Channel assignment in wireless communication

• US 20070248042A1
• Filed: 04/19/2006
• Published: 10/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ericsson Evdo, Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Airvana Network Solutions Inc (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Harikumar, Gopal, Alasti, Mehdi
• Granted Patent: US 7,953,040 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality

Abstract

In a radio access network, an access terminal is assigned frequency channels for communication between the access terminal and a radio node of a radio access network based on a strength of a signal determined for the access terminal.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

assigning, to an access terminal, frequency channels for communication between the access terminal and a radio node of a radio access network based on a strength of a signal determined for the access terminal.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the strength of a signal comprises a signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring the signal strength for the access terminal while facilitating communication between the access terminal and the radio node over the channels; and

adjusting the number of channels in response to detecting a change in the signal strength.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the channels each comprises a forward link for transmitting data from the radio node to the access terminal and a reverse link for transmitting data from the access terminal to the radio node.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a number of channels assigned is based on a comparison of the signal strength to a predetermined threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the signal strength based on a signal sent from the access terminal to the radio node.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the signal is a route update message signal.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the signal strength from a data rate value sent from the access terminal to the radio node, the rate being proportional to a signal strength.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

unassigning and assigning channels to the access terminal based on changes in the data rate value.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning complies with one or more of:

a 1×

Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) protocol, a 3×

EV-DO protocol, an N×

EV-DO protocol, and a IS856-Rev-B protocol.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a radio network controller to assign, to an access terminal, channels facilitating communication between the access terminal; and

a radio node based on a signal strength determined for the access terminal.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 in which the signal strength comprises a signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the radio network controller is configured to:

monitor the signal strength for the access terminal while facilitating communication between the access terminal and the radio node over the channels; and

adjust the number of channels in response to detecting a change in the signal strength.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the channels each comprises a forward link for transmitting data from the radio node to the access terminal and a reverse link for transmitting data from the access terminal to the radio node.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a number of channels assigned is based on a comparison of the signal strength to a predetermined threshold.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the radio network controller is configured to determine the signal strength based on a signal sent from the access terminal to the radio node.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the signal is a route update message signal.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the radio network controller is configured to determine the signal strength from a data rate value sent from the access terminal to the radio node, the rate being proportional to a signal strength.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the radio network controller is further configured to unassign and assign channels to the access terminal based on changes in the data rate value.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the radio network controller is configured to comply with one or more of:

a 1×

Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) protocol, a 3×

EV-DO protocol, an N×

EV-DO protocol, and a IS856-Rev-B protocol.

21. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein communication comprises a transfer of voice over IP packets.

22. A medium bearing instructions to cause a radio network controller to:

assign, to an access terminal, a number of channels facilitating communication between the access terminal and a radio node of a radio access network based on a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) determined for the access terminal by measuring a signal strength of a signal sent from the access terminal to the radio node;

monitor the SNR of the access terminal while facilitating communication between the access terminal and the radio node over the channels;

increase the number of channels in response to a detection of a decrease in the SNR; and

decrease the number of channels in response to a detection of an increase in the SNR.