the average signal strength of each of the monitored downlink pilot signals and / or the average signal strength of the monitored downlink pilot signals based on measurements taken by the UE 902, And may include an average pilot SIR of each of the link pilot signals.

Although not explicitly depicted in FIG. 9B, a given UE 902 may also transmit sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) to provide physical layer feedback, such as Channel Quality Indicators (CQIs) and / or H- And physical layer feedback may be monitored and measured on the reverse link physical layer channel (HS-DPCCH) of UL_F1 and / or UL_F2, sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908 ), And may then be used by sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) to adjust the data rate and / or transmit power level on DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 from the respective sectors. The plurality of uplink carriers UL_F1 and UL_F2 may be allowed to allow the given UE 902 to code the HS-DPCCH information of the carriers in that same carrier group that are coded together and transmitted on the uplink carrier corresponding to the same carrier group have. For example, if the UE 902 has two downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 and two uplink carriers UL_F1 and UL_F2, then this option may be applied to two downlink carriers (sector 1 and / Or the HS-DPCCH for DL_F1 and DL_F2 in sector 2) on the two uplink carriers.

9B, sector 1 906 of RAN 904 receives channel feedback from UE 902 on the uplink carrier UL_F1, forwards the channel feedback to the serving RNC, and if necessary, Adjusts the active set of UE 902 for UL_F1 based on the channel feedback (block 952). Similarly, sector 2 908 of RAN 904 receives feedback from UE 902 on the uplink carrier UL_F2, forwards the channel feedback to the serving RNC, and if necessary, the serving RNC determines, based on channel feedback, And adjusts the active set of UE 902 for UL_F2 (block 954).

Each of Figures 9A and 9B also shows that a given UE 902 sets sector 1 906 as an initial serving sector and handover between sectors 1 and 2 906 and 908 by a given UE 902 Zone 2 908, as another serving sector, upon entry into the zone or zone. In an alternative version, a given UE 902 can simply power up in a handover zone or zone between sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908), where both sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908 May be set as serving sectors of the UE 902 at the same time.

In addition, the Node Bs associated with sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) in Figures 9A and 9B may have different transmit power capabilities. For example, a Node B supporting sector 1 906 may support sector 1 906 as a macro-cell, a micro-cell, or a pico-cell, which is comparable to Node B supporting sector 2 908 So that different transmission power capabilities can be generated. Such transmission power capability differences can cause scenarios that allow different serving cells to operate on different carriers, thereby improving throughput.

In an alternative version, instead of transmitting separate feedback (channel feedback or physical layer feedback) on the two carrier groups onto the uplink channels UL_F1 and UL_F2, as described above, one of the plurality of uplink carriers One can be designated as an " anchor " uplink carrier. In this case, with respect to the physical layer feedback, the HS-DPCCH for each of the downlink carriers (DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 from sector 1 906, DL_F1 and / or DL_F2 from sector 2 908) Information is jointly coded into one codeword (such as Rel. 8 for DC HSDPA or Rel. 9 for DC HSDPA with DBC DC HSDPA with MIMO or Rel. 10 for 4C HSDPA) May be transmitted via an uplink carrier. As will be appreciated, if a single anchor carrier is used in place of half of a plurality of carrier groups, the serving sector associated with the anchor carrier may forward the UE feedback (to the other serving sector (s)), For example, at least simultaneously by each carrier in the active set of anchor carriers.

Below, a number of implementations of the processes of Figs. 9A and 9B are provided in connection with Figs. 10A-10G. More specifically, FIGS. 10A-10G each illustrate a different set of connections that may be established between UE 902 and Serving Sector 1 906 and Sector 2 908 of FIGS. 9A and 9B.

