Method and apparatus for handling random access channel responses

A network entity configured to be used with a wireless network comprising:

• a transmitter;
• a receiver configured to receive a random access preamble from a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU);
• and
• a processor, operatively coupled to the transmitter and the receiver, configured to:
• allocate, in response to the received access preamble, one or more resources to be used for a random access channel (RACH) response in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to be included in a downlink transmission,
• encode, within a subset of a plurality of control channel elements (CCEs), downlink control information (DCI) such that the DCI indicates the allocated one or more resources,
• encode the RACH response in the PDSCH, and
• generate a downlink transmission, the downlink transmission including a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the PDSCH,
• wherein:
• the PDCCH includes the plurality of CCEs, and the subset of the plurality of CCEs corresponds to a common portion of the PDCCH such that the common portion of the PDCCH is intended for a plurality of WTRUs and is not addressed to a WTRU-specific identity for the WTRU;
• and
• the transmitter is configured to transmit the generated downlink transmission.

A method performed by a system in a wireless network, the method comprising:

• receiving a random access preamble from a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU);
• allocating, in response to the received access preamble, one or more resources to be used for a random access channel (RACH) response in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to be included in a downlink transmission;
• encoding, within a subset of a plurality of control channel elements (CCEs), downlink control information (DCI) such that the DCI indicates the allocated one or more resources;
• encoding the RACH response in the PDSCH;
• generating a downlink transmission, the downlink transmission including a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the PDSCH, wherein the PDCCH includes the plurality of CCEs, and the subset of the plurality of CCEs corresponds to a common portion of the PDCCH such that the common portion of the PDCCH is intended for a plurality of WTRUs and is not addressed to a WTRU-specific identity for the WTRU;
• and
• transmitting the generated downlink transmission.