Patent Application
20170070377
The present invention relates to a user terminal, a radio base station, a radio communication method and a radio communication system that are applicable to a next-generation communication system.
In the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) network, the specifications of long term evolution (LTE) have been drafted for the purpose of further increasing high speed data rates, providing lower delays and so on (see non-patent literature 1). In LTE, as multiple-access schemes, a scheme that is based on OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) is used in downlink channel s (downlink), and a scheme that is based on SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) is used in uplink channel s (uplink).
Non-Patent Literature 1: 3GPP TS 36.300 “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall Description; Stage 2”
In LTE systems, techniques for achieving further improvement of cell throughput are under study. For example, studies are in progress on spatial multiplexing (SDM: Spatial Division Multiplexing) based on MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output), frequency multiplexing (FDM: Frequency Division Multiplexing) based on carrier aggregation, and so on.
However, for the uplink, further improvement of throughput is in demand.
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a user terminal, a radio base station, a radio communication method and a radio communication system that can improve uplink throughput.
A user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention has a transmission processing section that generates an SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) signal by blocking symbols, which are arranged in a given time region at a symbol rate equal to or lower than a Nyquist rate, and converting the blocks into symbols that are multiplexed in a high density, in block units, in a time domain, by allowing an overlap between the symbols in the blocks, and a transmission section that transmits the SC-FDMA signal to a radio base station.
According to the present invention, it is possible to improve uplink throughput.
Now, an embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the uplink of LTE systems, SC-FDMA is employed. In comparison with multi-carrier schemes such as OFDMA, SC-FDMA can reduce the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR).
As for the method of generating SC-FDMA signals in the frequency domain, DFT (Discrete Fourier Transform)-precoded OFDM is used. DFT-precoded OFDM is also referred to as “DFT-spread OFDM.” DFT-precoded OFDM makes channel allocation (subcarrier mapping) in frequency-domain processes easy. Also, the commonality of processes with downlink OFDMA is high, so that, for example, the same subcarrier intervals as in OFDMA can be achieved.
The DFT section 706 converts time domain signals into frequency domain signals by performing a serial/parallel conversion of a plurality of samples of modulated symbols and performing a DFT process, and outputs the resulting signals to the subcarrier mapping section 707. The size of this DFT (for example, Q) is equivalent to the bandwidth of the signal transmitted from each separate user terminal.
The subcarrier mapping section 707 generates a sequence, in which information symbols after the DFT process, output from the DFT section 706, are mapped to the frequency band that is allocated to the subject user terminal, and in which 0 signals are allocated to the other frequency bands, and outputs this sequence to the IFFT section 708. Note that inserting 0 signals in the frequency domain in a continuous manner provides localized FDMA signals, and inserting 0 signals in a discrete manner provides distributed FDMA signals.
The IFFT section 708 generates a time domain signal by applying an IFFT process to the sequence output from the subcarrier mapping section 707, and outputs the resulting signal to the CP attaching section 709. This size of this IFFT (for example, NFFT) is equivalent to the whole received signal bandwidth in a radio base station.
The CP attaching section 709 attaches CPs to the signal output from the IFFT section 708, on a per symbol basis, and outputs the resulting transmission signal. Note that an additional filtering process may be applied to the transmission signal.
The CP removing section 801 removes the CPs from a signal that is received as input, and outputs the result to the FFT section 802. Note that an inverse filtering process may be applied to the receiving signal as well.
The FFT section 802 converts time domain signals into the frequency domain by applying FFT-based multi-carrier demodulation/demultiplexing, extracts each user terminal's signal, and outputs the symbol in each subcarrier location in SC-FDMA to the frequency domain equalization filter 805 and the channel response estimation section 831.
The channel response estimation section 831 multiplies the frequency domain signals of reference signals output from the FFT section 802 by the complex conjugates of the modulation components of the reference signals that are known in the receiver (modulation phase and amplitude), on a per subcarrier basis, thereby determining each subcarrier's channel response, and outputting each subcarrier's channel response estimation value to the frequency domain equalization filter 805.
For each user terminal's signal output from the FFT section 802, the frequency domain equalization filter 805 performs a frequency domain equalization (FDE: Frequency Domain Equalizer) process in order to compensate for the distortion of the waveform having been subjected to the impact of multipath interference, and outputs the resulting signal to the IDFT section 806. For the FDE process, interference from other signals is suppressed on a per signal basis.
Although the linear minimum mean-square error (LMMSE) algorithm based on received signals is used for the method of generating FDE equalization weights, this is by no means limiting. Also, the channel response estimation results input from the channel response estimation section 831 are used in the FDE process.
The IDFT section 806 converts the frequency domain signals, output from the frequency domain equalization filter 805, into time domain signals, by way of an inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT).
Now, in radio communication systems, there is a demand for a further increase of cell throughput (the total throughput of all user terminals in a cell). The maximum throughput per user terminal depends primarily on the scheduling method (range) which the radio base station applies to each user terminal. In LTE systems, various throughput-improving techniques are under study.
MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output)-based spatial multiplexing (SDM: Spatial Division Multiplexing) is one of the most promising techniques to improve throughput and spectral efficiency in LTE systems. MIMO SDM refers to a scheme of spatially multiplexing and communicating signals (streams) by using a plurality of transmitting/receiving antennas. For example, LTE (Rel. 8 LTE) can achieve a peak data rate of 300 Mbps or higher by means of MIMO SDM with maximum four antennas. Also, in LTE-A (Rel. 10 LTE), a peak data rate of 1 Gbps or higher can be achieved by means of single-user/multi-user MIMO SDM with maximum eight antennas.
Also, in LTE systems, inter-base station coordinated (CoMP: Coordinated Multi-Point) transmission/reception is also under study. In CoMP transmission/reception, a plurality of transmitting/receiving points coordinate and transmit/receive signals to/from user terminals. That is, by using radio resources (time, frequency and power resources and/or the like) of multiple nodes (cell sites), it becomes possible to improve the throughput of, in particular, cell-edge user terminals. Nevertheless, since a plurality of cells' radio resources are used for one user terminal, it is necessary to consider the tradeoff with cell throughput, and, furthermore, rely significantly on fast scheduling between cells.
To achieve an increased peak data rate, it is effective to multiplex physical channels densely. As to how to provide physical channels in a high density, approaches may be taken in the spatial direction, the frequency direction, the time direction and so on.
To provide radio resources densely in the spatial direction, the antenna space or the signal space has to be expanded. The antenna space can be expanded by increasing the number of antennas in above-described MIMO multiplexing. For example, although MIMO SDM with maximum eight antennas is employed in LTE-A, it is possible to increase the number of antennas even more (for example, to 24 to 36). Also, it may be equally possible to introduce polarized antennas for the antennas, and apply vertically polarized waves and horizontally polarized waves to the signals to transmit and receive.
On the other hand, the signal space can be expanded by increasing the M-ary modulation value. For example, although LTE-A supports 64 QAM at a maximum, the signal space can be expanded even more by increasing the M-ary modulation value (for example, by employing 256 QAM, 512 QAM, etc.).
To provide radio resources densely in the frequency direction, it may be possible to use a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) scheme. In NOMA, signals for a plurality of user terminals are non-orthogonal-multiplexed over the same radio resource by, for example, changing transmission power depending on channel gain (for example, the RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power)), path loss and so on. Consequently, unlike orthogonal multiplexing schemes such as OFDMA, interference may be produced between subcarriers (carrier waves) (also referred to as “inter-carrier interference” (ICI)).
Note that, in the frequency direction, the data rate can be improved by increasing the radio resources. For example, a plurality of a frequency bands can be bundled and used by means of spectrum aggregation techniques such as carrier aggregation, dual connectivity and so on.
Still, as for the uplink, there is a demand for further improvement of throughput.
In order to solve this problem, the present inventors have come up with the idea of multiplexing symbols over SC-FDMA signals at a symbol rate faster than the Nyquist rate in a given time region. To be more specific, the present inventors have come up with the idea of generating SC-FDMA signals by blocking single-carrier FDMA symbols, compressing and multiplexing the symbol blocks in the time axis direction by allowing inter-symbol interference (ISI), re-blocking the information symbol blocks, which are compressed in the time axis direction, in the block length before the compression, converting the re-blocked units into frequency domain signals by way of a DFT, and mapping the frequency domain signals to frequency bands allocated in the frequency domain.
Assuming that the above-described symbol blocks, acquired by blocking single-carrier FDMA symbols, are symbols in OFDMA, this is equivalent to multiplexing OFDMA symbols at a faster rate than the Nyquist rate by allowing inter-symbol interference. That is, inter-block interference (which is inter-symbol interference if seen from the information symbols in the blocks) is allowed between symbol blocks in SC-FDMA (also referred to as “SC-FDMA symbols”), and these symbol blocks (SC-FDMA symbols) are multiplexed at a faster rate than the Nyquist rate.
