Local radio communication system

• US 7,110,759 B2
• Filed: 02/22/2002
• Issued: 09/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Inventel Systems
• Original Assignee: Inventel Systems
• Inventors: Carreel, Eric, Lewiner, Jacques
• Primary Examiner(s): Orgad, Edan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rego, Dominic E.
• Application Number:
  US10/469,429
• Publication Number:
  US 20040116114A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,670 Days
• Field of Search: 455/422.1, 455/434, 455/426.2, 455/514, 455/432.3, 455/41.2, 455/404.1, 455/424, 455/456.1, 455/466, 455/456.5, 455/453, 455/404.2, 455/561, 455/426.1, 455/41, 455/469.1, 455/62, 455/575.1
• US Class Current: 455/426.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/26 Resource reservation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/00 Synchronisation arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 based on quality criteria

Abstract

The invention relates to a local radio communication system comprising a central controller (9), several bases (7) which are connected to the controller and several terminals (5) which communicate with the bases. The bases (7) communicate with the terminals using a local radio communication protocol with time division multiple access. Said bases are adapted to real-time transmit chronological information to the controller releasing to the transmissions planned for said bases. The controller is adapted to determine if there is a risk of interferences occurring between the planned transmissions and to impose a chronology for said planned transmissions on the bases in order to limit said interferences.

Claims

1. A local radiocommunication system, comprising:

at least one central controller;

several bases connected to the controller and controlled by said controller; and

several terminals, each communicating with at least one of the bases according to a master/slave process where each base plays a role of master and each terminal plays a role of slave at least after setting up a radio link between said base and said terminal, the base communicating with the terminals according to the same time division multiple access local radiocommunication protocol, said protocol providing, for each base, successive time slots during which either an uplink information packet sent by a terminal to said base or a downlink information packet sent by said base to said terminal are transmitted, and said base being adapted to determine in advance and impose planned transmissions between said base and said terminal, said planned transmissions comprising planned transmissions of downlink information and planned slots of uplink information, where the terminal is authorized to transmit an uplink information packet to the base, and at least some of said bases are susceptible to reciprocal interference, preventing the reception by one of said bases of an uplink information packet when another of said bases is transmitting a downlink information packet, the different bases being adapted to transmit to the controller, in real time, at least chronological information relating to transmissions planned by said bases, the controller being adapted to determine whether there is a risk of interferences occurring between said planned transmissions, and to impose on the base a chronology of said planned transmissions which enables at least some of said interferences to be avoided.

2. The local radiocommunication system of claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to synchronize the different bases among themselves in such a way that all said bases transmit more or less during the same time slots and receive more or less during the same time slots.

3. The local radiocommunication system of claim 2, wherein the radiocommunication protocol provides transmission of standard-length information packets extending at most over one time slot, and transmissions of information packets of a longer duration extending over an odd number of more than one successive time slots, the controller being adapted to impose on the different bases that all the standard length uplink information packets corresponding to all said bases are transmitted during the same time slots alternately with other time slots in which all the standard-length, downlink information packets corresponding to all said bases are transmitted.

4. The local radiocommunication system of claim 3, wherein the radiocommunication protocol provides that the terminals send uplink information packets to the bases solely in response to a downlink information packet received from a base, and the controller is adapted to, when a base has to send a long information packet to a terminal, prevent the other bases from sending to the other terminals a downlink information packet requesting a response for the duration of the transmission of said long information packet, and, when a terminal has to send a long information packet to a base, prevent the other bases from sending a downlink information packet for the duration of the transmission of the long information packet.

5. The local radiocommunication system of claim 1, wherein the controller has in its memory information indicating pairs of bases susceptible to reciprocal interference, and is adapted to relay at least some of the planned transmissions only between said bases susceptible to reciprocal interference, so as to avoid at least some interferences.

6. The local radiocommunication system of claim 5, wherein the bases are adapted to each carry out measurements of the signals respectively received when the other bases are transmitting a radio signal, the controller being adapted to determine said pairs of bases susceptible to reciprocal interference on the bases of said measurements.

