Patent US7352722B2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US7352722B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Mitigation of link imbalance in a wireless communication system
Assignee: Qualcomm Inc
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Filing: 2002-05-13
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Granted: 2008-04-01
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Expires: 2022-05-13
Abstract
Abstract Techniques to mitigate the effects of link imbalance for the uplink between a terminal (or UE) and multiple base stations (or Node Bs). In one aspect, the serving base station (i.e., the one designated to transmit packet data to the terminal) monitors the uplink received SNR for each terminal designated to receive packet data transmission. The serving base station then determines, based on the uplink received SNR and an SNR threshold, whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for each such terminal. In another aspect, if it is determined that link imbalance potentially exists, then a 3-way handshake is performed to check the reliability of a feedback mechanism used for packet data transmission. Appropriate responsive actions may then be performed based on the result of the check.
Inventors
- 👤 Durga P. Malladi
- 👤 Alkinoos Hector Vayanos
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 08:40
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L1/00; H04L1/24; H04W; H04W52/00; H04W52/04; H04W52/18; H04W52/28; H04W52/286; H04L1/0001; H04L1/0002; H04L1/0003; H04L1/0015; H04L1/12; H04L1/16; H04L1/1607; H04L1/1671; H04L1/18; H04L1/1829; H04L1/1835; H04L1/1845; H04L1/22; H04L25/00; H04L25/02; H04L25/0202; H04L25/0224; H04L5/00; H04L5/14; H04L5/1438; H04W24/00; H04W24/08; H04L1/0023; H04L1/0025; H04L1/1812
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 47
Claim 1
Independent Claim
92 words
A method for checking the reliability of a communication link in a wireless communication system, comprising: sending a first transmission over a first communication link; receiving feedback information in a second transmission sent over a second communication link, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission; and sending a third transmission over the first communication link, wherein the third transmission includes data indicative of the received feedback information, and wherein the reliability of the second communication link is checked based on the data in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
92 words
A method for checking the reliability of a communication link in a wireless communication system, comprising: sending a first transmission over a first communication link; receiving feedback information in a second transmission sent over a second communication link, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission; and sending a third transmission over the first communication link, wherein the third transmission includes data indicative of the received feedback information, and wherein the reliability of the second communication link is checked based on the data in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the first communication link is a downlink and the second communication link is an uplink in the wireless communication system.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 2 , wherein the wireless communication system is a W-CDMA system.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein the first transmission is for high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein the first transmission comprises a data packet sent on a high-speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein the feedback information is received via an uplink high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS-DPCCH).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein the third transmission is sent via a shared control physical channel (HS-SCCH).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 7 , wherein for the third transmission an indicator in the HS-SCCH is set to a value determined based on the received feedback information.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedback information comprises an acknowledgment (ACK), a negative acknowledgment (NAK), or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) bit for the first transmission.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the first transmission is sent from a single base station to a particular terminal.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 10 , wherein the particular terminal is in soft handover with a plurality of base stations, one of which is the base station that sent the first transmission.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
80 words
A method for determining the reliability of an uplink in a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving a first transmission on a downlink; sending feedback information in a second transmission on the uplink, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission; receiving a third transmission on the downlink, wherein the third transmission comprises data related to the sent feedback information; and determining the reliability of the uplink based on the data received in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
80 words
A method for determining the reliability of an uplink in a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving a first transmission on a downlink; sending feedback information in a second transmission on the uplink, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission; receiving a third transmission on the downlink, wherein the third transmission comprises data related to the sent feedback information; and determining the reliability of the uplink based on the data received in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 12 , wherein the uplink is deemed to be unreliable if the data received in the third transmission does not correspond to the feedback information sent in the second transmission.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 12 , further comprising: signaling for a retransmission of the first transmission if the uplink is determined to be unreliable.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 12 , wherein the feedback information comprises an acknowledgment (ACK), a negative acknowledgment (NAK), or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) bit for the first transmission.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
147 words
A method for checking the reliability of a communication link in a wireless communication system, comprising: determining whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for a first communication link between a particular transmitter unit and a plurality of receiver units, wherein link imbalance is characterized by the first communication link being worse from the transmitter unit to a first receiver unit than to a second receiver unit among the plurality of receiver units, wherein the first receiver unit is designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit on a second communication link and the second receiver unit is not designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit; and sending a second transmission via the second communication link if it is determined that link imbalance potentially exists, wherein the second transmission includes data related to feedback information previously received in a first transmission on the first communication link.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
147 words
A method for checking the reliability of a communication link in a wireless communication system, comprising: determining whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for a first communication link between a particular transmitter unit and a plurality of receiver units, wherein link imbalance is characterized by the first communication link being worse from the transmitter unit to a first receiver unit than to a second receiver unit among the plurality of receiver units, wherein the first receiver unit is designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit on a second communication link and the second receiver unit is not designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit; and sending a second transmission via the second communication link if it is determined that link imbalance potentially exists, wherein the second transmission includes data related to feedback information previously received in a first transmission on the first communication link.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 16 , wherein the determining includes estimating a signal quality of a transmission received via the first communication link, and wherein the link imbalance is determined to potentially exist if the estimated signal quality is lower than a threshold value.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 17 , wherein the estimated signal quality corresponds to a signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SNR) of a pilot received via the first communication link.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 16 , wherein the second transmission is used to determine whether or not the feedback information in the first transmission was correctly received.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 16 , wherein the feedback information comprises an acknowledgment (ACK) or a negative acknowledgment (NAK) for a third transmission on the second communication link, wherein the third transmission occurred prior to the first transmission.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 20 , wherein the data in the second transmission comprises a bit on a shared control channel that is set based on whether an ACK or a NAK was received.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 16 , wherein the first communication link is an uplink and the second communication link is a downlink in the communication system.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 22 , wherein the wireless communication system is a W-CDMA system.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