The Nyquist rate refers to the uppermost symbol rate at which symbols communicated in a finite band (for example, the LTE system band) can be decoded uniquely. Multiplexing of symbols at a faster symbol rate than the Nyquist rate is referred to as “FTN” (Faster Than Nyquist). According to FTN, radio resources can be provided in a high density in the time and/or frequency direction.
Existing mobile communication schemes (orthogonal multiple access) are configured so that interference between information symbols (also referred to as “inter-symbol interference” (ISI)) and ICI are prevented by multiplexing information symbols over resources that are orthogonal in the time and frequency domains at a rate equal to or lower than the Nyquist rate. Meanwhile, since communication schemes to employ FTN become non-orthogonal multiple access schemes and the number of information symbols per time can be increased in comparison with orthogonal multiple access, these communication schemes still suffer the impact of ISI (interference in the time domain) and ICI (interference in the frequency domain). Note that the information symbols refer to symbols that are provided by modulating predetermined bit sequences, and include data symbols, control information symbols and so on.
As noted earlier, symbol blocks that are acquired by blocking single-carrier FDMA symbols are equivalent to OFDMA symbols in OFDMA. Consequently, in the following description, FTN will be described in the context of OFDMA, for ease of description.
The waveforms W1 and W2 in
The principles of FTN will be described using an example of OFDM.
In the event of OFDM, the OFDM symbol duration is equal to the length of FFT blocks, and also equal to the OFDM symbol interval as well. Consequently, if “multipath” of communication paths is not taken into account, no ISI is produced. Also, basically, ICI is not produced either.
In the event of FTN, although the FTN symbol duration is equal to the length of FFT blocks, the FTN symbol interval is shorter than the OFDM symbol interval. Consequently, ISI is produced. Also, looking at a given symbol period, since ISI is produced before and after, ICI is also produced due to the discontinuity of the carrier frequency.
In view of the above, an interference canceller to cancel ISI and ICI is essential to the FTN receiver for performing the receiving processes of FTN signals. For example, a turbo soft interference canceller (SIC), which performs the iterative process of generating estimated soft decision values of interfering symbols from a linear minimum mean-square error (LMMSE) interference reduction canceller, and the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of each bit of decoder output, and subtracting these from received signals, is suitable from the perspective of performance and the volume of calculation.
Meanwhile, as for the method of generating FTN signals, for example, the methods illustrated in
In
In
Here, OFDM/OQAM (Offset Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) refers to the method of multiplexing (mapping) the in-phase components and quadrature components of OFDM symbols of a symbol cycle (symbol interval) T on the in-phase components alone, at intervals half of the OFDM symbol cycle (=T/2). Consequently, although OFDM/OQAM achieves a symbol rate that is twice that of OFDM, information of one OFDM symbol is communicated using two OFDM/OQAM symbols, so that the information bit rate is the same as that of OFDM.
Also, in
Now, as an embodiment of the present invention, DFT-precoded OFDM transmitting/receiving processes to use block-processing FTN will be described. To be more specific, transmitting/receiving processes to block single-carrier FDMA symbols in a predetermined block length (a predetermined number of symbols), apply FTN to the symbol blocks, re-block the symbols blocks, to which FTN has been applied, in the original block length, and use DFT-precoded OFDM.
For ease of description, a case will be described below where the transmission side (FTN transmitter) provided with an FTN transmission processing section 300 transmits SC-FDMA signals, to which FTN is applied, to the receiving side (FTN receiver) provided with an FTN reception processing section 400. For example, a structure may be employed here in which a user terminal is used as the FTN transmitter and a radio base station is used as the FTN receiver. However, the above structure is by no means limiting, as long as the radio communication method includes the steps of implementing processes with the FTN transmission processing section 300 and the FTN reception processing section 400. For example, in the event the radio base station can transmit SC-FDMA signals, a structure may be employed, in which the radio base station has the FTN transmission processing section 300, and the user terminal has the FTN reception processing section 400.
