METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION OF HETEROGENOUS WIRELESS SYSTEM COMMUNITIES

• US 20110039554A1
• Filed: 08/12/2009
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Bims, Harry V.
• Granted Patent: US 8,995,996 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/434
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0003 by switching between different modulation schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0009 by adapting the channel coding H04L1/1812 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0033 arrangements specific to the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/04 Error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for enhancing the operation and capacity of a wireless coexistence community having devices with multiple differing air interfaces that share physical or spectral access resources such as time, frequency, code, etc. These methods and apparatus allow the multiple devices to manage interference among one another fairly or according to one or more policy objectives, despite having different physical layer operations and implementations. In one embodiment, a mathematics-based model is utilized in accordance with device profiles to intelligently optimize the operation of one or more of the wireless devices according to a “good neighbor” paradigm.

Claims

1. A method of optimizing the operation of a first wireless device, the first device operating in an environment where interference with, or competition for resources occurs between, one or more other wireless devices operating occurs, the method comprising:

transmitting profile data between at least one of the other wireless devices and the first wireless device; and

utilizing the profile data to optimize the operation of at least the first wireless device relative to the at least one other wireless device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless device comprises a plurality of air interfaces, and the at least one other device comprises at least one air interface in common with the first wireless device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the utilizing the profile data comprises performing a linear programming optimization based at least in part on the profile data.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the utilizing the profile data comprises performing at least one pseudo-randomized optimization based at least in part on the profile data.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one pseudo-random optimization is based on at least one of the group consisting of:

(i) random graphs, (ii) stochastic geometry and (iii) percolation theory based computations.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting using a protocol that is agnostic to each of the plurality of air interfaces of the first device and the at least one air interface of the at least one other device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile data utilized in the optimization comprises profile data from both the first wireless device and the at least one other device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the interference with, or competition for resources between the first device and the at least one other device comprises contention for a common portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the optimization comprises optimization according to a fairness equation, the fairness equation substantially assuring that neither of the first device or the at least one other device are frustrated from access to the resources.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile data comprises:

(i) first data indicating one or more capabilities of a wireless device with which the profile is associated;

(ii) one or more optimization factors or priorities for the wireless device with which the profile is associated; and

(iii) second data indicating one or more detected environmental factors.

11. A method of allocating resources between a plurality of wireless devices operating within proximity to one another, the method comprising:

transmitting profile data between at least two of the plurality of wireless devices using a common air interface; and

utilizing the profile data to allocate resources between the at least two wireless devices according to at least one operational goal or objective.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the allocation of resources between the devices comprises adjusting at least one operational parameter associated with an air interface of at least one of the devices, the air interface being different than the common air interface.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting using an interface-agnostic communication protocol.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the interface-agnostic communication protocol comprises a lightweight protocol adapted to carry only limited amounts of data at low bandwidth.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the act of utilizing is performed iteratively or periodically.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the act of utilizing is performed in response to initiation of an application layer program running on at least one of the devices.

17. A method for enforcing at least one coexistence policy between two or more wireless devices, a first of the two or more devices comprising at least a first operational protocol and at least a first physical resource, and one or more neighboring wireless devices comprising one or more other operational protocols and one or more other physical resources, the method comprising:

determining that at least a first portion of the first physical resource is experiencing interference from one or more of the neighboring wireless devices;

determining that the first operational protocol and the other operational protocols differ;

identifying a first performance profile corresponding to the one or more neighboring wireless systems, the first performance profile defining one or more desired channel characteristics; and

adjusting the operation of the first physical resource based at least in part on the first performance profile so as to support the at least one coexistence policy.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

transmitting a second performance profile corresponding to the first wireless device, the second performance profile defining one or more desired channel characteristics; and

based at least in part on the second performance profile, the one or more neighboring wireless devices adjusting the operation of the other physical resources.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one coexistence policy comprises operation according to a fairness equation, the fairness equation substantially assuring that none of the wireless devices are prevented from at least partly achieving their respective desired channel characteristics.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the adjusting the operation of the first physical resource comprises the use of at least one pseudo-randomized optimization.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one pseudo-randomized optimization is based at least in part on at least one of the group consisting of:

(i) random graphs, and (ii) stochastic geometry computations.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one pseudo-randomized optimization is based at least in part on percolation theory computations.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the coexistence policy comprises a policy that enforces electrical power conservation within at least one of the two or more devices.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the coexistence policy comprises a policy that enforces minimum quality-of-service (QoS) within at least one of the two or more devices.

25. Apparatus capable of operational coexistence with one or more neighboring wireless systems, the apparatus comprising at least a first operational protocol and the one or more neighboring wireless systems comprising one or more other operational protocols, the apparatus comprising:

a first radio transceiver operating under the first operational protocol and transmitting and receiving on a first physical resource;

a second radio transceiver operating under at least one of the other operational protocols and receiving on a second physical resource;

wherein at least a first portion of the first physical resource and a second portion of the second physical resource overlap; and

a processing unit and a computer readable apparatus coupled to the processing unit, the computer readable apparatus comprising a computer program having a plurality of instructions which when executed by the processing unit, implements a global allocation policy within at least the apparatus.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the computer program implements the global allocation policy by at least:

operating the second radio transceiver to detect the presence of the one or more neighboring wireless systems;

identifying a first performance profile corresponding to at least one or the one or more neighboring wireless systems, the first performance profile defining at least one desired wireless channel characteristic; and

operating the first physical resource based at least in part on the first performance profile.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the second radio transceiver transmits on the second physical resource.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises instructions which when executed by the processing unit:

transmits a second performance profile corresponding to the first radio transceiver using the second radio transceiver, the second performance profile defining at least one desired channel characteristic and being useful to at least one of the one or more neighboring wireless systems in sharing of the first or second physical resources.

29. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the implementation of a global allocation policy within at least the apparatus comprises performing a linear programming algorithm.

30. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the implementation of a global allocation policy within at least the apparatus comprises performing one or more of linear programming, random graphs, stochastic geometry, or percolation theory-based computations.

31. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the apparatus comprises a mobile telephony device having a cellular air interface, and at least one other wireless interface comprising one of the first and second radio transceivers.

32. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the first and second radio transceivers comprise Wi-Fi-compliant and Bluetooth-compliant transceivers, respectively.