RU2465744C2 - Resource allocation for enhanced uplink using shared control channel - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: information technology.

SUBSTANCE: user equipment (UE) may select a signature from a set of signatures available for random access for enhanced uplink, generate an access preamble based on the selected signature, and send the access preamble for random access while operating in an inactive state. The UE may receive allocated resources (e.g., for an E-DCH) for the UE from a shared control channel (e.g., an HS-SCCH). In one design, the UE may determine a pre-assigned UE identifier (ID) associated with the selected signature, de-mask received symbols for the shared control channel based on the pre-assigned UE ID, decode the de-masked symbols to obtain a codeword, and determine the allocated resources based on the codeword. The UE may send data to a Node B using the allocated resources while remaining in inactive state.

EFFECT: invention discloses techniques for supporting operation with enhanced uplink.

20 cl, 9 dwg

Description

Priority Claim Under Section 35 §119 of the US Code

This patent application claims the priority of provisional patent application US No. 61/019194, filed January 4, 2008, and provisional patent application US No. 61/020031, filed January 9, 2008, both of which are entitled "CHANNEL E DISTRIBUTION SCHEME E -DCH IN THE CELL_FACH STATE "(" E-DCH RESOURCE ALLOCATION SCHEME IN CELL_FACH "), are assigned to the copyright holder of this document and are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Technical field

The present disclosure relates to communications in general, and in particular to techniques for allocating resources in a wireless communication system.

State of the art

Wireless communication systems are widely used to provide various communication services, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, etc. These systems may be multiple access systems that are capable of supporting multiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access ( OFDMA) and single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems.

A wireless communication system may include multiple Node Bs that can communicate for multiple instances of a user equipment (UE). The user equipment may communicate with the Node B through the downlink and uplink. A downlink (or direct) line of communication is a line of communication from node B to user equipment, and an upward (or reverse) line of communication is a line of communication from user equipment to node B.

The user equipment may periodically be active and may operate (i) in an active state for active communication with node B or (ii) in an inactive state when there is no data to send or receive. The user equipment may transition from an inactive state to an active state whenever there is data to send and resources may be assigned to a high speed channel to send data. However, the transition between states may be subject to overhead and may also delay data transmission. It is desirable to reduce the number of overheads in order to improve system efficiency and reduce latency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Techniques are described here to support the efficient operation of a UE with an enhanced uplink for an inactive state. An improved uplink refers to the use of a high speed channel having greater transmission capability than a slow conventional uplink channel. UEs can be allocated resources for a high speed channel for an enhanced uplink while it is in an inactive state, and it can more efficiently send data using allocated resources in an inactive state.

In one design, the UE may select a signature from a plurality of signatures available for random access for the enhanced uplink. The UE may generate an access preamble based on the selected signature and may send an access preamble for random access while operating in an inactive state, for example, in CELL_FACH state or in standby mode. The UE may receive distributed resources for the UE from a shared control channel, which may be a shared control channel for a high speed downlink shared channel (HS-SCCH). The allocated resources may be for an Advanced Dedicated Channel (E-DCH), which is a high speed uplink channel. The UE may send data to node B using allocated resources and may remain inactive when sending data to node B.

In one design, the user equipment may determine a pre-assigned identifier (ID) of the UE corresponding to the selected signature. The UE may receive the received symbols for the shared control channel and may unmask the received symbols based on the pre-assigned ID of the UE to obtain the unmasked symbols for the response sent to the UE via the shared control channel. The UE may then decode the unmasked symbols to obtain decoded symbols for the codeword. The UE may determine the resource configuration based on the codeword and may determine the allocated resources for the UE based on the resource configuration. The UE may determine that a negative acknowledgment (NACK) has been sent for the access preamble if the codeword has an assigned meaning.

In one design, the signatures available for random access for the enhanced uplink may correspond to different pre-assigned UE IDs. In one design, multiple resource configurations may correspond to different codewords. The mapping between the signatures and the pre-assigned UE IDs and the mapping between resource configurations and codewords may be communicated to the UE (eg, via broadcast) or the UEs are known in advance.

Various aspects and features of the disclosure are described in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows a wireless communication system.

2 shows a state diagram of a wireless resource management (RRC).

FIG. 3 shows an E-DCH channel resource allocation scheme based on the HS-SCCH.

4 shows a processing unit for sending distributed resources of an E-DCH channel.

5 shows a process performed by user equipment for random access.

6 shows a process for receiving distributed resources by user equipment.

7 shows a process for supporting random access by node B.

8 shows a process for sending distributed resources by node B.

Fig.9 shows a block diagram of a user equipment and node B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The techniques described herein can be used for various wireless communication systems, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and others. The terms “system” and “network” are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system may implement wireless technology such as Universal Terrestrial Wireless Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA technology includes CDMA Broadband Access (WCDMA) and other CDMA technology options. Cdma2000 technology covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system may implement a wireless technology such as a global system for mobile communications (GSM). An OFDMA system can implement wireless technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA) technology, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) technology, IEEE 802.20 standards, IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX technology), IEEE 802.11 (WiFi technology), Flash-OFDM® technology and etc. UTRA and E-UTRA technologies are part of the Universal Mobile Communications System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the upcoming release of UMTS technology that uses E-UTRA technology. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, and GSM technologies are described in documents from an organization called the Third Generation Network Partnership Project (3GPP). The cdma2000 and UMB technologies are described in documents from an organization called the “Project-2 Partnership for Creating Third Generation Networks (3GPP2)." For clarity, some aspects of the techniques are described below for WCDMA technology, and the 3GPP project terminology is used in most of the description below.

1 shows a wireless communication system 100 that includes a universal terrestrial wireless access network (UTRAN) 102 and a core network 140. A UTRAN 102 may include several Nodes B and other network entities. For simplicity, FIG. 1 shows only one node B 120 and one wireless network controller (RNC) 130 for UTRAN 102. Node B may be a fixed station that interacts with a user equipment (UE) and may also be called Enhanced Node B (eNB), Base Station, Access Point, etc. Node B 120 provides communication coverage for a specific geographic area. The coverage area of node B 120 may be divided into several (eg, three) smaller areas. Each smaller area can be served by the corresponding subsystem of node B. In the 3GPP project, the term “cell” can refer to the smallest coverage area of node B and / or the subsystem of node B serving this coverage area.

An RNC controller 130 may be connected to a node B 120 and other nodes B via an Iub interface and may provide coordination and control for these nodes B. An RNC controller 130 may also communicate with network entities within the core network 140. The core network 140 may include various network objects that support various functions and services for user equipment.

User equipment 110 may communicate with node B 120 via a downlink and an uplink. The user equipment 110 may be stationary or mobile and may also be called a mobile station, terminal, access terminal, subscriber unit, station, etc. The user equipment 110 may be a cell phone, PDA, wireless modem, wireless device, handheld device, laptop computer, cordless phone, wireless subscriber station (WLL), etc.

3GPP Design Release 5 and later releases support High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA). 3GPP Design Release 6 and later releases support High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA). HSDPA and HSUPA technologies are a variety of channels and procedures that enable high-speed packet data transmission on the downlink and uplink, respectively.

In WCDMA technology, data for user equipment can be processed as one or more transport channels at a higher level. Transport channels may carry data for one or more services, such as voice, video, packet data, etc. Transport channels can be mapped to physical channels at the physical level. Physical channels can be separated using different channel allocation codes and, thus, can be orthogonal to each other in the code domain. WCDMA technology uses orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF) codes as channel allocation codes for physical channels.

Table 1 lists some of the transport channels in WCDMA technology.

Table 1 Transport channels Channel Channel name Description Dch Dedicated channel Carries uplink and downlink data for specific user equipment HS-DSCH High Speed Downlink Shared Channel Carries downlink data to various instances of user equipment for HSDPA access E-dch Advanced Dedicated Channel Carries data sent on the uplink by user equipment for HSUPA access Rach Random access channel Carries preambles and messages sent by user equipment on the uplink for random access Fach Direct access channel Carries messages sent downlink to user equipment for random access PCH Paging Channel Carries search calls and notification messages

Table 2 lists some of the physical channels in WCDMA technology.

table 2 Physical channels Channel Channel name Description PRACH Random Access Physical Channel Carries a RACH Channel Aich Data Indicator Channel Carries data indicators sent downlink by user equipment F-dpch Partial Dedicated Physical Channel Carries level 1 control information, for example, power control commands H
S
D
P
A HS-SCCH (downlink) Shared control channel for HS-DSCH Carries control information for data sent on the HS-PDSCH HS-PDSCH (downlink) High Speed Physical Downlink Shared Channel Carries data sent over HS-DSCH to various instances of user equipment HS-DPCCH (uplink) Dedicated Physical Control Channel for HS-DSCH Carries ACK / NACK signals for data sent on the HS-PDSCH, and channel quality indicator (CQI) H
S
U
P
A E-DPCCH (uplink) Dedicated Physical Control Channel for E-DCH Carries control information for the E-DPDCH E-DPDCH (uplink) Dedicated physical data channel for E-DCH Carries data sent over the E-DCH by user equipment E-HICH (downlink) ARQ Hybrid Request Indicator Channel for E-DCH Carries ACK / NACK signals for data sent on the E-DPDCH E-AGCH (downlink) Absolute Resolution Channel for E-DCH Carries absolute E-DCH resource permissions E-RGCH (downlink) Relative Resolution Channel for E-DCH Carries relative resource permissions of the E-DCH

WCDMA technology supports other transport channels and physical channels, which are not shown in Tables 1 and 2 for simplicity. The transport channels and physical channels in WCDMA technology are described in 3GPP TS 25.211 entitled “Physical Channels and Mapping Transport Channels to Physical Channels (FDD) ) ", which is publicly available.

