Narrowband Downlink Control Channel Segmentation for MTC UE Cost Reduction

The patent segments the downlink control channel and uplink control channel into separate narrowband resources, allowing MTC UEs to operate in a limited bandwidth (e.g., 6 resource blocks) while the overall system maintains full bandwidth capacity. This segmentation enables low-cost MTC UEs to function independently without requiring the entire system bandwidth, thus resolving the contradiction between reduced device cost and maintained system capacity.

The patent introduces a new dimensional approach by creating separate narrowband control channels (NPDCCH for downlink, NPUCCH for uplink) that operate independently from the traditional wideband control channels. This dimensional separation allows the system to support multiple MTC UEs in parallel within the narrowband resource, increasing capacity without proportionally increasing baseband processing complexity, as each narrowband channel can be processed independently with reduced complexity.

The patent merges multiple narrowband control channels (downlink and uplink) and data channels within a confined narrowband resource allocation (e.g., 6 resource blocks). This merging allows MTC UEs to achieve adequate performance with reduced bandwidth by efficiently combining control and data transmissions in the same narrow frequency range, thus maintaining spectrum efficiency while reducing baseband processing requirements compared to allocating full system bandwidth to each UE.