HK1069265B - A method and system for wirelessly transferring a coded composite transport channel - Google Patents

Description

Method and system for transmitting a coded composite transport channel in a wireless manner

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and system for wirelessly transmitting a cctrch, and more particularly, to a method and corresponding system for selecting a tfc from a set of tfcs for wirelessly transmitting a cctrch.

Background

In third generation (3G) communication systems, Dynamic Link Adaptation (DLA) may be used to compensate for a fading radio propagation environment in which the User Equipment (UE) must transmit at a transmission power greater than the maximum allowable (or practical maximum) transmission power. In 3G communication systems, transmissions that must be made at power levels greater than the maximum power level are all made at the maximum power level. When these signals are transmitted at maximum power levels (lower than their required transmit power levels), their performance is degraded, the error rate is increased, increasing the likelihood that the transmitted data will not be received, and thus wasting the used system resources.

One prior art technique for handling this maximum power condition is to continuously transmit at the maximum allowable or practical maximum transmit power and to correct any errors that may occur in coordination with the error correction capability of the receiver. This ultimately results in unsatisfactory system performance because transmissions must be made at power levels insufficient to maintain the required error rate performance level.

Another approach to addressing the maximum power condition is to reduce link (UL) data condition requirements during periods when the necessary transmit power to maintain the power level of the required error rate performance level is greater than the maximum power capability. This approach can maintain the required error rate performance by reducing the data rate.

UL transmissions can also be made continuously when the required power exceeds the maximum power capability by increasing the block error rate (BLER) without impacting the data condition requirements of the UL. This effect cannot be avoided in the period from the discovery of the maximum power condition until the UL transmission can be configured to a lower overall rate. In the 3G wireless standard, a condition is specified that limits the UE performance requirements during this period.

Because transmissions that must be made at power levels greater than the maximum transmission power level are very susceptible to failure, it is highly desirable to be able to exceed the requirements of the specified conditions. The service of allowing data retransmission for failed transmissions results in increased overhead, reduced radio resource efficiency and reduced UE battery life. The service that does not allow retransmission increases the BLER, which results in a need to increase the power of the power requester to try to maintain the BLER quality target. Since the UE is already transmitting at its maximum power, the increased SIR used in the UE transmit power control algorithm does not improve the BLER performance for the current channel conditions. Increasing the SIR target, if it is desired to improve channel conditions, requires that the UE must transmit at a power level greater than that required to maintain the required performance, which results in reduced radio resource efficiency and battery life.

To meet or exceed the performance requirements of improved quality of service (QoS), an efficient method for adjusting UL transmission conditions needs must be provided.

In 3G communication systems, individual data streams may be assigned to transport channels (trchs) with specific QoS capabilities, which may be configured to achieve a specified BLER quality target. The physical channel allocated to the UE may simultaneously support multiple trchs, referred to as coded composite transport channels (cctrchs). The CCTrCH allows each TrCH to have a different amount of data within any particular Transmission Time Interval (TTI). Each TrCH has a specific TTI period. The Transport Format (TF) specifies the amount of data to be transmitted in each TTI period for a particular TrCH.

For a CCTrCH within any particular TTI, the TF group for each TrCH is referred to as a Transport Format Combination (TFC). The set of all available TFCs (i.e. all available allowable multiplexing options) is then called Transport Format Combination (TFCs).

For each UL CCTrCH, the UE Medium Access Control (MAC) entity selects a TFC for transmission according to the TTI. The TFC and associated data are sent to the transmitting physical layer of the physical data request primitive (private). If the physical layer later determines that the transmission of the TFC exceeds the maximum or allowable UE transmission power, a physical status indication primitive is generated to the MAC to indicate that the maximum power or allowable transmission power has been reached.

When the MAC is informed that it has reached the maximum or allowable transmission power, the TFC that may cause this condition to persist, i.e., it is removed from the set of available TFCs, unless the TFC is one that the 3GPP standard specifies cannot lock. The locked TFC may be reverted to the set of available TFCs by releasing the lock during a later period when the UE transmission power measurements indicate that the TFCs can be supported at less than or equal to the maximum or allowable UE transmission power.

