System for measuring a rise-over-thermal characteristic in a communication network

• US 20060045045A1
• Filed: 07/12/2005
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Abrishamkar, Farrokh, Blessent, Luca, Chen, Jiangxin
• Granted Patent: US 8,139,518 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/382 for resource allocation, admission control or handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/343 taking into account loading or congestion level

Abstract

A system for measuring a rise-over-thermal (RoT) characteristic in a communication network includes controlling a transmitting station to maintain its transmit power at a substantially constant level for a first time interval, and measuring a first received power level. The transmitting station is then controlled to adjust its transmit power by a selectable amount for a second time interval, and a second received power level is measured. The first and second received power levels are then processed to determine the RoT characteristic.

Claims

1. A method for measuring a rise-over-thermal characteristic in a communication network, comprising:

controlling at least one transmitting station to maintain its transmit power at a substantially constant level for a first time interval;

measuring a first received power level;

controlling the at least one transmitting station to adjust its transmit power by a selectable amount for a second time interval;

measuring a second received power level; and

processing the first and second received power levels to determine the rise-over-thermal characteristic.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said controlling further comprises transmitting alternating power increase and power decrease commands.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said controlling further comprises transmitting at least one power adjustment command.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said transmitting at least one power adjustment command comprises transmitting a selected number of the power increase commands.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein said transmitting at least one power adjustment command comprises transmitting a selected number of the power decrease commands.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said processing comprises solving two linear equations to determine a noise power (N).

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the two linear equations are:

P₁=N+S; and


P₂=N+(α

*S),

in which,

P₁ is said first received power level;

P₂ is said second received power level;

S is total received signal power; and

α

is said selectable amount of power adjustment.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of processing comprises determining the rise-over-thermal (RoT) characteristic from

RoT=P _r /N

in which:

P_r is total received power on a reverse link.

9. Apparatus for measuring a rise-over-thermal (RoT) characteristic in a communication network, comprising:

power control logic to output one or more power control commands to control the transmit power levels of at least one transmitting station during first and second time intervals;

a power detector to detect first and second received power levels during the first and second time intervals, respectively; and

processing logic to process the first and second received power levels to determine the RoT characteristic.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the power control logic further comprises logic to maintain the transmit power of the at least one station during the first time interval by transmitting alternating power increase and power decrease commands.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the power control logic further comprises logic to control the at least one transmitting station to adjust its transmit power by transmitting at least one power adjustment command.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein at least one power adjustment command comprises a selected number of the power increase commands.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein at least one power adjustment command comprises a selected number of the power decrease commands.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processing logic comprises logic to solve two linear equations to determine a noise power (N).

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the logic to solve comprises logic to determine the noise power (N) from two linear equations:

P₁=N+S; and


P₂=N+(α

*S),

in which,

P₁ is said first received power level;

P₂ is said second received power level;

S is total received signal power; and

α

is said selectable amount of power adjustment.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the processing logic further comprises logic to determine the RoT characteristic from

RoT=P _r /N

in which:

P_r is total received power on a reverse link.

17. Apparatus for measuring a rise-over-thermal (RoT) value in a communication network, comprising:

means for controlling at least one transmitting station to maintain its transmit power at substantially constant levels for a first time interval;

means for measuring a first received power level;

means for controlling the at least one transmitting station to adjust its transmit power by a selectable amount for a second time interval;

means for measuring a second received power level; and

means for processing the first and second received power levels to determine the RoT characteristic.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the means for controlling the at least one transmitting station comprises means for transmitting alternating power increase and power decrease commands.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the means for controlling the at least one transmitting station comprises means for transmitting at least one power adjustment commands.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the means for transmitting the at least one power adjustment commands comprises means for transmitting a selected number of the power increase commands.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the means for transmitting the at least one power adjustment commands comprises means for transmitting a selected number of the power decrease commands.

22. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the means for processing comprises means for solving two linear equations to determine a noise power (N).

23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the means for solving comprises means for determining the noise power from two linear equations:

P₁=N+S; and


P₂=N+(α

*S)

in which,

P₁ is said first received power level;

P₂ is said second received power level;

S is total received signal power; and

α

is said selectable amount of power adjustment.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the means for processing further comprises means for determining the RoT characteristic from

RoT=P _r /N

in which:

P_r is total received power on a reverse link.

25. A computer-readable media comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor, operate to measure a rise-over-thermal (RoT) characteristic in a communication network, comprising:

instructions for controlling at least one transmitting station to maintain its transmit power at substantially constant levels for a first time interval;

instructions for measuring a first received power level;

instructions for controlling the at least one transmitting station to adjust its transmit power by a selectable amount for a second time interval;

instructions for measuring a second received power level; and

instructions for processing the first and second received power levels to determine the RoT characteristic.

26. The computer-readable media of claim 25 wherein the instructions for controlling the at least one transmitting station comprise instructions for transmitting alternating power increase and power decrease commands.

27. The computer-readable media of claim 26 wherein the instructions for controlling the at least one transmitting stations comprise instructions for transmitting at least one power adjustment command.

28. The computer-readable media of claim 27 wherein the instructions for transmitting the at least one power adjustment command comprise instructions for transmitting a selected number of the power increase commands.

29. The computer-readable media of claim 27 wherein the instructions for transmitting the at least one power adjustment command comprise instructions for transmitting a selected number of the power decrease commands.

30. The computer-readable media of claim 26 wherein the instructions for processing comprise instructions for solving two linear equations to determine a noise power (N).

31. The computer-readable media of claim 30 wherein the instructions for solving comprise instructions for determining the noise power (N) from two linear equations:

P₁=N+S; and


P₂=N+(α

*S)
P₁=N+S; and


P₂=N+(α

*S)

in which,

P₁ is said first received power level;

P₂ is said second received power level;

S is total received signal power; and

α

is said selectable amount of power adjustment.

32. The computer-readable media of claim 31 wherein the instructions for processing further comprise instructions for determining the RoT characteristic from

RoT=P _r /N

in which:

P_r is total received power on a reverse link.