METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXTENDING COVERAGE FOR UL TRANSMISSION OVER E-DCH IN IDLE MODE AND CELL_FACH STATE

1 . A method for transmitting an uplink (UL) transmission over an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH) implemented in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), comprising:

the WTRU determining whether to activate transmission time interval (TTI) bundling based upon a condition;

the WTRU transmitting an indication of the use of TTI bundling based upon the determination; and

the WTRU transmitting the UL transmission.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the determination is based upon a downlink (DL) receive (Rx) power determination.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

calculating a power margin based on a pathloss estimate and maximum transmit power; and

activating TTI bundling on a condition that the power margin is insufficient to transmit enhanced transport format combinations (E-TFCs) in the minimum set.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether to activate TTI bundling further comprises:

determining a power of a last transmitted random access channel (RACH) preamble;

estimating a power headroom based upon the last transmitted RACH preamble;

comparing the estimated power headroom to a threshold; and

activating TTI bundling based upon the comparison.

5 . The method of claim 4 wherein TTI bundling is activated on a condition that the estimated power headroom is below the threshold.

6 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising gaining access to a common E-DCH resource.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein TTI bundling is activated on a condition that a packet can be transmitted in a single transport block.

8 . The method of claim 1 wherein the determining whether to activate TTI bundling further comprises:

determining whether a cell reselection is imminent; and

activating TTI bundling based upon the determination that a cell reselection is imminent.

9 . The method of claim 1 wherein the determining whether to activate TTI bundling further comprises:

receiving a configuration message containing at least one threshold value;

determining a transport block set (TBS) for a power margin calculation;

calculating the power margin;

comparing the power margin to the threshold; and

activating TTI bundling based upon the comparison.

10 . The method of claim 9 wherein TTI bundling is activated on a condition that the power margin is below the threshold.

11 . The method of claim 1 wherein the determining whether to activate TTI bundling further comprises:

determining a logical channel to be transmitted; and

activating TTI bundling based upon the determination.

12 . The method of claim 11 wherein TTI bundling is activated on a condition that a common control channel (CCCH) is to be transmitted.

13 . The method of claim 1 wherein the determining whether to activate TTI bundling further comprises:

determining whether a collision resolution phase is completed; and

activating TTI bundling based upon the determination.

14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising terminating a common E-DCH transmission.

15 . A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), comprising:

a receiver;

a transmitter; and

a processor in communication with the receiver and the transmitter, the processor configured to determine whether to activate transmission time interval (TTI) bundling based upon a condition, transmit an indication of the use of TTI bundling based upon the determination, and transmit the UL transmission.

16 . The WTRU of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a power margin based on a pathloss estimate and maximum transmit power, and activate TTI bundling on a condition that the power margin is insufficient to transmit enhanced transport format combinations (E-TFCs) in the minimum set.

17 . The WTRU of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to determine a power of a last transmitted random access channel (RACH) preamble, estimate a power headroom based upon the last transmitted RACH preamble, compare the estimated power headroom to a threshold, and activate TTI bundling based upon the comparison.

18 . The WTRU of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to receive a configuration message containing at least one threshold value, determine a transport block set (TBS) for a power margin calculation, calculate the power margin, compare the power margin to the threshold, and activate TTI bundling based upon the comparison.

19 . The WTRU of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to terminate a common E-DCH transmission.

20 . An integrated circuit (IC), comprising:

a receiver;

a transmitter; and

a processor in communication with the receiver and the transmitter, the processor configured to determine whether to activate transmission time interval (TTI) bundling based upon a condition, transmit an indication of the use of TTI bundling based upon the determination, and transmit the UL transmission.