10A, a communication system 1000a according to an embodiment of the method of FIG. 9A is illustrated, whereby serving sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) each transmit data to a UE (or UE) via the same single downlink carrier 902, and the UE 902 is assigned a single uplink carrier (i.e., UL_F1) to provide feedback for the carrier group. Therefore, in the example of Fig. 10A, the second downlink carrier DL_F2 is not used. As will be appreciated, the omission of downlink carrier DL_F2 may be based on the failure of serving sectors 1 and / or 2 in supporting downlink carrier DL_F2 (sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) , The load-level for the downlink carrier DL_F2 has exceeded the threshold and the resources for supporting the UE 902 on the downlink carrier DL_F2 are not currently available Lt; / RTI >

10A, assume that sectors 1 906 correspond to a 'primary' sector for downlink carrier DL_F1 and sector 2 908 corresponds to a 'secondary' serving sector for downlink carrier DL_F1 do it. In aspects of the innovation of the present invention, each particular downlink carrier may be supported by a single primary serving sector and at least one secondary serving sector. In general, the primary serving sector is more permanent than the secondary serving sector (s) for a particular downlink carrier. In addition, the RNC can direct more downlink mobile-incoming data to the primary serving sector as opposed to the secondary serving sector. In a further example, the primary serving sector may be associated with a lower load for the associated carrier as compared to the secondary serving sector, and / or may have a better connection to the UE 902. In sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908), the downlink carrier DL_F1 carries a separate HS-DSCH that can be monitored by the UE 902. [ In this case, the two separate transport blocks may be communicated from the sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) to the UE 902 over the two HS-DSCHs on the same carrier or frequency (i.e., DL_F1). In other words, different data is transmitted in the same carrier by different sectors (i. E., Contrasted with soft handover of non-HSDPA protocols which cause the same data to be transmitted in duplicate in the handover zone). This type of transmission scheme may be referred to as single-frequency dual-cell HSDPA (SF-DC-HSDPA). As will be appreciated, SF-DC-HSDPA can provide dynamic load balancing in realistic deployments where systems are sometimes fully utilized. As shown in FIG. 10A, primary serving sector 1 906 and secondary serving sector 2 908, respectively, may monitor and receive signals from UE 902 transmitted on uplink carrier UL_F1.

10B, a communication system 1000b according to an embodiment of the method of FIG. 9A is illustrated, whereby serving sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) each comprise a single downlink carrier (i.e., DL_F1 and DL_F2, respectively) UE 902, and UE 902 is assigned a single uplink carrier (i.e., UL_F1) to provide feedback for the carrier group. Thus, in the example of FIG. 10B, the downlink carrier frequencies DL_F1 and DL_F2, respectively, used by sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) may be orthogonal to each other to reduce interference at the UE 902 . 10B, it is assumed that the downlink carrier DL_F1 in sector 1 906 and the downlink carrier DL_F2 in sector 2 908 each carry a separate HS-DSCH that can be monitored by the UE 902 do it. In this case, two separate transport blocks are transmitted from sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) to UE 902 over two HS-DSCHs on different carriers or frequencies (i.e., DL_F1 and DL_F2) . 10B, since serving sector 1 906 communicates with UE 902 via DL_F1 and serving sector 2 908 communicates with UE 902 via DL_F2, both serving sectors 1 (902) And 2 906 and 908 are 'primary' with respect to their particular downlink carriers, since no secondary carriers exist in FIG. 10b. 10B, serving sector 1 906 and serving sector 2 908, respectively, are assigned to the UEs 902 and 904 transmitted on the uplink carrier UL_F 1, even though serving sector 2 908 is not transmitting on DL_F 1. 902. < / RTI > In an example, serving sector 2 908 may be overloaded to provide downlink support on DL_F1 while serving sector 2 908 may still decode the feedback of UE 902 transmitted on UL_F1 as an anchor carrier Can be a failure.

10B, in another example, assume that both sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) support both downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2. However, further assume that DL_F1 on sector 1 906 and DL_F1 on sector 2 908 are overloaded while DL_F1 on sector 1 906 and DL_F2 on sector 2 908 are slightly loaded. In this case, serving UE 902 (as shown in FIG. 10B) from sector 1 906 onto sector DL 902 and sector 2 908 onto DL_F 1 will result in increased throughput. As will be appreciated, there are many different scenarios in which serving UE 902 from different sectors onto different carriers can improve service for UE 902.

