WO2013102308A1

WO2013102308A1 - Shared enhanced-physical downlink control channel (e-pdcch) format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices

Info

Publication number: WO2013102308A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/070106
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shuang TAN; Na WEI; Chunyan Gao; Wei Bai; Jing HAN; Haiming Wang; Erlin Zeng
Original assignee: Renesas Mobile Corporation
Priority date: 2012-01-06
Filing date: 2012-01-06
Publication date: 2013-07-11

Abstract

A method for providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices is described. The method includes receiving, at a mobile device, a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format. The first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth for a wireless network. The method also includes determining the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the mobile device. The method may also include receiving a second indicator indicating the downlink control channel format. The second indicator is received within a different, second sub-set of the system bandwidth. Determining the downlink control channel format may also be based on the second indicator. Apparatus and computer readable media are also described.

Description

SHARED ENHANCED-PHYSICAL DOWNLINK CONTROL CHANNEL

(E-PDCCH) FORMAT INDICATION FOR VARIOUS

BANDWIDTH-CAPABLE DEVICES

TECHNICAL FIELD:

The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments of this invention relate generally to wireless communication systems, methods, devices and computer programs and, more specifically, relate to providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices.

BACKGROUND:

This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

The following abbreviations that may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures are defined as follows:

3 GPP third generation partnership project

BW bandwidth

CC component carrier

CDM code division multiplexing

CoMP coordinated multiple point transmission/reception

DL downlink (eNB towards UE)

eNB E-UTRAN Node B (evolved Node B)

EPC evolved packet core

E-PDCCH enhanced physical downlink control channel

E-UTRAN evolved UTRAN (LTE)

GRPS general packet radio service GSM global system for mobile communications

HARQ hybrid automatic repeat request

IMT-A international mobile telephony-advanced

ITU international telecommunication union

ITU-R ITU radio communication sector

LTE long term evolution of UTRAN (E-UTRAN)

LTE-A LTE Advanced

MAC medium access control (layer 2, L2)

MIMO multiple-input multiple-output

MM/MME mobility management/mobility management entity

MTC machine type communication

MU multi-user

Node B base station

O&M operations and maintenance

OFDMA orthogonal frequency division multiple access

PCFICH physical control format indicator channel

PDCCH physical downlink control channel

PDCP packet data convergence protocol

PDSCH physical downlink shared channel

PHY physical (layer 1, LI)

PRB physical resource block

RAT radio access technology

RLC radio link control

RRC radio resource control

RRM radio resource management

SC-FDMA single carrier, frequency division multiple access

S-GW serving gateway

SIB system information block

UE user equipment, such as a mobile station or mobile terminal

UL uplink (UE towards eNB)

UTRAN universal terrestrial radio access network One specification of interest is 3 GPP TS 36.300, V8.12.0 (2010-04), "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Access Network (E UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2 (Release 8)," incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This system may be referred to for convenience as LTE Rel-8 (which also contains 3G HSPA and its improvements). In general, the set of specifications given generally as 3GPP TS 36.xyz (e.g., 36.211, 36.311, 36.312, etc.) may be seen as describing the Release 8 LTE system. More recently, Release 9 versions of at least some of these specifications have been published including 3 GPP TS 36.300, V9.8.0 (2011-10), incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Even more recently, Release 10 versions of at least some of these specifications have been published including 3 GPP TS 36.300, V10.5.0 (2011-10), incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Figure 1 reproduces Figure 4-1 of 3GPP TS 36.300, and shows the overall architecture of the E-UTRAN system. The E-UTRAN system includes eNBs, providing the E-UTRA user plane (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocol terminations towards the UE (not shown). The eNBs are interconnected with each other by means of an X2 interface. The eNBs are also connected by means of an SI interface to an EPC, more specifically to a MME (Mobility Management Entity) by means of a SI MME interface and to a Serving Gateway (SGW) by means of a SI interface. The SI interface supports a many-to-many relationship between MMEs/S-GW and eNBs.

The eNB hosts the following functions:

· functions for RRM: Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control,

Connection Mobility Control, Dynamic allocation of resources to UEs in both UL and DL (scheduling);

• IP header compression and encryption of the user data stream;

• selection of a MME at UE attachment;

· routing of User Plane data towards the Serving Gateway;

• scheduling and transmission of paging messages (originated from the MME); • scheduling and transmission of broadcast information (originated from the MME or O&M); and

• a measurement and measurement reporting configuration for mobility and scheduling.

Of particular interest herein are the further releases of 3GPP LTE (e.g., LTE Rel-10) targeted towards future IMT-A systems, referred to herein for convenience simply as LTE -Advanced (LTE -A). Reference in this regard may be made to 3 GPP TR 36.913, V8.0.1 (2009 03), 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Requirements for Further Advancements for E UTRA (LTE- Advanced) (Release 8), incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. A goal of LTE-A is to provide significantly enhanced services by means of higher data rates and lower latency with reduced cost. LTE-A is directed toward extending and optimizing the 3GPP LTE Rel-8 radio access technologies to provide higher data rates at very low cost. LTE-A will most likely be part of LTE Rel-10. LTE-A will be a more optimized radio system fulfilling the ITU-R requirements for IMT-A while maintaining backward compatibility with LTE Rel-8. Reference is further made to a Release 9 version of 3GPP TR 36.913, V9.0.0 (2009-12), incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Reference is also made to a Release 10 version of 3GPP TR 36.913, VIO.0.0 (2011-06), incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

As is specified in 3 GPP TR 36.913, LTE-A should operate in spectrum allocations of different sizes, including wider spectrum allocations than those of Rel-8 LTE (e.g., up to 100MHz) to achieve the peak data rate of lOOMbit/s for high mobility and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility. It has been agreed that carrier aggregation is to be considered for LTE-A in order to support bandwidths larger than 20 MHz. Carrier aggregation, where two or more component carriers (CCs) are aggregated, is considered for LTE-A in order to support transmission bandwidths larger than 20MHz. The carrier aggregation could be contiguous or non-contiguous. This technique, as a bandwidth extension, can provide significant gains in terms of peak data rate and cell throughput as compared to non-aggregated operation as in LTE Rel-8. A terminal may simultaneously receive one or multiple component carriers depending on its capabilities. A LTE-A terminal with reception capability beyond 20 MHz can simultaneously receive transmissions on multiple component carriers. A LTE Rel-8 terminal can receive transmissions on a single component carrier only, provided that the structure of the component carrier follows the Rel-8 specifications. Moreover, it is required that LTE-A should be backwards compatible with Rel-8 LTE in the sense that a Rel-8 LTE terminal should be operable in the LTE-A system, and that a LTE-A terminal should be operable in a Rel-8 LTE system. Figure 2 shows an example of the carrier aggregation, where M Rel-8 component carriers are combined together to form MxRel-8 BW (e.g., 5 x 20MHz = 100MHz given M = 5). Rel-8 terminals receive/transmit on one component carrier, whereas LTE-A terminals may receive/transmit on multiple component carriers simultaneously to achieve higher (wider) bandwidths.

With further regard to carrier aggregation, what is implied is that one eNB can effectively contain more than one cell on more than one CC (frequency carrier), and the eNB can utilize one (as in E-UTRAN Rel-8) or more cells (in an aggregated manner) when assigning resources and scheduling the UE.

As LTE deployments evolve, operators prefer to reduce the cost of overall network maintenance by minimizing the number of radio access technologies (RATs). Machine-type communications (MTC) is a market that is likely to continue expanding in the future. Many MTC devices are targeting low-end (low cost, low data rate) applications that can be handled adequately by GSM/GPRS. Owing to the low cost of these devices and good coverage of GSM/GPRS, there is very little motivation for MTC device suppliers to use modules supporting the LTE radio interface. As more and more MTC devices are deployed in the field, this naturally increases the reliance on GSM/GPRS networks. This will cost operators not only in terms of maintaining multiple RATs, but also prevent operators from reaping the maximum benefit out of their spectrum (given the non-optimal spectrum efficiency of GSM/GPRS). Given the expected high number of MTC devices, the overall resource they will need for service provision may be correspondingly significant, and inefficiently assigned. Therefore, it is necessary to find a solution to ensure that there is a clear business benefit to MTC device vendors and operators for migrating low-end MTC devices from GSM/GPRS to LTE networks. One suggestion is that LTE RAN specifications up to and including Rel-10 may be investigated and evaluated to determine the feasibility of creating a type of terminal that would permit the cost of terminals tailored for the low-end of the MTC market to be competitive with that of GSM/GPRS terminals targeting the same low-end MTC market.

Maximum bandwidth reduction is believed as the main factor for MTC device cost reduction by many companies in 3GPP. If only 1.4MHz MTC is supported, then only this one bandwidth may be considered for MTC's control design. However, this severely limits potential MTC service/type, and many companies suggest considering up to 5MHz for MTC. Due to many possible scenarios of MTC, e.g. smart metering and environment monitoring, intelligent transport system and logistics, consumer electronic and medical devices, etc., that LTE network may need to support various bandwidth-capable MTC devices simultaneously. In LTE Rel-10, the downlink control channel is spanned and interleaved in the whole system bandwidth in order to achieve frequency diversity. Since the MTC devices can only support part of the system bandwidth, accessing legacy physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) becomes very impractical. So new downlink control channel are needed to be designed for MTC devices, which should be fully monitored by the desired terminals.

The physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) is a physical layer channel in LTE used to indicate the number of OFDM symbols for PDCCH in each sub-frame. However, this indicator is designed for a single bandwidth, e.g., the system bandwidth.

What is needed is a way to provide a common indication for various bandwidths including the limited bandwidths used by MTC devices. SUMMARY

The below summary section is intended to be merely exemplary and non-limiting. The foregoing and other problems are overcome, and other advantages are realized, by the use of the exemplary embodiments of this invention.

In a first aspect thereof an exemplary embodiment of this invention provides a method for providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices. The method includes receiving, at a mobile device, a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format. The first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth for a wireless network. The method also includes determining the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the mobile device.

In a further aspect thereof an exemplary embodiment of this invention provides an apparatus for providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices. The apparatus includes 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 actions. The actions include to receive a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format. The first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth for a wireless network. The actions also include to determine the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the apparatus.

In an additional aspect thereof an exemplary embodiment of this invention provides a computer readable medium for providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices. The computer readable medium is tangibly encoded with a computer program executable by a processor to perform actions. The actions include receiving a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format. The first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth of a wireless network. The actions also include determining the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by a mobile device. In a further aspect thereof an exemplary embodiment of this invention provides an apparatus for providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices. The apparatus includes means for receiving a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format. The first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth for a wireless network. The apparatus also includes means for determining the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other aspects of exemplary embodiments of this invention are made more evident in the following Detailed Description, when read in conjunction with the attached Drawing Figures, wherein:

Figure 1 reproduces Figure 4-1 of 3GPP TS 36.300, and shows the overall architecture of the E UTRAN system.

Figure 2 shows an example of carrier aggregation as proposed for the LTE-A system.

Figure 3 shows a simplified block diagram of exemplary electronic devices that are suitable for use in practicing various exemplary embodiments of this invention.

Figure 4 illustrates a shared E-PDCCH format indication design for multiple bandwidths in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Figure 5 is a logic flow diagram that illustrates the operation of an exemplary method, and a result of execution of computer program instructions embodied on a computer readable memory, in accordance with various exemplary embodiments of this invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various exemplary embodiments in accordance with this invention, a common control channel (e.g., E-PDCCH) format indication is provided which supports multiple bandwidth-capable devices in one network simultaneously. This E-PDCCH format indicator is accessible to all devices. Additionally, the indicator may be wholly or partially located within the minimum bandwidth. Different bandwidth-capable UEs may have respective interpretation of the common format indicator. Accordingly, this indication may be considered a multiple-to-one indication. When the number of required E-PDCCH formats is not the same for different bandwidths, multiple format indication states can be used to refer to an identical format. The indicator may also have a nested property. For example, for a given format indication the corresponding narrow-bandwidth E-PDCCH pattern is a subset of a corresponding wide-bandwidth E-PDCCH pattern.

Before describing in further detail various exemplary embodiments of this invention, reference is made to Figure 3 for illustrating a simplified block diagram of various electronic devices and apparatus that are suitable for use in practicing exemplary embodiments of this invention.

In the wireless system 330 of Figure 3, a wireless network 335 is adapted for communication over a wireless link 332 with an apparatus, such as a mobile communication device which may be referred to as a UE 310, via a network access node, such as a Node B (base station), and more specifically an eNB 320. The network 335 may include a network control element (NCE) 340 that may include the MME/SGW functionality shown in Figure 1, and which provides connectivity with a network, such as a telephone network and/or a data communications network (e.g., the internet 338).

The UE 310 includes a controller, such as a computer or a data processor (DP) 314, a computer-readable memory medium embodied as a memory (MEM) 316 that stores a program of computer instructions (PROG) 318, and a suitable wireless interface, such as radio frequency (RF) transceiver 312, for bidirectional wireless communications with the eNB 320 via one or more antennas.

The eNB 320 also includes a controller, such as a computer or a data processor (DP) 324, a computer-readable memory medium embodied as a memory (MEM) 326 that stores a program of computer instructions (PROG) 328, and a suitable wireless interface, such as RF transceiver 322, for communication with the UE 310 via one or more antennas. The eNB 320 is coupled via a data/control path 334 to the NCE 340. The path 334 may be implemented as the SI interface shown in Figure 1. The eNB 320 may also be coupled to another eNB via data/control path 336, which may be implemented as the X2 interface shown in Figure 1.

The NCE 340 includes a controller, such as a computer or a data processor (DP) 344, a computer-readable memory medium embodied as a memory (MEM) 346 that stores a program of computer instructions (PROG) 348.

At least one of the PROGs 318, 328 and 348 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated DP, enable the device to operate in accordance with exemplary embodiments of this invention, as will be discussed below in greater detail.

That is, various exemplary embodiments of this invention may be implemented at least in part by computer software executable by the DP 314 of the UE 310; by the DP 324 of the eNB 320; and/or by the DP 344 of the NCE 340, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware (and firmware).

The UE 310 and the eNB 320 may also include dedicated processors, for example control channel signaling unit 315 and control channel signaling unit 325.

In general, the various embodiments of the UE 310 can include, but are not limited to, cellular telephones, tablets having wireless communication capabilities, personal digital assistants (PDAs) having wireless communication capabilities, portable computers having wireless communication capabilities, image capture devices such as digital cameras having wireless communication capabilities, gaming devices having wireless communication capabilities, music storage and playback appliances having wireless communication capabilities, Internet appliances permitting wireless Internet access and browsing, as well as portable units or terminals that incorporate combinations of such functions.

The computer readable MEMs 316, 326 and 346 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The DPs 314, 324 and 344 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The wireless interfaces (e.g., RF transceivers 312 and 322) may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable communication technology such as individual transmitters, receivers, transceivers or a combination of such components.

In a 3GPP Rel-11 study, an enhanced downlink control channel, e.g., E-PDCCH, was investigated to solve the downlink control capacity issue in MU-MIMO and CoMP scenarios. The E-PDCCH may be located in the current physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) region and be frequency or time division multiplexed with PDSCH. Apparently, this E-PDCCH could be employed for MTC without too much change if needed.

However, one problem for MTC downlink control may be how to indicate E-PDCCH resource location to MTC devices. Non-MTC UEs are capable of accessing both PDCCH and E-PDCCH, where a common search space is located in PDCCH and a UE-specific search space may be located in E-PDCCH. The resource allocation of E-PDCCH could be indicated via LI signaling in PDCCH, or through higher layer configuration in broadcasted system information. Unfortunately, as MTC devices cannot read PDCCH, indication by PDCCH or system information is not workable. A new E-PDCCH format indicator may be designed at physical layer, similar to legacy physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH).

Various bandwidth-capable MTC devices may co-exist in the same LTE network. Different E-PDCCH regions may be assigned for different MTC bandwidth in order to fully utilize the frequency band. Theoretically, each E-PDCCH allocation needs one bandwidth-specific format indication and may use multiple E-PDCCH format indications. A shared E-PDCCH format indication may instead be used for all possible bandwidths.

The location of an exemplary shared E-PDCCH format indicator may be independent of the E-PDCCH patterns within the minimum bandwidth. The location may be fixed or implicitly determined based on the cell-ID. Thus, the UE may find the E-PDCCH format indication without knowing system information. This is useful for MTC devices since they need to access the common search space in E-PDCCH first in order to find SIBs.

The format indicator may be located within the minimum bandwidth and may provide a full set of information (indication information) that is shared among all bandwidths. Alternatively, the indicator may have a full set of information of some bandwidths (e.g., the minimum bandwidth) but partial indication information of other bandwidths (e.g., larger bandwidths). For the latter case, the remaining part of the indication information could be transmitted via bandwidth-specific format indicators located outside the minimum bandwidth in order to provide potential frequency-diversity and more reliable performance. Figure 4 illustrates a shared E-PDCCH format indication design for multiple bandwidths in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Three separate format patterns are shown: #i, #j and #k. The three patterns are given with different locations and sizes for various E-PDCCH.

Based on the same format indicator, different bandwidth-capable UEs have respective understanding of the E-PDCCH patterns. As shown in E-PDCCH format #i in Figure 4, 1.4MHz MTC UEs consider their E-PDCCH located in two P Bs within the accessible 1.4MHz bandwidth, 3MHz MTC UEs interpret 4PRB-size E-PDCCH region, and so on.

Multiple format indication states may refer to the same E-PDCCH formats for some bandwidths. For example in Figure 4, E-PDCCH format #j and format #k share the same 1.4MHz E-PDCCH pattern. However, the E-PDCCH pattern for other bandwidth, e.g. 3MHz, may still differ. Therefore, both indication states may have no redundancy. The E-PDCCH patterns of different bandwidths may have a nested property. For example, where a E-PDCCH resource of the narrow-bandwidth may be a subset of that of wider-bandwidth.

In order to fully exploit the E-PDCCH resource, wide-bandwidth UEs may access E-PDCCH of narrow-bandwidth UEs. In other words, E-PDCCH should be shared among different bandwidths if possible. The shared E-PDCCH format indication scheme provides MTC devices having different bandwidth the capability to locate their E-PDCCH before knowing PDSCH-carried system information while providing a low cost overhead.

Based on the foregoing it should be apparent that the exemplary embodiments of this invention provide a method, apparatus and computer program(s) to providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices.

Figure 5 is a logic flow diagram that illustrates the operation of a method, and a result of execution of computer program instructions, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of this invention. In accordance with these exemplary embodiments a method performs, at Block 510, a step of receiving, at a mobile device, a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format. The first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth (e.g., the minimum bandwidth available to any MTC device supported by the system). At Block 520, the method performs determining the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the mobile device

The various blocks shown in Figure 5 may be viewed as method steps, and/or as operations that result from operation of computer program code, and/or as a plurality of coupled logic circuit elements constructed to carry out the associated function(s).

In general, the various exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the exemplary embodiments of this invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as nonlimiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

An exemplary embodiment in accordance with this invention is a method for providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices. The method includes receiving (e.g., by a receiver), at a mobile device, a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format. The first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth for a wireless network. The method also includes determining (e.g., by a processor) the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the mobile device.

In a further exemplary embodiment of the method above, the method also includes receiving (e.g., by a receiver) a second indicator indicating the downlink control channel format. The second indicator is received within a different, second sub-set of the system bandwidth. Determining the downlink control channel format may also be based on the second indicator.

In an additional exemplary embodiment of any one of the methods above, the first sub-set has a bandwidth equal to a minimum portion of the system bandwidth available for use by any mobile device supported by the wireless network.

In a further exemplary embodiment of any one of the methods above, the downlink control channel is an enhanced physical downlink control channel and the first indicator is an enhanced physical downlink control channel indicator.

In an additional exemplary embodiment of any one of the methods above, the downlink control channel format includes a downlink control channel pattern. In a further exemplary embodiment of any one of the methods above, the method also includes receiving (e.g., by a receiver) downlink control channel information using the determined downlink control channel format. An additional exemplary embodiment in accordance with this invention is an apparatus for providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices. The apparatus includes 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 actions. The actions include to receive a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format. The first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth for a wireless network. The actions also include to determine the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the apparatus.

In a further exemplary embodiment of the apparatus above, the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to cause the apparatus to receive a second indicator indicating the downlink control channel format. The second indicator is received within a different, second sub-set of the system bandwidth. Determining the downlink control channel format may also be based on the second indicator.

In an additional exemplary embodiment of any one of the apparatus above, the first sub-set has a bandwidth equal to a minimum portion of the system bandwidth available for use by any mobile device supported by the wireless network.