FIG. 2 shows a wireless resource management (RRC) state diagram 200 for user equipment in WCDMA technology. After turning on, the user equipment may select a cell to find a suitable cell from which the user equipment can receive service. The user equipment can then enter standby mode 210 or connection mode 220, depending on whether there is any activity for the user equipment. In standby mode, the user equipment is registered in the system, listens for paging messages and updates its location in the system as necessary. In connection mode, the user equipment may receive and / or transmit data depending on its RRC status and configuration.

In connection mode, the user equipment may be in one of four possible RRC states: in state 222 CELL_DCH, state 224 CELL_FACH, state 226 CELL_PCH, and state 228 URA_PCH, where URA denotes a user registration area. The CELL_DCH state is characterized in that (i) dedicated physical channels are allocated to user equipment for the downlink and uplink, and (ii) a combination of dedicated and shared transport channels is available to the user equipment. The CELL_FACH state is characterized in that (i) the allocated physical channels are not allocated to the user equipment, (ii) the default shared or shared transport channel is assigned to the user equipment for use to gain access to the system, and (iii) the user equipment constantly monitors the FACH channel for service signals, such as reconfiguration messages. The CELL_PCH and URA_PCH states are characterized in that (i) the allocated physical channels are not allocated to the user equipment, (ii) the user equipment periodically monitors the PCH for search calls, and (iii) the user equipment is not allowed to transmit on the uplink.

In connection mode, the system can instruct the user equipment to be in one of four RRC states based on the activity of the user equipment. The user equipment may transition (i) from any state in connection mode to standby mode by performing an RRC connection release procedure, (ii) from standby mode to CELL_DCH or CELL_FACH mode by performing an RRC connection establishment procedure, and (iii) between RRC connection states by performing a reconfiguration procedure.

Modes and conditions for user equipment in WCDMA technology are described in TS 25.331 of the 3GPP project entitled "Wireless Resource Management (RRC); Protocol Specification", which is publicly available. Various procedures for transitioning from and to RRC states, as well as between RRC states, are also described in 3GPP TS 25.331.

The user equipment 110 may operate in the CELL_FACH state when there is no data to exchange, for example, to send or receive. The user equipment 110 may transition from the CELL_FACH state to the CELL_DCH state whenever there is data to exchange, and may transition back to the CELL_FACH state after the data exchange. The user equipment 110 may perform a random access procedure and an RRC reconfiguration procedure to transition from the CELL_FACH state to the CELL_DCH state. User equipment 110 may perform an overhead messaging for these procedures. Messaging can increase overhead and may delay data transfer by user equipment 110. In many cases, user equipment 110 may have only a small message or a small amount of data to send, and overhead can be especially large in these cases. In addition, user equipment 110 may periodically send a small message or small amount of data, and performing these procedures each time user equipment 110 is required to send data can be very inefficient.

In an aspect of the invention, an enhanced uplink (EUL) is provided to improve an inactive state of a user equipment. In general, an inactive state can be any state or mode in which user equipment is not allocated dedicated resources to communicate with Node B. For RRC control, an inactive state can include CELL_FACH state, CELL_PCH state, URA_PCH state, or standby mode. The inactive state may be the opposite of the active state, such as the CELL_DCH state, in which the allocated equipment is allocated to the user equipment for communication with the Node B.

An enhanced uplink for an inactive state may also be referred to as an enhanced random access channel (E-RACH), an enhanced uplink in a CELL_FACH state, and a sleep mode, an enhanced uplink procedure, etc. The enhanced uplink may (i) reduce the delay time of the user plane and the control plane in the inactive state, (ii) maintain higher peak speeds for the user equipment in the inactive state, and (iii) reduce the transition delay between different RRC states.

For an enhanced uplink, user equipment 110 may be allocated E-DCH resources for transmitting data on the uplink in response to an access preamble sent by the user equipment. In general, for an enhanced uplink, any resources may be allocated to user equipment 110. In one design, distributed E-DCH resources may include the following elements:

• E-DCH code - one or more OVSF codes to use to send data on the E-DPDCH,

• E-AGCH code - OVSF code for receiving absolute permissions on the E-AGCH channel,

• E-RGCH code - OVSF code for receiving relative permissions on the E-RGCH channel and

• F-DPCH position — The location at which power control commands should be received to adjust the transmit power of user equipment 110 on the uplink.

Other resources may also be allocated to user equipment 110 for the enhanced uplink.

