Soft Buffer Partitioning for Carrier Aggregation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless communication systems face challenges in managing soft buffer memory efficiently, particularly in portable devices, due to large memory requirements for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) systems, which consume excessive power and space, and struggle to optimize memory usage across multiple carriers in advanced wireless protocols like LTE-Advanced.
Innovation Solution
The wireless communication device determines the size of soft buffer memory partitions for each component carrier based on configured bandwidth, total soft channel bits, HARQ processes, and spatial multiplexing layers, using formulas and signaling mechanisms to allocate resources effectively across multiple carriers, allowing for flexible and efficient soft buffer management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a HARQ buffer is used to store previous data packets for hybrid automatic repeat request, then error correction capability is improved, but memory size and power consumption increase excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the HARQ buffer into multiple partitions, with each partition dedicated to a specific component carrier. This segmentation allows the system to allocate memory resources efficiently across multiple carriers without requiring a single large buffer, thereby reducing total memory requirements while maintaining error correction capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic soft buffer partitioning where the size of each partition can be adjusted based on the configured bandwidth of component carriers. This dynamic allocation allows the system to adapt memory usage to actual transmission needs, optimizing the balance between reliability and memory consumption.
2Productivity
If soft buffer size is increased to support higher data rates across multiple carriers, then productivity is improved, but use of energy and memory resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of soft buffer partition sizes dynamically based on the configured bandwidths of component carriers. By adjusting partition sizes according to actual carrier configurations rather than allocating fixed large buffers, the system achieves high data rates while minimizing memory allocation and associated power consumption.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple component carriers are supported with equal soft buffer allocation, then adaptability is improved, but memory efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by allocating different soft buffer partition sizes to different component carriers based on their individual configured bandwidths. Instead of uniform allocation, each carrier receives memory resources proportional to its actual needs, improving overall memory efficiency while maintaining full multi-carrier adaptability.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus and a method therein include selecting a size of a soft buffer memory partition per component carrier in a Carrier Aggregation scenario. The method supports multiple carriers to select a size of a soft buffer memory partition, the partition associated with receiving data on at least one component carrier, the multi-carrier system comprising at least two component carriers, each component carrier is associated with a configured bandwidth, the apparatus comprising the processor configured to select a size of a soft buffer memory partition for the first component carrier based at least in part on a first total number of soft channel bits, a first number associated with hybrid automatic retransmit request processes, and the configured bandwidth of the first component carrier.