System and method for control information multiplexing for uplink multiple input, multiple output

1. A method for transmitting control information over L multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) layers, where L is an integer value greater than one, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of control modulation symbols from the control information;

filling the L layers by mapping the plurality of control modulation symbols to the L layers, wherein the L layers do not contain data information; and

transmitting the L layers.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control information comprises uplink control information.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the control information comprises a first group of control information and a second group of control information.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein a number of control modulation symbols generated from the second group of control information is determined by a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) level of the first group of control information.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first group of control information comprises channel quality information, a precoding matrix indicator, or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein generating a plurality of control modulation symbols from the first group of control information comprises:

attaching cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits to the first group of control information to form a first bit sequence;

encoding the first bit sequence to produce a second bit sequence; and

producing a sequence of control modulation symbols from the second bit sequence.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein a codeword or codewords where the plurality of control modulation symbols is mapped to is provided by downlink control information.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the downlink control information comprises a modulation and coding scheme information and a request for the first group of control information.

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the control information is transmitted aperiodically.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the control information is transmitted in response to a trigger.

11. A communications device comprising:

a symbol generate unit configured to generate a plurality of control modulation symbols from control information;

a layer fill unit coupled to the symbol generate unit, the layer fill unit configured to fill L multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) layers by mapping the plurality of control modulation symbols to the L layers, where L is an integer value greater than one, and wherein the L layers do not contain data information; and

a transmitter coupled to the layer fill unit, the transmitter configured to transmit the L layers.

12. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein the control information comprises a first group of control information and a second group of control information.

13. The communications device of claim 12 , wherein the first group of control information comprises channel quality information, a precoding matrix indicator, or a combination thereof.

14. The communications device of claim 13 , wherein the symbol generate unit generates the plurality of control modulation symbols by attaching cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits to the first group of control information to form a first bit sequence, encoding the first bit sequence to produce a second bit sequence, and producing a sequence of control modulation symbols from the second bit sequence.

15. The communications device of claim 13 , wherein a codeword or codewords where the plurality of control modulation symbols is mapped to is provided by downlink control information.

16. The communications device of claim 15 , wherein the downlink control information comprises a modulation and coding scheme information and a request for the first group of control information.

17. The communications device of claim 12 , wherein a number of control modulation symbols generated from the second group of control information is determined by a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) level of the first group of control information.

18. A method for transmitting control information and data information over (L 1 +L 2 ) multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) layers, where L 1 >=1, L 2 >=1, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of control modulation symbols from the control information, wherein the control information is channel quality information and/or precoding matrix indicator;

filling a first set of layers by mapping the plurality of control modulation symbols to the first set of layers, wherein the first set of layers comprises the L 1 layers;

generating a plurality of data modulation symbols from the data information;

mapping the data modulation symbols to a second set of layers, where the second set of layers comprises the L 2 layers and the second set of layers do not overlap with the first set of layers; and

transmitting the data modulation symbols and the control modulation symbols on the first set of layers and second set of layers simultaneously.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the first set of layers and the second set of layers are indicated by a combination of fields in a downlink control information transmission.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising mapping acknowledgement and/or negative acknowledgement information for hybrid automatic repeat requested response to all of the L 1 +L 2 MIMO layers.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein a number of modulation symbols generated from the acknowledgement and/or negative acknowledgement information is determined by a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) level of the control information, an MCS level of the data information, or a combination thereof.

22. The method of claim 18 , further comprising mapping rank indication (RI) information to all of the L 1 +L 2 MIMO layers.

23. A communications device comprising:

a symbol generate unit configured to generate a plurality of control modulation symbols from control information and a plurality of data modulation symbols from data information, wherein the control information is channel quality information and/or precoding matrix indicator;

a layer fill unit coupled to the symbol generate unit, the layer fill unit configured to fill a first set of multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) layers by mapping the plurality of control modulation symbols to the first set of layers and to fill a second set of MIMO layers by mapping the data modulation symbols to the second set of layers, wherein the first set of layers comprises L 1 layers and the second set of layers comprises L 2 layers, wherein L 1 and L 2 are integer values and L 1 >=1, L 2 >=1, and wherein the first set of layers does not overlap with the second set of layers; and

a transmitter coupled to the layer fill unit, the transmitter configured to simultaneously transmit the first set of layers and the second set of layers.

24. The communications device of 23 , wherein the layer fill unit is further configured to map acknowledgement and/or negative acknowledgement information for hybrid automatic repeat requested response to all of the L 1 +L 2 layers.

25. The communications device of claim 24 , wherein a number of modulation symbols generated from the acknowledgement and/or negative acknowledgement information is determined by a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) level of the control information, an MCS level of the data information, or a combination thereof.

26. The communications device of claim 23 , wherein the layer fill unit is further configured to map rank indication (RI) information to all of the L 1 +L 2 layers.