Dynamic channel assignment in a communication system
First Claim
1. A method of dynamic channel assignment in a communication system, the communication system having a plurality of fixed base-stations, each capable of communicating to an ambulant subscriber, the method comprising the steps of:
- assessing, at the plurality of fixed base-stations, the quality of an uplink signal transmitted by the subscriber;
accepting, from one of said plurality of fixed base-stations, the uplink signal based on said assessed signal quality; and
assigning any of the remaining fixed base-stations to transmit a corresponding downlink signal to the subscriber based on the assessed qualities of the signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communication system dynamically assigns channels to a subscriber unit so as to, inter alia, mitigate the effects of co-channel interference in the system. The communication system has a plurality of base-stations receiving the transmission of a subscriber unit desiring service. Upon receipt of the subscriber unit'"'"'s transmission, each base-station determines a signal quality value, which it then reports to a system controller. The system controller determines the best signal quality value reported and assigns a channel to the base-station which reported the best signal quality value. The chosen base-station transmits to the subscriber unit on an assigned channel to establish communication. The assigned channel transmitted by the chosen base-station need not be associated with the channel the subscriber transmits on. In fact, either channel may be any one of the channels allocated for use by the communication system.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of dynamic channel assignment in a communication system, the communication system having a plurality of fixed base-stations, each capable of communicating to an ambulant subscriber, the method comprising the steps of:
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assessing, at the plurality of fixed base-stations, the quality of an uplink signal transmitted by the subscriber; accepting, from one of said plurality of fixed base-stations, the uplink signal based on said assessed signal quality; and assigning any of the remaining fixed base-stations to transmit a corresponding downlink signal to the subscriber based on the assessed qualities of the signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of dynamic communication assignment in a radiotelephone system, the radiotelephone system having a plurality of base-stations each capable of communicating to a subscriber unit, the method comprising the steps of:
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communicating, on a first base-station, to a subscriber unit on an uplink and downlink path of a channel; assessing, at at least the first base-station and a second base-station, the relative quality of said uplink path of said channel; and assigning said second base-station to only receive said uplink path of said channel when said relative quality assessed by the second base-station exceeds the relative quality assessed by the first base-station. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of dynamic channel assignment in a radiotelephone system, the radiotelephone system having a plurality of cells each having predetermined coverage areas, at least one of the cells acting as an umbrella cell having a plurality of micro-cells, at least two of the micro-cells having common coverage area with the corresponding predetermined coverage area of the umbrella cell, each cell and micro-cell having a base-station within its coverage area to provide radiotelephone coverage for its corresponding coverage area, the method comprising the steps of:
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communicating, on a first base-station corresponding to a first micro-cell, to a subscriber unit on an uplink and downlink path of a first channel; assessing, at said first base-station corresponding to said first micro-cell, at at least a second base-station corresponding to at least a second micro-cell and at a third base-station corresponding to the umbrella cell, the relative quality of said uplink path of said first channel; assigning said second base-station to only receive said uplink path of said first channel when said relative quality assessed by the second base-station exceeds the relative quality assessed by the first base-station and the third base-station; and assigning, via the first base-station, said subscriber unit to handoff communication from said first base-station on a first channel to said third base-station on a second channel when said relative quality assessed by the third base-station exceeds the relative quality assessed by the first base-station and the second base-station. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A radiotelephone system having dynamic communication assignment, the radiotelephone system having at least two base-stations capable of communication to a subscriber unit, the at least two base-stations interconnected via a switch, the radiotelephone system comprising:
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means, at at least the two base-stations, for measuring the quality of an uplink signal transmitted by the subscriber unit; means, at the switch, for evaluating said quality of said uplink signal measured by each of said at least two base-stations; means, at the switch, for assigning one of said at least two base-stations to only receive said uplink signal based on said evaluated quality means, at the switch, for assigning the second of said at least two base-stations to communicate with the subscriber unit on a corresponding downlink path. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A radiotelephone system having dynamic channel assignment, the radiotelephone system having a plurality of cells each having predetermined coverage areas, at least one of the cells acting as an umbrella cell having a plurality of micro-cells, at least two micro-cells having common coverage area with the corresponding predetermined coverage area of the umbrella cell, each cell and micro-cell having a base-station within its coverage area to provide radiotelephone system coverage for its corresponding coverage area, each base-station coupled to one another via a switch, the radiotelephone system comprising:
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means for communicating, on a first base-station corresponding to a first micro-cell, to a subscriber unit on both an uplink and downlink path of a first channel; means for measuring, at said first base-station corresponding to said first micro-cell, at at least a second base-station corresponding to at least a second micro-cell and at a third base-station corresponding to the umbrella cell, the quality of said uplink path of said first channel; means for assigning said second base-station to only receive said uplink path of said first channel when said quality measured by the second base-station exceeds the quality measured by the first base-station and the third base-station; and means for initiating, at the switch, a transfer of communication from the first base-station to the third base-station on a second channel when said relative quality assessed by the third base-station exceeds the relative quality assessed by the first base-station and the second base-station. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification