Apparatus and method for controlling transmission in a communication system
The invention provides a communication system and components thereof for controlling coordinated transmissions using a plurality of carriers operated by a plurality of transmission points. A transmission point configures a number of signal quality and interference measurements for a mobile telephone communicating over the plurality of carriers, each measurement being associated with multiple carriers and multiple measurement configurations. The mobile telephone performs the configured measurements with respect to each of the multiple carriers and reports the results of the relevant measurements to the transmission point.
1. A network node for controlling transmissions, in a communication system comprising at least one mobile device, the network node comprising:
at least one memory operable to store program instruction;
at least one processor operable to read said program instruction and configured by the program instruction to operate as a transceiver, which:
sends, to the at least one mobile device, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, wherein the RRC signaling message comprises:
a Channel State Information (CSI) process information element for CSI process configuration for a CSI process identified by a CSI Process identifier;
a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) information element for identifying a plurality of CSI-RS resource configurations for the CSI process identified by said CSI Process identifier; and
a channel state information-interference signal (CSI-IM) information element for identifying a plurality of CSI-IM resource configurations for the CSI process identified by said CSI Process identifier; and
receives CSI reported by the at least one mobile device, corresponding to the CSI process;
wherein each CSI-RS resource is associated with a respective CSI-IM resource.
2. The network node according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of CSI-RS resource configurations identifies a respective first set of resource elements on which a signal quality measurement is to be carried out by the at least one mobile device; and each of the plurality of CSI-IM resource configurations identifies a respective second set of resource elements on which an interference measurement is to be carried out by the at least one mobile device.
3. The network node according to claim 2 , wherein the first set of resource elements comprises at least one non-zero power (NZP) resource element and the second set of resource elements comprises at least one zero-power (ZP) resource element.
4. The network node according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor operable to read said program instruction is configured by the program instruction to operate as a controller, which configures a plurality of transmission points in accordance with the CSI process signaled to the mobile device.
5. The network node according to claim 1 , wherein the CSI received from the at least one mobile device comprises at least one of: a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), a Rank Indicator (RI), and a Precoding Matrix Indicator.
6. The network node according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor operable to read said program instruction is configured by the program instruction to operate as a controller, which controls the coordinated transmissions in dependence upon the CSI received from the at least one mobile device.
7. The network node according to claim 1 , wherein the CSI comprises data identifying at least one of a transmission point and an interference measurement resource.
8. The network node according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor operable to read said program instruction is configured by the program instruction to operate as a controller, which controls beamforming based on the received CSI.
9. The network node according to claim 1 , wherein said RRC signaling message further comprises a plurality of CSI-IM-ID information elements.
10. The network node according to claim 1 , wherein said RRC signaling message further comprises a plurality of NZP-CSI-RS-ID information elements.
11. The network node according to claim 1 , wherein the network node comprises a base station operating in accordance with the long term evolution (LTE) set of standards.
12. The network node according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor operable to read said program instruction is configured by the program instruction to operate as a transceiver, which transmits a signaling message for configuring the CSI process data.
13. A mobile device for a communication system, the mobile device comprising:
at least one memory operable to store program instruction;
at least one processor operable to read said program instruction and configured by the program instruction to operate as a transceiver, which:
receives from a transmission point a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, wherein the RRC signaling message comprises:
a Channel State Information (CSI) process information element for CSI process configuration for a CSI process identified by a CSI Process identifier;
a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) information element for identifying a plurality of CSI-RS resource configurations for the CSI process identified by said CSI Process identifier; and
a channel state information-interference signal (CSI-IM) information element for identifying a plurality of CSI-IM resource configurations for the CSI process identified by said CSI Process identifier; and
sends, to a transmission point, CSI corresponding to the CSI process;
wherein each CSI-RS resource is associated with a respective CSI-IM resource.
14. The mobile device according to claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor operable to read said program instruction is configured by the program instruction to operate as a controller, which obtains signal quality measurements and interference measurements of signals received from different transmission points within the vicinity of the mobile device.
15. The mobile device according to claim 13 , wherein the plurality of CSI-RS resource configurations identifies a respective first set of resource elements on which a signal quality measurement is to be carried out by the at least one mobile device; and each of the plurality of CSI-IM resource configurations identifies a respective second set of resource elements on which an interference measurement is to be carried out by the at least one mobile device.
16. The mobile device according to claim 15 , wherein the first set of resource elements comprises at least one non-zero power (NZP) resource element and the second set of resource elements comprises at least one zero-power (ZP) resource element.
17. The mobile device according to claim 13 , wherein the CSI comprises at least one of: a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), a Rank Indicator (RI), and a Precoding Matrix Indicator.
18. The mobile device according to claim 14 , wherein the at least one processor operable to read said program instruction is configured by the program instruction to operate as a controller, which configures the signal quality measurements and the interference measurements of signals in accordance with the CSI process signaled by the transmission point.
19. The mobile device according to claim 13 , wherein the CSI comprises data identifying at least one of a transmission point and an interference measurement resource.
20. The mobile device according to claim 13 , wherein said RRC signaling message further comprises a plurality of CSI-IM-ID information elements.
21. The mobile device according to claim 13 , wherein said RRC signaling message further comprises a plurality of NZP-CSI-RS-ID information elements.
22. The mobile device according to claim 13 , wherein at least one of the mobile device is selected from a group comprising: i) a mobile telephone; ii) a mobile terminal; and iii) user equipment (UE).
23. A method performed by a network node for controlling transmissions, in a communication system comprising at least one mobile device, the method comprising:
sending, to the at least one mobile device, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, wherein the RRC signaling message comprises:
a Channel State Information (CSI) process information element for CSI process configuration for a CSI process identified by a CSI Process identifier;
a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) information element for identifying a plurality of CSI-RS resource configurations for the CSI process identified by said CSI Process identifier; and
a channel state information-interference signal (CSI-IM) information element for identifying a plurality of CSI-IM resource configurations for the CSI process identified by said CSI Process identifier; and
receiving CSI, reported by the at least one mobile device, corresponding to the CSI process;
wherein each CSI-RS resource is associated with a respective CSI-IM resource.
24. A method performed by a mobile device for a communication system providing coordinated transmissions via a plurality of transmission points which operate at least one cell, the method comprising:
receiving from a transmission point a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message wherein the RRC signaling message comprises:
a Channel State Information (CSI) process information element for CSI process configuration for a CSI process identified by a CSI Process identifier;
a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) information element for identifying a plurality of CSI-RS resource configurations for the CSI process identified by said CSI Process identifier; and
a channel state information-interference signal (CSI-IM) information element for identifying a plurality of CSI-IM resource configurations for the CSI process identified by said CSI Process identifier; and
sending, to a transmission point, CSI corresponding to the CSI process,
wherein each CSI-RS resource is associated with a respective CSI-IM resource.
25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer implementable instructions for causing a programmable communications device to perform the method of claim 23 .