Description

Embodiments of the invention concern a method for transmitting data between terminals of a wireless communication system, a computer program product, a node of a radio access network of a wireless communication system, and a wireless communication system. More specifically, embodiments of the invention concern an approach for a direct communication of terminals which are within an area covered by a single radio access network comprising a base station node and a plurality of remote radio heads providing a radio link to the respective terminals. Embodiments of the invention relate to the area of wireless communication systems that are based on optical networking.

Conventionally, when transmitting data between terminals within a common coverage area (e.g. a RAN - radio access network), the entire traffic, i.e., data and signaling traffic, goes all the way "up" from the source terminal to the core network and then back "down" to the destination terminal. More specifically, the problem with known wireless communication systems is that a local communication link between a pair of terminals or user equipments (UEs) that are co-located within the same coverage area unnecessarily involves many network entities such as the remote radio head (RRH), the base station (BS), the packet data network gateway (P-GW), the serving gateway (S-GW), and the mobility management entity (MME). These network entities are actually redundant because the data essentially does not need to go outside the radio access network (RAN). However, conventional approaches requiring the above-mentioned network entities for processing a communication between UEs co-located within the same coverage area of the RAN lead to a high processing load at the base station or signal processing node (BS/SPN) to which many remote radio heads are connected for serving a large area. Also, the link resources are wasted for the signaling among the plurality of network entities.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a wireless communication system depicting the limitations of state of the art solutions. Actually, so far remote radio heads have been deployed in commercial systems, however, the particular aspects of local UE-UE communi- cations have not yet been considered. Fig. 1 shows a part of a wireless communications system comprising a base station 100 serving a coverage area via a plurality of remote radio heads 102a to 102c. Each of the remote radio heads 102 _a to 102 _c is connected to the base station 100 via a respective link 104a to 104c, for example an optical link. The com- mon coverage area of the base station 100 that is depicted in Fig. 1 allows serving a plurality of user equipments UEj to UE ₇ . More specifically, the base station 100 serves the user equipments UEi and UE ₂ via a remote radio head 102a. User equipments UE ₃ to UE ₅ are served by the base station 100 via a remote radio head 102b, and user equipments UE ₆ and UE ₇ are served by the base station 100 via the remote radio head 102c. The base station 100 is connected via a backbone or backhaul network 106 to a packet network, for example, the packet data network PDN 108. The backhaul network 106 connecting the base station 100 to the packet data network 108 comprises a serving gateway S-GW 1 10 and the packet data network gateway P-GW 112. The base station 100, the connections 104a-c and the remote radio heads 102a-c form the radio access network (RAN) 114.

For a communication between user equipments in different coverage areas, the data path extends from the user equipment through the base station 100 and the respective gateways 1 10 and 1 12 to the network 108 which is connected to further base stations having a simi- lar structure as the one in Fig. 1 where the desired user equipment to which a communication is to be established is located. Also a communication from a mobile unit or user equipment to a fixed user equipment is done in the same way via the respective gateways and the network 108. For example, assume user equipment UE ₅ . User equipment UE ₅ communicates with a remote device which is not part of the coverage area 1 14. The data path starts at user equipment UE ₅ and extends via radio head 102b to base station 100. From base station 100 the signals are transmitted to the serving gateway 1 10 as is shown by the dotted data path "4". The data path "4" extends from the serving gateway 110 to the packet data network gateway 112 and from this gateway, the data path "4" extends to the network 108. In case of a communication between user equipments that are within the same coverage area 1 14, a communication is required between the user equipment, the base station and the respective gateways. For example, a communication between user equipment UEj and user equipment UE ₆ is assumed. For establishing a communication between the two user equipments which are within the same coverage area 1 14, user equipment UEi signals via the remote radio head 102a, the optical link 104a and the base station 100, a desired communication to the respective gateways 110 and 1 12, as is schematically shown by the data path "1 " extending from the base station 100 to the packet data network gateway 1 12. The packet data network gateway 1 12 communicates via the network 108 with the respective network entities for determining the location of the user equipment UE ₆ . The information is obtained that the user equipment UE ₆ is served by base station 100 so that the respective path "1" extends from the packet data network gateway 1 12 via the serving gateway 1 10 to the base station 100 (see the data path on the right-hand side of the base station), and from the base station 100 the data/signals are transmitted via the optical link 104c and via the remote radio head 102c to the user equipment UE ₆ . The same approach is required when, for example, considering a communication between user equipments UE ₂ and UE ₄ . In Fig. 1, the respective data path is path "2" extending all the way up to the gateway 1 12 and after having determined the location of user equipment UE ₄ to be within the coverage area 1 14, all the way down from the gateway 112 to the base station 100 and via the optical link 104b and the remote radio head 102b to the user equipment UE ₄ . For a communication between the user equipments UE ₃ and UE ₇ , the data path is data path "3" shown in Fig. 1.

