Communications in a Wireless Network for Carrier Selection and Switching

A method for communicating with a base station by a terminal in a wireless network, wherein the terminal is capable of simultaneously receiving data on at most m carriers, the method comprising:

• receiving an activation command associated with more than m carriers from the base station;
• activating the more than m carriers in accordance with the activation command;
• receiving a first monitoring command associated with a first subset of the activated carriers via a first physical-layer signaling from the base station, wherein a number of carriers in the first subset is less than or equal to m;
• monitoring the carriers in the first subset of the activated carriers to receive data;
• receiving a second monitoring command associated with a second subset of the activated carriers via a second physical-layer signaling from the base station, wherein the first subset is different from the second subset, a number of carriers in the second subset is less than or equal to m, and wherein a total number of the carriers in the second subset and the carriers in the first subset is beyond the capability of the terminal;
• and
• monitoring the carriers in the second subset of the activated carriers to receive data.

A base station for communicating with a terminal in a wireless network, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor and storing programming for execution by the processor;
• the processor is configured to execute the programming to perform operations of:
• send an activation command associated with more than m carriers to the terminal, wherein the terminal is capable of simultaneously receiving data on at most m carriers;
• select a first subset from the more than m carriers, wherein a number of the carriers in the first subset is less or equal to m;
• send a first monitoring command associated with the first subset of the more than m carriers via a first physical-layer signaling to the terminal;
• select a second subset from the more than m carriers, wherein the first subset is different from the second subset, a number of the carriers in the second subset is less or equal to m, and wherein a total number of the carriers in the second subset and the carriers in the first subset is beyond the capability of the terminal;
• and
• send a second monitoring command associated with the second subset of the more than m carriers via a second physical-layer signaling to the terminal.

A terminal for communicating with a base station in a wireless network, wherein the terminal is capable of simultaneously receiving data on at most m carriers, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor and storing programming for execution by the processor;
• the processor is configured to execute the programming to perform operations of:
• receive an activation command associated with more than m carriers from the base station;
• activate the more than m carriers in accordance with the activation command;
• receive a first monitoring command associated with a first subset of the activated carriers via a first physical-layer signaling from the base station, wherein a number of carriers in the first subset is less than or equal to m;
• monitor the carriers in the first subset of the activated carriers to receive data;
• receive a second monitoring command associated with a second subset of the activated carriers via a second physical-layer signaling from the base station, wherein the first subset is different from the second subset, a number of carriers in the second subset is less than or equal to m, and wherein a total number of the carriers in the second subset and the carriers in the first subset is beyond the capability of the terminal;
• and
• monitor the carriers in the second subset of the activated carriers to receive data.