118 words
A method for checking the reliability of an uplink in a CDMA communication system, comprising: determining whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for the uplink between a particular user equipment (UE) and a plurality of base stations (Node Bs), wherein the link imbalance is characterized by the uplink being worse from the UE to a first Node B designated to transmit data to the UE on a downlink than to a second Node B not designated to transmit data to the UE; and sending a second transmission via the downlink if link imbalance is determined to potentially exist, wherein the second transmission includes data related to feedback information previously received in a first transmission on the uplink.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
118 words
A method for checking the reliability of an uplink in a CDMA communication system, comprising: determining whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for the uplink between a particular user equipment (UE) and a plurality of base stations (Node Bs), wherein the link imbalance is characterized by the uplink being worse from the UE to a first Node B designated to transmit data to the UE on a downlink than to a second Node B not designated to transmit data to the UE; and sending a second transmission via the downlink if link imbalance is determined to potentially exist, wherein the second transmission includes data related to feedback information previously received in a first transmission on the uplink.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 24 , wherein the determining includes estimating a received signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SNR) of a pilot received via the uplink, and wherein the link imbalance is determined to potentially exist if the received SNR is lower than an SNR threshold.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 24 , wherein the feedback information comprises an acknowledgment (ACK), a negative acknowledgment (NAK), or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) bit.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 24 , wherein the feedback information is for a data transmission on a high-speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH).
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 24 , wherein the feedback information is received via an uplink high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS-DPCCH).
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 24 , wherein the second transmission is sent via a shared control physical channel (HS-SCCH).
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
93 words
A memory communicatively coupled to a digital signal processing device (DSPD) capable of interpreting digital information to: send a first transmission over a first communication link; receive feedback information in a second transmission sent over a second communication link, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission; and send a third transmission over the first communication link, wherein the third transmission includes data indicative of the received feedback information, and wherein the reliability of the second communication link is checked based on the data in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
93 words
A memory communicatively coupled to a digital signal processing device (DSPD) capable of interpreting digital information to: send a first transmission over a first communication link; receive feedback information in a second transmission sent over a second communication link, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission; and send a third transmission over the first communication link, wherein the third transmission includes data indicative of the received feedback information, and wherein the reliability of the second communication link is checked based on the data in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
148 words
A memory communicatively coupled to a digital signal processing device (DSPD) capable of interpreting digital information to: determine whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for a first communication link between a particular transmitter unit and a plurality of receiver units, wherein link imbalance is characterized by the first communication link being worse from the transmitter unit to a first receiver unit than to a second receiver unit among the plurality of receiver units, wherein the first receiver unit is designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit on a second communication link and the second receiver unit is not designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit; and send a second transmission via the second communication link if it is determined that link imbalance potentially exists, wherein the second transmission includes data related to feedback information previously received in a first transmission on the first communication link.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
148 words
A memory communicatively coupled to a digital signal processing device (DSPD) capable of interpreting digital information to: determine whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for a first communication link between a particular transmitter unit and a plurality of receiver units, wherein link imbalance is characterized by the first communication link being worse from the transmitter unit to a first receiver unit than to a second receiver unit among the plurality of receiver units, wherein the first receiver unit is designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit on a second communication link and the second receiver unit is not designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit; and send a second transmission via the second communication link if it is determined that link imbalance potentially exists, wherein the second transmission includes data related to feedback information previously received in a first transmission on the first communication link.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
90 words
An apparatus in a wireless communication system, comprising: means for sending a first transmission over a first communication link; means for receiving feedback information in a second transmission sent over a second communication link, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission; and means for sending, a third transmission over the first communication link, wherein the third transmission includes data indicative of the received feedback information, and wherein the reliability of the second communication link is checked based on the data in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 39
Independent Claim
90 words
An apparatus in a wireless communication system, comprising: means for sending a first transmission over a first communication link; means for receiving feedback information in a second transmission sent over a second communication link, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission; and means for sending, a third transmission over the first communication link, wherein the third transmission includes data indicative of the received feedback information, and wherein the reliability of the second communication link is checked based on the data in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 40
Independent Claim
143 words
An apparatus in a wireless communication system, comprising: means for determining whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for a first communication link between a particular transmitter unit and a plurality of receiver units, wherein link imbalance is characterized by the first communication link being worse from the transmitter unit to a first receiver unit than to a second receiver unit among the plurality of receiver units, wherein the first receiver unit is designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit on a second communication link and the second receiver unit is not designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit; and means for sending a second transmission via the second communication link if it is determined that link imbalance potentially exists, wherein the second transmission includes data related to feedback information previously received in a first transmission on the first communication link.
