Methods and devices for carrier activation/deactivation in a multi-carrier communication system
View Patent ↗The present invention relates to methods and devices for use in multi carrier communication systems in which secondary downlink and secondary uplink carriers may be dynamically activated/deactivated by means of transmitting an HS-SCCH order from a radio base station to a user equipment. The HS-SCCH order is encoded by the radio base station according to an order mapping. The order mapping maps a desired activation status of a set of carriers to a corresponding encoded HS-SCCH order. The user equipment interprets the encoded HS-SCCH order to derive the desired activation status of the set of carriers. By using an appropriate order mapping, operations in the radio base station and/or the user equipment may be simplified, e.g. by allowing the radio base station to calculate the encoded HS-SCCH order based on the desired activation status.
1. A method in a radio base station for signal interaction with a user equipment configured for multi carrier operation on a set of carriers including two or three secondary downlink carriers, wherein the method comprises:
encoding a High-Speed Shared Control Channel (HS-SCCH) order comprising order type bits and order bits, by encoding the order type bits and order bits to be computable from a decimal-to-binary conversion of a function of a variable V, wherein V is a function of a desired activation status of the secondary downlink carriers and of any secondary uplink carrier of said set of carriers, and wherein the desired activation status of a secondary carrier is represented by 1 if the secondary carrier is activated for the user equipment and represented by 0 if the secondary carrier is not activated or not configured for the user equipment; and
transmitting the encoded HS-SCCH order to the user equipment;
wherein
V =( D 2 +U 2 )+3 D 3 +6( U 4 +D 4 )+15 U 3 −9 U 3 U 4 +(1 −D 4 )(1 −U 3 )( D 3 +D 2 U 2 −D 3 U 2 −D 3 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
or
V=D 2 +U 2 +3 D 4 +6 D 3 +9 U 4 +15 U 3 −18 U 4 U 3 +(1 −D 3 )(1 −U 4 )( D 4 +D 2 U 2 −D 4 U 2 −D 4 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
or
V =( D 2 +U 2 )+3 D 4 +6( U 3 +D 3 )+15 U 4 −9 U 3 U 4 +(1 −D 3 )(1 −U 4 )( D 4 +D 2 U 2 −D 4 U 2 −D 4 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
wherein parameters D k and U l represent the desired activation status of downlink secondary carrier k and uplink secondary carrier l, respectively; and
wherein
D k =1 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is activated for the user equipment;
D k =0 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is not activated or not configured for the user equipment;
U l =1 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is activated for the user equipment; and
U l =0 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is not activated or not configured for the user equipment.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the HS-SCCH order comprises three order type bits x odt,1 , x odt,2 and x odt,3 , and three order bits x ord,1 , x ord,2 and x ord,3 , wherein the three order type bits and the three order bits are encoded according to an order mapping embodied within the table:
HS-SCCH order
Carrier activation status
Order type bits
Order bits
D 4
D 3
D 2
U 4
U 3
U 2
x odt, 1
x odt, 2
x odt, .3
x ord, 1
x ord, 2
x ord, 3
0
0
0
0
0
0
001
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
010
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
and wherein
D k =1 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is activated for the user equipment;
D k =0 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is not activated or not configured for the user equipment;
U l =1 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is activated for the user equipment; and
U l =0 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is not activated or not configured for the user equipment.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said function of the variable V is V+8.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said set of carriers includes no more than three secondary downlink carriers and no more than a single secondary uplink carrier.
5. A method in a user equipment for signal interaction with a radio base station, wherein said user equipment is configured for multi carrier operation on a set of carriers including two or three secondary downlink carriers, wherein the method comprises:
receiving a High-Speed Shared Control Channel (HS-SCCH) order from the radio base station, said HS-SCCH order comprising order type bits and order bits encoded such that the order type bits and order bits are computable from a decimal-to-binary conversion of a function of a variable V, wherein V is a function of a desired activation status of the secondary downlink carriers and of any secondary uplink carrier of said set of carriers, and wherein the desired activation status of a secondary carrier is represented by 1 if the secondary carrier is activated for the user equipment and represented by 0 if the secondary carrier is not activated or not configured for the user equipment; and
interpreting the received HS-SCCH order to identify the desired activation status of the set of carriers;
wherein
V =( D 2 +U 2 )+3 D 3 +6( U 4 +D 4 )+15 U 3 −9 U 3 U 4 +(1 −D 4 )(1 −U 3 )( D 3 +D 2 U 2 −D 3 U 2 −D 3 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
or
V=D 2 +U 2 +3 D 4 +6 D 3 +9 U 4 +15 U 3 −18 U 4 U 3 +(1 −D 3 )(1 −U 4 )( D 4 +D 2 U 2 −D 4 U 2 −D 4 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
or
V =( D 2 +U 2 )+3 D 4 +6( U 3 +D 3 )+15 U 4 −9 U 3 U 4 +(1 −D 3 )(1 −U 4 )( D 4 +D 2 U 2 −D 4 U 2 −D 4 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
wherein parameters D k and U l represent the desired activation status of downlink secondary carrier k and uplink secondary carrier l, respectively; and
wherein
D k =1 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is activated for the user equipment;
D k =0 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is not activated or not configured for the user equipment;
U l =1 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is activated for the user equipment; and
U l =0 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is not activated or not configured for the user equipment.
6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein said interpreting comprises using the order type bits and order bits of the received HS-SCCH order to look up the desired activation status of the set of carriers in a data structure stored in the user equipment, said data structure mapping the order type bits and the order bits to the desired activation status.
7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the HS-SCCH order comprises three order type bits x odt,1 , x odt,2 and x odt,3 , and three order bits, x ord,1 , x ord,2 and x ord,3 , wherein the data structure maps the order type bits and the order bits to the desired activation status according to the table:
HS-SCCH order
Carrier activation status
Order type bits
Order bits
D 4
D 3
D 2
U 4
U 3
U 2
x odt, 1
x odt, 2
x odt, .3
x ord, 1
x ord, 2
x ord, 3
0
0
0
0
0
0
001
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
010
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
and wherein
D k =1 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is activated for the user equipment;
D k =0 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is not activated or not configured for the user equipment;
U l =1 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is activated for the user equipment;
U l =0 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is not activated or not configured for the user equipment.
8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein said interpreting comprises identifying an entry in the data structure by deriving a pointer to the entry utilizing the order type bits and order bits of the received HS-SCCH order.
9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein said pointer is derived by computing said variable V and setting the pointer to indicate the entry that is located V entries after a first entry of said data structure.
10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the HS-SCCH order comprises three order type bits x odt,1 , x odt,2 and x odt,3 , and three order bits, x ord,1 , x ord,2 and x ord,3 , and wherein said pointer is derived as
p =bin2dec( x ord )−8 +z,
where
p denotes the pointer,
bin2dec represents binary-to-decimal conversion,
x ord =(x odt,1 ,x odt,2 ,x odt,3 ,x ord,1 ,x ord,2 ,x ord,3 ) and
z denotes the data structure entry corresponding to x ord =‘001000’.
11. The method according to claim 6 , wherein said interpreting comprises identifying an entry in the data structure by matching order type bits and order bits of the received HS-SCCH order with order type bits and order bits associated with entries in the data structure.
12. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising adapting radio reception and transmission operation in the user equipment to account for secondary carrier activation status as indicated by the received HS-SCCH order.
13. The method according to claim 5 , wherein said set of carriers includes no more than three secondary downlink carriers and no more than a single secondary uplink carrier.
14. A radio base station for signal interaction with a user equipment configured for multi carrier operation on a set of carriers including two or three secondary downlink carriers, said radio base station comprising:
digital data processing circuitry configured to encode a High-Speed Shared Control Channel (HS-SCCH) order comprising order type bits and order bits, by encoding the order type bits and order bits to be computable from a decimal-to-binary conversion of a function of a variable V, wherein V is a function of a desired activation status of the secondary downlink carriers and of any secondary uplink carrier of said set of carriers, and wherein the desired activation status of a secondary carrier is represented by 1 if the secondary carrier is activated for the user equipment and represented by 0 if the secondary carrier is not activated or not configured for the user equipment; and
a transmitter configured to transmit the encoded HS-SCCH order to the user equipment;
wherein
V =( D 2 +U 2 )+3 D 3 +6( U 4 +D 4 )+15 U 3 −9 U 3 U 4 +(1 −D 4 )(1 −U 3 )( D 3 +D 2 U 2 −D 3 U 2 −D 3 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
or
V=D 2 +U 2 +3 D 4 +6 D 3 +9 U 4 +15 U 3 −18 U 4 U 3 +(1 −D 3 )(1 −U 4 )( D 4 +D 2 U 2 −D 4 U 2 −D 4 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
or
V =( D 2 +U 2 )+3 D 4 +6( U 3 +D 3 )+15 U 4 −9 U 3 U 4 +(1 −D 3 )(1 −U 4 )( D 4 +D 2 U 2 −D 4 U 2 −D 4 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
wherein parameters D k and U l represent the desired activation status of downlink secondary carrier k and uplink secondary carrier l, respectively; and
wherein
D k =1 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is activated for the user equipment;
D k =0 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is not activated or not configured for the user equipment;
U l =1 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is activated for the user equipment; and
U l =0 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is not activated or not configured for the user equipment.
15. The radio base station according to claim 14 , wherein the digital data processing circuitry is configured to encode the HS-SCCH order to comprise three order type bits x odt,1 , x odt,2 and x odt,3 , and three order bits x ord,1 , x ord,2 and x ord,3 , wherein the digital data processing circuitry is configured to encode the three order type bits and the three order bits according to an order mapping embodied within the table:
HS-SCCH order
Carrier activation status
Order type bits
Order bits
D 4
D 3
D 2
U 4
U 3
U 2
x odt, 1
x odt, 2
x odt, .3
x ord, 1
x ord, 2
x ord, 3
0
0
0
0
0
0
001
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
010
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
and wherein
D k =1 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is activated for the user equipment;
D k =0 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is not activated or not configured for the user equipment;
U l =1 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is activated for the user equipment; and
U l =0 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is not activated or not configured for the user equipment.
16. The radio base station according to claim 14 , wherein said function of the variable V is V+8.
17. The radio base station according to claim 14 , wherein said set of carriers includes no more than three secondary downlink carriers and no more than a single secondary uplink carrier.
18. A user equipment configurable for multi carrier operation on a set of carriers including two or three secondary downlink carriers, said user equipment comprising:
a radio transmitter;
a radio receiver configured to receive a High-Speed Shared Control Channel (HS-SCCH) order from a radio base station, said HS-SCCH order comprising order type bits and order bits, said order type bits and order bits encoded such that the order type bits and order bits are computable from a decimal-to-binary conversion of a function of a variable V, wherein V is a function of a desired activation status of the secondary downlink carriers and of any secondary uplink carrier of said set of carriers, and wherein the desired activation status of a secondary carrier is represented by 1 if the secondary carrier is activated for the user equipment and represented by 0 if the secondary carrier is not activated or not configured for the user equipment; and
digital data processing circuitry configured to interpret the received HS-SCCH order to identify the desired activation status of the set of carriers;
wherein
V =( D 2 +U 2 )+3 D 3 +6( U 4 +D 4 )+15 U 3 −9 U 3 U 4 +(1 −D 4 )(1 −U 3 )( D 3 +D 2 U 2 −D 3 U 2 −D 3 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
or
V=D 2 +U 2 +3 D 4 +6 D 3 +9 U 4 +15 U 3 −18 U 4 U 3 +(1 −D 3 )(1 −U 4 )( D 4 +D 2 U 2 −D 4 U 2 −D 4 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
or
V =( D 2 +U 2 )+3 D 4 +6( U 3 +D 3 )+15 U 4 −9 U 3 U 4 +(1 −D 3 )(1 −U 4 )( D 4 +D 2 U 2 −D 4 U 2 −D 4 D 2 )(−1 +D 2 +U 2 )
wherein parameters D k and U l represent the desired activation status of downlink secondary carrier k and uplink secondary carrier l, respectively; and
wherein
D k =1 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is activated for the user equipment;
D k =0 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is not activated or not configured for the user equipment;
U l =1 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is activated for the user equipment; and
U l =0 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is not activated or not configured for the user equipment.
19. The user equipment according to claim 18 , further comprising a memory configured to store a data structure that maps the order type bits and the order bits to the desired activation status, and wherein said digital data processing circuitry is configured to use the order type bits and order bits of the received HS-SCCH order to look up the desired activation status of the set of carriers in said data structure.
20. The user equipment according to claim 19 , wherein the HS-SCCH order comprises three order type bits x odt,1 , x odt,2 and x odt,3 , and three order bits x ord,1 , x ord,2 and x ord,3 , wherein said data structure maps the order type bits and the order bits to the desired activation status according to the table:
HS-SCCH order
Carrier activation status
Order type bits
Order bits
D 4
D 3
D 2
U 4
U 3
U 2
x odt, 1
x odt, 2
x odt, .3
x ord, 1
x ord, 2
x ord, 3
0
0
0
0
0
0
001
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
010
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
and wherein
D k =1 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is activated for the user equipment;
D k =0 indicates that secondary downlink carrier k is not activated or not configured for the user equipment;
U l =1 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is activated for the user equipment; and
U l =0 indicates that secondary uplink carrier l is not activated or not configured for the user equipment.
21. The user equipment according to claim 19 , wherein said digital data processing circuitry is configured to identify an entry in the data structure by deriving a pointer to the entry utilizing the order type bits and order bits of the received HS-SCCH order, and wherein said data structure is stored in the memory to allow identification of an entry in the data structure by deriving a pointer to the entry utilizing the order type bits and order bits of the received HS-SCCH order.
22. The user equipment according to claim 21 , wherein said digital data processing circuitry is configured to derive said pointer by computing said variable V and setting the pointer to indicate the entry that is located V entries after a first entry of said data structure.
23. The user equipment according to claim 21 , wherein the HS-SCCH order comprises three order type bits x odt,1 , x odt,2 and x odt,3 , and three order bits x ord,1 , x ord,2 and x ord,3 , and wherein said digital data processing circuitry is configured to derive said pointer as
p =bin2dec( x ord )−8 +z,
where
p denotes the pointer,
bin2dec represents binary-to-decimal conversion,
x ord =(x odt,1 ,x odt,2 ,x odt,3 ,x ord,1 ,x ord,2 ,x ord,3 ) and
z denotes the data structure entry corresponding to x ord =‘001000’.
24. The user equipment according to claim 19 , wherein said digital data processing circuitry is configured to identify an entry in the data structure by matching order type bits and order bits of the received HS-SCCH order with order type and order bits associated with entries in the data structure.
25. The user equipment according to claim 18 , wherein said digital data processing circuitry is configured to adapt operation of the radio receiver and radio transmitter to account for secondary carrier activation status as indicated by the received HS-SCCH order.
26. The user equipment according to claim 18 , wherein said set of carriers includes no more than three secondary downlink carriers and no more than a single secondary uplink carrier.