RELAY ANTENNA INDEXING FOR SHARED ANTENNA COMMUNICATION

• US 20090325479A1
• Filed: 01/14/2009
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Ji, Tingfang, Stamoulis, Anastasios, Lin, Dexu, Yazdi, Kambiz Azarian, Chakrabarti, Arnab
• Application Number:
  US12/353,848
• Publication Number:
  US 20090325479A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/7
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0417 Feedback systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/063 Parameters other than those covered in groups H04B7/0623 - H04B7/0634, e.g. channel matrix rank or transmit mode selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

Providing for distributed processing for a set of wireless communication devices to implement distributed, multi-antenna communication via one or more of the devices is described herein. By way of example, a relay link can be established between one or more wireless transceivers. The link can be utilized to distribute an indexing parameter to a remote transceiver. The indexing parameter can be employed to identify a set of index-specific instructions configured for a particular wireless node of a network. Based on the instructions and indexing parameter, such transceiver can locally compute and transmit, or receive and decode, a stream of traffic data for the multi-antenna communication. Thus, for instance, a P-P link between UTs can be employed to implement increased throughput and reduced interference benefits of multi-antenna communication for unplanned configurations of mobile devices.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

employing at least one communication processor at a wireless communication device (WCD) to execute instructions for multi-antenna communication, the instructions comprising;

forming a wireless communication channel with a second wireless device;

establishing a relay link over the channel to communicate a parameter, the parameter indexes an antenna of the WCD or the second wireless device to implement distributed multiple-antenna transmission or reception; and

employing memory at the WCD to store the parameter or the instructions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing the communication processor and parameter for computation of a multiple-antenna transmission stream.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the computation is implemented at the WCD and computation for a corresponding transmission stream is implemented at the second wireless device.

4. The method of claim 1, the relay link facilitates a multiple-input (MI), multiple-output (MO), or multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication based on distributed processing at the WCD and second wireless device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing the communication processor and relay parameter to process a received stream for multiple-antenna reception, wherein processing for a corresponding received stream of multiple-antenna reception is implemented at the second wireless device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the wireless communication channel is an indirect link comprising at least one relay node between the WCD and second wireless device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing the indexing to select a wireless resource for the WCD to implement the transmission or reception.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing the relay link in providing an index for the antenna of the second wireless device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing forward-error correction, error detection or feedback in providing the parameter over the relay link.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein indexing comprises establishing a role for the antenna in implementing the multiple-antenna transmission or reception.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein indexing comprises providing a distinct identifier for each transmit or receive antenna in a multi-terminal relay implementing the transmission or reception.

12. An apparatus for multiple-input or multiple-output wireless communication, comprising:

memory for storing processing instructions or parameters to implement distributed multiple-antenna communication;

an antenna for transmitting or receiving wireless data; and

a communication processor for executing the instructions based on the parameters to;

form a wireless communication channel between the apparatus and a wireless device;

convey a parameter for indexing the antenna or an antenna of the wireless device to facilitate distributed processing for the multiple-antenna communication.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the communication processor employs the parameter to generate a transmission stream for the communication distinct from a corresponding transmission stream generated at the wireless device.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the wireless device is a P-P partner of the apparatus, a fixed relay or a network access point.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the instructions and distributed processing facilitate MI, MO, or MIMO communication employing antennas of the apparatus or wireless device.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the communication processor employs the parameter to decode a received signal for multiple-antenna reception.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a security module that implements secure communication for the wireless communication channel.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a resource module that employs the parameter to select transmission or reception resources for the apparatus in conjunction with the distributed processing.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising an error-correction module that provides reliability in conveying the parameter to the wireless device.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, the error-correction module employs forward-error correction, error detection or feedback in providing the increased reliability.

21. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a parsing module that establishes respective roles for respective antennas of the apparatus and the wireless device in implementing the multiple-antenna transmission or reception.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, the parsing module provides a distinct identifier for the respective antennas, wherein:

respective identifiers are employed by the communication processor and a processor of the wireless device to implement respective processing instructions; and

the respective processing instructions are configured to coordinate MI, MO or MIMO communication across multiple wireless antennas.

23. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for employing at least one communication processor to execute the following components of a WCD;

means for forming a wireless communication channel with a wireless device;

means for establishing a relay link over the channel to convey a parameter, the parameter indexes an antenna of the WCD or the wireless device to implement distributed multiple-antenna transmission or reception; and

means for storing the parameter or the instructions.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising means for employing the communication processor and parameter to at least one of:

compute a stream of a multiple-antenna transmission distinct from a corresponding stream computed at the wireless device;

or

process a received stream of multiple-antenna reception distinct from a corresponding stream processed at the wireless device.

25. A processor configured for wireless communication, comprising:

a first module for forming a wireless communication channel with a wireless device;

a second module for establishing a relay link over the channel to communicate a parameter, the parameter indexes an antenna associated with the processor or an antenna of the wireless device to implement distributed multiple-antenna transmission or reception; and

a third module for storing the parameter or the instructions in memory.

26. The processor of claim 25, further comprising a third module for employing the relay parameter to at least one of:

compute a stream of a multiple-antenna transmission distinct from a corresponding stream computed at the wireless device;

or

process a received stream of multiple-antenna reception distinct from a corresponding stream processed at the wireless device.

27. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to form a wireless communication channel with a wireless device;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to establish a relay link over the channel to convey a parameter, the parameter indexes an antenna associated with the computer or with the wireless device to implement distributed multiple-antenna transmission or reception; and

a third set of codes for causing the computer to store the parameter or the instructions.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising a second set of codes for causing the computer to employ the communication processor and relay parameter to at least one of:

compute a stream of a multiple-antenna transmission distinct from a corresponding stream of the transmission computed at the wireless device;

or

process a received stream of multiple-antenna reception distinct from a corresponding stream of the reception processed at the wireless device.

29. A method for facilitating multiple-antenna wireless communication, comprising:

employing a wired or wireless communication interface to obtain data identifying a WCD and a potential wireless partner of the WCD;

employing a processor to generate indexing parameters facilitating distributed processing for multiple-antenna communication for the WCD or wireless partner; and

employing the communication interface to forward the indexing parameters to the WCD.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising associating respective indexing parameters with respective sets of instructions for implementing the multiple-antenna communication at the WCD or wireless partner.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein an indexing parameter assigned to the WCD or wireless partner identifies a set of the instructions to be employed by the WCD or wireless partner for the communication.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising identifying a wireless channel for the WCD and wireless partner to exchange data for the multiple-antenna communication.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the indexing parameters establish respective roles for the WCD and wireless partner in implementing the multiple-antenna communication.

34. An apparatus for facilitating multiple-antenna wireless communication, comprising:

a communication interface that obtains a message that identifies a WCD and a potential wireless partner of the WCD; and

a distributed control module that generates indexing parameters facilitating distributed processing for multiple-antenna communication for the WCD and wireless partner, the apparatus employs the communication interface to transmit the indexing parameters to the WCD or wireless partner.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, the distributed control module associates respective indexing parameters with respective sets of instructions for implementing the multiple-stream communication at the WCD or wireless partner.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein an indexing parameter assigned to the WCD identifies a set of the instructions to be employed by the WCD for the communication.

37. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising a resource module that identifies a wireless channel for data exchange between the WCD and wireless partner in implementing the multiple-antenna communication, the WCD is a user terminal (UT).

38. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the indexing parameters establish respective roles for the WCD and wireless partner in implementing the multiple-antenna communication.

39. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the wireless partner is a UT, a network access point, or a wireless relay.

40. An apparatus for facilitating multiple-antenna wireless communication, comprising:

means for obtaining data identifying a WCD and a potential wireless partner of the WCD;

means for generating indexing parameters facilitating distributed processing for multiple-antenna communication for the WCD or wireless partner; and

means for forwarding the indexing parameters to the WCD.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein an indexing parameter assigned to the WCD identifies a set of the instructions to be employed by the WCD for the communication

42. A processor for facilitating multiple-antenna wireless communication, comprising:

a first module for obtaining data identifying a WCD and a potential wireless partner of the WCD;

a second module for generating indexing parameters facilitating distributed processing for multiple-antenna communication for the WCD or wireless partner; and

a third module for forwarding the indexing parameters to the WCD.

43. The processor of claim 42, wherein an indexing parameter assigned to the WCD identifies a set of the instructions to be employed by the WCD for the communication.

45. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein an indexing parameter assigned to the WCD identifies a set of the instructions to be employed by the WCD for the communication.

44. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to obtain data identifying a WCD and a potential wireless partner of the WCD;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to generate indexing parameters facilitating distributed processing for multiple-antenna communication for the WCD or wireless partner; and

a third set of codes for causing the computer to forward the indexing parameters to the WCD.