Frequency hopping method for machine type communication

An apparatus, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory including computer program code,
• the at least one memory and the computer program code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to:
• receive parameters for frequency hopping in downlink or uplink, wherein the parameters comprise “X,” “Y,” and “Z” parameters, “X” corresponds to a duration for which the same physical resource blocks (PRBs) are used for transmission, “Y” corresponds to a frequency hopping period according to a predetermined number of repetitions and a predetermined number of hops in one data transmission configured by an evolved Node B, and “Z” corresponds to a frequency hopping pattern indication;
• and
• perform frequency hopping in accordance with the parameters,
• wherein “X” and “Y” are based on physical downlink shared channel or machine type communication downlink control channel or physical uplink shared channel or physical random access channel repetition levels, and
• wherein the one or more parameters for frequency hopping are configured via radio resource control (RRC) signaling comprising at least one RRC information element indicating at least one maximum number of repetitions and at least one RRC information element indicating at least one offset.

A computer program product, embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program product configured to control a processor to perform a process, comprising:

• receiving, by a machine type communication user equipment, parameters for frequency hopping in downlink and uplink, wherein the parameters comprise “X,” “Y,” and “Z” parameters, “X” corresponds to a duration for which the same physical resource blocks (PRBs) are used for transmission, “Y” corresponds to a frequency hopping period according to a predetermined number of repetitions and a predetermined number of hops in one data transmission configured by an evolved Node B, and “Z” corresponds to a frequency hopping pattern indication;
• and
• performing frequency hopping in accordance with the parameters,
• wherein “X” and “Y” are based on physical downlink shared channel or machine type communication downlink control channel or physical uplink shared channel or physical random access channel repetition levels, and
• wherein the one or more parameters for frequency hopping are configured via radio resource control (RRC) signaling comprising at least one RRC information element indicating at least one maximum number of repetitions and at least one RRC information element indicating at least one offset.