DISTRIBUTED DOWNLINK COORDINATED MULTI-POINT (CoMP) FRAMEWORK

• US 20100056215A1
• Filed: 08/25/2009
• Published: 03/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Bhushan, Naga, Gorokhov, Alexei Y., Barbieri, Alan, Mallik, Siddhartha
• Granted Patent: US 8,498,647 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/382 for resource allocation, admission control or handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/024 Co-operative use of antennas of several sites, e.g. in co-ordinated multipoint or co-operative multiple-input multiple-output [MIMO] systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate dynamically forming clusters in a wireless communication environment. A set of non-overlapping clusters can be formed dynamically over time and in a distributed manner. Each of the clusters can include a set of base stations and a set of mobile devices. The clusters can be yielded based upon a set of local strategies selected by base stations across the network converged upon through message passing. For example, each base station can select a particular local strategy as a function of time based upon network-wide utility estimates respectively conditioned upon implementation of the particular local strategy and disparate possible local strategies that can cover the corresponding base station. Moreover, operation within each of the clusters can be coordinated.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

evaluating local utilities of possible local strategies involving a base station at a given time;

exchanging strategy and utility information with at least one neighbor base station through message passing;

generating network-wide utility estimates for the possible local strategies as a function of the strategy and utility information received from the at least one neighbor base station through message passing and the evaluated local utilities; and

selecting a particular local strategy from the possible local strategies for use by the base station based upon the network-wide utility estimates.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the possible local strategies includes one or more base stations, one or more mobile devices served by the one or more base stations, and underlying antenna weights and power spectral densities for the one or more base stations to serve the one or more mobile devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the possible local strategies are subject to a limited maximum order constraint.

4. The method of claim 1, evaluating the local utilities of the possible local strategies further comprises summing weighted rates achieved by one or more mobile devices respectively served under each of the possible local strategies.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein message passing is iterative.

6. The method of claim 1, exchanging the strategy and utility information further comprises:

transmitting the strategy and utility information yielded by the base station to the at least one neighbor base station; and

receiving the strategy and utility information respectively yielded by each of the at least one neighbor base station from the at least one neighbor base station.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the strategy and utility information includes a cooperative utility value and a non-cooperative utility value.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the cooperative utility value reflects an estimate of total utility assuming cooperation between a source and a target and the non-cooperative utility value reflects an estimate of total utility assuming lack of cooperation between the source and the target.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the strategy and utility information includes a plurality of utility values assuming various constraints upon a target, wherein the assumed constraints are reported from a source to the target.

10. The method of claim 1, generating the network-wide utility estimates further at least in part as a function of non-cooperative interference information received from the at least one neighbor base station.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected particular local strategy yields a maximum network-wide utility estimate as compared to network-wide utility estimates corresponding to remaining possible local strategies.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected particular local strategy is non-contradictory to particular local strategies respectively selected by disparate base stations in a network.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein clusters dynamically formed based upon the particular local strategies respectively selected by the base station and the disparate base stations in the network are non-overlapping.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising coordinating operation within a cluster formed according to the selected particular local strategy.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising sharing packets amongst base stations in the cluster.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising implementing at least one of inter-site packet sharing, cooperative beamforming, or cooperative silence within the cluster.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising exchanging transmission information with at least one base station included in at least one different cluster to enable assessing inter-cluster interference.

18. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

analyze local utilities of possible local strategies;

implement message passing to exchange strategy and utility information with at least one neighbor base station;

estimate network-wide utilities for the possible local strategies as a function of the strategy and utility information obtained from the at least one neighbor base station and the analyzed local utilities; and

form a cluster based upon a particular local strategy chosen from the possible local strategies based upon the estimates of the network-wide utilities.

19. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein each of the possible local strategies includes one or more base stations, one or more mobile devices served by the one or more base stations, and underlying antenna weights and power spectral densities for the one or more base stations to serve the one or more mobile devices.

20. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein each of the possible local strategies are subject to a limited maximum order constraint.

21. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

sum weighted rates achieved by one or more mobile devices respectively served under each of the possible local strategies to yield the local utilities.

22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the strategy and utility information includes a cooperative utility value and a non-cooperative utility value.

23. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the strategy and utility information includes a plurality of utility values assuming various constraints upon a target, wherein the assumed constraints are reported from a source to the target.

24. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

estimate the network-wide utilities based at least in part upon non-cooperative interference information obtained from the at least one neighbor base station.

25. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

identify the particular local strategy as corresponding to an optimal value from the estimates of the network-wide utilities; and

choose the particular local strategy based upon the identified correspondence to the optimal value.

26. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the cluster and disparate clusters dynamically formed in a network are non-overlapping.

27. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

control operation within the cluster by implementing at least one of inter-site packet sharing, cooperative beamforming, or cooperative silence within the cluster.

28. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

share packets between base stations included in the cluster.

29. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

exchange transmission information related to one or more of beams or power spectral densities (PSDs) with at least one base station included in at least one disparate cluster to enable analyzing inter-cluster interference.

30. An apparatus, comprising:

means for choosing a particular local strategy as a function of time based upon network-wide utility estimates respectively conditioned upon the particular local strategy and disparate possible local strategies; and

means for controlling operation within a cluster dynamically formed based upon the chosen particular local strategy.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising means for exchanging information utilized to evaluate the network-wide utility estimates with at least one neighbor base station.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the information comprises a cooperative utility value that reflects an estimate of total utility assuming cooperation between a source and a target and a non-cooperative utility value, and a non-cooperative utility value that reflects an estimate of total utility assuming lack of cooperation between the source and the target.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the information comprises a plurality of utility values assuming various constraints upon a target, wherein the assumed constraints are reported from a source to the target.

34. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the particular local strategy and the disparate possible local strategies each cover one or more base stations, one or more mobile devices served by the one or more base stations, and underlying antenna weights and power spectral densities for the one or more base stations to serve the one or more mobile devices.

35. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the particular local strategy and the disparate possible local strategies each are subject to a limited maximum order constraint.

36. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the cluster and disparate clusters dynamically formed in a network are non-overlapping.

37. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein transmission information is exchanged between the cluster and disparate clusters dynamically formed in the network to enable assessing inter-cluster interference.

38. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to select a particular local strategy that includes a base station as a function of time based upon network-wide utility estimates respectively conditioned upon implementation of the particular local strategy and disparate possible local strategies that include the base station; and

code for causing at least one computer to coordinate operation within a cluster formed according to the selected particular local strategy.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing at least one computer to evaluate local utilities of the particular local strategy and the disparate possible local strategies.

40. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing at least one computer to exchange strategy and utility information with one or more neighbor base stations via iterative message passing.

41. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing at least one computer to yield the network-wide utility estimates.

42. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein the particular local strategy and the disparate possible local strategies each cover one or more base stations, one or more mobile devices served by the one or more base stations, and underlying antenna weights and power spectral densities for the one or more base stations to serve the one or more mobile devices.

43. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein the particular local strategy and the disparate possible local strategies each are subject to a limited maximum order constraint.

44. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein the cluster and disparate clusters dynamically formed in a network are non-overlapping.

45. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein transmission information related to one or more of beams or power spectral densities (PSDs) is exchanged between the cluster and disparate clusters dynamically formed in the network to enable assessing inter-cluster interference.

46. An apparatus, comprising:

a clustering component that dynamically selects a local strategy to implement with a base station from a set of possible local strategies, wherein the possible local strategies enable the base station to cooperate with one or more neighbor base stations;

a metric evaluate component that analyzes local utilities of the possible local strategies in the set; and

a negotiation component that employs message passing to agree on compatible local strategies across a network.

47. The apparatus of claim 46, further comprising a cooperation component that coordinates operation of the base station and one or more cooperating base stations included in a common cluster formed based upon the selected local strategy.