Method and apparatus or allocating resources to user equipments in a telecommunications system
The present invention relates to a method and a radio base station ( 700 ) for allocating resources to a UE such that the UE can transmit at least channel feedback information to the radio base station ( 700 ). According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the radio base station ( 700 ) is configured to take the possibility of a scheduling request transmission from the UE into account when allocating the channel feedback information resources in order to avoid wasting of uplink resources.
1. A method in a radio base station for allocating resources to a user equipment (UE), said UE having at least one buffer for buffering data to be sent to the radio base station and configured to receive signals from the radio base station for enabling the UE to transmit channel feedback information to the radio base station, said method comprising the steps of:
predicting when the UE is scheduled to transmit a scheduling request for at least one resource;
determining whether an allocation of a resource for the channel feedback information coincides with a resource for the scheduling request; and
if it is determined that said allocation of the resource for the channel feedback information coincides with the resource for the scheduling request, down-prioritizing the allocation of the resource for the channel feedback information or requesting, in a message to the UE, the channel feedback information and a buffer status report about an amount of data available for transmission from the UE to said radio base station, wherein down-prioritizing comprises down-prioritizing the allocation of the resource for the channel feedback information when an estimated block error probability of a channel feedback information transmission exceeds a predefined threshold value.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein down-prioritizing comprises distributing said resource for the channel feedback information to minimize collision between the resource for the scheduling request and the resource for the channel feedback information.
3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising requesting said channel feedback information and said buffer status report when an estimated block error probability of a channel feedback information transmission including a data grant for a buffer status report is less than a predefined threshold value.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein requesting said buffer status report comprises allocating a data grant in said message in order for the UE to indicate said buffer status report when the buffer status report is triggered in the UE.
5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein allocating said data grant comprises indicating a number of bits required for the buffer status report.
6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising disabling the resource for the scheduling request.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel feedback information corresponds to a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a channel state information (CSI).
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of determining comprises determining whether an allocation of a resource for the channel feedback information coincides with a resource for the scheduling request, wherein said allocation is periodic or a-periodic.
9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the allocation is periodic on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).
10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the allocation is a-periodic on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).
11. A radio base station for allocating resources to a user equipment (UE), said UE having at least one buffer for buffering data to be sent to the radio base station and configured to receive signals from the radio base station for enabling the UE to transmit channel feedback information to the radio base station, the radio base station comprising:
predicting means configured to predict when the UE is scheduled to transmit a scheduling request for at least one resource; and
allocating means configured to determine whether an allocation of a resource for the channel feedback information coincides with a resource for the scheduling request;
wherein,
if said allocating means determines that said allocation of the resource for the channel feedback information coincides with the resource for the scheduling request, the allocating means is configured to down-prioritize the allocation of the resource for the channel feedback information or to request, in a message to the UE, the channel feedback information and a buffer status report about an amount of data available for transmission from the UE to said radio base station, wherein said allocation means is configured to down-prioritize the allocation of the resource for the channel feedback information when said allocating means determines that an estimated block error probability of a channel feedback information transmission including a data grant for a buffer status report exceeds a predefined threshold value.
12. The radio base station according to claim 11 , wherein said allocating means is configured to down-prioritize the allocation of the resource for the channel feedback information by distributing said resource such that collision between the resource for the scheduling request and the resource for the channel feedback information is minimized.
13. The radio base station according to claim 11 , wherein said allocating means is configured to request the channel feedback information and said buffer status report when the allocating means determines that an estimated block error probability of a channel feedback information transmission including a data grant for a buffer status report is less than a predefined threshold value.
14. The radio base station according to claim 11 , wherein said allocating means is configured to allocate a data grant in said message to the UE so the UE can indicate said buffer status report when the buffer status report is triggered in the UE.
15. The radio base station according to claim 14 , wherein the data grant comprises a number of bits required for the buffer status report.
16. The radio base station according to claim 13 , wherein said allocating means is further configured to disable the resource for the scheduling request.
17. The radio base station according to claim 11 , wherein the channel feedback information corresponds to a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a channel state information (CSI), and wherein the allocating means is configured to allocate said resources periodically on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a-periodically on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).