Drone base station companion

• US 10,148,343 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2016
• Issued: 12/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shaw, Venson M., He, Jin
• Primary Examiner(s): Heiber, Shantell L
• Application Number:
  US15/089,664
• Publication Number:
  US 20170288768A1
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2606 Arrangements for base station coverage control, e.g. by using relays in tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/26 Cell enhancers or enhancement, e.g. for tunnels, building shadow
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks

Abstract

Use of a drone base station companion increases diversity gain in a communications system to reduce error rates and the probability of the need for a retransmission due to channel fading. An apparatus includes a drone base station companion configured as a relay between a base station in a first cell and wireless user equipment in the first cell. The drone base station companion includes a wireless receiver path configured to receive a wireless communication including data from the base station. The drone base station companion includes a wireless transmitter path configured to transmit the data to the wireless user equipment. The drone base station companion may include a second wireless receiver path configured to receive a second wireless communication including the data from the wireless user equipment. The drone base station companion may include a second wireless transmitter path configured to transmit the second data to the base station.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a base station comprising;

a first receiver interface configured to receive a first received signal including data from a drone base station companion configured as a relay between the base station in a first cell and a wireless user equipment in the first cell;

a second receiver interface configured to receive a second received signal including the data from the wireless user equipment; and

a combiner configured to generate a combined received signal based on the first received signal and the second received signal,

wherein a signal-to-noise ratio associated with the combined received signal is greater than a second signal-to-noise ratio associated with the second received signal.

2. The apparatus, as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

the drone base station companion comprising;

a wireless receiver path configured to receive a wireless communication including the data from the wireless user equipment; and

a wireless transmitter path configured to transmit the data to the base station.

3. The apparatus, as recited in claim 2, wherein the drone base station companion further comprises:

a second wireless receiver path configured to receive a second wireless communication including second data from the base station; and

a second wireless transmitter path configured to transmit the second data to the wireless user equipment.

4. The apparatus, as recited in claim 3, wherein the wireless user equipment comprises:

a third receiver interface configured to receive a third received signal including the second data from the drone base station companion;

a fourth receiver interface configured to receive a fourth received signal including the second data from the base station; and

a second combiner configured to generate a second combined received signal based on the third received signal and the fourth received signal.

5. The apparatus, as recited in claim 4, wherein a third signal-to-noise ratio associated with the combined received signal is greater than a fourth signal-to-noise ratio associated with the second received signal.

6. The apparatus, as recited in claim 2, wherein the drone base station companion further comprises:

a second wireless receiver path configured to receive a second wireless communication including second data from a second wireless user equipment in a second cell; and

a second wireless transmitter path configured to transmit the second data to a second base station in the second cell.

7. The apparatus, as recited in claim 6, wherein the drone base station companion is deployed to a location proximate to an edge of the first cell and proximate to a second edge of the second cell and is configured to simultaneously relay communications between the base station and the wireless user equipment and communication between the second base station and the second wireless user equipment.

8. The apparatus, as recited in claim 2, wherein the drone base station companion is configured to communicate performance data to a drone base station companion controller.

9. The apparatus, as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

a drone base station companion controller configured to deploy the drone base station companion based on performance data associated with communications between the wireless user equipment and the base station.

10. The apparatus, as recited in claim 2, wherein the wireless receiver path and the wireless transmitter path are compliant with different wireless standards.

11. A method comprising:

receiving a first wireless communication including data using a first wireless communications path directly between a base station and a wireless user equipment; and

receiving a second wireless communication including the data using an indirect wireless communications path between the base station and the wireless user equipment, the indirect wireless communications path including a drone base station companion configured as a relay between the base station and the wireless user equipment;

recovering the data based on the first wireless communication and the second wireless communication; and

combining signals based on the first wireless communication and the second wireless communication to generate a combined signal having an associated signal-to-noise ratio greater than a second signal-to-noise ratio associated with the second wireless communication.

12. The method, as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

deploying the drone base station companion based on performance data associated with communications between the wireless user equipment and the base station.

13. The method, as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by the drone base station companion, a third wireless communication including the data; and

transmitting by the drone base station companion the first wireless communication including the data.

14. The method, as recited in claim 11, wherein the first wireless communication and the second wireless communication are received using different wireless standards.

15. The method, as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

communicating performance data to a drone base station companion controller; and

deploying the drone base station companion based on the performance data.

16. The method, as recited in claim 11, wherein the drone base station companion is deployed to a location proximate to an edge of a first cell and proximate to a second edge of a second cell.

17. A wireless user equipment comprising:

a first receiver path configured to receive a first received signal from a drone base station companion, the first received signal including data;

a second receiver path configured to receive a second received signal from a base station, the second received signal including the data; and

a combiner configured to generate a combined received signal based on the first received signal and the second received signal,

wherein a signal-to-noise ratio associated with the combined received signal is greater than a second signal-to-noise ratio associated with the second received signal.

18. The wireless user equipment, as recited in claim 17, further comprising:

a first transmitter path configured to transmit a first signal to the drone base station companion, the first signal including second data; and

a second transmitter path configured to transmit a second signal to the base station, the second signal including the second data.