Inter-enb coordination methods to support inter-enb carrier aggregation for lte-advanced

A method of setting up a user equipment (UE) in an inter-eNodeB (eNB) Carrier Aggregation (CA) system, the method comprising:

• not configuring, by an eNB, the UE for simultaneous Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions;
• and
• transmitting coordination information from at least one eNB to at least one other eNB so that the UE does not receive or transmit simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions.

For use in a wireless network, an eNodeB (eNB) configured to communicate with at least one user equipment (UE) and to receive coordination informing identifying how Channel State Information (CSI) should be transmitted, the eNB comprising processing circuitry;

• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to receive control information comprising a partitioning of subframes so that no two aperiodic CSI report requests from two or more eNBs are sent to a UE in the same subframe.

A method of setting up an eNodeB (eNB) in an inter-eNB Carrier Aggregation (CA) system, the method comprising:

• receiving and transmitting, by the eNB, control information comprising a partitioning of subframes so that no two aperiodic CSI report requests from two or more eNBs are sent to the user equipment in the same subframe.

For use in a wireless network, a first eNodeB (eNB) configured to participate with at least a second eNB in inter-eNB Carrier Aggregation (CA) and to receive and transmit coordination information identifying how hybrid automatic repeat requests and acknowledgments (HARQ-ACKs) should be transmitted, the first eNB comprising processing circuitry;

• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to coordinate a first set of eNB subframe indices with at least a second set of eNB subframe indices such that the set of subframe indices for HARQ-ACK receptions by the first eNB does not overlap with the set of subframe indices for HARQ-ACK receptions by the second eNB.

A method of setting up an eNodeB (eNB) in an inter-eNB Carrier Aggregation (CA) system, the method comprising:

• transmitting and receiving control information by the eNB, wherein the control information comprises a partitioning subframes so that no two downlink (DL) assignments or uplink (UL) grants from two or more eNBs are sent to a user equipment (UE) in the same subframe.

A method of setting up an eNodeB (eNB) in an inter-eNB Carrier Aggregation (CA) system, the method comprising:

• receiving and transmitting, by the first eNB, control information comprising coordinating information coordinating a first set of eNB subframe indices with at least a second set of eNB subframe indices such that the first set of subframe indices for HARQ-ACK receptions by the first eNB does not overlap with the second set of subframe indices for HARQ-ACK receptions by the second eNB.

A system for use in a wireless network, the system comprising:

• a first eNodeB (eNB) configured to participate with at least a second eNB in inter-eNB Carrier Aggregation (CA) and to receive coordination information identifying how SCellIndex values should be assigned to one or more SCells associated with the first eNB or one or more SCells associated with the second eNB, the first eNB comprising processing circuitry;
• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to assign a smallest SCellIndex value to an SCell of the first eNB when the first eNB detects that the second eNB controls a PCell.