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US-RE50890-E1 - Method and apparatus for conveying antenna configuration information

Abstract

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for conveying information regarding the antenna configuration and/or the transmission diversity scheme to a recipient, such as a mobile device. In particular, information regarding the antenna configuration and/or the transmission diversity scheme can be conveyed by appropriately mapping a physical broadcast channel within a sub-frame so as to include reference signals indicative of different antenna configurations or transmission diversity schemes. Alternatively, masking, such as cyclic redundancy check masking, can be used to provide information regarding the antenna configuration and/or the transmission diversity scheme.

Inventors

  • Bernhard Raaf
  • Timo Eric Roman
  • Mieszko Chmiel

Assignees

  • NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20211123

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method comprising: obtaining a bit mask based upon at least one of a number of antennas or a transmission diversity scheme; and scrambling a plurality of cyclic redundancy check bits to be transmitted with the bit mask to thereby impart information regarding at least one of the number of antennas or the transmission diversity scheme.
  2. 2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the scrambling of the plurality of cyclic redundancy check bits comprises scrambling a plurality of cyclic redundancy check bits of a physical broadcast channel with the bit mask.
  3. 3 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein obtaining a bit mask comprises obtaining a bit mask sufficient to permit at least three different numbers of antennas or transmission diversity schemes to be uniquely distinguished.
  4. 4 . An apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program instructions, the at least one memory and the computer program instructions configured to, with the at least one processor, direct the apparatus at least to: obtain a bit mask based upon at least one of a number of antennas or a transmission diversity scheme; and scramble a plurality of cyclic redundancy check bits to be transmitted with the bit mask to thereby impart information regarding at least one of the number of antennas or the transmission diversity scheme.
  5. 5 . An apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the apparatus is further directed to scramble a plurality of cyclic redundancy check bits of a physical broadcast channel with the bit mask.
  6. 6 . An apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the apparatus is further directed to obtain a bit mask sufficient to permit at least three different numbers of antennas or transmission diversity schemes to be uniquely distinguished.
  7. 7 . A method comprising: analyzing a plurality of bits that were received to determine which one of a plurality of predefined bit masks has been used to scramble cyclic redundancy check bits; and determining at least one of a number of antennas or a transmission diversity scheme based upon the a respective bit mask, from among the plurality of predefined bit masks, that is determined to have been used to scramble the cyclic redundancy check bits, wherein the plurality of predefined bit masks include a first bit mask associated with a single antenna configuration, a second bit mask associated with a two antenna configuration, and a third bit mask associated with a four antenna configuration, and wherein a hamming distance between the first bit mask and the second bit mask is maximized.
  8. 8 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein analyzing the plurality of bits comprises analyzing a plurality of bits of a physical broadcast channel.
  9. 9 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein determining at least one of an antenna configuration or a transmission diversity scheme comprises uniquely distinguishing between at least three different numbers of antennas or transmission diversity schemes based upon the respective bit mask that is determined to have been used to scramble the cyclic redundancy check bits.
  10. 10 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein analyzing a plurality of bits further comprises usingdetermining a different predetermined bit mask used to scramble the cyclic redundancy check bits if in an instance in which an earlier analysis resulted in a determination that an incorrect bit mask was selected.
  11. 11 . An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program storing instructions that, the at least one memory and the computer program instructions configured to, with when executed by the at least one processor, direct cause the apparatus to perform at least to: analyzeanalyzing a plurality of bits that were received to determine which one of a plurality of predefined bit masks has been used to scramble cyclic redundancy check bits, said processor also configured to; and determinedetermining at least one of a number of antennas or a transmission diversity scheme based upon thea respective bit mask, from among the plurality of predefined bit masks, that is determined to have been used to scramble the cyclic redundancy check bits, wherein the plurality of predefined bit masks include a first bit mask associated with a single antenna configuration, a second bit mask associated with a two antenna configuration, and a third bit mask associated with a four antenna configuration, and wherein a hamming distance between the first bit mask and the second bit mask is maximized.
  12. 12 . An apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus is further directed to analyze ato perform: analyzing the plurality of bits of a physical broadcast channel.
  13. 13 . An apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the processorinstructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to perform: is further congfigureddirected to uniquely distinguish distinguishing between at least three different numbers of antennas or transmission diversity schemes based upon the respective bit mask that is determined to have been used to scramble the cyclic redundancy check bits.
  14. 14 . An apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to perform: is further directed to analyze a plurality of bits by usingdetermining a different predetermined bit mask used to scramble the cyclic redundancy check bits if in an instance in which an earlier analysis resulted in a determination that an incorrect bit mask was selected.
  15. 15 . A method comprising: selecting a cyclic redundancy check generator based upon at least one of a number of antennas or a transmission diversity scheme; and generating, using the selected cyclic redundancy check generator, a plurality of cyclic redundancy check bits to be transmitted to thereby impart information regarding at least one of the number of antennas or the transmission diversity scheme.
  16. 16 . An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program storing instructions that, the at least one memory and the computer program instructions configured to, with when executed by the at least one processor, direct cause the apparatus to perform at least to: selectselecting a cyclic redundancy check generator based upon at least one of a number of antennas or a transmission diversity scheme; and generategenerating, using the cyclic redundancy check generator selected, a plurality of cyclic redundancy check bits to be transmitted to thereby impart information regarding at least one of the number of antennas or the transmission diversity scheme.
  17. 17 . A method comprising: analyzing a plurality of bits that were received to determine which one of a plurality of predefined cyclic redundancy check generators has been applied to the bits; and determining at least one of a number of antennas or a transmission diversity scheme based upon the respective cyclic redundancy check generator that is determined to have been applied to the bits, wherein the plurality of bits that were received are determined to have been scrambled using one of a plurality of predefined bit masks, the plurality of bit masks including a first bit mask associated with a single antenna configuration, a second bit mask associated with a two antenna configuration, and a third bit mask associated with a four antenna configuration, and wherein a hamming distance between the first bit mask and the second bit mask is maximized.
  18. 18 . An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program storing instructions that, the at least one memory and the computer program instructions configured to, with when executed by the at least one processor, direct cause the apparatus to perform at least to: analyzeanalyzing a plurality of bits that were received to determine which one of a plurality of predefined cyclic redundancy check generators has been applied to the bits; and determinedetermining at least one of a number of antennas or a transmission diversity scheme based upon the respective cyclic redundancy check generator that is determined to have been applied to the bits, wherein the plurality of bits that were received are determined to have been scrambled using one of a plurality of predefined bit masks, the plurality of bit masks including a first bit mask associated with a single antenna configuration, a second bit mask associated with a two antenna configuration, and a third bit mask associated with a four antenna configuration, and wherein a hamming distance between the first bit mask and the second bit mask is maximized.
  19. 19 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein the plurality of predefined bit masks were developed based upon a Hamming difference between the plurality of bit masks.
  20. 20 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein determining at least one of a number of antennas or a transmission diversity scheme comprises determining the transmission diversity scheme based upon the respective bit mask that is determined to have been used to scramble the cyclic redundancy check bits.

Description

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to communications between a network entity, such as a base station, and a recipient, such as a mobile terminal, and, more particularly, relate to a method and apparatus for conveying antenna configuration information. BACKGROUND In conventional wireless communications systems, mobile devices or other user equipment transmit information to a network, and receive information from a network, such as via a base station. In some networks, the base stations or other network entities which transmit information to the user equipment may include different antenna configurations, such as different numbers of antennas, e.g., one antenna, two antennas or four antennas, and/or may transmit the information in accordance with different transmission diversity schemes. In this regard, a base station with a single antenna may transmit information without any transmission diversity scheme, while base stations with two or four antennas may transmit information in accordance with a transmission diversity scheme or a specific transmission diversity scheme out of a set of different available transmission diversity schemes. As used herein, the information regarding the antenna configuration, e.g., the number of antennas, and/or the transmission diversity scheme shall be commonly referenced (both individually and collectively) as antenna configuration information. In order to effectively receive information from a base station, for example, the user equipment must have know or recognize the antenna configuration and/or the transmission diversity scheme utilized by the base station. A mobile device is able to properly demodulate a received signal only after correctly determining the antenna configuration, i.e., the number of transmit antennas and/or the transmission diversity scheme of a base station. Since the antenna configuration information is needed in order to properly demodulate the received signal, the antenna configuration information must be determined by the user equipment with very high reliability. For example, in an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), the user equipment can gather antenna configuration information regarding the base station, termed an eNodeB in E-UTRAN, using data contained within orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols of a message. By way of example, the technical specifications of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and, in particular, 3GPP TS 36.211, REL 8 and 3GPP TS 36.212, REL 8 allows for an approach for providing antenna configuration information. In this regard, the user equipment can extract antenna configuration information from provided reference signals or by attempts to decode data within a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). FIGS. 1a-1f depict sub-frames within a conventional cyclical prefix for various antenna configurations and transmission diversity schemes in an E-UTRAN system. The sub-frames of FIGS. 1a-1f include six physical resource blocks (PRBs), i.e. 1080 kHz (72 sub-carriers), each of which comprises a sub-frame #0. Each sub-frame can consist of a plurality of resource elements which fill two slots, namely, a slot #0 and a slot #1. Each slot can, in turn, be comprised of a series of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols which represent respective channels of information. In this regard, the sub-frames of FIGS. 1a-1f can include a physical downlink (or download) control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a primary synchronization channel (P-SCH), a secondary synchronization channel (S-SCH), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and unused sub-carriers. The E-UTRAN sub-frame #0 also includes a plurality of reference signals which fill predetermined resource elements which depend upon the antenna configuration. For example, in the sub-frames of FIGS. 1a-1f, the reference signals are designated R0, R1, R2, and R3 and are transmitted from a first, second, third and fourth antenna of the eNodeB respectively. In an E-UTRAN system, an eNodeB may include one, two or four antennas, each of which employs a different transmission diversity scheme. As shown, the sub-frame #0 may place the reference signals within different predetermined resource elements depending upon the number of antennas employed by the eNodeB. Further, E-UTRAN supports sub-frames with both conventional cyclical prefixes and extended cyclical prefixes. As such, FIGS. 1a-1c depict sub-frames with conventional cyclical prefixes with sub-frames having fourteen symbols. On the other hand, FIGS. 1d-1f depict sub-frames with extended cyclical prefixes with sub-frames comprising twelve symbols. In E-UTRAN, the eNodeB does not explicitly inform the user equipment of the number of antennas and, in turn, the transmission diversity scheme. Instead, the user equipment can generally analyze the provided reference signals