Method and apparatus for high speed downlink packet access link adaptation

1. A method of high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) link adaptation implemented in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), comprising:

in a state that the WTRU does not have a dedicated link, performing a channel quality metric measurement in synchronization with a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle while the WTRU is configured to receive a high speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH) from a network; and

transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) message including channel quality data based on the channel quality metric measurement, wherein the channel quality data is included in a Measured Results on random access channel (RACH) information element (IE).

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the channel quality metric measurement is based on a universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) carrier received signal strength indication (RSSI) measured in a Cell_FACH state.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the channel quality metric measurement is based on a Channel Quality Indication (CQI) calculated by a physical layer of the WTRU.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the channel quality metric measurement is based on a common pilot channel carrier to interference ratio (CPICH C/I).

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the channel quality metric measurement is based on any one of the following factors: received signal code power, total interference, and capability of the WTRU.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein a plurality of channel quality metrics are transmitted over the Measured Results on RACH IE.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein a channel quality metric measurement period is matched to a multiple of the DRX cycle.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

performing the channel quality metric measurement at a next opportunity provided by the DRX cycle following an expiration of a measurement period.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the WTRU performing Inter-frequency or Inter-radio access technology (RAT) measurements.

10. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), comprising:

a receiver;

a transmitter; and

a processor in communication with the receiver and the transmitter, the processor configured to perform a channel quality metric measurement in a state that the receiver does not have a dedicated link, in synchronization with a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle while the receiver is configured to receive a high speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH) from a network, and transmit a radio resource control (RRC) message including channel quality data based on the channel quality metric measurement, wherein the channel quality data is included in a Measured Results on random access channel (RACH) information element (IE) of the RRC message.

11. The WTRU of claim 10 wherein the channel quality metric measurement is based on a universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) carrier received signal strength indication (RSSI) measured in a Cell_FACH state.

12. The WTRU of claim 10 wherein the channel metric measurement is based on any one of the following factors: received signal code power, total interference, and capability of the WTRU.

13. The WTRU of claim 10 wherein the channel quality metric measurement is based on a common pilot channel carrier to interference ratio (CPICH C/I) calculated from measurements taken in any one of the following states: Cell_FACH, Cell_PCH, URA_PCH, and Idle.

14. The WTRU of claim 10 wherein a WTRU channel quality metric measurement period is matched to a multiple of the WTRU DRX cycle.

15. The WTRU of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to perform the channel quality metric measurement at a next opportunity provided by the WTRU DRX cycle following an expiration of a measurement period.

16. The WTRU of claim 10 wherein the channel quality metric measurement is based on a Channel Quality Indication (CQI) calculated by a physical layer of the WTRU.