Support for broadcast control header for wireless networks

Abstract

Various example embodiments are disclosed herein related to broadcast control headers for wireless networks. According to an example embodiment, a method may include allocating resources for a broadcast channel for a wireless network may include determining a set of physical resource units (PRUs), each PRU including a plurality of contiguous subcarriers, selecting one or more subsets of the PRUs, each subset including a plurality of PRUs distributed across the set of PRUs, and determining a plurality of logical resource units (LRUs) from each subset of PRUs, including permutating the subcarriers independently within each subset of PRUs to obtain the plurality of LRUs for each subset of PRUs, each LRU including a plurality of distributed subcarriers.

1 . A method of allocating resources for a broadcast channel for a wireless network, the method comprising:
 determining a set of physical resource units (PRUs), each PRU including a plurality of contiguous subcarriers;   selecting one or more subsets of the PRUs, each subset including a plurality of PRUs distributed across the set of PRUs;   determining a plurality of logical resource units (LRUs) from each subset of PRUs, including permutating the subcarriers independently within each subset of PRUs to obtain the plurality of LRUs for each subset of PRUs, each LRU including a plurality of distributed subcarriers.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the selecting comprises selecting one or more subsets of the PRUs, each subset including a plurality of PRUs distributed substantially equally across the set of PRUs. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the determining the plurality of logical resource units (LRUs) comprises, for each of the subsets of the PRUs, mapping each of the subcarriers from each of the PRUs to one of the plurality of LRUs such that each LRU includes a plurality of distributed subcarriers. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the permutating comprises, for each of the subsets of K PRUs, mapping one or more subcarriers from each of the K PRUs of the subset to one of the N LRUs. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the permutating comprises, for each of the subsets of N PRUs, mapping one or more subcarriers from each of the N PRUs of the subset to one of the N LRUs. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  and further comprising:
 allocating one or more of the plurality of LRUs for the broadcast channel (BCH).   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  and further comprising:
 allocating one or more of the plurality of LRUs for the broadcast channel (BCH), the BCH including a primary broadcast channel (PBCH) and a secondary broadcast channel (SBCH), the allocating including:
 dividing the one or more of the plurality of LRUs into a first subset of LRUs and a second subset of LRUs; 
 allocating the first subset of the LRUs to the PBCH; and 
 allocating the second subset of LRUs to the SBCH. 
   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  and further comprising:
 allocating a first subset of the plurality of LRUs to a primary broadcast channel (PBCH) of the broadcast channel (BCH), and allocating a second subset of the one or more LRUs to a secondary broadcast channel (SBCH) of the BCH.   
     
     
         9 . An apparatus comprising a processor or controller, the apparatus being configured to:
 determine a set of physical resource units (PRUs), each PRU including a plurality of contiguous subcarriers;   select one or more subsets of the PRUs, each subset including a plurality of PRUs distributed across the set of PRUs; and   determine a plurality of logical resource units (LRUs) from each subset of PRUs, including permutating the subcarriers independently within each subset of PRUs to obtain the plurality of LRUs for each subset of PRUs, each LRU including a plurality of distributed subcarriers.   
     
     
         10 . A method of allocating resources for a broadcast channel for a wireless network, the method comprising:
 determining a first group of physical resource units (PRUs) and a second group of PRUs, each PRU including a plurality of contiguous subcarriers;   performing the following for each of the first group and the second group of PRUs to obtain a first group of logical resource units (LRUs) from the first group of PRUs and to obtain a second group of LRUs from the second group of PRUs:
 selecting one or more subsets of the PRUs within the group of PRUs, each subset including a plurality of PRUs distributed across the group of PRUs; 
 determining a plurality of LRUs from each subset of PRUs, including permutating the subcarriers independently within each subset of PRUs to obtain the plurality of LRUs for each subset of PRUs, each LRU including a plurality of distributed subcarriers. 
   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein each PRU comprises a plurality of contiguous subcarriers across one or more Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) symbols, and wherein each LRU includes a plurality of distributed subcarriers across one or more OFDMA symbols. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the selecting comprises selecting one or more subsets of the PRUs within the group of PRUs, each subset including a plurality of PRUs distributed substantially equally across the group of PRUs. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the broadcast channel (BCH) comprises a primary broadcast channel (PBCH) and a second broadcast channel (SBCH), the method further comprising:
 allocating a first group of the plurality of LRUs to the PBCH; and   allocating a second group of plurality of LRUs to the SBCH.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the broadcast channel (BCH) comprises a primary broadcast channel (PBCH) and a second broadcast channel (SBCH), wherein the performing comprises:
 determining a first group of logical resource units (LRUs) from the first group of PRUs, the first group of LRUs for allocation to the PBCH, the determining a first group of LRUs including:
 selecting one or more subsets of the PRUs within the first group of PRUs, each subset including a plurality of PRUs distributed substantially equally across the first group of PRUs; and 
 determining a plurality of LRUs from each subset of PRUs of the first group of PRUs, including permutating the subcarriers independently within each subset of PRUs to obtain the first group of LRUs, each LRU including a plurality of distributed subcarriers; and 
   determining a second group of logical resource units (LRUs) from the second group of PRUs, the second group of LRUs for allocation to the SBCH, the determining the second group of LRUs including:
 selecting one or more subsets of the PRUs within the second group of PRUs, each subset including a plurality of PRUs distributed substantially equally across the second group of PRUs; and 
 determining a plurality of LRUs from each subset of PRUs of the second group of PRUs, including permutating the subcarriers independently within each subset of PRUs to obtain the second group of LRUs, each LRU including a plurality of distributed subcarriers. 
   
     
     
         15 . An apparatus comprising a controller or processor, the apparatus being configured to:
 determine a first group of physical resource units (PRUs) and a second group of PRUs, each PRU including a plurality of contiguous subcarriers;   perform the following for each of the first group and the second group of PRUs to obtain a first group of logical resource units (LRUs) from the first group of PRUs and to obtain a second group of LRUs from the second group of PRUs:
 select one or more subsets of the PRUs within the group of PRUs, each subset including a plurality of PRUs distributed across the group of PRUs; and 
 determine a plurality of LRUs from each subset of PRUs, including permutating the subcarriers independently within each subset of PRUs to obtain the plurality of LRUs for each subset of PRUs, each LRU including a plurality of distributed subcarriers. 
   
     
     
         16 . A method comprising:
 transmitting, via a wireless network, at least a first subframe of the first superframe including a broadcast control header (BCH), the first superframe including a plurality of subframes, the BCH including a system configuration information that describes: 1) the system configuration of all subframes of the first superframe except the first subframe of the first superframe.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting at least a first subframe of the first superframe, the BCH of the first superframe including a system configuration information for each of a plurality of subframes of the first superframe except for the first subframe of the first superframe, the BCH of the first superframe also including a system configuration information for a first subframe of a second or subsequent superframe. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  and further comprising transmitting at least a first subframe of the second superframe, the system configuration of the first subframe of the second superframe being provided by system configuration information included within the first subframe of the first superframe. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16  wherein each superframe includes 32 subframes, the BCH of the first superframe including configuration information that describes 31 of the 32 subframes of the first superframe. 
     
     
         20 . An apparatus comprising:
 a wireless transceiver;   a controller or processor coupled to the transceiver;   wherein the transceiver, under control of the controller, is configured to:   transmit, via a wireless network, at least a first subframe of the first superframe including a broadcast control header (BCH), the first superframe including a plurality of subframes, the BCH including a system configuration information that describes: 1) the system configuration of all subframes of the first superframe except the first subframe of the first superframe.   
     
     
         21 . A method comprising:
 transmitting, via a wireless network, at least a first subframe of a first superframe, the first subframe including a broadcast control header (BCH), the BCH including a system configuration information that describes: 1) the system configuration of all subframes of the first superframe.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting at least the first subframe of the first superframe, the BCH of the first superframe including a system configuration information for each of all of the subframes of the first superframe, the BCH of the first superframe also including a system configuration information for a first subframe of a second or subsequent superframe.