Multi-Carrier Uplink Transmission With Segmented Power Control

The patent segments the uplink transmission by introducing a primary uplink carrier and one or more secondary uplink carriers. The primary carrier handles control channels and data, while secondary carriers primarily transmit data. This segmentation allows the system to achieve higher throughput by distributing traffic across multiple carriers while managing complexity through clear functional separation.

The patent extends the uplink transmission from a single-carrier dimension to a multi-carrier dimension. By introducing frequency diversity through multiple carriers, the system achieves higher peak data rates and robustness without proportionally increasing system complexity, as the additional carriers operate in parallel rather than requiring complex time-multiplexing.

The patent implements separate power control mechanisms for the primary and secondary uplink carriers. The primary carrier maintains full power control functionality including TPC commands and power headroom reporting, while secondary carriers use simplified power control based on pathloss reference signals. This segmented approach enables the system to achieve high peak data rates across multiple carriers while managing power control complexity through differentiation.

The patent introduces pathloss reference signals as intermediaries for power control on secondary carriers. Instead of implementing full power control loops on each secondary carrier, the system uses pathloss measurements from reference signals to determine uplink power, simplifying the power control mechanism while maintaining adequate performance for data transmission.