As can be see, in situations where a communication between user equipments within the same coverage area 114 is desired, the conventional approach only provides a sub-optimal data path, as there is no direct connection between the user equipments. Actually, as mentioned above, the data path extends "all the way up" to the gateway 112 and "all the way down" to the base station 100 again. This leads to an unnecessary processing load at the base station 100. Considering wireless communication networks in which base stations will cover a large area, the ratio of UE-UE communications in the same area will significantly increase.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved approach providing for improve- ments in the communication between user equipments in the same area.

This object is achieved by a method according to claim 1, a node according to claim 14 and a wireless communication system according to claim 15. Embodiments of the invention provide a method for transmitting data between terminals of a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system comprising a core network and at least one radio access network coupled to the core network, wherein the method comprises transmitting data between at least two terminals of the wireless communication system co-located in a common coverage area of the at least one radio access net- work, and wherein the data is transmitted between the at least two terminals via the entities of the at least one radio access network without going outside the at least one radio access network.

Embodiments of the invention provide a node for a radio access network of a wireless communication system, wherein the node is configured to be coupled to a core network of the wireless communication system, and to a plurality of remote radio units, and wherein the node is configured to transmit data between terminals of the wireless communication system co-located in a common coverage area in accordance with the method of embodiments of the invention.

Embodiments of the invention provide a wireless communication system, comprising a core network, at least one node coupled to the core network, a plurality of remote radio units coupled to the node, and a plurality of terminals coupled to the remote radio unit, wherein the wireless communication system is configured to transmit data between the terminals co-located in a common coverage area in accordance with the method of embodiments of the invention.

In addition, embodiments of the invention provide for a computer program product comprising a computer program including instructions executing the method in accordance with embodiments of the invention when running the computer program on a computer. In accordance with embodiments the entities of the at least one radio access network comprise a node coupled to the core network and a plurality of remote radio units, each remote radio unit coupled to the node, wherein the at least two terminals are coupled to the remote radio units, and wherein data is transmitted between the at least two terminals along a data path comprising the node and the remote radio units. In such an embodiment, the node may assign a common set of parameters for the data transmission and may signal them to the terminals, and the terminals may transmit/receive data on the basis of the parameters signaled by the node. In accordance with this embodiment, the method may further comprise determining a source terminal and a destination terminal in the common coverage area of the at least one radio access network, wherein transmitting data comprises forwarding data from the source terminal to the destination terminal, wherein the data path comprises an uplink between the source terminal and the node, and a downlink between the node and the destination terminal. The method may further comprise jointly allocating a resource and/or selecting a modulation and coding scheme for the data path on the basis of the uplink and downlink resources for the source and destination terminals.

Jointly allocating a resource and/or selecting a modulation and coding scheme may comprises allocating resources for the uplink and for the downlink, and/or selecting a common modulation and coding scheme for the uplink and for the downlink. Allocating a resource may comprise remapping the resources associated with the uplink and downlink such that an effective channel between the source terminal and the destination terminal comprising an uplink channel between the source terminal and the node and a downlink channel between the node and the destination terminal fulfils a predefined crite- rion. The predefined criterion may be based the product of the channel coefficients describing the channel quality of the uplink channel and the downlink channel. Remapping may comprise remapping the uplink and downlink such that a maximum of the product is achieved.

In accordance with further embodiments, the method may comprise forwarding a reference signal from the source terminal to the destination terminal, and estimating at the destination terminal the effective channel. Each of the terminals may have associated therewith a unique ID stored at the terminal and at an entity of the core network, and the method comprises determining the source terminal and the destination terminal in the common coverage area of radio access network on the basis of the unique IDs. In case the source terminal desires to set up a session with the destination terminal, the method may comprise forwarding the unique ID of the destination terminal to the entity of the core network, checking at the entity of the core network whether the destination terminal resides in the same coverage area of the radio access network in which the source terminal resides, and in case the source terminal and the destination terminal reside in a common coverage area, instructing the node by the entity of the core network to carry out the forwarding of the data.

