Flexible adjustment of uplink and downlink ratio configuration
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsPing Wang, Jong-Kae Fwu, Huaning Niu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for flexible adjustment of the uplink-downlink ratio configuration for each enhanced node B (eNodeB) within a wireless communications network is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a given eNodeB is configured to determine a current or subsequent uplink-downlink ratio configuration for a pre-determined time period. The determined current or subsequent uplink-downlink ratio configuration is encoded into a special physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the special PDCCH included in at least one radio frame according to the pre-determined time period. The radio frame including the special PDCCH is transmitted to user equipment served by the given eNodeB.
Claims24
A method for changing an uplink and downlink ratio configuration of a cell served by a base station, the method comprising:
- determining, at the base station, the uplink and downlink ratio configuration to be used for a pre-determined time period of at least a radio frame;
- generating configuration information for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to be included in a first sub frame of at least a radio frame, the PDCCH including an indicator representative of the determined uplink and downlink ratio configuration, wherein generating the configuration information comprises selecting a bit pattern from a set of bit patterns that corresponds to an uplink and downlink ratio configuration of a set of uplink and downlink ratio configurations, and wherein an uplink and downlink ratio configuration of the set of uplink and downlink ratio configurations specifies which subframes of radio frames transmitted on the cell served by the base station are designated as uplink subframes and which sub frames of radio frames transmitted on the cell are designated as downlink sub frames;
- and
- transmitting the first subframe that includes the PDCCH.
An enhanced node B (eNodeB) configured to operate in a wireless communications network, comprising:
- a physical processor configured to generate configuration information for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to be included in a first sub frame of a pre-determined time period of at least a radio frame, subsequent to generation of the configuration information, the PDCCH include an indicator representative of a new uplink and downlink ratio configuration for a first carrier frequency to be used for a pre-determined time period of at least a radio frame, wherein generating the configuration information comprises selecting a bit pattern from a set of bit patterns that corresponds to an uplink and downlink ratio configuration of a set of uplink and downlink ratio configurations, and wherein an uplink and downlink ratio configuration of the set of uplink and downlink ratio configurations specifies which sub frames of radio frames transmitted on a cell served by the eNodeB are designated as uplink sub frames and which sub frames of radio frames transmitted on the cell are designated as downlink subframes;
- and
- a transceiver coupled to the processor, the transceiver configured to transmit at least a radio frame including the PDCCH according to the pre-determined time period, wherein the new uplink and downlink ratio configuration is associated with a scheduling change of an operating uplink and downlink ratio configuration of the eNodeB.
An enhanced node B (eNodeB), comprising:
- a physical processor configured to generate configuration information for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that includes an indicator representative of a new uplink and downlink ratio configuration to be used for a pre-determined time period of at least a radio frame, wherein generating the configuration information comprises selecting a bit pattern from a set of bit patterns that corresponds to an uplink and downlink ratio configuration of a set of uplink and downlink ratio configurations, and wherein an uplink and downlink ratio configuration of the set of uplink and downlink ratio configurations specifies which subframes of radio frames transmitted on a cell served by the eNodeB are designated as uplink subframes and which sub frames of radio frames transmitted on the cell are designated as downlink sub frames, and
- a transceiver coupled to the processor, the transceiver including a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMG) antenna and the transceiver configured to transmit the PDCCH according to the pre-determined time period,
- wherein the new uplink and downlink ratio configuration is associated with a scheduling change of an operating uplink and downlink ratio configuration of the eNodeB, and the new uplink and downlink ratio configuration is configured for operation within a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) network.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.