Blocking-FTN is applied to single-carrier FDMA symbols of this frame configuration. Signals of (Nblk+z) (z>0) blocks are multiplexed over subframes. The number of symbols per block is Mx {Nblk/(Nblk+z)}. In this case, the efficiency of FTN multiplexing becomes (Nblk+z)/Nblk, which is equivalent to achieving an effect of improving spectral efficiency. A symbol k (1≦k≦{(M×Nblk)/(Nblk+z)}) in a block 1 (1≦l≦Nblk+z) after the FTN is represented by Sl,k. By applying FTN, as shown in
The symbol after FTN mapping is represented by {tilde over (S)}n,m.
As shown in
(FTN Transmission Processing Section)
In
The channel coding section 301 applies error correction coding (channel coding) to the transmission bits that are received as input, and outputs the result to the interleaver 302. For the channel coding, for example, turbo coding, RC/QC-LDPC (Rate-Compatible/Quasi-Cyclic-Low Density Parity-Check) coding and/or the like can be used.
The interleaver 302 applies bit interleaving to the bits having been encoded in the channel coding section 301, in order to avoid producing burst loss, and outputs the result to the modulation mapping section 303.
The modulation mapping section 303 performs modulation mapping (data modulation) of the bits interleaved in the interleaver 302. As for the modulation scheme, for example, digital modulation schemes such as QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying), 16 QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) and 64 QAM can be used. Although QPSK is used with the present embodiment, this is by no means limiting.
Note that the channel coding sections 301 and the modulation mapping section 303 can determine the channel coding rate and the modulation scheme based on channel state information (CSI) that is fed back from the FTN receiver, and perform the channel coding process and the modulation process in accordance with these channel coding rate and modulation scheme.
The block processing/OQAM mapping section 304 blocks input symbols from the modulation mapping section 303. The blocked symbols are subjected to OQAM mapping (OQAM conversion). As noted earlier, assume that the number of symbols per block is M. Presuming that the number of bits in a symbol is J, the number of signal points is 2J. In OQAM mapping, the M-ary modulation value is increased to make the number of signal points in a symbol 22J. Since the number of bits per symbol is doubled, the number of symbols per block can be made M/2 in order to transmit the same number of bits per block. Next, the in-phase and quadrature components of M/2 symbols per block are divided, and mapped only to the in-phase components of M symbols per block, thereby implementing OQAM mapping. The M symbols per block, having been subjected to OQAM mapping, are output to the FTN mapping section 305. With the present embodiment, symbols having undergone OQAM conversion are multiplexed in a high density by FTN by allowing inter-block interference (IBI), and therefore will be referred to as “FTN symbol blocks.”
The FTN mapping section 305 multiplexes the FTN symbol blocks input from the block processing/OQAM mapping section 304 in the same time period as that of the Nblk blocks before FTN mapping (in (Nblk+z)/Nblk-fold multiplexing). The multiplexed symbols are re-blocked into Nblk blocks. This process is referred to as FTN mapping in single-carrier FDMA.
The signals after FTN mapping become Nblk blocks, in which M symbols are included per block, as when FTN is not applied. That is, the block length of the signals after FTN mapping is the same as the DFT size in the event of generating single-carrier FDMA signals in the frequency domain. The FTN mapping section 305 outputs the signals after FTN mapping to the DFT section 306.
The DFT section 306 converts the Nblk blocks into frequency domain signals of M subcarriers, on a per block basis, through an M-sample DFT. The DFT section 306, the subcarrier mapping section 307 and the IFFT section 308 may be structured the same as the DFT section 706, the subcarrier mapping section 707 and the IFFT section 708 of
The transmission filter 309 applies bandwidth limitation, by means of a transmission filter, to the signals converted in the IFFT section 308, and outputs the resulting transmission signals. According to the present embodiment, IOTA (Isotropic Orthogonal Transform Algorithm) filter is used for this transmission filter, but this is by no means limiting.
With the present embodiment, as the above-described orthogonal basis function φm,n(t), an IOTA pulse (IOTA window function) is used, instead of the rectangular window that is used in normal OFDM, in order to improve the locality of the projection of FTN symbol blocks on the basis function. This can be implemented by applying an IOTA filter to the IFFT waveform.
The IOTA filter is basically a Gaussian function, so that a time response and a frequency response of the same shape can be implemented.
(FTN Reception Processing Section)
Note that the FFT section 402, the frequency domain equalization filter 404 and the IDFT section 405 may be structured the same as the FFT section 802, the frequency domain equalization filter 805 and the IDFT section 806, and therefore description will be omitted. Also, the FTN reception processing section 400 may have a function for estimating channel response like the channel response estimation section 831 of
The receiving filter 401 performs an IOTA filtering process of a signal that is received as input, and outputs the result to the FFT section 402.