However, there are several very serious drawbacks to the current way of removing TFCs. As described above, the physical layer determines whether the TFC transmission must exceed the maximum or allowable UE transmission power, and then generates a physical status indication primitive to the MAC device to indicate that the maximum power or allowable power has been reached. With this approach, the UE may have to remain in the maximum power state for about 60 milliseconds when the MAC reconfigures the available TFC set to remove the locked TFC and begin selecting TFCs from the updated available TFC set. The UE will only reduce the available TFCs to the power condition requirement of TFCs that exceed the transmission power capability. The UE may then select a TFC with the next lower transmission power requirement. However, there is no guarantee that the power required for the reduced TFC set never exceeds the maximum power. This results in another process that must be repeated and additional delay to further reduce the TFC set. For each deleted TFC, data and radio resources must be lost in a particular TTI. Finally, the performance of the system becomes very poor in the maximum power condition.

Additional performance problems may arise when the UE attempts to recover TFCs that are locked due to maximum power conditions. It is desirable to unlock (i.e., recover) TFCs very quickly so that a more complete set of TFCs may be available for use by the UE. Finally, the performance of the system is improved when the TFCs can be efficiently recovered.

Therefore, prior art methods for handling the UE in its maximum power state do not achieve acceptable system performance. It would be desirable to provide an improved method for rapidly reducing the set of TFCs during the time that the maximum UE power condition is reached and for rapidly recovering the TFCs after the maximum UE power condition has elapsed.

Disclosure of Invention

A system and method for efficiently reducing TFCs in a TFCS to achieve desired transmission goals while remaining within power and data condition requirements is disclosed. When the UE transmission power condition requirement exceeds the maximum or allowable transmission power, the set of TFCs must be reduced to leave only acceptable TFCs that currently do not exceed the power limit. The UE may then select from among the acceptable smaller TFC sets.

The present invention also supports the advanced determination of unsupported TFCs. The present invention determines the TFC whose transmission power must be greater than the maximum or allowable UE transmission power continuously in every TTI, rather than only in TTIs where the maximum power has been exceeded. The TFC selection method is adjusted to avoid selecting a TFC that exceeds the transmission power capability prior to transmission.

The invention can also restore the TFC in the TFCS when the maximum power condition does not exist.

The first method comprises the following steps:

selecting a TFC from the TFCS;

if a transmission power level of a selected TFC is judged to exceed a maximum allowable power level, deleting the selected TFC for selection later, and repeating the step of selecting a TFC; and

if the selected TFC is not deleted, the CCTrCH is transmitted using the selected TFC.

The user equipment corresponding to the method comprises the following steps:

means for selecting a TFC from the TFCS;

means for deleting the selected TFC for later selection and re-checking the step of selecting a TFC if it is determined that a transmission power level of the selected TFC exceeds a maximum allowable power level; and

if the selected TFC is not deleted, the CCTrCH component can be transmitted using the selected TFC.

The user equipment corresponding to the method comprises the following steps:

a medium access control entity for selecting a TFC from the TFCS; if a transmission power level of the selected TFC is judged to exceed a maximum allowable power level, it can be used to delete the selected TFC for selection later, and repeat the step of selecting a TFC; and

a physical layer processing entity, if the selected TFC is not deleted, the selected TFC can be used to transmit the CCTrCH; and determines its transmission power level for the selected TFC.

The second method comprises the following steps:

providing a locked TFC table from among TFCS having a selected transmission power level that previously exceeded a maximum allowable power level;

determining for each locked TFC whether it has a selected transmission power level that exceeds the maximum allowable power level;

after the determination, restoring each locked TFC not exceeding the maximum allowable power level to an available TFC table in the TFCS; and

a TFC is selected from the available TFC table.

The method comprises the following steps that corresponding user equipment:

means for providing a locked TFC table from among the TFCS's that previously had a selected transmission power level that exceeded a maximum allowable power level;

determining locked TFC means for determining for each locked TFC whether it has a selected transmission power level that exceeds the maximum allowable power level;

restoring the unlocked TFC, after determining, to restore each locked TFC that does not exceed the maximum allowable power level to an available TFC table in the TFCs; and

means for selecting a TFC from the available TFC table.

