Method of signalling uplink information

1. A method of signaling, comprising:

forming an ordered set of uplink scheduling information messages, each uplink scheduling information message being formatted to contain a subset of content of any subsequent uplink scheduling information message, such that the order in the ordered set determines the content of each uplink scheduling information message relative to preceding and subsequent uplink scheduling information messages;

puncturing each uplink scheduling information message into a symbol of a downlink user data allocation; and

transmitting from a device to a user, the downlink user data allocation, the uplink scheduling information messages being sequentially transmitted as part of the downlink user data allocation.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising setting a downlink bandwidth as an integer multiple of a sub-band set to a minimum terminal bandwidth.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein each uplink scheduling information message is punctured into a symbol of the downlink user data allocation in more than one sub-band.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein each uplink scheduling information message is transmitted in one of the sub-bands in which the user receives its downlink.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

a first uplink scheduling message contains a minimum content, and

the minimum content comprises hybrid automatic repeat request bits and a cyclic redundancy check.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each uplink scheduling information message subsequent to a first uplink scheduling information message comprises an additional user identifier and associated uplink scheduling data.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the symbol into which each uplink scheduling information message is to be punctured contains a plurality of tones,

the method further comprises:

setting a maximum number of tones in the symbol based on a maximum size required to transmit a largest uplink scheduling information message in the set; and

using a subset of the maximum number of tones for each uplink scheduling information message preceding the largest uplink scheduling information message.

8. The method according to claim 2 , wherein

the uplink scheduling information messages are transmitted in a sub-band of a downlink spectrum,

the uplink scheduling information messages schedule resources in an uplink spectrum, and

a location of the sub-band of the downlink spectrum indicates a relative position of the resources in the uplink spectrum.

9. The method according to claim 1 , for use in a UTRAN LTE system.

10. The method according to claim 4 , wherein

a first uplink scheduling message contains a minimum content, and

the minimum content comprises hybrid automatic repeat request bits and a cyclic redundancy check.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein each uplink scheduling information message subsequent to the first uplink scheduling information message comprises an additional user identifier and associated uplink scheduling data.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein

the symbol into which each uplink scheduling information message is to be punctured contains a plurality of tones,

the method further comprises:

setting a maximum number of tones in the symbol based on a maximum size required to transmit a largest uplink scheduling information message in the set; and

using a subset of the maximum number of tones for each uplink scheduling information message preceding the largest uplink scheduling information message.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein

the uplink scheduling information messages are transmitted in a sub-band of a downlink spectrum,

the uplink scheduling information messages schedule resources in an uplink spectrum, and

a location of the sub-band of the downlink spectrum indicates a relative position of the resources in the uplink spectrum.

14. The method according to claim 13 , for use in a UTRAN LTE system.

15. A method of decoding uplink scheduling information signaled on a downlink, comprising:

receiving at a device via a downlink, an ordered set of uplink scheduling information messages, each uplink scheduling information message being formatted to contain a subset of information content of any subsequent uplink scheduling information message in the ordered set;

decoding a minimum information content which comprises hybrid automatic repeat request bits and cyclic redundancy check information, in a first-decoded scheduling information message and checking for uplink scheduling information by applying a cyclic redundancy check; and

after decoding the minimum information content, decoding and checking each subsequent information message until all information messages in the set have been decoded and checked.

16. A method according to claim 15 , wherein

there are a plurality of formats for the uplink scheduling information messages,

a Viterbi algorithm is separately applied to each uplink scheduling information message format for the uplink scheduling information messages in the set to generate a table and accumulated metrics,

the table and accumulated metrics contain information regarding a format used in a predecessor uplink scheduling information message, and

the tables and accumulated metrics are stored, and

the uplink scheduling information messages in the set are decoded using information from the table regarding the format used in the predecessor message.