The unique ID may comprise a unique identification number, an IP address, or a SIP address, and wherein the entity of the core network comprises a home subscriber server or a mobility management entity. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, a "direct data path" using only the entities of the radio access network is proposed, i.e., a data path only including the source terminal, the remote radio unit to which the source terminal is coupled, the node (for example the base station), a further remote radio unit to which the destination terminal is coupled, and the destination terminal. Only a small amount of signaling information is sent to the core networks, for example, for determining whether a desired destination terminal is actually in the same area as the source terminal.

Thus, embodiments of the invention provide a new data forwarding method for intra-area terminal-to-terminal (UE-UE) communications and the necessary signaling mechanism for the wireless cellular network aiming at a reduction of complexity, energy use and link resource consumption. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the data for a local UE-UE communication in the same coverage area is forwarded at the base station or signal processing node without going outside the radio access network (RAN). Aspects of the invention concern not only the network layer but also the L1/L2 layers. In the network layer, signaling aspects are targeted in order to efficiently exchange/collect the necessary information that is signaled to the target UEs so that the information can be exploited to achieve the desired reduction of complexity, energy use and link resource consumption. In accordance with embodiments, the signaling scheme is as follows: an entity like the home subscriber server (HSS) and the mobility management entity (MME) will hold an IP (internet protocol) address of the UE, a session initiation protocol (SIP) address and/or a new identification (ID) that uniquely identifies a UE. The UE, in accordance with this embodiment, will hold its own IP address, SIP identification or the above-mentioned new ID. When asking a network entity, like the MME to set up a session (data and/or voice) with another UE, the requesting UE will explicitly mention the IP address, the SIP ID or the UE ID to the mobility management entity. The mobility management entity will check its internal database. If it is found out that the IP address/SIP ID of the destination UE resides under the same base station, it will instruct the base station to carry out an internal for- warding of the data from the source UE to the destination UE. The MME may inform the base station about the IP addresses of the source UE and the destination UE so that the base station knows for which user equipment it has to carry out the internal forwarding.

In accordance with other embodiments, the UE may not have a pre-assigned IP address. In such a situation, the UE will update the responsible MME as soon as it receives an IP address from an IP assigning module, for example from the packet data network gateway provided in accordance with LTE/EPC. Under the assumption that the MME already knows the SIP ID of the UE (the MME is informed about this either during the attachment procedure or during a new session setup), it will store the IP address against any UE identi- fier (SIP ID, IMSI, etc). In such a way that, the MME will know the IP addresses of the source UE and the destination UE and it will inform the respective base station accordingly so that the base station can use the IP addresses (or any other ID) to determine which sessions should be forwarded internally, i.e., which sessions should provide for a data transfer between the user equipments only within the radio access network.

Embodiments of the invention further relate to the L1/L2 layers and how the signal processing efforts can be reduced. Embodiments of the invention teach a joined resource allocation as well as a modulation encoding scheme (MCS) selection taking into account the respective uplink and downlink resources for the source and destination UEs of a local UE- UE communication link. Embodiments of the invention allow for a reliable end-to-end communication from the source to the destination by jointly allocating resources for the uplink and for the downlink and also by selecting a common MCS. Embodiments of the invention thereby allow a reduction of the complexity by bypassing common procedures such as modulation encoding for the uplink and for the downlink. Also embodiments of the invention provide for a realization of a better spectral efficiency than the conventional resource allocation and MCS selection which are independently performed for the uplink and for the downlink.

Embodiments of the invention consider optical networking and focus on a communication link between a pair of user equipments (UEs) which are co-located in a certain common coverage area that is served by a base station or signal processing node (SPN) and a set of multiple remote radio heads (RJ Hs) that are connected to the BS/SPN via optical net- works. Such a network configuration may be useful and can be typically found in urban areas with heavy traffic situations. It can be observed that most communications take place between UEs within the same area during a certain time period in many busy city areas. Embodiments of the invention overcome problems of conventional systems, such as 3 GPP long-term evolution (LTE) and LTE advanced where UE-UE communication unnecessar- ily involves many network entities such as RRH, BS, serving gateway, packet data network gateway and mobility management entity that are redundant because the data essentially does not need to go outside the radio access network (RAN), at least from a conceptional point of view. Thus, embodiments of the invention minimize such conceptually unnecessary signaling/processing for a local UE-UE communication in the same coverage area. Thus, embodiments of the invention reduce the complexity as well as the link resource consumption, and consequently the required energy can be reduced.

