Systems and methods for enhancing physical downlink control channel capacity

1 . A method for enhancing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) capacity, the method comprising:

communicating, by a node configured to wirelessly communicate with a user equipment (UE), a transmission to the UE, the transmission including:

(1) a first PDCCH in a first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a subframe; and

(2) a second PDCCH generated by multiplying the first PDCCH by an orthogonal code and transmitted concurrently with the first PDCCH in a same OFDM symbol of the subframe;

multiplying, for every transmission, the first PDCCH by a first orthogonal code to generate a first coded signal;

multiplying the second PDCCH by a second orthogonal code to generate a second coded signal;

transmitting, in a same OFDM symbol, both the first coded signal and the second coded signal; and

utilizing a remaining PDCCH code space for data corresponding to the transmission.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the PDCCH code space comprises the first three OFDM symbols of the subframe.

3 . A method for enhancing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) capacity, the method comprising:

receiving at a user equipment (UE), a signal comprising a first PDCCH and a second PDCCH, the second PDCCH generated by multiplying the first PDCCH by an orthogonal code, wherein the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are communicated in a first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a subframe, and

wherein the first PDCCH has a different length than the second PDCCH.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

multiplying the first PDCCH by a first orthogonal code; and

upon determining the result is not zero, interpreting data corresponding to the signal.

5 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

multiplying the first PDCCH by a second orthogonal code; and

upon determining the result is zero, not interpreting data corresponding to the signal.

6 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

multiplying the second PDCCH by a second orthogonal code; and

upon determining the result is not zero, interpreting data corresponding to the signal.

7 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

multiplying the second PDCCH by a first orthogonal code; and

upon determining the result is zero, not interpreting data corresponding to the signal.

8 . The method of claim 3 , wherein a first orthogonal code and a second orthogonal code is generated by a node.

9 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are communicated in PDCCH code space of the signal.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the PDCCH code space of the signal comprises a first three OFDM symbols of a subframe corresponding to the signal.

11 . A system for enhancing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) capacity, the system comprising:

a user equipment (UE); and

a node configured to wirelessly communicate with the UE, wherein the node is configured to:

(1) generate a second PDCCH by multiplying a first PDCCH by an orthogonal code; and

(2) multiply the first PDCCH by a first orthogonal code to generate a first coded signal and multiply the second PDCCH by a second orthogonal code to generate a second coded signal; and

(3) communicate, in PDCCH code space of a same orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a signal to the UE, the signal including the first coded signal and the second coded signal.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the PDCCH code space of the signal comprises a first three OFDM symbols of a subframe corresponding to the signal.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the first PDCCH and the second PDCCH are communicated in a first OFDM symbol of the subframe.

14 . The system of claim 13 , further comprising utilizing a remaining PDCCH code space for data.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first PDCCH has a different length than the second PDCCH.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the orthogonal code is generated by the node.