Method and apparatus for carrier allocation and management in multi-carrier communication systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9955438-B2
Application number	US-52819206-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 26, 2006
Priority date	Sep 27, 2005
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to carrier allocation and management in multi-carrier communication systems. In some embodiments, the number of carriers assigned to an access terminal on a forward link may be determined by an access network, and the number of carriers assigned to the access terminal on a reverse link may be based on a cooperative process between the access terminal and the access network. In other embodiments, the number of carriers assigned to the access terminal on the reverse link may also be determined by the access network, e.g., in relation to the scheduling information received from the access terminal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for multi-carrier communications, comprising:
transmitting to an access network an interference indicator indicating an amount of interference on a reverse link, wherein the amount of interference on the reverse link is determined based on at least one of a transmit pilot power or a reverse activity bit; and
receiving an assignment message indicating a number of carriers assigned to the access terminal based on the amount of interference on the reverse link.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting to the access network a number of reverse link carriers requested by the access terminal.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining a number of reverse link carriers required by the access terminal as a function of at least one carrier-determination parameter.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one carrier-determination parameter includes at least one of a data requirement associated with the access terminal on the reverse link, a quality of service (QoS) requirement in connection with at least one flow associated with the access terminal on the reverse link, a transmit power available on the reverse link, an amount of forward-link-related overhead information to be transmitted on the reverse link, an amount of interference on the reverse link, a location of the access terminal, a sector loading on the reverse link, and a hardware constraint associated with the access terminal.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising transmitting to the access network a number of additional reverse link carriers required by the access terminal.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the assignment message further includes a number of newly-assigned reverse link carriers allocated to the access terminal and a reference value associated with an initial transmit power on each newly-assigned reverse link carrier.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining the initial transmit power based on the reference value.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting to the access network an indication of a subset of previously-assigned reverse link carriers dropped by the access terminal.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the assignment message further includes a number of forward link carriers assigned to the access terminal and a mapping of forward-link-related overhead channels to one or more remaining reverse link carriers associated with the access terminal.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting to the access network an indication of a subset of previously-assigned reverse link carriers the access terminal intends to drop.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the assignment message further includes a number of forward link carriers and reverse link carriers assigned to the access terminal and a mapping of forward-link-related overhead channels to one or more remaining reverse link carriers associated with the access terminal.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising transmitting the forward-link-related overhead channels on each of the reverse link carriers assigned to the access terminal for a duration of time.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting to the access network at least one of:
a data queue length associated with the access terminal on the reverse link,
a quality of service (QoS) type associated with at least one flow associated with the access terminal on the reverse link,
a buffer status associated with the access terminal,
an amount of forward-link-related overhead information to be transmitted on the reverse link,
a sector loading on the reverse link,
a transmit power available on the reverse link, or
a hardware constraint associated with the access terminal.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting to an access a location of an access terminal; and
receiving an assignment message indicating a number of carriers assigned to the access terminal based on the location of the access terminal.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein a location of the access terminal is determined by measuring a signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio on a forward link.

16. A method for multi-carrier communications, comprising:
determining a number of forward link carriers to be assigned to an access terminal as a function of an amount of interference on a reverse link, wherein the amount of interference on the reverse link is determined based on at least one of a transmit pilot power or a reverse activity bit;
and

sending an assignment message to the access terminal based on the determination.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
receiving scheduling information from the access terminal; and
determining a number of reverse link carriers associated with the access terminal in relation to the scheduling information.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the scheduling information includes at least one of a data requirement associated with the access terminal on the reverse link, a quality of service (QoS) requirement in connection with at least one flow associated with the access terminal on the reverse link, a transmit power available on the reverse link, a buffer status associated with the access terminal, an amount of forward-link-related overhead information to be transmitted on the reverse link, an interference indicator indicating an amount of interference on the reverse link, a location of the access terminal, a sector loading on the reverse link, and a hardware constraint associated with the access terminal.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the scheduling information includes the number of reverse link carriers requested by the access terminal.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the scheduling information further includes a number of additional reverse link carriers required by the access terminal.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the assignment message further includes a number of newly-assigned reverse link carriers allocated to the access terminal and a reference value associated with an initial transmit power on each newly-assigned reverse link carrier.

22. The method of claim 17 , wherein the scheduling information indicates a subset of previously-assigned reverse link carriers dropped by the access terminal.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the assignment message further includes the number of forward link carriers assigned to the access terminal and a mapping of forward-link-related overhead channels to one or more remaining reverse link carriers associated with the access terminal.

24. The method of claim 17 , wherein the scheduling information indicates a subset of previously-assigned reverse link carriers the access terminal intends to drop.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the assignment message further includes the number of forward link carriers and reverse link carriers assigned to the access terminal and a mapping of forward-link-related overhead channels to one or more remaining reverse link carriers associated with the access terminal.

26. The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining if a new reverse link carrier is to be assigned to the access terminal, based in part on forward-link-related and reverse-link-related information obtained from the access terminal.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the forward-link-related and reverse-link-related information is obtai

Assignees

• Ghosh Donna
• Attar Rashid Ahmed Akbar
• Lott Christopher Gerard
• Rezaiifar Ramin
• Montojo Juan
• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Ghosh Donna
• Attar Rashid Ahmed Akbar
• Lott Christopher Gerard
• Rezaiifar Ramin
• Montojo Juan

Classifications

• H04W52/34 Primary

  TPC management, i.e. sharing limited amount of power among users or channels or data types, e.g. cell loading · CPC title

• H04L5/0005

  Time-frequency · CPC title

• H04L5/0046

  Determination of the number of bits transmitted on different sub-channels · CPC title

• H04W28/18

  Negotiating wireless communication parameters · CPC title

• H04L5/0094

  Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated · CPC title