Multi-carrier modulation with hierarchical resource allocation
View Patent ↗Methods and systems for communicating in a multi-carrier communication system are disclosed. Radio resources may be organized in at least three hierarchical levels. The hierarchical levels may comprise macroblocks, blocks, and radio resource elements. A macroblock may contain a plurality of blocks and a block may contain a plurality of radio resource elements. The radio resource elements may further correspond to subcarriers in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. An index in a control message may specify a modulation and/or coding scheme (MCS) pattern indicting a MCS for each block within a macroblock. In an embodiment, fewer bits are used by the index to specify a MCS pattern that is used statistically more frequently, and more bits are used by the index to specify a MCS pattern that is used statistically less frequently. Signals may be transmitted over the plurality of macroblocks.
1. A method of communication by a base station in a multi-carrier communication system, the method comprising:
organizing radio resources in at least three hierarchical levels comprising macroblock, block, and radio resource element, wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks and a block contains a plurality of radio resource elements corresponding to subcarriers in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, wherein more bits are used to identify a physical or logical location of a block than to identify a physical or logical location of a macroblock;
specifying with an index in a control message a modulation and/or coding scheme (MCS) pattern indicating a MCS for each block within a macroblock, wherein:
fewer bits are used by the index to specify a MCS pattern that is used statistically more frequently; and
more bits are used by the index to specify a MCS pattern that is used statistically less frequently; and
transmitting signals over a plurality of macroblocks.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a block composition of a macroblock is preconfigured by the base station and indicated in a control message sent to a mobile station served by the base station.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks located in a same frequency channel of the multi-carrier communication system.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks located in different radio frequency channels of the multi-carrier communication system.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks located in a radio frequency channel below 1 GHz and a plurality of blocks located in another radio frequency channel above 1.5 GHz.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MCS pattern indicates QPSK modulation for each block in the macroblock or 16QAM modulation for each block in the macroblock.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MCS pattern indicates QPSK modulation for some blocks in the macroblock and 16QAM modulation for other blocks in the macroblock.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of macroblocks are further organized into a superblock.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the superblock contains a plurality of macroblocks located in different radio frequency channels of the multi-carrier communication system.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein data contained in each block in a macroblock is encoded separately.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein data contained in a plurality of blocks in a macroblock is encoded together.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein a MCS index table is stored in the base station, wherein each entry of the MCS index table indicates mapping of a MCS index and a corresponding MCS pattern of a plurality of blocks in a macroblock.
13. A method of communication by a mobile station in a multi-carrier communication system, the method comprising:
receiving signals over a plurality of macroblocks indicative of radio frequency resources, wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks, and a block contains a plurality of radio resource elements corresponding to a subcarrier in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, wherein the number of bits that identify a physical or logical location of a block is great than the number of bits that identify a physical or logical location of a macroblock; and
decoding or demodulating the signals according to an index in a control message, wherein the index specifies a modulation and/or coding scheme (MCS) pattern indicating a MCS for each block within the macroblock, wherein fewer bits are used for the index to specify a MCS pattern that is used statistically more frequently; and
wherein more bits are used for the index to indicate a MCS pattern that is used statistically less frequently.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein a block composition of a macroblock is preconfigured and indicated in a control message.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks located in a same frequency channel of the multi-carrier communication system.
16. The method of claim 13 , wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks located in different radio frequency channels of the multi-carrier communication system.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks located in a radio frequency channel below 1 GHz and a plurality of blocks located in another radio frequency channel above 1.5 GHz.
18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the MCS pattern indicates QPSK for each block in the macroblock or 16QAM modulation for each block in the macroblock.
19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the MCS pattern indicates QPSK modulation for some blocks in the macroblock and 16QAM modulation for other blocks in the macroblock.
20. The method of claim 13 , wherein a plurality of macroblocks are further organized into a superblock.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the superblock contains a plurality of macroblocks located in different radio frequency channels of the communication system.
22. The method of claim 13 , wherein data contained in each block in a macroblock is encoded separately.
23. The method of claim 13 , wherein data contained in a plurality of blocks in a macroblock is encoded together.
24. The method of claim 13 , wherein a MCS index table is stored in the mobile station, wherein each entry of the MCS index table indicates mapping of a MCS index and a corresponding MCS pattern of a plurality of blocks in a macroblock.
25. A base station in a multi-carrier communication system, the base station comprising:
an apparatus configured to organize radio resources in at least three hierarchical levels comprising macroblock, block, and radio resource element, wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks and a block contains a plurality of radio resource elements corresponding to a subcarrier in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, wherein more bits are necessary to identify a physical or logical location of a block than are necessary to identify a physical or logical location of a macroblock;
an apparatus configured to specify with an index in a control message a modulation and/or coding scheme (MCS) pattern indicting a MCS for each block within a macroblock, wherein:
fewer bits are used by the index to indicate a MCS pattern that is used statistically more frequently; and
more bits are used by the index to indicate a MCS pattern that is used statistically less frequently; and
an apparatus configured to transmit signals over the plurality of macroblocks.
26. The base station of claim 25 , wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks located in a same frequency channel of the multi-carrier communication system.
27. The base station of claim 25 , wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks located in different radio frequency channels of the multi-carrier communication system.
28. A mobile station in a multi-carrier communication system, the mobile station comprising:
an apparatus configured to receive signals over a plurality of macroblocks indicative of radio frequency resources, wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks, and a block contains a plurality of radio resource elements corresponding to a subcarrier in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, wherein a greater number of bits are used to identify a physical or logical location of a block than to identify a physical or logical location of a macroblock; and
an apparatus configured to decode or demodulate the signals according to an index in a control message, wherein the index specifies a modulation and/or coding scheme (MCS) pattern indicating a MCS for each block within a macroblock, wherein:
fewer bits are used by the index to specify a MCS pattern that are used statistically more frequently; and
more bits are used for the index to specify a MCS pattern that is used statistically less frequently.
29. The mobile station of claim 28 , wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks located in a same frequency channel of the multi-carrier communication system.
30. The mobile station of claim 28 , wherein a macroblock contains a plurality of blocks located in different radio frequency channels of the multi-carrier communication system.