Resolution algorithms for multi-radio coexistence

• US 8,886,126 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2009
• Issued: 11/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Mantravadi, Ashok, Kadous, Tamer A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wendell, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US12/615,777
• Publication Number:
  US 20110009136A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,827 Days
• Field of Search: 455/423, 455/501, 455/522, 455/63.1, 455/67.11, 455/67.13, 455/550.1, 455/552.1, 455/553.1, 455/278.1, 455/296, 370/318, 370/332, 375/220
• US Class Current: 455/67.11
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/06 Testing, supervising or monitoring using simulated traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described herein that facilitate resolution between respective radios associated with a multi-radio wireless device. As described herein, various techniques can be utilized with a multi-radio coexistence manager and/or other suitable mechanisms associated with a wireless device to perform joint resolution for multiple associated radios, thereby providing performance enhancements over conventional piecewise radio resolution schemes. Various exhaustive, decoupled, and progressive radio resolution algorithms are provided herein, by which respective sets of parameters (e.g., transmit powers, interference targets, frequency sub-bands, radio frequency knob settings, etc.) can be selected for respective potentially conflicting radios to enable such radios to operate in coexistence. Further, techniques are provided herein for utilizing a graph theoretic algorithm for progressive radio resolution. In addition, a generic power resolution algorithm can be modified to provide support for multi-transmitter interference mechanisms by employing modifications such as joint power resolution and/or one-pass or iterative interference partitioning.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

identifying a set of radios of a user equipment;

identifying sets of candidate parameters for operation of respective identified radios, the sets of candidate parameters comprising input parameters for substantially all combinations of input communication events associated with the set of radios including a plurality of input communication events within one radio of the set of radios;

binning respective input parameters based on one or more predetermined radio operation quality level parameters;

obtaining output parameters for the respective identified radios from respective binned input parameters;

selecting a respective set of parameters from the identified sets of candidate parameters based at least in part on the plurality of input communication events within the one radio of the set of radios, in which at least a portion of the identified radios can operate substantially simultaneously on the user equipment according to the output parameters associated with the selected set of parameters;

constructing a graph at least in part by representing respective identified radios as clusters of nodes, wherein nodes in respective clusters correspond to candidate parameter configurations for the respective identified radios, and generating edges between respective potentially conflicting radios that correspond to parameters with which the respective radios can operate substantially simultaneously; and

selecting a set of identified candidate parameters corresponding to a set of edges in the graph that connect nodes corresponding to substantially all potentially conflicting identified radios in the graph.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting comprises selecting respective sets of parameters based on which at least a portion of the identified radios can operate substantially simultaneously at a predefined quality level defined as a function of one or more of receiver interference level or acceptable power backoff.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sets of candidate parameters comprise one or more of frequency sub-band parameters, power parameters, or radio frequency (RF) Knob settings.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting a set of identified candidate parameters comprises:

eliminating respective nodes in the graph corresponding to parameters for respective corresponding radios that do not have at least one parameter edge to substantially all radios that potentially conflict with the respective corresponding radios;

iterating the eliminating until the eliminating results in elimination of substantially no nodes, thereby obtaining a remaining set of nodes; and

selecting a set of identified candidate parameters corresponding to a set of edges in the graph that connect respective nodes in the remaining set of nodes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting a set of identified candidate parameters comprises performing priority-based iteration upon determining that a set of edges in the graph that connect substantially all potentially conflicting radios in the graph does not exist.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the constructing a graph comprises:

constructing nodes corresponding to transmit power parameters of respective transmitter radios and reported tolerable interference levels of respective receiver radios; and

constructing edges that connect respective nodes corresponding to transmit power parameters to respective nodes corresponding to tolerable interference levels that the transmit power parameters are capable of satisfying.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the selecting further comprises adjusting the tolerable interference levels of the respective receiver radios to account for interference from multiple transmitter radios.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the adjusting comprises decreasing tolerable interference levels of the respective receiver radios for respective transmitter radios to account for combined interference impact of the respective transmitter radios.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the decreasing comprises decreasing tolerable interference levels of the respective receiver radios by variable amounts at the respective transmitter radios as a function of radio conditions of the respective transmitter radios.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the adjusting further comprises determining a number of transmitter radios connected to respective receiver radios and partitioning interference among respective transmitter radios connected to respective receiver radios by scaling down interference targets associated with the respective receiver radios by the number of transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios; and

the selecting further comprises determining a maximum transmit power for communication from respective transmitter radios to respective connected receiver radios based on receiver interference targets, transmitter frequency sub-bands, or receiver frequency sub-bands and selecting a minimum of determined maximum transmit powers for the respective transmitter radios as power resolutions for the respective transmitter radios.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the adjusting further comprises determining interference caused by respective transmitter radios connected to respective receiver radios based on the power resolutions for the respective transmitter radios and partitioning interference for the respective receiver radios in proportion to the interference caused by the respective transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios; and

the selecting further comprises repeating the determining a maximum transmit power and the selecting a minimum of determined maximum transmit powers for the respective transmitter radios upon completion of the partitioning interference for the respective receiver radios.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the selecting further comprises:

identifying one or more dominant interfering transmitter radios for respective receiver radios; and

performing the selecting only for respective identified dominant interfering transmitter radios for the respective receiver radios.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the constructing a graph comprises:

constructing nodes corresponding to transmit power parameters of respective transmitter radios and combinations of transmit powers that are suitable for meeting respective tolerable interference levels of respective receiver radios; and

constructing edges that connect respective nodes corresponding to combined transmit power parameters to respective nodes corresponding to tolerable interference levels that the combined transmit power parameters are capable of satisfying.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the constructing a graph comprises:

constructing nodes corresponding to RF Knob settings of respective radios; and

constructing edges that connect respective nodes corresponding to compatible RF Knob settings for potentially conflicting radios.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the constructing a graph comprises:

constructing nodes corresponding to frequency sub-bands usable by respective radios; and

constructing edges that connect respective nodes corresponding to frequency sub-bands for which a power level can be chosen to meet a predefined interference target between a set of corresponding potentially conflicting radios.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting a set of identified candidate parameters comprises:

identifying a plurality of sets of identified candidate parameters corresponding to sets of edges in the graph that connect nodes corresponding to substantially all potentially conflicting identified radios in the graph; and

selecting a set of identified candidate parameters from the plurality of sets of identified candidate parameters using a cost function.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the cost function is defined according to at least one of power consumption or optimal radio performance.

18. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a memory that stores data relating to a set of potentially conflicting radios of the apparatus; and

a processor configured;

to determine sets of candidate operating parameters for respective potentially conflicting radios, the sets of candidate operating parameters comprising input parameters for substantially all combinations of input communication events associated with the set of potentially conflicting radios including a plurality of input communication events within one radio of the potentially conflicting radios,

to bin respective input parameters based on one or more predetermined radio operation quality level parameters,

to obtain output parameters for respective potentially conflicting radios from respective binned input parameters,

to select respective candidate operating parameters based at least in part on the plurality of input communication events within the one radio of the potentially conflicting radios, in which at least a portion of the potentially conflicting radios can operate substantially simultaneously on the apparatus according to the output parameters associated with the selected operating parameters;

to construct a graph at least in part by representing respective potentially conflicting radios as clusters of nodes comprising nodes that correspond to respective candidate parameter configurations for corresponding potentially conflicting radios and generating edges between nodes corresponding to parameters with which respective potentially conflicting radios associated with the nodes can operate substantially simultaneously, and

to select respective candidate operating parameters corresponding to a set of edges in the graph that connect nodes representing substantially all potentially conflicting identified radios.

19. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to select respective candidate operating parameters for the respective potentially conflicting radios based on which at least a portion of the potentially conflicting radios can operate substantially simultaneously at a predefined quality level defined as a function of one or more of interference targets or acceptable power backoff.

20. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the candidate operating parameters comprise one or more of frequency sub-band parameters, power parameters, or radio frequency (RF) Knob settings.

21. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to discard respective nodes in the graph corresponding to operating parameters for respective corresponding radios that do not have at least one parameter edge to nodes associated with substantially all radios that potentially conflict with the respective corresponding radios, to iterate discarding until the discarding results in elimination of substantially no nodes, and to select candidate operating parameters from among a set of edges in the graph that connect respective non-discarded nodes.

22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to perform priority-based iteration upon determining that a set of edges in the graph that connect substantially all potentially conflicting radios represented in the graph does not exist.

23. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to construct the graph at least in part by generating nodes corresponding to transmit power parameters of respective transmitter radios and reported tolerable interference levels of respective receiver radios and generating edges that connect respective nodes corresponding to tolerable interference levels to respective nodes representing transmit power parameters that satisfy the tolerable interference levels.

24. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to adjust the tolerable interference levels of the respective receiver radios to account for interference from multiple transmitter radios.

25. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processor is further configured to decrease tolerable interference levels of respective receiver radios with respect to transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios to account for combined interference impact of the transmitter radios.

26. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processor is further configured to decrease tolerable interference levels of respective receiver radios by variable amounts with respect to transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios as a function of radio conditions of the transmitter radios.

27. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a number of transmitter radios connected to respective receiver radios;

to partition interference among respective transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios by scaling down interference targets associated with the respective receiver radios by the number of transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios;

to determine a maximum transmit power for communication from respective transmitter radios to respective connected receiver radios based on receiver interference targets, transmitter frequency sub-bands, or receiver frequency sub-bands; and

to select a minimum of determined maximum transmit powers for the respective transmitter radios as power resolutions for the respective transmitter radios.

28. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to determine interference caused by transmitter radios connected to respective receiver radios based on the power resolutions for the respective transmitter radios, to re-partition interference for the respective receiver radios in proportion to the interference caused by the transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios, to determine updated maximum transmit powers for the respective transmitter radios based on re-partitioned interference for the respective receiver radios, and to select a minimum of updated maximum transmit powers for the respective transmitter radios as updated power resolutions for the respective transmitter radios.

29. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to identify one or more dominant interfering transmitter radios for respective receiver radios and to select power resolutions only for respectively identified dominant interfering transmitter radios for the respective receiver radios.

30. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to construct the graph at least in part by generating nodes corresponding to transmit power parameters of respective transmitter radios and combinations of transmit powers that are suitable for meeting respective tolerable interference levels of respective receiver radios and generating edges that connect nodes corresponding to combined transmit power parameters to respective nodes corresponding to tolerable interference levels that the combined transmit power parameters are capable of satisfying.

31. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to construct the graph at least in part by generating nodes corresponding to RF Knob settings of respective radios and generating edges that connect respective nodes corresponding to compatible RF Knob settings for pairs of potentially conflicting radios.

32. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to construct the graph at least in part by generating nodes corresponding to frequency sub-bands usable by respective radios and generating edges that connect respective nodes corresponding to frequency sub-bands for which a power level can be chosen to meet a predefined interference target between respective pairs of potentially conflicting radios.

33. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to identify a plurality of sets of candidate operating parameters for respective potentially conflicting radios corresponding to sets of edges in the graph that connect nodes corresponding to substantially all potentially conflicting radios and to select a set of candidate operating parameters using a cost function.

34. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 33, wherein the cost function is defined according to at least one of power consumption or optimal radio performance.

35. An apparatus, comprising:

means for identifying a plurality of usable radios of the apparatus and respective sets of candidate parameters for operation of the plurality of usable radios, the sets of candidate parameters comprising input parameters for substantially all combinations of input communication events associated with the plurality of radios including a plurality of input communication events within one radio of the plurality of usable radios;

means for binning respective input parameters based on one or more predetermined radio operation quality level parameters;

means for obtaining output parameters for the respective identified radios from respective binned input parameters;

means for selecting parameters for operation of the plurality of usable radios from the respective sets of candidate parameters based at least in part on the plurality of input communication events within the one radio of the plurality of usable radios, to enable substantial coexistence between the plurality of usable radios on the apparatus based on output parameters associated with the selected parameters for operation;

means for constructing a graph at least in part by representing respective usable radios as clusters of nodes, the clusters of nodes respectively comprising nodes that correspond to respective candidate parameter configurations for corresponding radios, and generating edges between nodes corresponding to parameters for which respective usable radios associated with the nodes can substantially coexist; and

means for selecting parameters for operation of the plurality of usable radios corresponding to a set of edges in the graph that connect nodes representing substantially all potentially conflicting usable radios in the graph.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for selecting comprises means for selecting respective parameters based on which at least a portion of the plurality of usable radios can operate substantially simultaneously at a predefined quality level defined as a function of one or more of receiver interference level or acceptable power backoff.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for selecting comprises means for selecting one or more of frequency sub-band parameters, power parameters, or radio frequency (RF) Knob settings for operation of the plurality of usable radios.

38. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for selecting further comprises:

means for discarding respective nodes in the graph corresponding to parameters for operation of respective radios that do not have at least one parameter edge to nodes associated with substantially all radios that potentially conflict with the respective corresponding radios;

means for iterating execution of the means for discarding until execution of the means for discarding results in elimination of substantially no nodes; and

means for selecting parameters for operation of the plurality of usable radios from among a set of edges in the graph that connect respective non-discarded nodes.

39. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for selecting further comprises means for conducting priority-based iteration upon determining that a set of edges in the graph that connect substantially all potentially conflicting radios in the graph does not exist.

40. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for constructing a graph comprises:

means for generating respective nodes corresponding to transmit power parameters of respective transmitter radios and reported tolerable interference levels of respective receiver radios; and

means for generating edges that connect respective nodes representing tolerable interference levels to respective nodes representing transmit power parameters that satisfy the tolerable interference levels.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the means for selecting further comprises means for adjusting the tolerable interference levels of the respective receiver radios to account for interference from multiple transmitter radios.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the means for adjusting comprises means for decreasing tolerable interference levels of respective receiver radios with respect to transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios to account for combined interference impact of the transmitter radios.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the means for decreasing comprises means for decreasing tolerable interference levels of respective receiver radios by variable amounts with respect to transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios as a function of radio conditions of the transmitter radios.

44. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein:

the means for adjusting comprises means for determining a number of transmitter radios connected to respective receiver radios and means for partitioning interference among respective transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios by scaling down tolerable interference levels associated with the respective receiver radios by the number of transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios; and

the means for selecting further comprises means for determining a maximum transmit power for respective transmitter radios based on scaled tolerable interference levels of connected receiver radios, transmitter frequency sub-bands, or receiver frequency sub-bands and means for selecting a minimum of determined maximum transmit powers for the respective transmitter radios as power resolutions for the respective transmitter radios.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein:

the means for adjusting further comprises means for determining interference caused by transmitter radios connected to respective receiver radios based on the power resolutions for the respective transmitter radios and means for re-partitioning interference for the respective receiver radios in proportion to the interference caused by the transmitter radios connected to the respective receiver radios; and

the means for selecting further comprises means for determining updated maximum transmit powers for the respective transmitter radios based on re-partitioned interference for the respective receiver radios and means for selecting a minimum of updated maximum transmit powers for the respective transmitter radios as updated power resolutions for the respective transmitter radios.

46. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the means for selecting further comprises:

means for identifying one or more dominant interfering transmitter radios for respective receiver radios; and

means for selecting power resolutions only for respectively identified dominant interfering transmitter radios for the respective receiver radios.

47. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for constructing a graph comprises:

means for generating nodes corresponding to transmit power parameters of respective transmitter radios and combinations of transmit powers that are suitable for meeting respective tolerable interference levels of respective receiver radios; and

means for generating edges that connect nodes corresponding to combined transmit power parameters to respective nodes corresponding to tolerable interference levels that the combined transmit power parameters are capable of satisfying.

48. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for constructing a graph comprises:

means for generating nodes corresponding to RF Knob settings of respective usable radios; and

means for generating edges that connect respective nodes corresponding to compatible RF Knob settings for respective pairs of potentially conflicting radios.

49. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for constructing a graph comprises:

means for generating nodes corresponding to frequency sub-bands on which respective usable radios are configured for operation; and

means for generating edges that connect respective nodes corresponding to frequency sub-bands for which a power level can be chosen to enable substantial coexistence between respective pairs of potentially conflicting radios.

50. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for selecting further comprises:

means for identifying a plurality of candidate parameters for operation of respective usable radios corresponding to sets of edges in the graph that connect nodes corresponding to substantially all potentially conflicting usable radios; and

means for selecting candidate parameters from among the plurality of candidate parameters according to a cost function.

51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the cost function is defined according to at least one of power consumption or optimal radio performance.

52. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising;

code for causing a computer to identify a set of potentially conflicting radios of a user equipment;

code for causing a computer to determine candidate operating parameters for respective potentially conflicting radios, the sets of candidate operating parameters comprising input parameters for substantially all combinations of input communication events associated with the set of potentially conflicting radios including a plurality of input communication events within one radio of the set of potentially conflicting radios;

code for binning respective input parameters based on one or more predetermined radio operation quality level parameters;

code for obtaining output parameters for respective potentially conflicting radios from respective binned input parameters;

code for causing a computer to select respective candidate operating parameters based at least in part on the plurality of input communication events within the one radio of the set of potentially conflicting radios, in which at least a portion of the potentially conflicting radios can operate substantially simultaneously on the user equipment according to the output parameters associated with the selected operating parameters;

code for constructing a graph at least in part by representing respective usable radios as clusters of nodes, the clusters of nodes respectively comprising nodes that correspond to respective candidate parameter configurations for corresponding radios, and generating edges between nodes corresponding to parameters for which respective usable radios associated with the nodes can substantially coexist; and

code for selecting parameters for operation of the plurality of usable radios corresponding to a set of edges in the graph that connect nodes representing substantially all potentially conflicting usable radios in the graph.

53. An integrated circuit that executes a set of machine-executable instructions, the set of machine-executable instructions comprising:

identifying a plurality of usable radios within a user equipment and respective sets of candidate parameters for operation of the plurality of usable radios, the sets of candidate parameters comprising input parameters for substantially all combinations of input communication events associated with the set of radios including a plurality of input communication events within one radio of the plurality of usable radios;

selecting parameters for operation of the plurality of usable radios from the respective sets of candidate parameters based at least in part on the plurality of input communication events within the one radio of the plurality of usable radios, to enable substantial coexistence between the plurality of usable radios;

constructing a graph at least in part by representing respective identified radios as clusters of nodes, wherein nodes in respective clusters correspond to candidate parameter configurations for the respective identified radios, and generating edges between respective potentially conflicting radios that correspond to parameters with which the respective radios can operate substantially simultaneously; and

selecting a set of identified candidate parameters corresponding to a set of edges in the graph that connect nodes corresponding to substantially all potentially conflicting identified radios in the graph.