From the output signal of the FFT 402, the desired signal of the allocated frequency band is extracted by the subcarrier demapping section 403.
The distortion of the waveform of the output signal of the subcarrier demapping section 403 due to multipath interference is compensated by the frequency domain equalization filter 404. As for the algorithm for generating equalization weights, generally, the LMMSE algorithm, which can reduce the amplification of noise low, is used.
The frequency domain subcarrier components, equalized in the frequency domain equalization filter 404, are converted into time domain signals in the IDFT section 405.
The LLR calculation section 406 calculates each bit's a-posteriori LLR based on the time domain symbols output from the IDFT section 405. Although it is equally possible to calculate the a-posteriori LLRs of the signals, given by demapping the OQAM mapping and converting into symbols having in-phase components and quadrature components, each bit's a-posteriori LLR can be calculated directly, and easily, from the symbols that are OQAM-mapped. In the initial iterative loop, each symbol that is output from the IDFT section 405 includes inter-symbol interference (ISI).
The LLR of each bit, output from the LLR calculation section 406, is deinterleaved in the deinterleaver 407.
The LLR of each bit, output from the deinterleaver 407, is input in the channel decoding section 408, so that the reliability of the LLRs is improved. In the event of turbo code, max-log-MAP decoding is used often, which can reduce the amount of operation low in comparison to MAP decoding.
The channel decoding section 408 outputs the a-posteriori LLRs of the information bits and the parity bits. The a-posteriori LLRs, output from the channel decoding section 408, are interleaved in the interleaver 409.
The soft decision symbol estimation value generating section 410 generates each symbol's soft decision symbol estimation value, depending on the modulation scheme, by using the a-posteriori LLR of each bit output from the interleaver 409. In this case, soft decision symbol estimation values after OQAM mapping can be generated directly. However, this is by no means limiting. For example, based on the assumption that each bit in a symbol is independent, the soft decision symbol estimation value generating section 410 may generate soft decision symbol estimation values that are suitable to the modulation mapping, by multiplying each symbol replica by the occurrence probability of each bit.
For each OQAM symbol, the interfering symbol soft decision symbol estimation value generating section 411 generates the soft decision symbol estimation value of a symbol that may interfere with this symbol (that is, a symbol that causes ISI, also referred to as an “interfering symbol”). For each symbol of each block, an interfering symbol soft decision symbol estimation value is generated taking into account the overlap of symbols.
In the interfering symbol soft decision symbol estimation value cancelation section 412, every symbol that contains inter-symbol interference, output from the IDFT section 405, is subjected to the process of subtracting the interfering symbol estimation value of each symbol, generated in the interfering symbol soft decision symbol estimation value generating section 411. When interfering symbols are estimated in an ideal manner, inter-symbol interference that is produced due to execution of FTN is completely cancelled from each symbol output from the IDFT section 405. However, interfering symbol estimation error is produced due to channel estimation error, noise-originated LLR error, and so on. Consequently, the process of repeating performing channel decoding and generating and canceling interfering symbol estimation values several times, is performed.
When channel response is estimated using reference signals (RSs) alone, since channel response estimation values are not updated, it is not necessary to update the equalization weights in the frequency domain equalization filter 404. Consequently, the process up to IDFT 405 has only to be performed once, and the process after the IDFT section 405 is executed in an iterative process. Meanwhile, in addition to reference signals, by using decision feedback channel estimation, in which received signals are demodulated using soft decision symbol estimation values generated from the decoded bits (LLRs) and channel response is estimated, the reliability of channel response estimation can be improved, in particular in an environment in which the received SNR is low. When decision feedback channel estimation is used, it is necessary to update the equalization weights in the frequency domain equalization filter 404, so that the iterative process of and after the frequency domain equalization filter 404 is performed.
When the process of subtracting the soft decision symbol estimation values of interfering symbols is applied to all of the information symbols, one round of the iterative process is complete. In the next round of the iterative process, the process after the IDFT section 405 (or the frequency domain equalization filter 404) is applied again to the signals output from the preceding iterative process.
In the final iterative loop by the turbo SIC, the a-posteriori LLR of the max-log-MAP decoder output is subjected to hard decision, thereby reconstructing the transmitting bit sequences (decoding bits). When the number of iterations for a given received signal reaches a predetermined number of times (for example, Nitr times), the FTN reception processing section 400 may judge that the loop is the final iteration, and output decoding bits.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, compared to the case of using normal DFT-precoded OFDM, the throughput of SC-FDMA can be improved by means of DFT-precoded OFDM to use block-processing FTN.
