Frequency Band Adaptive Wireless Communication

• US 20080298450A1
• Filed: 07/21/2006
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: McDiarmid, Mark, Zhang, Hongliang
• Granted Patent: US 8,213,867 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0006 by adapting the transmission format
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/04 using frequency diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/003 Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/006 Quality of the received signal, e.g. BER, SNR, water filling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality

Abstract

A system, apparatus and method is disclosed for multiband wireless communication. Frequency bands and/or transmission formats are identified as available within a range for wireless communication. Signal quality metrics for each frequency band are evaluated by a receiver to identify qualified frequency bands. The qualified frequency bands can be ranked according to one or more signal quality metrics, where the list of qualified bands can be communicated to a transmitter. The transmitter is arranged to evaluate the list of qualified bands and select a communication method based on the available frequency bands and a selected communication optimization scenario. Multiple frequency bands and communication methods can be utilized by the transmitter such that a combination of licensed, unlicensed, semilicensed, and overlapped frequency bands can be simultaneously used for communication. The receiver continually monitors communications and can report link performance to the transmitter for adaptive control of the selected communication methods.

Claims

1. A frequency band adaptive wireless communication system, comprising:

a means for identifying available transmission formats, wherein the available transmission formats include at least one member of a group comprising;

a licensed frequency band, an unlicensed frequency band, a semilicensed frequency band, and an overlapped frequency band;

a means for evaluating the identified available transmission formats based on a radio communication signal quality metric, wherein the radio communication signal quality metric is at least one member of a group comprising;

a noise level, an interference level, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) level, a spectral integrity, a signal-to-noise rating, a noise plus interference level, and signal-to-noise-plus-interference rating; and

a means for selecting one or more of the identified available transmission formats for a radio communication link based on the evaluated radio communication signal quality metric.

2. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the available transmission formats further include at least one member of a group comprising:

a single transmission frequency format, a multiple frequency transmission format, a band of transmission frequencies format, a multiband multiplexing format, a frequency diversity format, a frequency hopping format, a band hopping format, and an 802.11 format.

3. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication system of claim 1, further comprising a means for monitoring a radio link quality metric associated with the radio communication link, wherein the means for monitoring is arranged to evaluate the radio link quality metric for at least one member of a group comprising:

a noise level, an interference level, a noise plus interference level, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) level, a signal-to-noise rating, a signal-to-noise-plus-interference rating, a bit-error-rate (BER), a symbol-error-rate (SER), a block-error-rate (BLER), a frame-error-rate (FER), a mean-square error (MSE), a spectral integrity and a data throughput rate.

4. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the means for selecting is arranged to select at least two transmission formats.

5. A frequency band adaptive wireless communication device that is arranged to communicate over multiple frequencies, comprising:

a means for identifying available frequencies, wherein the available frequencies are from at least one member of a group comprising;

a licensed frequency band, an unlicensed frequency band, a semilicensed frequency band, and an overlapped frequency band;

a means for evaluating the identified frequencies based on a radio communication signal quality metric, wherein the radio communication signal quality metric includes at least one member of a group comprising;

a noise level, an interference level, a received signal strength indication (RSSI) level, a spectral integrity, a signal-to-noise rating, a noise-plus interference level, and a signal-to-noise-plus-interference rating; and

a means for selecting one or more of the identified available frequencies for a radio communication link based on the evaluated radio communication signal quality metric.

6. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 5, the available frequencies including at least one member of a group comprising:

a cellular communication band, an 800 MHz band, a 900 MHz band, a PCS communication band, an 1800 MHz band, a 1900 MHz band, a 4.9 GHz band, a GSM communication band, a 2.4 GHz unlicensed band, a 5.0 GHz unlicensed band, a 5.8 GHz unlicensed band, a 3.65 GHz semilicensed band, an UWB band, an overlapped band in the range from 3.1-10.6 GHz, a 3G licensed band, a WCS band, an MMDS band, and a WiMax band.