The method comprises the following steps that corresponding user equipment:

a medium access control entity for providing a locked TFC table from among the TFCS's that previously had a selected transmission power level that exceeded the maximum allowable power level;

a physical layer processing entity for determining for each locked TFC whether it has a selected transmission power level exceeding the maximum allowable power level; and

after the determination, the mac entity may restore each locked TFC that does not exceed the maximum allowable power level to an available TFC table in the TFCs; and selects a TFC from the available TFC table.

The third method comprises the following steps:

(a) determining from the TFCS which TFCS have a selected transmission power level that exceeds a maximum allowable power;

(b) generating an available TFC table according to the judgment result;

(c) selecting a TFC from the available TFC table; and

(d) repeating steps (a) to (c) in a periodic manner.

The method comprises the following steps that corresponding user equipment:

means for periodically determining from the TFCS which TFCS have a selected transmission power level that exceeds a maximum allowable power;

means for generating an available TFC table according to the determination result;

means for selecting a TFC from the available TFC table.

The method comprises the following steps that corresponding user equipment:

a physical layer processing entity for periodically determining from the TFCS which TFCS have a selected transmission power level that exceeds a maximum allowable power; and

a medium access control entity for generating an available TFC table according to the judgment result; and selects a TFC from the available TFC table.

The improved method of the present invention can rapidly reduce the set of TFCs during the arrival of the maximum UE power condition and can rapidly recover these TFCs after the maximum UE power condition has elapsed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the efficient removal of TFCs in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart for reducing a TFC in a TFCS.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the pre-removal of TFCs in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 4 and 5 show two flow charts for determining TFC transmission power condition requirements in a periodic manner.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a MAC device and a physical layer device.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

There are three basic views of dynamic link adaptation according to the present invention. First, when a power condition occurs in which the UE transmission power condition requirement exceeds its maximum (or maximum allowable), the TFC whose power must exceed the maximum power limit, i.e., the power of the UE, can be effectively locked. Let the MAC know all TFCs that currently exceed this limit for subsequent TFC selection. Then, selection can only be made from among TFCs whose power does not necessarily exceed the UE transmission power capability.

Second, the present invention supports that the TFC in the TFCS can be restored when the maximum power condition does not exist.

Finally, the invention supports the decision in advance of not supported TFCs, i.e. TFCs for which the transmission power must be larger than the maximum or allowed UE transmission. The present invention determines the TFCs continuously and periodically in every TTI rather than only in TTIs where maximum power conditions have occurred. Each TTI may or may not include a TTI in which no data is to be transmitted. Since the TFC condition requirements change over time, it can decide in advance which TFC is not supported.

It should be noted that although the present invention relates to TFC removal and restoration, there must be a minimum set of TFCs available for transmission in the configured TFCs. Preferably, this minimum set does not require the TFC removal and reduction processes described later.

The TFC removal and recovery process is performed periodically. Although the period of these processes is based on one TTI in the following description, it is also possible to perform the processes every about several TTIs (i.e., more than one TTI). It should also be noted that each TTI may (or may not) include TTIs where no data is to be transmitted.

Referring to fig. 1, a process 10 for efficient TFC removal according to the present invention is shown. Process 10 begins with the selection of a TFC with an available set of TFCs (step 16). The available set of TFCs is the initial full Transport Format Combination (TFCs) that is configured to establish the CCTrCH. The selected TFC is transmitted to the physical layer device 14 (step 18). The physical layer device 14 determines the transmission power condition requirement of the TFC (step 22) and determines whether the UE transmission power required for the TFC is higher than the maximum or maximum allowable UE power (step 24). If not, steps 16, 18, 22 and 24 are repeated until the TFC transmission power requirement exceeds the maximum allowable power. If the UE power requirement for TFC transmission is higher than the maximum allowable power, the physical layer device 14 determines all TFCs in the "excess power state" in the TFCs (step 25). The physical layer device 14 indicates the available or unavailable (i.e., locked) status of the TFCs to the MAC device 12 (step 26). It should be noted that the physical layer device 14 may indicate available TFCs, unavailable TFCs, or both. The MAC device 12 removes the TFC indicated by the physical layer device 14 as being in the excess power state from the set of available TFCs (step 28). The process 10 is repeatedly executed in every TTI.

Although the figures explicitly show all functions as being performed in the physical layer, some actions may be performed in the MAC layer.

Referring to fig. 2, a process 50 for restoring a TFC in an excess power state is shown. MAC device 12 may select a TFC using the available TFC set (step 52). The available TFC set may be an initial full Transport Format Combination (TFCs) configured to establish a CCTrCH; or the set of available TFCS after reduction from the TFCS, which is represented by the previous physical layer device 14. The selected TFC is transmitted to the physical layer device 14 (step 53).

The physical layer device 14 determines whether any TFCs are in an excess power state (step 54). Only TFCS in the excess power state within the configured TFCS are periodically determined. This periodic reference may be based on every TTI. Next, the physical layer device 14 determines whether any TFC in the excess power state does not need to exceed the maximum or maximum allowable power and can revert to the available TFC set (step 55). The physical layer device 14 then indicates the restored TFC for the MAC device 12 to know (step 56). If the available TFC changes (i.e., if there is a TFC unlock), MAC device 12 updates its available TFC table (step 58). The MAC and phy layer devices 12, 14 continue to repeat steps 52-58. When the TFC is locked, the process 50 ensures that the reduction of the available TFC is determined continuously in every TTI, rather than only in TTIs where the maximum power has been exceeded.

The TFC recovery can be performed more efficiently by indicating the unlocked TFC in a periodic manner, compared to the manner in which the transmission power measurement of the transmission signal calculated by the UE is determined, since the normal measurement reporting and processing mechanisms are very slow. This allows the UE to avoid reducing the transmission rate below the data rate supported by the current channel conditions. Before transmission, the UE may reduce the time required to reduce the required TFCs by one or more TTIs based on the predicted transmission power condition requirements.

Referring to fig. 3, a process 150 for removing TFCs in advance in accordance with the present invention is shown. Process 150 begins by establishing a CCTrCH and configuring a complete TFCS (step 151). A TFC is then selected from the set of available TFCs (step 152). The MAC device 12 transmits the selected TFC to the physical layer device 14 (step 154). The physical layer device 14 continuously determines the available TFCs in a periodic manner, as shown in fig. 3, for each TTI. The ability to transmit all available TFCs has been confirmed. It is then determined (step 157) whether any TFC that was previously unlocked is now in the excess power state. If not, the process 150 returns to step 152 and repeats the process 150. MAC device 12 is made aware of the new TFC, if any, that is currently in the excess power state (step 158). The MAC device 12 updates all its available TFC tables (step 160). It should be noted that steps 152, 154 and 160 performed by the MAC device 12 and steps 156, 157 and 158 performed by the phy device 14 are repeated continuously, but need not be performed every TTI as shown in fig. 3.

Since the TFC transmission power requirement, which may change over time, is checked in a periodic manner (e.g., every TTI) for recovery, the method 150 can determine the non-supported TFCs in advance. In step 156, the TFC power requirement is checked every TTI to determine if the maximum or maximum allowable power is exceeded. If the power requirement cannot be met by the TFC that is not currently locked, the physical layer device 14 informs the MAC device 12 that the TFC should be locked (step 158). The TFC selection method is adjusted to avoid selecting a TFC that exceeds the transmission power capability before transmitting the TFC. In addition, if the currently locked TFC can meet the power requirement, the allowable TFC table is continuously updated, so that the previously locked TFC can be restored.

Logically, it is also possible to determine changes in the radio propagation conditions over time by means of an advance determination. For example, a change in path loss of a reference channel to be received or a change in link interference to be reported. All changes in radio propagation conditions allow the UE to estimate future transmission power condition requirements and lock the TFC prior to interference, pathloss, or other conditions that would cause the TFC to enter an excess power state.

The result of the advanced decision method 150 is to reduce the loss of UL data and to make more efficient use of radio resources through proper TFC selection for successful transmission. Locking the TFC prior to TFC selection and transmission improves user QoS by reducing BLER and better exploits physical resources by reducing the need for retransmissions. Since the TrCH BLER has been reduced, it is relatively avoided to unnecessarily increase the UL SIR target value, which may further improve the overall radio resource efficiency by reducing the UL transmit power.

Although the methods 10, 50 and 150 for continuously updating available TFCs are used to improve performance, the computational resources required to calculate the power requirements for each TFC per TTI are very large. Thus, referring to fig. 4 and 5, two alternatives for determining the TFC transmission power condition requirement in a periodic (or TTI-dependent) manner are shown.