(Structure of Radio Communication System)
Now, a structure of a radio communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In this radio communication system, the radio communication method according to the above-described embodiment is used.
In
The macro cell C1 and the small cells C2 may use the same frequency band or may use different frequency bands. Also, the radio base stations 11 and 12 are connected with each other via an inter-base station interface (for example, optical fiber, the X2 interface, etc.).
Note that the macro base station 11 may be referred to as an “eNodeB” (eNB), a “radio base station,” a “transmission point,” and so on. The small base stations 12 are radio base stations that have local coverages, and may be referred to as “RRHs” (Remote Radio Heads), “pico base stations,” “femto base stations,” “home eNodeBs,” “transmission points,” “eNodeBs” (eNBs), and so on.
The user terminals 20 are terminals to support various communication schemes such as LTE, LTE-A and so on, and may include both mobile communication terminals and stationary communication terminals. The user terminals 20 can communicate with other user terminals 20 via the radio base stations 10. Also, the user terminal 20 can each directly communicate (i.e. D2D: Device-to-Device) with other user terminals 20 without involving radio base stations 10. That is, the user terminals 20 may have functions for directly transmitting/receiving device-to-device signals (D2D signals) such as D2D discovery, D2D synchronization and D2D communication signals. Note that, although D2D signals use SC-FDMA (Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access) as the fundamental signal format, this is by no means limiting.
Note that the higher station apparatus 30 may be, for example, an access gateway apparatus, a radio network controller (RNC), a mobility management entity (MME) and so on, but is by no means limited to these.
In the radio communication system 1, a downlink shared channel (PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel), which is used by each user terminal 20 on a shared basis, downlink control channels (PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), EPDCCH (Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel), etc.), a broadcast channel (PBCH: Physical Broadcast Channel) and so on are used as downlink channels. User data, higher layer control information and predetermined SIBs (System Information Blocks) as broadcast signals are communicated in the PDSCH. Downlink control information (DCI) such as scheduling information for the PDSCH and the PUSCH is communicated by the PDCCH and the EPDCCH. Also, synchronization signals, MIBs (Master Information Blocks) and so on are communicated by the PBCH.
Also, in the radio communication system 1, an uplink shared channel (PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel), which is used by each user terminal 20 on a shared basis, an uplink control channel (PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel) and so on are used as uplink channels. User data and higher layer control information are communicated by the PUSCH. Also, downlink radio quality information (CQI: Channel Quality Indicator), uplink control information such as ACKs/NACKs, and so on are communication by the PUCCH. Also, in the radio communication system 1, D2D discovery signals for allowing the user terminals 20 to detect each other may be transmitted using uplink resources.
User data to be transmitted from the radio base station 10 to a user terminal 20 on the downlink is input from the higher station apparatus 30 to the baseband signal processing section 104, via the communication path interface 106.
In the baseband signal processing section 104, a PDCP layer process, division and coupling of user data, RLC (Radio Link Control) layer transmission processes such as an RLC retransmission control transmission process, MAC (Medium Access Control) retransmission control, including, for example, an HARQ transmission process, scheduling, transport format selection, channel coding, an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) process and a precoding process are performed, and the result is forwarded to each transmitting/receiving section 103. Furthermore, downlink control signals are also subjected to transmission processes such as channel coding and an inverse fast Fourier transform, and transferred to each transmitting/receiving section 103.
Each transmitting/receiving section 103 converts downlink signals, pre-coded and output from the baseband signal processing section 104 on a per antenna basis, into a radio frequency band. Also, the transmitting/receiving sections 103 constitute the transmission section of the present embodiment. The amplifying sections 102 amplify the radio frequency signals having been subjected to frequency conversion, and transmit the signals through the transmitting/receiving antennas 101.
On the other hand, as for uplink signals, radio frequency signals that are received in the transmitting/receiving antennas 101 are each amplified in the amplifying sections 102, converted into baseband signals through frequency conversion in each transmitting/receiving section 103, and input into the baseband signal processing section 104.
In the baseband signal processing section 104, user data that is included in the uplink signals that are input is subjected to an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) process, an inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) process, error correction decoding, a MAC retransmission control receiving process, and RLC layer and PDCP layer receiving processes, and transferred to the higher station apparatus 30 via the transmission path interface 106. The call processing section 105 performs call processing such as setting up and releasing communication channels, manages the state of the radio base station 10 and manages the radio resources.