Embodiments of the invention are especially provided for wireless cellular networks such as 3 GPP LTE/LTE advanced and beyond or future commercial systems of next mobile networks (NMN) which comprise user equipments, remote radio heads, base stations, serving gateways, packet data network gateways, mobility management entities and the like.

Embodiments of the invention are advantageous as they efficiently support UE-UE communications within the same coverage area that is served by a base station/signal process- ing node and a set of multiple radio remote heads that are connected to the base station/signal processing node via optical networks. Embodiments of the invention provide means for minimizing the number of signaling and communications that is involved in order to realize such a local UE-UE communication in the same coverage area. This allows for a significant reduction of the complexity and the corresponding energy consumption, particularly at the base station in the L1/L2 processing as well as in the processing of all upper layer functionalities. The link resource consumption between the base station, the serve gateway and the packet data network gateway as well as the mobility management entity can be largely saved. Further, embodiments of the invention provide a new scheme in L1/L2 processing which provides a better spectral utilization leading to the possibility to support a higher number of customers at the same time using the same limited bandwidth in the network so that it contributes to the possibility to offer advanced serves and to improve customer satisfaction by future commercial systems.

Embodiments of the invention are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a wireless communication system depicting the limitations of state of the art solutions;

Fig. 2(a) is a schematic representation of a portion of a wireless communication system similar to the one depicted in Fig. 1 , on the basis of which an embodiment of the invention is described;

Fig. 2(b) is a schematic representation explaining the basic differences between conventional relay systems and systems in accordance with embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of the base station and a remote radio head connected with details of the signal processing elements of the L1/L2 layer of the base station;

Fig. 4 shows diagrams representing the resource allocation/mapping in a base station of Fig. 3, wherein Fig. 4(a) shows an example of a radio access network, Fig. 4(b) shows the frequency bands used for an uplink connection from the mobile units to the base station, and Fig. 4(c) shows the downlink frequency bands used for a connection from the base station to the respective mobile units;

Fig. 5 shows further details of the digital signal processor of the base station shown in Fig. 3, wherein Fig. 5(a) shows details of the downlink digital signal processor, and Fig. 5(b) shows details of the uplink digital signal processor; shows an example of a reduction of the complexity when applying embodiments of the invention for a communication of user equipments which are within the same radio access network; shows resource re-mapping at the base station in accordance with embodiments of the invention; shows an example for resource re-mapping for a single user, wherein Fig. 8(a) shows the available channels for an uplink connection, Fig. 8(b) shows the available channels for the downlink connection, and Fig. 8(c) shows a table indicating the effective channels using the product of the channel coefficients representing the channel quality; shows an example for resource re-mapping at the base station in accordance with an embodiment; represent the signaling using a fixed IP in accordance with an embodiment; and represent the signaling using a dynamic IP in accordance with an embodiment.

In the subsequent description of embodiments of the invention, the same or similar ele- ments are indicated by the same reference signs.

Fig. 2(a) is a schematic representation of a portion of a wireless communication system similar to the one depicted in Fig. 1. On the basis of Fig. 2(a), the differences of embodiments of the invention when compared to conventional approaches will be discussed. Fig. 2(a) depicts the radio access network RAN 114 which comprises the base station 100, the remote radio heads 102a to 102c and the optical connection 104a to 104c between the radio heads 102a to 102c and the base station 100. Further, elements of the backhaul network 106, e.g. the serve gateway 110 and the packet data network gateway 112 are shown. In Fig. 2(a), a communication between user equipment UEi served by remote radio head 102a and the user equipment UE ₂ served by remote radio head 102c is assumed. In accordance with the invention, the base terminal station or signal processing node 100 acts as an anchor point for the communication between the user equipments UEi and UE ₂ . As is schematically depicted by the dotted line forwarding data between the user equipment UEi and UE ₂ is along a direct data path 1 18 that extends from the user equipment UEi via the remote radio head 102a and the optical link 104a to the base station 100 and from the base station 100 via the optical link 104c and the remote radio head 102c to the user equipment UE ₂ . Thus, in accordance with embodiments of the invention, data passing along the direct data path 1 18 is provided such that the data stream does not go outside the radio access network 1 14, e.g. forwarding of the data occurs at the base station 100 at the LI layer. Thus, since it is not necessary for the data to leave the radio access network 114 link resource consumption and processing complexity/energy can be saved in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 2(b) is a schematic representation explaining the basic differences between conventional relay systems and systems in accordance with embodiments of the invention. In the upper diagram in Fig. 2(b) a conventional relay system is shown establishing a connection (up- and downlink) between a base station eNB and a user equipment UE via the relay sta- tion. As can be seen, there is a downlink channel between the base station eNB and the relay station, and a downlink channel between the relay station and the user equipment UE. Further, there is an uplink channel between the user equipment UE and the relay station, and an uplink channel between the relay station and the base station eNB. Contrary thereto, in accordance with embodiments of the invention, the base station eNB (which may be considered some kind of relay station in a broad sense for the direct communication between two UEs) provides a direct data path between two user equipments UEI and UE2. However, the base station is operative to connect the respective up- and downlink channels between the UEs and the base station eNB. This is shown in the lower part of Fig. 2(b). There is an uplink channel between the first user equipment UEI and the base station eNB, and a downlink channel between the base station eNB and the second user equipment UE2. Further, there is an uplink channel between the second user equipment UE2 and the base station eNB, and a downlink channel between the base station eNB and the first user equipment UEI . When compared to conventional approaches as described, for example with regard to Fig. 1 , the data path 1 18 is basically limited to the physical or LI layer. Through this invention, packet processing at BTS/SPN node, S-GW and P-GW could be eliminated which not only reduces control and data bandwidth consumption along the route till P-GW, but also reduces processing load and energy consumption at BTS/SPN node.

