Re-transmission Extension Carrier for Wireless Scheduling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The random timing of ARQ re-transmissions in wireless communication networks impedes efficient scheduling and inter-cell coordination, as the scheduler cannot predict when re-transmissions will occur, leading to suboptimal performance and coordination challenges across cells.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a Re-transmission Extension Carrier (REC) shifts ARQ/HARQ re-transmissions from the main carrier to a separate extension carrier, allowing the main carrier scheduler to operate more deterministically and improving inter-cell scheduling by isolating re-transmissions on a dedicated carrier.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ARQ re-transmissions are handled on the main carrier, then the system can recover from errors, but the scheduler cannot predict when re-transmissions will occur, leading to suboptimal scheduling efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the carrier into a main carrier for initial data transmissions and a separate extension carrier for ARQ re-transmissions. This separation allows the main carrier scheduler to operate deterministically without random interruptions from re-transmissions, while the extension carrier handles error recovery independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts ARQ re-transmission functionality from the main carrier and places it on a dedicated extension carrier. This extraction removes the random timing interruptions from the main carrier scheduler, enabling more efficient and predictable scheduling of initial data transmissions.
2Reliability
If ARQ re-transmissions occur on the main carrier, then error correction is maintained, but inter-cell coordination is impeded due to random timing of re-transmissions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the transmission functions by carrier type, with the extension carrier dedicated to re-transmissions. This segmentation allows each cell to coordinate re-transmissions independently on the extension carrier while maintaining deterministic scheduling on the main carrier, thereby improving inter-cell coordination.
Solution Approach 2:
The extension carrier acts as an intermediary channel that mediates between the main carrier and the error correction requirements. By offloading re-transmissions to this intermediate carrier, the system maintains error correction capabilities while enabling better coordination across multiple cells.
3Productivity
If re-transmissions are integrated with initial transmissions on the same carrier, then resource utilization is maximized, but scheduling predictability and efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the transmission timeline and frequency resources into distinct phases: initial transmissions on the main carrier and re-transmissions on the extension carrier. This segmentation sacrifices some resource utilization efficiency to gain significant improvements in scheduling predictability and efficiency.
Data Source
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AI summary
In a wireless communication network (10), HARQ acknowledgements, re- transmissions, and related signaling (e.g., channel quality reports) are performed on a Re-transmission Extension Carrier, REC, separate from the primary downlink traffic carrier(s). In various embodiments, the REC may comprise an aggregated wireless communication network channel, which may be cross-channel scheduled or may have its own scheduler. The REC may be Frequency Domain Duplex, FDD, or Time Domain Duplex, TDD, The REC may be dedicated to a main downlink carrier, or may be shared across a plurality of aggregated component carriers. The REC may be transmitted from the same base station (14) as one or more associated main carriers, or from a different base station (14). A shared REC may be operated in cooperative or contention modes. The REC may be implemented in unlicensed spectrum.