System and method for component carrier reallocation

1. A method for supporting Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission during component carrier (CC) reallocation comprising:

starting a HARQ process using a first CC for an initial transmission;

reallocating a second CC;

mapping the HARQ process from the first CC to the second CC;

transmitting information about the mapping between the first CC and the second CC, wherein the information about the mapping is used to associate HARQ data previously transmitted using the first CC with remaining HARQ data transmitted using the second CC, wherein the information about the mapping between the first CC and the second CC is represented using a mapping table; and

completing the HARQ process using only the second CC, wherein completing the HARQ process comprises using the second CC for each retransmission of the initial transmission.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information between the first CC and the second CC is transmitted using a signaling protocol.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the signaling protocol is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the signaling protocol is a Media Access Control (MAC) signaling.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein mapping information between the first CC and the second CC is transmitted using a semi-static configuration.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a quantity of assigned CCs may be less than or equal to the quantity of corresponding newly reassigned CCs, and wherein no HARQ data is discarded.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a quantity of assigned CCs may be larger than the quantity of corresponding newly reassigned CCs, and wherein at least some HARQ data transmitted using an unmapped CC is discarded.

8. A method for supporting Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission during component carrier (CC) reallocation comprising:

starting a HARQ process using a first CC for an initial transmission;

determining to allocate a second CC;

waiting until completion of the HARQ process using only the first CC before allocating the second CC, wherein completion of the HARQ process comprises using the first CC for each retransmission of the initial transmission;

starting another HARQ process using the second CC for another initial transmission;

anticipating a subset of assigned CCs that will not be used for future transmissions; and

not using the anticipated subset of assigned CCs for transmitting HARQ data before reallocating the CCs.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising transmitting information about the second CC.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the information about the second CC is transmitted using a signaling protocol.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the information about the second CC is transmitted using a semi-static configuration.

12. A method for supporting Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission during component carrier (CC) reallocation comprising:

starting a HARQ process using a first CC for an initial transmission;

reallocating a second CC;

transmitting information about the second CC;

discontinuing transmission using the first CC before completion of the HARQ process;

restarting the HARQ process using the second CC, wherein restarting the HARQ process comprises retransmitting previously transmitted data associated with the initial transmission as new data; and

completing the HARQ process using only the second CC, wherein completing the HARQ process comprises using the second CC for each retransmission of the initial transmission.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the information about the second CC is transmitted using a signaling protocol.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the information about the second CC is transmitted using a semi-static configuration.

15. A method for supporting Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission during component carrier (CC) reallocation comprising:

receiving HARQ data associated with a HARQ process using a first set of CCs;

receiving information about a mapping between the first set of CCs and a second set of CCs; and

receiving remaining HARQ data associated with the HARQ process using only the second set of CCs, wherein the information about the mapping is used to associate HARQ data previously received using the first set of CCs with the remaining HARQ data received using the second set of CCs, and wherein the information about the mapping between the first set of CCs and the second set of CCs is represented using a mapping table.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the information about the mapping between the first set of CCs and the second set of CCs is received using a signaling protocol, a semi-static configuration, or both.

17. An access node to promote Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission during component carrier (CC) reallocation comprising:

a processor configured to:

start a HARQ process using a first CC for an initial transmission;

reallocate a second CC;

map the HARQ process from the first CC to the second CC;

transmit information about the mapping between the first CC and the second CC, wherein the information about the mapping is used to associate HARQ data previously transmitted using the first CC with remaining HARQ data transmitted using the second CC, wherein the information about the mapping between the first CC and the second CC is represented using a mapping table; and

complete the HARQ process using only the second CC,

wherein completing the HARQ process comprises using the second CC for each retransmission of the initial transmission.

18. An access node to promote Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission during component carrier (CC) reallocation comprising:

a processor configured to:

start a HARQ process using a first CC for an initial transmission;

determine to allocate a second CC;

wait until completion of the HARQ process using only the first CC before allocating the second CC, wherein completion of the HARQ process comprises using the first CC for each retransmission of the initial transmission;

start another HARQ process using the second CC for another initial transmission;

anticipate a subset of assigned CCs that will not be used for future transmissions; and

not use the anticipated subset of assigned CCs for transmitting HARQ data before reallocating the CCs.

19. An access node to promote Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission during component carrier (CC) reallocation comprising:

a processor configured to:

start a HARQ process using a first CC for an initial transmission;

reallocate a second CC;

transmitting information about the second CC;

discontinue transmission using the first CC before completion of the HARQ process;

restart the HARQ process using the second CC, wherein restarting the HARQ process comprises retransmitting previously transmitted data associated with the initial transmission as new data; and

completing the HARQ process using only the second CC, wherein completing the HARQ process comprises using the second CC for each retransmission of the initial transmission.

20. A user equipment (UE) to promote Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission during component carrier (CC) reallocation comprising:

a processor configured to:

receive HARQ data associated with a HARQ process using a first set of CCs;

receive information about a mapping between the first set of CCs and a second set of CCs; and

receive remaining HARQ data associated with the HARQ process using only the second set of CCs, wherein the information about the mapping is used to associate HARQ data previously transmitted using the first set of CCs with the remaining HARQ data transmitted using the second set of CCs, wherein the information about the mapping between the first set of CCs and the second set of CCs is represented using a mapping table.