Systems and methods for dynamic switching between waveforms on downlink

1. A method for switching downlink waveforms in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

determining, by logic of an access point serving an access terminal in the wireless communication system, whether to utilize a multiple carrier (MC) waveform or a single carrier (SC) waveform as a downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal;

utilizing a radio resource control (RRC) layer in an air interface control plane to configure the access terminal according to the determined downlink waveform;

dynamically deciding whether to change the determined downlink waveform to the other of the MC waveform or the SC waveform; and

upon deciding to change the determined downlink waveform, signaling an expressed indication of the decided other waveform in an explicit field in a second message (msg 2 ) of a random access procedure message.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MC waveform is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) waveform.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SC waveform is a discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) waveform.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining at least one of a relative distance between the access point and the access terminal or a downlink signal quality associated with the access terminal, wherein whether to utilize the MC waveform or the SC waveform as downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal is determined at least in part based upon the at least one of the relative distance between the access point and the access terminal or the downlink signal quality associated with the access terminal.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the access point from the access terminal, an indication of a downlink waveform preference of the access terminal, wherein whether to utilize the MC waveform or the SC waveform as the downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal is determined at least in part based upon the downlink waveform preference of the access terminal.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein independent outer loop link adaptation algorithms are maintained to target a desired block error ratio (BLER) for downlink packets transmitted using the MC and SC waveforms.

7. A method for switching downlink waveforms in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

determining, by logic of an access point serving an access terminal in the wireless communication system, whether to utilize a multiple carrier (MC) waveform or a single carrier (SC) waveform as a downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal;

utilizing a radio resource control (RRC) layer in an air interface control plane to configure the access terminal according to the determined downlink waveform;

dynamically deciding whether to change the determined downlink waveform to the other of the MC waveform or the SC waveform; and

upon deciding to change the determined downlink waveform, signaling an expressed indication of the decided other waveform in an explicit field in a fourth message (msg 4 ) of a random access procedure message.

8. A method for switching downlink waveforms in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

determining, by logic of an access point serving an access terminal in the wireless communication system, whether to utilize a multiple carrier (MC) waveform or a single carrier (SC) waveform as a downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal, the determining being at least in part based upon one or more other parameters comprising at least one of a rank, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), or a redundancy version index; and

utilizing a radio resource control (RRC) layer in an air interface control plane to configure the access terminal according to the determined downlink waveform.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

dynamically deciding whether to change the determined downlink waveform to the other of the MC waveform or the SC waveform; and

upon deciding to change the determined downlink waveform, signaling an expressed indication of the decided other waveform in an explicit field in downlink control information (DCI).

10. An apparatus configured for switching downlink waveforms in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the at least one processor configured to:

determine, by logic of an access point serving an access terminal in the wireless communication system, whether to utilize a multiple carrier (MC) waveform or a single carrier (SC) waveform as a downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal;

utilize a radio resource control (RRC) layer in an air interface control plane to configure the access terminal according to the determined downlink waveform;

dynamically decide whether to change the determined downlink waveform to the other of the MC waveform or the SC waveform; and

upon deciding to change the determined downlink waveform, signal an expressed indication of the decided other waveform in an explicit field in a second message (msg 2 ) of a random access procedure message or in an explicit field in a fourth message (msg 4 ) of a random access procedure message.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , Wherein the MC waveform is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) waveform.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , Wherein the SC waveform is a discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) waveform.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

determine at least one of a relative distance between the access point and the access terminal or a downlink signal quality associated with the access terminal, wherein whether to utilize the MC waveform or the SC waveform as the downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal is determined at least in part based upon the at least one of the relative distance between the access point and the access terminal or the downlink signal quality associated with the access terminal.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive, from the access terminal, an indication of a downlink waveform preference of the access terminal, wherein whether to utilize the MC waveform or the SC waveform as the downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal is determined at least in part based upon the downlink waveform preference of the access terminal.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein independent outer loop link adaptation algorithms are maintained to target a desired block error ratio (BLER) for downlink packets transmitted using the MC and SC waveforms.

16. An apparatus configured for switching downlink waveforms in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the at least one processor configured to:

determine, by logic of an access point serving an access terminal in the wireless communication system, Whether to utilize a multiple carrier (MC) waveform or a single carrier (SC) waveform as a downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal, the determining being at least in part based upon one or more other parameters comprising at least one of a rank, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), or a redundancy version index; and

utilize a radio resource control (RRC) layer in an air interface control plane to configure the access terminal according to the determined downlink waveform.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , further wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

dynamically decide whether to change the determined downlink waveform to the other of the MC waveform or the SC waveform; and

upon deciding to change the determined downlink waveform, signal an expressed indication of the decided other waveform in an explicit field in downlink control information (DCI).

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon for switching downlink waveforms in a wireless communication system, the program code comprising:

code to determine whether to utilize a multiple carrier (MC) waveform or a single carrier (SC) waveform as a downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from an access point to an access terminal;

code to utilize a radio resource control (RRC) layer in an air interface control plane to configure the access terminal according to the determined downlink waveform;

code to dynamically decide whether to change the determined downlink waveform to the other of the MC waveform or the SC waveform; and

code to signal an expressed indication of the decided other waveform in an explicit field in a second message (msg 2 ) of a random access procedure message or in an explicit field in a fourth message (msg 4 ) of a random access procedure message, upon deciding to change the determined downlink waveform.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the MC waveform is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) waveform.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the SC waveform is a discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) waveform.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the program code further comprises:

code to determine at least one of a relative distance between the access point and the access terminal or a downlink signal quality associated with the access terminal, wherein whether to utilize the MC waveform or the SC waveform as the downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal is determined at least in part based upon the at least one of the relative distance between the access point and the access terminal or the downlink signal quality associated with the access terminal.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the program code further comprises:

code to receive, by the access point from the access terminal, an indication of a downlink waveform preference of the access terminal, wherein whether to utilize the MC waveform or the SC waveform as the downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal is determined at least in part based upon the downlink waveform preference of the access terminal.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein independent outer loop link adaptation algorithms are maintained to target a desired block error ratio (BLER) for downlink packets transmitted using the MC and SC waveforms.

24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon for switching downlink waveforms in a wireless communication system, the program code comprising:

code to determine whether to utilize a multiple carrier (MC) waveform or a single carrier (SC) waveform as a downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from an access point to an access terminal, the determining being at least in part based upon one or more other parameters comprising at least one of a rank, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), or a redundancy version index; and

code to utilize a radio resource control (RRC) layer in an air interface control plane to configure the access terminal according to the determined downlink waveform.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24 , wherein the program code further comprises:

code to dynamically decide whether to change the determined downlink waveform to the other of the MC waveform or the SC waveform as a downlink waveform; and

code to signal an expressed indication of the decided other waveform in an explicit field in downlink control information (DCI), upon deciding to change the determined downlink waveform.

26. An apparatus for switching downlink waveforms in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining, by logic of an access point serving an access terminal in the wireless communication system, whether to utilize a multiple carrier (MC) waveform or a single carrier (SC) waveform as a downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal;

means for utilizing a radio resource control (RRC) layer in an air interface control plane to configure the access terminal according to the determined downlink waveform;

means for dynamically deciding whether to change the determined downlink waveform to the other of the MC waveform or the SC waveform; and

means for signaling an expressed indication of the decided other waveform in an explicit field in a second message (msg 2 ) of a random access procedure message or an expressed indication of the decided other waveform in an explicit field in a fourth message (msg 4 ) of a random access procedure message, upon deciding to change the determined downlink waveform.

27. An apparatus for switching downlink waveforms in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining, by logic of an access point serving an access terminal in the wireless communication system, whether to utilize a multiple carrier (MC) waveform or a single carrier (SC) waveform as a downlink waveform for semistatic data communication from the access point to the access terminal, the determining being at least in part based upon one or more other parameters comprising at least one of a rank, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), or a redundancy version index; and

means for utilizing a radio resource control (RRC) layer in an air interface control plane to configure the access terminal according to the determined downlink waveform.