Method for improving co-channel interference in a cellular system
First Claim
1. A method for improving spectral efficiency in a cellular radio communication system having a fixed frequency allocation plan and a plurality of cells, comprising:
- (a) allocating the available carrier frequencies within the system to said cells with each carrier frequency providing one or more distinct communication channels so that a plurality of communication channels are available in each cell;
(b) establishing a pre-determined fractional load for selected cells, said pre-determined fractional load being less than the maximum number of available communication channels allocated to said cell; and
(c) spacing co-channel cells in said cellular communication system in a predetermined manner to meet a pre-determined signal quality standard based on said pre-determined fractional load for said selected cells.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fractional loading scheme is used to improve the spectral efficiency of a cellular system, and therefore increase the number of users that the system can support. The fractional loading scheme allows only a fraction of the total number of available communication channels within each cell to be used simultaneously. Thus, each cell is deliberately underloaded to operate at less than its full capacity. The underloading of the individual cells reduces the spectral efficiency within each cell. However, the underloading of each cell means that there will be fewer interfering users at any given time so that the co-channel interference is reduced. This reduction in co-channel interference allows the reuse distance between co-channel cells to be reduced thereby increasing the reuse of frequencies throughout the system resulting in an increase in spectral efficiency in the system as a whole.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for improving spectral efficiency in a cellular radio communication system having a fixed frequency allocation plan and a plurality of cells, comprising:
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(a) allocating the available carrier frequencies within the system to said cells with each carrier frequency providing one or more distinct communication channels so that a plurality of communication channels are available in each cell; (b) establishing a pre-determined fractional load for selected cells, said pre-determined fractional load being less than the maximum number of available communication channels allocated to said cell; and (c) spacing co-channel cells in said cellular communication system in a predetermined manner to meet a pre-determined signal quality standard based on said pre-determined fractional load for said selected cells. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A cellular radio communication system having a fixed frequency allocation scheme, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of cells, each cell being assigned one or more carrier frequencies which provide a plurality of distinct communication channels in each cell; (b) wherein selected cells are assigned a predetermined fractional load which is less than all of the available channels in said selected cells; and (c) wherein co-channel cells in said radio communication system are spaced in a predetermined manner to meet a pre-determined signal quality standard based on said predetermined fractional load in said selected cells. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for increasing the number of users in a multiple beam satellite communication system having a plurality of spot beams and a fixed frequency allocation scheme, comprising the steps of:
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(a) assigning the available carrier frequencies within the system to said spot beams with each carrier frequency providing one or more distinct communication channels so that a plurality of communication channels are available in each cell; (b) setting a pre-determined fractional load for selected spot beams, said predetermined fractional load being less than the maximum number of said communication channels allocated to said spot beam; and (c) spacing the co-channel spot beams in a predetermined manner to obtain a pre-determined minimum signal quality standard based on the assumption that the maximum number of communication channels operating within said selected spot beams does not exceed said pre-determined fractional load. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification