HK1134183B - Method and apparatus for low-overhead packet data transmission and control of reception mode - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for low overhead packet data transmission and reception mode control

Requesting priority based on 35U.S.C.S.119

This application claims priority to provisional application No.60/838,586, entitled "METHOD and apparatus FOR LOW-overlap PACKET DATA transfer and CONTROL OF DRX," filed on 17.8.2006, provisional application No.60/838,586 being assigned to the assignee OF the present application and hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

Technical Field

The disclosed aspects relate generally to communications, and more specifically to methods and apparatus for low overhead packet data transmission and reception mode control.

Background

A wireless multiple-access communication system may include a number of node bs (or base stations) that support communication for a number of User Equipments (UEs). A node B may communicate with multiple UEs on the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the node bs to the UEs, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UEs to the node bs.

On the downlink, the node B may transmit data to multiple UEs using dedicated data channels and/or shared data channels. A dedicated data channel is a data channel allocated to a specific UE and is used only for transmitting data to the UE. A shared data channel is a data channel shared by multiple UEs and carries data for one or more UEs at any given time. The data channel is the means for transmitting data and depends on the wireless technology used by the system. For example, in a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a data channel is associated with a particular channelization code (e.g., a particular walsh code).

The node B may use the shared data channel to obtain various benefits. Sharing the data channel enables better utilization of the available radio resources, since each UE is served on demand and uses just enough radio resources to serve the UE. The shared data channel may also support higher peak data rates for the UE since all radio resources available for the shared data channel may potentially be used for one UE. The shared data channel also enables flexible scheduling of UEs for downlink data transmission.

The node B may send signaling on a shared control channel in parallel with the shared data channel to convey how the shared data channel is used. For example, the signaling may convey which UE is being served, the radio resources allocated to each UE being served, how the data is transmitted to each UE, and so on. Due to the dynamic nature of the shared data channel, UEs that can potentially receive data on the shared data channel can continuously monitor the shared control channel to determine whether the data is intended for themselves. Each UE receiving signaling on the shared control channel may process the shared data channel in accordance with the received signaling in order to recover the data sent to the UE. However, for shared data channels, shared control channels represent overhead.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for techniques to reduce shared channel overhead.

Disclosure of Invention

The aspects disclosed herein address the above stated needs by providing a system that does not require control channel signaling to be sent for new transmissions, but only for retransmissions. In addition, discontinuous reception mode for the UE is established, enabling UE power reduction at predetermined time intervals.

Techniques for efficient data transmission and reception in a wireless communication system are described. According to one aspect, a method for wireless communication includes: receiving a control packet comprising information related to a previously transmitted data packet; receiving a retransmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data; the common data is obtained from information related to previously transmitted data packets, wherein the previously transmitted data packets and the retransmitted data packets are related to a sequence of data packets comprising a first data packet, the first data packet having no control packet related thereto.

According to another aspect, a method for wireless communication includes: transmitting a control packet, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted packet that was not transmitted when the previously transmitted packet was transmitted; a data packet is transmitted, wherein the previously transmitted packet and the second packet are derived from common data.

According to another aspect, a user equipment includes: a control packet receiving module for receiving a control packet, wherein the control packet includes information related to a previously transmitted data packet; a retransmitted data packet receiving module for receiving a retransmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data; a common data obtaining module for obtaining common data based on information related to previously transmitted data packets, wherein the previously transmitted data packets and the retransmitted data packets are related to a sequence of data packets comprising first data packets, the first data packets having no control packets related thereto.

According to another aspect, a computer-program product for wireless communications includes a machine-readable medium having instructions for execution by a controller to: receiving a retransmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data; the common data is obtained from information related to previously transmitted data packets, wherein the previously transmitted data packets and the retransmitted data packets are related to a sequence of data packets comprising a first data packet, the first data packet having no control packet related thereto.

According to another aspect, a user equipment includes: a demodulator for receiving a control packet and a retransmitted data packet, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted data packet, the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data; a receive data processor coupled to the demodulator, wherein the receive data processor is configured to obtain common data based on information associated with previously transmitted data packets, wherein the previously transmitted data packets and the retransmitted data packets are associated with a sequence of data packets that includes a first data packet that does not have a control packet associated therewith; a transducer coupled to the receive data processor, wherein the transducer is configured to generate audio based on the common data.

According to another aspect, a method for wireless communication includes: transmitting a control packet, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted data packet that was not transmitted when the previously transmitted packet was transmitted; transmitting the retransmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data.

According to another aspect, an apparatus for wireless communication comprises: a control packet transmitting module for transmitting a control packet, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted data packet, which is not transmitted when the previously transmitted packet is transmitted; a retransmission data packet transmitting module for transmitting a retransmission data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmission data packet are derived from common data.

According to another aspect, an apparatus for wireless communication comprises a transmitter configured to: transmitting a control packet, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted data packet that was not transmitted when the previously transmitted packet was transmitted; transmitting the retransmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data.

According to another aspect, a computer-program product for wireless communications includes a machine-readable medium having instructions for execution by a controller to: transmitting a control packet, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted data packet that was not transmitted when the previously transmitted packet was transmitted; transmitting the retransmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data.

According to another aspect, a node B includes an antenna and a transmitter coupled to the antenna, wherein the transmitter performs the following: transmitting a control packet using the antenna, the control packet having information related to a previously transmitted data packet that was not transmitted when the previously transmitted packet was transmitted; the antenna is used to transmit a retransmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a network diagram of a wireless communication system;

FIG. 2 is a node B and UE and block diagram;

FIG. 3 is a frame format in W-CDMA;

fig. 4 is a transmission for a UE with HARQ in HSDPA;

fig. 5 shows transmission for multiple UEs in HSDPA;

fig. 6 shows a transmission for one UE with assigned parameters;

fig. 7 shows transmissions for a plurality of UEs with assigned parameters;

fig. 8 shows a TX data processor and modulator of a node B;

FIG. 9 shows a demodulator and RX data processor of the UE;

FIG. 10 illustrates a process for data transmission without signaling;

fig. 11 shows a process of data reception without signaling;

fig. 12 shows a controller performing data transmission without signaling at a node B;

fig. 13 shows a controller that performs data reception without signaling on a UE.

Detailed Description

Various aspects of the invention are described below. For convenience, one or more aspects of the present invention may be referred to herein simply as "an aspect," aspects, "or" some aspects. It should be apparent that the disclosure herein may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure, function, or both being disclosed herein is merely illustrative. In light of the disclosure herein, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that aspects disclosed herein may be implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be implemented using any number of the aspects set forth herein. Such an apparatus may be implemented or such a method may be practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein.

Fig. 1 shows a wireless communication system 100 with multiple node bs 110 and multiple UEs 120. A node B is typically a fixed station that communicates with UEs and may also be referred to as a base station, enhanced node B (enode B), access point, etc. Each node B110 provides communication coverage for a particular geographic area and supports communication for UEs located within that coverage area. A system controller 130 couples to and coordinates and controls node bs 110. System controller 130 may be a single network entity or a collection of network entities. For example, the system controller 130 may include a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), and the like.

UEs 120 are dispersed throughout the system, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be called a mobile station, terminal, access terminal, subscriber unit, station, etc. The UE may be a cellular phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a wireless modem, a laptop computer, etc. The UE may actively communicate with the node B or simply receive pilot and signaling from the node B. The terms "UE" and "user" are used interchangeably herein.