The interface section 106 transmits and receives signals to and from neighboring radio base stations (backhaul signaling) via an inter-base station interface (for example, optical fiber, the X2 interface, etc.). Alternatively, the interface section 106 transmits and receives signals to and from the higher station apparatus 30 via a predetermined interface.
The control section 601 controls the scheduling of downlink user data that is transmitted in the PDSCH, downlink control information that is communicated in one or both of the PDCCH and the enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH), downlink reference signals and so on. Also, the control section 601 also controls the scheduling of RA preambles transmitted from user terminals 20 in the PRACH, uplink data that is communicated in the PUSCH, uplink control information that is communicated in the PUCCH or the PUSCH, and uplink reference signals. Information about the scheduling (allocation control) of downlink signals and uplink signals is reported to user terminals 20 by using downlink control signals (DCI).
The control section 601 controls the allocation of radio resources to downlink signals and uplink signals based on command information from the higher station apparatus 30, acquired via the communication path interface 106, feedback information (for example, CSI) transmitted from each user terminal 20, acquired via the transmitting/receiving sections 103. That is, the control section 601 functions as a scheduler. Note that, when a separate radio base station 10 or the higher station apparatus 30 functions as a supervisory scheduler for a plurality of radio base stations 10, the control section 601 may not be provided with scheduler functions.
The FTN reception processing section 602, converts an SC-FDMA signal, input from the transmitting/receiving section 103, into a DFT-precoded OFDM signal (SC-FDMA signal to which FTN is applied) to use block-processing FTN, in accordance with control by the control section 601, and performs receiving processes (demapping, interference cancellation and so on).
Note that the FTN reception processing section 602 has only to be structured so that information symbols can be acquired by applying receiving processes to an SC-FDMA signal for which block-processing FTN has been used. The FTN reception processing section 400 described in the above embodiment may be used. Also, the FTN reception processing section 602 may be structured to be capable of decoding normal SC-FDMA signals by not applying FTN.
Also, as for the reference signals, the FTN reception processing section 602 outputs the signals after multi-carrier demodulation (FFT) to the channel state estimation section 603.
The channel state estimation section 603 estimates channel states (channel response) based on the reference signals input from the FTN reception processing section 602. Note that, when information about the locations where the reference signals are multiplexed, per transmitting antenna pertaining to a plurality of transmitting antennas, is acquired from the control section 601, each antenna's channel state can be estimated based on this information. The channel state estimation section 603 outputs the channel estimation results to the FTN reception processing section 602.
As for downlink data, radio frequency signals that are received in the plurality of transmitting/receiving antennas 201 are each amplified in the amplifying sections 202, and subjected to frequency conversion and converted into the baseband signal in the transmitting/receiving sections 203. This baseband signal is subjected to an FFT process, error correction decoding, a retransmission control receiving process and so on in the baseband signal processing section 204. In this downlink data, downlink user data is transferred to the application section 205. The application section 205 performs processes related to higher layers above the physical layer and the MAC layer, and so on. Furthermore, in the downlink data, broadcast information is also transferred to the application section 205.
Meanwhile, uplink user data is input from the application section 205 to the baseband signal processing section 204. The baseband signal processing section 204 performs a retransmission control transmission process (for example, an HARQ transmission process), channel coding, pre-coding, a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) process, an IFFT process and so on, and the result is forwarded to each transmitting/receiving section 203. The baseband signal that is output from the baseband signal processing section 204 is converted into a radio frequency band in the transmitting/receiving sections 203. After that, the amplifying sections 202 amplify the radio frequency signal having been subjected to frequency conversion, and transmit the resulting signal from the transmitting/receiving antennas 201.
Based on downlink control signals (DCI) transmitted from the radio base station 10 or higher layer signaling (for example, RRC signaling, broadcast signal, and so on), the control section 501 controls the transmission signal generating section 502 and the FTN transmission processing section 503 in order to transmit uplink signals.
In accordance with commands from the control section 501, the transmission signal generating section 502 generates uplink control signals, uplink data signals, uplink reference signals and so on, and output these to the FTN transmission processing section 503 as appropriate.
The FTN transmission processing section 503 maps SC-FDMA signals, which are generated by applying block-processing FTN to signals output from the transmission signal generating section 502, and outputs these signals.
