TW201417606A - Method of configuring ECCE for EPDCCH - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a method, in a network entity of a communication system, of configuring ECCE for EPDCCH. According to an embodiment of the invention, the network entity could determine the number of ECCE and the resource elements occupied by each ECCE according to the number of available resource elements in a physical resource block pair. According to another embodiment of the invention, the network entity could further determine the number of e REGs occupied by one ECCE and the number of resource elements occupied by each e REG. With the preferable embodiments according to the invention, some original configuration of previous PDCCH could be compatible, and the standardization will be accelerated.

Description

Method for configuring an enhanced control channel element (eCCE) for enhancing a physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH)

The present invention relates to communication systems, and more particularly to a method of configuring an eCCE for an ePDCCH.

For an existing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), each PDCCH uses one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs) for information transmission, where each CCE corresponds to 9 groups, and each group includes 4 resource elements. (Resource Element, RE) Resource Element Group (REG).

Currently, in 3GPP Rel-11, when considering enhanced intercell interference coordination (eICIC), coordinated multi-point communication CoMP, and downlink MIMO, the emphasis is placed on enhancing the physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH). )the design of. Since the ePDCCH is located in the data column, it is necessary to formulate a new rule different from the PDCCH for the ePDCCH, and the following points need to be considered here: an enhanced control channel element/enhanced resource element group (enhanced control channel element/enhanced resource element group, The definition of eCCE/eREG), whether to support interleaving at the eREG level, and mapping rules for resource elements. Each ePDCCH is transmitted by using an eCCE.

In the RAN1 conference #69bis, the resource element mapping rule in the case of collision with a conventional signal is established. For example, the base station and the user equipment may use coding chain rate-matching when one or more of the following four situations occur: 1. a common reference signal (CRS) is set; 2. Set up a new antenna for the new carrier type (New Carrier Type); 3. Various scenarios of OFDM symbols occupied by the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (for example, occupy 1 symbol, 2 symbols, 3 symbols) ); 4. PBCH (physical broadcast channel) and PSS/SSS (primary sync signal/secondary sync signal) are set. In addition, at the conference, a zero power channel state reference signal (CSI-RS) and a non-zero power CSI-RS are set for the user equipment according to a specific situation.

However, the specific design and configuration of eCCEs for ePDCCH have not been discussed so far, such as the number of eCCEs in a physical resource block pair, the number of resource elements included in each eCCE, and whether flexible variable numbers are supported. The number of eCCEs/eREGs, the number of eREGs included in each eCCE, and the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG.

It can be seen that according to the background art, there is currently no research on the specific configuration of eCCE.

Therefore, in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, a method for configuring an eCCE for ePDCCH in a network entity of a communication system is provided, wherein the method includes the following steps: a. Determine the number of eCCEs in the physical resource block pair and the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the step a further comprises: a11. determining the number of resource elements available in the physical resource block pair; and a12. determining the number of eCCEs in the physical resource block pair as 4 And determining, based on the determined number of eCCEs in the pair of physical resource blocks, an average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE; and a13. when the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is an integer, The average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is determined as the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE. When the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is a non-integer, step a13- 1 or a13-2: a13-1. The network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station shares a first predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station and the user equipment are based on Determining, by the first predetermined rule, a quantity of resource elements occupied by each eCCE; a13-2. the network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station is not shared with the user equipment, When booking rules, The base station determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE based on the first predetermined rule, and sends first information to the user equipment, where the first information indicates an eCCE occupied by the user equipment and the eCCE The number of resource elements occupied, and the user equipment receives the first information from the base station and based on The first information is used to determine the eCCE it occupies and the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE.

The above embodiment describes a method of fixedly configuring the number of eCCEs in a pair of physical resource blocks, thereby simplifying the implementation process.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, step a further comprises a21. determining the number of resource elements available in the pair of physical resource blocks; a22. when the number of available resource elements is higher than or equal to the first threshold Determining a first number of eCCEs, and determining, based on the first number of eCCEs, an average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE, when the number of available resource elements is lower than the first threshold, Determining a second number of eCCEs, and determining, based on the second number of eCCEs, an average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE; and a23. when the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is an integer The average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is determined as the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE; when the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is a non-integer, step a23 is performed. -1 or a23-2: a23-1. The network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station shares a second predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station and the user equipment Based on the second pre- Rules to determine the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE; a23-2. The network entity includes a base station and user equipment, and when the base station does not share a second predetermined rule with the user equipment, Determining, by the base station, the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE based on the second predetermined rule, and sending second information to the user equipment, where the second information indicates an eCCE occupied by the user equipment And the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE, and the user equipment receives the second information from the base station, and determines, according to the second information, an eCCE occupied by the eCCE and a resource occupied by the eCCE The number of components.