In the following, further details of embodiments of the invention regarding the processing at the L1/L2 layers in the system as shown in Fig. 2(a) are discussed. Fig. 3 shows a schematic representation of the base station 100 and one remote radio head 102 connected via the optical network 104. Fig. 3 depicts in detail the elements of the L1/L2 layer of the base station 100, and the upper layer functionalities are schematically represented by block 120. The L1/L2 layer comprises a digital signal processor 122 which, in turn, comprises a downlink digital signal processor 122a and an uplink digital signal processor 122b. The downlink digital signal processor 122a processes signals received via the interface SI from the elements of the backhaul network and outputs the processed signals to a digital-analog- converter DAC that, in turn, provides the analog signal to an electro/optical transducer E/O for providing optical signals for transmission via a first branch 124 of the optical connection 104. The remote radio head 102 comprises an optical/electrical transducer O/E cou- pled to the first branch 124 of the optical connection 104. The electrical signal is up converted by converter 126, amplified by amplifier 128 and forwarded to a duplexer for output via the antenna 130 of the remote radio head 102, thereby establishing a wireless communication or a radio channel with a user equipment. Signals received via antenna 130 are processed by the duplexer and forwarded to a down converter 132. The output signals of the down converter 132 are input into the electrical/optical transducer E/O for providing optical signals to be transmitted via the second branch 134 of the optical connection 104 to the base station 100. The signal is received at an optical/electrical transducer O/E and the electrical signal is forwarded to an analog-digital-converter ADC which outputs the digital signal into the digital uplink signal processor 122b.