7. The device of claim 5, further comprising a means for monitoring a radio link quality metric associated with the radio communication link, wherein the radio link quality metric is at least one member of a group comprising:

a receiver signal strength indication (RSSI) level, a spectral integrity, a data throughput rate, a bit-error rate (BER), a symbol-error rate (SER), a block-error rate (BLER), a frame-error rate (FER), a mean-square error (MSE), a signal-to-noise rating, a noise level, an interference level, a noise-plus interference level, and a signal-to-noise-plus-interference rating.

8. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 5, wherein the device is arranged to communicate in a communication system, wherein the communication system corresponds to at least one member of a group comprising:

a point-to-multi-point system, a point-to-point system, and a mesh system.

9. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 5, further comprising:

a first antenna that is arranged to receive signals for a first of the available frequencies, and a second antenna that is arranged to receive signals for a second of the available frequencies.

10. The device of claim 5, further comprising:

an antenna that is arranged to receive signals for a first of the available frequencies, wherein the antenna is also arranged to receive signals for a second of the available frequencies.

11. The device of claim 5, wherein the device includes at least one member of a group comprising:

a computing device, a portable computing device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a palm sized computer, a pocket-sized computer, a personal computer memory card international association (PCMCIA) card or PC card, a cellular telephone, a personal data assistant (PDA), a personal information manager (PIM), a wireless access point (WAP), a base station, a base station transceiver, a microelectronic circuit, and a circuit board.

12. The device of claim 5, wherein the means for evaluating comprises at least one of:

an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a micro-processor, a micro-controller, a CISC processor, a RISC processor, a digital-signal processor (DSP), and a baseband processor.

13. A frequency band adaptive wireless communication device that is arranged to communicate over multiple frequencies, comprising:

a multiband receiver that is arranged to selectively receive transmissions from multiple frequencies, wherein the frequencies are from at least one member of a group comprising;

a licensed frequency band, an unlicensed frequency band, a semilicensed frequency band, and an overlapped band; and

a baseband processor that is in communication with the multiband receiver, wherein the baseband processor is arranged to;

identify available transmission frequencies;

evaluate radio communication signal quality associated with the available transmission frequencies, wherein the radio communication signal quality associated with received signals includes at least one member of a group comprising;

a noise level, an interference level, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) level, a spectral integrity, a signal-to-noise rating, a noise plus interference level, and a signal-to-noise-plus-interference rating;

rank the evaluated radio communication signal qualities associated with the available transmission frequencies; and

select one or more of the available frequencies for a radio communication link based on the rank.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the baseband processor is further arranged to monitor a radio link quality associated with the radio communication link, wherein the radio communication link quality associated with received signals comprises at least one of:

a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) level, a spectral integrity, a data throughput rate, a bit-error rate (BER), a symbol-error-rate (SER), a block-error-rate (BLER), a frame-error-rate (FER), a mean-square error, a signal-to-noise rating, a noise level, an interference level, a noise plus interference level, a signal-to-noise-plus interference rating.

15. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 13, further comprising:

a first antenna and a second antenna that are arranged in communication with the multiband receiver.

16. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein the multiband receiver comprises a first receiver that is arranged to receive signals with a first transmission format, and a second receiver that is arranged to receive signals with a second transmission format.

17. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein the multiband receiver comprises a first receiver that is arranged to receive signals having a first carrier frequency, and a second receiver that is arranged to receive signals having a second carrier frequency.

18. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein the baseband processor includes at least one member of a group comprising:

an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a micro-processor, a micro-controller, a CISC processor, a RISC processor, a digital-signal processor (DSP), and a baseband processor circuit.

19. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 13, further comprising:

a multiband transmitter that is arranged to selectively transmit over the multiple frequencies.

20. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the multiband transmitter comprises a first transmitter that is arranged to transmit signals with a first transmission format, and a second transmitter that is arranged to transmit signals with a second transmission format.

21. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the multiband transmitter comprises a first transmitter that is arranged to transmit signals having a first carrier frequency, and a second transmitter that is arranged to transmit signals having a second carrier frequency.

22. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 13, further comprising:

a multiband transmitter that is arranged to selectively transmit over the multiple frequencies, wherein the multiband receiver and the multiband transmitter are arranged as a multiband transceiver including at least one member of a group comprising;

a single chip transceiver, a multiple-chip set transceiver, and a multiband transceiver circuit.

