Method and apparatus for signal interference processing

• US 10,652,901 B2
• Filed: 07/19/2018
• Issued: 05/12/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ISCO International Inc.
• Original Assignee: ISCO International LLC
• Inventors: Galeev, Mikhail, Abdelmonem, Amr, Seskiewicz, Dariusz, Wang, Zhigang
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phuongchau Ba
• Application Number:
  US16/039,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20180332593A1
• Time in Patent Office: 663 Days
• Field of Search: 370252, 370328, 370329, 370334
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/1036 with automatic suppression of narrow band noise or interference, e.g. by using tuneable notch filters H04B1/123 takes precedence; filter circuits H03H
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/709 Correlator structure
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/71 the interference being narrowband interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7103 the interference being multiple access interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 15/00 Suppression or limitation of noise or interference by means associated with receiver H04B1/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/00 Monitoring; Testing of line transmission systems H04B3/46; arrangements for monitoring or testing transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio waves H04B10/07
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/21 for calibration; for correcting measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/26 using historical data, averaging values or statistics
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/327 Received signal code power [RSCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/345 Interference values signal-to-interference ratio [SIR] or carrier-to-interference ratio [CIR] H04B17/336
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/373 Predicting channel quality or other radio frequency [RF] parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/709709 Methods of preventing interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/709745 Iterative interference mitigation schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2634 for channel frequency control
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0066 of narrowband interference narrowband interference reduction H04B1/1036
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/069 using logs of notifications; Post-processing of notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0026 Division using four or more dimensions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0032 Distributed allocation, i.e. involving a plurality of allocating devices, each making partial allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/006 : Quality of the received signal, e.g. BER, SNR, water filling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0073 : Allocation arrangements that take into account other cell interferences for intercell interference mitigation or co-ordination in orthogonal multiplex systems H04J11/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 : using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 : Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 : Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 : Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0236 : radio quality, e.g. interference, losses or delay
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/04 : Error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 : using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 : Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/16 : based on interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/04 : TPC
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/14 : Separate analysis of uplink or downlink
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/243 : taking into account interferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 : Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 : with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 : Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 : Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/52 : based on load
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 : based on quality criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 : using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 : using measured or perceived quality

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, obtaining a schedule of spectral segments in a communication link of a communication system. Signal interference is identified in a portion of a number of spectral segments according to the schedule of spectral segments and at least one threshold for detecting interference. A determination is made that a number of signal interferers in the portion of the number of spectral segments exceeds a number of filters and, responsive to the number of signal interferers exceeding the number of filters, use of the number of filters is prioritized to filter signal interference in the portion of the number of spectral segments for suppressing at least a portion of the signal interference detected.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

obtaining, by a processing system including a processor, a schedule of spectral segments in an uplink of a communication system;

determining, by the processing system, at least one threshold for detecting signal interference in a plurality of spectral segments according to the schedule of spectral segments in the uplink;

identifying, by the processing system, signal interference in a portion of the plurality of spectral segments according to the at least one threshold;

identifying, by the processing system, that a number of signal interferers detected in the portion of the plurality of spectral segments exceeds a number of filters of a plurality of filters; and

prioritizing, by the processing system, responsive to the number of signal interferers exceeding the number of filters, use of the plurality of filters to filter the signal interference in the portion of the plurality of spectral segments for suppressing at least a portion of the signal interference detected.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the processing system, a frequency of occurrence of the signal interference, wherein the prioritizing is based on the frequency of occurrence.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the processing system, a time of day of the signal interference, wherein the prioritizing is based on the time of day.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the processing system, an effect of the signal interference on network traffic, wherein the prioritizing is based on the effect of the signal interference on the network traffic.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the processing system, a traffic load of signals transmitted by at least one communication device of the communication system according to the schedule of spectral segments in the uplink.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining the at least one threshold further comprises determining, by the processing system, the at least one threshold according to the traffic load of signals.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining the at least one threshold further comprises:

determining, by the processing system, at least one baseline power level according to the traffic load of signals; and

determining, by the processing system, the at least one threshold from the at least one baseline power level.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, by the processing system, that the portion of the plurality of spectral segments includes voice traffic;

performing, by the processing system, a first quality of service measure of the portion of the plurality of spectral segments responsive to detecting the signal interference;

comparing, by the processing system, the first quality of service measure to a desired quality of service measure for voice traffic to obtain a comparison;

determining, by the processing system, from the comparison that the portion of the plurality of spectral segments is not suitable for voice traffic; and

redirecting, by the processing system, the voice traffic to one or more other spectral segments of the plurality of spectral segments responsive to determining that the portion of the plurality of spectral segments is not suitable for voice traffic.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the at least one threshold further comprises:

measuring, by the processing system, a plurality of power levels in one or more portions of the plurality of spectral segments having communication traffic;

determining, by the processing system, at least one baseline power level from the plurality of power levels; and

determining, by the processing system, the at least one threshold from the at least one baseline power level.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the spectral segments are fixed width spectral segments.

11. A non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:

obtaining a predetermined schedule of spectral segments of a communication system;

determining a threshold for detecting signal interference in at least one spectral segment of a plurality of spectral segments according to the predetermined schedule of spectral segments;

identifying signal interference in the at least one spectral segment of the plurality of spectral segments according to the threshold;

detecting that a number of signal interferers in the at least one spectral segment of the plurality of spectral segments exceeds a number of filters of a plurality of filters; and

prioritizing, responsive to the detecting that the number of signal interferers exceeds the number of filters, use of the plurality of filters to filter signal interference in the at least one spectral segment of the plurality of spectral segments for suppressing at least a portion of the signal interference detected.

12. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the plurality of spectral segments comprises a plurality of transmission segments of an uplink of the communication system.

13. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the plurality of spectral segments are variable width spectral segments.

14. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein each spectral segment of the plurality of spectral segments conforms to a long term evolution (LTE) protocol.

15. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise determining a frequency of occurrence of the signal interference, wherein the prioritizing is based on the frequency of occurrence.

16. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise determining a time of day of the signal interference, wherein the prioritizing is based on the time of day.

17. A device, comprising:

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising;

obtaining a schedule of spectral segments in a communication link of a communication system;

identifying signal interference in a portion of a plurality of spectral segments according to the schedule of spectral segments and at least one threshold for detecting interference;

determining that a number of signal interferers in the portion of the plurality of spectral segments exceeds a number of filters of a plurality of filters; and

prioritizing, responsive to the number of signal interferers exceeding the number of filters, use of the plurality of filters to filter signal interference in the portion of the plurality of spectral segments for suppressing at least a portion of the signal interference detected.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein operations further comprise determining a frequency of occurrence of the signal interference, wherein the prioritizing is based on the frequency of occurrence.

19. The device of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise determining a time of day of the signal interference, wherein the prioritizing is based on the time of day.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the obtaining the schedule of spectral segments in the communication link comprises obtaining synchronization information to determine when a communication device of the communication system will transmit signals according to the schedule of spectral segments in the communication link.