Fig. 4 shows diagrams representing the resource allocation/mapping in a base station as is, for example, depicted in Fig. 3. In Fig. 4(a), an example of a radio access network is shown including the remote radio heads 102a to 102c of which radio head 102a serves two user equipments, radio head 102b also serves two user equipments and radio head 102c serves one user equipment. Fig. 4(b) shows the frequency bands used for an uplink connection from the mobile units to the base station and Fig. 4(c) shows the downlink frequency bands used for a connection from the base station to the respective mobile units. As can be seen, for the downlink and for the uplink, different frequency bands may be assigned and the wide band signals result in frequency selective channels. This requires the assignment of a proper modulation and coding scheme (MCS). In the example depicted in Fig. 4, it is assumed that a connection within the radio access network is to be established between the user equipment srcl served by the remote radio head 102a and the user equipment sinkl served by the remote radio head 102c. Fig. 4(b) shows the frequency band and the wide band signal that is used for the uplink connection from the user equipment srcl to the base station (the frequency band and signal are referenced by the number "1"). Fig. 4(c) shows the frequency band and signal used for the downlink connection from the base station to the user equipment sinkl (the frequency band and the signal are referenced by the number "1"). As can be seen, different frequency bands may be used for the uplink and for the downlink. The frequency bands depicted in Fig. 4(b) and Fig. 4(c) that are labeled with "2" refer to the uplink and downlink connection for a UE-UE communication from the user equipment src2 served by the second remote radio head 102b to the user equipment sink2 served by the first radio head 102a. The frequency bands and signals labeled "3" in Fig. 4(b) and in Fig. 4(c) refer to the communication of a user equipment served by the radio head 102b with another device that is not part of the radio access network shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 shows further details of the digital signal processor of the base station shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5(a) shows details of the downlink digital signal processor 122a, and Fig. 5(b) shows details of the uplink digital signal processor 122b. The downlink digital signal processor 122a receives a signal that is processed by the blocks 140 to 160 in a conventional way. Processing steps 140 to 160 are provided for all K users and the processed signals are input into a resource mapping block 162 which outputs a signal for the OFDM modulation block 164. The output signal of block 164 is forwarded to the DAC shown in Fig. 3. The uplink digital signal processor at the base station receives from the DAC shown in Fig. 3 a signal that is demodulated by a single carrier frequency division multiplexing in block 166, and the output signal of block 166 is forwarded to the resource de-mapping block 168 that generates de-mapped signals for all K users. For each user, the signal from the resource de- mapping block 168 is processed by blocks 170 to 182 for providing the output of the digital signal processor. Thus, in conventional systems for providing a communication with a mobile unit all blocks need to be used both in the downlink and in the uplink digital signal processors, irrespective as to whether a communication is with a remote unit which is not served by the same radio access network or not. This means that also for a communication between two user equipments in the same radio access network all signal processing entities shown in Fig. 5 are used.

In accordance with embodiments of the invention data between the at least two terminals is transmitted without going outside the radio access network thereby allowing bypassing most of the processing in the L1/L2 layer and also in all upper layers. In accordance with embodiments, for establishing the direct data path (see path 1 18 in Fig. 2(a)) the base station directly links the uplink of the requesting UE and the downlink for the requested UE (see Fig. 2(b)), e.g. on the basis of control information signaled from a higher level network entity (e.g. the MME). Fig. 6 shows an example of a reduction of the complexity when applying the approach in accordance with embodiments of the invention for a com- munication of user equipments which are within the same radio access network. Signals received in such a communication are processed by the uplink digital signal processor 122b at the base station, however, only blocks 166 to 170 are required and the signal output from the block 170 is directly input into the resource mapping block 162 of the down- link digital processor 122a so that the reduction in complexity/energy requirements and link resources in the L1/L2 layer and, consequently, in all upper layers for a communication between user equipments in the same radio access network is evident from a comparison of Figs. 6 and 7. It is noted, that Fig. 6 shows the resources used for the direct commu- nication between the user equipments in the same radio access network, however, all other resources as shown in Fig. 5 are also present as the base station needs to be in the position to allow communication with remote devices not being in the radio access network associated with the base station. In accordance with embodiments, a resource re-mapping at the base station is possible. If this is desired, an additional block is provided between the uplink and downlink digital signal processing blocks of the base station in a way as depicted in Fig. 7. Fig. 7 corresponds substantially to Fig. 6 and shows those blocks of the digital signal processor and the base station required for the communication between user equipment in the same radio access network in accordance with embodiments of the invention. In addition to Fig. 7, a resource re-mapping block 184 is provided between blocks 170 and 162 so that the effective channel may be considered for the MCS selection at the transmitting user equipment. The effective channel between the two user equipments is a concatenation of the uplink and downlink channels, more specifically it is represented by the product of the channel coefficients. The effective channels can be optimized by re-mapping at the base station and in a multi-user case an advanced schedule is provided which will find the best pair of uplink and downlink channels for achieving a predefined parameter, for example a maximum sum rate. Fig. 8 shows an example for resource re-mapping for a single user. Fig. 8(a) shows the available channels for an uplink connection, Fig. 8(b) shows the available channels for the downlink connection, and Fig. 8(c) shows a table indicating the effective channels, more specifically the product of the channel coefficients representing the channel quality. In Fig. 8(a) and in Fig. 8(b), three uplink and downlink channels ULi to UL ₃ and DLj to DL ₃ are assumed having the channel coefficients shown in the table in Fig. 8(c). At the base station the resources are mapped in such a way that the product of the channel coefficients for the uplink and downlink channels is at a maximum value. In the example of Fig. 8, the uplink channel ULj is selected and remapped to the downlink channel DL ₂ at a different frequency band as the channel coefficient for these two channels yields the largest or maxi- mum value of the product of the channel coefficients.