The method 70 of fig. 4 begins with the TFC set determined by the MAC device 12 for CCTrCH establishment or reconfiguration (step 72). When the CCTrCH is established or reconfigured, the TFCs are ordered according to the transmission power requirements instead of the configured TFCs (step 74). Note that although shown as being performed in the physical layer 14, the ordered TFC table may be determined in the layer 2 or layer 3 entity. In a TDD system, this TFC table is time slot specific, e.g., there is one ordered TFC table per time slot. The physical layer device 14 periodically confirms the ability to transmit the TFC with the highest transmission power requirement (step 76). It is then determined whether the TFC can be transmitted (step 77). If the TFC can be transmitted, a determination is made (step 79) as to whether there are any locked TFCs. All previously locked TFCs, if any, are brought into a usable state (step 81) and the physical layer device 14 proceeds to step 82 and informs the MAC device 12 that all TFCs within that TFCs should be unlocked and available for current use. If not, the process 70 returns to step 76.

However, if it is determined (step 77) that the TFC with the highest transmission power requirement cannot be transmitted, or if the transmission power required by the TFC with the highest transmission power is greater than the maximum allowable power, a process must be implemented to approximate each TFC state in the sorted table (step 78). The specific procedure of how to efficiently determine which TFCs should be locked is not critical to the present invention as there are various methods available. For example, in the first alternative of the present invention, because it has a sorted list of TFCs, the middle TFC in the list can be checked to see if it can be transmitted. If it cannot be transmitted, the TFC in the middle of the lower half of the table may be checked to see if it can be transmitted. Similarly, if the middle TFC in the table can be transmitted, the middle TFC in the upper half of the table may be checked to see if it can be transmitted. This process may be repeated until the TFC with the highest power condition requirement can be transmitted. Another alternative is to apply a hashing function to approximate the table pointers that exceed the power capability.

The physical layer device 14 determines the TFC that is not supported and the TFC that was previously locked to the current supported TFC (step 80) and lets the MAC device know the latest TFC available and the locked TFC (step 82).

One alternative to sending the latest full unlocked TFC table (or a new version of the unlocked TFC table) from the physical layer device 14 to the MAC device 12 is to transmit only a "pointer" to the ordered TFC table. For example, after the TFC table is sorted, the TFC above the pointer is locked and the TFC below is not locked. The transmit pointer may reduce the number of control signal transmissions required between the physical layer device 14 and the MAC device 12.

An alternative to sending the latest full unlocked TFC table (or a new version of the unlocked TFC table) from the physical layer device 14 to the MAC device 12 is to send measured or calculated values from the physical layer device 14 to the MAC device 12 (or any other layer 2 entity) which allows the layer 2 entity to determine the new set of available TFCs. It should be noted that although many of the steps shown in fig. 4 are performed by the phy device 14, they may also be performed by the MAC device 12 (e.g., steps 78 and 80).

Steps 76-82 may then be repeated. After the physical layer device 14 transmits the latest available TFC table (or TFCs pointer or measured/calculated value) to the MAC device 12, the MAC device 12 updates the available TFC table (step 84).

Referring to fig. 5, a second alternative method 100 for periodically determining TFC transmission power condition requirements is shown. The MAC device 12 initially sets the configured TFCs for CCTrCH establishment or reconfiguration (step 102). Each TFC is associated with a relative sensitivity value when the CCTrCH is established or reconfigured. This may be done by the MAC device 12, the physical layer device 14, or any layer 2 or layer 3 entity. The sensitivity value may be the En/No condition requirement under certain propagation channel assumption conditions, the maximum tolerable path loss under propagation channel/transmission power assumption conditions, or other methods mapped to integers 0-N. Furthermore, in a TDD system, this relative sensitivity value may be time slot specific.

The MAC device 12 will pass the selected TFC to the physical layer device 14 (step 104). The physical layer device 14 transmits the TFC (step 106) and determines a margin value associated with the maximum power (step 108). The phy device 14 uses the margin values to distinguish between locked and unlocked TFCs (step 110). It should be noted that the margin value may be a negative value, representing a possible lock-up condition; it may also be a positive value, representing a possible recovery situation. The MAC device is then made aware of the locked and unlocked TFCs (step 112). Then, the physical layer device 14 repeats steps 106 and 112 for each TFC transmission. After receiving the indication signals of the locked and unlocked TFCs from the physical layer device 14, the MAC device 12 updates the locked and unlocked TFC tables (step 114). The MAC device 12 then repeats steps 104 and 114.

Referring to fig. 6, a block diagram of the MAC device 12 and the physical layer device 14 is shown. The MAC device 12 includes a TFC selection processor 13 that can select TFCs for transmission that are associated with the particular CCTrCH that supports the desired TrCH. Similarly, the physical layer device 14 has an allowed TFC processor 15 that determines the locked and unlocked TFCs and lets the TFC selection processor 13 know the locked and unlocked TFCs. Although processing by the physical layer is desirable, some of the processing described above may be performed in the MAC device or any other layer 2 entity. According to the embodiments shown in fig. 4 and 5, the TFC processor 15 can also utilize the UE transmission power requirement for TFC ordering. The ordering table or the relative sensitivity value may also be determined by the TFC selection processor 13. Thus, this processing can be done in the physical layer, the MAC, or any layer 2 entity, or even layer 3 entity. The MAC device 12 delivers the selected TFC 17 (selected from among the available TFCs for the configured TFCs) to the physical layer device 14 (step 104). The physical layer device 14 indicates the locked and unlocked (removed and restored) TFCs 19 accordingly.

It should be noted that although the methods 10, 50, 150 described above are separate processes, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that these methods may be combined as necessary for a particular application and may be processed simultaneously. When the logic components of methods 10, 50 and 150 are combined, part-specific modifications to the logic components must be made for each method to integrate the methods for proper operation. While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, variations thereon will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and are intended to be within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (48)

1. A method for selecting a Transport Format Combination (TFC) from among a set of Transport Format Combinations (TFCS) for wirelessly transmitting a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH), the method comprising:

selecting a TFC from the TFCS;

if a transmission power level of a selected TFC is judged to exceed a maximum allowable power level, deleting the selected TFC for selection later, and repeating the step of selecting a TFC; and

if the selected TFC is not deleted, the CCTrCH is transmitted using the selected TFC.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: the TFC whose transmission power level exceeds the maximum allowable power level is determined from among the TFCS.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: the available TFC state among the TFCs is provided according to TFCs that do not exceed the maximum allowable power level, and a TFC is selected by selecting a TFC from among the available TFCs.

4. A user equipment operable to select a Transport Format Combination (TFC) from among a set of Transport Format Combinations (TFCS) for wirelessly transmitting a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH), the user equipment comprising:

means for selecting a TFC from the TFCS;

means for deleting the selected TFC for later selection and re-checking the step of selecting a TFC if it is determined that a transmission power level of the selected TFC exceeds a maximum allowable power level; and

if the selected TFC is not deleted, the CCTrCH component can be transmitted using the selected TFC.

5. The user equipment control entity of claim 4, further comprising: means for determining the TFCs from the TFCS that have a transmission power level that exceeds a maximum allowable power level.

6. The user equipment control entity of claim 5, further comprising: means for providing available TFC states among the TFCs according to the selected TFCs not exceeding a maximum allowable power level and selecting a TFC by selecting a TFC from among the available TFCs.

7. A user equipment for selecting a Transport Format Combination (TFC) from a set of Transport Format Combinations (TFCS) for wirelessly transmitting a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH), the user equipment comprising:

a medium access control entity for selecting a TFC from the TFCS; if a transmission power level of the selected TFC is judged to exceed a maximum allowable power level, it can be used to delete the selected TFC for selection later, and repeat the step of selecting a TFC; and

a physical layer processing entity, if the selected TFC is not deleted, the selected TFC can be used to transmit the CCTrCH; and determines its transmission power level for the selected TFC.

8. The UE of claim 7, wherein the physical layer processing entity determines TFCs from the TFCS whose transmission power level exceeds a maximum allowable power level.

9. The UE of claim 8, wherein the MAC entity provides an available TFC status among the TFCS according to the selected TFCs that do not exceed a maximum allowable power level, and selects a TFC by selecting a TFC from among the available TFCs.