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of node B110 and UE 120, where node B110 and UE 120 are one node B and one UE, respectively, in fig. 1. At node B110, a Transmit (TX) data processor 210 receives traffic data from a data source (not shown) and signaling from a controller/processor 240, processes (e.g., formats, encodes, interleaves, and symbol maps) the traffic data and signaling, and provides data symbols and signaling symbols. Modulator 220 processes the data symbols and signaling symbols as specified by the system and provides output chips. A transmitter (TMTR)222 processes (e.g., converts to analog, amplifies, filters, and frequency upconverts) the output chips and generates a downlink signal, which is transmitted from an antenna 224.

At UE 120, an antenna 252 receives the downlink signal from node B110 and provides a received signal to a receiver (RCVR) 254. Receiver 254 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, frequency downconverts, and digitizes) the received signal and provides received samples. A demodulator (Demod)260 processes the received samples in an inverse manner to the processing by modulator 220 and provides symbol estimates. A Receive (RX) data processor 270 processes (e.g., symbol demaps, deinterleaves, and decodes) the symbol estimates and provides decoded data for UE 110.

On the uplink, at UE 120, data and signaling are processed by a TX data processor 290, modulated by a modulator 292, conditioned by a transmitter 294, and transmitted via antenna 252. At node B110, the uplink signals from UE 120 and other UEs are received by antennas 224, conditioned by receivers 230, demodulated by a demodulator 232, and processed by a RX data processor 234 to recover the data and signaling transmitted by the UEs. In general, the processing for uplink transmissions may be similar or different from the processing for downlink transmissions.

Controllers 240 and 280 direct the operation at node B110 and UE 120, respectively. Memories 242 and 282 store data and program codes for node B110 and UE 120, respectively.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal FDMA (ofdma) systems, and so on. The terms "system" and "network" may be used interchangeably from time to time. A CDMA system may use wireless technologies such as wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), CDMA 2000, and so on, with CDMA 2000 including IS-2000, IS-856, and IS-95 standards. TDMA systems may use wireless technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM). These various wireless technologies and standards are known in the art. W-CDMA and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3 rd Generation Partnership Project" (3 GPP). CDMA 2000 is described in a document from an organization named "3 rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP 2). For purposes of illustration, the techniques described below are directed to downlink transmissions in a W-CDMA system. It should be noted, however, that the techniques described herein may be implemented in accordance with other standards such as the institute of electrical and electronics engineers 802.11, 802.16(WiMAX), and 802.20.

In W-CDMA, the UE's data is processed as one or more transport channels for higher layers. These transport channels may carry data for one or more services, such as voice, video, packet data, gaming, and so on. These transport channels are mapped to physical channels of the physical layer. The physical channels are channelized using different channelization codes, after which the physical channels are orthogonal to each other in the code domain.

3GPP release 5 and beyond support High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), which is a set of channels and procedures that enable high speed packet data transmission on the downlink. For HSDPA, the node B sends data on a high speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH), which is a downlink transport channel shared by all UEs in both the time and code domains. The HS-DSCH may carry data for one or more UEs in a given Transmission Time Interval (TTI). The TTI is equal to one subframe of HSDPA and is the smallest unit of time in which a UE can be scheduled and served. The sharing of the HS-DSCH is dynamic and varies from TTI to TTI.

Table 1 lists some downlink and uplink physical channels for HSDPA and gives a brief description for each physical channel.

TABLE 1

Link circuit	Channel with a plurality of channels	Channel name	Description of the invention
				Downlink link	HS-PDSCH	High speed physical downlink shared channel	Carrying data for different UEs sent on HS-DSCH
Downlink link	HS-SCCH	Shared control channel for HS-DSCH	Signaling carrying HS-PDSCH
				Uplink link	HS-DPCCH	Dedicated physical control channel for HS-DSCH	Carrying feedback for downlink transmission in HSDPA

For HSDPA, the node B may use up to 15 16-chip channelization codes with spreading factor of 16 (SF-16) for the HS-PDSCH. The node B may also use any number of 128-chip channelization codes with a spreading factor of 128 (SF-128) for the HS-SCCH. The number of 16-chip channelization codes used for the HS-PDSCH and the number of 128-chip channelization codes used for the HS-SCCH are configurable. The channelization codes used for the HS-PDSCH and HS-SCCH are Orthogonal Variable Spreading Factor (OVSF) codes that may be generated in a structured manner. The Spreading Factor (SF) is the length of the channelization code. The symbols are spread using a channelization code of long SF to generate SF chips for the symbols.

The UE may be allocated up to 15 16-chip channelization codes for the HS-PDSCH and up to four 128-chip channelization codes for the HS-SCCH. The channelization code for the HS-SCCH is allocated to the UE at call setup and signaled to the UE via upper layer signaling. The channelization codes for the HS-PDSCH are dynamically allocated and transmitted to the UE by signaling sent on the HS-SCCH using one of the allocated 128-chip channelization codes.

HSDPA can also be considered to have: (a) up to 15 HS-PDSCHs, wherein each HS-PDSCH uses a different 16-chip channelization code; (b) any number of HS-SCCHs, each of which uses a different 128-chip channelization code. In this case, up to four HS-SCCHs and up to 15 HS-PDSCHs may be allocated to the UE. In the following description, HSDPA is considered to have: (a) a single HS-PDSCH with up to 15 16-chip channelization codes; (b) a single HS-SCCH with any number of 128-chip channelization codes. In the following description, reference to channelization coding is for the HS-PDSCH unless otherwise noted.

Fig. 3 shows a frame format in W-CDMA. The time axis of the transmission is divided into radio frames. These radio frames on the downlink are defined with respect to the time of the common pilot channel (CPICH). Each radio frame has a duration of 10 milliseconds (ms) and is identified by a 12-bit System Frame Number (SFN). Each radio frame is further divided into 15 slots, where the slots are labeled as slot 0 through slot 14. Each slot has a duration of 0.667 milliseconds and includes 2560 chips at 3.84 mega chips per second (Mcps). Each radio frame is also divided into 5 subframes, subframes 0 to 4. Each subframe has a duration of 2ms and spans 3 slots. The sub-frames of the HS-SCCH are time aligned with the radio frame of the CPICH. The sub-frame of the HS-PDSCH is shifted (or delayed) by two slots to the right relative to the sub-frame of the HS-SCCH.

The HS-DSCH carries transport blocks for the serving UE. A transport block is a block of data and may also be referred to as a data block, a packet, etc. Each transport block is coded and modulated and then transmitted on the HS-PDSCH.

HSDPA supports Hybrid Automatic Retransmission (HARQ), which is also referred to as Incremental Redundancy (IR). Using HARQ, the node B sends a new transmission of a transport block and may send one or more retransmissions until the UE correctly decodes the transport block or has sent the maximum number of retransmissions or some other termination condition is encountered. Thus, for a transport block, the node B sends a variable number of transmissions. The first transmission is referred to as a new transmission and each subsequent transmission is referred to as a retransmission. HSDPA supports asynchronous IR, which means that retransmissions are sent a variable amount of time after a previous transmission. In contrast, with synchronous IR, retransmissions are sent at a fixed time after the previous transmission. With synchronous and asynchronous IR, there is a time gap between successive transmissions of a transport block. During this time gap, transmission of other transport blocks may occur. Thus, the transmission of different transport blocks may be interleaved with HARQ.

For HARQ in HSDPA, the node B generates a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) of the transport block, adds the CRC to the transport block, and encodes the transport block and the CRC according to a coding scheme or coding rate to obtain an encoded block. The UE detects errors after decoding using CRC. The node B divides the encoded block into a plurality of redundancy versions. Each redundancy version may include different encoded information (or coded bits) of the transport block. For each transmission of a transport block, the node B may send one redundancy version. In HSDPA, the node B may select the order of the redundancy versions in order to send the transport blocks.

The use of HS-SCCH signaling provides control information for all new transmissions and retransmissions. However, the control messages sent by HS-SCCH signaling constitute overhead since they consume HS-SCCH coding (which is limited in number) and some power. To reduce the overhead of using HS-SCCH, it is desirable to eliminate HS-SCCH signaling. In one aspect, HS-SCCH signaling is eliminated for all new transmissions on the HS-PDSCH, and is used only for retransmissions. For background purposes, the following description will first describe how to implement transmission using HS-SCCH, and then how to implement transmission without HS-SCCH (which is also referred to as HS-SCCH-less transmission).

When control signaling is used for each transmission on the HS-PDSCH, the node B sends signaling on the HS-SCCH for each transmission sent on the HS-PDSCH. The signalling sent on the HS-SCCH is given in table 2. The first column of table 2 lists the different fields or types of information included in the signaling, the second column gives the size of each field, and the third column gives a brief description of what is transmitted by each field. The fourth and fifth columns, which describe the signaling when HS-SCCH is sent in the HS-SCCH transmission method (i.e., for all retransmissions), will be described below.

TABLE 2HS-SCCH information

HS-SCCH domain	Size (bit)	Using HS-SCCH	Size (bit)	Without HS-SCCH
					Channelized code set	7	Indicating one of 120 possible sets of channelization codes for HS-PDSCH	7	One channelization code assigned to a UE prior to transmission on HS-PDSCH
Modulation scheme	1	Indicating whether QPSK is or is	1	Fixation in QPSK

		16-QAM
					Private information	N/A	N/A	6	Set to "111110" to indicate no HS-SCCH operation
Transport block size	6	For selecting one of 254 possible transport block sizes	2	Four transport block sizes allocated to the UE; the UE may decide freely for the transmission of a new packet.
					HARQ process numbering	3	Indicating which transport block is being sent	3	Previously transmitted pointers
Redundancy Version (RV)	3	Indicating redundancy version and modulation	N/A	It is not required because a redundancy version with a fixed sequence is used, which is identified according to the retransmission ID below.
					New data indicator	1	Retransmission indicating whether current transmission is a previously received transmission	N/A	Not required, since all HS-SCCH signaling is only for retransmission
Retransmitting IDs	N/A	N/A	1	Identifying whether a current retransmission is a first or second retransmission
					Retention	N/A	N/A	1	Retention
UE identifier (UE ID)	16	Sending with signaling on HS-SCCH	16	Transmitting with data on HS-PDSCH

The signaling on the HS-SCCH includes transport format and resource related information (TFRI) and HARQ related information (or HARQ information). The TFRI includes a channelization code set, a modulation scheme, and a transport block size. The HARQ information includes a HARQ process number, a redundancy version, and a new data indicator. The signaling is processed in two parts. Part 1 comprises 8 bits for the channelization code set and modulation scheme. Part 2 comprises 13 bits for transport block size and HARQ information. The CRC is calculated for both part 1 and part 2. Part 1 is encoded with a rate 1/2 convolutional code, scrambled with the UE ID, and transmitted in the first slot of the subframe. Part 2 and the CRC are encoded with a rate 1/2 convolutional code and transmitted in the last two slots of the subframe. This enables the UE to recover the time critical information for part 1 from the HS-SCCH before data transmission on the HS-PDSCH.

Figure 4 shows data transmission on the HS-DSCH using signalling. The UE periodically estimates its received signal quality from the pilot and sends a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) on the HS-DPCCH. The node B has data to send to the UE and then schedules the UE for downlink transmission. The node B sends signaling to the UE on the HS-SCCH and sends the first transmission of transport blocks to the UE on the HS-PDSCH. The data transmission on the HS-PDSCH is delayed by two slots compared to the corresponding signaling transmission on the HS-SCCH.

The UE processes the HS-SCCH and resumes signaling to the UE. The UE then processes the HS-PDSCH according to the received signaling and recovers the transport blocks sent to the UE. The UE sends a positive Acknowledgement (ACK) on the HS-DPCCH if the transport block is decoded correctly, otherwise sends a Negative Acknowledgement (NAK). The UE also estimates the received signal quality and sends CQI on the HS-DPCCH along with the ACK or NAK. The feedback transmission on the HS-DPCCH is delayed by about 7.5 slots compared to the end of the corresponding data transmission on the HS-PDSCH.

The node B sends a retransmission of the transport block if a NAK is received from the UE and a new transmission of another transport block if an ACK is received. The node B sends signaling on the HS-SCCH and re-or new transmissions on the HS-PDSCH. The signaling indicates whether the HS-PDSCH carries a retransmission or a new transmission, as well as other information. Generally, the node B may send a new transmission of a transport block, and one or more retransmissions (if needed). As shown in fig. 4, the node B can transmit a plurality of transport blocks in an interleaved manner.

Fig. 5 shows data transmission to a plurality of UEs in HSDPA. At each TTI, the node B schedules the UE for data transmission on the HS-PDSCH. The node B sends signaling to the scheduled UE on the HS-SCCH and sends a transmission to the scheduled UE on the HS-PDSCH. Each UE that may receive data on the HS-PDSCH processes the HS-SCCH to determine whether signaling has been sent to that UE. Each scheduled UE processes the HS-PDSCH to recover the transport blocks sent to the UE. Each scheduled UE sends ACK/NAK and CQI feedback on the HS-DPCCH. UEs that are not scheduled in a given TTI can also send ACK/NAK for previous transmissions and CQI for the current TTI on the HS-DPCCH.

In fig. 5, the transmission on the HS-PDSCH and the signaling on the HS-SCCH for real-time traffic (e.g., voice over internet protocol (VoIP), gaming, etc.) are shown in solid shading. The transmission on the HS-PDSCH and the signaling on the HS-SCCH for other traffic (e.g., best effort service, etc.) are shown with diagonal hashing. Each transmission on the HS-PDSCH is associated with corresponding signaling on the HS-SCCH.

HSDPA is designed and optimized for applications like downloading large amounts of data. Many simulation results used in the design of HSDPA are generated according to a full buffer traffic model. This assumption leads to an HSDPA design that optimizes cell throughput rather than performance for delay sensitive applications, which can produce relatively small packets. Some of the conclusions of the current HSDPA design are:

1. as shown in table 2, the HS-SCCH carries a number of bits for signaling;

2. encoding and transmitting the HS-SCCH in a sub-optimal manner;

3. for some real-time traffic, the HS-PDSCH carries relatively large transport blocks;

4. the HS-DPCCH is transmitted continuously by each UE.

Much of the signaling on the HS-SCCH is used to support: (a) flexible selection of allocated channelization codes for HS-PDSCH, wherein channelization codes may vary from transmission to transmission; (b) the transport block size is flexibly selected from 254 possible transport block sizes; (c) for asynchronous IR, flexible choice of transmission and retransmission times; (d) flexible selection of redundancy versions; (e) flexible selection of modulation. All of these flexible features result in a large amount of overhead on the HS-SCCH.

Furthermore, the signaling on the HS-SCCH is split into two parts as described above to simplify the implementation of the UE. Delaying the HS-PDSCH transmission relative to the HS-SCCH transmission also simplifies the implementation of the UE, as shown in fig. 4 and 5. Both of these characteristics are sub-optimal and cause the overhead to become larger due to HS-SCCH.

