Dynamic uplink/downlink frame structure for enhanced component carriers

1. A method for communicating using dynamic uplink and downlink transmission time interval (TTI) switching in a wireless network, comprising:

receiving a configuration indicating one or more downlink TTIs in a frame structure that are dedicated for downlink communications and one or more uplink TTIs in the frame structure that are dedicated for uplink communications;

receiving a notification from a network entity of switching a configurable TTI in the frame structure from being configured for downlink communications to being configured for uplink communications, wherein the configurable TTI is one of a plurality of TTIs in the frame structure, not including the one or more downlink TTIs or the one or more uplink TTIs, that allows dynamic switching of configurable TTIs between being configured for downlink and uplink communications within a frame; and

transmitting uplink communications to the network entity during the configurable TTI based at least in part on the notification,

wherein receiving the notification comprises:

determining that a previous configurable TTI is configured for downlink communications based at least in part on detecting one or more reference signals in the previous configurable TTI; and

determining that the configurable TTI is configured for uplink communications based at least in part on detecting that the configurable TTI does not include the one or more reference signals.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting comprises transmitting control data to the network entity in the configurable TTI.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the control data includes one or more acknowledgement or non-acknowledgement indicators, channel state information reports, or scheduling requests.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting uplink communications to the network entity during one or more subsequent configurable TTIs configured for uplink communications in an uplink burst based at least in part on the notification.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein receiving the notification further includes receiving an uplink resource grant that indicates a length of the uplink burst before switching a subsequent configurable TTI to being configured for downlink communications for a downlink burst.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the notification further includes receiving a bit in a previous TTI configured for downlink communications, wherein the bit indicates that the configurable TTI is to be configured for uplink communications and/or that a plurality of subsequent configurable TTIs, including the configurable TTI, are configured for uplink communications for an uplink data burst.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a next configurable TTI to be switched for downlink communications for a next downlink burst based at least in part on the notification; and

receiving control data from the network entity in the next configurable TTI.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a next configurable TTI to be switched for downlink communications for a next downlink burst based at least in part on a burst length of an uplink data burst related to the configurable TTI, wherein the burst length is specified in an uplink resource grant related to the configurable TTI.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring for signals from the network entity in one or more configurable TTIs following the configurable TTI over which the uplink communications are transmitted; and

determining switching of the one or more configurable TTIs back to being configured for downlink communications based at least in part on at least one of detecting a downlink reference signal in the one or more configurable TTIs following the configurable TTI or decoding a downlink control channel based at least in part on detecting the downlink reference signal.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring for signals from the network entity in one or more configurable TTIs following transmitting uplink communications in a plurality of configurable TTIs; and

determining switching of the one or more configurable TTIs back to being configured for downlink communications based at least in part on detecting a downlink reference signal in the configurable TTIs following transmitting uplink communications in the plurality of configurable TTIs.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting that the configurable TTI does not include the one or more reference signals comprises:

detecting a pilot sequence of the one or more reference signals using a channel estimate obtained from the one or more reference signals in the previous configurable TTI; and

determining that the pilot sequence of the one or more reference signals is not present in the configurable TTI.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the previous configurable TTI is configured for downlink communications further includes decoding a physical layer channel from one or more signals received in the previous configurable TTI.

13. A user equipment for communicating using dynamic uplink and downlink transmission time interval (TTI) switching in a wireless network, comprising:

a transceiver;

at least one processor communicatively coupled with the transceiver via a bus for communicating signals in the wireless network; and

a memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processor and/or the transceiver via the bus;

wherein the at least one processor and the memory are operable to:

receive a configuration indicating one or more downlink TTIs in a frame structure that are dedicated for downlink communications and one or more uplink TTIs in the frame structure that are dedicated for uplink communications;

receive, via the transceiver, a notification from a network entity of switching a configurable TTI in the frame structure from being configured for downlink communications to being configured for uplink communications, wherein the configurable TTI is one of a plurality of TTIs in the frame structure, not including the one or more downlink TTIs or the one or more uplink TTIs, that allows dynamic switching of configurable TTIs between being configured for downlink and uplink communications within a frame; and

transmit, via the transceiver, uplink communications to the network entity during the configurable TTI based at least in part on the notification,

wherein the at least one processor and the memory are operable to receive the notification at least in part by:

determining that a previous configurable TTI is configured for downlink communications based at least in part on detecting one or more reference signals in the previous configurable TTI; and

determining that the configurable TTI is configured for uplink communications based at least in part on detecting that the configurable TTI does not include the one or more reference signals.

14. The user equipment of claim 13 , wherein the uplink communications correspond to control data transmitted to the network entity in the configurable TTI.

15. The user equipment of claim 14 , wherein the control data includes one or more acknowledgement or non-acknowledgement indicators, channel state information reports, or scheduling requests.

16. The user equipment of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory are further operable to transmit uplink communications to the network entity during one or more subsequent configurable TTIs configured for uplink communications in an uplink burst based at least in part on the notification.

17. The user equipment of claim 16 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory are configured to receive the notification at least in part by receiving an uplink resource grant that indicates a length of the uplink burst before switching a subsequent configurable TTI to being configured for downlink communications for a downlink burst.