Note that the FTN transmission processing section 503 has only to be structured to be able to generate and output SC-FDMA signals using block-processing FTN, and the FTN transmission processing section 300, which has been described with the above embodiment, may be used. Also, the FTN transmission processing section 503 may be structured to be capable of outputting normal SC-FDMA signals (signals acquired by using normal OFDM symbols (OFDM/OQAM symbols) in DFT-precoded OFDM) by not applying FTN.
The SC-FDMA signals that are output from the transmitting/receiving section 503 are transmitted to the radio base station 10 by the transmitting/receiving sections 203.
Note that the control section 601 of the radio base station 10 may be structured to control the user terminal 20 to time-division-multiplex (TDM) transmission signals (SC-FDMA signals) over a first radio resource region (orthogonal multiplexing part), where DFT-precoded OFDM symbols are multiplexed at a symbol rate equal to the Nyquist rate or less, in a given time region and/or frequency region, and a second radio resource region (non-orthogonal multiplexing part), where DFT-precoded OFDM symbols are arranged in the above given the time region and/or frequency region by using block-processing FTN.
To be more specific, the control section 601 of the radio base station 10 may be structured to execute control so that information related to the resources allocated in time division multiplexing is generated reported in a downlink control channel (PDCCH, EPDCCH) or through higher layer signaling (for example, RRC signaling, broadcast signals). As for the information about the resources to be allocated in time division multiplexing, for example, symbol locations in the orthogonal multiplexing part, subcarrier locations where reference signals are multiplexed in the orthogonal multiplexing part, and/or subcarrier locations corresponding respectively to a plurality of antennas (or antenna ports) in the orthogonal multiplexing part may be generated.
In this case, the control section 501 of the user terminal may control the transmission signal generating section 502 and the FTN transmission processing section 503 to time-division-multiplex (TDM) the transmission signals over the orthogonal multiplexing part and the non-orthogonal multiplexing part based on the information related to the resources to be allocated in time division multiplexing. The control section 501 preferably executes control so that signals to be communicated with high quality are mapped to the orthogonal multiplexing part. For example, the control section 501 may preferably execute control so that reference signal symbols are multiplexed in the orthogonal multiplexing part. Note that the control section 501 may execute control so that data signals, control signals and so on, output from the transmission signal generating section 502, are mapped to the orthogonal multiplexing part as information symbols (data symbols, control information symbols and so on).
Also, the control section 601 of the radio base station 10 may determine the symbol locations and subcarriers locations in the orthogonal multiplexing part and the non-orthogonal multiplexing part, and control the FTN reception processing section 602 to execute or not to execute receiving processes (demapping, interference cancellation and so on) for the received signals as DFT-precoded OFDM signals to use block-processing FTN. For example, a structure may be employed here in which signals that correspond to the orthogonal multiplexing part are not identified as SC-FDMA signals using block-processing FTN, but are identified as SC-FDMA signals generated by using normal OFDM symbols (OFDM/OQAM symbols) in DFT-precoded OFDM and subjected to receiving processes.
Also, based on the results of channel estimation executed based on the reference signals, the channel state estimation section 603 of the radio base station 10 may execute channel estimation for radio resources apart from the radio resources where the reference signals are allocated. For example, after having performed channel estimation in each subcarrier location along the frequency direction with respect to the orthogonal multiplexing part, the channel state estimation section 603 can perform channel estimation in each subcarrier and each symbol location along the time direction with respect to the non-orthogonal multiplexing part.
To be more specific, the channel state estimation section 603 of the radio base station 10 can, for example, interpolate the channel response in each subcarrier location in the frequency domain (for example, by way of weighted in-phase addition), and estimate the channel response of each subcarrier location. Then, the channel state estimation section 603 can interpolate the channel response of each subcarrier location in the orthogonal multiplexing part in a given subframe and in the orthogonal multiplexing part in the next subframe following the given subframe, and estimate the channel state pertaining to each symbol location in the time domain.
Now, although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiment, it should be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the present invention is by no means limited to the embodiment described herein. The present invention can be implemented with various corrections and in various modifications, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined by the recitations of claims. Consequently, the description herein is provided only for the purpose of explaining examples, and should by no means be construed to limit the present invention in any way.
The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-041753, filed on Mar. 4, 2014, including the specification, drawings and abstract, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-041753 | Mar 2014 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2015/055909 | 2/27/2015 | WO | 00 |