The HS-PDSCH may carry transport blocks of different sizes to better match the data load of the UE. HSDPA supports 254 transport block sizes ranging from 137 bits to 27,952 bits. For transmission on the HS-PDSCH, the transport block size depends on the modulation scheme (e.g., QPSK or 16QAM) and the number of channelization codes used. For different numbers of channelization codes, different sets of transport block sizes may be used. For example, when one channelization code is allocated for the HS-PDSCH, 103 transport block sizes ranging from 137 bits to 1871 bits may be used.

A small transport block size will use more channelization code space. A spreading factor of 16 is used for the HS-PDSCH since it reduces the amount of signaling to transmit the allocated set of channelization codes while providing sufficient code space granularity for the data. This choice of spreading factor results in a small transport block size with a small effective code rate (which is rarely used for full buffered traffic). For example, all transport block sizes from 137 to 449 bits with QPSK have a coding rate of 1/2 or less on the first transmission. For VoIP, a full-rate frame for 12.2 kilobits per second (kbps) adaptive multi-rate (AMR) speech includes 317 bits. A typical transport block size for this full-rate frame has an encoding rate of about 1/3 on the first transmission. This excess capacity of typical transport block sizes results in a low coding rate for the first transmission, which results in the use of more radio resources for the full rate frame than is needed.

Each UE that may receive data transmissions on the HS-PDSCH continuously sends feedback information (e.g., CQI) on the HS-DPCCH. The feedback information improves the performance of data transmission on the downlink at the expense of uplink overhead and higher UE battery consumption. For data transmission on the HS-PDSCH, flexible scheduling of the UE requires the UE to continuously monitor the HS-SCCH and continuously transmit on the HS-DPCCH.

For the reasons described above, the HSDPA design with HS-SCCH signaling, while providing good performance for applications like the full buffer traffic model, is inefficient for applications with low throughput and/or delay sensitive data. Furthermore, the HSDPA design does not account for issues related to continuous packet connectivity, such as uplink overhead and UE battery life.

In one aspect, a node B sends a transmission to a UE on a shared data channel (e.g., HS-DSCH and HS-PDSCH) according to at least one parameter assigned to the UE prior to the transmission. For any new transmissions sent to the UE on the shared data channel, the node B does not send signaling on the shared control channel (e.g., HS-SCCH) (i.e., the node B sends HS-SCCH signaling only for retransmissions on the shared data channel), which can greatly reduce overhead. The UE processes transmissions received from the shared data channel according to the assigned parameters. The shared data channel may include channels of different layers (e.g., transport channels and physical channels) observed by the transport blocks or data packets. For HSDPA, the shared data channel may include an HS-DSCH and an HS-PDSCH, as an example. The shared data channel may include other channels of other wireless technologies.

In general, any number of parameters and any type of parameters may be assigned to a UE. For example, the assigned parameters may include any one or any combination of the following:

1. a channelization code parameter;

2. coding and modulation parameters;

3. HARQ or retransmission parameters.

The channelization code parameters may indicate a number of channelization codes and/or a particular channelization code available for transmission to the UE. The assigned channelization code may be any 16-chip channelization code and/or other channelization code that may be used for the HS-PDSCH. For example, a UE may be assigned a channelization code with a spreading factor of 32 or 64, where the channelization code occupies less code space than a 16-chip channelization code. The UE may process the shared data channel only for the assigned channelization code and ignore the other channelization codes.

The coding and modulation parameters may indicate how the data is coded and modulated. For example, the coding and modulation parameters may indicate one or more modulation schemes (e.g., QPSK and/or 16QAM), one or more transport block sizes, one or more coding rates, and/or the like, that may be used for transmission to the UE. The UE may process the shared data channel according to the assigned coding and modulation parameters. In one aspect, only QPSK is used, as shown in table 2.

The bits previously used for the HARQ parameters in the HS-SCCH operation mode are reused to indicate parameters that can be used for retransmission to the UE, such as previous transmission/retransmission related to the current transmission (no HS-SCCH pointer). A retransmission number (retransmission ID) for the retransmitted transport block is also sent in the retransmission to indicate whether the current retransmitted transport block is related to a previous transmission (if the current retransmission is a retransmission of a new transmission) or to a retransmission (if the current retransmission is a retransmission of a previous transmission). For each retransmission, the redundancy versions of the transport blocks can be sent in a particular order, where the particular order is previously known by the node B and the UE. For example, a first redundancy version may be sent in a first retransmission of a transport block, a second redundancy version may be sent in a second retransmission, a third redundancy version may be sent in a third retransmission, and so on.

In an aspect, if the UE supports the transmission of ACK/NAK feedback, such that the ACK/NAK feedback setting may indicate whether both ACK and NAK feedback are transmitted, only ACK feedback, or the like, the UE is set to ACK only feedback in the HS-SCCH free mode of operation. For a new transmission that does not send signaling on the HS-SCCH, when the UE encounters a decoding error, the UE cannot determine which cause the decoding error is due to: (a) the transport block is sent to the UE but the UE is decoded in error; (b) the transport block is sent for another UE, where the UE is receiving the transport block sent to another UE because the transport block is sent on the shared channel (the decoding is not correct because the UE ID used to encode the transport block is the UE ID of the other UE); (c) no transport block is sent to any UE. Therefore, the UE does not know when to send NAKs for its transport blocks. By sending only ACK feedback, NAK independence and erroneous signaling of these unrelated decoding errors due to transport blocks sent to other UEs can be avoided.

The assigned parameters may also include other types of parameters depending on the system design. For example, in an OFDM-based system, the assigned parameters may indicate one or more specific subcarriers for transmission to the UE. In a system supporting multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission, the assigned parameters may indicate the number of data streams that can be sent to the UE, one or more precoding matrices that can be used for transmission to the UE, and so on.

The shared data channels may include transport channels and physical channels, e.g., HS-DSCH and HS-PDSCH. Some parameters (e.g., coding parameters) may be used for the transport channel portion of the shared data channel, while other parameters (e.g., modulation and channelization coding parameters) may be used for the physical channel portion of the shared data channel.

In an aspect, one or more transport formats may be defined and assigned to a UE. Each transport format may be associated with one or more specific parameters for transmission. For example, a transport format may be associated with a particular set of channelization codes (including one or more channelization codes), a particular modulation scheme, a particular coding rate or transport block size, and so forth. The node B may send transmissions according to one of the transport formats assigned to the UE. If multiple transport formats are assigned to a UE, then the node B may use any of the transport formats for each transmission sent to the UE.

In general, a parameter may be any aspect related to data transmission, such as block size, coding rate, modulation scheme, HARQ parameters, and so on. The transport format may be associated with one or more specific parameters (e.g., block size and modulation scheme) and may be a convenient mechanism for communicating the parameters.

Furthermore, in general, the assigned parameters may be used for any shared data channel in any wireless communication system. To avoid signaling on the HS-SCCH for new transmissions, the allocated parameters may be used for HSDPA. The new subframe format or transmission mode for the HS-DSCH may be specified with one or more of the following characteristics:

1. no signalling is sent on the HS-SCCH for new transmissions, but only for retransmissions;

2. one or more specific channelization codes may be used for transmission to the UE;

3. one or more specific modulation schemes may be used for transmission;

4. one or more specific transport block sizes may be used for transmission;

5. setting HARQ to a predetermined sequence of asynchronous IR with a predetermined number of retransmissions, reference to previous transmission/retransmission related to the current retransmission, redundancy version based on retransmission version (e.g., first retransmission, second retransmission);

6. for each transport block sent on the HS-PDSCH, a UE-specific CRC is used.