In FIG. 10C, a communication system 1000c according to an embodiment of the method of FIG. 9B is illustrated, whereby serving sectors 1 and 2 (906 and 908) each include a single (and different) downlink carrier (i.e. DL_F1 and DL_F2 , Each of the carrier groups (i. E., The first carrier group includes at least DL_F2 of sector 2 908, and the second carrier group comprises at least sector (I.e., UL_F1 and UL_F2) that will provide feedback to the base station (including DL_F1 of base station 1 906). The example of FIG. 10C shows that the UE 902 is provided with two uplink carriers (UL_F1 and UL_F2) instead of the single uplink carrier UL_F1 of FIG. 10b, Lt; / RTI > is similar to the example described above with reference to FIG. Thus, the two uplink carriers UL_F1 and UL_F2 allow the UE 902 to separately control two distinct carrier groups via UL_F1 and UL_F2, as described above in connection with FIG. 9B. For example, the uplink carrier UL_F1 may provide feedback associated with a first carrier group that includes at least a downlink carrier DL_F1 on sector 1 906, and the uplink carrier UL_F2 may provide feedback on sector 2 908, And may provide feedback associated with a second carrier group that includes carrier DL_F2.

10C, although the two uplink carriers UL_F1 and UL_F2 are provided to the UE 902, feedback for both carrier groups is provided via a single anchor carrier (UL_F1 or UL_F2) . In this case, both sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) will be properly decoded by the sectors of both feedback on the anchor carrier in the active set for the anchor carrier. The additional description of Figure 10c will be omitted for brevity because of its similarity with Figure 10b.

Referring to FIG. 10C, assume that in the example, sector 1 906 corresponds to a hotspot that supports both downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2, while sector 2 908 only supports downlink carrier DL_F2. In this case, when UE 902 is located in the handover zone between sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) and closer to sector 2 (908) than sector 1 (906), sector 1 906, and from sector 2 908 onto DL_F2, higher throughput can be obtained. Thus, scope-extensions for serving UE 902 may be accomplished in a non-generic deployment scenario (i.e., a scenario in which not all sectors support both DL_F1 and DL_F2).

As will be appreciated, FIGS. 10A-10C illustrate the downlink carriers of different sectors (DL_F1 on sector 1 906 and DL_F1 on sector 2 908, as in FIG. 10A) (DL_F1 on sector 902 and DL_F2 on sector 2 908), as shown in FIG. Such UEs 902 may be characterized as DC-HSDPA compatible UEs and / or SF-DC-HSDPA compatible UEs. Below, UEs 902 are described with respect to Figures 10d-10g in that they can tune into more than three (3) transport blocks simultaneously on a plurality of downlink carriers. UEs 902 that can tune to more than two transport blocks simultaneously on a plurality of downlink carriers may be characterized as 4C-HSDPA compatible UEs of Release 10.

10D, a communication system 1000d according to an embodiment of the method of FIG. 9A is illustrated, whereby serving sector 1 906 is in communication with UE 902 via a single downlink carrier (i.e., DL_F1) Sector 2 908 communicates with UE 902 through a plurality of downlink carriers (i.e., DL_F1 and DL_F2) and each of the carrier groups (i.e., the first carrier group includes at least sector 2 (I.e., UL_F1 or anchor carrier) that will provide feedback to the second carrier group (including DL_F1 and DL_F2 of the second carrier group 908, which includes at least DL_F1 of sector 1 906). Thus, in the example of FIG. 10D, sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) support UE 902 through both overlapping (i.e., DL_F1) and non-overlapping (i.e., DL_F2) carriers. In the exemplary version of FIG. 10D, serving sector 1 906 is a primary sector for supporting DL_F1 and serving sector 2 908 is a secondary sector for supporting DL_F1. In addition, since sector 2 908 is the only sector supporting DL_F2 in FIG. 10D, sector 2 908 is 'primary' for DL_F2 in that there are no secondary sectors supporting DL_F2. 10D, the downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 in sector 1 906 and the downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 in sector 2 908 each comprise a separate HS-DSCH that can be monitored by the UE 902 Assume that you deliver. In this case, three (3) distinct transport blocks may be transmitted over the three HS-DSCHs on different carriers or frequencies (i.e., DL_F1 in sector 1 906 and DL_F1 and DL_F2 in sector 2 908) May be communicated from sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) to UE 902. As shown in FIG. 10D, since each of the primary serving sector 1 906 and the secondary serving sector 2 908 supports F1, and sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) each have an anchor carrier UL_F1 , Sectors 1 and 2 906 and 908, respectively, can monitor and receive signals from UE 902 that are transmitted on the uplink carrier UL_F1 as an anchor carrier.

In FIG. 10E, a communication system 1000e according to an embodiment of the method of FIG. 9B is illustrated, whereby serving sector 1 906 is in communication with UE 902 via a single downlink carrier (i.e., DL_F1) Sector 2 908 communicates with UE 902 through a number of downlink carriers (i.e., DL_F1 and DL_F2), and UE 902 has two uplink carriers to provide feedback for a carrier group , UL_F1 and UL_F2) are allocated. The example of Figure 10e provides UE 902 with two uplink carriers UL_F1 and UL_F2 instead of a single uplink carrier UL_F1 from Figure 10e, Is similar to the example described above with reference to Figure 10D, except that it generates separate carrier groups and active sets. Thus, the two uplink carriers UL_F1 and UL_F2 may be transmitted over a predetermined anchor carrier selected from UL_F1 and UL_F2, or separately from two distinct carrier groups, as described above with respect to FIG. 9B, Control. For example, the uplink carrier UL_F1 may provide feedback associated with a first carrier group that includes at least a downlink carrier DL_F1 on sector 1 906, and the uplink carrier UL_F2 may provide feedback on sector 2 908, And may provide feedback associated with a second carrier group that includes carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2. Alternatively, although two distinct uplink carriers are allocated to the UE, feedback for both carrier groups may be provided via a single anchor carrier (UL_F1 or UL_F2) as described above. The additional description of Figure 10e will be omitted for brevity due to its similarity with Figure 10d.

In FIG. 10F, a communication system 1000f according to an embodiment of the method of FIG. 9A is illustrated, whereby serving sector 1 906 is configured to receive UE 902 and a plurality of downlink carriers (e.g., DL_F1 and DL_F2) And serving sector 2 908 also communicates with UE 902 through the same plurality of downlink carriers (i.e., DL_F1 and DL_F2) and provides UE 902 with a single uplink A link carrier (i.e., UL_F1) is allocated. Thus, in the example of FIG. 10F, sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) support UE 902 through the same overlapping carriers (i.e., DL_F1 and DL_F2). 10F, serving sector 1 906 is the primary sector for DL_F1 and the secondary sector for DL_F2, serving sector 2 908 is the primary sector for DL_F2 and the secondary sector for DL_F1, to be. 10F, the downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 in sector 1 906 and the downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 in sector 2 908 are each a separate HS- Suppose you are transmitting DSCH. In this case, four (4) separate transport blocks may be transmitted on four HS-FCHs on different carriers or frequencies (i.e., DL_F1 and DL_F2 in sector 1 906 and DL_F1 and DL_F2 in sector 2 908) May be communicated from the sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) to the UE 902 via DSCHs. Since each of sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) supports F1, and sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908) are within the active set for anchor carrier UL_F1, as shown in Figure 10f, Sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908), respectively, may monitor and receive signals from UE 902 transmitted on an uplink anchor carrier (which may be UL_F1 or UL_F2).

In FIG. 10G, a communication system 1000g according to an embodiment of the method of FIG. 9B is illustrated, whereby serving sector 1 906 is configured to communicate with UE 902 via multiple downlink carriers (i.e. DL_F1 and DL_F2) And serving sector 2 908 also communicates with UE 902 over a number of downlink carriers (i.e. DL_F1 and DL_F2) and UE 902 has two ups Link carriers (i.e., UL_F1 and UL_F2) are allocated. The example of FIG. 10g is similar to the example of FIG. 10g except that FIG. 10g provides UE 902 with two uplink carriers (UL_F1 and UL_F2) instead of the single uplink carrier UL_F1 in FIG. 10f, Is similar to the example described above with respect to Figure 10F, except that it generates separate carrier groups and active sets. Thus, the two uplink carriers UL_F1 and UL_F2 allow the UE 902 to control two distinct carrier groups separately, as described above with respect to FIG. 9B. For example, uplink carrier UL_F1 may provide feedback associated with a first carrier group that includes at least downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 on sector 1 906, and uplink carrier UL_F2 may provide feedback on sector 2 908 And may provide feedback associated with a second carrier group that includes at least downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2. Alternatively, feedback for both carrier groups may be provided via a single anchor carrier (UL_F1 or UL_F2) as discussed above. The additional description of Figure 10g will be omitted for brevity due to its similarity with Figure 10f.

While the above-described aspects of the innovation of the present invention relate to two distinct carriers that can be supported by two sectors, other aspects of the innovation of the present invention include (i) more than two carrier frequencies F3, F4, etc.) and / or (ii) UE 902 at the same time. For example, when a UE 902 enters a handover zone where a service may be provided from three different sectors, the UE 902 may determine that the carrier group (s) associated with the downlink carriers in each of the three sectors Can potentially be tuned to. Also, the downlink carriers (DL_F1, DL_F2, etc.) allocated to the UE 902 may be adjacent carriers or non-adjacent carriers in the same frequency band, as shown in FIG. 10A (whereby DL_F1 is sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908, etc.) and / or non-adjacent carriers in different frequency bands.

For example, suppose there are two (2) downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 respectively supported by two serving sectors 1 and 2 (906, 908). In this case, sector 1 906 may be a 'primary' serving cell for DL_F1, a secondary serving cell for DL_F2, sector 2 908 may be a 'primary' serving cell for DL_F2, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > DL_F1. ≪ / RTI > In another example, assume that there are two (2) downlink carriers DL_F1 and DL_F2 distributed between the sectors 1 to 4. In this case, sector 1 906 may be the primary serving cell for DL_F1, sector 2 908 may be the secondary serving cell for DL_F1, sector 3 may be the primary serving cell for DL_F2, 4 may be a secondary serving cell for DL_F2.

Also, although not explicitly discussed in the description of the exemplary versions above, it will be appreciated that the HS-DPCCH power offset may need to be boosted to be decodable in multiple cells. Likewise, an uplink pilot SINR set point may also need to be boosted. The amount of boosting can be relatively small if the carrier group is appropriately selected.

In addition, some enhancements may be implemented on the top-tiers to improve performance. For example, UE 902 may configure multiple MAC-ehs entities, with one MAC-ehs entity for each HS serving cell. Multiple MAC-ehs may not be co-located or co-located, and may be on one or multiple frequencies. In this case, nonsequential transmission between MAC-ehs flows may occur. Non-sequential delivery issues between MAC-ehs flows can be reduced through RLC layer modifications and / or PDCP-based approaches.

Referring to FIG. 11A, a system 1100 for wireless communication, and more particularly, for receiving data from HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors is illustrated. For example, the system 110 may reside at least partially within user equipment capable of over-the-air (OTA) communication, such as user equipment 114 (FIG. 1). It is to be appreciated that system 1100 is represented as including functional blocks and functional blocks may be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a computing platform, processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware) do. The system 1100 includes a logical grouping 1102 of electrical components that can cooperatively operate. For example, logical grouping 1102 may include, at the user equipment, an electrical component 1104 for receiving data from a first serving cell onto a first downlink carrier. In addition, logical grouping 1102 can include, at the user equipment, an electrical component 1106 for receiving data from a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell onto a second downlink carrier. Also, in an exemplary aspect, logical grouping 1102 includes an electrical component 1108 for transmitting channel feedback to at least one of a first serving cell and a second serving cell on a first uplink carrier by a user equipment . In addition, the system 1100 can include a memory 1120 that retains instructions for executing functions associated with the electrical components 1104-1108. It is to be understood that one or more of the electrical components 1104-1108 may reside in the memory 1120, although shown as being external to the memory 1120.

Referring to FIG. 11B, a system 1150 for wireless communication, and more particularly HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors, is illustrated. For example, system 1150 may reside at least partially within a network device for wireless access, such as RAN 102 (FIG. 1). It is to be appreciated that system 1150 is represented as including functional blocks and functional blocks may be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a computing platform, processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware) do. System 1150 includes a logical grouping 1152 of electrical components that can cooperatively operate. For example, logical grouping 1152 may include, by RNC, an electrical component 1154 for assigning portions of data for transmission to a user equipment to a first serving cell and a second serving cell. The logical grouping 1152 may also include an electrical component 1156 for transmitting data, by the first serving cell, onto the first downlink carrier to the user equipment. Logic group 1152 may also include an electrical component 1158 for transmitting data to a user equipment on a second downlink carrier by a second serving cell that is independent of the first serving cell. In an exemplary additional example, the logical grouping 1152 includes an electrical component for receiving channel feedback from a user equipment on a first uplink carrier via at least one of a first serving cell and a second serving cell, 1160). In addition, the system 1150 can include a memory 1170 that retains instructions for executing functions associated with the electrical components 1154-1160. It is to be understood that one or more of the electrical components 1154-1160 may be present in the memory 1170, although shown as being external to the memory 1170.

According to various aspects of the present invention, one element or any portion or combination of elements of one element may be implemented as a "processing system" comprising one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, And other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functions described throughout the present invention. One or more processors in the processing system may execute the software. The software may include instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, and the like, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, But are to be construed broadly to mean applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, execution threads, procedures, functions, The software may reside on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may be a non-volatile computer-readable medium. Non-volatile computer-readable media include, for example, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic strips), optical discs (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs , A smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM) Erasable PROMs (EEPROMs), registers, removable disks, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by the computer. The computer-readable medium may also include, for example, a carrier wave, a transmission line, and any other suitable medium for transmitting software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by the computer. The computer-readable medium may reside within a processing system, be external to the processing system, or be distributed across multiple entities including a processing system. The computer-readable medium may be embodied in a computer-program product. By way of example, a computer-program article may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the described functionality presented throughout the present invention, depending upon the particular application and overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

It is to be understood that the particular order or hierarchy of steps within the disclosed methods is exemplary of exemplary processes. It is understood that, based on design preferences, a particular order or hierarchy of steps within the methods may be rearranged. The appended method claims are not intended to limit the invention to the particular order or hierarchy presented, unless the elements of the various steps represent exemplary elements in an orderly manner.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Accordingly, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects disclosed herein, but are to be accorded the widest possible scope consistent with the language of the claims, and references to elements in singular form, unless specifically so stated, Quot; is intended to mean "one or more, " Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "part" refers to one or more. The phrase referring to "at least one of the list of items" refers to any combination of the items, including single members. By way of example, "at least one of a, b or c" b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; And a, b, and c. All functional and structural equivalents to elements of the various aspects described herein, which are known or later known to those skilled in the art, are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public whether or not such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. Element is not explicitly referred to using the phrase "means for ", or in the case of a method claim, unless the element is referred to using the phrase" for step " Should not be interpreted under the provisions of

Claims (15)

