PREAMBLE DESIGN FOR A WIRELESS SIGNAL

• US 20090129350A1
• Filed: 10/29/2008
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Sampath, Ashwin, Gorokhov, Alexei, Bhushan, Naga, Palanki, Ravi, Agrawal, Avneesh, Khandekar, Aamod
• Granted Patent: US 9,264,976 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00

Abstract

Providing for management of wireless communications in a heterogeneous wireless access point (AP) environment is described herein. By way of example, system data of an over-the-air message can be configured to include information identifying a distinct type of transmitting base station. In some aspects, the information can include an access type of the base station and/or a sector ID for distinguishing the base station among large numbers of other base stations. According to other aspects, the information can include wireless channel resources designated for a particular type of base station, or blanked by the transmitting base station, to facilitate interference reduction on such resources. By employing aspects of wireless communication management disclosed herein, efficient and reliable communication can be affected in large heterogeneous AP networks.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

generating a preamble for a wireless signal, the preamble comprises network overhead information pertinent to a base station (BS) transmitting the wireless signal; and

including information within the preamble that identifies an access type of the BS.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising scheduling at least a portion of the preamble into a resource of the wireless signal designated for the access type of BS.

3. The method of claim 1, including information within the preamble that identifies the distinct type of BS further comprises at least one of:

specifying within the preamble the access type as a general access type or restricted access type;

specifying within the preamble a transmit power type of the BS;

or

specifying within the preamble a re-use type of the BS.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising indicating a limited access to services of the BS based at least in part on the access type of the BS.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising including the indication of limited access in a separate control channel from the information identifying the access type of BS.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising including the indication of limited access in a unicast message to a terminal having limited access to the BS.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising including in the preamble at least one of:

a unique or semi-unique sector ID that is distinct at least within a tracking area, routing area or frequency band of an operator'"'"'s wireless network;

or

a set of wireless signal resources blanked or transmitted at reduced power by the BS.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising employing the sector ID to contact an interfering sector via a backhaul network to facilitate interference management with the interfering sector.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

employing the sector ID in determining relative signal strength or signal quality of a BS neighboring the transmitting BS; and

employing the relative signal strength or signal quality in a handoff determination.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the wireless signal to facilitate wireless communication between remote devices in at least one of:

an ultra mobile broadband (UMB) wireless access network (AN);

a third generation partnership project long term evolution (3GPP-LTE) wireless AN;

a wireless interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) wireless AN;

or

a wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) wireless AN.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the preamble is a low re-use preamble employing a fraction of time, frequency, code or symbol resources of a time frame of the wireless signal.

12. An apparatus that facilitates wireless communication, comprising:

a communication processor that generates a preamble for a wireless signal, the preamble comprises network overhead information pertinent to a BS transmitting the wireless signal;

a context module that includes information within the preamble that identifies an access type of the BS; and

memory coupled to the communication processor.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a context scheduler that schedules at least a portion of the preamble into a resource of the wireless signal designated for the access type of the BS.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein at least one of:

the access type comprises a restricted access type or general access type;

or

the information further identifies a transmit power type or re-use type of the BS.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, the included information further includes an indication of limited access to services of the BS, the limited access is based at least in part on the access type of the BS.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, the context module incorporates the indication of limited access in a separate control channel from the information identifying the access type of the BS.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, the context module includes the indication of limited access in a unicast message to a terminal having limited access to the BS.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a message structure module that at least one of:

specifies a unique or semi-unique sector ID of the BS within the preamble, the sector ID is unique at least for sectors sharing a tracking area, routing area or frequency band of a wireless network;

or

specifies a set of wireless signal resources blanked or transmitted at reduced power by the BS.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the communication processor employs the sector ID to contact an interfering sector via a backhaul network to facilitate interference management with the interfering sector.

21. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a wireless transmitter that sends the wireless signal to facilitate wireless communication between remote devices in at least one of:

a UMB wireless AN;

a 3GPP-LTE wireless AN;

a WiMAX wireless AN;

or

a W-CDMA wireless AN.

22. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the context module transmits the preamble as a low re-use preamble on a fraction of time, frequency, code or symbol resources of a time frame of the wireless signal.

20. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the communication processor:

employs the sector ID in determining relative signal strength or signal quality of a BS neighboring the transmitting BS; and

employs the relative signal strength or signal quality in a handoff determination.

23. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for generating a preamble for a wireless signal, the preamble comprises network overhead information pertinent to a BS transmitting the wireless signal; and

means for including information within the preamble that identifies an access type of the BS.

24. At least one processor configured for wireless communication, comprising:

a first module configured to generate a preamble for a wireless signal, the preamble comprises network overhead information pertinent to a BS transmitting the wireless signal; and

a second module configured to include information within the preamble that identifies an access type of the BS.

25. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to generate a preamble for a wireless signal, the preamble comprises network overhead information pertinent to a BS transmitting the wireless signal; and

a second set of codes for causing a computer to include information within the preamble that identifies an access type of the BS.

26. A method of facilitating wireless communication, comprising:

obtaining a wireless signal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN;

scanning one or more portions of the wireless signal for system data; and

extracting information from the system data that identifies an access type of a BS associated with the non-serving sector.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising at least one of:

determining whether the access type is general access or restricted access;

or

determining a re-use type or transmit power type of the BS from the wireless signal.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising determining whether the non-serving sector employs restricted association by analyzing a restricted association bit of the system data.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising determining an ID of the non-serving sector, and comparing the ID to a list of RA BSs authorized for use by a terminal.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising accessing or refraining from accessing the non-serving sector based at least in part on the comparison.

31. The method of claim 26, extracting the information further comprises obtaining a reference within the system data to a pilot or control channel carrying the information.

32. The method of claim 26, further comprising analyzing the system data to obtain a unique or semi-unique sector ID for the non-serving sector.

33. The method of claim 26, further comprising transmitting a message to the non-serving sector requesting an access authorization status.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising receiving a response to the request indicating the access authorization status is full access, limited access or no access.

35. The method of claim 34, the response is received on a broadcast control channel reserved for access authorization responses or received via unicast messaging.

36. The method of claim 26, further comprising obtaining the system data and information from a preamble of the wireless signal.

37. The method of claim 26, further comprising at least one of:

obtaining from the system data a set of wireless signal resources blanked or transmitted at reduced power by the sector;

or

identifying the non-serving sector at least in part as a result of such sector transmitting the system data as a low re-use preamble.

38. An apparatus that facilitates wireless communication, comprising:

a receiver that obtains a wireless signal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN;

a data processor that scans one or more portions of the wireless signal for system data and extracts information from the system data that identifies an access type of a BS associated with the non-serving sector.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, the data processor determines a re-use type or transmit power type of the BS from the wireless signal.

40. The apparatus of claim 38, the information identifying the access type of the BS is included in an acquisition pilot or control channel of the preamble.

41. The apparatus of claim 38, the data processor determines whether the non-serving sector employs restricted association by analyzing a restricted association bit of the system data.

42. The apparatus of claim 38, the data processor extracts a unique or semi-unique sector ID from the system data.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, further comprising an access module that compares the sector ID to a sector access list and activates the non-serving sector based on the comparison.

44. The apparatus of claim 38, the data processor scans a resource of the wireless signal in separate time cycles of the signal and obtains control channel information from the resource in one time cycle and the type of BS from the resource in another time cycle.

45. The apparatus of claim 38, further comprising a query module that transmits a message to the non-serving sector requesting an access authorization status.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the receiver obtains a response to the request indicating the access authorization status is full access, limited access or no access.

47. The apparatus of claim 46, the response is received on a broadcast control channel reserved for access authorization responses or received via unicast messaging.

48. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the data processor obtains the system data and information from a preamble of the wireless signal.

49. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the data processor at least one of:

obtains from the system data a set of wireless signal resources blanked or transmitted at reduced power by the non-serving sector;

or

identifies the non-serving sector at least in part as a result of such sector transmitting the system data on a low re-use preamble.

50. An apparatus configured to facilitate wireless communication, comprising:

means for obtaining a wireless signal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN;

means for scanning one or more portions of the wireless signal for system data; and

means for extracting information from the system data that identifies an access type of a BS associated with the non-serving sector.

51. At least one processor configured to facilitate wireless communication, comprising:

a first module configured to obtain a wireless signal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN;

a second module configured to scan one or more portions of the wireless signal for system data; and

a third module configured to extract information from the system data that identifies an access type of a BS associated with the non-serving sector.

52. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to obtain a wireless signal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN;

a second set of codes for causing a computer to scan one or more portions of the wireless signal for system data; and

a third set of codes for causing a computer to extract information from the system data that identifies an access type of a BS associated with the non-serving sector.