Some of these parameters may be fixed, while others are configurable. In one aspect, channelization code and transport block size are configurable parameters, while other parameters are fixed. For example, the modulation scheme may be fixed to QPSK, the number of retransmissions may be fixed to two, the redundancy version sequence may be fixed according to the retransmission version, and so on. The fixed parameters are known previously by both the node B and the UE. The configurable parameters may be determined at the beginning of the call and may change during the call.

One or more transport formats may be specified for the UE. For example, the transmission format may be specified in the following ways:

1. a specific channelization code for the HS-PDSCH;

2. a particular modulation scheme (e.g., QPSK);

3. a particular transport block size;

4. HARQ type information set to an asynchronous IR having pointer information of previous transmission/retransmission, two retransmissions, and a predetermined sequence of redundancy versions;

5. a UE-specific CRC.

Multiple transport formats with different parameters may be specified for the UE. For example, two transport formats may be specified as two different transport block sizes and the same channelization codes, modulation schemes, and so on. In general, a transport format may be associated with any number of parameters and any type of parameter.

Thus, the parameters signaled on the HS-SCCH during retransmission can be fixed or configured/allocated prior to transmission. In one design, all parameters transmitted via signaling on the HS-SCCH may be processed as shown in the last column of Table 2. In this design, many of these parameters are fixed or configured/allocated such that no signaling on the HS-SCCH is needed for new transmissions. Moreover, in this design, a single channelization code and four transport block sizes may be used for transmission to the UE. Four transport block sizes may be selected according to the data requirements of the call. For example, for a VoIP call, a transport block size of 353 bits may be used for a 12.2Kbps sAMR-NB speech frame or a 12.6Kbps AMR-WB speech frame. A transport block size of 161 bits may be used for AMR-NB or AMR-WB silence descriptor (SID) frames. Other transport block sizes and/or different numbers of transport block sizes may also be used.

In an aspect, one or more of the channelization codes available for the HS-PDSCH may be allocated to the UE. In another aspect, a UE may be assigned a channelization code with a spreading factor greater than 16. The UE may then despread the received transmission using a channelization code that is longer than the shortest channelization code used for the shared data channel. Larger spreading factors reduce granularity in code space allocation and may improve channelization code utilization. For example, a UE with a small data payload size (e.g., for VoIP or gaming) may be assigned a channelization code with a spreading factor of 32, which then occupies half of the code space. The transmission sent using the SF-32 channelization code has twice the higher code rate than a comparable transmission sent using the SF-16 channelization code. For transport blocks that require a lower coding rate, HARQ can compensate for the higher coding rate by sending retransmissions. In another aspect, a UE can be assigned a time-varying channelization code (which can vary in a predetermined manner over time) or a different channelization code at different time intervals.

The allocated parameters for the UE may be given by one or more transport formats and/or in some other way. The assigned parameters for the UE may be determined during call setup at the beginning of the call, and the assigned parameters may be based on the requirements of the call. For example, the allocated transport block size may be selected according to data requirements, the allocated time interval may be selected according to call type (e.g., VoIP or gaming), and so on. The assigned parameters may also be modified during the call for various reasons such as changes in data requirements, system load, etc. Changes to the assigned parameters may be handled through reconfiguration mechanisms supported by the system. Thus, the assigned parameters may be static or semi-static, and may be configurable for each UE. The assigned parameters may be sent to each UE through upper layer signaling or through some other means before transmission on the shared data channel using the assigned parameters. For example, the assigned parameters may be sent at call setup using a layer 3 radio bearer setup message in W-CDMA or during reconfiguration using a radio bearer reconfiguration message.

Fig. 6 shows data transmission on the HS-DSCH using the assigned parameters. The UE periodically estimates the signal quality it receives and sends CQI on the HS-DPCCH. The node B has data to send to the UE and schedules the UE for downlink transmission. The node B processes the transport blocks according to the assigned parameters (e.g., the assigned transport format). Since this is the first (new) transmission, the node B does not send signaling on the HS-SCCH, and only sends the transmission of the transport block to the UE on the HS-PDSCH. The UE processes the HS-PDSCH according to the allocated parameters and recovers the transport blocks sent to the UE. ACK is sent on HS-DPCCH if the UE correctly decodes the transport block, otherwise nothing is sent. The UE also estimates the received signal quality and sends CQI along with ACK/nack on the HS-DPCCH. If the node B receives the ACK, the node B may send a new transmission of another transport block. In fig. 6, the UE does not send an ACK because the UE did not successfully receive the transport block (e.g., the UE did not receive the transport block at all or did not receive the transport block correctly). In an aspect, the node B will send a retransmission if the node B does not receive an ACK from the UE within a predetermined period of time. For example, if the UE does not send an ACK in the reverse direction, the node B will schedule a retransmission. Thus, as described in Table 2, the node B sends the new transmission without any signaling on the HS-SCCH, but will send the retransmission using the signaling on the HS-SCCH.

Fig. 7 illustrates data transmission to a plurality of UEs using the assigned parameters. The node B sends transmissions on the HS-PDSCH to UEs with the assigned parameters (these are shown with solid shading) and to UEs without the assigned parameters (which are shown with diagonal hashing). The node B signals on the HS-SCCH only to UEs that do not have the assigned parameters, or for retransmissions for UEs that have the assigned parameters, these are shown with diagonal hashes. The node B does not send signaling to the UE with the assigned parameters. As shown in fig. 5 and 7, radio resources can be saved by not transmitting signaling to the UE having the allocated parameters.

Fig. 8 shows a block diagram of a design of TX data processor 210 and modulator 220 of node B110 in fig. 2. For illustration, fig. 8 shows a processing unit to generate a transmission on the HS-PDSCH for one UE.

In the TX data processor 210, a CRC generator 810 generates a CRC for the transport block. The scrambler 812 may scramble the transport block, the CRC, or both the transport block and the CRC according to a UE identifier (UE ID) of the recipient UE. The UE ID may be a MAC ID or some other type of ID that may uniquely identify the recipient UE. The UE-specific CRC can be generated in various ways such that the CRC is dedicated to this recipient UE. For example, the CRC can be generated in a normal manner and then dedicated to this UE. This may be achieved by performing an exclusive or (XOR) operation between the calculated CRC and the UE ID. In general, UE-specific scrambling may be performed for all or any portion of the transmission, and may also be performed anywhere along the transmission processing path.

An encoder 814 encodes the scrambled block according to a coding scheme and provides an encoded block having a selected transport block size. The controller 240 may select the transport block size according to a CQI received from the UE, a transport block size allocated to the UE, and the like. HARQ section 816 divides the encoded block into a plurality of redundancy versions. For each transmission, HARQ unit 816 determines which redundancy version to send according to the HARQ control command from controller 240 and provides the selected redundancy version. Channel interleaver 818 interleaves (or reorders) the coded bits in the selected redundancy version. A symbol mapper 820 maps the interleaved bits to data symbols according to a selected modulation scheme for the UE. When using the assigned parameters, the modulation scheme may be fixed (e.g., fixed to QPSK).

Within modulator 220, a spreader 820 spreads the data symbols based on a channelization code assigned to the UE and provides data chips. These data chips are further processed and transmitted to the UE. Controller/processor 240 may receive feedback (e.g., ACK/nothing, CQI, etc.) from the UE and provide various parameters (e.g., UE ID, transport block size, HARQ pointer (indicating previous transmission/retransmission if the current transport block is a retransmission), modulation scheme, channelization code, etc.) for each transmission sent to the UE.

