Relaying unicast and multicast data in a wireless network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9544045-B2
Application number	US-201114344726-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2011
Priority date	Sep 20, 2011
Publication date	Jan 10, 2017
Grant date	Jan 10, 2017

Abstract

A relay node for a wireless network is configured for transmissions on the basis of a radio frame with a plurality of subframes. The relay node includes a first relay path and a second relay path. The first relay path is configured to receive, in a first subframe of the subframes, first unicast transmission signals, to decode the first unicast transmission signals to obtain unicast data, and to forward the decoded unicast data by sending second unicast transmission signals in a second subframe of the subframes. The second relay path is configured to receive, in a third subframe of the subframes, multicast transmission signals, to amplify the received multicast transmission signals, and to send the amplified multicast transmission signals in the third subframe. The relay node may switch between the first relay path and the second relay path in order to implement a hybrid Decode-and-Forward and Amplify-and-Forward relaying operation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of relaying data in a wireless network comprising a relay node configured for transmissions on a basis of a radio frame with a plurality of subframes, the method comprising:
the relay node receiving, in a first subframe of the plurality of subframes, first unicast transmission signals, wherein the plurality of subframes comprises subframes configured as subframes for multicast transmission, of which some are used for unicast transmissions;
the relay node decoding the first unicast transmission signals to obtain unicast data;
the relay node forwarding the decoded unicast data by sending second unicast transmission signals in a second subframe of the plurality of subframes;
the relay node receiving control data from a base station;
the relay node determining, responsive to the received control data, that the base station uses a third subframe of the plurality of subframes for a multicast transmission and not for a unicast transmission; and
in response to determining that the base station uses the third subframe for a multicast transmission and not for a unicast transmission, the relay node receiving, in the third subframe, multicast transmission signals from the base station, amplifying the multicast transmission signals, and synchronously with the multicast transmission signals from the base station, sending the amplified multicast transmission signals in the third subframe.

2. The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the relay node sends the amplified multicast transmission signals synchronously with further multicast transmission signals from at least one further base station and/or at least one further relay node.

3. The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the subframes each comprise a control region and a data region; and
wherein the control data are received by decoding signals in the control region of the third subframe.

4. The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the subframes each comprise a control region and a data region; and
wherein the control data are received by decoding signals in the control region of the first subframe.

5. The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the subframes each comprise a control region and a data region; and
wherein the control data are received by decoding signals in the data region of the third subframe.

6. The method according to claim 1 , comprising:
the relay node receiving, in a fourth subframe of the plurality of subframes, third unicast transmission signals;
the relay node decoding the third unicast transmission signals to obtain the control data.

7. The method according to claim 1 , comprising:
receiving the control data in a message from the base station.

8. The method according to claim 1 ,
the relay node determining, responsive to the received control data, that the third subframe is configured to be used for a multicast transmission.

9. The method according to claim 1 , comprising:
the relay node switching, responsive to the received control data, between an operating mode for said forwarding of the decoded unicast data and a second operating mode for said sending of the amplified multicast transmission signals.

10. The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the wireless network is configured as a 3 rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and the third subframe corresponds to a Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Services over Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) subframe.

11. A relay node configured for transmissions on a basis of a radio frame comprising a plurality of subframes, the relay node comprising:
a first relay circuit;
a second relay circuit,
a transmitter;
a switch configured to selectively couple either the first relay circuit or the second relay circuit to the transmitter; and
a controller;
wherein the plurality of subframes comprises subframes configured as subframes for multicast transmission, of which some are used for unicast transmissions;
wherein the first relay circuit is configured to receive, in a first subframe of the plurality of subframes, first unicast transmission signals, to decode the first unicast transmission signals to obtain unicast data, and to forward the decoded unicast data by sending second unicast transmission signals in a second subframe of the plurality of subframes;
wherein the second relay circuit is configured to receive, in a third subframe of the plurality of subframes, multicast transmission signals, to amplify the received multicast transmission signals, and to send the amplified multicast transmission signals in the third subframe;
wherein the controller is configured to obtain control data from a base station sending said multicast transmission signals and to control the switch responsive to the received control data by determining, responsive to the received control data, that the base station uses the third subframe for a multicast transmission, and in response to determining that the base station uses the third subframe for a multicast transmission and not for a unicast transmission, control the switch to use the second relay circuit to amplify the multicast transmission signals and, synchronously with the multicast transmission signals from the base station, send the amplified multicast transmission signals in the third subframe.

12. The relay node according to claim 11 , comprising:
an amplifier shared by the first relay circuit and the second relay circuit.

13. The relay node according to claim 11 ,
wherein the relay node sends the amplified multicast transmission signals synchronously with further multicast transmission signals from at least one further base station and/or at least one further relay node.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first subframe of the plurality of subframes is configured as a subframe for multicast transmission that is used for unicast transmission, and
wherein the second subframe of the plurality of subframes is a subframe configured for unicast transmission.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first subframe of the plurality of subframes is configured as a subframe for multicast transmission that is used for unicast transmission, and
wherein the control data indicates that the first subframe is one of the multicast subframes that is used for unicast transmission and that the third subframe is one of the multicast subframes that is used for multicast transmission.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the multicast subframes configured as subframes for multicast transmission are Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Services over Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) subframes.

17. The relay node according to claim 11 , wherein the first subframe of the plurality of subframes is configured as a subframe for multicast transmission that is used for unicast transmission, and
wherein the second subframe of the plurality of subframes is a subframe configured for unicast transmission.

18. The relay node according to claim 11 , wherein the first subframe of the plurality of subframes is configured as a subframe for multicast transmission that is used for unicast transmission, and
wherein the control data indicates that the first subframe is one of the multicast subframes that is used for unicast transmission and that the third subframe is one of the multicast subframes that is used for multicast transmission.

19. The relay node according to claim 18 , wherein the multicast subframes configured as subframes for multicast transmission are Multimedia Broadcast/M

Assignees

• Hoymann Christian
• Huschke Jörg
• Phan Mai-Anh
• ERICSSON TELEFON AB L M (publ)

Inventors

• Hoymann Christian
• Huschke Jörg
• Phan Mai-Anh

Classifications

• H04B7/15557 Primary

  Selecting relay station operation mode, e.g. between amplify and forward mode, decode and forward mode or FDD - and TDD mode · CPC title