ROBUST INTER-RADIO ACCESS TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS IN UNLICENSED SPECTRUM

• US 20150063148A1
• Filed: 09/02/2014
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: SADEK, Ahmed Kamel
• Application Number:
  US14/475,122
• Publication Number:
  US 20150063148A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0023 Interference mitigation or co-ordination direct sequence spread spectrum [DSSS] systems H04B1/7097; frequency hopping H04B1/713; allocation criteria for ingress interference avoidance H04L5/0062; frequency allocation criteria for requirements on out-of-channel emissions H04L5/0066; arrangements for removing intersymbol interference or baseband equalisers H04L25/03006; peak power aspects in multicarrier modulation H04L27/2614; power management H04W52/00; traffic scheduling H04W72/54, H04W72/541
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0015 characterised by the adaptation strategy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/20 using signal quality detector
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0073 Allocation arrangements that take into account other cell interferences for intercell interference mitigation or co-ordination in orthogonal multiplex systems H04J11/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/16 for PBS [Private Base Station] arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/16 based on interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/241 taking into account channel quality metrics, e.g. SIR, SNR, CIR, Eb/lo
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/243 taking into account interferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/244 Interferences in heterogeneous networks, e.g. among macro and femto or pico cells or other sector / system interference [OSI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1215 for collaboration of different radio technologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0816 with collision avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points

Abstract

Systems and methods for co-existence in unlicensed spectrum are disclosed. In one aspect, mitigating interference between Radio Access Technologies (RATs) sharing operating spectrum in an unlicensed band of radio frequencies may comprise, for example, determining an inter-RAT interference metric associated with base station narrowband signaling on the unlicensed band and modifying a transmission parameter relating to a transmission power or signaling scheme for narrowband signaling based on the determined inter-RAT interference metric. In accordance with the modified transmission parameter, a narrowband signal may be transmitted on the unlicensed band.

Claims

1. A method of communication for mitigating interference between Radio Access Technologies (RATs) sharing operating spectrum in an unlicensed band of radio frequencies, the method comprising:

determining an inter-RAT interference metric associated with base station narrowband signaling on the unlicensed band;

modifying a transmission parameter relating to a transmission power or signaling scheme for narrowband signaling based on the determined inter-RAT interference metric; and

transmitting a narrowband signal on the unlicensed band in accordance with the modified transmission parameter.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted narrowband signal is associated with operation of a Primary Cell (PCell) provided by a small cell base station operating in a standalone mode on the unlicensed band.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the narrowband signal comprises an acquisition signal corresponding to a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), or a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH).

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the narrowband signal comprises a control signal corresponding to a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), or a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH).

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the narrowband signal comprises a data signal corresponding to a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the inter-RAT interference metric is determined from measurements relating to Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) statistics, Radio Link Failure (RLF) statistics, or Packet Error Rate (PER) statistics for transmissions in accordance with a RAT associated with the narrowband signaling.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the inter-RAT interference metric is determined from measurements relating to transmissions in accordance with a RAT other than the one associated with the narrowband signaling.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the inter-RAT interference metric is determined from measurements received from at least one associated user device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying comprises boosting the transmission power based on the inter-RAT interference metric indicating a high level of interference above a threshold.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying comprises increasing a redundancy of the signaling scheme based on the inter-RAT interference metric indicating a high level of interference above a threshold.

11. An apparatus for communication for mitigating interference between Radio Access Technologies (RATs) sharing operating spectrum in an unlicensed band of radio frequencies, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to determine an inter-RAT interference metric associated with base station narrowband signaling on the unlicensed band and to modify a transmission parameter relating to a transmission power or signaling scheme for narrowband signaling based on the determined inter-RAT interference metric; and

a transceiver configured to transmit a narrowband signal on the unlicensed band in accordance with the modified transmission parameter.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transmitted narrowband signal is associated with operation of a Primary Cell (PCell) provided by a small cell base station operating in a standalone mode on the unlicensed band.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the narrowband signal comprises an acquisition signal corresponding to a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), or a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH).

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the narrowband signal comprises a control signal corresponding to a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), or a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH).

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the narrowband signal comprises a data signal corresponding to a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to determine the inter-RAT interference metric from measurements relating to Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) statistics, Radio Link Failure (RLF) statistics, or Packet Error Rate (PER) statistics for transmissions in accordance with a RAT associated with the narrowband signaling.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to determine the inter-RAT interference metric from measurements relating to transmissions in accordance with a RAT other than the one associated with the narrowband signaling.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to determine the inter-RAT interference metric from measurements received from at least one associated user device.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to modify the transmission parameter by boosting the transmission power based on the inter-RAT interference metric indicating a high level of interference above a threshold.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to modify the transmission parameter by increasing a redundancy of the signaling scheme based on the inter-RAT interference metric indicating a high level of interference above a threshold.

21. A method of communication for mitigating interference between Radio Access Technologies (RATs) sharing operating spectrum in an unlicensed band of radio frequencies, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of signals having the same content on the unlicensed band via a first RAT subject to interference from a second RAT, the plurality of signals being received over a time interval; and

filtering the plurality of signals on the unlicensed band over the time interval to recover the content of the plurality of signals.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the filtering comprises weighting a corrupted signal among the plurality of signals at a reduced factor compared to a non-corrupted signal among the plurality of signals.

23. A method of communication for mitigating interference among a plurality of user devices operating in an unlicensed band of radio frequencies, the method comprising:

segregating the plurality of user devices into a first group of user devices and a second group of user devices based on a proximity of each user device to a small cell base station being above or below a threshold;

allocating a first set of communication resources to the first group of user devices;

allocating a second set of communication resources to the second group of user devices, wherein the first and second set of communication resources are non-overlapping;

receiving an uplink communication at the small cell base station from one or more of the first group of user devices in accordance with the first set of communication resources; and

receiving an uplink communication at the small cell base station from one or more of the second group of user devices in accordance with the second set of communication resources.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein one of the first or second groups of user devices corresponds to cell edge users and the other of the first or second groups of user devices corresponds to cell center users.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the first and second sets of communication resources comprise frequency bands or resource blocks associated with respective symbol-tones.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the segregating is further based on a technology type associated with front end transceiver circuitry utilized by each user device.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the technology type has a transmission power limitation that is different from a native technology type with which the small cell base station operates.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the native technology type with which the small cell base station operates corresponds to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology and at least one of the plurality of user devices operates in accordance with LTE technology via front end transceiver circuitry associated with Wi-Fi technology.