SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING INTELLIGENT WIDEBAND DIGITAL FREQUENCY SELECTION SCANNING

• US 20130252640A1
• Filed: 06/25/2012
• Published: 09/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Kenney, Thomas, Perahia, Eldad
• Granted Patent: US 8,805,420 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.4
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/04 based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information

Abstract

A system and method are provided to intelligently undertake mandated scanning for radar signals prior to operating a particular wireless device in the 5 GHz band. The disclosed systems and methods provide a capability by which wireless devices are enabled to intelligently scan using a 160 MHz signal, or the largest bandwidth that the wireless device has the capacity to occupy. The disclosed scheme makes use of information about the location of the wireless device to determine characteristic of the environment in which the wireless device is operating. Locations of potentially conflicting radar installations, such as at airports and on military installations, are generally “known.” This information is used to compare to a determined geographic location of the wireless device to assess whether full broad bandwidth DFS scanning cane be reasonably undertaken or whether some narrower channel scanning is appropriate for the wireless device based on proximity to radar installations.

Claims

1. A method that facilitates wireless communication, comprising:

determining a location of a wireless device;

comparing, with a processor, the determined location of the wireless device with information regarding potentially conflicting broadcasting devices located in proximity to the determined location of the wireless device;

selecting a channel scanning scheme to determine actual conflicts with broadcasting devices that is based on the comparing; and

executing the selected channel scanning scheme.

2. The method of claim 1, the wireless device operating in the 5 GHz band, the potentially conflicting broadcasting devices being radar installations operating in Digital Frequency Selection (DFS) bands, and the selected channel scanning scheme complying with DFS scanning requirements.

3. The method of claim 2, the comparing of the determined location of the wireless device with information regarding the radar installations located in proximity to the determined location of the wireless device including querying a database of known radar installation locations.

4. The method of claim 3, the selecting of the channel scanning scheme comprising selecting a first channel scanning scheme when the comparing indicates that there are no radar installations in proximity to the determined location of the wireless device, the first channel scanning scheme scanning a single channel bandwidth that is greater than 20 MHz and is the broadest channel bandwidth that the wireless device accommodates.

5. The method of claim 4, the broadest channel bandwidth that the wireless device accommodates being 160 MHz.

6. The method of claim 3, the selecting of the channel scanning scheme comprising selecting a second channel scanning scheme when the comparing indicates that there is at least one radar installation in proximity to the determined location of the wireless device, the second channel scanning scheme incrementally scanning single channel bandwidths of not more than 40 MHz that are aggregated, once determined to be clear, to achieve an aggregated channel bandwidth of at least 80 MHz.

7. The method of claim 6, the aggregating achieving an aggregated channel bandwidth of 160 MHz.

8. The method of claim 1, the determining the location of the wireless device comprising receiving at least one of GPS information using a GPS receiver, cellular information using a cellular receiver, Wi-Fi information using a Wi-Fi receiver, location information based on an installation of a wireless device in a structure, and setup information manually input by a user of the wireless device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing results of the executing of the channel scanning scheme.

10. The method of claim 9, the selection of the channel scanning scheme for a subsequent scan being further based on stored results of a previously-executed channel scanning scheme.

11. A wireless communicating system, comprising:

a location determining device that is configured to determine a location of the system;

a location comparing device that is configured to compare the determined location of the system with information regarding potentially conflicting broadcasting devices located in proximity to the determined location of the system;

a mode selecting device that is configured (1) to select a channel scanning mode to determine actual conflicts with broadcasting devices, the selecting of the channel scanning mode being based on information of a result of the comparing in the location comparing device, and (2) to execute scanning according to the selected channel scanning mode.

12. The system of claim 11, the system further comprising a radio operating in a 5 GHz frequency band, the potentially conflicting broadcasting devices being radar installations operating in DFS bands, and the selected channel scanning mode complying with DFS scanning requirements.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a first data storage device storing a database of known radar installation locations, the location comparing device comparing of the determined location of the system with information regarding the radar installations located in proximity to the determined location of the system including querying the stored database.

14. The system of claim 13, the mode selecting device selecting a first channel scanning mode when the comparing indicates that there are no radar installations in proximity to the determined location of the system, the first channel scanning mode scanning a single channel bandwidth that is greater than 20 MHz and is the broadest channel bandwidth that the system accommodates.

15. The system of claim 14, the broadest channel bandwidth that the system accommodates being 160 MHz.

16. The system of claim 13, the mode selecting device selecting a second channel scanning mode when the comparing indicates that there is at least one radar installation in proximity to the determined location of the system, the second channel scanning mode incrementally scanning single channel bandwidths of not more than 40 MHz that are aggregated, once determined to be clear, to achieve an aggregated channel bandwidth of at least 80 MHz.

17. The system of claim 16, the aggregating achieving an aggregated channel bandwidth of 160 MHz.

18. The system of claim 11, the location determining device including at least one of a GPS receiver, a cellular receiver, a Wi-Fi receiver, or a user interface by which a user manually inputs a location of the system.

19. The system of claim 11, further comprising a second data storage device storing results of executed scans.

20. The system of claim 19, the mode selection device being further configured to select a channel scanning mode for a subsequent scan being based on stored results of a previously-executed scan.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to execute a method for synchronizing cable data channels, the method comprising:

determining a location of a wireless device;

comparing the determined location of the wireless device with information regarding potentially conflicting broadcasting devices located in proximity to the determined location of the wireless device;

selecting a channel scanning scheme to determine actual conflicts with broadcasting devices that is based on the comparing; and

executing the selected channel scanning scheme.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21, the wireless device operating in the 5 GHz band, the potentially conflicting broadcasting devices being radar installations operating in DFS bands, and the selected channel scanning scheme complying with DFS scanning requirements.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, the comparing of the determined location of the wireless device with information regarding the radar installations located in proximity to the determined location of the wireless device including querying a database of known radar installation locations.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, the selecting of the channel scanning scheme comprising selecting a first channel scanning scheme when the comparing indicates that there are no radar installations in proximity to the determined location of the wireless device, the first channel scanning scheme scanning a single channel bandwidth that is greater than 20 MHz and is the broadest channel bandwidth that the wireless device accommodates.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, the broadest channel bandwidth that the wireless device accommodates being 160 MHz.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, the selecting of the channel scanning scheme comprising selecting a second channel scanning scheme when the comparing indicates that there is at least one radar installation in proximity to the determined location of the wireless device, the second channel scanning scheme incrementally scanning single channel bandwidths of not more than 40 MHz that are aggregated, once determined to be clear, to achieve an aggregated channel bandwidth of at least 80 MHz.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, the aggregating achieving an aggregated channel bandwidth of 160 MHz.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21, the determining the location of the wireless device comprising receiving at least one of GPS information using a GPS receiver, cellular information using a cellular receiver, Wi-Fi information using a Wi-Fi receiver, location information based on an installation of a wireless device in a structure, and setup information manually input by a user of the wireless device.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21, further comprising storing results of the executing of the channel scanning scheme.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, the selection of the channel scanning scheme for a subsequent scan being further based on stored results of a previously-executed channel scanning scheme.

31. A wireless communicating system, comprising:

a processor;

a radio;

the wireless communicating system capable to;

compare its own location with one or more locations of respective one or more radar installations, the one or more locations being stored in a database;

based on comparing, selecting a wireless connectivity scheme for the wireless system.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the wireless connectivity scheme includes selecting a scanning mode in which the wireless system avoids scanning in the Digital Frequency Selection (DFS) bands.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the system is capable to operate in a 5 GHz frequency band.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein the wireless connectivity scheme includes selecting a scanning mode that complies with Digital Frequency Selection (DFS) scanning requirements.

35. The system of claim 31, further comprising a first data storage device storing the database.

36. The system of claim 31, wherein the wireless connectivity scheme includes selecting a first channel scanning mode when the comparing indicates that there are no radar installations in proximity to the location of the system, the first channel scanning mode including scanning a single channel bandwidth that is the broadest channel bandwidth that the system accommodates.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the broadest channel bandwidth that the system accommodates is 160 MHz.

38. The system of claim 31, wherein the wireless connectivity scheme includes selecting a second channel scanning mode when the comparing indicates that there is at least one radar installation in proximity to the determined location of the system, the second channel scanning mode includes incrementally scanning single channel bandwidths of not more than 40 MHz, and aggregating the 40 MHz channel bandwidth once determined to be clear.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein aggregating includes achieving an aggregated channel bandwidth of 160 MHz.

40. The system of claim 31, wherein the wireless communicating system is capable to determine its own location using at least one of a GPS receiver, a cellular receiver, a Wi-Fi receiver, or a user interface by which a user manually inputs a location of the system.

41. The system of claim 35, further comprising a second data storage device to store results of any executed scans.

42. The system of claim 34, wherein the wireless communicating system is capable to select a scanning mode for a subsequent scan based on stored results of a previously-executed scan.