Method and apparatus for providing channel quality feedback in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing communication system

1. A method for providing channel quality feedback in an

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing communication system, wherein a frequency bandwidth is represented by a plurality of Resource Block Group (RBG) levels, wherein each RBG level comprises a division of the frequency bandwidth into a number of Resource Block Groups (RBGs) different from the number of RBGs of the other RBG levels, and wherein the method comprises:

measuring a channel quality associated with one or more RBGs of one or more RBG levels of the plurality of RBG levels;

selecting an RBG from among the measured RBGs based on the measured channel quality, wherein selecting further comprises:

comparing the measured channel quality to a channel quality threshold to produce a comparison; and

selecting the RBG based on the comparison; and

reporting channel quality information associated with the selected RBG to a radio access network, wherein reporting comprises providing an index to the selected RBG and providing channel quality information for the indexed RBG.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring comprises measuring a channel quality associated with each Resource Block Group (RBG) of a single RBG level and selected Resource Block Groups of other RBG levels.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting a Resource Block Group (RBG) comprises selecting an RBG of a plurality of Resource Block Groups (RBGs) within a same RBG level that has a best associated channel quality of the channel qualities associated with the plurality of RBGs within the same RBG level.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring a channel quality associated with one or more Resource Block Groups comprises selecting a Resource Block Group (RBG) level and measuring a channel quality associated with each RBG of the selected RBG level and wherein selecting comprises selecting an RBG of the selected RBG level based on the measured channel quality.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel quality information message further comprises channel quality information associated with a Resource Block Group whose channel quality information was reported in a previous channel quality information message.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the channel quality information associated with the Resource Block Group whose channel quality information was reported in a previous channel quality information message comprises a differential value.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the index comprises a bit map associated with the plurality of Resource Block Groups.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein selecting comprises:

determining a channel quality threshold;

comparing the measured channel qualities to the channel quality threshold; and

selecting one or more Resource Block Groups (RBGs) based on the comparison of the measured channel qualities to the channel quality threshold; and

wherein reporting comprises indicating, in the bit map, the RBGs whose measured channel qualities exceed the channel quality threshold.

9. A method for providing channel quality feedback in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing communication system, wherein a frequency bandwidth is represented by a plurality of Resource Block Group (RBG) levels, wherein each RBG level comprises a division of the frequency bandwidth into a number of Resource Block Groups (RBGs) different from the number of RBGs of the other RBG levels, and wherein the method comprises:

measuring a channel quality associated with one or more RBGs of one or more RBG levels of the plurality of RBG levels;

selecting an RBG from among the measured RBGs based on the measured channel quality, wherein selecting further comprises:

determining a channel quality threshold;

comparing the measured channel quality to the channel quality threshold; and

selecting one or more RBGs based on the comparison of the measured channel quality to the channel quality threshold; and

reporting channel quality information associated with the selected one or more RBGs to a radio access network, wherein reporting comprises providing an index to the selected RBG and providing channel quality information for the indexed RBG.

10. A method for providing channel quality feedback in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing communication system, wherein a frequency bandwidth is divided into a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs) and wherein the method comprises:

measuring a channel quality associated with one or more RBs of the plurality of RBs;

determining a channel quality threshold;

comparing the measured channel quality to the channel quality threshold; and

indicating, in a bit map, one or more RBs whose measured channel qualities exceed the channel quality threshold; and

conveying a message to a radio access network comprising the bit map and no other channel quality measurements.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the bit map is conveyed to the radio access network by a user equipment and wherein the method further comprises assembling, by the radio access network, a Resource Block Group for assignment to the user equipment based on the bit map.

12. A user equipment that is configured to report a channel quality in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing communication system, wherein a frequency bandwidth is represented by a plurality of Resource Block Group (RBG) levels, wherein each RBG level comprises a division of the frequency bandwidth into a number of Resource Block Groups (RBGs) different from the number of RBGs of the other RBG levels, and wherein the user equipment comprises: a processor that is configured to measure a channel quality associated with one or more RBGs of one or more RBG levels of the plurality of RBG levels; select an RBG from among the measured RBGs based on the measured channel quality by comparing the measured channel quality to a channel quality threshold to produce a comparison; selecting an RBG based on the comparison; and report channel quality information associated with the selected RBG to a radio access network, wherein reporting comprises providing an index to the selected RBG and providing channel quality information for the indexed RBG.

13. The user equipment of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to select a Resource Block Group by determining a channel quality threshold, comparing the measured channel qualities to the channel quality threshold, and selecting one or more Resource Block Groups (RBGs) based on the comparison of the measured channel qualities to the channel quality threshold, and wherein the processor is configured to report channel quality information by reporting channel quality information associated with the selected one or more RBGs.

14. The user equipment of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to measure a channel quality associated with each Resource Block Group (RBG) of the plurality of Resource Block Groups (RBGs) by measuring a channel quality associated with each RBG of a single RBG level and selected RBGs of other RBG levels.

15. The user equipment of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to select a Resource Block Group (RBG) by selecting an RBG within a same RBG level that has a best associated channel quality of the channel qualities associated with the plurality of Resource Block Groups within the same RBG level.

16. The user equipment of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to measure a channel quality associated with one or more Resource Block Groups by selecting a Resource Block Group (RBG) level of the plurality of RBG levels and measuring a channel quality associated with each RBG of the selected RBG level and wherein selecting comprises selecting an RBG of the selected RBG level based on the measured channel qualities.

17. The user equipment of claim 12 , wherein the channel quality information message further comprises channel quality information associated with a Resource Block Group whose channel quality information was reported in a previous channel quality information message.

18. The user equipment of claim 17 , wherein the channel quality information associated with the Resource Block Group whose channel quality information was reported in a previous channel quality information message comprises a differential value.

19. The user equipment of claim 12 , wherein the index comprises a bit map associated with the plurality of Resource Block Groups.

20. The user equipment of claim 19 , wherein the processor is configured to select a Resource Block Group by determining a channel quality threshold, comparing the measured channel quality to the channel quality threshold, and selecting one or more Resource Block Groups (RBGs) based on the comparison of the measured channel quality to the channel quality threshold, and wherein the processor is configured to report channel quality information by indicating, in the bit map, the RBGs whose measured channel qualities exceed the channel quality threshold.