RU2464715C1 - Circuit to transfer signals for efficient management of common extended dedicated channel - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: information technologies.

SUBSTANCE: method to transfer signals to a Node B with the help of user equipment (UE), using a circuit of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), includes stages, when: a protocol unit for control of data for access to transfer environment (MAC PDU) is sent to Node B, and it contains the first planning information and data; it is determined, whether 0 field is established in as common status of E-DCH (TEBS) buffer in the first planning information, when MAC PDU transfer was not successful; the second planning information is initiated as new planning information, when the TEBS field in the first planning information is not set as 0; and the second planning information is sent to Node B.

EFFECT: reduced power consumption by user equipment.

14 cl, 9 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The following description relates to a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a method for setting a condition for initiating scheduling information for efficiently controlling a common extended dedicated channel (E-DCH).

State of the art

First, a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) to which the present invention is applied is described as follows.

Figure 1 illustrates the network structure of UMTS.

A UMTS system mainly includes user equipment (UE), a UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), and a core network (CN). A UTRAN includes one or more radio network subsystems (RNS), and each RNS includes a radio network controller (RNC) and one or more base stations (Node B) controlled by an RNC. One Node B has one or more cells.

Figure 2 illustrates the structure of a wireless protocol (or radio protocol) used in UMTS.

The pairs of wireless protocols that are present in the UE and UTRAN are responsible for transmitting data in wireless slots. Now each level of the wireless protocol will be described. First, the physical (PHY) layer, which is the first layer, functions to transmit data in a wireless interval using various wireless technologies. The PHY layer is responsible for reliable data transmission at wireless intervals. The PHY layer is connected through the transport channel to the MAC layer, which is a higher layer. A transport channel is classified into a dedicated transport channel and a common transport channel according to whether the channel is shared.

The second layer includes media access control (MAC), radio control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and broadcast / multicast control (BMC) layers. The MAC layer is responsible for converting various logical channels to different transport channels, and is also responsible for multiplexing logical channels to convert different logical channels into one transport channel. The MAC layer is connected through a logical channel to the RLC layer, which is a higher layer. The logical channel in accordance with the type of information transmitted is mainly classified into a control channel used to transmit information to the control plane, and a traffic channel used to transmit information to the user plane.

The MAC layer is further classified into a MAC-b sublayer, a MAC-d sublayer, a MAC-c / sh sublayer, a MAC-hs / ehs sublayer, and a MAC-e / es or MAC-i / is sublayer according to the type of transport channel being controlled. The MAC-b sublayer is responsible for controlling the broadcast channel (BCH), which is the transport channel responsible for broadcasting system information. The MAC-c / sh sublayer is responsible for managing a common transport channel, such as the Forward Access Channel (FACH), which is shared with other UEs. The MAC-d sublayer is responsible for managing a dedicated channel (DCH) or an extended dedicated channel (E-DCH), which is a transport channel allocated to a specific UE. To support high speed uplink and downlink data transmission, the MAC-hs / ehs sublayer controls the High Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH), which is a transport channel for high speed downlink data, and the MAC sublayer -e / es or MAC-i / is controls an extended dedicated channel (E-DCH), which is a transport channel for high speed uplink data transmission.

The RLC layer is responsible for providing QoS of each unidirectional radio channel (RB) and transmitting data in accordance with QoS. An RLC contains one or two independent RLC entities for each RB to guarantee an integral QoS at the RB, and provides three modes: transparent mode (TM), non-acknowledgment (UM) mode and acknowledged (AM) mode to support different QoS. The RLC is used to adjust the size of the data so that it is suitable for the lower layer for data transmission in a wireless interval. To accomplish this, the RLC also functions to separate and join data received from the upper layer.

The PDCP layer, which is located above the RLC layer, allows you to efficiently transmit data in a wireless interval with a relatively small bandwidth using an IP packet, such as IPv4 or IPv6. To achieve this level, the PDCP performs a header compression function that allows only the mandatory information in the data header to be transmitted, thereby increasing transmission efficiency in wireless intervals. The PDCP layer is present mainly in the PS domain, since header compression is a basic function. One PDCP entity is present for each RB to provide an efficient header compression function for each PS service. The PDCP layer does not provide a header compression function when it is present in the CS domain.

The second layer also includes a broadcast / multicast control (BMC) layer above the RLC layer. The BMC layer functions for scheduling broadcast messages of a cell and for broadcasting to UEs located in a specific cell.