Fig. 9 shows an example for the resource re-mapping at the base station. In accordance with this embodiment, a reference signal is forwarded from the uplink to the downlink, and the receiving or end user equipment observes the "effective channel" according to the resource re-mapping, and the base station or eNB performs the necessary processing to convert the uplink reference signal to the downlink reference signal, if necessary, for example due to different reference signal structures. Fig. 9 shows on the left-hand side the respec- tive uplink resources for two user equipments which desire to communicate with associated user equipments in the same radio area network. The associated user equipments use respective downlink resources. The user equipments which are to communicate with each other are denoted by the same numbers, namely either number "1" or number "2". The uplink channel for user equipment UEl is remapped to the downlink channel 3 so that the effective channel is calculated on the basis of the equation shown at the lower right-hand side of Fig. 9. The uplink channel of the second user equipment is remapped to the first downlink channel so that the effective channel is calculated as shown in the upper right- hand side of Fig. 9. In the following, network aspects regarding the signaling will be described in further detail. More specifically, embodiments will be described regarding the determination as to whether a source user equipment and a destination user equipment are in the same area and how the relevant nodes in the network provide the signaling for allowing forwarding of data in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The problem in conventional net- works is that no solution for such situations exists at present.

With regard to Fig. 10, an example for the signaling using a fixed IP will be described. Fig. 10(a) depicts an example of a wireless communication system similar to the one shown in Figs. 1 and 2(a), however, a radio access network comprising the base station 102 and two remote radio heads 102a and 102b serving two user equipments UEl and UE2 is shown for simplicity. It is assumed that a communication between user equipment UEl and user equipment UE2 is desired. In Fig. 10(a) in addition the e-MME 200 (extension of present MME in LTE/EPC architecture) and the e-HSS202 (extension of HSS in present cellular network architecture) are shown. The mobility management entity 200 holds the IP of each of the user equipments UEl and UE2. As is shown in Fig. 10(b) user equipment UEl has associated therewith the address IPv6-l and user equipment UE2 has associated therewith address IPv6-2. In the right-hand portion of Fig. 10(b), the signaling between the respective units depicted in Fig. 10 will be explained. In Fig. 10(b) it is indicated that the respective addresses of the user equipments UEl and UE2 are known in the system. More spe- cifically, the addresses IPv6-l and IPv6-2 are available in the mobility management entity 200. As is depicted in Fig. 10(c), for setting up a connection between the user equipments UEl and UE2 that are within the same radio access network, user equipment UEl forwards a connection request 204 including the destination address, namely the address of user equipment UE2 (IPv6-2) via the remote radio head 102a and the base station 100 to the mobility management entity 200. At the mobility management entity 200 it is determined 205 as to whether the requested or destination IP is "under the same area" which can be determined by a query to the database of the mobility management entity. Since the desti- nation IP is present it can be determined that the user equipment UE2 is under the same area as the user equipment UEl so that a direct communication applying the principles in accordance with embodiments of the invention may be used. As is shown in Fig. 10(d), following the determination that the user equipment UE2 is under the same area as to the user equipment UEl, the management entity 200 signals 206 to the base station to connect the uplink with the downlink using the L1/L2/L3 layers. Once the uplink and the downlink are connected at the base station 100, data may be exchanged 208 between the user equipment UEl and the user equipment UE2 via the base station 100 without the need for passing network components or entities outside the radio access network (see Fig. 10(e)). With regard to Fig. 1 1 , embodiments are described using a dynamic IP and how signaling is achieved in such a situation. Again, a wireless communication system as in Fig. 10(a) is shown. In the embodiments of Fig. 11, the user equipments have respective telephone numbers, for example user equipment UEl has the telephone number 203 and the user equipment has the telephone number 227. Further, each of the user equipments has a SIP ID (session IP identification). User equipment UEl has associated SIP ID 0162— 203@dcm.de and user equipment UE2 has associated SIP ID 0162— 227@dcm.de. The user equipments know one or more SIP addresses of other user equipments, for example user equipment UEl knows the SIP address of user equipment UE2, for example it is in the phone book of the user equipment UEl just as a number of any other personal friends stored there. For initiating a communication between the user equipments UEl and UE2 that are within the same radio access network 1 14, user equipment UEl issues a call 210 to the proxy-CSCF entity 212 (CSCF = call session control function). The call 210 indicates the SIP address of user equipment UE2, namely a SIP address 227@dcm.de. Via the serving CSCF 214 for the SIP address 227 and via the proxy-CSCF 216 for the address 227, a session is set up to address 227 as indicated by the communication 218 between the proxy 216 for 227 and the gateway 1 12. As is shown in Fig. 1 1(b), the user equipment UEl issues a call 220 indicating the destination 227, namely the telephone number of user equipment UE2 together with its SIP ID to the mobility management entity 200. The mobility management entity 200 holds the source information, namely the telephone number of UEl which is 203 and the associated SIP ID and also the destination information, namely the telephone number 227 and the SIP ID associated with user equipment UE2. The mobility management entity 200 contacts the gateway 1 12 which provides to the two user equipments UEl and UE2 via signaling messages 222 and 224 generated UE IP addresses asso- dated with UE1 and UE2 (see Fig. 11(c)). As is shown in Fig. 11(d), the UE IP addresses are signaled from the respective user equipments UE1 and UE2 via respective messages 226 and 228 to the mobility management unit 200. The MME 200, see Fig. 11(e), signals via message 230 to the base station 100 to connect the uplink and down link for the data exchange between the user equipments UE1 and UE2 as is indicated by 232, thereby establishing the direct data path between the UEs via the base station 100. Thus, Fig. 1 1 allows a direct communication between user equipments in the same radio access network using IP addresses that are dynamically generated on the basis of the SIP address associated with each of the user equipments.

Embodiments of the invention as described above provide for a packet processing load reduction at hugely loaded base stations and allow for a shortest path routing that saves unnecessarily link resource consumption in the network. Also, less state maintenance at other nodes, for example the serve gateway or the packet data network gateway is required. Further, while conventional approaches show an increased round trip delay per acknowledgement request the approach in accordance with embodiments reduces the overall delay for exchanging the end-to-end acknowledgement messages.

Further, in accordance with embodiments of the invention both resource re-mapping and adaptation of the MCS at the base station is possible wherein the resource re-mapping and the MCS selection can be done separately for the two channels, the uplink channel and the downlink channel due to the full recovery of a message. In case the base station decoded the information successfully, the impact of the uplink channel can be ignored, thereby allowing for a more flexible approach.

SPN/BTS node is responsible for disseminating src. UE and dst. UE L2, when necessary L2.5 or L3 addresses to each other so that src. UE can establish data session with dst. UE. This function can also be performed by core network e.g. e-MME. Although some aspects have been described in the context of an apparatus, it is clear that these aspects also represent a description of the corresponding method, where a block or device corresponds to a method step or a feature of a method step. Analogously, aspects described in the context of a method step also represent a description of a corresponding block or item or feature of a corresponding apparatus.

Depending on certain implementation requirements, embodiments of the invention can be implemented in hardware or in software. The implementation can be performed using a digital storage medium, for example a floppy disk, a DVD, a CD, a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM or a FLASH memory, having electronically readable control signals stored thereon, which cooperate (or are capable of cooperating) with a programmable computer system such that the respective method is performed. Some embodiments according to the invention comprise a data carrier having electronically readable control sig- nals, which are capable of cooperating with a programmable computer system, such that one of the methods described herein is performed. Generally, embodiments of the invention can be implemented as a computer program product with a program code, the program code being operative for performing one of the methods when the computer program product runs on a computer. The program code may for example be stored on a machine read- able carrier. Other embodiments comprise the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein, stored on a machine readable carrier. In other words, an embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a computer program having a program code for performing one of the methods described herein, when the computer program runs on a computer.

A further embodiment of the inventive methods is, therefore, a data carrier (or a digital storage medium, or a computer-readable medium) comprising, recorded thereon, the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein. A further embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a data stream or a sequence of signals representing the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein. The data stream or the sequence of signals may for example be configured to be transferred via a data communication connection, for example via the Internet. Yet a further embodiment comprises a processing means, for example a computer, or a programmable logic device, configured to or adapted to perform one of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, a programmable logic device (for example a field programmable gate array) may be used to perform some or all of the functionalities of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, a field programmable gate array may cooperate with a microprocessor in order to perform one of the methods described herein. Generally, the methods are preferably performed by any hardware apparatus.

A further embodiment comprises a computer having installed thereon the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein.

The above described embodiments are merely illustrative for the principles of the invention. It is understood that modifications and variations of the arrangements and the details described herein will be apparent to others skilled in the art. It is the intent, therefore, to be limited only by the scope of the impending patent claims and not by the specific presented by way of description and explanation of the embodiments herein.