10. A method for selecting a Transport Format Combination (TFC) from a set of Transport Format Combinations (TFCS) for wirelessly transmitting a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH), the method comprising:

providing a locked TFC table from among TFCS having a selected transmission power level that previously exceeded a maximum allowable power level;

determining for each locked TFC whether it has a selected transmission power level that exceeds the maximum allowable power level;

after the determination, restoring each locked TFC not exceeding the maximum allowable power level to an available TFC table in the TFCS; and

a TFC is selected from the available TFC table.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the determining whether the locked TFC has a selected transmission power level that exceeds the maximum allowable power level is performed in a periodic manner.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the periodic reference is every tti.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein determining whether the locked TFCs have a selected transmission power level that exceeds a maximum allowable power level is performed by estimating a transmission power level of the locked TFCs.

14. A user equipment for selecting a Transport Format Combination (TFC) from a Transport Format Combination Set (TFCS) for wirelessly transmitting a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH), the user equipment comprising:

means for providing a locked TFC table from among the TFCS's that previously had a selected transmission power level that exceeded a maximum allowable power level;

determining locked TFC means for determining for each locked TFC whether it has a selected transmission power level that exceeds the maximum allowable power level;

restoring the unlocked TFC, after determining, to restore each locked TFC that does not exceed the maximum allowable power level to an available TFC table in the TFCs; and

means for selecting a TFC from the available TFC table.

15. The user equipment of claim 14 wherein the TFC means for determining that the TFC is locked determines whether the locked TFCs have a selected transmit power level that exceeds a maximum allowable power level in a periodic manner.

16. The UE of claim 15, wherein the periodic reference is every TTI.

17. The ue of claim 14 wherein the means for restoring the unlocked TFC determines whether the locked TFCs have a selected transmission power level that exceeds the maximum allowable power level by estimating transmission power levels of the locked TFCs.

18. A user equipment for selecting a Transport Format Combination (TFC) from a Transport Format Combination Set (TFCS) for wirelessly transmitting a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH), the user equipment comprising:

a medium access control entity for providing a locked TFC table from among the TFCS's that previously had a selected transmission power level that exceeded the maximum allowable power level;

a physical layer processing entity for determining for each locked TFC whether it has a selected transmission power level exceeding the maximum allowable power level; and

after the determination, the mac entity may restore each locked TFC that does not exceed the maximum allowable power level to an available TFC table in the TFCs; and selects a TFC from the available TFC table.

19. The UE of claim 18, wherein the physical layer processing entity determines whether the locked TFCs have a selected transmit power level that exceeds the maximum allowable power level in a periodic manner.

20. The UE of claim 19, wherein the periodic reference is every TTI.

21. The UE of claim 20, wherein the MAC entity determines whether a locked TFCs have a selected transmit power level that exceeds the maximum allowable power level by estimating transmit power levels of the locked TFCs.

22. A method for selecting a Transport Format Combination (TFC) from a set of Transport Format Combinations (TFCS) for wirelessly transmitting a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH), the method comprising:

(a) determining from the TFCS which TFCS have a selected transmission power level that exceeds a maximum allowable power;

(b) generating an available TFC table according to the judgment result;

(c) selecting a TFC from the available TFC table; and

(d) repeating steps (a) to (c) in a periodic manner.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the periodic reference is every tti.

24. The method of claim 22 for use in a time division duplex communication system wherein an available TFC table is generated for each time slot.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the step (a) comprises determining whether a TFC with a highest transmission power level requirement among the TFCS exceeds the maximum allowable power, and if the TFC with the highest transmission power requirement exceeds the maximum allowable power, indicating that all TFCS in the TFCS are usable and thus no further TFCS in the TFCS need be analyzed.

26. The method of claim 22 wherein the TFCS are ordered with respect to each other according to a required transmit power level, and step (a) uses the ordering to determine.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein a TFC in the TFCS is analyzed to determine whether its power level exceeds the maximum power level; if the TFC is analyzed to exceed the maximum power level, then TFCs requiring a transmission power level greater than the power level of the analyzed TFC are considered to exceed the maximum power level; and if the TFC is analyzed to find that it is below the maximum power level, then TFCs requiring transmission power levels below the power level of the TFC being analyzed may be considered below the maximum power level.

28. The method of claim 22 wherein a complete table is transferred from a physical layer processing entity to a medium access control entity to update the available table.

29. The method of claim 22 wherein a pointer representing the locked TFCs is transmitted from the physical layer processing entity to the mac entity to update the available table.

30. The method of claim 22 wherein a value is sent from the physical layer processing entity to the mac entity to allow the mac entity to determine the plurality of TFCs that are locked to update the available table.

31. A user equipment for selecting a Transport Format Combination (TFC) from a Transport Format Combination Set (TFCS) for wirelessly transmitting a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH), the user equipment comprising:

means for periodically determining from the TFCS which TFCS have a selected transmission power level that exceeds a maximum allowable power;

means for generating an available TFC table according to the determination result;

means for selecting a TFC from the available TFC table.

32. The UE of claim 31, wherein the periodic reference is once per TTI.

33. The user equipment of claim 31 which is operable in a time division duplex communication system wherein an available TFC table is generated for each time slot.

34. The ue of claim 31 wherein the means for periodically determining comprises means for determining whether a TFC with a highest required transmission power level among the TFCS exceeds the maximum allowable power, indicating that all TFCS in the TFCS are usable and therefore no further analysis of other TFCS in the TFCS is necessary if the TFC with the highest required transmission power exceeds the maximum allowable power.

35. The UE of claim 31 wherein the TFCs in the TFCS are ordered according to a desired transmission power level, and the periodic determination means determines the ordering.

36. The UE of claim 35, wherein the periodic determining means analyzes TFCs in the TFCS to determine whether their power levels exceed the maximum power level; if the TFC is analyzed to exceed the maximum power level, then the TFC with a required transmission power level greater than the power level of the analyzed TFC is considered to exceed the maximum power level; TFCs requiring a transmission power level lower than the power level of the analyzed TFC may be considered to be below the maximum power level if the TFC is analyzed to be below the maximum power level.

37. The UE of claim 31, wherein a complete table can be transferred from a physical layer processing entity to a MAC entity to update the available table.

38. The UE of claim 31, wherein a pointer representing the locked TFCs is sent from the PHY processing entity to the MAC entity to update the available table.

39. The UE of claim 31, wherein a value is signaled from the physical layer processing entity to the MAC entity to allow the MAC entity to determine the TFC to be locked for updating the available table.

40. A user equipment for selecting a Transport Format Combination (TFC) from a set of Transport Format Combinations (TFCS) for wirelessly transmitting a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH), the user equipment comprising:

a physical layer processing entity for periodically determining from the TFCS which TFCS have a selected transmission power level that exceeds a maximum allowable power; and

a medium access control entity for generating an available TFC table according to the judgment result; and selects a TFC from the available TFC table.

41. The UE of claim 41, wherein the periodic reference is once per TTI.

42. The UE of claim 41, wherein an available TFC table is generated for each time slot.

43. The UE of claim 41, wherein the PHY processing entity determines whether a TFC of the TFCS that has a highest required transmission power level exceeds the maximum allowed power, and if the TFC with the highest required transmission power exceeds the maximum allowed power, it indicates that all TFCs in the TFCS are available, so that no further TFCs in the TFCS need to be analyzed.

44. The UE of claim 41, wherein the TFCs in the TFCS are ordered according to a required transmission power level, and the PHY processing entity determines using the ordered result.

45. The UE of claim 45, wherein the physical layer processing entity analyzes a TFC in the TFCS to determine whether its power level exceeds the maximum power level; if the TFC is analyzed to exceed the maximum power level, then the TFC with a required transmission power level greater than the power level of the analyzed TFC is considered to exceed the maximum power level; if the TFC is analyzed to be below the maximum power level, then the TFC with a required transmission power level below the power level of the analyzed TFC can be considered to be below the maximum power level.

46. The UE of claim 41, wherein a complete table can be sent from the PHY processing entity to the MAC entity to update the available table.

47. The UE of claim 41, wherein a pointer representing the locked TFCs can be sent from the PHY processing entity to the MAC entity to update the available table.

48. The UE of claim 41, wherein a value is signaled from the physical layer processing entity to the MAC entity to allow the MAC entity to determine the TFCs that are locked for updating the available table.