In a further exemplary embodiment of any one of the apparatus above, the downlink control channel is an enhanced physical downlink control channel and the first indicator is an enhanced physical downlink control channel indicator.

In an additional exemplary embodiment of any one of the apparatus above, the downlink control channel format includes a downlink control channel pattern.

In a further exemplary embodiment of any one of the apparatus above, the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to cause the apparatus receive downlink control channel information using the determined downlink control channel format. In an additional exemplary embodiment of any one of the apparatus above, the apparatus is embodied in an integrated circuit.

A further exemplary embodiment in accordance with this invention is a computer readable medium for providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices. The computer readable medium is tangibly encoded with a computer program executable by a processor to perform actions. The actions include receiving a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format. The first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth of a wireless network. The actions also include determining the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by a mobile device.

In an additional exemplary embodiment of the computer readable medium above, the actions further include receiving a second indicator indicating the downlink control channel format. The second indicator is received within a different, second sub-set of the system bandwidth. Determining the downlink control channel format may also be based on the second indicator.

In a further exemplary embodiment of any one of the computer readable media above, the first sub-set has a bandwidth equal to a minimum portion of the system bandwidth available for use by any mobile device supported by the wireless network.

In an additional exemplary embodiment of any one of the computer readable media above, the downlink control channel is an enhanced physical downlink control channel and the first indicator is an enhanced physical downlink control channel indicator.

In a further exemplary embodiment of any one of the computer readable media above, the downlink control channel format includes a downlink control channel pattern.

In an additional exemplary embodiment of any one of the computer readable media above, the actions further include receiving downlink control channel information using the determined downlink control channel format.

In a further exemplary embodiment of any one of the computer readable media above, the computer readable medium is a non-transitory computer readable medium (e.g., CD-ROM, flash memory, RAM, etc.). An additional exemplary embodiment in accordance with this invention is an apparatus for providing shared E-PDCCH format indication for various bandwidth-capable devices. The apparatus includes means for receiving (e.g., a receiver) a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format. The first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth for a wireless network. The apparatus also includes means for determining (e.g., a processor) the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the apparatus.

In a further exemplary embodiment of the apparatus above, the apparatus also includes means for receiving (e.g., a receiver) a second indicator indicating the downlink control channel format. The second indicator is received within a different, second sub-set of the system bandwidth. Determining the downlink control channel format may also be based on the second indicator.

In a further exemplary embodiment of any one of the apparatus above, the apparatus also includes means for receiving (e.g., a receiver) downlink control channel information using the determined downlink control channel format.

It should thus be appreciated that at least some aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the inventions may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit chips and modules, and that the exemplary embodiments of this invention may be realized in an apparatus that is embodied as an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit, or circuits, may comprise circuitry (as well as possibly firmware) for embodying at least one or more of a data processor or data processors, a digital signal processor or processors, baseband circuitry and radio frequency circuitry that are configurable so as to operate in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of this invention. Various modifications and adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of this invention may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this invention.

For example, while the exemplary embodiments have been described above in the context of the E-UT AN (UTRAN-LTE) system, it should be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments of this invention are not limited for use with only this one particular type of wireless communication system, and that they may be used to advantage in other wireless communication systems such as for example (WLAN, UTRAN, GSM as appropriate).

It should be noted that the terms "connected," "coupled," or any variant thereof, mean any connection or coupling, either direct or indirect, between two or more elements, and may encompass the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" together. The coupling or connection between the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. As employed herein two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" together by the use of one or more wires, cables and/or printed electrical connections, as well as by the use of electromagnetic energy, such as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency region, the microwave region and the optical (both visible and invisible) region, as several non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

Further, the various names assigned to different channels (e.g., PDCCH, PDSCH, etc.) are not intended to be limiting in any respect, as these various channels may be identified by any suitable names. Furthermore, some of the features of the various non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this invention may be used to advantage without the corresponding use of other features. As such, the foregoing description should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles, teachings and exemplary embodiments of this invention, and not in limitation thereof.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device (310), a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format, where the first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth for a wireless network (330); and

determining the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the mobile device (310).

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a second indicator indicating the downlink control channel format, where the second indicator is received within a different, second sub-set of the system bandwidth.