FIG. 3 shows an E-DCH resource allocation diagram based on an HS-SCCH for an enhanced uplink. In WCDMA technology, the transmission time graph for each communication link is divided into blocks of radio frames, and each radio frame spans 10 milliseconds (ms). For the PRACH channel, each pair of radio frames is divided into 15 access intervals of the PRACH channel with indices from 0 to 14. For the AICH channel, each pair of radio frames is divided into 15 access intervals of the AICH channel with indices from 0 to 14. Each access interval of the PRACH channel corresponds to the access interval of the AICH channel so that τ _pa = 7680 elementary signals (or 2 ms). For other physical channels, such as the HS-SCCH, each radio frame can be divided into 15 slots with indices from 0 to 14.

User equipment 110 may operate in CELL_FACH state and may wish to send data. User equipment 110 may randomly select a signature from a plurality of signatures available for random access. The user equipment 110 may generate an access preamble based on the selected signature and may send an access preamble on the PRACH channel in the access interval of the PRACH channel, available for random access transmission. Then, the user equipment 110 can listen for the response on the HS-SCCH in the corresponding access interval of the AICH. If no response is received on the HS-SCCH, then user equipment 110 may resend the access preamble on the PRACH with a higher transmit power after a period of at least τ _pp = 15360 chips (or 4 ms). In the example shown in FIG. 3, user equipment 110 receives a response on the HS-SCCH in the access interval 3 of the AICH. The response may inform the allocated resources of the E-DCH for user equipment, as described below.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a processing unit 400 that can send distributed E-DCH channel resources to user equipment 110 for an enhanced uplink. In processing block 400, a multiplexer (MUX) 410 receives K information bits, designated x ₁ to x _K , and provides a codeword X containing these K information bits, where K may be any suitable value. K information bits may report the allocated resources of the E-DCH for user equipment 110, as described below. Encoder 420 encodes a codeword and provides L code bits, denoted as Z, where L may be any suitable value. A rate matching unit 430 receives L code bits from an encoder 420, deletes some of the code bits and provides M rate-matched bits for an R response to an access preamble sent by user equipment 110, where M may be any suitable value. The user equipment-specific masking unit 440 receives the user equipment identifier from B bits, generates M scrambling bits based on the user equipment identifier, masks the M bit-matched bits using the M scrambling bits, and provides M output bits designated as S. The mapping unit 450 for HS-SCCH extends the M output bits with an OVSF code for the HS-SCCH and provides N output chips, where N can be any suitable value.

In one design, encoder 420 encodes K = 8 information bits for a codeword based on a convolutional code at 1/3 rate and provides L = 48 code bits. In this design, there are 256 valid codewords for 8 information bits. Code words can also be called words, messages, etc. A rate matching unit 430 receives these 48 code bits, removes 8 code bits, and provides M = 40 bit-matched bits. The masking unit 440 receives the user equipment identifier from B = 16 bits, encodes 16 bits of the user equipment identifier with a 1/2 convolution code to obtain 48 scrambling bits, deletes 8 scrambling bits and provides 40 scrambling bits. Then, the masking unit 440 performs a bitwise exclusive-XOR operation of 40 matched bits with 40 scrambling bits and provides 40 output bits.

In one design, the mapper 450 for the HS-SCCH channel maps 40 output bits to 20 output symbols and extends these 20 output symbols with an OSVF of 128 chips for the HS-SCCH and provides N = 2560 chips for part 1 of the channel HS-SCCH. In order to achieve lower false and false detection probabilities, 2560 output chips for part 1 of the HS-SCCH can, for example, be transmitted twice in two consecutive slots of the same access interval of the AICH, as shown in FIG. 3. In another design, the display unit 450 for the HS-SCCH extends 20 output symbols with an OVSF of 256 chips for the HS-SCCH and provides N = 5120 chips for part 1 of the HS-SCCH, which can be sent in two intervals of one access interval of the AICH channel. For both schemes, part 1 of the HS-SCCH can be sent based on the synchronization of the AICH, as shown in FIG. 3.

The HS-SCCH is typically used to send control information for transmitting data sent on the HS-PDSCH to different instances of user equipment using HSDPA access. The control information for each data transmission typically includes HS-SCCH part 1 sent in the first slot, and HS-SCCH part 2 sent in two subsequent slots. The HS-SCCH may be used to send the allocated resources of the E-DCH to user equipment performing random access for the enhanced uplink, as described above. This user equipment may monitor the HS-SCCH (instead of the AICH) for responses to access preambles sent by this user equipment.

The system can support both “legacy” user equipment that does not support enhanced uplink and “new” user equipment that supports advanced uplink. A distinction mechanism can be used between legacy user equipment performing the traditional random access procedure and new user equipment using an enhanced uplink. In one design, the T available signatures for random access on the PRACH channel can be divided into two sets — the first set of P signatures available for the legacy user equipment and the second set of Q signatures available for the new user equipment, where each of the values of P, Q and T can be any suitable value, such that P + Q = T. One or both of the many signatures may be broadcast to the user equipment or may be known in advance to the user equipment. T available signatures can be assigned indices from 0 to T-1.

In one design, T = 16 signatures available for the PRACH channel can be divided into two sets, and each set includes 8 signatures. Inherited user equipment can use 8 signatures in the first set for the traditional random access procedure, and new user equipment can use 8 signatures in the second set for advanced uplink. Node B can distinguish between signatures from legacy user equipment and signatures from new user equipment. Node B may perform a traditional random access procedure for each legacy user equipment and may operate with an enhanced uplink for each new user equipment. The first and second sets may also include some other number of signatures.

In one design, Q signatures available for random access for the enhanced uplink may correspond to (i.e., be displayed one to one) Q pre-assigned user equipment identifiers. Each signature can be mapped to an individual user equipment identifier. The preassigned user equipment identifiers may be temporary HS-DSCH (H-RNTI) wireless network identifiers or some other type of user equipment identifiers. The mapping of signatures to preassigned user equipment identifiers may be broadcast to the user equipment or may be known in advance to the user equipment.

Table 3 shows a mapping scheme of Q = 8 signatures available for random access for the enhanced uplink to 8 16-bit H-RNTIs.

Table 3
Mapping Signatures to H-RNTIs Signature index H-RNTI ID one 0000000000000000 2 0101111111000000 3 1111010100001000 four 1010101011001000 5 0011100100010111 6 0110011011010111 7 1100001010001111 8 1001110101001111

In general, any number of signatures (Q) can be mapped to an appropriate number of H-RNTIs based on any suitable mapping. The number of signatures can be selected based on various factors, such as the number and / or percentage of new user equipment supporting the enhanced uplink, the number of E-DCH resources available for the enhanced uplink, etc.

The user equipment 110 may select a signature from Q signatures available for the enhanced uplink, generate an access preamble based on the selected signature, and send the access preamble over the PRACH channel. The Node B may send the E-DCH channel resource allocation to the user equipment 110 using a pre-assigned user equipment identifier corresponding to the signature selected by the user equipment 110. In particular, the Node B can generate scrambling bits based on the pre-assigned user equipment identifier and can mask the response to the access preamble using scrambling bits.

In one design, Y E-DCH channel resource configurations may be defined, where Y may be any suitable value. For example, Y may be 8, 16, 32, etc. Each E-DCH resource configuration may correspond to specific E-DCH resources, for example, specific resources for E-DCH, E-AGCH, E-RGCH, F-DPCH, etc. Y E-DCH channel resource configurations may be for different E-DCH channel resources, which may have the same or different throughputs. Y E-DCH channel resource configurations may be notified via broadcast or otherwise made known to new user equipment.

In one design, Y resource configurations of the E-DCH can be notified using Y codewords for K information bits sent in part 1 of the HS-SCCH. A single codeword (e.g., codeword 0) may be used to report a NACK signal to indicate that the resource configuration of the E-DCH is not distributed.

Table 4 shows the mapping scheme Y = 31 of the resource configuration of the E-DCH channel to 31 codewords. 31, an E-DCH channel resource configuration is denoted as E-DCH R1 to E-DCH R31. In the diagram shown in Table 4, the first codeword is reserved for a NACK response to the access preamble, and the next 31 codewords are used to indicate different resource configurations of the E-DCH. The response of the new user equipment upon detecting the NACK signal may be identical to the response of the inherited user equipment to the NACK signal in the traditional random access procedure. If the new user equipment detects discontinuous transmission (DTX) for part 1 of the HS-SCCH, then the response of the new user equipment may be identical to the response of the legacy user equipment to the DTX transmission in the traditional random access procedure. For example, new user equipment may resend the access preamble if a DTX transmission is received for the HS-SCCH.

Table 4
Mapping E-DCH Resource Configurations to Codewords E-DCH Channel Resource Configuration Information bits x ₁ x ₂ x ₃ x ₄ X ₅ x ₆ x ₇ x ₈ Nack 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 E-DCH R1 0 0 one 0 one 0 0 0 E-DCH R2 one one 0 one 0 one one 0 E-DCH R3 one one one one one one one 0 E-DCH R4 0 one 0 one 0 one 0 one E-DCH R5 0 one one one one one 0 one E-DCH R6 one 0 0 0 0 one one one E-DCH R7 one 0 one 0 one one one one E-DCH R8 one 0 0 one 0 one 0 0 E-DCH R9 one 0 one one one one 0 0 E-DCH R10 0 one 0 0 0 one one 0 E-DCH R11 0 one one 0 one one one 0 E-DCH R12 one one 0 0 0 0 0 one E-DCH R13 one one one 0 one 0 0 one E-DCH R14 0 0 0 one 0 0 one one E-DCH R15 0 0 one one one 0 one one E-DCH R16 one one 0 one 0 0 0 0 E-DCH R17 one one one one one 0 0 0 E-DCH R18 0 one 0 0 0 one 0 0 E-DCH R19 0 one one 0 one one 0 0 E-DCH R20 0 0 0 0 0 0 one 0 E-DCH R21 0 0 one 0 one 0 one 0 E-DCH R22 one 0 0 one 0 one one 0 E-DCH R23 one 0 one one one one one 0 E-DCH R24 0 0 0 one 0 0 0 one E-DCH R25 0 0 one one one 0 0 one E-DCH R26 one 0 0 0 0 one 0 one E-DCH R27 one 0 one 0 one one 0 one E-DCH R28 one one 0 0 0 0 one one E-DCH R29 one one one 0 one 0 one one E-DCH R30 0 one 0 one 0 one one one E-DCH R31 0 one one one one one one one