23. A frequency band adaptive wireless communication device that is arranged to communicate over multiple frequencies, comprising:

a transmitter that is arranged to transmit over a selected frequency band;

a receiver that is arranged to receive from a selected frequency band;

a processor means that is in communication with the receiver, wherein the processor means is arranged to evaluate signal quality associated with received signals; and

a selection means that is in communication with one or more of the transmitter and the receiver, wherein the selection means is arranged to identify the selected frequency band, wherein the selected frequency band corresponds to at least one member of a group comprising;

a licensed frequency band, an unlicensed frequency band, a semilicensed frequency band, and an overlapped band.

24. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 23, wherein the signal quality associated with received signals includes at least one member of a group_comprising:

a signal strength, a radio link quality, a spectral integrity, a data throughput, a bit-error rate, a symbol error rate, a block error rate, a frame error rate, a mean-square-error, a noise level, an interference level, a signal-to-noise rating, and a noise-plus interference level.

25. The frequency band adaptive wireless communication device of claim 23, wherein either the processor means or the selection means is arranged to:

measure a signal qualities associated with each available frequency band, and rank the available frequency bands based on their measured signal qualities.

26. A method for selecting a transmission format in a frequency band adaptive wireless communication system, comprising:

identifying a set of available transmission formats, wherein the set of available transmission formats includes at least one member of a group comprising;

a single transmission frequency format,

a multiple frequency transmission format,

a band of transmission frequencies format,

a multiband multiplexing format,

a frequency diversity format,

a frequency hopping format,

a band hopping format, and

an 802.11 format;

collecting information associated with each of the available transmission formats;

determining one or more transmission quality factors for each of the available transmission formats from the collected information, wherein the transmission quality factors include at least one member of a group comprising;

a signal range rating, a power consumption rating, a transmit power rating, a data throughput rating, a reliability rating, a bit-error rate, a means-square error rating, an interference level rating, and a transmission optimization goal;

ranking each of the available transmission formats by evaluating the one or more transmission quality factors for each available transmission format according to a transmission criteria; and

selecting one or more_of the available transmission formats based upon the ranking.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the collected information includes at least one member of a group comprising:

a signal strength, a radio link quality, a spectral integrity, a data throughput, a bit-error rate a symbol error rate, a block error rate, a frame error rate, a mean-square error, a signal-to-noise rating, a noise level, an interference level, and a noise-plus interference level.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the collected information is retrieved from a look-up table that is indexed according to the transmission formats, wherein the look-up table includes at least one member of a group comprising:

power consumption, link data throughput, transmission SNR, SINR gains referred to an AWGN channel, and signal range.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the collected information is retrieved from a receiver estimation, wherein the receiver estimation comprises at least one member of a group comprising:

fast fading, slow fading, Rayleigh fading, Ricean fading, Ricean fading K-factor, receiver signal strength, channel estimation, and propagation condition estimation.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein the transmission optimization goal comprises at least one member of a group comprising:

maximize link data throughput, maximize coverage distance, minimize power consumption, maximize link reliability, and minimize signal interference.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein the transmission criteria comprises a weighted sum that is computed from at least one member of a group comprising:

a desired data throughput, a desired power consumption, a desired reliability rating, and a desired signal range.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein the available transmission formats further correspond to at least one member of a group comprising:

a licensed frequency, a licensed frequency band, an unlicensed frequency, an unlicensed frequency band, a semilicensed frequency, a semilicensed frequency band, an overlapped frequency, and an overlapped frequency band.

33. The method of claim 26, the available transmission formats comprising at least one member of a group comprising:

a licensed frequency band, an unlicensed frequency band, a semilicensed frequency band, and an overlapped frequency band.

34. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

detecting a change in a signal quality associated with one or more of the available transmission formats after the step of selecting, and repeating one or more of the steps of identifying, collecting, ranking, and selecting in response to the detected change.

35. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

monitoring a signal quality associated with one or more of the available transmission formats, and updating the ranking based on the monitored signal quality.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein monitoring the signal quality is initiated in response to at least one member of a group comprising:

a user request, a predetermined schedule, a defined time interval, a system generated request, and continuously.

37. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

selecting a default transmission format for receiving.