PREAMBLE DESIGN FOR A WIRELESS SIGNAL

• US 20090131098A1
• 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 8,918,112 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/525
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/30 by measured or perceived connection quality data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/302 due to low signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

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 BS transmitting the wireless signal; and

including information within the preamble that provides a unique or semi-unique sector ID for the BS.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the information over a low re-use preamble.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the semi-unique sector ID comprises a code that is unique for a location area, routing area or frequency band of a wireless access network (AN).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a signal from a terminal served by the transmitting BS, the signal includes a unique or semi-unique sector ID of a sector neighboring the transmitting BS; and

identifying a neighboring BS within at least the acquisition range of the macro BS associated with the neighboring sector ID.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

obtaining relative signal strengths of the sector and neighboring sector from the terminal; and

employing the relative signal strengths to facilitate a handoff determination.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

obtaining a signal quality metric of a signal that includes the neighboring sector ID; and

employing the neighboring sector ID to contact the neighboring BS and facilitate interference management based at least in part on the signal quality metric.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising employing a network backhaul link to contact the neighboring BS.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising including information within the preamble that indicates at least one of:

a distinct type of the transmitting BS;

or

a set of signal resources that are blanked or transmitted at reduced power by the transmitting BS.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique sector ID is distinct among all BSs providing wireless access to an operator'"'"'s mobile network.

10. An apparatus of 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 provides a unique or semi-unique sector ID for the BS; and

memory coupled to the communication processor.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, the context module transmits the information over a low re-use preamble.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the semi-unique sector ID is distinct among sectors sharing a common location area, routing area or frequency band of a wireless AN.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a wireless receiver that obtains, from a terminal served by the transmitting BS, a signal comprising a unique or semi-unique sector ID of a BS neighboring the transmitting BS and at least one of:

relative signal strengths of the transmitting BS and neighboring BS;

or

a signal quality metric of a signal initiated by the neighboring BS.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the communication processor employs the relative signal strengths to facilitate a handoff determination for the terminal.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the communication processor employs the neighboring sector ID to contact the neighboring BS and facilitate interference management based at least in part on the signal quality metric.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the communication processor employs a network backhaul link to contact the neighboring BS.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the context module includes information within the preamble that indicates at least one of:

a distinct type of the transmitting BS;

or

a set of signal resources that are blanked or transmitted at reduced power by the transmitting BS.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the unique sector ID is distinct at least among BSs providing wireless access to an operator'"'"'s mobile network.

19. 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 provides a unique or semi-unique sector ID for the BS.

20. At least one processor 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 provides a unique or semi-unique sector ID for the BS.

21. 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 provides a unique or semi-unique sector ID for the BS.

22. A method of implementing 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 a unique or semi-unique sector ID from the system data.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

analyzing a portion of the wireless signal specifying an access type of the non-serving sector to determine whether the non-serving sector is a restricted access sector; and

employing the sector ID to determine whether a terminal is authorized to access such restricted access sector.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising at least one of:

employing the unique sector ID to distinguish the non-serving sector from other sectors of the wireless AN;

or

employing the semi-unique sector ID to distinguish the non-serving sector from other sectors sharing a common location area, routing area or frequency band with the non-serving sector.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising obtaining a second wireless signal that comprises a unique or semi-unique sector ID of a sector neighboring the non-serving sector.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising comparing signal strength of the neighboring sector to signal strength of the non-serving sector.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising employing the neighboring sector ID to initiate a handoff to the neighboring sector based on the signal strength comparison.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising determining a level of interference at the non-serving sector caused by the second wireless signal.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising employing the neighboring sector ID to initiate interference reduction with the neighboring sector.

30. The method of claim 29, employing the neighboring sector ID to initiate interference reduction further comprises at least one of:

transmitting an interference reduction request that comprises the sector ID over the air (OTA) to the neighboring sector;

or

relaying the interference reduction request via a serving sector over a backhaul network coupling the serving sector with the neighboring sector.

31. The method of claim 22, further comprising extracting from the wireless signal at least one of the following:

information identifying a distinct type of BS associated with the non-serving sector;

or

a set of wireless signal resources reserved for transmission by a particular type of BS, wherein other types of BSs blank or transmit with reduced power on the reserved set of resources.

32. The method of claim 22, further comprising extracting the system data and system ID from a preamble of the wireless signal.

33. The method of claim 22, further comprising identifying the non-serving sector based at least in part on transmission of the sector ID over a low re-use preamble.

34. The method of claim 22, wherein the sector ID is unique at least among BSs providing wireless access to an operator'"'"'s mobile network.

35. An apparatus configured to implement wireless communication, comprising:

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

a data processor that scans one or more portions of the wireless signal for system data and extracts a unique or semi-unique sector ID from such data.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the data processor:

employs a data bit of the wireless signal specifying an access type of the non-serving sector to determine whether the non-serving sector is a restricted access sector; and

further employs the distinct sector ID to determine whether a terminal is authorized to access such restricted access sector.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the data processor employs the unique sector ID to distinguish the non-serving sector from other sectors of the wireless AN.

38. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the data processor employs the semi-unique sector ID to distinguish the non-serving sector from other sectors sharing a common location area, routing area or frequency band with the non-serving sector.

39. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the receiver obtains a second wireless signal from a sector neighboring the non-serving sector, the neighboring sector is identified via a neighboring sector ID.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, further comprising a handoff module that compares signal strength of the neighboring sector to signal strength of the non-serving sector.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the handoff module employs the sector ID to initiate a handoff to the neighboring sector based on the signal strength comparison.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, further comprising a quality module that determines a level of interference at the non-serving sector caused by the second wireless signal.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the quality module employs the neighboring sector ID to initiate interference reduction with the neighboring sector based on the level of interference.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, further comprising a transmitter that sends wireless signals to facilitate wireless communication, wherein the quality module employs the transmitter to implement the interference reduction by at least one of:

transmitting an interference reduction request that comprises the sector ID OTA to the neighboring sector;

or

relays the interference reduction request via a serving sector over a backhaul network coupling the serving sector with the neighboring sector.

45. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the data processor extracts from the wireless signal at least one of the following:

information identifying a distinct type of BS associated with the non-serving sector;

or

a set of wireless signal resources reserved for a particular type of BS, wherein other types of BSs blank or transmit with reduced power on the reserved set of resources.

46. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the system data is transmitted on a preamble of the wireless signal.

47. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the data processor identifies the non-serving sector at least in part based on transmission of the sector ID over a low re-use preamble.

48. An apparatus for implementing 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 a unique or semi-unique sector ID from the system data.

49. A processor for implementing 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 a unique or semi-unique sector ID from the system data.

50. 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 a unique or semi-unique sector ID from the system data.