Mapping control information to a dedicated physical control channel

1. A method of wireless communication involving at least one mobile unit and at least one base station configured to exchange data over an air interface using first and second data channels and corresponding first and second control channels, the first control channel configured to carry control information associated with the first data channel and the second control channel configured to carry control information associated with the second data channel, the method comprising:

accessing control information associated with data to be transmitted over the first data channel;

mapping the control information for transmission over the air interface using the second control channel instead of the first control channel; and

transmitting the data over the air interface on the first data channel concurrently with transmission of the mapped control information over the air interface on the second control channel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein accessing the control information comprises accessing at least one of transport format combination indication, a retransmission sequence number, a happy bit, an acknowledgment bit (ACK), a negative acknowledgment bit (NACK), an absolute scheduling grant, and a relative scheduling grant.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein mapping the control information to the second control channel comprises mapping the control information to a transport format combination information field in the second control channel.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising forming at least one code word based on the control information.

5. The method of claim 4 , comprising transmitting the data on the first data channel and concurrently transmitting said at least one code word on the second control channel.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein transmitting the data on the first data channel and concurrently transmitting said at least one code word on the second control channel comprises transmitting a data on an uplink data channel and concurrently transmitting said at least one code word on at least one of an uplink control channel and a downlink control channel.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein transmitting the data on the first data channel and concurrently transmitting said at least one code word on the second control channel comprises transmitting a data on an enhanced dedicated physical data channel and concurrently transmitting said at least one code word on a dedicated physical control channel.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein transmitting the data and concurrently transmitting said at least one code word comprises transmitting the data and concurrently transmitting said at least one code word such that a time relation between the data and the code word is maintained.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising receiving configuration information indicating that data is to be transmitted using the first data channel and control information is to be transmitted using the second control channel.

10. The method of claim 9 , comprising configuring said at least one mobile unit for transmission of control information based on the received configuration information and configuring said at least one base station for reception of control information based on the received configuration information.

11. The method of claim 9 , comprising configuring said at least one mobile unit for reception of control information based on the received configuration information and configuring said at least one base station for transmission of control information based on the received configuration information.

12. A method of wireless communication involving a radio network controller, at least one mobile unit and at least one base station configured to exchange data over an air interface using a first data channel and exchange control information over the air interface associated with the data over a first control channel, comprising:

determining that the control information associated with data to be transmitted over the air interface using the first data channel is to be mapped to a second control channel configured to transmit, over the air interface, control information associated with a second data channel configured to carry data over the air interface; and

providing information to said at least one mobile unit and said at least one base station indicating that control information associated with data to be transmitted over the air interface using the first data channel is to be mapped to the second control channel so that the mapped control information is transmitted over the air interface using the second control channel instead of the first control channel, said transmission being concurrent with transmission of the data over the air interface using the first data channel.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein determining that control information associated with data to be transmitted over the first data channel is to be mapped to the second control channels comprises determining that at least one of extended transport format combination indication, a retransmission sequence number, a happy bit, an acknowledgment bit (ACK), a negative acknowledgment bit (NACK), an absolute scheduling grant, and a relative scheduling grant is to be mapped to the second control channels.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein providing the information comprises providing information indicating that said at least one mobile unit is to be configured for transmission of control information and providing information indicating that said at least one base station is to be configured for reception of control information.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein providing the information comprises providing information indicating that said at least one mobile unit is to be configured for reception of control information and providing information indicating that said at least one base station is to be configured for transmission of control information.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein providing the information comprises providing the information using at least one of radio resource control signaling and node-B application protocol signaling.