Method and apparatus for providing downlink control information in an MIMO wireless communication system

#The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing downlink control information in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication system.

#In a mobile communication system, a user equipment (UE) may receive information from a base station in downlink and transmit information to the base station in uplink. Information transmitted or received by a UE includes data and a variety of control information and various physical channels are used according to the type and usage of the information transmitted or received by the UE.

#A downlink channel may include a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, etc. The downlink control channel may include a control signal defining resource allocation and transmission format of a signal transmitted through the downlink data channel. Control information transmitted through the downlink control channel may be referred to as downlink control information (DCI). The downlink control channel may include a variety of DCI formats and the DCI format may include downlink resource allocation information, uplink resource allocation information, etc.

#The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention.

#FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of a radio frame used in a 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE) system.

#FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a resource grid of a downlink slot.

#The following embodiments are proposed by combining constituent components and characteristics of the present invention according to a predetermined format. The individual constituent components or characteristics should be considered optional on the condition that there is no additional remark. If required, the individual constituent components or characteristics may not be combined with other components or characteristics. Also, some constituent components and/or characteristics may be combined to implement the embodiments of the present invention. The order of operations to be disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention may be changed. Some components or characteristics of any embodiment may also be included in other embodiments, or may be replaced with those of the other embodiments as necessary.

#The embodiments of the present invention are disclosed on the basis of a data communication relationship between a base station and a user equipment (UE). In this case, the base station is used as a terminal node of a network via which the base station can directly communicate with the terminal. Specific operations to be conducted by the base station in the present invention may also be conducted by an upper node of the base station as necessary.

#In other words, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various operations for enabling the base station to communicate with the terminal in a network composed of several network nodes including the base station will be conducted by the base station or other network nodes other than the base station. The term “Base Station (BS)” may be replaced with the terms fixed station, Node-B, eNode-B (eNB), or access point as necessary. In the present specification, the term “base station” may include a cell or a sector. The term “relay” may be replaced with the terms relay node (RN) or relay station (RS). The term “terminal” may also be replaced with the terms User Equipment (UE), Mobile Station (MS), Mobile Subscriber Station (MSS) or Subscriber Station (SS) as necessary.