The radio resource management level (RRC), which is located above the third level, is set only in the control plane. The RRC layer is responsible for controlling the parameters of the first and second levels together with tuning, resetting and releasing the RB and for controlling the logical, transport and physical channels. RB is the logical path that the first and second layers of the wireless protocol provide for the transmission of data between the UE and the UTRAN. RB tuning is usually a process for specifying the characteristics of the wireless protocol layers and the channels necessary to provide a particular service and to set their respective characteristic parameters and operating methods.

The following is a more detailed description of the E-DCH.

The E-DCH is a transport channel allocated to one UE, which is used to transmit uplink data to Node B in the UTRAN. To transmit data at high speed, the E-DCH uses technologies such as hybrid ARQ (HARQ), adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), and Node B-controlled scheduling.

For the E-DCH, the Node B transmits to the UE the downlink control information that controls the transmission of the E-DCH at the UE. Downlink control information includes ACK / NACK for HARQ, channel quality information for AMC, and E-DCH transmit power allocation information for Node B-controlled scheduling or the like.

On the other hand, the UE transmits Node B uplink control information. The uplink control information includes UE E-DCH buffer status information for Node B-controlled scheduling, UE power status information, payload size indicated by E-TFCI, retransmission counter, power overload status report of the UE, or t .P.

Node B controls the E-DCH for the UE. The Node B controls the E-DCH for the scheduler, which is responsible for allocating optimal radio resources to each UE. In particular, the scheduler allocates a large number of radio resources to the UE, which is in good condition of the radio channel, and distributes a small number of radio resources to the UE, which is in poor condition, to reduce interference in the uplink radio channel.

The scheduler allocates radio resources, taking into account not only the state of the radio channel of the UE, but also information, such as the amount of available power that the UE can use for the E-DCH, or the amount of data that the UE wants to transmit. That is, the scheduler allocates the optimal radio resources to the UE, which has the remaining power for the E-DCH and which also has data for transmission in the uplink, given the state of the radio channel.

Accordingly, in order to transmit data via the E-DCH, the UE first notifies the Node B of the amount of available UE power and the amount of data to transmit. The amount of available power and the amount of data to transmit to the UE are transmitted via Planning Information (SI), a detailed structure of which is illustrated in FIG.

Figure 3 illustrates the structure of scheduling information.

The following is a description of the parameters included in the planning information, which is shown in Fig.3.

The power reserve of the UE (UPH) indicates the ratio of the amount of power that the UE is currently using to the maximum amount of power available to the UE, and accordingly indicates the amount of available power that the UE can use for the E-DCH.

The overall status of the E-DCH buffer (TEBS) indicates in bytes the total amount of data in the UE awaiting transmission at the RLC and MAC layers. TEBS indicates the total amount of data using an index ranging from 0 to 31, as illustrated in the following Table 1.

Table 1 Index TEBS value (bytes) 0 TEBS = 0 one 0 <TEBS = 10 2 10 <TEBS = 14 3 14 <TEBS = 18 four 18 <TEBS = 24 ... ... thirty 28339 <TEBS = 37642 31 37642 <TEBS

For example, TEBS is set to 0 (TEBS = 0) if the total amount of data in the UE awaiting transmission is 0 bytes, and is set to 29 (TEBS = 29) if the total amount of data is 29 bytes.

The highest priority logical channel buffer (HLBS) status indicates the ratio of the amount of data in the highest priority logical channel to the total amount of data of the UE for transmission. In particular, the HLBS indicates an index corresponding to 100 (highest priority logical channel data volume / total UE data amount for transmission).

The highest priority logical channel ID (HLID) indicates the highest priority logical channel among the logical channels having data to transmit.

The UE shall transmit scheduling information only under a certain condition for efficient use of radio resources instead of transmitting scheduling information each time. To accomplish this, 3GPP currently sets the following conditions for initiating the generation of scheduling information.

table 2 Planning Information Initiation Conditions - when new data for transmission is generated at the UE - when data for transmission is generated in a logical channel with a higher priority than a logical channel in which there are data waiting for transmission - when the transmission with a HARQ MAC PDU including data and scheduling information was not successful - when a predetermined time is reached at equal intervals

When scheduling information is generated when one of the triggering conditions is satisfied, the UE transmits Node B a medium access control packet data unit (MAC PDU) including scheduling information. A MAC PDU typically includes upper layer data and scheduling information. The MAC PDU may include one scheduling information when no upper layer data is available. The generated MAC PDU is transmitted to Node B through the MAC layer HARQ process.

If the UE notifies the Node B about the power of the UE and the state of the data through scheduling information, the Node B scheduler determines the amount of power available to the UE for transmitting the E-DCH, taking into account the state of the UE and the overall radio state of the cell, and notifies the UE of the determined amount of available power through the control downlink signal. The downlink control signal notifying the UE of the power value is classified into two types: Absolute grant (AG) indicating the absolute value of the power available to the UE, and Relative grant (RG) indicating the value of the power available to the UE relative to the previously power used. When receiving a downlink control signal of type AG or RG, the UE determines the amount of power to use for transmitting the E-DCH and determines the size of the MAC PDU for transmission in accordance with the determined amount of power.

The 3GPP standard, on the other hand, defines a common extended dedicated channel (common E-DCH) to allow a number of UEs to share E-DCHs running Node B.

Disclosure of invention

Technical problem

It is necessary to increase the efficiency of processes in the UE and effectively reduce the waste of resources in transmitting scheduling information for a common E-DCH.

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a signaling scheme for efficiently controlling a common E-DCH, which virtually eliminates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the prior art.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art after examination of the following description, or may be studied by putting the invention into practice. The objectives and other advantages of the invention can be realized and achieved through the design shown in detail in its written description and claims, as well as the accompanying drawings.

Technical solution

To achieve these goals and other advantages, and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, which is embodied and broadly described herein, a method for transmitting signals to Node B by user equipment (UE) using a hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) scheme includes including transmitting to a Node B a protocol medium for medium access control (MAC PDU) data including first scheduling information and data, determining whether the E-DCH Buffer General Status Field (TEBS) is set to 0 in ervoy scheduling information when the MAC PDU transmission has not been successful, the initiation of the second scheduling information as new scheduling information when the TEBS field of the first scheduling information is not set to 0, and transmitting the second scheduling information to Node B.

Here, the UE may use a common extended dedicated channel (E-DCH) for a limited period of time, and resources for a common E-DCH can be shared with a plurality of UEs in idle mode and CELL_FACH state.

The method may further include releasing resources for a common E-DCH when the MAC PDU transmission was not successful, and the step of transmitting the second scheduling information may include performing random access in Node B and generating a MAC PDU including second scheduling information, and transmitting to the Node B the MAC PDU including the second scheduling information.

In addition, the step of determining whether the E-DCH Buffer General Status Field (TEBS) is set to 0 in the first scheduling information may include determining whether the UE is in the CELL-FACH state or in standby mode, and the second scheduling information may be triggered. when the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is not set to 0, or when the UE is neither in the CELL-FACH state nor in standby mode.

Additionally, the second scheduling information may not be triggered when the MAC PDU transmission was not successful, and the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is set to 0, and the UE is in the CELL_FACH state or in standby mode.

In another aspect of the present invention, a user equipment (UE) for transmitting signals to a Node B using a hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) scheme includes a HARQ entity for controlling one or more HARQ processes and controlling the transmission of HARQ signals to Node B and a module transmissions for transmitting to a Node B a medium access control protocol (MAC PDU) protocol data unit including first scheduling information and data, together with a particular one of one or more HARQ processes, where the HARQ entity is determined It selects whether the E-DCH Buffer General Status Field (TEBS) is set to 0 in the first scheduling information when the MAC PDU transmission was not successful, and initiates the second scheduling information as new scheduling information when the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is not set to 0, and transmits the second scheduling information to Node B through the transmission unit.

In this embodiment, the UE is preferably designed to use a common extended dedicated channel (E-DCH) for a limited period of time, and resources for a common E-DCH can be shared with a plurality of UEs in idle mode and CELL_FACH state.

A UE may be designed to free resources for a common E-DCH if a specific HARQ process was not successful in transmitting a MAC PDU, and a UE may be designed to perform random access in Node B and form and transmit a MAC PDU in Node B including second scheduling information to transmit second scheduling information to Node B.

In addition, the HARQ object can be designed to further determine whether the UE is in the CELL-FACH state or in standby mode when determining whether the E-DCH Buffer General Status Field (TEBS) is set to 0 in the first scheduling information, and to initiate the second scheduling information when the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is not set to 0 or when the UE is neither in the CELL_FACH state nor in standby mode.

Additionally, the HARQ object may be designed to refuse to initiate the second scheduling information when the specific HARQ process was not successful in transmitting the MAC PDU, and the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is set to 0, and the UE is in CELL_FACH or in standby mode.

Useful Results

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the UE does not transmit new scheduling information requesting the release of radio resources that are already released when the HARQ transmission was not successful, thereby avoiding unnecessary transmission of scheduling information about the UE and unnecessary allocation of network resources.

It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are illustrative and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the claimed invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide an additional understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment (s) of the invention and together with the description serve to reveal the principle of the invention. In the drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates the network structure of UMTS;

Figure 2 illustrates the structure of a wireless protocol (or radio protocol) used in UMTS;

Figure 3 illustrates the structure of scheduling information;

Figure 4 illustrates a procedure for freeing radio resources of a common E-DCH by scheduling information with TEBS = 0;

5 illustrates a problem associated with a condition for initiating scheduling information associated with a common E-DCH;

6 illustrates a method for initiating scheduling information in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

7A and 7B illustrate UE operations in a standby mode or in a CELL_FACH state that uses a common E-DCH, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

8A and 8B illustrate a method for operating a UE that uses a common E-DCH in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

9 illustrates a processor configuration in a UE in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiment for Invention

Detailed reference will now be made to preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. A detailed description of the invention, which will be given below with reference to the accompanying drawings, is intended to explain typical embodiments of the present invention, and not to show only those embodiments that can be implemented in accordance with the invention. The following detailed description of the invention includes specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details. For example, although the following descriptions will be given in detail with reference to the case where the mobile communication system is a 3GPP system, the following descriptions, with the exception of 3GPP-specific ones, can be applied to any other mobile communication system.

In some cases, known structures and devices are omitted or shown in block diagram form, paying attention to important features of structures and devices, so as not to obscure the idea of the present invention. The same reference numbers will be used throughout the present description of the invention to refer to the same or similar parts.

In the following description, the term “terminal” is used to describe any mobile or stationary user device, such as a user equipment (UE) or a mobile station (MS). In addition, the term “base station” is used to describe any network node that communicates with a terminal, such as Node B or advanced Node B.

The following is a description of the general E-DCH to which the present invention applies.

An E-DCH is classified into a dedicated E-DCH that is occupied by a specific UE and a common E-DCH that is shared by a number of terminals (UEs). While a dedicated E-DCH is a transport channel that is allocated only to a specific UE, a common E-DCH is usually allocated to a number of UEs under the control of a base station (Node B).

The radio resources of the common E-DCH are used only by UEs that are in standby mode or in CELL_FACH state. The idle state is a state in which the UE is not connected to the network, and the CELL_FACH state is the state in which no dedicated channel is allocated to the UE since the amount of data to be transmitted is small, although the UE is connected to the network. The common E-DCH is designed to enable two-state UEs to perform high-speed data transmission, since no dedicated channels are allocated in two states. Each UE must perform a random access procedure when requesting radio resources for a common E-DCH, since multiple UEs may simultaneously try to use a common E-DCH. An embodiment of the present invention proposes that the Node B provide the UEs with temporal information when allocating UE radio resources of a common E-DCH to allow the UE to use the radio resources only for a predetermined period of time.

When the radio resources of the common E-DCH are allocated by the UE in accordance with this embodiment, the UE uses the radio resources of the common E-DCH only in a predetermined time period and releases the radio resources of the common E-DCH when a predetermined period of time has elapsed to allow another UE to use the released radio resources common E-DCH. However, if the UE ends the data transfer before the predetermined time period has elapsed, the UE may notify Node B of the release of radio resources of the common E-DCH. The scheduling information with TEBS = 0 is transmitted to notify Node B of the release of radio resources of the common E-DCH. When receiving scheduling information with TEBS = 0, the Node B may release radio resources of the common E-DCH at the UE before a predetermined time period has elapsed since TEBS = 0 indicates that the UE does not have data to transmit.

4 illustrates a procedure for freeing radio resources of a common E-DCH by scheduling information with TEBS = 0.

When the UE releases radio resources before the predetermined time period has elapsed, the UE may generate scheduling information with TEBS = 0 (step S401). In particular, TEBS indicates data for transmission / retransmission in the RLC buffer or the remaining data in the MAC buffer. Accordingly, when SI is initiated in TEBS = 0, the MAC PDU transmitted from SI to TEBS = 0 includes the latest data present in the buffer. Thus, if a MAC PDU is transmitted, then all the buffers of the UE are empty.

Accordingly, the UE may transmit to the Node B the MAC PDU including the last data present in the transmission buffer of the UE, together with the scheduling information generated as described above (step S402). The MAC PDU transmission is performed through a specific HARQ that is controlled by the HARQ entity. The UE releases the radio resources of the common E-DCH after waiting for the completion of the transmission with the HARQ generated by the MAC PDU, so that it is cleared (i.e., deleted) from the HARQ buffer.

For example, a MAC PDU transmitted as described above may be received by Node B (step S403). When received from the UE, the MAC PDU including scheduling information with TEBS = 0, Node B may release the radio resources of the common E-DCH in response to this reception (step S404). After that, the Node B may transmit a positive acknowledgment (ACK) to the MAC PDU received from the UE (step S405).

When receiving an ACK from Node B (step S406), the UE can delete data in the HARQ buffer corresponding to the HARQ process that is used to transmit the MAC PDU in step S402 in response to receiving the ACK and can then release the corresponding radio E-DCH resources (step S407 )

The UE may remove the MAC PDU from the HARQ buffer in two cases. The UE removes the MAC PDU from Node B when an ACK is received from Node B since the MAC PDU transmission is successful, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the UE can determine that the HARQ transmission of the MAC PDU was not successful, and remove the MAC PDU from the HARQ buffer if the MAC PDU transmission is unsuccessful (i.e. no ACK is received from Node B), although the UE transmitted the maximum number of MAC PDUs retransmission times.

If the HARQ transmission was not successful after the UE transmitted the MAC PDU including the last data present in the UE buffer and scheduling information with TEBS = 0 to release the radio resources of the common E-DCH, the UE may release the radio resources of the common E-DCH when the MAC PDU is removed from the HARQ buffer, regardless of whether the transmission of the MAC PDU is successful. In this case, the UE frees up the radio resources of the common E-DCH without additional transmission in order to reduce unnecessary waste of radio resources, since the Node B may already actually receive the MAC PDU (when the ACK is lost) or may not accept the MAC PDU (when the MAC PDU transmission was not successful).

However, the UE needs to initiate new scheduling information when the UE was unable to complete the transmission with a HARQ MAC PDU including data and scheduling information in accordance with the condition for initiating the current scheduling information described above with reference to Table 2. The same is true when the MAC The PDU includes information with TEBS = 0 indicating the release of radio resources of the common E-DCH. In this case, the UE needs to initiate new scheduling information, although the UE does not have any additional data to transmit. This procedure is described in detail below with reference to FIG.

5 illustrates a problem associated with a condition for triggering scheduling information associated with a common E-DCH.

When a UE that is in CELL_FACH state or in a standby mode in which the UE uses a common E-DCH for a limited period of time does not have data in the RLC transmit or retransmission buffer or does not have data in the MAC transmit buffer, the UE may initiate scheduling information with TEBS = 0 to notify Node B of the release of radio resources of the common E-DCH (step S501). Accordingly, the UE may transmit a Node B MAC PDU including upper layer data and scheduling information with TEBS = 0 (step S502). When receiving the MAC PDU transmitted by the UE (step S503), Node B may release the radio resources of the common E-DCH in response to reception (step S504). Node B may transmit the ACK to the UE to notify the UE of the successful reception of the MAC PDU (step S505).

On the other hand, the UE may not be able to accept the ACK transmitted by Node B, as shown in FIG. If the UE was unable to receive the ACK, the UE may retransmit the MAC PDU until the maximum HARQ transmission counter is reached (step S506 and S507). However, the UE determines that the HARQ transmission was not successful, and clears the HARQ buffer (step S509) when the maximum HARQ initiation counter of the UE is reached because the MAC PDU transmitted by the UE is not received by Node B, as illustrated in step S506 in FIG. 5, or because the corresponding ACK transmitted by Node B (step S508) is not received by the UE, although the MAC PDU was successfully received by Node B, as illustrated in step S507. When the HARQ transmission was not successful in this way, the UE also releases the radio resources of the common E-DCH, as described above (step S510). In this case, the UE should initiate new scheduling information, even if the UE does not have data to transmit, since the transmission of HARQ data and scheduling information was not successful, in accordance with the condition for initiating the current scheduling information described above with reference to Table 2 (step S520 ) In addition, the UE should perform a new random access procedure to transmit new scheduling information since the radio resources of the common E-DCH are already released. However, this causes unnecessary battery consumption in the UE and unnecessary distribution of the radio resources of the common E-DCH in Node B.

Thus, the scheduling information initiation condition described in Table 2 has a problem in that the UE not only releases the radio resource of the common E-DCH, but also initiates new scheduling information when the UE was unable to complete the transmission from the HARQ MAC PDU including TEBS = 0, indicating the release of radio resources of the common E-DCH. In this case, in order to transmit only TEBS = 0, the UE should perform a new random access procedure in order to obtain the radio resources of the common E-DCH, since the radio resources of the common E-DCH are already released.

Accordingly, a preferred embodiment of the present invention proposes that the UE was unable to transmit scheduling information from the HARQ so that the UE did not immediately initiate new scheduling information, and further determined whether TEBS was set to 0 in the scheduling information whose HARQ transmission was not successful by solving the above problem.

In particular, this embodiment proposes that the UE initiate new scheduling information and transmit it to Node B only when TEBS in the scheduling information whose HARQ transmission was not successful is not set to 0.

6 illustrates a method for initiating scheduling information in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

First, when the UE transmitted the scheduling information to Node B in accordance with the HARQ scheme, the UE may not be able to transmit the MAC PDU due to the inability of the Node B to receive the MAC PDU or the inability of the UE to receive the ACK transmitted by Node B (step S601). This embodiment proposes when a scheduling information transfer failure has occurred so that the UE does not immediately initiate new scheduling information, but additionally checks the TEBS field in the scheduling information, the transmission of which was not successful, to determine whether TEBS is set to 0 in the scheduling information (step S602). When the TEBS in the scheduling information, the transmission of which was not successful, is set to 0 (i.e., TEBS = 0), the UE no longer initiates the scheduling information (step S605). That is, the UE in accordance with this embodiment can initiate new scheduling information only when TEBS in the scheduling information whose transmission was not successful is not set to 0.

In particular, when the TEBS in the scheduling information, the transmission of which was not successful, is not set to 0, the UE may determine whether the scheduling information is transmitted along with the data via the MAC PDU (step S603). When it is determined that the scheduling information is transmitted without data by the MAC PDU (i.e., an autonomous type MAC PDU), the UE may no longer trigger scheduling information (step S605). When the transmission of the MAC PDU including only scheduling information (i.e., without data) has not been successful in this way, the UE may transmit scheduling information necessary for the next scheduling information transmission period based on the period planning.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S603 that the scheduling information whose HARQ transmission was not successful is transmitted along with the data via the MAC PDU, the UE initiates new scheduling information (step S604). Accordingly, the UE may transmit to the Node B both the newly initiated scheduling information and data via the MAC PDU.

The following is a description of a case where a common E-DCH is used using the scheduling information trigger condition described above, compared to a case where a common E-DCH is used in accordance with a conventional scheduling scheme.

7A and 7B illustrate UE operations in the idle mode or in the CELL_FACH state that uses a common E-DCH, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7A illustrates a case of using the general condition for triggering scheduling information, and Fig. 7B illustrates a case of using the condition for triggering scheduling information in accordance with the embodiment described above with reference to Fig. 6.

First, when a UE that is in the CELL_FACH state or in standby mode in which the UE uses the common E-DCH for a limited period of time transmits the latest data, the UE can transmit the MAC PDU to the Node B including the latest data and scheduling information with TEBS = 0. 7, it is assumed that the UE was unable to transmit the MAC PDU (step S701). When the UE has transmitted scheduling information with TEBS = 0, so as to notify Node B of the release of the radio resources of the common E-DCH, the UE may also release the radio resources of the common E-DCH, as described above with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 (step S702).

In the case where the general scheduling information triggering scheme is applied, as shown in FIG. 7A, the UE initiates new scheduling information when the transmission of scheduling information with the data with the HARQ was not successful, and creates a MAC PDU for transmitting new scheduling information (step S703) . However, the UE does not have radio resources for transmitting the initiated scheduling information, since the radio resources for transmitting the common E-DCH are already released. Accordingly, the UE transmits the created MAC PDU (step S705) after performing the procedure for random access to Node B (step S704) and receiving uplink radio resources from Node B. However, the retransmission of scheduling information from the UE causes unnecessary battery consumption of the UE and unnecessary distribution Node B’s shared E-DCH radio resources, since the goal of retransmission of scheduling information is to only notify Node B of the release of shared E-DCH radio resources.

On the other hand, in the case where the embodiment of the present invention that is shown in FIG. 7B is applied, the UE further determines whether the scheduling information is set to 0 TEBS when the transmission of scheduling information from the HARQ was not successful in step S706. That is, this embodiment proposes that the UE perform an operation for transmitting new scheduling information in accordance with the procedure of steps S703-S705 only when the TEBS 0 is not equal in the scheduling information, the transmission of which HARQ was not successful, and no longer triggers scheduling information, when it is 0 TEBS in the scheduling information whose HARQ transmission was not successful.

The purpose of determining whether 0 TEBS is equal in the scheduling information in step S706 in FIG. 7 is to overcome the problem that may arise when a common E-DCH is used, as shown in FIG. 5. Since the common E-DCH is used only by UEs that are in standby mode or in CELL_FACH state, an operation for transmitting new scheduling information in accordance with the procedure of steps S703 to S705 can be performed when the UE is neither in standby mode nor in CELL_FACH state.

To overcome the problem illustrated in FIG. 5, another embodiment of the present invention provides a method in which new scheduling information is initiated in the same manner as in the general scheme, although the initiated scheduling information is not transmitted when the TEBS is in scheduling information whose transmission with HARQ was not successful, set to 0.

8A and 8B illustrate a method for operating a UE that uses a common E-DCH in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A illustrates a method for operating a UE that uses the general condition for triggering scheduling information, and FIG. 8B illustrates a method for operating a UE in accordance with an embodiment.

The method of operation in Fig. 8A is similar to the method in Fig. 7A. That is, when the UE that is in the CELL_FACH state or in the standby mode in which the UE uses the common E-DCH for a limited period of time has transmitted the latest data, the UE may transmit the Node B MAC PDU including the latest data and scheduling information with TEBS = 0. 8, it is assumed that the UE was unable to transmit the MAC PDU (step S801). When the UE has transmitted scheduling information with TEBS = 0, so as to notify Node B of the release of the radio resources of the common E-DCH, the UE can also release the radio resources of the common E-DCH, as described above with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 (step S802).

In the case where the general scheduling information initiation scheme is applied, as shown in FIG. 8A, the UE initiates new scheduling information when the transmission of scheduling information with the data with the HARQ was not successful, and creates a MAC PDU for transmitting new scheduling information (step S803) . However, the UE does not have radio resources for transmitting the initiated scheduling information, since the radio resources for transmitting the common E-DCH are already released. Accordingly, the UE transmits the created MAC PDU (step S805) after performing the procedure for random access to Node B (step S804) and receiving uplink radio resources from Node B. However, retransmission of scheduling information from the UE causes unnecessary battery consumption at the UE and unnecessary distribution Node B’s shared E-DCH radio resources, since the goal of retransmission of scheduling information is to only notify Node B of the release of shared E-DCH radio resources.

On the other hand, in the case where this embodiment is applied, as shown in FIG. 8B, the UE initiates new scheduling information in accordance with the general scheduling information triggering algorithm when the transmission of scheduling information from the HARQ was not successful in step S803-1. However, instead of unconditionally creating and transmitting a MAC PDU for transmitting the initiated scheduling information to a Node B, the UE checks the TEBS field in the scheduling information whose HARQ transmission was not successful to determine if 0 TEBS in the scheduling information whose HARQ transmission was not successful (step S806). This embodiment proposes that the UE does not transmit triggered scheduling information when it is 0 TEBS in scheduling information whose transmission with HARQ was not successful. On the other hand, when the TEBS is not 0 in the scheduling information whose transmission with the HARQ was not successful, the UE may create a MAC PDU for transmitting the scheduling information initiated in step S803-1 (step S803-2), and perform the following operations for transmission the created MAC PDU (steps S804 and S805).

A UE according to the embodiments described above can avoid unnecessary waste of resources and unnecessary operations when using a common E-DCH.

The following is a description of a configuration of a UE in accordance with the embodiments described above.

In a mobile communication system, the UE may include an input unit, a display module, and the like. in addition to a processor for signal processing. Among the configurations of these components of the UE, the process structures that are responsible for the actual processing of the signals are mainly described below.

9 illustrates a processor configuration in a UE in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The processor in the UE may have a protocol structure as described above with reference to FIG. 2, and embodiments of the present invention are mainly associated with a physical layer 910, a MAC layer 920, and an RLC layer 930 among the layers of the protocol structure.

A MAC layer module 920 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention may include a HARQ object 921, one or more HARQ processes 922, HARQ buffers 923 corresponding to HARQ processes 922, respectively, an E-TFC selection object 924 and a message object SI that determines the size A MAC PDU and transmit power when transmitting a new MAC PDU, and a multiplexing entity 925 that multiplexes scheduling information with data from an RLC layer transmit buffer 931 above the MAC layer that is transmitted in each MAC-d stream. The UE includes one HARQ entity 921 that controls one or more HARQ processes 922 and controls the transmission of the HARQ signal from the UE.

The physical layer module 910 can be simplified so that it includes a transmission module 911 and a reception module 912. The transmit module 911 may be responsible for transmitting to the Node B the MAC PDU received from the MAC layer module, and the receiving module 912 may be responsible for receiving the HARQ feedback signal from the Node B in response to transmitting the MAC PDU from the UE.

A HARQ object 921 in a UE may transmit a MAC PDU to Node B including data and scheduling information, in conjunction with a particular one of one or more HARQ processes 922 via a transmit module 911 in a physical layer module 910. An embodiment of the present invention proposes when a specific HARQ process was not successful in transmitting a MAC PDU so that the HARQ entity 921 in the UE (E-TFC selection entity 924 and SI message entity in a more accurate embodiment) determines if the TEBS field is set to 0 scheduling information, the transmission with which the HARQ was not successful, and initiated new scheduling information only when the TEBS field is not set to 0, and transmitted the initiated scheduling information Node B through the transmission module 911.

An embodiment of the present invention proposes that the HARQ entity 921 be designed to further determine whether the UE is in standby mode or the CELL_FACH state when determining whether the TEBS field is set to 0 in the scheduling information, and the UE has been designed to transmit new scheduling information initiated in the response to the failure of the transmission of HARQ scheduling information when the UE is neither in standby mode nor in CELL_FACH state.

As is apparent from the above description, embodiments of the present invention avoid unnecessarily transmitting scheduling information of the UE and unnecessarily allocating network resources, since the UE does not transmit new scheduling information requesting release of radio resources that are already released when the HARQ transmission was not successful.

A detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention is provided to enable those skilled in the art to practice and practice the invention. Although the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention described in the appended claims. Accordingly, the invention should not be limited to the specific embodiments described herein, but should correspond to the broadest possible scope consistent with the principles and new features disclosed herein.

Industrial applicability

Although the signal transmission / reception technologies and UE structures for implementing these technologies are described above with reference to examples where they are applied to a 3GPP system, they can also be applied to various other types of mobile communication systems containing similar procedures.

Claims (14)

1. A method for transmitting signals to Node B using a user equipment (UE) using a hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) scheme, comprising the steps of:
transmit to Node B a protocol medium for access control of a medium of transmission (MAC PDU) including first scheduling information and data;
determining whether the E-DCH Buffer General Status Field (TEBS) is set to 0 in the first scheduling information when the MAC PDU transmission was not successful;
initiating the second scheduling information as new scheduling information when the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is not set to 0; and
transmit second scheduling information to Node B. 2. The method according to claim 1, in which the UE uses a common extended dedicated channel (E-DCH) for a limited period of time. 3. The method according to claim 2, in which resources for a common E-DCH are shared with a plurality of UEs in idle mode and in CELL_FACH state. 4. The method according to claim 3, additionally containing a stage in which:
free resources for a common E-DCH when the HARQ buffer in the HARQ process corresponding to the MAC PDU transmission is empty after the MAC PDU transmission. 5. The method according to claim 4, in which the step of transmitting the second planning information comprises the steps of:
perform random access to Node B and
generating a MAC PDU including second scheduling information and transmitting it to a Node In a MAC PDU including second scheduling information. 6. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the E-DCH Buffer General Status Field (TEBS) is set to 0 in the first scheduling information comprises determining whether the UE is in CELL_FACH state or standby time, and
wherein, the second scheduling information is triggered when the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is not set to 0 or when the UE is neither in the CELL_FACH state nor in the standby mode. 7. The method according to claim 6, in which the UE does not initiate the second scheduling information when the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is set to 0 and the UE is in CELL_FACH state or in standby mode. 8. A user equipment (UE) for transmitting signals to a Node B using a hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) scheme, wherein the UE comprises:
a HARQ entity for controlling one or more HARQ processes and controlling HARQ signaling to Node B and
a transmission module for transmitting to a Node In a protocol medium access control (MAC PDU) data unit including first scheduling information and data, together with a specific one of one or more HARQ processes, and
wherein the HARQ entity determines whether the E-DCH Buffer General Status Field (TEBS) is set to 0 in the first scheduling information when the MAC PDU transmission was not successful, and initiates the second scheduling information as new scheduling information when the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is not set to 0, and transmits the second scheduling information to Node B via the transmission module. 9. The user equipment (UE) of claim 8, wherein the UE is configured to use a common extended dedicated channel (E-DCH) for a limited period of time. 10. The user equipment (UE) according to claim 9, wherein resources for a common E-DCH are shared with a plurality of UEs in standby mode and in CELL_FACH state. 11. The user equipment (UE) of claim 10, wherein the UE is configured to free resources for a common E-DCH if a specific HARQ process was not successful in transmitting a MAC PDU when the HARQ buffer in the HARQ process corresponding to the transmission of the MAC PDU is empty after the MAC PDU is transmitted. 12. The user equipment (UE) according to claim 11, wherein the UE is configured to randomly access the Node B and generate and transmit to the Node B the MAC PDU including the second scheduling information to transmit the second scheduling information to the Node B. 13. The user equipment (UE) according to claim 9, in which the HARQ object is configured to further determine whether the UE is in the CELL_FACH state or in standby mode when determining whether the E-DCH (TEBS) buffer general status field is set to 0 the first scheduling information, and initiating the second scheduling information when the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is not set to 0 or when the UE is neither in the CELL_FACH state nor in the standby mode. 14. The user equipment (UE) according to item 13, in which the HARQ object is configured to refuse to initiate the second scheduling information when the TEBS field in the first scheduling information is set to 0 and the UE is in CELL_FACH state or in standby mode.

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