The foregoing embodiment describes a method for flexibly configuring the number of eCCEs in a physical resource block pair, whereby the number of eCCEs can be flexibly configured according to resource elements available in the current physical resource block pair, thereby optimizing the implementation process.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first predetermined rule and/or the second predetermined rule comprise minimizing the difference between the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE. Since if there are two or more eCCEs on a contiguous resource, they experience a similar attenuation of the channel. It is therefore possible to allocate resource elements for each eCCE by averaging the difference between the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE when the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is non-integer. For example, when 63 resource elements are available and have two eCCEs, 31 resource elements can be allocated for one eCCE and 32 resource elements can be allocated for another eCCE. Although the second eCCE allocates more than one resource element, the coding is very flexible in the actual system, and the base station can handle the above situation by, for example, adding a cipher rate and provisioning a power allocation (e.g., arranging the power of the last resource element).

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first number of eCCEs is 4 and the second number of eCCEs is 2. By configuring the number of eCCEs in this way, the number of eCCEs in the physical resource block pair can be made. Matching with the currently used aggregation level {1, 2, 3, 4} (aggregation level), thereby facilitating blind decoding of the ePDCCH.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first threshold is 72. Here, one physical resource block pair has 168 resource elements, and the demodulation of the ePDCCH is based on a demodulation reference signal DM-RS (Demodulation Reference Signal) transmitted in a physical resource block allocated for downlink control information transmission. At present, the DM-RS needs to occupy 24 resource elements, so there are still 144 resource elements remaining in the physical resource block pair, that is, up to 144 resource elements in the physical resource block pair are available. It can be seen that 72 is an intermediate value. On the other hand, since CCEs used in the existing PDCCH, each CCE has 36 resource elements. Therefore, the selection of 72 is equivalent to selecting the amount of resource elements equivalent to the original two CCEs. Thereby, it is easy to improve the compatibility with the original configuration.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes the step b: b. determining the number of eREGs occupied by one eCCE and the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the step b further comprises: b11. determining the number of eREGs occupied by one eCCE as 4, and determining the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG; and b12. When the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is an integer, the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is determined as the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG, when the average is When the number of resource elements occupied by the eREG is a non-integer, the step b12-1 or b12-2: b12-1 is performed, and the network entity includes the base station and the user equipment. And when the base station shares the third predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station and the user equipment determine the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG based on the third predetermined rule; b12-2 The network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station does not share a third predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station determines each eREG based on the third predetermined rule Number of resource elements, and transmitting third information to the user equipment, the third information indicating the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG occupied by the user equipment, and the user equipment receiving from the The third information of the base station determines and determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG based on the third information.

The above embodiment describes a method of fixedly configuring the number of eREGs occupied by eCCEs in a pair of physical resource blocks, thereby simplifying the implementation process.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the step b further comprises: b21. determining that an eCCE occupies a third number of eREGs when the determined number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE is greater than or equal to a second threshold. And determining an average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG, determining that an eCCE occupies a fourth number of eREGs when determining that the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE is lower than the second threshold, and determining an average per The number of resource elements occupied by the eREGs; and b22. When the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is an integer, the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is determined as each eREG The number of resource elements occupied, when the average is per eREG When the number of resource elements is a non-integer, step b22-1 or b22-2: b22-1 is performed. The network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station shares the user equipment And determining, by the base station and the user equipment, the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG based on the fourth predetermined rule; b22-2. the network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, And when the base station does not share the fourth predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG based on the fourth predetermined rule, and sends the number of resource elements to the user equipment. Fourth information, the fourth information indicates the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG occupied by the user equipment, and the user equipment receives the fourth information from the base station, and based on the The fourth information is used to determine the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG.