Fig. 9 shows a block diagram of a design of demodulator 260 and RX data processor 270 of UE 120 in fig. 2. In demodulator 260, a despreader 910 despreads the received samples for the received transmission based on the channelization code assigned to the UE, and provides despread symbols to a symbol buffer 912 and a HARQ combiner 914. Buffer 912 stores the despread symbols for possible combination with subsequent transmissions. HARQ combiner 914 may operate by one of: (a) pass the despread symbols of the current transmission from despreader 910 without combining; (b) the despread symbols for the current transmission are combined with one or more despread symbols for previous transmissions according to the HARQ control command from the controller 280.

In RX data processor 270, a symbol demapper 920 demaps the despread symbols from HARQ combiner 914 according to a selected modulation scheme. For example, symbol demapper 920 may provide log-likelihood probabilities (LLRs) for the code bits of the despread symbols. Channel deinterleaver 922 performs deinterleaving in a manner opposite to the interleaving performed by channel interleaver 818 in fig. 8. The decoder 924 decodes the output of the deinterleaver 922 according to the transport block size and provides a decoded transport block.

As shown in fig. 9, if the node B scrambles the CRC of the transport block, a CRC generator 926 generates a CRC of the decoded transport block, and a descrambler 928 descrambles the received CRC. If the node B scrambles the transport block, a descrambler 928 descrambles the decoded transport block, and a CRC generator 926 generates a CRC (not shown in fig. 9) for the descrambled transport block. In either case, the detector 930 compares the locally generated CRC with the received or descrambled CRC and determines whether the decoding of the transport block is correct or incorrect based on the comparison. Generally, UE-specific descrambling is performed at the UE in a manner that is opposite to UE-specific scrambling performed by the node B. For each transmission processed by the UE, the controller/processor 280 may provide various parameters (channelization code, HARQ pointer (a pointer indicating previous transmission/retransmission if the current transport block is a retransmission), modulation scheme, transport block size, UE ID, etc.).

The UE may perform blind decoding for the received transmission according to the assigned parameters. The UE may process the received transmission for each possible hypothesis until the transport block is decoded correctly or all hypotheses have been evaluated. The number of hypotheses depends on unknown factors at the UE. For example, if four transport block sizes are available for transmission, the UE decodes the received transmission for each transport block size of the four transport block sizes. If up to two retransmissions are sent for a transport block and the UE has HARQ pointer information for determining the redundancy version, the UE may process the received transmission for two hypotheses corresponding to whether the received transmission is a second transmission (i.e., a first retransmission) and a third transmission (i.e., a second retransmission). In this example, the UE may perform blind decoding for up to four hypotheses covering four possible transport block sizes.

The UE may evaluate the hypotheses in a sequential order selected according to the likelihood of each hypothesis occurring. For example, the UE may decode for a most probable transport block size, then decode for a next most probable transport block size, and so on. For example, if four transport block sizes are allocated to the UE and a larger transport block size is to be used more often than a smaller transport block size, the UE first performs decoding for the larger transport block size before performing decoding for the smaller transport block size.

Fig. 10 shows a process 1000 performed by a node B for data transmission without HS-SCCH signaling in the first transmission of a transport block. The node B assigns at least one parameter to the UE (block 1012). The at least one parameter may include at least one of channelization code, block size, modulation scheme, transmission format, retransmission parameters, and the like. For example, the at least one parameter may include a plurality of transport formats (e.g., a plurality of transport block sizes) available for transmission to the UE. The at least one parameter may be assigned during call setup at the beginning of the call to establish a radio bearer of the UE, during reconfiguration to change the radio bearer of the UE, and so on. The node B sends the at least one assigned parameter to the UE (block 1014). The node B then processes transmissions for the UE based on the at least one assigned parameter (block 1016). The node B may scramble all or a portion of the transmission with the identifier of the UE. The node B sends the transmission on a data channel shared by the plurality of UEs for processing by the UEs in accordance with the at least one assigned parameter (block 1018). If this is the first transmission, the node B will not send the transmission with HS-SCCH signaling, and if this is a retransmission, HS-SCCH signaling is used. Thus, the node B may disable transmission of downlink control information/signaling corresponding to transmission of a new transport block on the shared data channel.

Fig. 11 shows a process 1100 performed by a UE for data reception on the basis of no HS-SCCH signaling in the transmission of new transport blocks. The UE receives at least one parameter assigned to the UE, e.g., during call setup, reconfiguration, etc. (block 1112). The at least one parameter may comprise any of the parameters listed above. Thereafter, the UE receives a transmission on a data channel shared by multiple UEs (block 1114). The UE processes the received transmission based on at least one parameter assigned to the UE prior to receiving the transmission (block 1116). The received transmission may include one or more data packets (or transport blocks).

The processing performed by the UE at block 1116 may include: the received transmission is processed/decoded according to different transport formats (e.g., different transport block sizes) that may be used for the received transmission. The UE may select one transport format at a time, process the received transmission according to the selected transport format, terminate processing of the received transmission if the received transmission is decoded correctly, and repeat processing for another transport format if the received transmission is not decoded correctly.

If HARQ is used, the UE may determine whether the received transmission is a new transmission or a retransmission due to the received HS-SCCH (e.g., based on the decoding of the previous transmission, the number of retransmissions allowed, etc.). The UE may first process the received transmission as a new transmission to obtain a decoded packet and, if the decoded packet is erroneous, process the received transmission as a retransmission. Alternatively, the UE may first process the received transmission as a retransmission to obtain a decoded packet and, if the decoded packet is erroneous, process the received transmission as a new transmission. In both cases, the UE may process the received transmission for different hypotheses, where the different hypotheses correspond to different numbers of transmissions sent prior to the received transmission, different transport block sizes, and so on.

The processing in module 1116 may also include: it is determined whether the UE is the intended recipient of the received transmission. This determination may be accomplished by checking the received transmission with the UE's identifier (e.g., generating a CRC of the received transmission, descrambling the received CRC with the UE identifier, and comparing the descrambled CRC to the locally generated CRC). The determination may also be achieved by descrambling the received transmission with the UE identifier.

Fig. 12 is a block diagram of a controller 1200 that may be used to implement the techniques described herein at a node B. The controller 1200 includes: an integrated circuit 1202 for transmitting a control packet, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted data packet that was not transmitted when the previously transmitted packet was transmitted; an integrated circuit 1204 for transmitting a second data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the second data packet are derived from common data.

Fig. 13 is a block diagram of a controller 1300 that may be used to implement the techniques described herein on a UE. The controller 1300 includes: an integrated circuit 1302 for receiving a control packet, wherein the control packet includes information related to a previously transmitted data packet; an integrated circuit 1304 for receiving a retransmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data; the integrated circuit 1306 for obtaining common data based on information related to previously transmitted data packets, wherein the previously transmitted data packets and the retransmitted data packets are related to a sequence of data packets, the sequence of data packets including the first data packet. The first data packet has no control packet associated with it.

The UE may receive additional transmissions on the shared data channel and process each of the additional transmissions received in a similar manner based on at least one parameter assigned to the UE. The UE may discontinuously receive transmissions on the shared data channel, which is referred to as Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) or Discontinuous Reception (DRX). The discussion of this application will refer to DRX, but the discussion of this application is also applicable to DTX.

