Enhanced control channel element (ECCE) based physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) resource allocation for long-term evolution (LTE)

1. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

determining resources assigned for a data channel, based on an indication of a set of virtual resource blocks (VRBs) assigned for the data channel, each VRB comprising a number of enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs), wherein each of the number of ECCEs for each VRB includes enhanced resource element groups (EREGs) from a same group of EREGs; and

processing data channel transmissions in a subframe based on the determination.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each ECCE is mapped to four or six PRB pairs.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a resource granularity of the VRBs is dependent on a number of ECCEs contained in a PRB pair and on a number of PRB pairs.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data channel comprises a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein:

at least some of the resources assigned for the PDSCH overlap with resources corresponding to an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH); and

processing PDSCH transmissions in the subframe comprises performing rate matching based on the overlapped resources.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein

at least some PDSCH resources are assigned without corresponding control channels; and

processing PDSCH transmissions in the subframe comprises performing blind decoding to decode PDSCH transmissions.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the set of one or more VRB in downlink control information (DCI).

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein subframes available for the data channel transmissions comprise:

a first fixed region with information at known locations; and

a second dynamic region in which the UE performs blind decodes to detect the data channel transmissions.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the set of VRBs comprises four VRBs; and

the number of ECCEs comprises six ECCEs.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the set of VRBs comprises eight VRBs; and

the number of ECCEs comprises three ECCEs.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

a first set of VRBs comprises a first number of ECCEs that are mapped to two PRB pairs; and

a second set of VRBs comprises a second number of ECCEs that are mapped to four PRB pairs.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the PRBs of the first and second sets of VRBs are interleaved.

13. A method for wireless communications by a base station (BS), comprising:

assigning resources for a data channel for a user equipment (UE), based on an indication of a set of virtual resource blocks (VRBs) assigned for the data channel, each VRB comprising a number of enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs), wherein each of the number of ECCEs for each VRB includes enhanced resource element groups (EREGs) from a same group of EREGs; and

sending data channel transmissions in a subframe based on the assignment.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein each ECCE is mapped to four PRB pairs.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein a resource granularity of the VRBs is dependent on a number of ECCEs contained in a PRB pair and on a number of PRB pairs.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the data channel comprises a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein:

at least some of the resources assigned for the PDSCH overlap with resources corresponding to an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH).

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein

at least some PDSCH resources are assigned without corresponding control channels.

19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

sending downlink control information (DCI) indicating the set of one or more VRBs.

20. The method of claim 13 , wherein subframes available for the data channel transmissions comprise:

a first fixed region with information at known locations; and

a second dynamic region in which the UE performs blind decodes to detect the data channel transmissions.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein subframes available for the data channel transmissions further comprise:

a third region for persistently scheduled data channel transmissions.

22. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for determining resources assigned for a data channel, based on an indication of a set of virtual resource blocks (VRBs) assigned for the data channel, each VRB comprising a number of enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs), wherein each of the number of ECCEs for each VRB includes enhanced resource element groups (EREGs) from a same group of EREGs; and

means for processing data channel transmissions in a subframe based on the determination.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein each ECCE is mapped to four PRB pairs.

24. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the data channel comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH).

25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein:

at least some of the resources assigned for the PDSCH overlap with resources corresponding to an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH); and

processing PDSCH transmissions in the subframe comprises performing rate matching based on the overlapped resources.

26. An apparatus for wireless communications by a base station (BS), comprising:

means for assigning resources for a data channel for a user equipment (UE), based on an indication of a set of virtual resource blocks (VRBs) assigned for the data channel, each VRB comprising a number of enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs), wherein each of the number of ECCEs for each VRB includes enhanced resource element groups (EREGs) from a same group of EREGs; and

means for sending data channel transmissions in a subframe based on the assignment.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein each ECCE is mapped to four PRB pairs.

28. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the data channel comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH).