Methods for enb, ue uplink transmission and reception

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for narrowband UEs. In one novel aspect, frequency hopping is used. The UE stays on the first frequency band for consecutive number of subframes before hopping to another frequency band. In another embodiment, the first set of resource elements and the second set of resource elements are discontinued with a gap in the time domain. In another novel aspect, the UE obtains sub-band information and a resource index and generates a communication channel for data frame transmission and receiving. In one embodiment, the UE further acquires the sub-band set information through system information. In yet another embodiment, the resource index is acquired from DCI. In yet another novel aspect, resource blocks are selected for a PUCCH for a narrowband UE. The UE determines an operating sub-band information and selects one or more narrowband regions for the PUCCH.

1 . A method, comprising:
 generating a communication channel by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, wherein the communication channel is mapped to a sequence of resource elements, each resource element is with a frequency sub-band of a system frequency bandwidth and a time domain subframe number;   selecting a first set of resource elements with a first frequency band for consecutive number N of subframes for the communication channel, wherein the first frequency band is a sub-band of the system bandwidth;   hopping to a second set of resource elements with a second frequency band every N consecutive number of subframes for the communication channel, wherein the second frequency band is a sub-band of the system bandwidth, and wherein the first and the second frequency band are different; and   sending or receiving information bits on the communication channel.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein N is greater than or equals to the number of subframes needed for cross subframe channel estimation for the UE. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second frequency bands are determined based on a type of the UE. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of resource elements and the second set of resource elements are discontinued with a gap in the time domain. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the gap number of subframes is at least based on a frequency re-tuning time for the UE. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , resource elements in the gap time domain are occupied by one or more different UEs. 
     
     
         7 . A method, comprising:
 obtaining sub-band information and a resource index by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network;   generating a communication channel based on the obtained sub-band information and the resource index; and   sending or receiving information bits on the communication channel.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein prior to obtaining a sub-band information and a resource index further comprise: obtaining a set of narrowband information by the UE, wherein the set of narrowband information includes one or more sub-band information, and wherein each sub-band is a subset of contiguous resource blocks in a system bandwidth. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the set of narrowband information is obtained through system information. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the sub-band information is determined based on at least one sub-band conditions, comprising: a channel condition, a transmission mode, a transport block size, a latency requirement, a UE category, a traffic type, timing advance requirement, and transmitting random access preamble requirement. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the sub-band information is indicated in downlink control information (DCI). 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the sub-band information is configured through radio resource control (RRC). 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the resource index is indicated in downlink control information (DCI). 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the resource index is a physical resource block (PRB) index, and wherein PRB index is a relative index in the sub-band. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the resource index is a physical resource block (PRB) index, and wherein PRB index is defined for the system bandwidth. 
     
     
         16 . A method, comprising:
 determining an operating sub-band information by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, wherein the operating sub-band is smaller than a system bandwidth, and wherein the UE operates in the sub-band;   selecting one or more narrowband regions for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for the UE based on the determined operating sub-band information, wherein the one or more selected narrowband regions are at corresponding known locations of the operating sub-band; and   sending control information to the wireless network on the PUCCH.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the selected one or more narrowband regions are at one or two edges of the operating sub-band of the UE. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein resource blocks of the selected one or more narrowband regions occupy different frequency bands. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the PUCCH stays on a same frequency band for a consecutive number N of subframes before hopping to a different frequency. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein one or more subframes in the selected narrowband regions are guard subframes. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the guard subframes are at least based on a frequency re-tuning time of the UE.