Methods and apparatus for determining, communicating and using information which can be used for interference control

• US 20070140168A1
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Published: 06/21/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Das, Arnab, Laroia, Rajiv, Li, Junyi, Rangan, Sundeep, Hande, Prashanth, Srinivasan, Murari, Corson, M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,191,840 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/330
• 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 a broadcast uplink interference report request conveying a requested report type and/or a locally unique base station identifier. The wireless terminal receives and measures broadcast reference signals, e.g., beacon and/or pilot signals, transmitted from a plurality of base station attachment points. Specific type interference reports relate a current serving connection base station attachment point to a selected base station attachment point corresponding to the received base station identifier. Generic type interference reports relate a current serving base station connection attachment point to other unspecified base station attachment points whose broadcast reference signals have been detected by the wireless terminal. Sub-types of generic reports include summation function and maximum function reports. Timing information is sometimes used to determine report sub-type and/or sector type of the selected attachment point. The wireless terminal generates the requested report and transmits it to the current connection attachment point.

Claims

1. A method of operating a wireless terminal comprising:

receiving base station identification information;

receiving a first signal from a first attachment point with which said wireless terminal has a connection;

performing a first measurement on the first received signal;

receiving a second signal from a second attachment point, said received base station identification information corresponding to said second attachment point;

performing a second measurement on the second received signal;

generating a report based on the measurement of the first signal and the measurement of the second signal; and

transmitting the generated report.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to generating said report, receiving a plurality of signals from multiple attachment points, said plurality of signals including said second signal; and

identifying the second signal from said plurality of signals as a function of the received base station identification information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of receiving base station identification information includes receiving a broadcast signal from said first attachment point, said broadcast signal being used to control multiple wireless terminals.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said step of receiving base station identification information includes receiving a control signal from said first attachment point, the method further comprising:

prior to performing said step of transmitting the generated report, determining a transmission time at which said generated report is to be transmitted according to a predetermined function that uses the time at which said control signal is received as a transmission time control input.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said predetermined function determines said transmission time to be at a time corresponding to a fixed predetermined offset from the time at which said control signal is received.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of receiving base station identification information includes receiving a control signal from said first attachment point, said control signal communicating a locally unique base station identifier of a sectorized base station at which said second attachment point is located.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining a sector identifier corresponding to the received base station identifier from the time at which said control signal is received, said sector identifier identifying a sector which serves as said second attachment point.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said sector identifier is determined as a function of stored timing structure information and a time slot in said recurring structure to which said received signal time corresponds.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a control signal indicating that an interference report based on signals received from a plurality of different transmitters in addition to said first attachment point;

performing measurements on the plurality of signals received from the plurality of different transmitters; and

generating an interference report which is based on one of the sum and maximum of the results of the measurement of the said signals from the different transmitters.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said report is an interference report which is a ratio of a first value to a second value, the first value being a function of the measured power of first signal and the second value being a function of the measured power of the second signal.

21. The wireless terminal of claim 11, wherein said report is an interference report which is a ratio of a first value to a second value, the first value being a function of the measured power of the first signal and the second value being a function of the measured power of the second signal.

11. A wireless terminal comprising:

a monitoring module for detecting broadcast base station identification information;

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 a report based on a measurement of a first received signal and a measurement of a second received signal, said first received signal being from a first attachment point with which said wireless terminal has a connection, said second received signal being from a second attachment point corresponding to base station identification information detected by said monitoring module; and

a transmitter for transmitting the generated report.

12. The wireless terminal of claim 11, further comprising:

a receiver for receiving a plurality of signals from multiple attachment points, said plurality of signals including said second signal; and

a signal identification module for identifying the second signal from said plurality of signals as a function of detected broadcast base station identification information.

13. The wireless terminal of claim 12, wherein said detected broadcast base station identification information is detected in a broadcast signal from said first attachment point, said broadcast signal being used to control multiple wireless terminals.

14. The wireless terminal of claim 11 further comprising:

a transmission time determination module for determining a transmission time at which said generated report is to be transmitted according to a predetermined function that uses the time at which a control signal including said base station identification information is received as a transmission time control input.

15. The wireless terminal of claim 14, wherein said predetermined function determines said transmission time to be at a time corresponding to a fixed predetermined offset from the time at which said control signal is received.

16. The wireless terminal of claim 11, further comprising:

a receiver for receiving broadcast base station identification information signals, at least one of said broadcast base station identification signals including a control signal from said first attachment point, said control signal communicating a locally unique base station identifier of a sectorized base station at which said second attachment point is located.

17. The wireless terminal of claim 16, further comprising:

a sector type determination module for determining a sector identifier corresponding to the received base station identifier from the time at which said control signal is received, said sector identifier identifying a sector which serves as said second attachment point.

18. The wireless terminal of claim 17, wherein said sector identifier is determined as a function of stored timing structure information and a time slot in said recurring structure to which said received signal time corresponds.

19. The wireless terminal of claim 11, further comprising:

a control module for controlling the report generation module to generate reports of different types in response to different received control signals, said different types of reports including at least a first type report and a second type, said first type report communicating a ratio of first and second values, one of said first and second values corresponding to a measurement of a signal from a current attachment point and the other one of said first and second values of an attachment point specified to the wireless terminal by the current attachment.

20. The wireless terminal of claim 19, wherein the second type of report is generated using a maximum or summation function used to process signal measurement information corresponding to one or more received signals.

22. A wireless terminal comprising:

means for detecting broadcast base station identification information;

means for measuring received signals of a first type;

means for measuring received signals of a second type;

means for generating a report based on a measurement of a first received signal and a measurement of a second received signal, said first received signal being from a first attachment point with which said wireless terminal has a connection, said second received signal being from a second attachment point corresponding to base station identification information detected by said means for detecting broadcast base station identification information; and

means for transmitting the generated report.

23. The wireless terminal of claim 22, further comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of signals from multiple attachment points, said plurality of signals including said second signal; and

means for identifying the second signal from said plurality of signals as a function of detected broadcast base station identification information.

24. The wireless terminal of claim 23, wherein said detected broadcast base station identification information is detected in a broadcast signal from said first attachment point, said broadcast signal being used to control multiple wireless terminals.

25. The wireless terminal of claim 22 further comprising:

means for determining a transmission time at which said generated report is to be transmitted according to a predetermined function that uses the time at which a control signal including said base station identification information is received as a transmission time control input.

26. The wireless terminal of claim 25, wherein said predetermined function determines said transmission time to be at a time corresponding to a fixed predetermined offset from the time at which said control signal is received.

27. The wireless terminal of claim 22, further comprising:

means for receiving broadcast base station identification information signals, at least one of said broadcast base station identification signals including a control signal from said first attachment point, said control signal communicating a locally unique base station identifier of a sectorized base station at which said second attachment point is located.

28. The wireless terminal of claim 27, further comprising:

means for determining a sector identifier corresponding to the received base station identifier from the time at which said control signal is received, said sector identifier identifying a sector which serves as said second attachment point.

29. The wireless terminal of claim 28, wherein said sector identifier is determined as a function of stored timing structure information and a time slot in said recurring structure to which said received signal time corresponds.

30. The wireless terminal of claim 22, further comprising:

means for controlling the report generation module to generate reports of different types in response to different received control signals, said different types of reports including at least a first type report and a second type, said first type report communicating a ratio of first and second values, one of said first and second values corresponding to a measurement of a signal from a current attachment point and the other one of said first and second values of an attachment point specified to the wireless terminal by the current attachment.

31. The wireless terminal of claim 30, wherein the second type of report is generated using a maximum or summation function used to process signal measurement information corresponding to one or more received signals.

32. The wireless terminal of claim 22, wherein said report is an interference report which is a ratio of a first value to a second value, the first value being a function of the measured power of the first signal and the second value being a function of the measured power of the second signal.

33. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instruction for performing a method of operating a wireless terminal, the comprising:

receiving base station identification information;

receiving a first signal from a first attachment point with which said wireless terminal has a connection;

performing a first measurement on the first received signal;

receiving a second signal from a second attachment point, said received base station identification information corresponding to said second attachment point;

performing a second measurement on the second received signal;

generating a report based on the measurement of the first signal and the measurement of the second signal; and

transmitting the generated report.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 33, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

prior to generating said report, receiving a plurality of signals from multiple attachment points, said plurality of signals including said second signal; and

identifying the second signal from said plurality of signals as a function of the received base station identification information.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 34 further embodying machine executable instructions for:

receiving a broadcast signal from said first attachment point, said broadcast signal being used to control multiple wireless terminals as part of said step of receiving base station identification information.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 35 further embodying machine executable instructions for:

receiving a control signal from said first attachment point as part of said step of receiving base station identification information; and

prior to performing said step of transmitting the generated report, determining a transmission time at which said generated report is to be transmitted according to a predetermined function that uses the time at which said control signal is received as a transmission time control input.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein said predetermined function determines said transmission time to be at a time corresponding to a fixed predetermined offset from the time at which said control signal is received.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 33 further embodying machine executable instructions for:

receiving a control signal from said first attachment point, said control signal communicating a locally unique base station identifier of a sectorized base station at which said second attachment point is located, as part of said step of receiving base station identification information.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 38, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

determining a sector identifier corresponding to the received base station identifier from the time at which said control signal is received, said sector identifier identifying a sector which serves as said second attachment point.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 39, wherein said sector identifier is determined as a function of stored timing structure information and a time slot in said recurring structure to which said received signal time corresponds.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 33, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

receiving a control signal indicating that an interference report based on signals received from a plurality of different transmitters in addition to said first attachment point;

performing measurements on the plurality of signals received from the plurality of different transmitters; and

generating an interference report which is based on one of the sum and maximum of the results of the measurement of the said signals from the different transmitters.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein said report is an interference report which is a ratio of a first value to a second value, the first value being a function of the measured power of first signal and the second value being a function of the measured power of the second signal.

43. An apparatus operable in a communications system, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive base station identification information;

receive a first signal from a first attachment point with which said wireless terminal has a connection;

perform a first measurement on the first received signal;

receive a second signal from a second attachment point, said received base station identification information corresponding to said second attachment point;

perform a second measurement on the second received signal;

generate a report based on the measurement of the first signal and the measurement of the second signal; and

transmit the generated report.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the processor is configured to:

receive a plurality of signals from multiple attachment points prior to generating said report, said plurality of signals including said second signal; and

identify the second signal from said plurality of signals as a function of the received base station identification information.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the processor is configured to:

receive a broadcast signal from said first attachment point as part of said step of receiving base station identification information, said broadcast signal being used to control multiple wireless terminals.