Method and apparatus for communicating in an increased coverage area to a wireless communication unit

1. A method for increasing coverage in a wireless communication system, the method comprising, at a network element:

transmitting a signal on a frequency carrier to a wireless communication unit capable of operating in a first extended coverage mode of operation and a second non-extended coverage mode of operation wherein the signal comprises at least one resource block; and

transmitting an information block to the wireless communication unit, wherein the information block comprises:

a first indication of a number of resource blocks that are active within a communication cell of the wireless communication system; and

a second indication of a number of resource blocks per subcarrier used for coverage limited wireless communication units, wherein the second indication is of a reduced first number of resource blocks when operating in the first extended coverage mode of operation compared to a second number of resource blocks when the wireless communication unit is operating in the second non-extended coverage mode of operation.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the signal comprises transmitting the signal at a higher power level per resource block than in the non-extended coverage mode of operation.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a power requirement of multiple wireless communication units and scheduling the second number of resource blocks based at least on the determined power requirement of a second wireless communication unit.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving from a plurality of wireless communication units at least one from a group comprising: a path loss measurement, a channel quality indication, an indication of the transmit power that a wireless communication unit is applying and determining different numbers of resource blocks that are to be transmitted in the signal to the plurality of wireless communication units in response thereto.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising requesting from the plurality of wireless communication units at least one from a group comprising: a path loss measurement, an indication of the transmit power that a wireless communication unit is applying a channel quality indication, using a restricted number of resource blocks.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising assigning a plurality of wireless communication units to subframes that are transmitting at a suitable transmit power level per resource block.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising successively reducing the number of resource blocks that are to be transmitted in the signal to maintain communication with the wireless communication unit.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the first indication comprises a non-integer value of physical resource block being used in the signal.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the first indication comprises an indication of less than a single physical resource block being used in the signal.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising scheduling a first control channel region in a first portion of subframes for a given frame and scheduling a second separate control channel region in a second portion of subframes for the given frame, wherein the signal indicating a number of resource blocks that are being transmitted by the network element is transmitted in the second portion of subframes.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the signal comprises transmitting the signal within at least one from a group comprising: almost blank subframes, multimedia broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframes.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the wireless communication system is a long term evolution communication system.

13. A non-transitory tangible computer program product comprising executable code stored therein for increasing coverage in a wireless communication system, wherein the code is operable for, when executed at a network element, performing the method of claim 1 .

14. A network element for increasing coverage in a wireless communication system, the network element comprising a transceiver operably coupled to a control processor, wherein the control processor is arranged to:

transmit a signal on a frequency carrier to a wireless communication unit capable of operating in a first extended coverage mode of operation and a second non-extended coverage mode of operation wherein the signal comprises at least one resource block; and

transmit an information block to the wireless communication unit, wherein the information block comprises:

a first indication of a number resource blocks that are active within a communication cell of the wireless communication system; and

a second indication of a number of resource blocks per subcarrier used for coverage limited wireless communication units, wherein the second indication is of a reduced first number of resource blocks when operating in the first extended coverage mode of operation compared to a second number of resource blocks when the wireless communication unit is operating in the second non-extended coverage mode of operation.

15. An integrated circuit for a network element for increasing coverage in a wireless communication system, the integrated circuit comprising a control processor, wherein the control processor is arranged to:

transmit a signal on a frequency carrier to a wireless communication unit capable of operating in a first extended coverage mode of operation and a second non-extended coverage mode of operation wherein the signal comprises at least one resource block; and

transmit an information block to the wireless communication unit, wherein the information block comprises:

a first indication of a number of resource blocks that are active within a communication cell of the wireless communication system; and

a second indication of a number of resource blocks per subcarrier being used for coverage limited wireless communication units, wherein the second indication is of a reduced first number of resource blocks when operating in the first extended coverage mode of operation compared to a second number of resource blocks when the wireless communication unit is operating in the second non-extended coverage mode of operation.

16. A method for communicating in an increased coverage area in a wireless communication system, the method comprising, at a wireless communication unit capable of operating in a first extended coverage mode of operation and a second non-extended coverage mode of operation:

receiving a signal on a frequency carrier from a network element wherein the signal comprises at least one resource block; and

receiving an information block comprising:

a first indication of a number of resource blocks that are active within a communication cell of the wireless communication system; and

a second indication of a number of resource blocks per subcarrier used for coverage limited wireless communication units, wherein the second indication is of a reduced first number of resource blocks when operating in the first extended coverage mode of operation compared to a second number of resource blocks when the wireless communication unit is operating in the second non-extended coverage mode of operation.

17. A non-transitory tangible computer program product comprising executable code stored therein for communicating in an increased coverage area in a wireless communication system, wherein the code is operable for, when executed at a wireless communication unit, performing the method of claim 16 .

18. A wireless communication unit in a wireless communication system, capable of operating in a first extended coverage mode of operation and a second non-extended coverage mode of operation, the wireless communication unit comprising:

a receiver for receiving:

a signal on a frequency carrier from a network element wherein the signal comprises at least one resource block; and

an information block comprising:

a first indication of a number of resource blocks that are active within a communication cell of the wireless communication system; and

a second indication of a number of resource blocks per subcarrier being used for coverage limited wireless communication units, wherein the second indication is of a reduced first number of resource blocks when operating in a first extended coverage mode of operation compared to the second number of resource blocks when operating in the second non-extended coverage mode of operation; and

a control processor, operably coupled to the receiver and arranged to decode the signal to determine how many resource blocks to use in subsequent communications with the network element.

19. An integrated circuit for a wireless communication unit configured to operate in a wireless communication system, comprising:

a control processor arranged to decode a signal received on a frequency carrier from a network element wherein the signal comprises at least one resource block; and decode an information block comprising:

a first indication of a number of resource blocks that are active within a communication cell of the wireless communication system; and

a second indication of a number of resource blocks per subcarrier being used for coverage limited wireless communication units, wherein the second indication is of a reduced first number of resource blocks when the wireless communication unit is operating in the first extended coverage mode of operation compared to the second number of resource blocks when operating in a second non-extended coverage mode of operation.