18. The user equipment of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory are configured to receive the notification at least in part by receiving a bit in a previous TTI configured for downlink communications, wherein the bit indicates that the configurable TTI is to be configured for uplink communications and/or that a plurality of subsequent configurable TTIs, including the configurable TTI, are configured for uplink communications for an uplink data burst.

19. The user equipment of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory are further operable to:

determine a next configurable TTI to be switched for downlink communications for a next downlink burst based at least in part on the notification; and

receive control data from the network entity in the next configurable TTI.

20. The user equipment of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory are further operable to determine a next configurable TTI to be switched for downlink communications for a next downlink burst based at least in part on a burst length of an uplink data burst related to the configurable TTI, wherein the burst length is specified in an uplink resource grant related to the configurable TTI.

21. The user equipment of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory are further operable to:

monitor for signals from the network entity in one or more configurable TTIs following the configurable TTI over which the uplink communications are transmitted; and

determine switching of the one or more configurable TTIs back to being configured for downlink communications based at least in part on at least one of detecting a downlink reference signal in the one or more configurable TTIs following the configurable TTI or decoding a downlink control channel based at least in part on detecting the downlink reference signal.

22. The user equipment of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory are further operable to:

monitor for signals from the network entity in one or more configurable TTIs following transmitting uplink communications in a plurality of configurable TTIs; and

determine switching of the one or more configurable TTIs back to being configured for downlink communications based at least in part on detecting a downlink reference signal in the configurable TTIs following transmitting uplink communications in the plurality of configurable TTIs.

23. The user equipment of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory are operable to detect that the configurable TTI does not include the one or more reference signals at least in part by:

detecting a pilot sequence of the one or more reference signals using a channel estimate obtained from the one or more reference signals in the previous configurable TTI; and

determining that the pilot sequence of the one or more reference signals is not present in the configurable TTI.

24. The user equipment of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory are further operable to determine that the previous configurable TTI is configured for downlink communications at least in part by decoding a physical layer channel from one or more signals received in the previous configurable TTI.

25. A user equipment for communicating using dynamic uplink and downlink transmission time interval (TTI) switching in a wireless network, comprising:

means for receiving a configuration indicating one or more downlink TTIs in a frame structure that are dedicated for downlink communications and one or more uplink TTIs in the frame structure that are dedicated for uplink communications;

means for receiving a notification from a network entity of switching a configurable TTI in the frame structure from being configured for downlink communications to being configured for uplink communications, wherein the configurable TTI is one of a plurality of TTIs in the frame structure, not including the one or more downlink TTIs or the one or more uplink TTIs, that allows dynamic switching of configurable TTIs between being configured for downlink and uplink communications within a frame; and

means for transmitting uplink communications to the network entity during the configurable TTI based at least in part on the notification,

wherein the means for receiving the notification comprises:

means for determining that a previous configurable TTI is configured for downlink communications based at least in part on detecting one or more reference signals in the previous configurable TTI; and

means for determining that the configurable TTI is configured for uplink communications based at least in part on detecting that the configurable TTI does not include the one or more reference signals.

26. The user equipment of claim 25 , wherein the means for transmitting transmits the uplink communications as control data to the network entity in the configurable TTI.

27. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the means for determining that the configurable TTI is configured for uplink communications detects that the configurable TTI does not include the one or more reference signals at least in part by:

detecting a pilot sequence of the one or more reference signals using a channel estimate obtained from the one or more reference signals in the previous configurable TTI; and

determining that the pilot sequence of the one or more reference signals is not present in the configurable TTI.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable code for communicating using dynamic uplink and downlink transmission time interval (TTI) switching in a wireless network, the code comprising:

code for receiving a configuration indicating one or more downlink TTIs in a frame structure that are dedicated for downlink communications and one or more uplink TTIs in the frame structure that are dedicated for uplink communications;

code for receiving a notification from a network entity of switching a configurable TTI in the frame structure from being configured for downlink communications to being configured for uplink communications, wherein the configurable TTI is one of a plurality of TTIs in the frame structure, not including the one or more downlink TTIs or the one or more uplink TTIs, that allows dynamic switching of configurable TTIs between being configured for downlink and uplink communications within a frame; and

code for transmitting uplink communications to the network entity during the configurable TTI based at least in part on the notification,

wherein code for receiving the notification comprises:

code for determining that a previous configurable TTI is configured for downlink communications based at least in part on detecting one or more reference signals in the previous configurable TTI; and

code for determining that the configurable TTI is configured for uplink communications based at least in part on detecting that the configurable TTI does not include the one or more reference signals.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 28 , wherein the code for transmitting transmits the uplink communications as control data to the network entity in the configurable TTI.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 28 , wherein the code for determining that the configurable TTI is configured for uplink communications detects that the configurable TTI does not include the one or more reference signals at least in part by:

detecting a pilot sequence of the one or more reference signals using a channel estimate obtained from the one or more reference signals in the previous configurable TTI; and

determining that the pilot sequence of the one or more reference signals is not present in the configurable TTI.