Transmission of Common Control Messages for Machine-Type Communication (MTC) User Equipments With Reduced Bandwidth

Abstract

Embodiments described herein relate generally to a communication between a user equipment (UE) and an evolved Node B (eNB). The UE and eNB may perform enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH)-less operation for scheduling of one or more common control messages, such as one or more system information blocks (SIBs), a random access response (RAR) message, or a paging message. Additionally, or alternatively, an eNB may configure a subset of aggregation levels for the search space of the UE to use for receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH). Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method comprising:
 receiving, on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a master information block that includes scheduling information, wherein the scheduling information indicates a number of repetitions of a system information block;   receiving, in a time and frequency resource and based on the scheduling information, one or more instances of the system information block; and   decoding, using the scheduling information, at least one of the one or more instances of the system information block in the time and frequency resource.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein receiving the system information block comprises receiving the system information block that does not include a control channel for scheduling transmission of the system information block. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  comprising:
 decoding the scheduling information using the master information block. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 receiving the master information block comprises receiving, by a user equipment and on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and from a base station, the master information block that includes the scheduling information.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the scheduling information includes a bitmap of a subframe used for transmission of the system information block, a starting subframe of the system information block, a periodicity of the system information block, and a frequency location of the system information block. 
     
     
         7 . A method comprising:
 sending, on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a master information block that includes scheduling information that indicates a number of repetitions of a system information block; and   sending, based on the scheduling information, the system information block.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein sending the master information block comprises sending the master information block that includes the scheduling information that indicates a time and frequency resource of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for the number of repetitions of the system information block. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein sending the system information block comprises sending, in the time and frequency resource and based on the scheduling information, the system information block. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein sending the master information block on the physical broadcast channel comprises sending the master information block on a physical downlink channel. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the scheduling information includes a bitmap of a subframe used for transmission of the system information block, a starting subframe of the system information block, a periodicity of the system information block, and a frequency location of the system information block. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein sending the master information block comprises sending, on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), the master information block that includes the scheduling information that indicates the number of repetitions of the system information block to cause a user equipment to determine, using the master information block, the scheduling information, wherein the scheduling information indicates a time and frequency resource for reception of an instance of the system information block. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein sending the master information block comprises broadcasting, on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and to one or more user equipment, the master information block that includes the scheduling information that indicates the number of repetitions of the system information block to cause at least one of the one or more user equipment to determine, using the master information block, the scheduling information, wherein the scheduling information indicates a time and frequency resource for reception of an instance of the system information block. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein sending the system information block comprises sending the system information block that does not include a control channel for scheduling transmission of the system information block. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein:
 sending the master information block comprises sending, by a base station and on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), the master information block; and   sending the system information block comprises sending, by the base station and based at least on the scheduling information, the system information block.   
     
     
         16 . An apparatus comprising one or more baseband processors configured to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a master information block that includes scheduling information, wherein the scheduling information indicates a number of repetitions of a common control message;   receiving, in a time and frequency resource and based on the scheduling information, one or more instances of the common control message; and   decoding, using the scheduling information, at least one of the one or more instances of the common control message in the time and frequency resource.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein receiving the common control message comprises receiving the common control message that does not include a control channel for scheduling transmission of the common control message. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , the operations comprising:
 decoding the scheduling information using the master information block.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein:
 receiving the master information block comprises receiving, by a user equipment and on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and from a base station, the master information block that includes the scheduling information.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the scheduling information includes a bitmap of a subframe used for transmission of the common control message, a starting subframe of the common control message, a periodicity of the common control message, and a frequency location of the common control message. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the common control message comprises a system information block, a random access response (RAR) message, or a paging message.