Methods and apparatus for managing control and data transmissions for low cost user equipments

1. A method of wireless communication by a base station (BS), comprising:

transmitting on a control channel using a first portion of resources of at least one Physical Resource Block (PRB) pair of a subframe;

providing an indication regarding whether a second portion of resources of the at least one PRB pair not used to transmit on the control channel is available for transmitting on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH);

allocating PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are available for transmitting on a control channel using a first resource allocation granularity that comprises an integer number of one or more enhanced Control Channel Elements (eCCEs); and

allocating PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are not available for transmitting on a control channel using a second resource allocation granularity that is different from the first resource allocation granularity.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication comprises one or more bits in the control channel.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more bits comprise a single bit indicating whether or not the second portion of resources is available for transmitting on the PDSCH.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more bits comprise multiple bits indicating which resources of the second portion of resources are available for transmitting on the PDSCH.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein:

the one or more bits indicate a subset of PRB pairs that are available for transmitting on a control channel.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the second resource allocation granularity comprises an integer number of one or more PRBs.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subframe comprises an LTE subframe.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control channel comprises an enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (e-PDCCH).

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein a bandwidth occupied by the control channel and the corresponding PDSCH is at or below a threshold.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the threshold is six resource blocks.

11. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for transmitting on a control channel using a first portion of resources of at least one Physical Resource Block (PRB) pair of a subframe;

means for providing an indication regarding whether a second portion of resources of the at least one PRB pair not used to transmit on the control channel is available for transmitting on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH);

means for allocating PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are available for transmitting on a control channel using a first resource allocation granularity that comprises an integer number of one or more enhanced Control Channel Elements (eCCEs); and

means for allocating PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are not available for transmitting on a control channel using a second resource allocation granularity that is different from the first resource allocation granularity.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the indication comprises one or more bits in the control channel.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the one or more bits comprise a single bit indicating whether or not the second portion of resources is available for transmitting on the PDSCH.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the one or more bits comprise multiple bits indicating which resources of the second portion of resources are available for transmitting on the PDSCH.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein:

the one or more bits indicate a subset of PRB pairs that are available for transmitting on a control channel.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein:

the second resource allocation granularity comprises an integer number of one or more PRBs.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the subframe comprises an LTE subframe.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the control channel comprises an enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (e-PDCCH).

19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein a bandwidth occupied by the control channel and the corresponding PDSCH is at or below a threshold.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the threshold is six resource blocks.

21. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to:

transmit on a control channel using a first portion of resources of at least one Physical Resource Block (PRB) pair of a subframe;

provide an indication regarding whether a second portion of resources of the at least one PRB pair not used to transmit on the control channel is available for transmitting on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH);

allocate PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are available for transmitting on a control channel using a first resource allocation granularity that comprises an integer number of one or more enhanced Control Channel Elements (eCCEs); and

allocate PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are not available for transmitting on a control channel using a second resource allocation granularity that is different from the first resource allocation granularity; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

code to transmit on a control channel using a first portion of resources of at least one Physical Resource Block (PRB) pair of a subframe;

code to provide an indication regarding whether a second portion of resources of the at least one PRB pair not used to transmit on the control channel is available for transmitting on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH);

code to allocate PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are available for transmitting on a control channel using a first resource allocation granularity that comprises an integer number of one or more enhanced Control Channel Elements (eCCEs); and

code to allocate PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are not available for transmitting on a control channel using a second resource allocation granularity that is different from the first resource allocation granularity.

23. A method of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving on a control channel using a first portion of resources of at least one Physical Resource Block (PRB) pair of a subframe; and

receiving an indication regarding whether a second portion of resources of the at least one PRB pair not used to receive on the control channel is available for receiving on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH),

wherein PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are available for receiving on a control channel are allocated using a first resource allocation granularity that comprises an integer number of one or more enhanced Control Channel Elements (eCCEs), and PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are not available for receiving on a control channel are allocated using a second resource allocation granularity that is different from the first resource allocation granularity.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the indication comprises one or more bits in the control channel.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the one or more bits comprise a single bit indicating whether or not the second portion of resources is available for receiving on the PDSCH.

26. The method of claim 24 , wherein the one or more bits comprise multiple bits indicating which resources of the second portion of resources are available for receiving on the PDSCH.

27. The method of claim 24 , wherein:

the one or more bits indicate a subset of PRB pairs that are available for receiving on a control channel.

28. The method of claim 23 , wherein:

the second resource allocation granularity comprises an integer number of one or more PRBs.

29. The method of claim 23 , wherein the subframe comprises an LTE subframe.

30. The method of claim 23 , wherein the control channel comprises an enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (e-PDCCH).

31. The method of claim 23 , wherein a bandwidth occupied by the control channel and the corresponding PDSCH is at or below a threshold.

32. The method of claim 31 , wherein the threshold is six resource blocks.

33. An apparatus for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for receiving on a control channel using a first portion of resources of at least one Physical Resource Block (PRB) pair of a subframe; and

means for receiving an indication regarding whether a second portion of resources of the at least one PRB pair not used to receive on the control channel is available for receiving on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH),

wherein PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are available for receiving on a control channel are allocated using a first resource allocation granularity that comprises an integer number of one or more enhanced Control Channel Elements (eCCEs), and PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are not available for receiving on a control channel are allocated using a second resource allocation granularity that is different from the first resource allocation granularity.

34. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the indication comprises one or more bits in the control channel.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 , wherein the one or more bits comprise a single bit indicating whether or not the second portion of resources is available for receiving on the PDSCH.

36. The apparatus of claim 34 , wherein the one or more bits comprise multiple bits indicating which resources of the second portion of resources are available for receiving on the PDSCH.

37. The apparatus of claim 34 , wherein:

the one or more bits indicate a subset of PRB pairs that are available for receiving on a control channel.

38. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein:

the second resource allocation granularity comprises an integer number of one or more PRBs.

39. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the subframe comprises an LTE subframe.

40. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the control channel comprises an enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (e-PDCCH).

41. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein a bandwidth occupied by the control channel and the corresponding PDSCH is at or below a threshold.

42. The apparatus of claim 41 , wherein the threshold is six resource blocks.

43. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to:

receive on a control channel using a first portion of resources of at least one Physical Resource Block (PRB) pair of a subframe; and

receive an indication regarding whether a second portion of resources of the at least one PRB pair not used to receive on the control channel is available for receiving on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH),

wherein PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are available for receiving on a control channel are allocated using a first resource allocation granularity that comprises an integer number of one or more enhanced Control Channel Elements (eCCEs), and PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are not available for receiving on a control channel are allocated using a second resource allocation granularity that is different from the first resource allocation granularity; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

44. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

code to receive on a control channel using a first portion of resources of at least one Physical Resource Block (PRB) pair of a subframe; and

code to receive an indication regarding whether a second portion of resources of the at least one PRB pair not used to receive on the control channel is available for receiving on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH),

wherein PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are available for receiving on a control channel are allocated using a first resource allocation granularity that comprises an integer number of one or more enhanced Control Channel Elements (eCCEs), and PDSCH resources of PRB pairs that are not available for receiving on a control channel are allocated using a second resource allocation granularity that is different from the first resource allocation granularity.