Systems and methods for bundling resource blocks in a wireless communication system

1. A base station, comprising:

transmit path circuitry configured to transmit a downlink frame to a first mobile station, the downlink frame comprising time-frequency resource elements allocated in a plurality of physical resource blocks (PRBs),

wherein the base station is configured to selectively operate in either a frequency division duplex mode or a time division duplex mode, and to enable PRB bundling when operating in the frequency division duplexing mode and disable the PRB bundling when operating in the time division duplexing mode,

wherein the transmit path circuitry is configured to transmit, when the PRB bundling is enabled, the plurality of physical resource blocks from physical resource blocks allocated to the first mobile station using bundles having a bundle size that is a function of system bandwidth, and

wherein the transmit path circuitry is configured to use a same precoder for all physical resource blocks in a same bundle.

2. The base station as set forth with claim 1 , wherein the bundle size has a range from one physical resource block to three physical resource blocks.

3. The base station as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the bundle size is equal to one physical resource block when the system bandwidth is less than a first threshold.

4. The base station as set forth in claim 3 , wherein the bundle size is equal to two physical resource blocks when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the first threshold, but less than a second threshold.

5. The base station as set forth in claim 4 , wherein the bundle size is equal to three physical resource blocks when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second threshold, but less than a third threshold.

6. The base station as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the bundle size is equal to:

one physical resource block, when the system bandwidth is less than a first threshold and a resource block group (RBG) size is one physical resource block;

two physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the first threshold, but less than a second threshold and the RBG size is two physical resource blocks;

three physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second threshold, but less than a third threshold and the RBG size is three physical resource blocks; and

two physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the third threshold and the RBG size is four physical resource blocks.

7. The base station as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the first threshold is 11 resource blocks, the second threshold is 27 resource blocks, and the third threshold is 64 resource blocks.

8. A method of transmitting a downlink frame from a base station, the method comprising:

determining whether to enable physical resource block (PRB) bundling based on whether the base station configured to selectively operate in either of a frequency division duplex mode or a time division duplex mode is operating in the frequency division duplexing (FDD) mode or the time division duplexing (TDD) mode;

when operating in a TDD mode, transmitting physical resource blocks allocated to the first mobile station without using physical resource bundling;

when operating in a FDD mode, bundling physical resource blocks from physical resource blocks allocated to the first mobile station using bundles having a bundle size that is a function of system bandwidth;

for each bundle, precoding all physical resource blocks in a same bundle using a same precoder; and

transmitting the bundled physical resource blocks in the downlink frame, wherein the downlink frame comprises time-frequency resource elements allocated in a plurality of physical resource blocks.

9. The method as set forth with claim 8 , wherein the bundle size has a range from one physical resource block to three physical resource blocks.

10. The method as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the bundle size is equal to one physical resource block when the system bandwidth is less than a first threshold.

11. The method as set forth in claim 10 , wherein the bundle size is equal to two physical resource blocks when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the first threshold, but less than a second threshold.

12. The method as set forth in claim 11 , wherein the bundle size is equal to three physical resource blocks when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second threshold, but less than a third threshold.

13. The method as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the bundle size is equal to:

one physical resource block, when the system bandwidth is less than a first threshold and a resource block group (RBG) size is one physical resource block;

two physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the first threshold, but less than a second threshold and the RBG size is two physical resource blocks;

three physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second threshold, but less than a third threshold and the RBG size is three physical resource blocks; and

two physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the third threshold and the RBG size is four physical resource blocks.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13 , wherein the first threshold is 11 resource blocks, the second threshold is 27 resource blocks, and the third threshold is 64 resource blocks.

15. A mobile station, comprising:

receive path circuitry configured to receive, from a first base station, a downlink frame comprising time-frequency resource elements allocated in a plurality of physical resource blocks (PRBs),

wherein the mobile station is configured to selectively operate in either a frequency division duplex mode or a time division duplex mode, and to determine that PRB bundling is enabled when operating in a frequency division duplexing mode and that the PRB bundling is disabled when operating in a time division duplexing mode,

wherein the receive path circuitry is configured to receive, when the PRB bundling is enabled, the physical resource blocks allocated to the mobile station in bundles having a bundle size that is a function of the system bandwidth, and

wherein the receive path circuitry is configured to perform channel estimation on physical resource blocks in a same bundle based on an assumption that a same precoder was used in precoding all physical resource blocks in the same bundle.

16. The mobile station as set forth with claim 15 , wherein the bundle size has a range from one physical resource block to three physical resource blocks.

17. The mobile station as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the bundle size is equal to one physical resource block when the system bandwidth is less than a first threshold.

18. The mobile station as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the bundle size is equal to two physical resource blocks when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the first threshold, but less than a second threshold.

19. The mobile station as set forth in claim 18 , wherein the bundle size is equal to three physical resource blocks when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second threshold, but less than a third threshold.

20. The mobile station as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the bundle size is equal to:

one physical resource block, when the system bandwidth is less than a first threshold and a resource block group (RBG) size is one physical resource block;

two physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the first threshold, but less than a second threshold and the RBG size is two physical resource blocks;

three physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second threshold, but less than a third threshold and the RBG size is three physical resource blocks; and

two physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the third threshold and the RBG size is four physical resource blocks.

21. The mobile station as set forth in claim 20 , wherein the first threshold is 11 resource blocks, the second threshold is 27 resource blocks, and the third threshold is 64 resource blocks.

22. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a mobile station from a first base station, a downlink frame comprising time-frequency resource elements allocated in a plurality of physical resource blocks (PRBs),

wherein the mobile station is configured to selectively operate in either a frequency division duplex mode or a time division duplex mode, and to determine that PRB bundling is enabled when operating in a frequency division duplexing mode and that the PRB bundling is disabled when operating in a time division duplexing mode,

wherein the mobile station is configured to receive, when the PRB bundling is enabled, the physical resource blocks allocated to the mobile station in bundles having a bundle size that is a function of the system bandwidth, and

wherein the mobile station is configured to perform channel estimation on physical resource blocks in a same bundle based on an assumption that a same precoder was used in precoding all physical resource blocks in the same bundle.

23. The method as set forth with claim 22 , wherein the bundle size has a range from one physical resource block to three physical resource blocks.

24. The method as set forth in claim 22 , wherein the bundle size is equal to one physical resource block when the system bandwidth is less than a first threshold.

25. The method as set forth in claim 22 , wherein the bundle size is equal to two physical resource blocks when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the first threshold, but less than a second threshold.

26. The method as set forth in claim 25 , wherein the bundle size is equal to three physical resource blocks when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second threshold, but less than a third threshold.

27. The method as set forth in claim 22 , wherein the bundle size is equal to:

one physical resource block, when the system bandwidth is less than a first threshold and a resource block group (RBG) size is one physical resource block;

two physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the first threshold, but less than a second threshold and the RBG size is two physical resource blocks;

three physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second threshold, but less than a third threshold and the RBG size is three physical resource blocks; and

two physical resource blocks, when the system bandwidth is greater than or equal to the third threshold and the RBG size is four physical resource blocks.

28. The method as set forth in claim 27 , wherein the first threshold is 11 resource blocks, the second threshold is 27 resource blocks, and the third threshold is 64 resource blocks.