Method to determine the starting subframe of data channel

1. A method comprising:

(a) monitoring one or more control channel candidates by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, wherein at least one control channel candidate occupies radio resources from a plurality of subframes;

(b) decoding a control channel intended for the UE and obtaining a subframe gap related to a starting subframe of a data channel for the UE, wherein the subframe gap is a number of consecutive subframes between the starting subframe of the data channel and a reference subframe; and

(c) determining the starting subframe of the data channel for the UE based on the decoded control channel and the subframe gap.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subframe gap is a known gap, and wherein the determining in (c) involves:

determining a starting subframe of the control channel; and

determining the starting subframe of the data channel based on the starting subframe of the control channel and the known gap, wherein the known gap is from the starting subframe of the data channel to the starting subframe of the control channel.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subframe gap is a known gap, and wherein the determining in (c) involves:

detecting a number of subframes occupied by the control channel; and

determining the starting subframe of the data channel based on the detected number of subframes occupied by the decoded control channel and the known gap, wherein the known gap is from the starting subframe of the data channel to the end subframe of the decoded control channel.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining a subframe indicator in the decoded control channel, wherein the determining in (c) is further based on the subframe indicator.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the subframe indicator signals the subframe gap between the starting subframe of the data channel and the starting subframe of the decoded control channel.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the subframe indicator signals the subframe gap between the starting subframe of the data channel and the end subframe of the decoded control channel.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the determining in (c) is based on the subframe indicator, and wherein the subframe gap is a known gap from the starting subframe of the data channel to the end subframe of the control channel.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the subframe indicator signals the number of subframes occupied by the decoded control channel.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the subframe indicator signals the subframe index on which the data channel starts.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the subframe index is comprised of at least one periodic index.

11. The method of claim 9 , the predefined rule is based on a group index of a UE group, wherein the UE group includes the UE and at least one other UE.

12. The method of claim 9 , the predefined rule is based on a base station identity.

13. The method of claim 4 , further comprising: applying a predefined rule to the subframe index.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the predefined rule is based on a UE index.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data channel is a downlink data channel.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data channel is an uplink data channel.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of the plurality of subframes occupied by one or more control channel candidates are unknown to the UE.

18. A user equipment (UE) comprising:

a transceiver module that transmits and receives radio signals in a wireless network;

a control channel monitor that monitors one or more control channel candidates, wherein at least one control channel candidate occupies radio resources from a plurality of subframes;

a control channel decoder that decodes a control channel intended for the UE and obtains a subframe gap related to a starting subframe of a data channel for the UE, wherein the subframe gap is a number of consecutive subframes between the starting subframe of the data channel and a reference subframe; and

a data channel handler that determines the starting subframe of a data channel for the UE based on the decoded control channel.

19. The UE of claim 18 , further comprising: a subframe indicator handler that obtains a subframe indicator from the control channel, and wherein the subframe indicator is passed to the data channel handler to determine the starting subframe of the data channel.

20. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the subframe indicator indicates a data starting subframe information comprising: the subframe gap between the starting subframe of the data channel and the starting subframe of the control channel, the number of subframes between the starting subframe of the data channel and the end subframe of the decoded control channel, and the subframe index on which the data channel starts.

21. The UE of claim 19 , further comprising a rule handler that applies a predefined rule to the subframe indicator, and wherein the predefined rule is based on either a UE index, a group UE index or a base station identity.

22. The UE of claim 18 , wherein the subframe gap is a known gap, and wherein the known gap is either predefined or configured by a higher-layer message, and wherein the known gap is passed to the data channel handler to determine the starting subframe of the data channel.

23. The UE of claim 22 , wherein the UE determines the starting subframe of the data channel based on the starting subframe of the decoded control channel and the known gap, wherein the known gap is from the starting frame of the data channel to the starting subframe of the decoded control channel, and wherein the starting frame of the decoded control channel is either determined by the UE or is indicated by a subframe indicator received by the UE.

24. The UE of claim 22 , wherein the UE determines the starting subframe of the data channel based on a number of subframes occupied by the decoded control channel and the known gap, wherein the known gap is from the starting frame of the data channel to the end subframe of the decoded control channel.