In the design shown in Table 4, 32 of the 256 possible codewords are used, and the remaining 224 codewords are not used. These 32 codewords can be selected to be as far apart as possible to improve decoding performance. These 256 codewords are obtained using 8 information bits typically sent for part 1 of the HS-SCCH. In another design, 32 codewords can be represented using 5 information bits, which can be encoded using a suitable code to obtain 40 code bits. E-DCH channel resource configurations can also be mapped to codewords in other ways.

In general, any number of E-DCH (Y) channel resource configurations can be mapped to the corresponding number of codewords based on any suitable mapping. The number of E-DCH resource configurations may be selected based on various factors, such as the number of E-DCH resources available for the enhanced uplink, the number of user equipment that is expected to work with the enhanced uplink at any given point in time, etc. In one design, a single codeword may be used to indicate that user equipment should use the RACH channel to transmit the PRACH channel message. In this case, the user equipment may observe a predetermined time relationship between the PRACH channel preamble and the transmission of the PRACH channel message.

The Node B may receive one or more access preambles from one or more new user equipment in a given PRACH access interval and may be able to respond to one user equipment on the HS-SCCH. The Node B may be able to send responses to multiple instances of the user equipment in the same AICH access interval using multiple HS-SCCHs, with different OVSF codes used for each HS-SCCH. OVSF codes for all HS-SCCHs can be broadcast to the user equipment or communicated to the user equipment in other ways.

The techniques described here may provide some benefits. First, the number of E-DCH resource configurations that can be allocated for each signature can be scalable (or easily increased) without any change in design. Secondly, resource allocation of the E-DCH can be communicated using the existing HS-SCCH, which may allow reuse of the existing equipment of the Node B and user equipment. Thirdly, the ACK / NACK signal for the access preamble and resource allocation of the E-DCH can be sent efficiently for the link in the HS-SCCH. Fourth, the resources of the E-DCH can be quickly allocated and communicated through the HS-SCCH. Fifth, signatures for an enhanced uplink may be detached from E-DCH resource configurations that may support a scalable circuit. Other benefits may also be obtained using the techniques described herein.

5 shows a design of a process 500 performed by user equipment for random access. The user equipment may select a signature from a plurality of signatures available for random access for the enhanced uplink (block 512). This set may include a subset of all signatures available for random access. The user equipment may generate an access preamble based on the selected signature (block 514). The user equipment may send the random access access preamble while operating in the inactive state, for example, in the CELL_FACH state or in standby mode (step 516).

A user equipment (UE) may receive distributed resources for the user equipment from a shared control channel (block 518). In one design, the allocated resources may be dedicated to an E-DCH, and the shared control channel may be an HS-SCCH in WCDMA technology. The user equipment may send data to the Node B using the allocated resources (block 520). The user equipment may remain inactive when sending data to the Node B using the allocated resources (block 522).

FIG. 6 shows a diagram of receiving distributed resources by user equipment in step 518 of FIG. 5. The user equipment may process (eg, expand) a shared control channel based on one or more channel allocation codes used to send distributed resources to user equipment performing random access for the enhanced uplink. The user equipment may receive received symbols for the shared control channel (block 612). The user equipment may also determine a preassigned user equipment identifier (eg, an H-RNTI identifier) corresponding to the selected signature (block 614).

The user equipment may unmask the received symbols based on the preassigned user equipment identifier to obtain the unmasked symbols for the response sent via the user equipment shared control channel (block 616). The user equipment may decode the unmasked symbols to obtain decoded symbols for the codeword (block 618). Decoding may include reverse rate matching, convolutional decoding, etc. The user equipment may determine the resource configuration based on the codeword (block 620). The user equipment may then determine the allocated resources for the user equipment based on the resource configuration (block 622). The user equipment may determine that a NACK signal has been sent to the access preamble if the codeword has an assigned value, for example 0.

In one design, signatures in a plurality of signatures available for random access for an enhanced uplink may correspond to different pre-assigned user equipment identifiers based on a one-to-one mapping between the signatures and the pre-assigned user equipment identifiers. In one design, multiple resource configurations may correspond to different codewords based on a one-to-one mapping between resource configurations and codewords. Mappings may be communicated to user equipment (eg, via broadcast) or known in advance to user equipment.

