Data retransmissions in an anchor-booster network

Abstract

Technology for performing data retransmissions is disclosed. An anchor evolved node B (eNB) can receive uplink control information from a user equipment (UE). The uplink control information can be transmitted in response to the UE receiving user data from a booster eNB. User data that is incorrectly received at the UE can be identified based on the uplink control information. The incorrectly received user data can be retransmitted directly from the anchor eNB to the UE independent of the booster eNB.

1 . An anchor evolved node B (eNB) operable to perform data retransmissions, the anchor eNB having computer circuitry configured to:
 receive uplink control information from a user equipment (UE) that is transmitted, to the anchor eNB, in response to the UE receiving user data from a booster eNB;   determine a backhaul latency between the booster eNB and the anchor eNB relative to a selected threshold;   identify user data that is incorrectly received at the UE based on the uplink control information; and   retransmit the incorrectly received user data directly from the anchor eNB to the UE independent of the booster eNB when the backhaul latency is greater than the selected threshold.   
     
     
         2 . The computer circuitry of  claim 1 , further configured to retransmit the incorrectly received user data to the UE when the UE does not support uplink carrier aggregation. 
     
     
         3 . The computer circuitry of  claim 1 , further configured to retransmit the incorrectly received user data to the UE when the UE does support uplink carrier aggregation. 
     
     
         4 . The computer circuitry of  claim 1 , further configured to retransmit the incorrectly received user data to the UE when the backhaul latency is less than the selected threshold. 
     
     
         5 . The computer circuitry of  claim 1 , wherein the uplink control information includes hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) and channel state information (CSI) associated with the user data that is incorrectly received at the UE from the booster eNB. 
     
     
         6 . The computer circuitry of  claim 1 , further configured to retransmit the incorrectly received user data to the UE based on a channel condition received in the uplink control information, a traffic load at the anchor eNB and a medium access control (MAC) scheduling scheme of the booster eNB. 
     
     
         7 . The computer circuitry of  claim 5 , further configured to infer the MAC scheduling scheme of the booster eNB using information sent from the booster eNB in the backhaul link or the uplink control information received from the UE. 
     
     
         8 . The computer circuitry of  claim 1 , further configured to schedule data transmissions from the anchor eNB and data retransmissions performed at the anchor eNB for the booster eNB in order to optimize spectrum efficiency. 
     
     
         9 . The computer circuitry of  claim 1 , wherein the anchor eNB supports delay-sensitive control-plane traffic and the booster eNB supports delay-tolerant user-plane traffic. 
     
     
         10 . The computer circuitry of  claim 1 , further configured to send HARQ acknowledgements to the booster eNB, wherein the booster eNB resumes sending data packets to the UE upon receiving the HARQ acknowledgements from the anchor cell. 
     
     
         11 . The computer circuitry of  claim 1 , further configured to retransmit the incorrectly received user data to the UE independent of the booster eNB in order to increase multipath diversity. 
     
     
         12 . The computer circuitry of  claim 1 , wherein the anchor eNB is a macro eNB and the booster eNB is a low power eNB. 
     
     
         13 . A user equipment (UE) operable to receive data retransmissions, the UE having computer circuitry configured to:
 receive user data from a booster evolved node B (eNB);   send uplink control information to an anchor eNB, the uplink control information indicating incorrectly received user data at the UE; and   receive a retransmission of the incorrectly received user data directly from the anchor eNB independent of the booster eNB.   
     
     
         14 . The computer circuitry of  claim 13 , further configured to receive the retransmission of the incorrectly received user data from the anchor eNB independent of the booster eNB when a backhaul latency between the booster eNB and the anchor eNB is greater than a selected threshold. 
     
     
         15 . The computer circuitry of  claim 13 , further configured to receive the retransmission of the incorrectly received user data from the anchor eNB when the UE does not support uplink carrier aggregation. 
     
     
         16 . The computer circuitry of  claim 13 , wherein the uplink control information includes a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) and channel state information (CSI) associated with the incorrectly received user data. 
     
     
         17 . The computer circuitry of  claim 13 , further configured to receive the retransmission of the incorrectly received user data from the booster eNB when a backhaul latency between the booster eNB and the anchor eNB is greater than a selected threshold. 
     
     
         18 . The computer circuitry of  claim 13 , wherein the UE includes an antenna, a touch sensitive display screen, a speaker, a microphone, a graphics processor, an application processor, an internal memory, or a non-volatile memory port. 
     
     
         19 . A method for performing data retransmissions, the method comprising:
 receiving uplink control information, at an anchor evolved node B (eNB) from a user equipment (UE), the uplink control information being transmitted in response to the UE receiving user data from a booster eNB;   identifying user data that is incorrectly received at the UE based on the uplink control information; and   retransmitting the incorrectly received user data directly from the anchor eNB to the UE independent of the booster eNB.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 determining a backhaul latency between the booster eNB and the anchor eNB relative to a selected threshold; and   retransmitting the incorrectly received user data directly from the anchor eNB to the UE independent of the booster eNB when the backhaul latency is greater than the selected threshold.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising:
 determining that the backhaul latency between the booster eNB and the anchor eNB is less than the selected threshold; and   forwarding the uplink control information to the booster eNB to enable the booster eNB to retransmit the incorrectly received user data to the UE.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising retransmitting the incorrectly received user data to the UE based on a channel condition received in the uplink control information, a traffic load at the anchor eNB and a medium access control (MAC) scheduling scheme of the booster eNB. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the UE includes an antenna, a touch sensitive display screen, a speaker, a microphone, a graphics processor, an application processor, an internal memory, or a non-volatile memory port. 
     
     
         24 . At least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions adapted to be executed to implement the method of  claim 19 .