Base station and method for transmitting control information to a user equipment (UE)

1. A method for transmitting to a user equipment (UE) control information comprising: channelization-code-set information consisting of seven bits x ccs,1 , x ccs,2 , . . . , x ccs,7 ); modulation-scheme and number of transport blocks information consisting of five bits (x ms,1 , x ms,2 , x ms,3 , x ms,4 , x ms,5 ); and precoding weight information consisting of four bits (x pwipb,1 , x pwipb,2 , x pwipb,3 , x pwipb,4 ), the method comprising:

multiplexing the channelization-code-set information, the modulation-scheme and number of transport blocks information and the precoding weight information to give a sequence of sixteen bits (x 1,1 , x 1,2 , . . . , x 1,16 ,) where x 1,i =x ccs,i for i=1, 2, . . . , 7; x 1,i =x ms,i-7 for i=8, 9, 10, 11, 12; and x 1,i =x pwipb,i-12 for i=13, 14, 15, 16;

applying rate 1/2 convolutional coding to the sequence of bits x 1,1 , x 1,2 , . . . , x 1,16 to obtain a forty-eight bit sequence, (z 1,1 , z 1,2 , . . . , z 1,48 ); and

puncturing the bits z 1,1 , z 1,2 , z 1,4 , z 1,8 , z 1,42 , z 1,45 , z 1,47 , z 1,48 from sequence z 1,1 , z 1,2 , . . . , z 1,48 to obtain an output sequence consisting of forty bits (r 1,1 , r 1,2 . . . r 1,40 ).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of applying rate 1/2 convolutional coding to the sequence of bits x 1,1 , x 1,2 , . . . , x 1,16 to obtain sequence z 1,1 , z 1,2 , . . . , z 1,48 comprises:

padding X 1 with bit sequence P to produce bit sequence X′ 1 , where X 1 =x 1,1 , x 1,2 , . . . , x 1,16 ; and

convolution encoding X′ 1 to produce the forty-eight bit sequence.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises bit masking the output sequence (R 1 ) with a UE specific sequence (UESS) to produce a bit sequence S 1 .

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the bit masking step consists of using a logic circuit to XOR UESS and R 1 to produce S 1 .

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the UESS is generated by an encoder that encodes a 16-bit communication device identifier using a punctured convolutional code.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein S 1 is spread by spreading factor 128, QPSK modulated, and transmitted in one slot.

7. A base station configured to perform the method of claim 1 .

8. A base station operable to transmit to a user equipment, UE, control information comprising: channelization-code-set information consisting of seven bits (x ccs,1 , x ccs,2 , . . . , x ccs,7 ); modulation-scheme and number of transport blocks information consisting of five bits (x ms,1 , x ms,2 , x ms,3 , x ms,4 , x ms,5 ); and precoding weight information consisting of four bits (x pwipb,1 , x pwipb,2 , x pwipb,3 , x pwipb,4 ), characterized in that the base station comprises an encoding unit for:

multiplexing the channelization-code-set information, the modulation-scheme and number of transport blocks information and the precoding weight information to give a sequence of sixteen bits x 1,1 , x 1,2 , . . . , x 1,16 (X 1 ), where x 1,i =x ccs,i for i=1,2, . . . , 7; x 1,i =x ms,i-7 for i=8, 9, 10, 11, 12; and x 1,i =x pwipb,i-12 for i=13, 14, 15, 16;

applying rate 1/2 convolutional coding to the sequence of bits x 1,1 , x 1,2 , . . . , x 1,16 to obtain a forty-eight bit sequence (z 1,1 , z 1,2 , . . . , z 1,48 ); and

puncturing the bits z 1,1 , z 1,2 , z 1,4 , z 1,8 , z 1,42 , z 45 , z 1,47 , z 1,48 from sequence z 1,1 , z 1,2 , . . . , z 1,48 to obtain an output sequence consisting of forty bits (r 1,1 , r 1,2 . . . r 1,40 ).

9. The base station of claim 8 , wherein the encoding unit comprises a padder that pads X 1 with bit sequence P to produce a bit sequence X′ 1 and a convolutional encoder that convolution encodes X′ 1 to produce the forty-eight bit sequence.

10. The base station of claim 8 , wherein the encoding unit includes a logic circuit configured to bit-mask the output sequence with a UE specific sequence (UESS) to produce a bit sequence S 1 .

11. The base station of claim 10 , wherein the UESS is generated by an encoder that encodes a 16-bit UE ID using a punctured convolutional code.

12. The base station of claim 10 , wherein the logic circuit is configured to XOR the UESS and the output sequence to produce S 1 .

13. The base station of claim 10 , further comprising communication circuitry for spreading, modulating and transmitting S 1 in one slot.