7 shows a design of a process 700 for supporting random access by node B. Node B may receive an access preamble from user equipment, an access preamble is formed based on a signature selected from a plurality of signatures available for random access for the enhanced uplink (block 712) . Node B may allocate resources to user equipment in response to receiving an access preamble (block 714). Node B may send distributed resources over a shared control channel (e.g., on an HS-SCCH) to user equipment (block 716). Thereafter, the Node B may receive data sent by the user equipment using the allocated resources (block 718).

FIG. 8 shows a diagram of sending distributed resources by the Node B in step 716 of FIG. Node B may determine a preassigned user equipment identifier corresponding to the selected signature (block 812). Node B may determine a codeword corresponding to a resource configuration for distributed resources for user equipment (block 814). Node B may select a codeword with an assigned value to indicate the sending of a NACK signal for the access preamble. Node B may encode the codeword to obtain a response for the user equipment (block 816). Encoding may include convolutional encoding, rate matching, etc. Node B may then mask the response based on a preassigned user equipment identifier (block 818). Node B can then process (eg, expand) a masked response for transmission over a shared control channel (block 820).

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of a user equipment 110, a node B 120, and an RNC controller 130 shown in FIG. At user equipment 110, encoder 912 may receive information (eg, access preambles, messages, data, etc.) for sending by user equipment 110. Encoder 912 may process (eg, encode and interlace) information to obtain encoded data. A modulator (Mod) 914 may further process (e.g., modulate, channelize, and scramble) the encoded data and provide output samples. A transmitter (TMTR) 922 can process (eg, convert to analog, filter, amplify, and upconvert) the output samples and generate an uplink signal that can be transmitted to one or more nodes B. User equipment 110 can also receive signals downlink transmitted by one or more nodes B. A receiver (RCVR) 926 can process (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a received signal and provide input samples. A demodulator (Demod) 916 can process (eg, descramble, channelize, and demodulate) input samples and provide symbol estimates. Decoder 918 may process (eg, reverse interlace and decode) the symbol estimates and provide information (eg, responses, messages, data, etc.) sent to user equipment 110. Encoder 912, modulator 914, demodulator 916, and decoder 918 may be implemented by modem processor 910. These units may perform processing in accordance with the wireless technology (eg, WCDMA technology) used by the system. A controller / processor 930 may control the operation of various units in user equipment 110. A controller / processor 930 may execute or direct process 500 in FIG. 5, process 518 in FIG. 6, and / or other processes for the techniques described herein. A memory 932 may store program codes and data for user equipment 110.

At node B 120, the transmitter / receiver 938 may support wireless communication with user equipment 110 and other user equipment. Controller / processor 940 may perform various functions for communicating with user equipment. For the uplink, the uplink signal from the user equipment 110 may be received and processed by the receiver 938 and further processed by the controller / processor 940 to recover information (e.g., access preambles, messages, data, etc.) sent by the user equipment 110. For a downlink, information (e.g., responses, messages, data, etc.) can be processed by the controller / processor 940 and processed by a transmitter 938 to generate a downlink signal, which may be transferred to user equipment 110 and other user equipment. A controller / processor 940 may execute or direct process 700 in FIG. 7, process 716 in FIG. 8 and / or other processes for the techniques described herein. A memory 942 may store program codes and data for a Node B 120. A communications unit 944 may communicate with an RNC controller 130 and other network entities.

In the controller 130, the RNC controller / processor 950 may perform various functions to support communication services for user equipment. A memory 952 may store program codes and data for an RNC controller 130. Communication unit 954 may communicate with node B 120 and other network entities.

Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned in the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Those skilled in the art will also understand that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described herein in connection with the disclosure may be implemented as electronic hardware, software, or a combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above in broad terms in terms of their functionality. Whether functionality such as hardware or software is implemented depends on the particular application and the design constraints imposed on the system as a whole. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementations should not be construed as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described herein in connection with the disclosure may be implemented or implemented using a general purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable a logic device, a circuit on discrete components, or a transistor logic circuit, individual hardware components, or any combination thereof, configured to perform the functions described herein and. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a digital signal processor (DSP) and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors together with a digital signal processor (DSP) core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described herein in connection with the disclosure may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The program module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, removable disk , a read-only compact disc (CD-ROM) or any other storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is connected to the processor such that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in a dedicated integrated circuit (ASIC). A specialized integrated circuit may reside in a user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as separate components in a user terminal.

In one or more illustrative structures, the described functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. With a software implementation, the functions can be stored in the form of one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium or transferred to it. Computer-readable media includes computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transferring a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose computer or a specialized computer. By way of example, but without limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM; RAM), read-only memory (ROM; ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM; EEPROM), a compact disc intended only for Reader (CD-ROM), or other optical disk drive, magnetic disk drive or other magnetic storage device or any other medium that can be used to transfer or store the desired software th code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general purpose computer, or special purpose computer. In addition, any connection is correctly called a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technologies such as infrared waves, radio waves and microwaves, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL line, or wireless technologies such as infrared waves, radio waves, and microwaves are included in the definition of a medium. As used herein, the term “disc” includes a compact disc (CD), a laser disc, an optical disc, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a flexible disc, and a blu-ray disc, the discs typically reproducing data magnetically or optically using laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

The foregoing description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure of the invention. Various modifications to this disclosure may be understood by those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited by the examples and schemes described herein, but should receive the broadest scope consistent with the principles and new features disclosed herein.

Claims (20)

1. A wireless communication method, comprising the steps of:
selecting a signature from a variety of signatures available for random access;
generating an access preamble based on the selected signature;
sending an access preamble for random access by user equipment operating in an inactive state;
receiving distributed uplink uplink resources for the user equipment from the shared control channel; and
send data to node B using the advanced uplink distributed resources mentioned. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the allocated resources further comprises determining a negative acknowledgment (NACK) sent for the access preamble if the codeword has an assigned value. 3. The method according to claim 1, in which the reception of distributed resources comprises the steps of
receive received symbols for the shared control channel,
determining a pre-assigned user equipment identifier corresponding to the selected signature, unmasking the received symbols based on the pre-assigned user equipment identifier to obtain the unmasked characters,
decode unmasked characters to obtain decoded characters,
determine the configuration of resources based on decoded symbols and
determining said distributed resources for the user equipment based on the resource configuration. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the distributed resources comprises processing a shared control channel based on a channel allocation code used to send distributed resources to user equipment performing random access. 5. The method according to claim 1, additionally containing a stage in which:
remain inactive when sending data to node B using the allocated resources. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the inactive state comprises a CELL_FACH state or a sleep mode. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said distributed resources comprise resources for an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH), and wherein the shared control channel comprises a shared control channel for a high speed downlink shared channel (HS-SCCH) . 8. A device for wireless communication, containing
means for selecting a signature from a variety of signatures available for random access;
means for generating an access preamble based on the selected signature;
means for sending an access preamble for random access by user equipment operating in an inactive state;
means for receiving distributed uplink uplink resources for user equipment from a shared control channel; and
means for sending data to the node B using said distributed uplink uplink resources. 9. The device of claim 8, in which the means for receiving distributed resources contains
means for determining a preassigned user equipment identifier corresponding to the selected signature,
means for performing unmasking for the shared control channel based on the preassigned identifier of the user equipment to obtain a response sent through the shared control channel to the user equipment, and
means for determining said distributed resources for user equipment based on the response. 10. The device of claim 8, in which the means for receiving distributed resources contains
means for receiving a codeword from a shared control channel,
means for determining a resource configuration corresponding to the codeword, and
means for determining said distributed resources for the user equipment based on the resource configuration. 11. The device according to claim 8, in which the means for receiving distributed resources contains
means for receiving received symbols for a shared control channel,
means for determining a preassigned user equipment identifier corresponding to the selected signature,
means for unmasking received symbols based on a preassigned user equipment identifier for receiving unmasked symbols,
means for decoding unmasked characters to obtain decoded characters,
means for determining the configuration of resources based on decoded symbols and
means for determining said distributed resources for the user equipment based on the resource configuration. 12. A wireless communication method, comprising the steps of:
receiving an access preamble from the user equipment, the access preamble being formed based on a signature selected from a plurality of signatures available for random access;
allocating resources for user equipment in response to receiving an access preamble;
sending the distributed resources over the shared control channel to the user equipment of the UE; and
receive data sent by the user equipment UE using distributed resources. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein sending the distributed resources comprises the steps of:
determining a preassigned identifier of the user equipment corresponding to the selected signature, generating a response containing distributed resources for the user equipment, and
mask the response based on the preassigned user equipment identifier. 14. The method according to item 13, in which the signatures in the set of signatures available for random access, correspond to different pre-assigned identifiers of user equipment based on a one-to-one mapping between signatures and pre-assigned identifiers of user equipment. 15. The method according to item 12, in which the dispatch of distributed resources comprises the steps of
determining a codeword corresponding to a resource configuration for distributed resources, and
encode the codeword to obtain a response for the user equipment. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein sending the distributed resources further comprises selecting a codeword with an assigned user equipment value for indicating a negative acknowledgment (NACK) sent for the access preamble. 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of resource configurations correspond to different codewords based on a one-to-one mapping between resource configurations and codewords. 18. The method of claim 12, wherein sending the distributed resources comprises the steps of:
determining a pre-assigned user equipment identifier corresponding to the selected signature; determining a codeword corresponding to a resource configuration for distributed resources,
encode the codeword to obtain a response for the user equipment and
mask the response based on the preassigned user equipment identifier. 19. A machine-readable medium containing codes stored on it which, when executed by a computer, instructs the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7. 20. Machine-readable medium containing codes stored on it, which, when executed by a computer, instructs the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 12-18.

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