WO2010070194A1 - System and method for semi-persistent scheduling for multi-user, multi-input/multi-output capable communication devices in a communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus, comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: allocate a communication resource for data to be transmitted employing a multi-user multi-input multi-output operational mode and determine power bits for a physical downlink control channel to signal a number of user equipment for said communication resource; and format a message including said communication resource for transmission to ones of said user equipment, is disclosed.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SEMI-PERSISTENT SCHEDULING FOR

MULTI-USER, MULTI-INPUT/MULTI-OUTPUT CAPABLE COMMUNICATION DEVICES IN A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention is directed, in general, to communication systems and, in particular, to a system and method for providing a communication resource for a communication device in a communication system.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Long term evolution ("LTE") of the third generation partnership project ("3GPP"), also referred to as 3GPP LTE, refers to research and development involving the 3GPP Release 8 and beyond, which is the name generally used to describe an ongoing effort across the industry aimed at identifying technologies and capabilities that can improve systems such as the universal mobile telecommunication system ("UMTS"). The goals of this broadly based project include improving communication efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum opportunities, and achieving better integration with other open standards. The 3GPP LTE project is not itself a standard-generating effort, but will result in new recommendations for standards for the UMTS.

[0003] The evolved universal terrestrial radio access network ("E-UTRAN") in 3GPP includes base stations providing user plane (including packet data convergence protocol/radio link control/medium access control/physical ("PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY") sublayers) and control plane (including radio resource control ("RRC") sublayer) protocol terminations towards wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones. A wireless communication device or terminal is generally known as user equipment ("UE"). A base station is an entity of a communication network often referred to as a Node B or an NB. Particularly in the E-UTRAN, an "evolved" base station is referred to as an eNodeB. For details about the overall architecture of the E-UTRAN, see 3GPP Technical Specification ("TS") 36.300 vl .0.0 (2007-03), which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0004] As wireless communication systems such as cellular telephone, satellite, and microwave communication systems become widely deployed and continue to attract a growing number of users, there is a pressing need to accommodate a large and variable number of communication devices transmitting a growing range of communication applications with fixed communication resources. Traditional communication system designs employing a fixed communication resource have become challenged to accommodate the rapidly growing customer base and the expanding levels of service.

[0005] One area that has challenged the distribution of a communication resource is the resource allocation of control channel information on a downlink control channel for voice over Internet protocol ("VoIP") traffic. In the downlink ("DL") channel of LTE, the data channel (the physical downlink shared channel, or "PDSCH") is shared among many user equipment. Control information for the data channel is needed in every transmit time interval ("TTI") to identify the scheduled user equipment as well as the physical resource blocks ("PRBs") and the modulation and coding scheme ("MCS") for each scheduled user equipment. The physical channel that carries this control information in a downlink is called the physical downlink control channel ("PDCCH"). The packet scheduling ("PS") algorithm that determines where each data packet is transmitted with the associated PDCCH signaling is referred to as "fully dynamic PS," as described in 3GPP document R2-070006, entitled "Scheduling of LTE DL VoIP," Nokia, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 #56bis, January 15-19, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference. In the 3GPP, it has been agreed that the baseline packet scheduling method for VoIP downlink traffic is fully dynamic. It is known that the performance of fully dynamic packet scheduling suffers from control channel limitations, because each transmission is signaled by layer I/layer 2 ("L1/L2") control signaling, which consumes a substantial level of bandwidth that may exceed the bandwidth available in the PDCCH.

[0006] In order to avoid control channel limitations especially for VoIP traffic or otherwise in LTE, a concept of semi-persistent packet scheduling was adopted in 3GPP for LTE. Semi- persistent packet scheduling can be viewed as a combination of dynamic and persistent scheduling methods, as described in 3GPP document R2 -070475, entitled "Downlink Scheduling for VoIP," Nokia, RAN2#57, February 2007, ("R2-070475"), which is incorporated herein by reference. In this combined scheduling arrangement, initial transmissions of VoIP traffic are scheduled without assigned L1/L2 control signaling by using persistently allocated time and frequency communication resources. Nonetheless, possible hybrid automatic retransmit request

("HARQ") re -transmissions and silence insertion descriptor ("SID") transmissions are scheduled dynamically. The semi-persistent communication resource allocation method adopted in 3GPP LTE is abbreviated as talk spurt-based persistent communication resource allocation, also referred to as semi-persistent scheduling ("SPS"), as described in R2 -070475 and in 3GPP document R2-074678, entitled "Stage 3 Aspects of Persistent Scheduling," Nokia/Nokia Siemens Networks, RAN2#60, November 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference. At the beginning of a talk spurt, in the downlink direction, a user-persistent communication resource allocation is made for the user, and this dedicated time and frequency communication resource is used for initial transmissions of VoIP data packets. At the end of the talk spurt, the persistent communication resource allocation is released. Thus, the released communication resource can be allocated to another VoIP user equipment, which enables efficient usage of PDSCH bandwidth.

[0007] With semi -persistent scheduling as adopted in 3GPP Release 8, typically only the HARQ re -transmissions and silence insertion descriptors for VoIP traffic would be scheduled with associated control signaling on a physical downlink control channel ("PDCCH"). However, initial transmissions of other packet types are generally transmitted without associated control signaling by using a persistently allocated time and frequency communication resource that provides savings in control channel overhead, which would otherwise be required for semi- persistent scheduling. Nonetheless, semi-persistent scheduling can be viewed as an attractive process to schedule resource-conservative services such as VoIP that generally produces small, regularly arriving packets with strict delay requirements. Consequently, the use of semi- persistent scheduling results in communication performance that tends to be limited by control overhead that entails dynamic packet scheduling, wherein each packet is scheduled dynamically with its associated control signaling.

[0008] Both single-user multi-input/multi-output ("SU-MIMO") and multi-user MIMO ("MU-MIMO") features have also been adopted as part of the 3GPP Release 8 downlink ("DL") specification. The SU-MIMO refers to a MIMO operational mode wherein only data of a single user equipment are transmitted on an available time and frequency communication resource. Ordinarily, it is possible to transmit several parallel streams of data on the same communication resource. For the MU-MIMO feature, the data of several user equipment are transmitted on a single, available, time-frequency communication resource. Switching between SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO features in a downlink is done semi-statically (i.e., via radio resource control signaling).