An apparatus for receiving data from HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) from two independent cells or sectors,
At a user equipment, a first receiver for receiving data from a first serving cell onto a first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier being within a first set of carriers;
A second receiver for receiving data on a second downlink carrier from a second serving cell independent of the first serving cell, the second downlink carrier being in a second set of carriers, The first receiver receiving the first data while the second receiver is receiving the second data; And
A first transmitter for transmitting channel feedback on a single uplink carrier to the first serving cell and the second serving cell, the single uplink carrier having a first set of carriers and a second set of carriers, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > - < / RTI &
And HSDPA data from two independent cells or sectors. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first serving cell and the second serving cell are selected by an RNC (Radio Network Controller) from an active set based on a measurement report by the user equipment,
An apparatus for receiving data in HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. delete The method according to claim 1,
The first receiver also monitors a first HS-SCCH (High Speed Shared Control Channel) transmitted by the first serving cell for the first downlink carrier,
The second receiver also monitors a second HS-SCCH transmitted by the second serving cell for the second downlink carrier,
The apparatus may further include channel feedback including HS-DPCCH (High Speed Dedicated Physical Control Channel) information based at least in part on the first HS-SCCH and the second HS- Further comprising an encoder for encoding into a codeword,
An apparatus for receiving data in HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. 6. The method of claim 5,
Further comprising a second transmitter at the user equipment for transmitting data onto at least one of the first serving cell and the second serving cell on a second uplink carrier,
Wherein the first uplink carrier comprises an anchor carrier,
An apparatus for receiving data in HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein at least one of the first receiver and the second receiver also receives the first allocation of the first downlink carrier and the first uplink carrier for the first carrier group and the second allocation of the second carrier group to the second carrier group, A second allocation of a downlink carrier and a second uplink carrier,
The first transmitter may also transmit, by the user equipment, channel feedback to the first serving cell on the first uplink carrier,
The apparatus further comprises a second transmitter for transmitting, by the user equipment, channel feedback on a second uplink carrier to the second serving cell.
An apparatus for receiving data in HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein at least one of the first receiver and the second receiver also determines channel feedback for the selected carrier group by monitoring a High Speed Shared Control Channel (HS-SCCH) for each downlink carrier assigned to the selected carrier group doing,
An apparatus for receiving data in HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein at least one of the first receiver and the second receiver is further configured to determine mobility between serving cells for a selected carrier group in response to the channel quality being below a threshold of either the first downlink carrier or the second downlink carrier, receiving a triggering of mobility,
An apparatus for receiving data in HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein at least one of the first receiver and the second receiver is further configured to determine mobility between serving cells in response to the channel quality being less than a threshold of a selected one of the first downlink carrier and the second downlink carrier being designated as an anchor carrier Lt; / RTI >
An apparatus for receiving data in HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. 11. The method of claim 10,
At least one of the first receiver and the second receiver may also measure the channel quality using a compression mode of a third downlink carrier transmitted by the new cell to facilitate updating of the active set of neighboring cells and sectors doing,
An apparatus for receiving data in HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein at least one of the first receiver and the second receiver also receives triggering of mobility between serving cells in response to the channel quality being less than a threshold of either the first downlink carrier or the second downlink carrier ,
An apparatus for receiving data in HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first serving cell comprises a first serving sector and the second serving cell comprises a second serving sector.
An apparatus for receiving data in HSDPA from two independent cells or sectors. An apparatus for transmitting data from two independent cells or sectors to HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access)
Means for allocating, by a Radio Network Controller (RNC), portions of data for transmission to a user equipment to a first serving cell and a second serving cell;
Means for transmitting, by the first serving cell, first data on a first downlink carrier to the user equipment, the first downlink carrier being in a first set of carriers, 1 receiver receives the first data;
Means for transmitting second data on a second downlink carrier to the user equipment by the second serving cell independent of the first serving cell, the second downlink carrier comprising: A second receiver in the user equipment receives the second data, and the first receiver receives the first data at the same time that the second receiver receives the second data; And
Means for receiving channel feedback on a single uplink carrier in the first serving cell and the second serving cell, the single uplink carrier being included between the first set of carriers and the second set of carriers, -
/ RTI >
An apparatus for transmitting data from two independent cells or sectors to HSDPA. 15. The method of claim 14,
The RNC for assigning portions of data for transmission to the user equipment to the first serving cell and the second serving cell;
The first serving cell for transmitting data to the user equipment on the first downlink carrier; And
Further comprising the second serving cell independent of the first serving cell for transmitting data to the user equipment on the second downlink carrier.
An apparatus for transmitting data from two independent cells or sectors to HSDPA.

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