System and methods for support of frequency hopping for UEs with reduced bandwidth support

An apparatus of an eNode B (eNB), the apparatus comprising:

• processing circuitry configured to:
• instruct user equipment (UE) served by the eNB to be in one of an enhanced coverage (EC) mode or a non-EC mode (normal coverage mode);
• determine whether the UE is a Machine Type Communications (MTC) UE having reduced bandwidth support such that the MTC UE with reduced bandwidth support is restricted to communicate with the eNB over a limited set of subcarriers of a system bandwidth over which the eNB is able to communicate;
• and
• configure a transceiver to transmit a resource allocation for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), the resource allocation selected dependent on whether the UE is configured as an MTC UE and whether the UE is in the EC mode, the resource allocation established in one of a legacy PUCCH region, an MTC PUCCH region reserved for MTC UEs with reduced bandwidth support or an MTC-EC PUCCH region, the legacy PUCCH region comprising physical resource blocks (PRBs) adjacent to edges of the system bandwidth in at least one of a first and second slot of a subframe, the MTC PUCCH region comprising PRBs reserved for non-EC mode MTC UEs and the MTC-EC PUCCH region comprising PRBs reserved for EC mode MTC UEs, the MTC PUCCH region and the MTC-EC PUCCH region disposed between the PRBs adjacent to the system bandwidth edge,
• wherein the instructions indicate a slot or subframe dependent parameter that defines a starting subframe offset of the MTC-EC PUCCH or MTC PUCCH region from an end of the legacy PUCCH region, and
• wherein if slot-level frequency hopping is enabled and occurs beyond an MTC narrowband frequency region, a last symbol of each slot of a particular subframe is punctured and a shortened PUCCH format used for both slots or a first symbol of each slot of the particular subframe is punctured and the shortened PUCCH format used for both slots, and if slot-level frequency hopping is disabled, the shortened PUCCH format is used for slot 1 of the particular subframe and the last symbol of slot 1 of the particular subframe is punctured at a frequency hopping boundary.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a Machine Type Communications (MTC) user equipment (UE) to configure the MTC UE to communicate with an enhanced Node B (eNB), the one or more processors to configure the MTC UE to:

• restrict bandwidth support such that communication with the eNB is limited to a subset of subcarriers of a system bandwidth over which the eNB is able to communicate;
• receive a resource allocation for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) in a MTC PUCCH region separate from a legacy PUCCH region, the legacy PUCCH region comprising physical resource blocks (PRBs) adjacent to edges of the system bandwidth in at least one of a first and second slot of a subframe, the MTC PUCCH region comprising PRBs reserved for non-enhanced coverage (EC) mode MTC UEs and other PRBs reserved for EC mode MTC UEs, the MTC PUCCH region between the PRBs adjacent to the system bandwidth edge, wherein the MTC UE receives a slot or subframe dependent parameter that defines a starting subframe offset of the MTC PUCCH region from an end of the legacy PUCCH region for each of the PRBs reserved for the MTC UEs and PRBs reserved for the EC mode MTC UEs;
• and
• transmit the PUCCH in the MTC PUCCH region using frequency hopping, and
• wherein if slot-level frequency hopping is enabled and occurs beyond an MTC narrowband frequency region, a last symbol of each slot of a particular subframe is punctured and a shortened PUCCH format used for both slots or a first symbol of each slot of the particular subframe is punctured and the shortened PUCCH format used for both slots, and if slot-level frequency hopping is disabled, the shortened PUCCH format is used for slot 1 of the particular subframe and the last symbol of slot 1 of the particular subframe is punctured at a frequency hopping boundary.