Adaptive frequency allocation in a telecommunication system
First Claim
1. A method for allocating a frequency channel to a base station in a telecommunications network, thereby making the frequency channel available for subsequent use by the base station regardless of whether the frequency channel is required for immediate assignment to a mobile call, said method comprising the steps of:
- measuring uplink signal quality for each of a plurality of selected frequency channels, wherein the plurality of selected frequency channels is defined as a set of frequency channels that are allocated to the base station;
measuring downlink signal quality for each of said plurality of selected frequency channels;
comparing the measured uplink signal quality with the measured downlink signal quality for each of said plurality of selected frequency channels;
identifying a selected frequency channel from the plurality of selected frequency channels if the measured downlink signal quality for the selected frequency channel is less than a first predefined amount and the measured downlink signal quality for the selected frequency channel is less than the measured uplink signal quality by at least a second predefined amount;
identifying a candidate frequency channel, wherein a candidate frequency channel is defined as a frequency channel that is not presently allocated to the base station;
allocating the candidate frequency channel to the base station; and
deallocating the identified selected frequency channel from the base station.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a telecommunications network, a method and apparatus for allocating channels makes signal quality measurements for channels that are in use or available for use and for channels that may become available for use. Already selected channels (i.e., channels in use or available for use) that exhibit poor signal quality characteristics are exchanged with candidate channels (i.e., channels that may become available for use) that exhibit better signal quality characteristics to thereby improve the overall signal quality of the network.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for allocating a frequency channel to a base station in a telecommunications network, thereby making the frequency channel available for subsequent use by the base station regardless of whether the frequency channel is required for immediate assignment to a mobile call, said method comprising the steps of:
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measuring uplink signal quality for each of a plurality of selected frequency channels, wherein the plurality of selected frequency channels is defined as a set of frequency channels that are allocated to the base station; measuring downlink signal quality for each of said plurality of selected frequency channels; comparing the measured uplink signal quality with the measured downlink signal quality for each of said plurality of selected frequency channels; identifying a selected frequency channel from the plurality of selected frequency channels if the measured downlink signal quality for the selected frequency channel is less than a first predefined amount and the measured downlink signal quality for the selected frequency channel is less than the measured uplink signal quality by at least a second predefined amount; identifying a candidate frequency channel, wherein a candidate frequency channel is defined as a frequency channel that is not presently allocated to the base station; allocating the candidate frequency channel to the base station; and deallocating the identified selected frequency channel from the base station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for allocating a frequency channel to a base station in a telecommunications network, thereby making the frequency channel available for subsequent use by the base station regardless of the frequency channel is required for immediate assignment to a mobile call, said method comprising the steps of:
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measuring uplink signal strength for each of a plurality of candidate frequency channels, wherein the plurality of candidate frequency channels is defined as a set of frequency channels that are not allocated to the base station; measuring downlink signal strength for each of said plurality of candidate frequency channels; choosing a qualified candidate frequency channel from the plurality of candidate frequency channels; and allocating the chosen qualified candidate frequency channel to the base station, wherein the step of choosing a qualified candidate frequency channel comprises the step of; comparing the uplink signal strength measurement with the downlink signal strength measurement for each of the plurality of candidate frequency channels and designating a candidate frequency channel as a qualified candidate frequency channel only if the downlink signal strength measurement of the candidate frequency channel is not greater than the uplink signal strength measurement by more than a predetermined amount. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for allocating a frequency channel to a base station in a telecommunications network, thereby making the frequency channel available for subsequent use by the base station regardless of whether the frequency channel is required for immediate assignment to a mobile call, said apparatus comprising:
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means for measuring uplink signal quality for each of a plurality of selected frequency channels, wherein the plurality of selected frequency channels is defined as a set of frequency channels that are allocated to the base station; means for measuring downlink signal quality for each of said plurality of selected frequency channels; means for comparing the measured uplink signal quality with the measured downlink signal quality for each of said plurality of selected frequency channels; means for identifying a selected frequency channel from the plurality of selected frequency channels if the measured downlink signal quality for the selected frequency channel is less than a first predefined amount and the measured downlink signal quality for the selected frequency channel is less than the measured uplink signal quality by at least a second predefined amount; means for identifying a candidate frequency channel, wherein a candidate frequency channel is defined as a frequency channel that is not presently allocated to the base station; means for allocating the candidate frequency channel to the base station; and means for deallocating the identified selected frequency channel from the base station. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. An apparatus for allocating a frequency channel to a base station in a telecommunications network, thereby making the frequency channel available for subsequent use by the base station regardless of whether the frequency channel is required for immediate assignment to a mobile call, said apparatus comprising:
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means for measuring uplink signal strength for each of a plurality of candidate frequency channels, wherein the plurality of candidate frequency channels is defined as a set of frequency channels that are not allocated to the base station; means for measuring downlink signal strength for each of said plurality of candidate frequency channels; means for choosing a qualified candidate frequency channel from the plurality of candidate frequency channels; and means for allocating the chosen qualified candidate frequency channel to the base station, wherein the means for choosing a qualified candidate frequency channel comprises; means for comparing the uplink signal strength measurement with the downlink signal strength measurement for each of the plurality of candidate frequency channels and designating a candidate frequency channel as a qualified candidate frequency channel only if the downlink signal strength measurement of the candidate frequency channel is not greater than the uplink signal strength measurement by more than a predetermined amount. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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Specification