Transmission mode and feedback designs to support MTC type devices in LTE

1. A base station configured to communicate with at least one user equipment (UE) configured for machine type communications (MTC), the base station comprising:

processing circuitry configured to determine a transmission scheme based on a category of the at least one UE; and

a transmitter configured to transmit, using a determined transmission scheme, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in a reduced bandwidth to the at least one UE.

2. The base station as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the determined transmission scheme comprises a transmit diversity scheme.

3. The base station as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the determined transmission scheme comprises single port demodulation reference signal (DMRS) transmission scheme, wherein a single DMRS port is used for channel estimation.

4. The base station as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the determined transmission scheme comprises a multi-port demodulation reference signal (DMRS) transmission scheme, wherein the processing circuitry uses a codeword/physical resource block (PRB) pair and wherein each port corresponds to a mini-resource block (mini-RB) within a PRB pair.

5. The base station as set forth in claim 4 , wherein at least one of:

at least one resource element group is assigned to a mini-PRB; and

two or more resource element groups are assigned to the mini-PRB.

6. The base station as set forth in claim 4 , wherein at least one of:

a first mini-PRB is mapped to a first DMRS port and a second mini-PRB is mapped to a second DMRS port; and

two or more mini-PRBs are mapped to a DMRS port.

7. The base station as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to indicate the transmission scheme to the at least one UE.

8. The base station as set forth in claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to at least one of:

indicate, in a specific field at a beginning of DCI Format 1A, whether a plurality of fields in the DCI Format 1A are MTC or non-MTC;

indicate, in a carrier indicator field, and MTC category;

indicate at least one of the determined transmission scheme and port information in single field.

9. The base station as set forth in claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to at least one of:

indicate a subframe shift;

indicate a subframe index;

indicate downlink and uplink data allocations;

jointly encode transmission scheme and resource allocation;

utilize a first transmission scheme for distributed allocations and a second transmission scheme for localized allocations; and

configure subset of resource blocks or ports.

10. A method for communicating with at least one user equipment (UE) configured for machine type communications (MTC), the method comprising:

identifying a category of the at least one UE;

determining a transmission scheme based on the category of the at least one UE; and

transmitting, using the determined transmission scheme, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in a reduced bandwidth to the at least one UE.

11. The method as set forth in claim 10 , wherein the determined transmission scheme comprises a transmit diversity scheme.

12. The method as set forth in claim 10 , wherein the determined transmission scheme comprises single port demodulation reference signal (DMRS) transmission scheme, wherein a single DMRS port is used for channel estimation.

13. The method as set forth in claim 10 , wherein the determined transmission scheme comprises a multi-port demodulation reference signal (DMRS) transmission scheme, wherein the processing circuitry uses a codeword/physical resource block (PRB) pair and wherein each port corresponds to a mini-resource block (mini-RB) within a PRB pair.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13 , further comprising at least one of:

assigning at least one resource element group to a mini-PRB; and

assigning two or more resource element groups to the mini-PRB.

15. The method as set forth in claim 13 , further comprising at least one of:

mapping a first mini-PRB to a first DMRS port and a second mini-PRB is mapped to a second DMRS port; and

mapping two or more mini-PRBs to a DMRS port.

16. The method as set forth in claim 10 , further comprising indicating the transmission scheme to the at least one UE.

17. The method as set forth in claim 16 , further comprising at least one of:

indicating, in a specific field at a beginning of DCI Format 1A, whether a plurality of fields in the DCI Format 1A are MTC or non-MTC;

indicating, in a carrier indicator field, and MTC category;

indicating at least one of the determined transmission scheme and port information in single field.

18. The method as set forth in claim 16 , further comprising at least one of:

indicating a subframe shift;

indicating a subframe index;

indicating downlink and uplink data allocations;

jointly encoding transmission scheme and resource allocation;

utilizing a first transmission scheme for distributed allocations and a second transmission scheme for localized allocations; and

configuring subset of resource blocks or ports.

19. For use in a wireless communications network, a user equipment (UE) configured for machine type communications (MTC), the UE comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in a reduced bandwidth from at least one base station; and

processing circuitry configured to determine a transmission scheme utilized by at least one base station, the transmission scheme selected by the at least one base station based on a category type of the UE.

20. The UE as set forth in claim 19 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to at least one of:

transmit a feedback report based on at least one single channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) port;

perform blind decoding on a subset of subframes, wherein the processing circuitry further is configured to derive the subframes from one or more of Radio Network Temporary Identities and an explicit configuration; and

determine the transmission scheme based on at least one of:

a network signaling;

a subframe type;

a UE category; and

a UE capability.