Wireless telecommunications apparatuses and methods for allocating downlink resources

Abstract

There is provided a method of transmitting downlink control-related information to a terminal in a wireless telecommunications system. The method comprises allocating downlink resources in a first set of resources for sending the downlink control-related information; determining that a further downlink transmission will be transmitted using at least part of the allocated downlink resources thereby identifying a collision between the downlink control-related information transmission and the further downlink transmission; upon identifying a collision, allocating a second set of resources for sending the downlink control-related information; and transmitting the downlink control-related information using at least the second set of resources.

1 . A method of operating a terminal in a wireless telecommunications system for receiving downlink control-related information, the method comprising the terminal:
 identifying downlink resources in a first set of resources for receiving the downlink control-related information;   identifying a collision between the downlink control-related information transmission and a further downlink transmission in the first set of resources;   upon identification of the collision, identifying a second set of resources for receiving the downlink control-related information;   receiving the downlink control-related information using at least the second set of resources.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the terminal is pre-configured with information identifying the first set of resources and with information identifying the second set of resources. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising
 the terminal detecting that it is unable to receive the downlink control-related information in the first set of resources and 
 upon detecting, the terminal attempting to receive the downlink control-related information in the second set of resources. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising
 the terminal attempting to receive downlink control-related information from the first set of resources; and 
 upon determining that the attempt to receive the downlink control-related information is unsuccessful, the terminal detecting that it is unable to receive the downlink control-related information in the first set of resources. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising
 receiving a notification that the downlink control-related information in the first set of resources is affected by a collision, wherein the notification is transmitted to at least the terminal. 
 
     
     
         6 . A terminal for receiving downlink control-related information in a wireless telecommunications system, the terminal being configured to:
 identify downlink resources in a first set of resources for receiving the downlink control-related information;   identify a collision between the downlink control-related information transmission and a further downlink transmission in the first set of resources;   identify, upon identification of the collision, a second set of resources for receiving the downlink control-related information;   receive the downlink control-related information using at least the second set of resources.   
     
     
         7 . The terminal of  claim 6  wherein the terminal is pre-configured with information identifying the first set of resources and with information identifying the second set of resources. 
     
     
         8 . The terminal of  claim 6  further configured to
 detect that it is unable to receive the downlink control-related information in the first set of resources and 
 attempt, upon detecting, to receive the downlink control-related information in the second set of resources. 
 
     
     
         9 . The terminal of  claim 8  further configured to
 attempt to receive downlink control-related information from the first set of resources; and 
 detect, upon determining that the attempt to receive the downlink control-related information is unsuccessful, that it is unable to receive the downlink control-related information in the first set of resources. 
 
     
     
         10 . The terminal of  claim 6  further configured to
 receive a notification that the downlink control-related information in the first set of resources is affected by a collision, wherein the notification is transmitted to at least the terminal. 
 
     
     
         11 . The terminal of  claim 10  wherein the notification comprises one or more of:
 an indication that downlink control-related information is not transmitted in the first set of resources; 
 frequency information for the second set of resources; 
 timing information for the second set of resources; 
 an identifier for the second set of resources; 
 an indication of the resources of the first set of resources affected by the collision; and 
 an indication of the resources used for the further downlink transmission. 
 
     
     
         12 . The terminal of  claim 10  further configured to detect, upon receiving the notification, that it is unable to receive the downlink control-related information in the first set of resources. 
     
     
         13 . The terminal of  claim 6 , wherein receiving the downlink control-related information comprises receiving the downlink control-related information in the first set of resources and second set of resources jointly with a different transmission robustness relative to the robustness applied in the first set of resources. 
     
     
         14 . The terminal of  claim 13  further comprising:
 receiving a notification indicating that the downlink control-related information is transmitted in the first and second sets of resources jointly and/or the different transmission robustness for the transmission of the downlink control-related information; and 
 upon receipt of the notification, the terminal attempting to receive the downlink control-related information using the first and second sets of resources jointly. 
 
     
     
         15 . The terminal of  claim 13  further comprising:
 the terminal, upon detecting that it is unable to decode the downlink control-related information using the first set of resources, attempting to decode the downlink control-related information using the first and second sets of resources jointly. 
 
     
     
         16 . The terminal of  claim 13  wherein the robustness is increased using one or more of:
 an increase aggregation level; 
 a reduced code rate; 
 a different type of encoding. 
 
     
     
         17 . The terminal of  claim 6 , further configured to
 detect that it is unable to receive the downlink control-related information in the first set of resources and,   attempt, upon detecting, to receive the downlink control-related information, and optionally further downlink control-related information, in the second set of resources wherein the second set of resources corresponds to resources already allocated for transmitting the further downlink control-related information.   
     
     
         18 . The terminal of  claim 6  wherein the second set of resources is at a different time period and/or different frequencies than the first set of resources. 
     
     
         19 . The terminal of  claim 6  wherein the downlink control-related information comprises one or more of: allocation information, downlink control information “DCI” and acknowledgement information. 
     
     
         20 . Circuitry for a base station for transmitting downlink control-related information in a wireless telecommunications system, wherein the circuitry comprises a controller element and a transceiver element configured to operate together to:
 identify downlink resources in a first set of resources for receiving the downlink control-related information;   identify a collision between the downlink control-related information transmission and a further downlink transmission in the first set of resources;   identify, upon identification of the collision, a second set of resources for receiving the downlink control-related information;   receive the downlink control-related information using at least the second set of resources.