7. The local radiocommunication system of claim 6, wherein the bases are adapted to transmit to the controller, in addition to the chronological information, planned frequency information indicating the frequency at which the planned transmissions must take place, and wherein the controller has in its memory, for each pair of bases susceptible to reciprocal interference, information indicating pairs of interference frequencies at which said bases are susceptible to reciprocal interference, and wherein said controller is adapted to delay at least some of the planned transmissions only for said planned frequencies corresponding to a pair of interference frequencies between said bases susceptible to reciprocal interference, so as to avoid at least some interferences.

8. The local radiocommunication system of claim 1, wherein the bases are adapted to transmit to the controller, in addition to the chronological information, planned transmission category information indicating at least whether the information to be transmitted is or is not voice, and wherein the controller is adapted not to delay planned voice transmission.

9. The local radiocommunication system of claim 1, wherein the different bases are disposed in the immediate vicinity of one another.

10. The local radiocommunication system of claim 1, wherein the controller and the bases are contained in the same unit.

11. The local radiocommunication system of claim 1, wherein the controller also acts as a concentrator and makes the bases communicate with an external link.

12. The local radiocommunication system of claim 1, wherein the bases and the terminals are adapted to communicate according to the BLUETOOTH protocol.

13. A local radiocommunication system having several bases and several terminals, each terminal communicating with one of the bases according to a time division multiple access local radiocommunication protocol, said protocol providing, for each base, successive time slots during which either an uplink information packet sent by a terminal to said base, or a downlink information packet sent by said base to said terminal are transmitted, wherein at least some of said bases are susceptible to reciprocal interference and prevent the reception by one of said bases of an uplink information packet if another of said bases transmits a downstream information packet and, wherein the bases each comprise a network of antennas with controlled directivity and which are adapted to enable said network of antennas to adapt several configurations of antennas with different directivities, the local radiocommunications system comprising:

means to instigate successively the transmission of test radio signals by each base in different antenna configurations;

means to then measure the levels of radio signals received by the other bases;

means to measure the quality of the communication between the base which transmitted the test radio signal and the terminals; and

a central controller communicating with all the bases and controlling said bases, the central controller being adapted to determine, among the antenna configuration of each base used during the transmission of test radio signals, an antenna configuration adapted to minimize the level of radio signals received by the other bases during transmissions of said radio signals, while ensuring satisfactory quality of communication between the bases and all the terminals, said central controller being adapted to impose said configurations on the bases.

14. The local radiocommunication system of claim 13, wherein each base is adapted to transmit said test radio signals, to measure the levels of radio signals received following the test radio signals transmitted by the other bases, and to transmit said radio signal levels to the controller, wherein each terminal is adapted to transmit a response when it receives a test radio signal transmitted by a base, wherein each base is adapted to determine the identities of terminals which have responded to its test radio signals, to measure the levels of the signals received from the terminals in response to said test radio signals, and to transmit to the controller the identities and also said radio signal levels thus received from the terminals, said identities corresponding to the terminals which are able to communicate with the base concerned in the antenna configuration of the base which served to transmit the test signal, and wherein the controller is adapted to determine the respective antenna configurations of the different bases, enabling the radio signal levels received by the bases during the transmission of said test radio signals to be memorized, while ensuring that each terminal communicates in a satisfactory manner with at least one base with the antenna configurations.

15. The local radiocommunication system of claim 14, in which the bases are adapted to transmit to the controller, at regular time intervals, the identities of all the terminals belonging to the local radio communication system.

16. The local radiocommunication system of claim 13, wherein the controller is adapted to synchronize the different bases among themselves in such a way that all the bases transmit more or less during the same time slots and receive during more or less during the same time slots.

17. The local radiocommunication system of claim 13, wherein the different bases are disposed in the immediate vicinity of one another.

18. The local radiocommunication system of claim 13, wherein the controller and the bases are contained in the same unit.

19. The local radioconimunication system of claim 13, wherein the controller also acts as a concentrator and makes bases communicate with an external link.

20. The local radiocommunication system of claim 13, wherein the bases and the terminals are adapted to communicate according to the BLUETOOTH protocol.

21. The local radiocommunication system of claim 13, wherein the bases are adapted to transmit said test radio signals at time intervals between five seconds and one hour.

22. The local radiocommunication system of claim 13, wherein some of the terminals are beacons fixed in certain positions at a location served by the local radiocommunication network, said positions being adapted to guarantee that the totality of said location falls well within the radio coverage of the local radio communication network.