METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPATIAL REUSE BY ASSISTANCE OF DISTRIBUTED DEVICES OVER WIRELESS SYSTEM USING DIRECTIONAL ANTENNAS

• US 20110116393A1
• Filed: 08/09/2010
• Published: 05/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: HONG, Seung Eun, LEE, Woo Yong
• Granted Patent: US 8,817,759 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/20 Master-slave selection or change arrangements

Abstract

Disclosed are a method for spatial reuse by support of distributed devices in a wireless communication system using a directional antenna, and an apparatus for the same. In the wireless communication system using the directional antenna, the method arranges an antenna with respect to a target device for communication before the distributed devices request a resource for communication, informs the target device or a central control unit in advance of a measurement result of a signal in MASs through the antenna, and requests a resource and receives a resource allocation based on the measurement result.

Claims

1. A spatial reuse method of a source device of a wireless communication system using a distributed medium access control (MAC) protocol, the method comprising:

obtaining information about a pre-allocated resource of each communication channel through a beacon message received from adjacent devices;

measuring a strength and an interference of a received signal corresponding to the resources of the communication channel;

exchanging a scanning result information element (IE) of each communication channel including measurement results of the strength and the interference of the received signal corresponding to the resources of the communication channel, and exchanging the information about the pre-allocated resource of the communication channel with a target device;

selecting a communication channel using the scanning result IE of the communication channel of the source device, the scanning result IE of the communication channel of the target device, and the information about the pre-allocated resource of the communication channel; and

requesting a resource from the target device based on a scanning result IE of the selected channel and information about a pre-allocated resource of the selected channel and receiving a resource allocation from the target device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of the communication channel selects a communication channel which includes the most resources having an interference of a preset level or less among available communication channels using the scanning result IE of the communication channel of the source device, the scanning result IE of the communication channel of the target device, and the information about the pre-allocated resource of the communication channel.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanning result IE comprises an element identification (ID) to represent the scanning result IE, a length to represent a length of the scanning result IE, a beam index to represent a directional beam used in the measuring, and measurement result information including the measurement results of the resources.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the measurement result information comprises the measurement results measured by a medium access slot (MAS) or by an MAS zone.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the scanning result IE further comprises a threshold value to distinguish the measurement results, and the measurement result information is distinguished by each MAS at the threshold value or more, or at a lower than the threshold value.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the scanning result IE further comprises information about a number of measurement blocks to represent a number of measurement blocks included in the scanning result IE, the measurement result information comprises the number of measurement blocks, and the measurement blocks comprises a start MAS for a measurement block to represent a start point of a measured resource, a duration for a measurement block to represent a length of a measurement period included in the measurement blocks, and measurement results which are the same length of the measurement period from the start point.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting of the resource from the target device and the receiving of the resource allocation from the target device comprise

selecting an MAS requesting a resource among a period in which interference does not occur based on the scanning result IE of the selected channel and the information about the pre-allocated resource of the selected channel;

transmitting a resource request message including information about the MAS requesting the resource; and

receiving a resource request reply message including a resource request result from the target device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the resource request message and the resource request reply message are constituted by a beacon message.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the requesting of the resource from the target device and the receiving of the resource allocation from the target device further comprise requesting a resource from the target device by reselecting a resource to be requested using the scanning result IE of the target device included in the resource request reply message when the resource request result included in the resource request reply message is a rejection of allocation due to occurrence of interference.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising communicating through a requested resource when the resource request result included in the resource request reply message is an approval of allocation.

11. A spatial reuse method of a target device of a wireless communication system using a distributed MAC protocol, the method comprising:

obtaining information about a pre-allocated resource of each communication channel through a beacon message received from adjacent devices;

measuring a strength and an interference of a received signal corresponding to the resources of the communication channel;

exchanging scanning result IE of the communication channel including measurement results of the communication channel and the information about the pre-allocated resource of the communication channel with a source device; and

receiving a request for a resource from the source device and allocating a resource to the source device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the scanning result IE comprises an element identification (ID) to represent the scanning result IE, a length to represent a length of the scanning result IE, a beam index to represent a directional beam used in the measuring, and measurement result information including the measurement results of the resources.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the receiving of the request for the resource from the source device and the allocating of the resource to the source device comprise receiving a resource request message including information about an MAS requested for a resource;

identifying whether interference exists in the MAS; and

generating a resource request reply message including a resource request result based on whether the interference exists and transmitting the resource request reply message to the source device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the resource request reply message comprises the resource request result determined based on whether the interference exists and the information about the MAS requesting the resource, and further comprises the scanning result IE including a measurement result of resources measured by the target device.

15. A spatial reuse method of a source device of a wireless communication system using a centralized MAC protocol, the method comprising:

obtaining information about a pre-allocated resource through resource allocation information received from a central control unit;

measuring a strength and an interference of a received signal corresponding to the resources;

transmitting a scanning result IE including measurement results of the strength and the interference of the received signal corresponding to the resources to the central control unit;

requesting a resource from the central control unit; and

receiving a resource allocation from the central control unit in an order of a resource having a lower interference through the scanning result IE of the source device and scanning result IE of a target device.

16. A spatial reuse method of a central control unit of a wireless communication system using a centralized MAC protocol, the method comprising:

broadcasting a beacon message including resource allocation information;

receiving a scanning result IE including measurement results of a strength and an interference of a received signal corresponding to resources from each of a source device and a target device;

receiving a request for a resource from the source device; and

replying to the request for the resource to the source device by allocating a resource in an order of a resource having a lower interference through the scanning result IE of the source device and the scanning result IE of the target device.

17. A source device to reuse a space in a wireless communication system using a distributed MAC protocol, the device comprising:

a pre-allocated resource information acquisition unit to obtain information about a pre-allocated resource of each communication channel through a beacon message received from adjacent devices;

a measurement unit to measure a strength and an interference of a received signal corresponding to the resources of the communication channel;

an information exchange unit to exchange a scanning result IE of the communication channel including measurement results of the strength and the interference of the received signal corresponding to the resources of the communication channel and the information about the pre-allocated resource of the communication channel with a source device;

a channel selection unit to select a communication channel using the scanning result IE of the communication channel of the source device, the scanning result IE of the communication channel of the target device, and the information about the pre-allocated resource of the communication channel; and

a resource allocation request unit to request a resource from the target device based on scanning result IE of the selected channel and information about a pre-allocated resource of the selected channel and to receive a resource allocation from the target device.

18. A target device to reuse a space in a wireless communication system using a distributed MAC protocol, the device comprising:

a pre-allocated resource information acquisition unit to obtain information about a pre-allocated resource of each communication channel through a beacon message received from adjacent devices;

a measurement unit to measure a strength and an interference of a received signal corresponding to the resources of the communication channel;

an information exchange unit to exchange a scanning result IE of the communication channel including measurement results of the communication channel and the information about the pre-allocated resource of the communication channel with a source device; and

a resource allocation reply unit to receive a request for a resource from the source device and allocating a resource to the source device.

19. A source device to reuse a space in a wireless communication system using a centralized MAC protocol, the device comprising:

a pre-allocated resource information acquisition unit to obtain information about a pre-allocated resource through resource allocation information received from a central control unit;

a measurement unit to measure a strength and an interference of a received signal corresponding to the resources;

a measurement result transmission unit to transmit a scanning result IE including measurement results of the strength and the interference of the received signal corresponding to the resources to the central control unit; and

a resource allocation request unit to request a resource from the central control unit and to receive a resource allocation from the central control unit in an order of a resource having a lower interference through the scanning result IE of the source device and a scanning result IE of a target device.

20. A central control unit to reuse a space in a wireless communication system using a centralized MAC protocol, the method comprising:

a beacon broadcasting unit to broadcast a beacon message including resource allocation information;

a measurement result identification unit to receive a scanning result IE including measurement results of a strength and an interference of a received signal corresponding resources from each of a source device and a target device; and

a resource allocation reply unit to receive a request for a resource from the source device and to reply to the request for the resource to the source device by allocating a resource in an order of a resource having a lower interference through the scanning result IE of the source device and the scanning result IE of the target device.