The foregoing embodiment describes a method for flexibly configuring the number of eREGs occupied by eCCEs in a physical resource block pair, thereby being able to be based on the resource elements available in the current physical resource block pair, and further based on the average resource elements occupied by each eCCE. The number is flexible to configure the number of eREGs, thus optimizing the implementation process.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the third predetermined rule and/or the fourth predetermined rule comprise minimizing the difference between the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the third number of eREGs is 4 and the fourth number of eREGs is 2.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the second threshold is 16.

Through the preferred embodiment of the present invention, some of the original configurations of the previous PDCCH can be compatible, and the standardized process is accelerated.

Other features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the aspects of the description of the appended claims < FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a method of implementing step S1 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a view showing step S1 of FIG. 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Flowchart of the method; FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a method of implementing step S2 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 5 shows an implementation of FIG. 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention. A flowchart of the method of step S2.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts or features.

Figure 1 shows a flow chart of a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As described in FIG. 1, the method according to the present invention basically consists of two parts, that is, step S1 determines the number and each of the eCCEs in the pair of physical resource blocks. The number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE and step S2 determine the number of eREGs occupied by one eCCE and the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. Steps S1 and S2 are implemented by the network entity. In the description of the present invention, a network entity includes a base station and user equipment.

Figure 2 shows a flow chart of a method of implementing step S1 of Figure 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, four eCCEs are fixedly selected in one physical resource block pair.

Specifically, in step S101, the network entity determines the number of resource elements available in the physical resource block pair. A physical resource block pair has 168 resource elements, and the demodulation of the ePDCCH is based on a demodulation reference signal DM-RS (Demodulation Reference Signal) transmitted in a physical resource block allocated for downlink control information transmission, and currently DM- The RS needs to occupy 24 resource elements, so there are still 144 resource elements remaining in the physical resource block pair. Therefore, the network entity needs to determine the number of resource elements available in the 144 resource elements.

When the network entity is a base station, it will determine the resource elements available in a physical resource block pair, for example, based on resource elements occupied by other signals in the physical resource block pair. Specifically, for example, the resource elements available in one physical resource block pair may be determined according to the number of symbols of the OFDM occupied by the PDCCH, the number of antennas of the CRS, and whether the physical resource block pair has CSI-RS. Preferably, the base station can also determine whether to transmit the PBCH, PSS/SSS in the physical resource fast pair to determine the resource elements available in one physical resource block pair. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the base station can be determined in conjunction with one or more of the conditions described herein or not. A resource element available in a pair of physical resource blocks.

When the network entity is a user equipment, since the user equipment also knows the presence or absence of the PDCCH, CRS, PSS, SSS, PBCH, CSI-RS and/or its configuration, the user equipment will also implicitly predict the available The number of resource elements.

Next, the network entity divides the number of available resource elements by the number of eCCEs (here 4) to determine the average number of resource elements per eCCE. For example, when there are 144 resource elements available, the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is 36. When 72 resource elements are available, the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is 18, when When 106 resource elements are available, the average number of resource elements per eCCE is 26.5.

When the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is an integer, the method proceeds to step S203. In step S203, the network entity determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE as the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE. That is, for 144 resource elements, the number of resource elements occupied by the four eCCEs is determined to be 36, 36, 36, and 36.

When the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is a non-integer, it is necessary to determine whether the base station and the user equipment share the first predetermined rule. When the base station shares the first predetermined rule with the user equipment, the method proceeds to step S204. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S205.

Specifically, for example, for 106 resource elements available, the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is 26.5, if the base The station and the user equipment are pre-shared with (predefined) rules for setting the number of resource elements of the four eCCEs to 26, 26, 27, and 27, respectively, and the base station and the user equipment can respectively determine according to the predetermined rule. The number of resource elements occupied by each of the four eCCEs. Here, the predetermined rule preferably minimizes the difference between the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE. Of course, other applicable rules are not excluded here. For example, the predetermined rule shared by the base station and the user equipment may also be 28, 28, 25, 25.

When the base station and the user equipment do not share the foregoing rules, the base station determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE based on the predetermined rule, that is, determines 26, 26, 27, 27, and sends the information to the user equipment. First information, the first information indicates the eCCE occupied by the user equipment and the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE (the information may be implemented, for example, through control information of a Common Searching Space (CSS) or through a high-level letter. For example, it is transmitted by Radio Resource Control (RRC). Then, the user equipment determines the eCCE it occupies and the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE based on the first information.

In another variant embodiment, when the base station determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE in a different rule than the first predetermined rule, for example in the above example, the number of resource elements of the four eCCEs When the setting is 28, 26, 25, 27 or 30, 22, 27, 27, etc., the base station can also notify the user equipment of the above configuration by using the first information, so that the user equipment can perform subsequent operations.

In another embodiment, if the four eCCEs correspond to, for example, two user equipments, preferably, the base station needs to separately send information to the two user equipments to notify the two user equipments that they correspond to The number of resource elements in the eCCE and the corresponding eCCE, thereby avoiding unnecessary excessive blind decoding of the user equipment.

Therefore, in step S205, the user equipment can receive the first information from the base station without sharing the predetermined rule, and determine the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE and the eCCE. Of course, even in the case where there are multiple user equipments, the user equipment can know the number of resource elements occupied by eCCEs and eCCEs occupied by other user equipments by suitable signaling.

In summary, in the steps shown in FIG. 2, the base station and the user equipment (network entity) can independently implement steps S201, S202, S203, and S204, respectively. Only in step S205, the base station is required to send an additional message to interact with the user equipment to complete the eCCE configuration for the ePDCCH.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a method of implementing step S1 of FIG. 1 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 describes a method for flexibly configuring the number of eCCEs in a physical resource block pair, whereby the number of eCCEs can be flexibly configured according to resource elements available in the current physical resource block pair, thereby optimizing the implementation process. .

Specifically, step S301 is similar to step S201 in FIG. 2, and the network entity determines the number of resource elements available in the physical resource block pair. The determination process is similar to the process in step S201 and will not be described in detail herein.

In step S302, when the number of available resource elements is higher than or equal to the first threshold, the network entity determines a first number of eCCEs, and determines, based on the first number of eCCEs, an average of resource elements occupied by each eCCE. The number, when the number of available resource elements is below a first threshold, the network entity determines a second number of eCCEs and determines an average number of resource elements per eCCE based on the second number of eCCEs.

Specifically, here for the sake of example, the first number of eCCEs is set to 2, the second number of eCCEs are set to 4, and the first threshold is set to 72. It should be pointed out that these values are only preferred (the advantages have been explained in the foregoing and will not be described in detail herein), and are not limiting, and other thresholds and/or the number of eCCEs are selected and Does not affect the implementation of the program. For example, the first threshold may be set to 80, 90, etc., the first number of eCCEs is set to 3, and the second number of eCCEs are set to 6 and other suitable values, depending on the specific implementation of the scheme. For example, if the number of resource elements included in the eCCE is too small, the ePDCCH is not transmitted in this frame.

The following will be discussed with the first number of eCCEs being 2, the second number of eCCEs being 4, and the first threshold being 72.

Specifically, Table 1 and Table 2 respectively show a configuration scenario of an eCCE that does not have a PBCH, a PSS, or an SSS in a physical resource block pair, and an arrangement scenario of an eCCE that has a PBCH, a PSS, and an SSS in a physical resource block pair (here, Tables 1 and 2 are only used to specifically illustrate the invention, and are not limiting. In addition, since in the standard process, whether to transmit ePDCCH in the case of having PBCH, PSS, and SSS in a physical resource block pair will be discussed. Therefore, the configuration of eCCE is classified into Table 1 and Table 2 here.

In Tables 1 and 2, the first row indicates the number of PDCCH symbols (the number of REs occupied), the number of CRS turns (the number of required REs), PBCH, PSS/SSS, CSI-RS, and each The number of REs included in each physical resource block pair with 4 eCCEs and 2 eCCEs per eCCE, where RE represents a resource element. In the table, Yes means that there is, and No means that it does not.

Referring to Table 1 and Table 2, it should be noted that the configuration of the CSI-RS is very flexible. The CSI-RS is set to occupy 8 resource elements in Tables 1 and 2, which is only an example. In practice, the number of resource elements occupied by the CSI-RS can be changed according to the configuration of the base station. Furthermore, since PDCCH decoding is performed by CRS, there is no need to have a PDCCH if there is no CRS. For the scores appearing in Tables 1 and 2, for example 31.5, this does not indicate that there are half resource elements, but only the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE, for example in the case of 4 eCCEs, The four eCCEs can have 31, 32, 31, and 32 resource elements, respectively. Moreover, in the rightmost side of Table 1 and Table 2, there are two cases in which each physical resource block pair has 4 eCCEs and 2 eCCEs, which is only convenient for blind decoding of user equipment, so it is not excluded in Table 1. And the case of other numbers of eCCEs not shown in Table 2.

Moreover, those skilled in the art should readily understand that in the various situations shown in Tables 1 and 2, the resource element values occupied by the various signals can be derived from the frame structure, and thus can be obtained as shown in Table 1 and Table. The number of available resource elements in the pair of physical resource blocks shown in 2 will not be described in detail herein.

For example, referring to row 7 in Table 1, the PDCCH occupies one OFDM symbol (occupying 10 resource elements), and the CRS has one antenna 埠 (occupying 8 resource elements), and does not have PBCH, PSS/SSS, Removing 24 DM-RSs requires 144 resource elements after consuming 24 resource elements minus 18 to obtain the number of resource elements currently available in this case is 126. And since 126 is greater than the threshold 72, it will By selecting 4 eCCEs, by dividing 126 by 4, the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE can be obtained (ie, 31.5 in this example). For another example, referring to the 45th line in Table 2, the PDCCH occupies two OFDM symbols (occupying 22 resource elements), the CRS has one antenna 埠 (occupying 8 resource elements), and has a PBCH (occupying 46 resource elements), In the case of PSS/SSS, the number of resource elements currently available in this case is 68 by subtracting 76 from the 144 resource elements after 24 DM-RSs need to occupy 24 resource elements. And since 68 is less than the threshold 72, 2 eCCEs will be selected, and by dividing 68 by 2, the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE can be obtained (ie, 34 in this example).

In a preferred embodiment, the network entity (base station and user equipment) has Table 1 and Table 2, and according to the rule of step S302, the configuration of the eCCE is performed by means of Table 1 and Table 2, for example, eCCE is selected. The number of resources that determine the average number of resource elements per eCCE. Of course, the base station and the user equipment can also calculate the number of eCCEs on the basis of the currently available resource elements instead of Table 1 and Table 2, and determine the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE.

In summary, the base station and the user equipment can determine the number of eCCEs through steps S301 and S302, and thereby determine the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE.

Next, when the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is an integer, the method proceeds to step S303.

Step S303 is similar to step S203. In step S303, the network The entity determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE on average as the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE. That is, for 144 resource elements, the number of resource elements occupied by the four eCCEs is determined to be 36, 36, 36, and 36.

Similar to the related steps shown in FIG. 2, when the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is a non-integer, it is necessary to determine whether the base station and the user equipment share a second predetermined rule. When the base station shares the second predetermined rule with the user equipment, the method proceeds to step S304. Otherwise, it proceeds to step S305. Here, it should be noted that the second predetermined rule herein may be the same as or different from the first predetermined rule above.

Step 304 is similar to the corresponding step 204 in FIG. 2, for example, the average resource element occupied by each eCCE in the case of four eCCEs in the above is taken as an example. If the base station and the user equipment are shared in advance (predefined) The rule that the number of the resource elements of the four eCCEs is set to 31, 32, 31, and 32 respectively, the base station and the user equipment may determine the resources occupied by each of the four eCCEs according to the predetermined rule. The number of components. Here, the predetermined rule preferably minimizes the difference between the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE. Of course, other applicable rules are not excluded here. For example, the predetermined rule shared by the base station and the user equipment may also be 32, 32, 32, 30.

When the base station and the user equipment do not share the above rules, the base station determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE based on the predetermined rule, that is, determines 31, 32, 31, 32, and sends the information to the user equipment. Second information, the second information indicates the eCCE occupied by the user equipment and the eCCE The number of resource elements occupied (this information can be implemented, for example, by control information of a Common Searching Space (CSS) or by higher layer signaling, such as Radio Resource Control (RRC)) . Then, the user equipment determines the eCCE it occupies and the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE based on the second information.

