Methods and apparatus for cellular broadcasting and communication system
In a cellular wireless network, methods and apparatus are disclosed for a signal broadcasting scheme that can be individually augmented for users with poor reception. The network employs a first downlink channel for broadcasting data to all mobile stations, a second downlink channel for sending signals to a specific mobile station in a cell, and an uplink channel for feeding back information to the base station. To achieve a certain user reception quality, the system adjusts its broadcasting parameters based on the statistical analysis of the feedback data. If some users still require better reception, the system individually augments their broadcast signals via the second downlink channels. Methods and apparatus are also disclosed for synchronization of data distribution by base stations, which, in part, allows the receivers to combine the receiving signals and improve their reception quality.
1. A method for a mobile device to receive data packets in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) wireless communication system operating on multiple radio-frequency (RF) bands, the method comprising:
receiving scheduling information from a serving base station, the scheduling information indicating an allocation of airlink resources in a first RF band and a second RF band for receiving a first signal with a first frame structure having first frame boundaries and a second signal with a second frame structure having second frame boundaries, respectively, by the mobile device, the first RF band being different than the second RF band; and
receiving concurrently the first signal via the first RF band using a first RF receiver circuitry and the second signal via the second RF band using a second RF receiver circuitry, each of the first and second signals carrying data packets;
wherein:
the first frame boundaries of the first frame structure and the second frame boundaries of the second frame structure are aligned in time for concurrent reception in the two RF bands;
the first frame structure has a first subframe configuration and the second frame structure has a second subframe configuration, the first subframe configuration being associated with different traffic characteristics than the second subframe configuration; and
the received scheduling information is utilized to enable the concurrent reception of the first signal in the first RF band and the second signal in the second RF band.
2. The method in claim 1 , wherein the first signal is a broadcast signal and the second signal is a regular signal carrying data for an individual mobile device.
3. The method in claim 1 , wherein the first and second frame structures have a plurality of subframes and a broadcast subframe and a regular subframe are allocated in the first RF band or the second RF band.
4. The method in claim 1 , wherein the first and second frame structures have a plurality of subframes and a broadcast subframe is allocated in the first RF band and a regular subframe is allocated in the second RF band.
5. The method in claim 1 , wherein the scheduling information is indicative of a modulation and coding scheme used for the allocated airlink resources in the first RF band or the second RF band.
6. The method in claim 1 , wherein the scheduling information is selected based on a transmission technology used for the allocated airlink resources in the first RF band or the second RF band.
7. A method for transmitting data packets from a base station to mobile stations in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) wireless communication system operating on multiple radio-frequency (RF) bands, the method comprising:
transmitting scheduling information to a mobile device, the scheduling information indicating an allocation of airlink resources in a first RF band and a second RF band for transmitting a first signal with a first frame structure having first frame boundaries and a second signal with a second frame structure having second frame boundaries to the same mobile device, the first RF band being different than the second RF band; and
transmitting to the mobile device the first signal using the first RF band and the second signal using the second RF band during a concurrent time period, each of the first and second signals carrying data packets;
wherein:
the first frame structure has a first subframe configuration and the second frame structure has a second subframe configuration, the first subframe configuration being associated with different traffic characteristics than the second subframe configuration; and
the first and second signals are concurrently transmitted so that the first frame boundaries of the first frame structure and the second frame boundaries of the second frame structure are aligned in time, the concurrent transmission in accordance with the scheduled airlink resources over the first and second RF bands to the mobile device.
8. The method in claim 7 , wherein the first signal is a broadcast signal and the second signal is a regular signal carrying data for an individual mobile device.
9. The method in claim 7 , wherein the first and second frame structures have a plurality of subframes and a broadcast subframe and a regular subframe are allocated in the first RF band or the second RF band.
10. The method in claim 7 , wherein the first and second frame structures have a plurality of subframes and a broadcast subframe is allocated in the first RF band and a regular subframe is allocated in the second RF band.
11. The method in claim 7 , wherein the scheduling information is indicative of a modulation and coding scheme used for the allocated airlink resources in the first RF band or the second RF band.
12. The method in claim 7 , wherein the scheduling information is selected based on a transmission technology used for the allocated airlink resources in the first RF band or the second RF band.
13. A mobile device in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) wireless communication system operating on multiple radio-frequency (RF) bands, the mobile device comprising:
a receiver configured to receive scheduling information from a serving base station, the scheduling information indicating an allocation of airlink resources for receiving a first signal with a first frame structure having first frame boundaries over a first RF band and a second signal with a second frame structure having second frame boundaries over a second RF band by the mobile device, the first frame structure having a first subframe configuration and the second frame structure having a second subframe configuration, the first subframe configuration being associated with different traffic characteristics than the second subframe configuration, each of the first and second signals carrying data packets and the first RF band being different than the second RF band; and
a first RF receiver and a second RF receiver configured to concurrently receive the first and second signals via the scheduled airlink resources in the first RF band and the second RF band, respectively, with the first frame boundaries of the first frame structure and the second frame boundaries of the second frame structure being aligned in time.
14. A base station in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) wireless communication system operating on multiple radio-frequency (RF bands), the method comprising:
a scheduler configured to allocate airlink resources for transmitting a first signal with a first frame structure having first frame boundaries over a first RF band and a second signal with a second frame structure having second frame boundaries over a second RF band to a mobile device, the first frame structure having a first subframe configuration and the second frame structure having a second subframe configuration, the first subframe configuration being associated with different traffic characteristics than the second subframe configuration, each of the first and second signals carrying data packets and the first RF band being different than the second RF band; and
a first RF transmitter and a second RF transmitter configured to concurrently transmit, via the first RF band and second RF band, respectively, the first signal in the first frame and second signal in the second frame so that the first frame boundaries of the first frame structure and the second frame boundaries of the second frame structure are aligned in time, the concurrent transmission using the allocated airlink resources in the first RF band and second RF band to the same mobile device.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first subframe configuration contains a downlink broadcast channel and the second subframe configuration contains a downlink unicast channel.