DRX operation has the following disadvantages: reducing the maximum data rate that can be provided to a given user and reducing the overall downlink capacity for delay sensitive traffic. The maximum data rate is reduced because the node B now transmits only occasionally to a given UE. For example, if the UE is dormant for three-quarters of the time interval, then the maximum sustained data rate that can serve the UE is 1/4 when DRX is not used. This is acceptable when small amounts of data are transferred (e.g. when the user is browsing a web page), but will become limiting when the user clicks on a link and requests a new web page to be downloaded. Another drawback of DRX is that it reduces the overall downlink capacity for delay sensitive applications.

In one aspect, DRX and DTX patterns on a UE are triggered by transmitting a control sequence in an HS-SCCH signal having the form of Table 3, wherein an Escape (Escape) sequence of bit signals is transmitted to the UE that is issuing the trigger order. Referring to table 3 below, in one implementation, the escape sequence is set to a predefined sequence of "11100000," which is eight bits of the channelization code set and modulation scheme; the transport block size information is also set to a predefined sequence "111101"; for signaling sent to a UE that gets a DRX/DTX mode control signal, the command type is set to a predefined sequence "000"; two bits are used to trigger the DRX/DTX mode, respectively. The DRX/DTX trigger is set to "0" if the mode is turned off, and is set to "1" if the mode is turned on.

TABLE 3 DTX/DRX information

HS-SCCH domain	Size (bit)	Value of
			Channelized code set	7	11100000 (predefined)
Modulation scheme	1	0 (predefined)
			Transport block size information	6	111101 (predefined)
Type of command	3	000(DRX/DTX control)
			Command (DRX trigger)	1	1/0
Command (DTX trigger)	1	1/0
			Command (Retention)	1	N/A (Retention)
New data indicator	1	N/A (Retention)
			UE identity (UE ID)/CRC	16	The mask being part of the CRC

In one aspect, the DTX/DRX control information is sent as a physical layer order transmitted in HS-SCCH signaling, from which the order is decoded after an escape code is detected in a control packet in the HS-SCCH signaling, which is typically used to transmit the channelization code set, modulation, and transport block size as shown in Table 3 above.

The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with an integrated circuit ("IC"), an access terminal, or an access point. The IC may include a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, electronic components, optical components, mechanical components, or any combination thereof operable to perform the functions described herein, and may execute code or instructions stored in, on, or in both the IC. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal or User Equipment (UE). Of course, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal. The processor and the storage medium may reside in a node B in a variety of forms as described herein. Additionally, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied on a computer program product, which includes a computer readable medium and its packaging materials.

The order of the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be interchanged without departing from the scope of the invention.

The previous description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (92)

1. A method for wireless communication with reduced shared channel overhead, comprising:

receiving a control packet on a shared control channel, wherein the control packet includes information related to a previously transmitted data packet on a transmission channel;

receiving a retransmitted data packet on the transmission channel, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data;

obtaining the common data from information relating to the previously transmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet relate to a sequence of data packets including a first data packet corresponding to a first transmission and having no control packet related thereto on the shared control channel, and wherein at least one parameter is received to process the first data packet prior to receiving the first transmission.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the previously transmitted data packet is transmitted over the transmission channel on a transmission medium shared by a plurality of user equipments, the previously transmitted data packet including identification information related to a particular user equipment.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting an acknowledgement message if all versions of the previously transmitted data packet are successfully acquired.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein transmitting the acknowledgement message comprises: an acknowledgement packet is transmitted in an uplink channel.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the uplink channel is a High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) uplink channel.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the information related to the previously transmitted data packet comprises a pointer to identify a location of the previously transmitted data packet in the sequence of data packets.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the control packet includes a slot number.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the control packet comprises a modulation scheme.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the retransmitted data packet is identical to the previously transmitted data packet.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the retransmitted data packet has a particular block size, the control packet further comprising a transport block size to specify the particular block size of the retransmitted data packet.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the transport block size is selected from four different possible block sizes.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the control packet further comprises:

a retransmission indicator identifying a number of retransmission attempts associated with the retransmitted data packet.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the control packet is transmitted on a high speed downlink shared control channel (HS-SCCH) channel.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

a command to initiate a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode is received.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

a command to initiate a Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) mode is received.

16. An apparatus for wireless communication with reduced shared channel overhead, comprising:

a control packet receiving module for receiving a control packet on a shared control channel, wherein the control packet includes information related to a previously transmitted data packet on a transmission channel;

a retransmission data packet receiving module for receiving a retransmission data packet on the transmission channel, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmission data packet are derived from common data;

a common data obtaining module to obtain the common data based on information related to the previously transmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are related to a sequence of data packets including a first data packet corresponding to a first transmission and having no control packet related thereto on the shared control channel, and wherein at least one parameter is received to process the first data packet prior to receiving the first transmission.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the previously transmitted data packet is transmitted over the transmission channel on a transmission medium shared by a plurality of user devices, the previously transmitted data packet including identification information related to a particular user device.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

an acknowledgement message transmitting module to: transmitting an acknowledgement message if all versions of the previously transmitted data packet are successfully acquired.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the acknowledgement message transmitting module comprises: means for transmitting an acknowledgement packet in an uplink channel.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the uplink channel is a High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) uplink channel.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the information related to the previously transmitted data packet comprises a pointer to identify a location of the previously transmitted data packet in the sequence of data packets.

22. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the control packet comprises a slot number.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the control packet comprises a modulation scheme.

24. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the retransmitted data packet is identical to the previously transmitted data packet.

25. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the retransmitted data packet has a particular block size, the control packet further comprising a transport block size to specify the particular block size of the retransmitted data packet.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the transport block size is selected from four different possible block sizes.

27. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the control packet further comprises:

a retransmission indicator identifying a number of retransmission attempts associated with the retransmitted data packet.

28. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the control packet is transmitted on a high speed downlink shared control channel (HS-SCCH) channel.

29. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

a receiving module to receive a command to start a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode.

30. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

a receiving module to receive a command to initiate a Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) mode.

31. An apparatus for wireless communication with reduced shared channel overhead, comprising:

a demodulator for receiving a control packet on a shared control channel and a retransmitted data packet on a transport channel, wherein the control packet comprises information related to a previously transmitted data packet on the transport channel, the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet being derived from common data;

a receive data processor coupled to the demodulator, wherein the receive data processor is configured to obtain the common data based on information related to the previously transmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are related to a sequence of data packets including a first data packet that corresponds to a first transmission and has no control packet related thereto on the shared control channel, and wherein at least one parameter is received to process the first data packet prior to receiving the first transmission.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the previously transmitted data packet is transmitted over the transmission channel on a transmission medium shared by a plurality of user devices, the previously transmitted data packet including identification information related to a particular user device.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising:

a transmitter to: transmitting an acknowledgement message if all versions of the previously transmitted data packet are successfully acquired.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the transmitter transmits an acknowledgement packet in an uplink channel.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the uplink channel is a High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) uplink channel.

36. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the information related to the previously transmitted data packet comprises a pointer to identify a location of the previously transmitted data packet in the sequence of data packets.

37. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the control packet comprises a slot number.

38. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the control packet comprises a modulation scheme.

39. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the retransmitted data packet is identical to the previously transmitted data packet.

40. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the retransmitted data packet has a particular block size, the control packet further comprising a transport block size to specify the particular block size of the retransmitted data packet.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the transport block size is selected from four different possible block sizes.

42. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the control packet further comprises:

a retransmission indicator identifying a number of retransmission attempts associated with the retransmitted data packet.

43. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the control packet is transmitted on a high speed downlink shared control channel (HS-SCCH) channel.

44. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the demodulator is further configured to receive a command to initiate a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode.

45. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the demodulator is further configured to receive a command to initiate a Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) mode.

46. A user equipment for wireless communication with reduced shared channel overhead, comprising:

a demodulator for receiving a control packet on a shared control channel and a retransmitted data packet on a transport channel, wherein the control packet comprises information related to a previously transmitted data packet on the transport channel, the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet being derived from common data;

a receive data processor coupled to the demodulator, wherein the receive data processor is configured to obtain the common data based on information related to the previously transmitted data packet, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are related to a sequence of data packets including a first data packet that corresponds to a first transmission and has no control packet related thereto on the shared control channel, and wherein at least one parameter is received to process the first data packet prior to receiving the first transmission;

a transducer coupled to the receive data processor, wherein the transducer is configured to generate audio based on the common data.

47. A method for wireless communication with reduced shared channel overhead, comprising:

transmitting a control packet on a shared control channel, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted data packet on a transmission channel;

transmitting a retransmitted data packet on the transmission channel, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet originate from common data, and

wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are associated with a sequence of data packets comprising a first data packet corresponding to a first transmission and having no control packet associated therewith on the shared control channel, and wherein at least one parameter is assigned and transmitted for processing the first data packet prior to transmitting the first transmission.

48. The method of claim 47, further comprising:

transmitting a second retransmitted data packet that is temporally located between the retransmitted data packet and the previously transmitted data packet, wherein the second retransmitted data packet is also derived from the common data.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the information is further related to the second retransmitted data packet.

50. The method of claim 47, wherein the previously transmitted data packet is transmitted over the transmission channel on a transmission medium shared by a plurality of user equipments, the previously transmitted data packet comprising identification information related to a particular user equipment.

51. The method of claim 47, wherein the retransmitted data packet is transmitted if an acknowledgement message is not received within a predetermined time period after transmission of a previously transmitted data packet.

52. The method of claim 47, wherein the information related to the previously transmitted data packet includes a pointer to identify a location of the previously transmitted data packet in the sequence of data packets.

53. The method of claim 47, wherein the control packet comprises a slot number.

54. The method of claim 47, wherein the control packet comprises a modulation scheme.

55. The method of claim 47, wherein the retransmitted data packet is identical to the previously transmitted data packet.

56. The method of claim 47, wherein the retransmitted data packet has a particular block size, the control packet further comprising a transport block size to specify the particular block size of the retransmitted data packet.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the transport block size is selected from four different possible block sizes.

58. The method of claim 47, wherein the control packet further comprises:

a retransmission indicator identifying a number of retransmission attempts associated with the retransmitted data packet.

59. The method of claim 47, wherein the control packet is transmitted on a high speed downlink shared control channel (HS-SCCH) channel.

60. The method of claim 47, further comprising:

a command to initiate a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode is transmitted.

61. The method of claim 47, further comprising:

a command is transmitted to initiate a Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) mode.

62. An apparatus for wireless communication with reduced shared channel overhead, comprising:

a control packet transmitting module for transmitting a control packet on a shared control channel, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted data packet on a transmission channel;

a retransmission data packet transmitting module for transmitting a retransmission data packet on the transmission channel, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmission data packet originate from common data, and

wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are associated with a sequence of data packets comprising a first data packet corresponding to a first transmission and having no control packet associated therewith on the shared control channel, and wherein at least one parameter is assigned and transmitted for processing the first data packet prior to transmitting the first transmission.

63. The apparatus of claim 62, further comprising:

a second retransmitted data packet transmitting module for transmitting a second retransmitted data packet temporally between the retransmitted data packet and the previously transmitted data packet, wherein the second retransmitted data packet is also derived from the common data.

64. The apparatus of claim 63, wherein the information is further related to the second retransmitted data packet.

65. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the previously transmitted data packet is transmitted over the transmission channel on a transmission medium shared by a plurality of user devices, the previously transmitted data packet comprising identification information related to a particular user device.

66. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the retransmitted data packet is transmitted if an acknowledgement message is not received within a predetermined time period after transmission of a previously transmitted data packet.

67. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the information related to the previously transmitted data packet comprises a pointer to identify a location of the previously transmitted data packet in the sequence of data packets.

68. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the control packet comprises a slot number.

69. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the control packet comprises a modulation scheme.

70. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the retransmitted data packet is identical to the previously transmitted data packet.

71. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the retransmitted data packet has a particular block size, the control packet further comprising a transport block size to specify the particular block size of the retransmitted data packet.

72. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the transport block size is selected from four different possible block sizes.

73. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the control packet further comprises:

a retransmission indicator identifying a number of retransmission attempts associated with the retransmitted data packet.

74. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the control packet is transmitted on a high speed downlink shared control channel (HS-SCCH) channel.

75. The apparatus of claim 62, further comprising:

a transmitting module to transmit a command to initiate a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode.

76. The apparatus of claim 62, further comprising:

a transmitting module to transmit a command to initiate a Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) mode.

77. An apparatus for wireless communication with reduced shared channel overhead, comprising:

a transmitter to:

transmitting a control packet on a shared control channel, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted data packet on a transmission channel;

transmitting a retransmitted data packet on the transmission channel, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet originate from common data, and

wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are associated with a sequence of data packets comprising a first data packet corresponding to a first transmission and having no control packet associated therewith on the shared control channel, and wherein at least one parameter is assigned and transmitted for processing the first data packet prior to transmitting the first transmission.

78. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the transmitter is further configured to:

transmitting a second retransmitted data packet that is temporally located between the retransmitted data packet and the previously transmitted data packet, wherein the second retransmitted data packet is also derived from the common data.

79. The apparatus of claim 78, wherein the information is further related to the second retransmitted data packet.

80. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the previously transmitted data packet is transmitted over the transmission channel on a transmission medium shared by a plurality of user devices, the previously transmitted data packet comprising identification information related to a particular user device.

81. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the retransmitted data packet is transmitted if an acknowledgement message is not received within a predetermined time period after transmission of a previously transmitted data packet.

82. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the information related to the previously transmitted data packet comprises a pointer to identify a location of the previously transmitted data packet in the sequence of data packets.

83. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the control packet comprises a slot number.

84. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the control packet comprises a modulation scheme.

85. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the retransmitted data packet is identical to the previously transmitted data packet.

86. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the retransmitted data packet has a particular block size, the control packet further comprising a transport block size to specify the particular block size of the retransmitted data packet.

87. The apparatus of claim 86, wherein the transport block size is selected from four different possible block sizes.

88. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the control packet further comprises:

a retransmission indicator identifying a number of retransmission attempts associated with the retransmitted data packet.

89. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the control packet is transmitted on a high speed downlink shared control channel (HS-SCCH) channel.

90. The apparatus of claim 77, further comprising:

a command to initiate a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode is transmitted.

91. The apparatus of claim 77, further comprising:

a command to initiate a Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) mode is transmitted.

92. A node B for wireless communication with reduced shared channel overhead, comprising:

an antenna;

a transmitter to, via the antenna:

transmitting a control packet on a shared control channel using the antenna, wherein the control packet has information related to a previously transmitted data packet on a transmission channel;

transmitting a data packet retransmitted on the transmission channel using the antenna, wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are derived from common data, and

wherein the previously transmitted data packet and the retransmitted data packet are associated with a sequence of data packets comprising a first data packet corresponding to a first transmission and having no control packet associated therewith on the shared control channel, and wherein at least one parameter is assigned and transmitted for processing the first data packet prior to transmitting the first transmission.