In another variant embodiment, when the base station determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE in a different rule than the first predetermined rule, for example in the above example, the number of resource elements of the four eCCEs When the data is set to 33, 33, 30, 30 or 33, 32, 31, 30, etc., the base station can also inform the user equipment by using the second information, so that the user equipment can perform subsequent operations.

In another embodiment, if the four eCCEs correspond to, for example, two user equipments, preferably, the base station needs to separately send information to the two user equipments to notify the two user equipments that they correspond to The number of resource elements in the eCCE and the corresponding eCCE, thereby avoiding unnecessary excessive blind decoding of the user equipment.

Therefore, in step S305, the user equipment can receive the second information from the base station without sharing the predetermined rule, and determine the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE and the eCCE. Of course, even in the case where there are multiple user equipments, the user equipment can know the number of resource elements occupied by eCCEs and eCCEs occupied by other user equipments through appropriate signaling.

In summary, in the steps shown in Figure 3, the base station and user equipment (Network entities) Steps S301, S302, S303, and S304 can be independently implemented. Only in step S205, the base station is required to send an additional message to interact with the user equipment to complete the eCCE configuration for the ePDCCH.

Figure 4 shows a flow chart of a method of implementing step S2 of Figure 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment described in FIG. 4, the number of eREGs occupied by one eCCE is fixedly determined to be 4.

Specifically, in step S401, the network entity determines the number of eREGs occupied by one eCCE as 4, and determines the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. For example, by means of the embodiment described with reference to Figure 2 or Figure 3, the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE can be determined. Thus, the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE can be divided by the number of eREGs (here, 4) to determine the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. For example, in the case where there are four eCCEs in the foregoing, and the four eCCEs have 31, 32, 31, and 32 resource elements, respectively, the above values are respectively divided by 4, so that in the case where the eCCE has 31 resource elements, the average The number of resource elements occupied by eREGs is 7.75. In the case where eCCE has 32 resource elements, the average number of resource elements per eREG is 8.

When the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is an integer, the method proceeds to step S402. In step S402, the network entity determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG as the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. That is, the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is 8, and the number of resource elements occupied by 4 eCCEs They are all determined to be 8, 8, 8, and 8.

When the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is a non-integer, it is necessary to determine whether the base station and the user equipment share a third predetermined rule. When the base station shares the third predetermined rule with the user equipment, the method proceeds to step S403. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S404.

Specifically, for example, in the case where the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is 7.75, if the base station and the user equipment share in advance (predefined), the number of resource elements of the four eREGs is set to 8, respectively. In the rules of 8, 8, and 7, the base station and the user equipment may determine the number of resource elements occupied by each of the four eREGs according to the predetermined rule. Here, the predetermined rule preferably minimizes the difference between the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. Of course, other applicable rules are not excluded here. For example, the predetermined rule shared by the base station and the user equipment may also be 9, 8, 7, or 7.

When the base station and the user equipment do not share the foregoing rules, the base station determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE based on the predetermined rule, that is, determines 8, 8, 8, and 7 and sends the information to the user equipment. The third information indicates the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG occupied by the user equipment (the information may be implemented by, for example, control information of a Common Searching Space (CSS) or by higher layer signaling. , for example, Radio Resource Control (RRC) to transmit). Subsequently, the user equipment determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG it occupies based on the third information.

In another variant embodiment, when the base station is different from the third reservation When the rule rules determine the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG, for example, in the above example, when the number of resource elements of four eREGs is set to 6, 8, 8, 9, etc., the base station can also pass The third information informs the user equipment of the above configuration, so that the user equipment performs subsequent operations.

Therefore, in step S404, the user equipment can receive the third information from the base station without sharing the predetermined rule, and determine the number of resource elements occupied by the eREG and the eREG.

In summary, in the step shown in FIG. 4, the base station and the user equipment (network entity) can independently implement steps S401, S402, and S403. Only in step S405, the base station needs to send an additional message to interact with the user equipment, thereby completing the configuration of the eREG, that is, the eCCE configuration for the ePDCCH.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of a method of implementing step S2 of FIG. 1 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment shown in FIG. 5 describes a method for flexibly configuring the number of eREGs occupied by eCCEs in a pair of physical resource blocks, whereby the resource elements available in the current physical resource block pair can be used according to the average of each eCCE. The number of resource elements is flexible to configure the number of eREGs, thus optimizing the implementation process.

Specifically, in step 501, when the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE determined by the embodiment described in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 is used, when the determined number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE is higher than or equal to The second threshold, the network entity determines that an eCCE occupies a third number of eREGs, and determines an average number of resource elements per eREG, When the determined number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE is lower than the second threshold, the network entity determines that one eCCE occupies the fourth number of eREGs, and determines the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG.

Specifically, here for the sake of example, the third number of eREGs is set to 4, the fourth number of eREGs are set to 2, and the second threshold is set to 16. It should be noted that these values are only preferred, not limiting, and are not fixed. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that selecting other thresholds or numbers of eREGs does not affect the implementation of the scheme. The following will be discussed with the third number of eREGs being 2, the fourth number of eREGs being 4, and the second threshold being 16 as an example.

Specifically, when the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE is, for example, 36, since 36 is greater than 16, the number of eREGs is set to 4, and it is determined that the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is 9 (by 36 resource elements divided by 4 eREGs). When the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE is, for example, 15, the number of eREGs is set to 2, and it is determined that the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is 7.5.

In summary, the base station and the user equipment can determine the number of eREGs through step S501, and thereby determine the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG.

Next, when the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is an integer, the method proceeds to step S502. In step S502, the network entity determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG as the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. That is, for the resource components occupied by eCCE The number is, for example, 36, and the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is 9, in which case the number of resource elements occupied by the four eREGs is determined to be 9, 9, 9, and 9.

When the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is a non-integer, it is necessary to determine whether the base station and the user equipment share a fourth predetermined rule. When the base station shares the fourth predetermined rule with the user equipment, the method proceeds to step S503. Otherwise, go to step 504. Here, it should be noted that the fourth predetermined rule here may be the same as or different from the third predetermined rule above.

Specifically, similar to step S404 in FIG. 4, for the case where there are 4 eREGs, and the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is 7.75, if the base station and the user equipment are shared in advance (predefined The rule that the resource elements of the four eREGs are set to 8, 8, 8, and 7 respectively, and the base station and the user equipment can determine each of the four eREGs according to the predetermined rule. The number of resource elements. Here, the predetermined rule preferably minimizes the difference between the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. Of course, other applicable rules are not excluded here. For example, the predetermined rule shared by the base station and the user equipment may also be 9, 8, 7, or 7.

When the base station and the user equipment do not share the foregoing rules, the base station determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE based on the predetermined rule, that is, determines 8, 8, 8, and 7 and sends the information to the user equipment. Fourth information, the fourth information indicates the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG occupied by the user equipment (the information may be, for example, through a common search space) The control information of the Common Searching Space (CSS) is implemented or transmitted through high layer signaling, such as Radio Resource Control (RRC). Subsequently, the user equipment determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG it occupies based on the fourth information.

In another variant embodiment, when the base station determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG in a different rule than the fourth predetermined rule, for example in the above example, the number of resource elements of the four eREGs When set to 6, 8, 8, 9, etc., the base station can also notify the user equipment of the above configuration through the fourth information, so that the user equipment can perform subsequent operations. Therefore, in step S505, the user equipment can receive the fourth information from the base station without sharing the predetermined rule, and determine the number of resource elements occupied by the eREG.

In summary, in the step shown in FIG. 5, the base station and the user equipment (network entity) can independently implement steps S501, S502, and S503. Only in step S504, the base station is required to send an additional message to interact with the user equipment, thereby completing the configuration of the eREG, that is, the eCCE configuration for the ePDCCH.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive. Different technical features that appear in different embodiments can be combined to achieve a beneficial effect. Other variations of the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the <RTIgt; For example, the pre-defined steps and the shared steps may be replaced by subsequent transmission of related signaling, and vice versa.

The word "comprising" does not exclude other means or steps in the scope of the claims; the indefinite article "a" or "an" order. Any reference signs should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection. The functions of the various parts appearing in the scope of the patent application can be implemented by a single part.

Claims (12)

A method of configuring an eCCE for ePDCCH in a network entity of a communication system, wherein the method comprises the steps of: a. determining the number of eCCEs in a pair of physical resource blocks and the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE. The method of claim 1, wherein the step a further comprises: a11. determining the number of resource elements available in the pair of physical resource blocks; and a12. the number of eCCEs in the pair of physical resource blocks Determined to be 4, and determine an average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE based on the determined number of eCCEs in the physical resource block pair; and a13. When the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is an integer The average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is determined as the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE. When the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is a non-integer, step a13- 1 or a13-2: a13-1. The network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station shares a first predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station and the user equipment are based on the first predetermined rule Determining the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE; a13-2. The network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station does not share the first predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station is based on the the first Predetermined rules to determine the resource elements occupied by each of eCCE And the first information is sent to the user equipment, where the first information indicates the eCCE occupied by the user equipment and the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE, and the user equipment receives the first information from the base station, And determining, according to the first information, the eCCE occupied by the eCCE and the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE. The method of claim 1, wherein the step a further comprises: a21. determining the number of resource elements available in the pair of physical resource blocks; a22. when the number of available resource elements is greater than or equal to Determining, by the first threshold, a first number of eCCEs, and determining, based on the first number of eCCEs, an average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE, when the number of available resource elements is lower than the first threshold, Determining a second number of eCCEs, and determining, based on the second number of eCCEs, an average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE; and a23. when the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is an integer, The average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is determined as the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE; when the average number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE is a non-integer, step a23-1 or a23 is performed. -2: a23-1. The network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station shares a second predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station and the user equipment determine each based on the second predetermined rule eCC The number of resource elements occupied by E; A23-2. The network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station does not share a second predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station determines resources occupied by each eCCE based on the second predetermined rule. The number of components, and sending the second information to the user equipment, the second information indicating the eCCE occupied by the user equipment and the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE, and the user equipment receiving the second from the base station Information, and based on the second information, determine the eCCE occupied by the eCCE and the number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE. The method of claim 2, wherein the first predetermined rule and/or the second predetermined rule comprises minimizing a difference between the number of resource elements occupied by each eCCE. The method of claim 3, wherein the first number of eCCEs is 4 and the second number of eCCEs is 2. The method of claim 3, wherein the first threshold is 72. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises the step b: b. determining the number of eREGs occupied by one eCCE and the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. The method of claim 7, wherein the step b further comprises: b11. determining the number of eREGs occupied by one eCCE as 4, and determining an average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG; and b12 When the average of each eREG occupies the number of resource elements is In the case of an integer, the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is determined as the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. When the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is a non-integer, step b12 is performed. -1 or b12-2: b12-1. The network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station shares a third predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station and the user equipment are based on the third reservation Rules to determine the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG; b12-2. The network entity includes a base station and user equipment, and when the base station does not share a third predetermined rule with the user equipment, the base station is based on The third predetermined rule determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG, and sends a third information to the user equipment, where the third information indicates the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG occupied by the user equipment, And the user equipment receives the third information from the base station, and determines, according to the third information, the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. The method of claim 7, wherein the step b further comprises: b21. determining that an eCCE occupies a third quantity when the determined number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE is greater than or equal to a second threshold eREG, and determining the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG, when the determined number of resource elements occupied by the eCCE is lower than the second threshold, determining that an eCCE occupies a fourth number of eREGs, and determining an average The number of resource elements occupied by each eREG; B22. When the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is an integer, the average number of resource elements occupied by each eREG is determined as the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG, when the average is When the number of resource elements occupied by the eREG is a non-integer, step b22-1 or b22-2: b22-1 is performed. The network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station shares the fourth with the user equipment. When the rule is scheduled, the base station and the user equipment determine the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG based on the fourth predetermined rule; b22-2. the network entity includes a base station and a user equipment, and when the base station When the fourth predetermined rule is not shared with the user equipment, the base station determines the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG based on the fourth predetermined rule, and sends a fourth information to the user equipment, where the fourth information indicates that The number of resource elements occupied by each eREG occupied by the user equipment, and the user equipment receives the fourth information from the base station, and determines, according to the fourth information, the resources occupied by each eREG. Component Quantity. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the third predetermined rule and/or the fourth predetermined rule comprises minimizing a difference between the number of resource elements occupied by each eREG. The method of claim 9, wherein the third number of eREGs is 4 and the fourth number of eREGs is 2. The method of claim 9, wherein the second threshold is 16.