Methods and apparatus for providing soft and blind combining for PUSCH acknowledgement (ACK) processing

1. A method for operating a receiver to decode an acknowledgement received in a wireless communication from user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

soft-combining acknowledgement (ACK) bits received from the UE that are contained in a received sub-frame of symbols, wherein the ACK bits are soft-combined using a plurality of scrambling sequences to generate a plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams, respectively;

receiving a parameter that identifies a selected scrambling sequence to be used; and

decoding a selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream to generate a decoded ACK value, wherein the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream is selected from the plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams based on the parameter.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the decoding comprises:

determining when the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 1-bit ACK; and

outputting the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream as the decoded ACK value, when it is determined that the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 1-bit ACK.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the decoding comprises:

determining when the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 2-bit ACK;

decoding the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream to determine the decoded ACK value, when it is determined that the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 2-bit ACK; and

outputting the decoded ACK value.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the decoding comprises decoding a two bit ACK value according to an equation expressed as (O2ACK=(O0ACK+O1ACK) mod 2).

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams in a memory.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the subframe of symbols in an uplink transmission from the UE.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the uplink transmission comprises a long term evolution (LTE) uplink transmission.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the uplink transmission is received over a physical uplink shared channel (“PUSCH”).

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing the method for a plurality of UE.

10. An apparatus for use in a receiver to decode an acknowledgement received in a wireless communication from user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising:

a soft-combiner having a subframe interface that receives sub-frame symbols containing acknowledgement (ACK) bits, the soft-combiner also having a memory that stores a plurality of scrambling sequences, and the soft-combiner also having a processor that soft-combines the received ACK bits using the plurality of scrambling sequences stored in the memory to generate a plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams, respectively; and

a decoder having a parameter interface to receive a parameter that identifies a selected scrambling sequence, the decoder having a hypothetic ACK interface that receives a selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream that is selected from the plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams based on the parameter, and the decoder having a processor that decodes the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream to generate a decoded ACK value.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the decoder determines when the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 1-bit ACK, and outputs the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream as the decoded ACK value, when it is determined that the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 1-bit ACK.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the decoder determines when the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 2-bit ACK, and decodes the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream to determine the decoded ACK value, when it is determined that the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 2-bit ACK.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the decoder decodes a two bit ACK value according to an equation expressed as (O2ACK=(O0ACK+O1ACK) mod 2).

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising a memory that stores the plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the subframe of symbols is received in an uplink transmission from the UE.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the uplink transmission comprises a long term evolution (LTE) uplink transmission.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the uplink transmission is received over a physical uplink shared channel (“PUSCH”).

18. An apparatus for use in a receiver to decode an acknowledgement received in a wireless communication from user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising:

means for soil-combining acknowledgement (ACK) bits received from the UE that are contained in a received sub-frame of symbols, wherein the ACK bits are soft-combined using a plurality of scrambling sequences to generate a plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams, respectively;

means for receiving a parameter that identities a selected scrambling sequence to be used; and

means for decoding a selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream to generate a decoded ACK value, wherein the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream is selected from the plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams based on the parameter.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the means for decoding comprises:

means for determining when the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 1-bit ACK; and

means for outputting the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream as the decoded ACK value, when it is determined that the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 1-bit ACK.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the means for decoding comprises:

means for determining when the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 2-bit ACK;

means for decoding the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream to determine the decoded ACK value, when it is determined that the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 2-bit ACK; and

means for outputting the decoded ACK value.