[0009] Using the MU-MIMO feature, high gains in system communication capacity can be achieved by transmitting multiple streams to different user equipment sharing the same time and frequency communication resources. The MU-MIMO feature is applicable for scenarios wherein there is a large number of user equipment to be served in one cell, which is a frequent occurrence when there is a large population of, for example, VoIP users in the network. When there is a large number of user equipment to be supported in a cell, then the most attractive scheduling solution for VoIP traffic is semi-persistent scheduling, since it works well with a reasonable level of control signaling overhead. On the other hand, the performance of semi-persistent scheduling tends to be limited by the physical downlink shared channel ("PDSCH") bandwidth.

[0010] The use of semi-persistent scheduling wastes PDSCH bandwidth, especially for user equipment with good signal strength that is capable of using the MU-MIMO operational mode. Thus, an area that has challenged the distribution of communication resources in communication systems, such as cellular systems operating under 3GPP specifications, is the use of semi- persistent scheduling for allocation of communication resources.

[0011] In view of the growing deployment of communication systems such as cellular communication systems, further improvements are required for allocation of communication resources to mitigate the negative impact of PDCCH coverage/bandwidth limitations on downlink traffic such as VoIP data packets. Therefore, what is needed in the art is a system and method that avoid the deficiencies of communication systems employing conventional downlink communication resource allocation procedures for user equipment with multi-user multi- input/multi-output capability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] These and other problems are generally solved or circumvented, and technical advantages are generally achieved, by embodiments of the present invention, which include a method, apparatus, and system for providing a communication resource for a communication device in a communication system. In one embodiment, an apparatus (e.g. , a controller) includes a communication resource allocator configured to allocate communication resources (e.g., time and frequency communication resources) for transmission of data to a communication device (e.g., user equipment) employing a multi-user multi-input multi-output operational mode. A message generator of the controller is configured to format a message including the communication resources for transmission to the communication device.

[0013] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter, which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures or processes for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] For a more complete understanding of the invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

[0015] FIGUREs 1 and 2 illustrate system level diagrams of embodiments of communication systems including a base station and wireless communication devices that provide an environment for application of the principles of the present invention;

[0016] FIGURE 3 illustrates a graph for an exemplary semi-persistent communication resource scheduling of the cumulative probability distribution function for scheduled physical resource blocks per orthogonal frequency division multiplex subframe for 2x2 space-frequency block coding in a macro-cell scenario 1 at five megahertz bandwidth;

[0017] FIGURE 4 illustrates a graph of an exemplary distribution of the size of a persistent communication resource allocation for several codecs assuming a 2x2-antenna configuration and employing space-frequency block coding transmission at an evolved base station; [0018] FIGURE 5 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a communication element of a wireless communication system that provides an environment for application of the principles of the present invention;

[0019] FIGURE 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method of operating an evolved base station in accordance with principles of the present invention; and

[0020] FIGUREs 7-9 illustrate flow diagrams of embodiments of methods of operating user equipment in accordance with principles of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The making and using of the presently preferred embodiments are discussed in detail below. It should be appreciated, however, that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention, and do not limit the scope of the invention. In view of the foregoing, the present invention will be described with respect to exemplary embodiments in a specific context of a system and method for allocating communication resources in a downlink to a communication device such as user equipment communicating traffic such as VoIP data packets.

[0022] Turning now to FIGURE 1, illustrated is a system level diagram of an embodiment of a communication system including a base station 115 and wireless communication devices (e.g., user equipment) 135, 140, 145 that provides an environment for application of the principles of the present invention. The base station 115 is coupled to a public switched telephone network (not shown). The base station 115 is configured with a plurality of antennas to transmit and receive signals in a plurality of sectors including a first sector 120, a second sector 125, and a third sector 130, each of which typically spans 120 degrees. The sectors are formed by focusing and phasing the radiated and received signals from the base station antennas. The plurality of sectors increases the number of subscriber stations (e.g., the wireless communication devices 135, 140, 145) that can simultaneously communicate with the base station 115 without the need to increase the utilized bandwidth by reduction of interference that results from focusing and phasing base station antennas. The radiated and received frequencies utilized by the communication system illustrated in FIGURE 1 would typically be two gigahertz to provide non-line-of-sight communication.

[0023] Turning now to FIGURE 2, illustrated is a system level diagram of an embodiment of a communication system including wireless communication devices that provides an environment for application of the principles of the present invention. The communication system includes a base station 210 coupled by communication path or link 220 (e.g., by a fiberoptic communication path) to a core telecommunications network such as public switched telephone network ("PSTN") 230. The base station 210 is coupled by wireless communication paths or links 240, 250 to wireless communication devices 260, 270, respectively, that lie within its cellular area 290.

[0024] In operation of the communication system illustrated in FIGURE 2, the base station 210 communicates with each wireless communication device 260, 270 through control and data communication resources allocated by the base station 210 over the communication paths 240, 250, respectively. The control and data communication resources may include frequency and time-slot communication resources in frequency division duplex ("FDD") and/or time division duplex ("TDD") communication modes.

[0025] As described previously hereinabove, when there is a large number of wireless communication devices such as user equipment to be supported in a cell, the most attractive scheduling solution for VoIP traffic is semi-persistent scheduling, since it works well with a reasonable level of control signaling overhead. It was also described that the performance of semi-persistent scheduling can be limited by the PDSCH bandwidth. This limitation can be illustrated by examining the probability distribution of scheduled physical resource blocks per sub frame.

[0026] Turning now to FIGURE 3, illustrated is a graph for an exemplary semi-persistent communication resource scheduling of the cumulative probability distribution function ("cdf ') for scheduled physical resource blocks ("PRBs") per orthogonal frequency division multiplex ("OFDM") subframe for 2x2 space-frequency block coding ("SFBC") in a macro-cell scenario 1 at five megahertz ("MHz") bandwidth. FIGURE 3 illustrates the performance limitation of semi- persistent scheduling in view of limited PDSCH bandwidth. As can be seen from FIGURE 3, all 25 available physical resource blocks are in use for semi-persistent scheduling for more than 40% of the time.

[0027] A graph illustrating an exemplary distribution of the size of the persistent communication resource allocation for different codecs [adaptive multi-rate ("AMR") codecs operating at 5.9, 7.95 and 12.2 kilo bits-per-second ("kbps")] is presented in FIGURE 4, assuming a 2x2 -antenna configuration and employing space-frequency block coding transmission at an evolved base station. Based on the distribution illustrated in FIGURE 4, the probability of using only one physical resource block is remarkably high, especially for lower bit-rate codecs. By using 3GPP Release 8, performance enhancements such as the use of four receive antennas at user equipment, the number of user equipment with good signal strength reserving only one physical resource block would be increased even further. For user equipment using the smallest possible communication resource allocation size in persistent transmissions (i.e., one physical resource block), even communication resource allocation of only one physical resource block is excessive in the sense that the required signal-to-interference-noise ratio ("SINR") to utilize a communication resource allocation of only one physical resource block is exceeded. Such user equipment, therefore, consume more PDSCH bandwidth than is necessary, since it is not possible to increase the shared channel payload to fill the physical resource block due to the small VoIP packet payload and strict delay requirements, which are typical characteristics of a VoIP communication path or link.

[0028] One way to reduce the PDSCH capacity waste for such user equipment would be to make a persistent communication resource allocation assuming that packet bundling is used. Nonetheless, a persistent communication resource allocation relying on packet bundling is not attractive, because the realized SESfR at the user equipment may drop during a talk spurt below the required level to support bundling due to varying instantaneous channel conditions, which would imply that PDCCH overhead is increased due to re -transmissions, and possibly due to the need for signaling of a new persistent communication resource allocation on PDCCH. The number of lost packets may also increase as a result of consecutive transmission of packets that may need to be transmitted consecutively due to bundling, which degrades speech quality. Increased packet delay is another reason why bundling is generally not viewed as a practical solution to reduce the PDSCH capacity waste for user equipment with good signal strength. [0029] As introduced herein, the performance of semi-persistent scheduling is improved in a data-limited scenario by reducing the amount of wasted PDSCH bandwidth for user equipment with good signal strength, assuming that the user equipment are MU-MIMO capable. The PDSCH bandwidth is utilized more efficiently with semi-persistent scheduling by utilizing MU- MIMO transmission for user equipment for which the size of one physical resource block persistent communication resource allocation is too large. The semi-persistent scheduling is applied to MU-MIMO capable user equipment so that the PDSCH bandwidth utilization efficiency is improved by exploiting the MU-MIMO capability of the user equipment. This leads to gains in achieved VoIP capacity while keeping the PDCCH overhead as low as possible. A number of system and user equipment characteristics are assumed herein, without limitation, for an MU-MIMO operational mode.

[0030] First, it is assumed that wideband precoding is applied to user equipment in an MU- MIMO operational mode. Precoding refers to beamforming for a wireless communication channel including multiple transmit and receive antennas (i.e., controlling the individual antenna gains and delays). This assumption, which is a working assumption for MU-MIMO, is feasible due to high transmission correlation frequency dependent precoding, thereby providing minor gains over wideband precoding. It is further assumed that precoding weights are taken from 3GPP Release 8 codebook, and depending on user equipment pairing, precoding can be unitary or non-unitary. It is noted that an evolved base station can pair any precoding weights within the codebook. It is assumed further that pairing of user equipment sharing the same transmission communication resources can be determined by the evolved base station. In order to reduce inter-user equipment interference, a preferable method is to pair user equipment having orthogonal precoding weights.

[0031] It is also assumed that precoding weights of co -interfering user equipment are not signaled to the user equipment, but the user equipment receives the precoding weight of its own signal on a PDCCH. This may make the decoding of a received signal more challenging. It is further assumed that downlink control information ("DCI") format "ID" is used for signaling of downlink scheduling grants for the user equipment in an MU-MIMO operational mode. The MU-MIMO specific information included in DCI format ID is the one -bit power offset, which is used to signal two possible power levels compared to single user equipment transmission. Power offset is employed to properly demodulate and decode a received signal transmitted in an MU- MIMO operational mode. It is still further assumed that even though now only a one -bit power indication is employed, the number of user equipment scheduled in a single physical resource block is not limited. In practice though, it is reasonable to assume that data from up to two user equipment may be transmitted by an evolved base station on the same time and frequency communication resource in 3GPP Release 8, especially if higher order modulation is used [e.g., a modulation scheme higher than quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK")]. It should be understood that the assumptions provided herein are for explanation purposes only in the environment of exemplary embodiments and do not limit the broad scope of the present invention.

[0032] The following exemplary system characteristics are assumed for semi-persistent scheduling. First, it is assumed that at the beginning of a talk spurt, a persistent time and frequency communication resource allocation is made for the user equipment and signaled to the user equipment on a PDCCH, and this dedicated time and frequency communication resource is used for initial transmissions of a VoIP packet. The HARQ re -transmissions (and silence insertion descriptor transmissions) are scheduled dynamically using PDCCH signaling. At the end of a talk spurt, the persistent communication resource allocation is assumed to be released.

[0033] It is assumed that the persistent communication resource allocation at the beginning of a talk spurt is signaled using L1/L2 signaling (i.e., downlink communication resources are allocated on a PDCCH using semi-persistent scheduling cell radio network temporary identifier ("C-RNTI") to indicate that this communication resource allocation is persistent. Moreover, if a new data indicator ("NDI") bit field in the downlink scheduling grant transmitted using semi- persistent scheduling C-RNTI equals 1 , then the grant is regarded as an HARQ re -transmission. IfNDI equals 0 and downlink scheduling grant is transmitted using semi-persistent scheduling C-RNTI, then information about the used physical resource blocks and MCS is stored, and this information is used in subsequent initial transmissions of VoIP packets for this user equipment without associated downlink scheduling grants. Periodicity of the persistent communication resource allocation is a semi-static parameter and is signaled to the user equipment via radio resource control signaling. It is further assumed that the release of the persistent communication resource allocation at the end of the talk spurt is done via explicit signaling [e.g., L1/L2 signaling or with medium access control ("MAC") signaling] from the evolved base station. [0034] A new process is introduced to apply semi-persistent scheduling to MU-MIMO capable user equipment. If semi -persistent scheduling is applied to user equipment that is MU- MIMO capable and is set to work in an MU-MIMO operational mode, then the power bit included in the downlink scheduling grant containing the persistent communication resource assignment could be interpreted as the maximum number of user equipment that is paired within signaled time and frequency communication resources. When scheduling data for this user equipment by using these persistently allocated time-frequency communication resources, an evolved base station has the freedom to transmit data of up to X - 1 other user equipment by using the same transmission communication resources, where X represents the maximum number of user equipment that can be paired within the signaled time and frequency communication resources. These other user equipment may be user equipment with persistent or with dynamically scheduled communication resources. When receiving data on a persistent time and frequency communication resource, user equipment does not have knowledge about the number of other user equipment sharing the same transmission resource, and hence has to perform blind decoding (up to X attempts) to receive, demodulate, and decode the transmission correctly [until a user equipment-specific cyclic redundancy check ("CRC") matches]. Transmission-related information (such as a physical resource block allocation and an MCS) used in blind decoding is signaled to a user equipment in the downlink scheduling grant at the beginning of a talk spurt. Only the value of the applied power offset in the blind decoding needs to be calculated by the user equipment, which is a simple task.

[0035] Actions performed at user equipment and at an evolved based station to utilize processes introduced herein are now described. First, a process is described for an evolved base station to signal a persistent communication resource allocation for user equipment if the user equipment is capable of operating in a MU-MIMO operational mode. When signaling the persistent communication resource allocation at the beginning of a talk spurt to the user equipment in MU-MIMO operational mode having user equipment index "i," DCI format ID is used with semi-persistent C-RNTI, and NDI is set to 0. The physical resource block field and the MCS field are interpreted in the usual way. The power bit information can be then interpreted as follows. The power bit(s) indicates the maximum number X of user equipment that can transmit data on the signaled persistent time and frequency communication resources. In Release 8, the maximum number X would be in practice be restricted to two, whereas in future releases there could be additional power bits on the PDCCH, and hence values for X greater than two could be used as well. These time and frequency communication resources are persistent for a particular user equipment, and for other user equipment (up to X-I other user equipment) possibly sharing these time and frequency communication resources. The time and frequency communication resources for user equipment could be either persistent or dynamic.

[0036] Next, the actions at user equipment to utilize processes introduced herein are further described under the premise of three separate cases. The first case relates to user equipment reception of a transmit time interval if downlink scheduling grant for this transmit time interval contains a persistent communication resource allocation (i.e., the downlink grant is received on the PDCCH for the user equipment's semi-persistent scheduling C-RNTI and NDI=O). The second case contemplates user equipment reception of a transmit time interval transmitted with persistently allocated time-frequency communication resources (i.e., there is no downlink scheduling grant). The third case contemplates user equipment reception of a transmit time interval if a downlink grant for this transmit time interval has been received on the PDCCH for the user equipment's semi -persistent scheduling C-RNTI and NDI=I (i.e., for a HARQ retransmission of a persistent initial transmission).

[0037] For the first case, user equipment stores all required information (e.g., MCS, communication resource assignment, X determined from power bit(s)), and starts to utilize this configuration from this transmit time interval recurring with periodicity configured via radio resource control signaling. Resource block assignment ("RBA") and MCS information is interpreted as usual. For each value of k representing each of the X user equipment that can be paired within a signaled common time and frequency communication resource (k=l,..., X), the respective user equipment calculates and stores the power offset value P(k) that is needed in blind decoding. The value P(k) refers to the power offset value for the k^th user equipment assuming that the X user equipment are transmitting on the same time and frequency communication resources (i.e., transmission power is evenly divided among X user equipment), and P(k) is needed to scale the channel estimate made from a common pilot signal to the right power level before using it in demodulation and decoding of received data. Finally, starting from k=l (then 2, etc.), each user equipment starts to blindly decode the received data assuming an RBA, P(k), MCS until either user equipment-specific CRC matches fail or all X combinations are blindly decoded without success. If none of the blind decoding trials was successful, demodulated soft bits corresponding to each value of k should be stored in a respective buffer, for example to SOFT BIT BUFFER(k), and a non-acknowledgement ("NACK") may be transmitted to the evolved base station. Otherwise, an acknowledgement ("ACK") may be transmitted. Of course, it is also possible to assume that the first case transmissions are done without MU-MIMO pairing (i.e., no blind decoding is needed), but this assumption might reduce the evolved base station packet scheduling freedom to pair user equipment.

[0038] For the second case, starting from k=l , user equipment starts to blindly decode received data assuming the pre-calculated transmission format -related information (RBA, P(k), MCS) until either user equipment-specific CRC matches fail or all X combinations are blindly decoded without success. If none of the blind decoding trials are successful, demodulated soft bits corresponding to each value of k should be stored in a respective buffer such as SOFT BIT BUFFER(k), and a NACK may be transmitted. Otherwise, an ACK may be transmitted.

[0039] For the third case, when the user equipment receives a downlink scheduling grant that has been received on the PDCCH for the user equipment's semi -persistent scheduling C- RNTI and NDI=I , then a HARQ re -transmission of a packet is performed by the evolved base station, for which the initial downlink transmission was made using persistent time and frequency communication resources. In that case the power bit(s), MCS and RBA information included in this downlink scheduling grant are interpreted as for 3GPP Release 8 MU-MIMO (i.e., demodulation of the received HARQ re -transmission is performed by the user equipment using parameters included in the downlink scheduling grant). Starting from k=l, the output of the demodulation is first soft combined with soft bit buffer SOFT_BIT_BUFFER(k) corresponding to MU-MIMO pairing order k, and then a decoding attempt is performed on the soft bit buffer SOFT_BIT_BUFFER(k). This procedure (soft combining and decoding) is repeated for different values of k (e.g., k, k+1 ,.) until either user equipment-specific CRC matches fail or all X soft combining and decoding trials are performed by the user equipment without success. If the blind decoding trials by the user equipment are unsuccessful, the NACK may be transmitted. Otherwise, the ACK may be transmitted and all X soft-bit buffers SOFT BIT BUFFER(k) of this HARQ process are flushed. [0040] Reception by user equipment of a transmit time interval if a downlink grant for the transmit time interval was received on the PDCCH for the user equipment's C-RNTI or for a temporary C-RNTI is as described in 3GPP Release 8. When user equipment (having user equipment index m) operating in an MU-MIMO operational mode either becomes active (i.e., a VoIP talk spurt begins) or is already active and has data in the packet scheduling buffer, the evolved base station has the following four options to schedule the user equipment.

[0041] With option one, the evolved base station schedules the user equipment dynamically and alone on the assigned communication resources. This approach is applicable if there is no appropriate persistently or dynamically scheduling pair for a MU-MIMO transmission and/or the evolved base station does not want to commit any persistent communication resources for the user equipment. This may occur, for instance, when the evolved base station fails to identify suitable free persistent resource allocation of the size corresponding to a wideband channel quality indicator of a user equipment (e.g., persistent allocation size in the frequency domain derived from the wideband channel quality indicator is, for example, too large implying that the evolved base station is not able to free time/frequency resource of that size) and there is available PDCCH resources to schedule the user equipment dynamically. If the scheduled transmission is not a HARQ re -transmission of a persistent transmission, a downlink scheduling grant is transmitted on a PDCCH for the user equipment's C-RNTI or temporary C-RNTI with power bit value indicating single user equipment transmission. If the scheduled transmission is HARQ retransmission of a persistent transmission, the downlink scheduling grant is transmitted on a PDCCH for the user equipment's semi-persistent scheduling C-RNTI with NDI= 1 and the power bit indicating single user equipment transmission

[0042] According to option 2, the evolved base station schedules the user equipment dynamically, using the same communication resources as some other user equipment. This benefits MU-MIMO transmission, but does not commit to a fixed pairing. This way, more flexibility is maintained than by giving a persistent communication resource allocation on the same communication resources. Available control channel resources, however, might limit scheduling a large number of user equipment in this manner. If the scheduled transmission is not a HARQ re -transmission of a persistent transmission or silence insertion descriptor transmission, the downlink scheduling grant is transmitted on a PDCCH for the user equipment's C-RNTI or temporary C-RNTI with the power bit indicating the number of user equipment that are paired on the same time and frequency communication resources. If the scheduled transmission is a HARQ re -transmission of a persistent transmission or silence insertion descriptor transmission, the downlink scheduling grant is transmitted on a PDCCH for the user equipment's semi- persistent scheduling C-RNTI with NDI= 1 and the power bit indicating the number user equipment that are paired on the same time and frequency communication resources.

[0043] According to option 3, the evolved base station schedules the user equipment persistently, with a power-offset value that does not allow other transmissions on the same communication resources. This could indicate that the user equipment is not an attractive candidate for MU-MIMO transmission. For instance, the user equipment may not be configured to operate in the MU-MIMO operational mode, or the user equipment is configured to support the MU-MIMO operational mode, but the persistent allocation size compared to the user equipment channel quality (derived by the evolved base station from channel quality indicator reports received from the user equipment) is such that the savings in PDSCH capacity consumption achieved by scheduling the user equipment in the MU-MIMO operational mode would be very limited. If the persistent time-frequency communication resources should be indicated to the user equipment (e.g., for a first transmission with the new persistent communication resources), then the downlink scheduling grant is transmitted on a PDCCH for the user equipment's semi -persistent scheduling C-RNTI and NDI=O with power bit value corresponding to X=I . Under this circumstance, the MU-MIMO transmission is disabled for this user equipment, and no blind decoding is needed. Otherwise, no PDCCH is transmitted. If the user equipment already has existing persistent communication resources (i.e., the user equipment is in the middle of a talk spurt and there is a need to change the persistent communication resource allocation), then the previous persistent communication resources can be released before a new persistent communication resource allocation is given thereto.

[0044] According to option 4, the evolved base station schedules the user equipment persistently, with a power offset value that allows later pairing of other user equipment therewith. There could be another user equipment scheduled with the same persistent communication resources, or other user equipment could be later scheduled dynamically or persistently using the same communication resources. If there is a need to indicate persistent time and frequency communication resources to the user equipment (e.g., a first transmission with the new persistent communication resources), then the downlink scheduling grant is transmitted on a PDCCH for the user equipment's semi-persistent scheduling C-RNTI and NDI=O with a power bit value corresponding to the selected maximum value of X. Under this circumstance, the MU-MIMO transmission is enabled for this user equipment, and blind decoding is necessary. Otherwise, no PDCCH is transmitted. If the user equipment already has persistent communication resources (i.e., the user equipment is in the middle of a talk spurt and there is a need to change the persistent communication resource allocation), then release of the previous persistent communication resources is assumed to take place before a new persistent communication resource allocation is given thereto.

[0045] The selection of the above options depends on the evolved base station implementation, which may be constructed according to the needs of a particular application. As a general guideline, however, the aim of using the MU-MIMO operational mode is to achieve higher efficiency of communication resource usage. A possible example is user equipment communicating VoIP wherein even one resource block allocation is often too "large." For such user equipment, it is possible to schedule another user equipment using the same communication resource (in an MU-MIMO operational mode), while still making the transmission. In a typical VoIP scenario, there is a number of user equipment that satisfies this condition and, accordingly, it is generally possible to select suitable pairs for MU-MIMO transmission using a common communication resource. However, other criteria for finding user equipment pairs and arranging sharing of a communication resource are possible and this example is not intended to be limiting.

[0046] An optional, alternative way to implement signaling of a persistent communication resource allocation in an MU-MIMO operational mode is to regard the power offset value as a default value for the power offset (instead of the maximum value of user equipment sharing the same communication resource) that should be used when decoding the received persistent transmission. This default value would be used when decoding the received persistent transmission. If decoding with the default power offset value is not successful, then blind decoding with other values of X would be performed. Additionally, another method including radio resource control signaling can be employed to communicate to the user equipment the maximum number of paired user equipment within the persistent communication resource. This method can avoid unnecessary blind decoding attempts, and can be used if user equipment pairings do not change frequently. [0047] As described hereinabove, MU-MIMO transmission relies on the usage of (wideband) precoding at the evolved base station, wherein the utilized precoding weights are signaled to user equipment using PDCCH. The goal of semi -persistent scheduling is to keep the PDCCH overhead as small as possible and, therefore, precoding matrix indicator ("PMI") signaling in an embodiment can be performed according to the following rules. The precoding matrix indicator signaling defines the used precoding weight at an evolved base station for the scheduled user equipment and with transmission schemes utilizing precoding it is preferable that the user equipment form the effective channel estimate correctly, which is then used in the data demodulation and decoding. Regarding the rules, an evolved base station informs user equipment about the used precoding weights, preferably in the downlink assignments corresponding to the HARQ re -transmissions of a data packet. For semi-persistent scheduling, HARQ re -transmissions are scheduled with PDCCH signaling and, therefore, this can be performed without added PDCCH overhead. A user equipment stores information about the used precoding weights included in the downlink assignment, and uses them in future decoding of the persistently transmitted data as long as it receives a new downlink assignment on a PDCCH including information about new precoding weights, which is again stored by the user equipment and overrides the previous weights.

[0048] If there are no pending HARQ re -transmissions for user equipment having a persistent communication resource allocation, and an evolved base station decides that it is reasonable to update the precoding weights used in the data transmission for the user equipment, then the next initial transmission of a VoIP packet for this user equipment could be scheduled dynamically with associated PDCCH signaling including information about the updated precoding weights. The evolved base station also has the opportunity to change, for example, a persistent communication resource allocation at the same time for the user equipment, or to indicate the old persistent communication resource allocation in the PDCCH.

[0049] In order to reduce needless variations in user equipment pairings and to keep PDCCH overhead reasonably low, an evolved base station should update precoding weights for the persistently resourced user equipment only on an as-needed basis. Precoding weight update may take place if an evolved base station detects that the reliably detected feedback (e.g., the precoding matrix indicator request from the user equipment identifying the precoding weights that the user equipment requests the evolved base station to apply) from user equipment (preferably received a plurality of times in a row to avoid a ping-pong effect) indicates that the currently applied precoding weight for the user equipment differs substantially from a reliably detected up-to-date precoding weight requested by the user equipment, and hence the beamforming gains for the user equipment could be improved by making a corresponding precoding weight update for this user equipment. The ping-pong effect generally means that the unquantized optimal precoding weight measured by the user equipment is having rather similar distance to the two closest precoding weights in the codebook. Therefore, the precoding weight requested by the user equipment may change between these two closest weights even though the channel matrix at user equipment changes only marginally.

[0050] When evaluating a need for a precoding weight update for a persistent user equipment in question, an evolved base station should take into account the impact of the weight update to the interference originating from a possibly paired user equipment on the same persistent communication resource. Interference impact should be taken into account only if there exists user equipment sharing same persistent communication resources as the user equipment for which the weight update is performed. In other words, an updated precoding weight may have higher correlation with the precoding weight(s) of other user equipment that is sharing the same persistently allocated communication resource and, hence, the interference leakage between the paired user equipment is increased. The negative impact of possible interference increase between the paired user equipment may be identified from an increased number of HARQ re -transmissions for some of the paired user equipment. In this case, an evolved base station may need to decouple the user equipment and examine the possibility of better pairings.

[0051] The VoIP capacity of a wireless communication system can thus be significantly improved with processes as introduced herein, especially in a high SESfR environment. A benefit of scheduling, for example, two VoIP user equipment in an MU-MIMO operational mode with the same communication resources is that at least one of the user equipment can generally be persistently scheduled. Thus, there is a significant saving in control channel overhead, while still allowing a benefit from the use of the MU-MEvIO operational mode. Furthermore, the typically large number of user equipment providing VoIP in a cell increases the likelihood of an evolved base station being able to find suitable user equipment pairing for the MU-MIMO operational mode. [0052] Turning now to FIGURE 5, illustrated is a block diagram of an embodiment of a communication element or device of a wireless communication system that provides an environment for application of the principles of the present invention. The wireless communication system may include, for example, a cellular network. The communication element may represent, without limitation, a base station, a subscriber station such as a wireless communication device or user equipment, a network control element, or the like.

[0053] The communication element includes a controller or processor 510, memory 550 that stores programs and data of a temporary or more permanent nature, an antenna 560, and a radio frequency transceiver 570 coupled to the antenna 560 and to the controller 510 for bidirectional wireless communications. The communication element may provide point-to-point and/or point- to-multipoint communication services.

[0054] The communication element may be coupled to a communication network element, such as a network control element of a public switched telecommunication network. A network control element generally provides access to a core communication network such as a public switched telecommunication network ("PSTN"). Access to the communication network may be provided in fixed facilities, such as a base station, using fiber optic, coaxial, twisted pair, microwave communication, or similar link coupled to an appropriate link-terminating element (not shown). A communication element formed as a wireless communication device such as user equipment is generally a self-contained communication device intended to be carried by an end user.

[0055] The controller 510 in the communication element, which may be implemented with one or a plurality of processing devices, performs functions associated with its operation including, without limitation, encoding and decoding of individual bits forming a communication message, formatting of information, and overall control of the communication element, including processes related to management of communication resources. Exemplary functions related to management of communication resources include, without limitation, hardware installation, traffic management, performance data analysis, tracking of end users and equipment, configuration management, end user administration, management of subscriber stations, management of tariff, subscription, and security, and the like. The execution of all or portions of particular functions or processes related to management of communication resources may be performed in equipment separate from and/or coupled to the communication element, with the results of such functions or processes communicated for execution to the communication element. The controller 510 of the communication element may be of any type suitable to the local application environment, and may include one or more of general-purpose computers, special-purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors ("DSPs"), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

[0056] In accordance with the memory 550, the controller 510 includes a communication resource allocator 520 configured to allocate time and frequency communication resources for transmission of data to a communication device (e.g., user equipment) employing a multi-user multi-input multi-output operational mode. A message generator 530 of the controller 510 is configured to format a message including the communication resources for transmission to the communication device.

[0057] The transceiver 570 of the communication element modulates information onto a carrier waveform for transmission of the information or data by the communication element via the antenna 560 to another communication element. The transceiver 570 demodulates information or data received via the antenna 560 for further processing by other communication elements.

[0058] The memory 550 of the communication element, as introduced above, may be of any type suitable to the local application environment, and may be implemented using any suitable volatile or nonvolatile data storage technology such as a semiconductor-based memory device, a magnetic memory device and system, an optical memory device and system, fixed memory, and removable memory. The programs stored in the memory 550 may include program instructions that, when executed by an associated processor, enable the communication element to perform tasks as described herein. Exemplary embodiments of the system, subsystems and modules as described herein may be implemented, at least in part, by computer software executable by processors of, for instance, the user equipment and the base station, or by hardware, or by combinations thereof. As will become more apparent, systems, subsystems and modules may be embodied in the communication element as illustrated and described above.

[0059] Turning now to FIGURE 6, illustrated is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method of operating an evolved base station in accordance with principles of the present invention. Following a start step 610, the evolved base station assesses in a step 620 if the signal-to-noise ratio of a user equipment is sufficiently high. If the signal-to-noise ratio is higher than a first threshold level, the evolved base station assesses, in a step 630, if the user equipment is MU-MIMO capable. If the user equipment is MU-MIMO capable, the evolved base station assesses, in a step 640, if the payload size of the data to be transmitted is less than a second threshold level. If the payload size of the data is less than the second threshold level, the evolved base station assesses, in a step 650, if user equipment is a good candidate for MU-MIMO pairing. A user equipment is typically a good candidate for MU-MIMO pairing if, for instance, the persistent allocation of smallest possible size (one PRB) is too excessive for the user equipment.

[0060] If the user equipment is not a good candidate for MU-MIMO pairing, the evolved base station allocates, in a step 670, a persistent time and frequency communication resource for the user equipment alone. If the user equipment is a good candidate for MU-MIMO pairing, the evolved base station assesses, in a step 660, if there is an appropriate scheduling pair for the user equipment. If there is an appropriate scheduling pair, the evolved base station, in a step 680, pairs the user equipment with another user equipment on a same time and frequency communication resource. If there is not an appropriate scheduling pair, the evolved base station, in a step 685, schedules the user equipment alone with a dynamically allocated communication resource with provision for later pairing. Following steps 680 and 685, the evolved base station sets the power bits in a PDCCH to signal a number (e.g., maximum number) of user equipment for the allocated time and frequency communication resource. The exemplary method ends at an end step 695.

[0061] Turning now to FIGURE 7, illustrated is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method of operating user equipment in accordance with principles of the present invention for a case wherein a transmit time interval is received with an associated downlink persistent communication resource-scheduling grant and the NDI bit is set to 0, not indicating "new" data such as a HARQ re -transmission of "new" data. Following a start step 710, the user equipment stores required decoding information received from an evolved base station in a step 720, and uses an assigned persistent communication resource for an uplink transmission. In a step 730, the user equipment determines a number (e.g., maximum number) of other user equipment from the power bit(s). In a step 740, the user equipment calculates the power offset value. To provide the power offset value, the user equipment performs up to X blind decoding trials, where X is the maximum number of MU-MIMO multiplexed user equipment. At each trial, the user equipment assumes that y users (y=l ..X) are paired on the same transmission resources. For each blind decoding trial, the used power offset (in linear scale) value is defined as 1/y. In a step 750, the user equipment blindly decodes data received from the evolved base station until cyclic redundancy checks fail or until demodulation combinations representing data from other user equipment as well as its own are decoded without success. In a step 760, the user equipment assesses if decoding was successful. If decoding was successful, in a step 770, the user equipment transmits an acknowledgement to the evolved base station. Otherwise, in a step 780, the user equipment transmits a non-acknowledgement to the evolved base station. The method ends at an end step 790.

[0062] Turning now to FIGURE 8, illustrated is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method of operating user equipment in accordance with principles of the present invention for a case wherein a transmit time interval is received without an associated downlink persistent communication resource-scheduling grant. Following a start step 810, the user equipment blindly decodes data received from the evolved base station using assumed pre-calculated format-related information until cyclic redundancy checks fail or until demodulation combinations representing data from other user equipment as well as its own are decoded without success in a step 820. In a step 830, the user equipment assesses if decoding was successful. If decoding was successful, in a step 860, the user equipment transmits an acknowledgement to the evolved base station. Otherwise, in a step 840, the demodulated soft bits for each of the possible user equipment are stored in a respective buffer. Then, the user equipment transmits a non-acknowledgement to the evolved base station in a step 850. The method thereafter ends at an end step 870.

[0063] Turning now to FIGURE 9, illustrated is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method of operating user equipment in accordance with principles of the present invention for a case wherein a transmit time interval is received with an associated downlink persistent communication resource-scheduling grant and the NDI bit is set to 1 to indicate new data such as a HARQ re -transmission. Following a start step 910, the user equipment receives a retransmitted packet in a step 920 in response to a previously transmitted non-acknowledgement. In a step 930, the user equipment obtains format-related information from a downlink scheduling grant. In a step 940, the user equipment demodulates/decodes the received, retransmitted packet using demodulation/decoding parameters obtained from the downlink. In a step 950, the user equipment soft-combines the demodulation/decoding output with previously stored soft data using demodulation parameters of other user equipment as well as its own. In a step 960, decoding proceeds until cyclic redundancy checks fail or until demodulation combinations associated with other user equipment as well as its own are decoded without success. In a step 970, the success of demodulation/decoding is assessed. If the demodulation/decoding is successful, in a step 990, the user equipment transmits an acknowledgement to the evolved base station and, in a step 993, the user equipment flushes buffers containing previously stored soft data. Otherwise, the user equipment transmits a non- acknowledgement to the evolved base station. The method ends at an end step 996. It should be understood that selected steps of the method of operating the communication system may be reordered or omitted, or other steps may be added thereto, and still fall within the broad scope of the present invention.

[0064] Thus, an apparatus (e.g., controller of a base station) has been described herein including a communication resource allocator configured to allocate a communication resource (e.g., time and frequency communication resource) for data to be transmitted to a communication device (e.g., user equipment) employing a multi-user multi-input multi-output operational mode if a signal-to-noise ratio of the user equipment is greater than a first threshold and payload size of the data is less than a second threshold. The controller also includes a message generator configured to format the communication resource for transmission to the user equipment. The communication resource allocator is also configured to release the communication resource at the end of a talk spurt of a communication session. The communication resource allocator is also configured to determine power bits for a physical downlink control channel to signal a maximum number of user equipment for the communication resource. The communication resource allocator is further configured to allocate the communication resource with assigned wideband precoding weights. The communication resource allocator is configured to allocate the communication resource from another user equipment. Additionally, communication resource allocator is configured to allocate a dynamically controlled single-user communication resource to the user equipment that can be reallocated at a later time when the user equipment employs the multi-user multi-input multi-output operational mode if the signal-to-noise ratio of the user equipment is greater than the first threshold, the payload size of the data is less than the second threshold, and a communication resource from another user equipment is not identified for the user equipment.

[0065] In another embodiment, the present invention provides user equipment including a transceiver configured to receive from a base station in a wireless communication network a downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data with a persistent communication resource scheduling grant and an NDI bit not set. The user equipment also includes a controller configured to store decoding information and an assigned persistent communication resource included in the downlink communication resource scheduling grant message, compute a maximum number of other user equipment from power bits in the downlink communication resource scheduling grant message, calculate a power offset value, and decode data received from the base station employing the decoding information until cyclic redundancy checks fail or until a decoding combination of another user equipment is attempted. The controller is also configured to set a content of a HARQ transmission as a function of a success of the decoding of the data, and format the HARQ transmission for the transceiver for transmission to the base station.

[0066] In another embodiment, the present invention provides user equipment including a transceiver configured to receive from a base station in a wireless communication network a downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for a data payload with a persistent resource scheduling grant, an NDI bit set and a retransmitted packet. The user equipment also includes a controller configured to obtain format-related information from the downlink communication resource scheduling grant message, decode the data payload using the format- related information, soft-combine the decoded data payload with previously stored soft data including using format-related parameters of another user equipment until cyclic redundancy checks fail or until a decoding combination of another user equipment is attempted. The controller is also configured to set a content of a HARQ transmission as a function of a success of the decoding of the data, and format the HARQ transmission for the transceiver for transmission to the base station.

[0067] In another embodiment, the present invention provides user equipment including a transceiver configured to receive from a base station in a wireless communication network a downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for a data payload without a persistent resource scheduling grant. The user equipment also includes a controller configured to decode data received from the base station using assumed pre-calculated format-related information until cyclic redundancy checks fail or until a decoding combination of another user equipment is attempted. The controller is also configured to set a content of a HARQ transmission as a function of a success of the decoding of the data, and format the HARQ transmission for the transceiver for transmission to the base station.

[0068] In addition, program or code segments making up the various embodiments of the present invention may be stored in a computer readable medium or transmitted by a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, or a signal modulated by a carrier, over a transmission medium. The "computer readable medium" may include any medium that can store or transfer information. Examples of the computer readable medium include an electronic circuit, a semiconductor memory device, a read only memory ("ROM"), a flash memory, an erasable ROM ("EROM"), a floppy diskette, a compact disk ("CD")-ROM, an optical disk, a hard disk, a fiber optic medium, a radio frequency ("RF") link, and the like. The computer data signal may include any signal that can propagate over a transmission medium such as electronic communication network channels, optical fibers, air, electromagnetic links, RF links, and the like. The code segments may be downloaded via computer networks such as the Internet, Intranet, and the like.

[0069] As described above, the exemplary embodiment provides both a method and corresponding apparatus consisting of various modules providing functionality for performing the steps of the method. The modules may be implemented as hardware (embodied in one or more chips including an integrated circuit such as an application specific integrated circuit), or may be implemented as software or firmware for execution by a computer processor. In particular, in the case of firmware or software, the exemplary embodiment can be provided as a computer program product including a computer readable storage structure embodying computer program code (i.e., software or firmware) thereon for execution by the computer processor.

[0070] Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, many of the features and functions discussed above can be implemented in software, hardware, or firmware, or a combination thereof. Also, many of the features, functions and steps of operating the same may be reordered, omitted, added, etc., and still fall within the broad scope of the present invention.

[0071] Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising: a transceiver configured to receive a downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data with a persistent communication resource scheduling grant; and a controller configured to store decoding information and an assigned persistent communication resource included in said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message, compute a number of other user equipment from power bits in said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message, calculate a power offset value, and decode data employing said decoding information.

2. The apparatus as recited in Claim 1 wherein said transceiver is configured to receive a new data indicator bit set and a retransmitted packet with said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data.

3. The apparatus as recited in Claim 1 wherein said transceiver is configured to receive a new data indicator bit not set with said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data.

4. The apparatus as recited in Claim 1 wherein said controller is configured to compute a maximum number of other user equipment from power bits in said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message.

5. The apparatus as recited in Claim 1 wherein said controller is configured to obtain format-related information from said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message, decode said data using the format-related information, soft-combine decoded data with previously stored soft data including using format-related parameters of another user equipment.

6. The apparatus as recited in Claim 1 wherein said controller is configured to set a content of a hybrid automatic retransmit request transmission as a function of said decoding of said data.

7. An apparatus, comprising: means for receiving a downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data with a persistent communication resource scheduling grant; means for storing decoding information and an assigned persistent communication resource included in said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message; means for computing a number of other user equipment from power bits in said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message; means for calculating a power offset value; and means for decoding data employing said decoding information.

8. The apparatus as recited in Claim 7 further comprising means for receiving a new data indicator bit set and a retransmitted packet with said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data.

9. A computer program product comprising a program code stored in a computer readable medium configured to: receive a downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data with a persistent communication resource scheduling grant; store decoding information and an assigned persistent communication resource included in said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message; compute a number of other user equipment from power bits in said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message; calculate a power offset value; and decode data employing said decoding information.

10. The computer program product as recited in Claim 9 wherein said program code stored in said computer readable medium is configured to receive a new data indicator bit set and a retransmitted packet with said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data.

11. A method, comprising: receiving a downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data with a persistent communication resource scheduling grant; storing decoding information and an assigned persistent communication resource included in said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message; computing a number of other user equipment from power bits in said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message; calculating a power offset value; and decoding data employing said decoding information.

12. The method as recited in Claim 11 wherein said receiving comprises receiving a new data indicator bit set and a retransmitted packet with said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data.

13. The method as recited in Claim 11 wherein said receiving comprises receiving a new data indicator bit not set with said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message for data with said persistent communication resource scheduling grant.

14. The method as recited in Claim 11 further comprising obtaining format-related information from said downlink communication resource scheduling grant message, decoding said data using the format-related information, soft-combining decoded data with previously stored soft data including using format-related parameters of another user equipment.

15. The method as recited in Claim 11 further comprising setting a content of a hybrid automatic retransmit request transmission as a function of said decoding of said data.

16. An apparatus, comprising: a communication resource allocator configured to allocate a communication resource for data to be transmitted employing a multi-user multi-input multi-output operational mode and determine power bits for a physical downlink control channel to signal a number of user equipment for said communication resource; and a message generator configured to format a message including said communication resource for transmission to ones of said user equipment.

17. The apparatus as recited in Claim 16 wherein said communication resource allocator is configured to allocate said communication resource for said data if a signal-to-noise ratio of ones of said user equipment is greater than a threshold.

18. The apparatus as recited in Claim 16 wherein said communication resource allocator is configured to allocate said communication resource for said data if a payload size of said data is less than a threshold.

19. The apparatus as recited in Claim 16 wherein said communication resource allocator is configured to allocate a dynamically controlled single -user communication resource to ones of said user equipment reallocatable thereto when ones of said user equipment employs said multi-user multi-input multi-output operational mode.

20. The apparatus as recited in Claim 16 wherein said communication resource allocator is configured to allocate said communication resource with assigned wideband precoding weights.

21. The apparatus as recited in Claim 16 wherein said communication resource is at least one of a time and frequency communication resource.

22. An apparatus, comprising: means for allocating a communication resource for data to be transmitted employing a multi-user multi-input multi-output operational mode; means for determining power bits for a physical downlink control channel to signal a number of user equipment for said communication resource; and means for formatting a message including said communication resource for transmission to ones of said user equipment.

23. The apparatus as recited in Claim 22 wherein said means for allocating comprises allocating said communication resource for said data if a signal-to-noise ratio of ones of said user equipment is greater than a threshold and a payload size of said data is less than a threshold.

24. A computer program product comprising a program code stored in a computer readable medium configured to: allocate a communication resource for data to be transmitted employing a multi-user multi-input multi-output operational mode; determine power bits for a physical downlink control channel to signal a number of user equipment for said communication resource; and format a message including said communication resource for transmission to ones of said user equipment.

25. The computer program product as recited in Claim 24 wherein said program code stored in said computer readable medium is configured to allocate said communication resource for said data if a signal-to-noise ratio of ones of said user equipment is greater than a threshold and a payload size of said data is less than a threshold.

26. A method, comprising: allocating a communication resource for data to be transmitted employing a multi-user multi-input multi-output operational mode; determining power bits for a physical downlink control channel to signal a number of user equipment for said communication resource; and formatting a message including said communication resource for transmission to ones of said user equipment.

27. The method as recited in Claim 26 wherein said allocating comprises allocating said communication resource for said data if a signal-to-noise ratio of ones of said user equipment is greater than a threshold.

28. The method as recited in Claim 26 wherein said allocating comprises allocating said communication resource for said data if a payload size of said data is less than a threshold.

29. The method as recited in Claim 26 wherein said allocating comprises allocating said communication resource with assigned wideband precoding weights.

30. The method as recited in Claim 26 wherein said communication resource is at least one of a time and frequency communication resource.