Spectrum sharing communications system and system for monitoring available spectrum
First Claim
1. A method for allocating one or more ranges of transmission frequency to a mobile communications network that shares a common block of frequency spectrum with an incumbent radio system having a plurality of incumbent radio stations, said mobile communications network having at least one base station and at least one user terminal capable of transmitting and receiving signals to and from said base station, said mobile communications network assigning frequencies on which said user terminal transmits and receives said signals, periodically receiving parameters representative of ranges of frequencies which can be assigned, and controlling the assignment of frequencies so that only frequencies within said ranges of frequencies which can be assigned are assigned, said method comprising:
- measuring, at a measuring location within a general area of said mobile communications network, a plurality of signal levels of signals falling within a plurality of frequency segments of said common block of said frequency spectrum, said plurality of frequency segments comprising segments that are needed in order to identify any frequency ranges to be used by said mobile communications network which will conflict with any frequency ranges used by said incumbent radio system;
thereafter identifying which of said plurality of incumbent radio stations are nearby incumbent radio stations, by determining which incumbent radio stations have a geographic location within a certain range of the measurement location and have a transmit or receipt frequency that is within a certain range of said frequency segment, and by using the results of the previous step of measuring;
thereafter calculating whether, for a specified range of frequencies to be assigned to said mobile communications network, interference is likely to occur between said mobile communications network and at least one of the identified nearby incumbent radio stations as a function of the geographic location and the transmit and receive frequencies of said at least one nearby incumbent radio station; and
thereafter setting said parameters using the results of the previous step of calculating to values which prevent said communications network from assigning ranges of frequencies for which a calculation was made indicating that interference is likely to occur, said parameters being periodically received by said mobile communications network, said setting step comprising creating all of said parameters when said parameters are set.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A mobile radio communications network is provided with a system for allocating one or more ranges of transmission frequency to the communications network, in order to prevent the network from interfering with received signals of an incumbent radio system. The allocating system may be provided with a device for receiving and monitoring information indicative of the presence and location of incumbent radio stations. A signal level monitoring system monitors signals transmitted from incumbent radio stations to determine the frequency and degree of RF isolation, with respect to a monitoring antenna of the monitoring system, of the stations. The monitoring system includes monitoring antennas, a spectrum analyzer, a device for controlling the spectrum analyzer, and a device for processing and correcting the data produced by the spectrum analyzer.
201 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for allocating one or more ranges of transmission frequency to a mobile communications network that shares a common block of frequency spectrum with an incumbent radio system having a plurality of incumbent radio stations, said mobile communications network having at least one base station and at least one user terminal capable of transmitting and receiving signals to and from said base station, said mobile communications network assigning frequencies on which said user terminal transmits and receives said signals, periodically receiving parameters representative of ranges of frequencies which can be assigned, and controlling the assignment of frequencies so that only frequencies within said ranges of frequencies which can be assigned are assigned, said method comprising:
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measuring, at a measuring location within a general area of said mobile communications network, a plurality of signal levels of signals falling within a plurality of frequency segments of said common block of said frequency spectrum, said plurality of frequency segments comprising segments that are needed in order to identify any frequency ranges to be used by said mobile communications network which will conflict with any frequency ranges used by said incumbent radio system; thereafter identifying which of said plurality of incumbent radio stations are nearby incumbent radio stations, by determining which incumbent radio stations have a geographic location within a certain range of the measurement location and have a transmit or receipt frequency that is within a certain range of said frequency segment, and by using the results of the previous step of measuring; thereafter calculating whether, for a specified range of frequencies to be assigned to said mobile communications network, interference is likely to occur between said mobile communications network and at least one of the identified nearby incumbent radio stations as a function of the geographic location and the transmit and receive frequencies of said at least one nearby incumbent radio station; and thereafter setting said parameters using the results of the previous step of calculating to values which prevent said communications network from assigning ranges of frequencies for which a calculation was made indicating that interference is likely to occur, said parameters being periodically received by said mobile communications network, said setting step comprising creating all of said parameters when said parameters are set. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification