System and method for an underlay cellular system
First Claim
1. An underlay cellular system disposed within a main cellular system, said main cellular system having a plurality of contiguous cells, each of said cells having a fixed set of frequencies and a main controller operatively coupled to said cells for coordination and control of communication within said main cellular system, the underlay cellular system comprising:
- a channel activity detection system having at least one receiver subsystem and a controller for determining a set of statistically determined under-utilized frequencies within said fixed set of frequencies, monitoring means for monitoring the continual availability of said set of under-utilized frequencies, for updating said set of under-utilized frequencies responsive to said monitoring means, and means for reassigning said signals if any one of the set of under-utilized frequencies becomes in use by the main cellular system to another frequency in said set of under-utilized frequencies; and
at least one transceiver operatively coupled to said channel activity detection system for receiving and transmitting signals on any one frequency within said set of under-utilized frequencies,whereby the underlay cellular system operates without coordination and control of said main controller.
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Abstract
An underlay cellular telephone system disposed within a main cellular telephone system is provided. Specifically, the invention includes a system and method suitable to provide an independent cellular system which operates as an underlay system to an existing main cellular system and provides public or private cellular service without the need for system returning or frequency coordination with the main cellular system. The main cellular system includes a plurality of contiguous cells, each of said cells having a fixed set of frequencies (or "channels") and a main controller (also referred to as a "switch" or "MSC") operatively coupled to said cells for coordination and control of communication within the main cellular system. The underlay cellular system operates to determine which of the fixed set of frequencies are under-utilized and establishes communication over any number of the under-utilized frequencies without coordination and control by the main controller. The underlay cellular system monitors the continued availability of the under-utilized frequencies by detecting certain interference conditions, and updates the under-utilized frequencies.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. An underlay cellular system disposed within a main cellular system, said main cellular system having a plurality of contiguous cells, each of said cells having a fixed set of frequencies and a main controller operatively coupled to said cells for coordination and control of communication within said main cellular system, the underlay cellular system comprising:
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a channel activity detection system having at least one receiver subsystem and a controller for determining a set of statistically determined under-utilized frequencies within said fixed set of frequencies, monitoring means for monitoring the continual availability of said set of under-utilized frequencies, for updating said set of under-utilized frequencies responsive to said monitoring means, and means for reassigning said signals if any one of the set of under-utilized frequencies becomes in use by the main cellular system to another frequency in said set of under-utilized frequencies; and at least one transceiver operatively coupled to said channel activity detection system for receiving and transmitting signals on any one frequency within said set of under-utilized frequencies, whereby the underlay cellular system operates without coordination and control of said main controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. In a cellular telephone system including a plurality of contiguous cells, each of said cells having a fixed set of frequencies and a controller operatively coupled to said cells for coordination and control of communication within said cellular telephone system;
- an underlay cellular telephone system disposed within said cellular telephone system, characterized in that said underlay cellular telephone system operates to determine which of said fixed set of frequencies are statistically determined under-utilized and establishes communication over any number of the under-utilized frequencies, and then continues to monitor said under-utilized frequencies to detect any interference between said under-utilized frequencies and said fixed set of frequencies without coordination and control by said controller.
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9. A method of operating an underlay cellular telephone system disposed within a main cellular telephone system, said main system having a plurality of contiguous cells, each of said cells having a fixed set of channels and a main controller operatively coupled to said cells for coordination and control of communication within said main system, comprising the steps of:
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determining a set of statistically determined under-utilized channels within said fixed set of channels; processing communication on any one channel within said fixed set of channels; detecting the continual availability of said set of under-utilized channels by measuring interference between said set of under-utilized channels and said set of fixed channels; reassigning communication on said any one channel if said channel becomes in use by said main system, to another channel within said set of under-utilized channel; and updating said set of under-utilized channels responsive to said step of detecting, whereby the underlay cellular telephone system operates without coordination and control by said main controller. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An underlay cellular telephone system disposed within a main cellular telephone system, said main cellular system having a plurality of contiguous cells, each of said cells having a fixed set of channels and a main controller operatively coupled to said cells for coordination and control of communication within said main system, the underlay cellular system comprising:
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at least one receiver subsystem for scanning rf activity on said fixed set of channels and recording the received signal strength of each of said fixed set of channels; a channel activity detection system for receiving the received signal strength of each of said fixed set of channels and including selecting means to select certain channels within said fixed set of channels to form a set of statistically determined under-utilized channels; at least one transceiver operatively coupled to said channel activity detection system for receiving and transmitting signals on any one channel within said set of under-utilized channels, wherein said channel activity detection system further comprises monitoring means for detecting which any one of said under-utilized channels becomes in use by said main cellular system, and including updating means for updating said set of under-utilized channels responsive to said monitoring means; and hand off means for reassigning any one of said under-utilized channels if it becomes in use by the main system, to another channel within said set of under-utilized channels, whereby said underlay cellular system operates without coordination and control by said main controller. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification