NETWORK COMMUNICATION USING DIVERSITY

• US 20140376656A1
• Filed: 09/08/2014
• Published: 12/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Agee, Brian G., Bromberg, Matthew C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,197,297 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/267
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0408 using two or more beams, i.e. beam diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0413 MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0417 Feedback systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0443 utilizing "waterfilling" technique
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0456 Selection of precoding matrices or codebooks, e.g. using matrices antenna weighting
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0465 taking power constraints at power amplifier or emission constraints, e.g. constant modulus, into account
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/10 Polarisation diversity; Directional diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/26 Systems using multi-frequency codes H04L27/32 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2602 Signal structure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2605 Symbol extensions, e.g. Zero Tail, Unique Word [UW]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2607 Cyclic extensions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2627 Modulators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2646 using feedback from receiver for adjusting OFDM transmission parameters, e.g. transmission timing or guard interval length
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/005 of common pilots, i.e. pilots destined for multiple users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/04 based on wireless node resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/241 : taking into account channel quality metrics, e.g. SIR, SNR, CIR, Eb/lo
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/265 : taking into account the quality of service QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/42 : in systems with time, space, frequency or polarisation diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/00 : Local resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 : Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/044 : based on the type of the allocated resource
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 : Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 : in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 : using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 : Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

An apparatus for generating at least one signal based on at least one aspect of at least two received signals is provided. The apparatus comprises: a diverse antennae array of M antennae, where M is greater than or equal to two; at least one multiple-input and multiple-output capable transceiver in communication with each antenna in the diverse antennae array of M antennae; encoding circuitry capable of causing first data to be encoded; decoding circuitry capable of causing second data to be decoded; and processing capable of causing diversity combining, where the processing circuitry is in communication with the multiple-input and multiple-output capable transceiver, the encoding circuitry, and the decoding circuitry. In operation, the processing circuitry is capable of causing the apparatus to: receive at least two first signals, combine at least two of the at least first two signals, generate at least two second signals based on at least one aspect of the at least two first signals, and simultaneously transmit the at least two second signals. Additionally, the apparatus is configured such that at least one of the at least two second signals is capable of being received by a multiple-input capable node.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

detecting, by a first node of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) network, co-channel interference in one or more wirelessly received signals;

determining one or more power levels of a plurality of sub-channels as a function of the co-channel interference; and

wirelessly transmitting data via at least two of the plurality of sub-channels using the one or more power levels.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wirelessly transmitting comprises wirelessly transmitting the data using cyclic prefixing.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the wirelessly transmitting comprises wirelessly transmitting the data using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, from the first node of the MIMO network, information based at least in part on the co-channel interference detected by the first node; and

receiving, by a second node of the MIMO network, the information sent by the first node,

wherein the determining comprises determining, by the second node of the MIMO network, the one or more power levels.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the data represents voice data.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wirelessly receiving the data, via the at least two of the plurality of sub-channels, by a second node of the MIMO network; and

routing, via a datagram network, the data that is wirelessly received by the second node.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more power levels comprises a plurality of power levels each being a power level for a different one of the plurality of sub-channels, and the determining comprises determining the plurality of power levels as the function of the co-channel interference.

8. A method, comprising:

detecting co-channel interference in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) network;

controlling, by at least a first node of the MIMO network, the co-channel interference by controlling power levels of a plurality of sub-channels in the MIMO network; and

wirelessly transmitting data via at least some of the plurality of sub-channels using the power levels.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the controlling comprises controlling at least some of the power levels using a water-filling solution.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the controlling comprises controlling at least some of the power levels so as to minimize a total power of the plurality of sub-channels while maintaining at least a predetermined quality of service.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the detecting comprises detecting the co-channel interference based at least in part on signals received via a plurality of antennas of the first node, the method further comprising:

transmitting, by the first node, information based at least in part on the signals received by the plurality of antennas of the first node,

wherein the controlling the co-channel interference comprises using the information, by a second node of the MIMO network that receives the information from the first node, to control one or more of the power levels of one or more of the plurality of sub-channels.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the detecting comprises detecting, by the second node, the co-channel interference also based on signals received via a plurality of antennas of the second node, and wherein the controlling comprises using, by the second node, both the co-channel interference detected by the second node and the information to control the one or more of the power levels.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, as a function of the co-channel interference, a route comprising at least one of the sub-channels; and

routing the data via the route.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the wirelessly transmitting comprises wirelessly transmitting the data using cyclic prefixing.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the wirelessly transmitting comprises wirelessly transmitting the data using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).

16. A method, comprising:

detecting, by a first node of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) network, first co-channel interference using a first plurality of antennas;

using the co-channel interference to determine at least one power level of a first plurality of sub-channels; and

wirelessly transmitting, by the first node, first data via at least the first plurality of sub-channels.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the sub-channels are orthogonal to one another.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

detecting, by a second node of the MIMO network, second co-channel interference based at least in part on a wireless signal transmitted by the first node that is received by a second plurality of antennas;

using the second co-channel interference to determine at least one power level of a second plurality of sub-channels, wherein the second co-channel interference; and

wirelessly transmitting, by the second node, second data via at least the second plurality of sub-channels.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

transmitting, by the first node, information based at least in part on the first co-channel interference;

receiving, by a second node of the MIMO network, the information; and

using, by the second node, second co-channel interference detected using a second plurality of antennas and the information received from the first node to determine at least one power level of a second plurality of sub-channels.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the using comprises determining a signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) and using the SINR to determine at least some of the power levels.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the using comprises using the first co-channel interference to determine a plurality of power levels, each of the first plurality of sub-channels having a different one of the plurality of power levels.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the using comprises using the first co-channel interference to minimize a total power of the first plurality of sub-channels while maintaining at least a predetermined quality of service.

23. A method, comprising:

determining, by a first node of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) network, information based at least in part on co-channel interference experienced by at least one of a plurality of nodes of the MIMO network; and

using the information to wirelessly transmit data at a plurality of power levels via a plurality of sub-channels.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the information comprises information indicative of a signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR).

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising using the information to determine a signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR), and using the SINR to control the power levels.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the first node comprises a MIMO-capable node.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the using comprises wirelessly transmitting the data using cyclic prefixing.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein the determining comprises determining the information based at least in part on co-channel interference experienced by at least the first node.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein the determining comprises determining the information based at least in part on co-channel interference experienced by at least a second node of the MIMO network, the method further comprising:

transmitting, by the second node, the information; and

receiving, by the first node, the information from the second node.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the using comprises using both co-channel interference experienced by the first node and the information to control the plurality of power levels.