Claim 41
Independent Claim
143 words
An apparatus in a wireless communication system, comprising: means for determining whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for a first communication link between a particular transmitter unit and a plurality of receiver units, wherein link imbalance is characterized by the first communication link being worse from the transmitter unit to a first receiver unit than to a second receiver unit among the plurality of receiver units, wherein the first receiver unit is designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit on a second communication link and the second receiver unit is not designated to transmit data to the transmitter unit; and means for sending a second transmission via the second communication link if it is determined that link imbalance potentially exists, wherein the second transmission includes data related to feedback information previously received in a first transmission on the first communication link.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
105 words
A base station in a wireless communication system, comprising: a TX data processor operative send a first transmission over a first communication link; and a RX data processor. operative to receive feedback information in a second transmission sent over a second communication link, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission, and wherein the TX data processor is further operative to send a third transmission over the first communication link and having included therein data indicative of the received feedback information, and wherein the reliability of the second communication link is checked based on the data in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
105 words
A base station in a wireless communication system, comprising: a TX data processor operative send a first transmission over a first communication link; and a RX data processor. operative to receive feedback information in a second transmission sent over a second communication link, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission, and wherein the TX data processor is further operative to send a third transmission over the first communication link and having included therein data indicative of the received feedback information, and wherein the reliability of the second communication link is checked based on the data in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
146 words
A base station in a wireless communication system, comprising: a controller operative to determine whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for a first communication link between a particular terminal and a plurality of base stations, wherein link imbalance is characterized by the first communication link being worse from the terminal to a first base station than to a second base station among the plurality of base stations, wherein the first base station is designated to transmit data to the terminal on a second communication link and the second base station is not designated to transmit data to the terminal; and a TX data processor operative to send the second transmission via a second communication link if it is determined that link imbalance potentially exists, wherein the second transmission includes data related to feedback information previously received in a first transmission on the first communication link.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
146 words
A base station in a wireless communication system, comprising: a controller operative to determine whether or not link imbalance potentially exists for a first communication link between a particular terminal and a plurality of base stations, wherein link imbalance is characterized by the first communication link being worse from the terminal to a first base station than to a second base station among the plurality of base stations, wherein the first base station is designated to transmit data to the terminal on a second communication link and the second base station is not designated to transmit data to the terminal; and a TX data processor operative to send the second transmission via a second communication link if it is determined that link imbalance potentially exists, wherein the second transmission includes data related to feedback information previously received in a first transmission on the first communication link.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
100 words
A terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising: a RX data processor operative to receive a first transmission on a downlink; and a TX data processor operative to send feedback information in a second transmission on the uplink, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission, and wherein the RX data processor is further operative to receive a third transmission on the downlink, wherein the third transmission comprises data related to the sent feedback information; and a controller operative to determine the reliability of the uplink based on the data received in the third transmission and the feedback information.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
100 words
A terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising: a RX data processor operative to receive a first transmission on a downlink; and a TX data processor operative to send feedback information in a second transmission on the uplink, wherein the feedback information relates to the first transmission, and wherein the RX data processor is further operative to receive a third transmission on the downlink, wherein the third transmission comprises data related to the sent feedback information; and a controller operative to determine the reliability of the uplink based on the data received in the third transmission and the feedback information.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
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| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2011-04-01 | 2011-10-01 | 2012-04-01 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2015-04-01 | 2015-10-01 | 2016-04-01 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2019-04-01 | 2019-10-01 | 2020-04-01 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |