Methods and apparatus for determining, communicating and using information including loading factors which can be used for interference control purposes

• US 20070104164A1
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Published: 05/10/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Das, Arnab, Laroia, Rajiv, Li, Junyi, Rangan, Sundeep, Hande, Prashanth, Srinivasan, Murari
• Granted Patent: US 8,503,938 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• 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 17/382 for resource allocation, admission control or handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 based on quality criteria

Abstract

A wireless terminal receives and measures broadcast reference signals, e.g., beacon and/or pilot signals, transmitted from a plurality of base station attachment points. The wireless terminal monitors for and attempts to recover broadcast loading factor information corresponding to attachment points. The wireless terminal generates and transmits an interference report to a current attachment point, the report based on the results of a measured received reference signal from the current attachment point, a measured received reference signal from each of one or more different attachment points, and uplink loading factor information. In the absence of a successfully recovered broadcast uplink loading factor corresponding to an attachment point, the wireless terminal uses a default value for that loading factor. Generated interference reports are based on beacon signal measurements and uplink loading factors, pilot signal measuereents and uplink loading factors, or a mixture of beacon and pilot signal measurements and uplink loading factors.

Claims

1. A method of operating a wireless terminal comprising:

monitoring to detect received broadcast signals communicating at least one uplink loading factor, each broadcast uplink loading factor corresponding to an attachment point;

receiving a first signal from a first attachment point;

performing a first measurement on the received first signal;

generating an uplink interference report based on the measurement of the first signal and a first received uplink loading factor corresponding to said first attachment point; and

transmitting said generated uplink interference report.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising

receiving a second signal from a second attachment point;

performing a second measurement on the received second signal; and

wherein generating an uplink interference report further includes using the results of the second measurement to generate said uplink interference report.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said first and second measurements are signal power measurements.

4. The method of claim 3,

wherein said first signal is a beacon or pilot signal;

and

wherein said second signal is a beacon or pilot signal.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said uplink interference report communicates a ratio of first and second values, said first value being a function of a product of said first loading factor and the result of said first signal measurement and wherein said second value is a function of the second result of the second measurement.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the first and second signals are OFDM signals.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said second value is also a function of a product of a second loading factor corresponding to said second attachment point and the result of said second signal measurement

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving said second loading factor prior to generating said uplink interference report.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

setting said second loading factor to default value.

10. The method of claim 5,

receiving a third signal from a third attachment point;

performing a third measurement on the received third signal; and

wherein generating an uplink interference report further includes using the result of the third measurement to generate said second value.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein using the result of the third measurement to generate said second value include:

summing third and fourth values, said third value being a function of the result of the second signal measurement, said fourth value being a function of the result of the third signal measurement.

12. The method of claim 11,

wherein said first value is generated according to the following equation:

b₀PB₀; and

wherein said second value is generated according to the following equation;

b₁PB₁+b₂PB₂;

where b₀ is the loading factor corresponding to the first attachment point;

wherein PB₀ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the first attachment point;

wherein b₁ is a loading factor corresponding to the second attachment point;

wherein PB₁ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the second attachment point;

wherein b₂ is a loading factor corresponding to the third attachment point; and

wherein PB₂ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the third attachment point.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein using the result of the third measurement to generate said second value include:

setting the second value to be the maximum of third and fourth values, said third value being a function of the result of the second signal measurement, said fourth value being a function of the result of the third signal measurement.

14. The method of claim 13,

wherein said first value is generated according to the following equation:

b₀PB₀; and

wherein said second value is generated according to the following equation;

MAX(b₁PB₁, b₂PB₂);

where b₀ is the loading factor corresponding to the first attachment point;

wherein PB₀ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the first attachment point;

wherein b₁ is a loading factor corresponding to the second attachment point;

wherein PB₁ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the second attachment point;

wherein b₂ is a loading factor corresponding to the third attachment point; and

wherein PB₂ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the third attachment point.

15. A wireless terminal comprising:

a monitoring module for detecting received broadcast signals communicating at least one uplink loading factor, each broadcast uplink loading factor corresponding to an attachment point;

a first measurement module for measuring received signals of a first type;

a second measurement module for measuring received signals of a second type;

a report generation module for generating an uplink interference report based on a measurement of a first received signal and a first received uplink loading factor corresponding to a first attachment point; and

a transmitter for transmitting generated uplink interference reports.

16. The wireless terminal of claim 15,

wherein said uplink interference report generation module uses the measurement of a second signal from a second attachment point to generate an uplink interference report.

17. The wireless terminal of claim 16, wherein said first and second measurement modules each include a signal power measurement module.

18. The wireless terminal of claim 17,

wherein said first signal is a beacon or pilot signal;

and

wherein said second signal is a beacon or pilot signal.

19. The wireless terminal of claim 17,

wherein said uplink interference report communicates a ratio of first and second values,

said report generation module including:

i) a first value generation module for generating said first value as a function of a product of said first loading factor and the result of said first signal measurement; and

ii) a second value generation module for generating said second value as a function of the second result of the second measurement.

20. The wireless terminal of claim 19, wherein said second value generation module includes a multiplier module for generating a product of a second loading factor corresponding to said second attachment point and the result of said second signal measurement.

21. The wireless terminal of claim 20, further comprising:

a loading factor determination module for setting said second loading factor to a default value in the absence of a successfully received second loading factor from said second attachment point.

22. A wireless terminal comprising:

means for detecting received broadcast signals communicating at least one uplink loading factor, each broadcast uplink loading factor corresponding to an attachment point;

means for measuring received signals of a first type;

means for measuring received signals of a second type;

means for generating an uplink interference report based on a measurement of a first received signal and a first received uplink loading factor corresponding to a first attachment point; and

means for transmitting generated uplink interference reports.

23. The wireless terminal of claim 22,

wherein said means for generating an uplink interference report uses the measurement of a second signal from a second attachment point to generate an uplink interference report.

24. The wireless terminal of claim 23, wherein said means for measuring received signals of a first type and said means for measuring received signals of a second type each include a signal power measurement module.

25. The wireless terminal of claim 24,

wherein said first signal is a beacon or pilot signal;

and

wherein said second signal is a beacon or pilot signal.

26. The wireless terminal of claim 24,

wherein said uplink interference report communicates a ratio of first and second values,

said means for generating an uplink interference report including:

i) means for generating said first value as a function of a product of said first loading factor and the result of said first signal measurement; and

ii) means for generating said second value as a function of the second result of the second measurement.

27. The wireless terminal of claim 26 wherein the first and second signals are CDMA signals.

28. The wireless terminal of claim 26 wherein the first and second signals are OFDM signals.

29. The wireless terminal of claim 26, wherein said means for generating said second value includes means for generating a product of a second loading factor corresponding to said second attachment point and the result of said second signal measurement.

30. The wireless terminal of claim 29, further comprising:

means for setting said second loading factor to a default value in the absence of a successfully received second loading factor from said second attachment point.

31. The wireless terminal of claim 26,

wherein said means for generating an uplink interference report generates at least one uplink interference report using the result of a third measurement from a third attachment point to generate said second value.

32. The wireless of claim 31, wherein said means for generating an uplink interference report includes:

means for summing third and fourth values, said third value being a function of the result of the second signal measurement, said fourth value being a function of the result of the third signal measurement.

33. The wireless terminal of claim 32,

wherein said first value is generated according to the following equation:

b₀PB₀; and

wherein said second value is generated according to the following equation;

b₁PB₁+b₂PB₂;

where b₀ is the loading factor corresponding to the first attachment point;

wherein PB₀ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the first attachment point;

wherein b₁ is a loading factor corresponding to the second attachment point;

wherein PB₁ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the second attachment point;

wherein b₂ is a loading factor corresponding to the third attachment point; and

wherein PB₂ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the third attachment point.

34. The wireless terminal of claim 31, wherein said means for generating an uplink interference report includes:

means for setting the second value to be the maximum of third and fourth values, said third value being a function of the result of the second signal measurement, said fourth value being a function of the result of the third signal measurement.

35. The wireless terminal of claim 34,

wherein said first value is generated according to the following equation:

b₀PB₀; and

wherein said second value is generated according to the following equation;

MAX(b₁PB₁, b₂PB₂);

where b₀ is the loading factor corresponding to the first attachment point;

wherein PB₀ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the first attachment point;

wherein b₁ is a loading factor corresponding to the second attachment point;

wherein PB₁ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the second attachment point;

wherein b₂ is a loading factor corresponding to the third attachment point; and

wherein PB₂ is the measured power of a received beacon signal from the third attachment point.

36. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for implementing a method of operating a wireless terminal, the method comprising:

monitoring to detect received broadcast signals communicating at least one uplink loading factor, each broadcast uplink loading factor corresponding to an attachment point;

receiving a first signal from a first attachment point;

performing a first measurement on the received first signal;

generating an uplink interference report based on the measurement of the first signal and a first received uplink loading factor corresponding to said first attachment point; and

transmitting said generated uplink interference report.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 36, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

receiving a second signal from a second attachment point;

performing a second measurement on the received second signal; and

using the results of the second measurement to generate said uplink interference report as part of said step of generating an uplink interference report.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 37, wherein said first and second measurements are signal power measurements.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 38,

wherein said first signal is a beacon or pilot signal;

and

wherein said second signal is a beacon or pilot signal.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 38, wherein said uplink interference report communicates a ratio of first and second values, said first value being a function of a product of said first loading factor and the result of said first signal measurement and wherein said second value is a function of the second result of the second measurement.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 40 wherein the first and second signals are OFDM signals.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 40, wherein said second value is also a function of a product of a second loading factor corresponding to said second attachment point and the result of said second signal measurement

43. The computer readable medium of claim 42, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

receiving said second loading factor prior to generating said uplink interference report.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 42, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

setting said second loading factor to default value.

45. An apparatus operable in a communication system, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

monitor to detect received broadcast signals communicating at least one uplink loading factor, each broadcast uplink loading factor corresponding to an attachment point;

receive a first signal from a first attachment point;

perform a first measurement on the received first signal;

generate an uplink interference report based on the measurement of the first signal and a first received uplink loading factor corresponding to said first attachment point; and

transmit said generated uplink interference report.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the processor is configured to:

receive a second signal from a second attachment point;

perform a second measurement on the received second signal; and

use the results of the second measurement to generate said uplink interference report.

47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein said first and second measurements are signal power measurements.

48. The apparatus of claim 47,

wherein said first signal is a beacon or pilot signal;

and

wherein said second signal is a beacon or pilot signal.

49. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein said uplink interference report communicates a ratio of first and second values, said first value being a function of a product of said first loading factor and the result of said first signal measurement and wherein said second value is a function of the second result of the second measurement.

50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein said second value is also a function of a product of a second loading factor corresponding to said second attachment point and the result of said second signal measurement

51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the processor is configured to:

receive said second loading factor prior to generating said uplink interference report.