Bandwidth adaptive reference signals

1. A method of operation of a wireless device in a cellular communication network, comprising:

receiving a downlink signal on a downlink carrier from a base station where a number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a function of a system bandwidth of the downlink carrier, wherein the number of time domain units per frame is a first value for a first system bandwidth and a second value for a second system bandwidth such that the number of time domain units per frame is variable;

processing the reference symbols in the downlink signal to provide one or more desired features; and

determining the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a number of subframes per frame that carry reference symbols.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a number of symbol periods per frame that carry reference symbols.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a function of the system bandwidth and a predetermined minimum number of reference symbols per frame such that the downlink signal comprises at least a predetermined minimum number of reference symbols per frame.

5. The method of claim 1 where the downlink signal comprises reference symbols across the entire system bandwidth of the downlink carrier.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the downlink signal comprises a frame comprising a plurality of subframes in a time dimension of the downlink signal and a plurality of resource blocks in a frequency dimension of the downlink signal where the plurality of resource blocks in the frequency dimension of the downlink signal define the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier;

the number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a number of subframes per frame that carry reference symbols; and

the downlink signal is such that a number of resource blocks in the frequency dimension that carry reference symbols is also a function of the system bandwidth.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the downlink signal comprises a frame comprising a plurality of symbol periods in a time dimension of the downlink signal and a plurality of resource blocks in a frequency dimension of the downlink signal where the plurality of resource blocks in the frequency dimension of the downlink signal define the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier;

the number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a number of symbol periods per frame that carry reference symbols; and

the downlink signal is such that a number of resource blocks in the frequency dimension that carry reference symbols is also a function of the system bandwidth.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein a number of frequency domain units that carry reference symbols is also a function of the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the downlink signal comprises a frame comprising a plurality of subframes in a time dimension of the downlink signal and a plurality of resource blocks in a frequency dimension of the downlink signal where the plurality of resource blocks in the frequency dimension of the downlink signal define the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier; and

the number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a number of subframes per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols defined as 2 times ceil(R MIN /N RS ), where R MIN is a predetermined minimum number of resource block pairs per one-half frame required to carry reference symbols and N RB is the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier expressed as a number of resource blocks.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein a number of resource blocks in the frequency dimension that carry reference symbols is also a function of the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier and is defined as min(N RB , R MIN ).

11. The method of claim 9 wherein a number of resource blocks in the frequency dimension that carry reference symbols is equal to a number of resource blocks in the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein a number of resource blocks in the frequency dimension that carry reference symbols is also a function of the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier and is defined as ceil(R MIN /C SF ), where C SF is one-half of the number of subframes per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the downlink signal comprises a frame comprising a plurality of subframes in a time dimension of the downlink signal and a plurality of resource blocks in a frequency dimension of the downlink signal where the plurality of resource blocks in the frequency dimension of the downlink signal define the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier and each resource block comprises reference symbol locations for a plurality of transmit ports;

the number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a number of subframes per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols, where the number of subframes per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a function of the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier; and

a number of the plurality of transmit ports that carry reference symbols is also a function of the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the same number of the plurality of transmit ports carry reference symbols in each of the number of subframes per frame that carry reference symbols.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the number of the plurality of transmit ports that carry reference symbols is defined as min(2,ceil(R MIN /N RB )), where R MIN is a predetermined minimum number of resource block pairs per one-half frame that are to carry reference symbols and N RB is the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier expressed as a number of resource blocks.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the number of subframes per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is defined as 2 times ceil(R MIN /(N RB ×C PORTS )), where C PORTS is the number of the plurality of transmit ports that carry reference symbols.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein a number of resource blocks in the frequency dimension that carry reference symbols is also a function of the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier and is defined as:

min

⁡

(

N

RB

,

ceil

⁡

(

R

MIN

C

PORTS

×

C

SF

)

)

where N RB is the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier expressed as a number of resource blocks, R MIN is a predetermined minimum number of resource block pairs per one-half frame that are to carry reference symbols, and C PORTS is the number of the plurality of transmit ports that carry reference symbols.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein the number of the plurality of transmit ports that carry reference symbols in one of the number of subframes per frame that carry reference symbols is different than the number of the plurality of transmit ports that carry reference symbols in a different one of the number of subframes per frame that carry reference symbols.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the number of the plurality of transmit ports that carry reference symbols is defined as min(2,ceil(R MIN /N RB )), where R MIN is a predetermined minimum number of resource block pairs per one-half frame that are to carry reference symbols and N RB is the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier expressed as a number of resource blocks.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein:

the number of subframes per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols in a first transmit port of the plurality of transmit ports is defined as 2 times ceil(R MIN /(N RB ×C PORTS )), where C PORTS is the number of the plurality of transmit ports that carry reference symbols; and

the number of subframes per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols in a second transmit port of the plurality of transmit ports is defined as 2 times floor(R MIN /(N RB ×C PORTS )).

21. The method of claim 20 wherein a number of resource blocks in the frequency dimension that carry reference symbols is also a function of the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier and is defined as:

C RB =N RB

where N RB is the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier expressed as a number of resource blocks.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the downlink signal comprises a frame comprising a plurality of symbol periods in a time dimension of the downlink signal and a plurality of resource blocks in a frequency dimension of the downlink signal where the plurality of resource blocks in the frequency dimension of the downlink signal define the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier; and

the number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a number of symbol periods per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols defined as 2 times ceil(R MIN _ SYM /N RB ), where R MIN _ SYM is a predetermined minimum number of 1 resource block by 1 symbol period units per one-half frame required to carry reference symbols and N RB is the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier expressed as a number of resource blocks.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein a number of resource blocks in the frequency dimension that carry reference symbols is also a function of the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier and is defined as ceil(R MIN _ SYM /C SYM ) where C SYM is the number of time domain units per half-frame in the downlink signal that carry reference signals.

24. The method of claim 1 further comprising

determining the number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols as a function of the system bandwidth.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein determining the system bandwidth comprises receiving an indicator of the system bandwidth via signaling from the base station in the cellular communication network.

26. The method of claim 24 wherein determining the system bandwidth comprises:

detecting a number of time units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols; and

determining the system bandwidth based on the number of time units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the time units are subframes.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the time units are symbol periods.

29. The method of claim 24 wherein determining the system bandwidth comprises:

detecting a primary synchronization signal in a subframe N, where an offset D is an integer greater than or equal to zero and the subframe N+D is known to carry reference symbols;

determining whether reference symbols are carried in subframe N+D+1;

in response to determining that reference symbols are not carried in the subframe N+D+1, determining that the system bandwidth is a first predetermined value; and

in response to determining that reference symbols are carried in the subframe N+D+1:

determining whether reference symbols are carried in the subframe N+D+2; and

in response to determining that reference symbols are not carried in subframe N+D+2, determining that the system bandwidth is a second predetermined value that is less than the first predetermined value.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein, in response to determining that reference symbols are carried in the subframe N+D+2, determining that the system bandwidth is a third predetermined value that is less than the first and second predetermined values.

31. The method of claim 24 further comprising determining a number of frequency domain units per time domain unit that carry reference symbols as a function of the system bandwidth.

32. A wireless device for operation in a cellular communication network, comprising:

a transceiver subsystem configured to receive a downlink signal on a downlink carrier from a base station where a number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a function of a system bandwidth of the downlink carrier, wherein the number of time domain units per frame is a first value for a first system bandwidth and a second value for a second system bandwidth such that the number of time domain units per frame is variable; and

a control subsystem configured to:

process the reference symbols in the downlink signal to provide one or more desired features; and

determine the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier.

33. A method of operation of a base station in a cellular communication network, comprising:

transmitting, from the base station, a downlink signal on a downlink carrier where a number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a function of a system bandwidth of the downlink carrier, wherein the number of time domain units per frame is a first value for a first system bandwidth and a second value for a second system bandwidth such that the number of time domain units per frame is variable; and

determining the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier.

34. A base station in a cellular communication network, comprising:

a control subsystem; and

a transceiver subsystem associated with the control subsystem and configured to transmit a downlink signal on a downlink carrier where a number of time domain units per frame in the downlink signal that carry reference symbols is a function of a system bandwidth of the downlink carrier, wherein the number of time domain units per frame is a first value for a first system bandwidth and a second value for a second system bandwidth such that the number of time domain units per frame is variable, wherein the control subsystem is configured to determine the system bandwidth of the downlink carrier.