3. The method of claim 2, where determining the downlink control channel format is further based on the second indicator.

4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, where the first sub-set has a bandwidth equal to a minimum portion of the system bandwidth available for use by any mobile device (310) supported by the wireless network.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, where the downlink control channel is an enhanced physical downlink control channel and the first indicator is an enhanced physical downlink control channel indicator.

6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, where the downlink control channel format comprises a downlink control channel pattern.

7. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising receiving downlink control channel information using the determined downlink control channel format.

8. An apparatus (310), comprising at least one processor (314, 315); and at least one memory (316) including computer program code (318), the at least one memory (316) and the computer program code (318) configured to, with the at least one processor (314, 315), cause the apparatus (310) to perform at least the following:

to receive a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format, where the first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth for a wireless network (330); and

to determine the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the apparatus (310).

9. The apparatus (310) of claim 8, where the at least one memory (316) and the computer program code (318) are further configured to cause the apparatus (310) to receive a second indicator indicating the downlink control channel format, where the second indicator is received within a different, second sub-set of the system bandwidth.

10. The apparatus (310) of claim 9, where determining the downlink control channel format is further based on the second indicator.

11. The apparatus (310) of any one of claims 8 to 10, where the first sub-set has a bandwidth equal to a minimum portion of the system bandwidth available for use by any mobile device (310) supported by the wireless network (330).

12. The apparatus (310) of any one of claims 8 to 11, where the downlink control channel is an enhanced physical downlink control channel and the first indicator is an enhanced physical downlink control channel indicator.

13. The apparatus (310) of any one of claims 8 to 12, where the downlink control channel format comprises a downlink control channel pattern.

14. The apparatus (310) of any one of claims 8 to 13, where the at least one memory (316) and the computer program code (318) are further configured to cause the apparatus (310) receive downlink control channel information using the determined downlink control channel format.

15. The apparatus (310) of any one of claims 8-14, where the apparatus (310) is embodied in an integrated circuit.

16. A computer readable medium (316) tangibly encoded with a computer program (318) executable by a processor (314, 315) to perform actions comprising:

receiving a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format, where the first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth of a wireless network (330); and

determining the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by a mobile device (310).

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, where the actions further comprise receiving a second indicator indicating the downlink control channel format, where the second indicator is received within a different, second sub-set of the system bandwidth.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, where determining the downlink control channel format is further based on the second indicator.

19. The computer readable medium of any one of claims 16 to 18, where the first sub-set has a bandwidth equal to a minimum portion of the system bandwidth available for use by any mobile device (310) supported by the wireless network (330).

20. The computer readable medium of any one of claims 16 to 19, where the downlink control channel is an enhanced physical downlink control channel and the first indicator is an enhanced physical downlink control channel indicator.

21. The computer readable medium of any one of claims 16 to 20, where the downlink control channel format comprises a downlink control channel pattern.

22. The computer readable medium of any one of claims 16 to 21, where the actions further comprise receiving downlink control channel information using the determined downlink control channel format.

23. An apparatus (310) comprising:

means for receiving (312) a first indicator indicating a downlink control channel format, where the first indicator is received within a first sub-set of a system bandwidth for a wireless network (330); and

means for determining (314, 315) the downlink control channel format based at least in part on the first indicator and a portion of the system bandwidth available for use by the apparatus (310).

24. The apparatus (310) of claim 23, further comprising means for receiving (312) a second indicator indicating the downlink control channel format, where the second indicator is received within a different, second sub-set of the system bandwidth.

25. The apparatus (310) of claim 24, where determining the downlink control channel format is further based on the second indicator.

26. The apparatus (310) of any one of claims 23 to 25, where the first sub-set has a bandwidth equal to a minimum portion of the system bandwidth available for use by any mobile device (310) supported by the wireless network (330).

27. The apparatus (310) of any one of claims 23 to 26, where the downlink control channel is an enhanced physical downlink control channel and the first indicator is an enhanced physical downlink control channel indicator.

28. The apparatus (310) of any one of claims 23 to 27, where the downlink control channel format comprises a downlink control channel pattern.

29. The apparatus (310) of any one of claims 23 to 28, further comprising means for receiving (312) downlink control channel information using the determined downlink control channel format.