SON-Controlled DFS

• US 20170026845A1
• Filed: 07/25/2016
• Published: 01/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Parallel Wireless, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Parallel Wireless, Inc.
• Inventors: Garg, Sumit, Beaudette, Steven
• Granted Patent: US 9,973,935 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/10 Dynamic resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

A centrally controlled dynamic frequency selection (DFS) mechanism is defined that uses a historical analytical database to define DFS hop patterns, which allows for a better probability of picking a non-interfering channel but also meets the performance requirements of the mesh and satisfying the timing constraints of DFS. A method for performing dynamic frequency selection (DFS) is disclosed, comprising: receiving, at a gateway, measurement reports from a radio access node regarding observed utilization of a 5 GHz radio frequency band shared with a plurality of radio access nodes; determining, based on the received measurement reports, a frequency hop pattern at the gateway; and sending the frequency hop pattern from the gateway to each of the plurality of radio access nodes, thereby enabling compliance with DFS regulations using a centralized gateway.

Claims

1. A method for performing dynamic frequency selection (DFS), comprising:

receiving, at a gateway, measurement reports from a radio access node regarding observed utilization of a 5 GHz radio frequency band shared with a plurality of radio access nodes;

determining, based on the received measurement reports, a frequency hop pattern at the gateway; and

sending the frequency hop pattern from the gateway to each of the plurality of radio access nodes,

thereby enabling compliance with DFS regulations using a centralized gateway.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of radio access nodes is at least two access points each using 802.11 Wi-Fi in a 5 GHz frequency band.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of radio access nodes is connected in a 5 GHz Wi-Fi mesh network and is configured to use the gateway to connect to a telecommunications operator core network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency hop pattern is a channel switching sequence.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving the frequency hop pattern from a database at the gateway.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the frequency hop pattern based on historical DFS information stored at the gateway.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising switching, at the plurality of radio access nodes, to a next frequency specified by the frequency hop pattern to avoid, or avoid causing, interference to communications radars, weather radars, or military communications.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein an individual radio access node causes connected devices to move to the next frequency using a channel switch announcement in a beacon frame or channel switch announcement frame.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, from an individual radio access node, the frequency hop pattern to a plurality of connected stations to enable the plurality of connected stations to perform a backoff recovery procedure.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting, at one of the plurality of radio access nodes, a radar or military signal in the 5 GHz radio frequency band.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring a selection method at the gateway from a remote management client or periodically updating the selection method at the gateway.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising propagating the frequency hop pattern to each node in a mesh network.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a second frequency hop pattern to an additional radio access network.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the frequency hop pattern based on received signal strength information (RSSI) or signal to noise ratio (SNR).

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the frequency hop pattern based on historical DFS event data, regulatory profile data, or indoor/outdoor frequency band configuration.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency hop pattern is a single frequency to pick at a next DFS event.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing off-channel radar scanning.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting a backhaul radio frequency based on the frequency hop pattern and using a global table to avoid multiple radios being switched to the same frequency.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising advertising preferred frequencies at each radio access node in a mesh network, and caching the preferred frequencies at the gateway.

20. A system for performing dynamic frequency selection (DFS), comprising:

a gateway configured to perform steps comprising;

receiving, at a gateway, measurement reports from a radio access node regarding observed utilization of a 5 GHz radio frequency band shared with a plurality of radio access nodes;

selecting, based on the received measurement reports, a frequency hop pattern at the gateway;

retrieving the frequency hop pattern from a database at the gateway; and

sending the frequency hop pattern from the gateway to each of the plurality of radio access nodes,

thereby enabling compliance with DFS regulations using a centralized gateway.