System and method for scheduling wireless transmissions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9655138-B2
Application number	US-201113076698-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2011
Priority date	Apr 1, 2010
Publication date	May 16, 2017
Grant date	May 16, 2017

Abstract

In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of operating a relay node includes receiving information, at the relay node, information identifying a plurality of subframes. The subframes represent time periods during which a base station may grant the relay node permission to transmit to the base station on a first frequency. The method also involves selecting one of the identified subframes to be used for a transmission between the relay node and a wireless terminal on the first frequency and transmits to the wireless terminal a scheduling grant granting the wireless terminal permission to transmit information on the first frequency during the selected subframe.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a relay node in a telecommunication network, comprising:
receiving, at a relay node, information identifying a plurality of subframes during which a base station may grant the relay node permission to transmit to the base station on a first frequency;
selecting one of the identified subframes to be used for a transmission between the relay node and a wireless terminal on the first frequency; and
transmitting to the wireless terminal a scheduling grant granting the wireless terminal permission to transmit on the first frequency during the selected subframe.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving from the base station a scheduling grant granting the relay node permission to transmit to the base station on the first frequency during the selected subframe;
deciding whether to receive a transmission from the wireless terminal during the selected subframe; and
in response to deciding to receive a transmission from the wireless terminal during the selected subframe:
receiving information transmitted by the wireless terminal on the first frequency during the selected subframe;
decoding the information transmitted by the wireless terminal;
determining whether the information transmitted by the wireless terminal was successfully received; and
transmitting an acknowledgement report to the wireless terminal indicating whether the information transmitted by the wireless terminal was successfully received.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising, in response to deciding to receive a transmission from the wireless terminal during the selected subframe, refraining from transmitting information to the base station on the first frequency in the selected subframe as scheduled by the received scheduling grant.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein deciding whether to receive the transmission comprises deciding whether to receive the transmission from the wireless terminal based, at least in part, on whether the wireless terminal is scheduled to transmit control signaling on the first frequency during the granted subframe or on whether the relay node is scheduled to transmit control signaling to the base station on the first frequency during the granted subframe.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein deciding whether to receive the transmission comprises deciding whether to receive the transmission from the wireless terminal based, at least in part, on a status of one or more buffers in the relay node or on information received by the relay node indicating a status of one or more buffers in the wireless terminal.

6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving, at the relay node, prioritization information indicating a policy for prioritizing transmissions on a backhaul link relative to transmissions on an access link, and wherein deciding whether to receive a transmission from the wireless terminal during the selected subframe comprises deciding whether to receive a transmission from the wireless terminal during the selected subframe based on the policy.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the subframe comprises:
receiving, at the relay node, prioritization information indicating a policy for prioritizing transmissions on a backhaul link relative to transmissions on an access link; and
deciding whether to schedule a wireless terminal for transmission during a particular subframe based on the policy.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein deciding whether to schedule a wireless terminal based on the policy comprises determining whether to schedule a wireless terminal based on at least one of the following:
an amount of data waiting to be transmitted by one of the relay node and the wireless terminal; and
a type of information waiting to be transmitted by one of the relay node and the wireless terminal.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the subframe comprises:
receiving scheduling preference information from the base station; and
selecting a subframe based, at least in part, on the received scheduling preference information.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein:
receiving scheduling preference information comprises receiving information indicating an order associated with the plurality of subframes; and
selecting the subframe comprises selecting a subframe based, at least in part, on the indicated order.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the scheduling preference information comprises a first set of scheduling preference information and the selected subframe comprises a first selected subframe, and further comprising:
transmitting a request for additional transmission resources to the base station;
receiving a second set of scheduling preference information from the base station in response to the request; and
selecting a second subframe based on the second set of scheduling preference information.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting a request for additional transmission resources to the base station, wherein the request identifies one or more requested subframes; and
selecting a second subframe based on the requested subframes.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein transmitting the request for additional transmission resources comprises transmitting the request using medium access control (“MAC”) layer signaling.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein transmitting the request for additional transmission resources comprises transmitting the request using radio resource control (“RRC”) layer signaling.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein transmitting the request for additional transmission resources comprises transmitting the request using physical layer signaling.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein transmitting the request for additional transmission resources comprises:
deciding to request additional transmission resources based on a number of scheduling requests received by the relay node from one or more wireless terminals; and
in response to deciding to request additional transmission resources, transmitting a request for additional transmission resources.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein transmitting the request for additional transmission resources comprises:
deciding to request additional transmission resources based on a status of one or more buffers associated with one or more wireless terminals; and
in response to deciding to request additional transmission resources, transmitting the request for additional transmission resources.

18. A method of operating a base station in a telecommunication network, comprising:
transmitting information identifying a plurality of subframes from a base station to a relay node, wherein the identified subframes comprise subframes during which the base station may grant the relay node permission to transmit to the base station on a first frequency;
obtaining a ranking of the subframes; and
transmitting information indicating the ranking to the relay node.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
selecting a granted subframe for the relay node based on the ranking, wherein the granted subframe comprises a subframe during which the relay node is scheduled to transmit information to the base station on a first frequency; and
transmitting a scheduling grant identifying the granted subframe to the relay node.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
receiving a request for additional transmission resources from the relay node;
obtaining a second ranking of the subframes in response to the request;
selecting a second gr

Assignees

• Mildh Gunnar
• Timus Bogdan
• Östergaard Jessica
• Moberg Peter
• ERICSSON TELEFON AB L M (publ)

Inventors

• Mildh Gunnar
• Timus Bogdan
• Östergaard Jessica
• Moberg Peter

Classifications

• H04W84/047

  using dedicated repeater stations · CPC title

• H04B7/2606

  Arrangements for base station coverage control, e.g. by using relays in tunnels · CPC title

• H04B7/15542 Primary

  Selecting at relay station its transmit and receive resources (selection of wireless resources by user or terminal H04W72/02; arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path by two-dimensional division of the resources H04L5/0003, or by allocating sub-channels H04L5/003) · CPC title

• H04W72/0453

  Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA · CPC title

• H04W72/23 Primary

  in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal · CPC title