Method and device for maintaining the performance quality of a communication system in the presence of narrow band interference

• US 9,215,723 B2
• Filed: 04/09/2015
• Issued: 12/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ISCO International Inc.
• Original Assignee: ISCO International Inc.
• Inventors: Jagger, Charles E., Willetts, Mark N., Tobia, Micolino
• Primary Examiner(s): LO, DIANE LEE
• Application Number:
  US14/682,773
• Publication Number:
  US 20150214997A1
• Time in Patent Office: 250 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/10 Means associated with receiver for limiting or suppressing noise or interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/1036 with automatic suppression of narrow band noise or interference, e.g. by using tuneable notch filters H04B1/123 takes precedence; filter circuits H03H
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/71 the interference being narrowband interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7103 the interference being multiple access interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 15/00 Suppression or limitation of noise or interference by means associated with receiver H04B1/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/1063 using a notch filter
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/709709 Methods of preventing interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/709718 Determine interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/005 Control of transmission; Equalising
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/04 Error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/16 Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/20 Negotiating bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/243 taking into account interferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/245 taking into account received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 : using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 : using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 : Access point devices

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a process for scanning wireless signals in a wide frequency band, identifying from the wireless signals power levels in frequency channels that lie within the wide frequency band, determining an adaptive threshold according to at least some of the power levels in the frequency channels, identifying a frequency channel interferer based on the adaptive threshold, obtaining identification information for a source of the frequency channel interferer, and developing a strategy for responding to interference in the wide frequency band caused by the detected frequency channel interferer. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

analyzing, by a system comprising a processor, a wide frequency band with respect to signal power levels in specified frequency bands;

identifying, by the system, signal power levels received in the specified frequency bands;

determining, by the system, an adaptive threshold based on at least some of the signal power levels in the specified frequency bands;

identifying, by the system, an interferer according to the adaptive threshold, to obtain a detected interferer;

responsive to a detection of the interferer, obtaining, by the system, identification information for a source of the interferer; and

identifying, by the system, a strategy for responding to interference in the wide frequency band caused by the detected interferer, wherein the identifying of the strategy is according to the identification information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the adaptive threshold is based on a subset of the signal power levels in the specified frequency bands that excludes highest power levels.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the source transmits the identification information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the strategy comprises selective filtering of the interferer according to the strategy.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising selecting, by the system, a subset of narrow band notch modules from among a total number of available notch modules for the filtering of the interferer.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising submitting, by the system, to another system the identification information for the source of the interferer enabling the another system to determine the strategy according to the identification information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising submitting, by the system, information to another system about the detected interferer enabling the another system to determine the strategy according to the information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the another system causes a network element of the another system to perform the strategy.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the network element is a base station, wherein the interferer is a communication device wirelessly coupled to the base station, and wherein the base station causes the communication device to adjust operations of a wireless transmitter of the communication device according to the strategy.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the communication device performs one of adjusting operations of the wireless transmitter by causing the wireless transmitter to use a new transmission frequency, adjusting operations of the wireless transmitter by ceasing wireless transmissions to the base station, or both.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing, by the system, a request to another system to perform re-tasking of the source, wherein the another system is identified based on the identification information and wherein the interferer is selectively filtered according to the strategy.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the system, from the identification information of the interferer, a type of interferer, wherein the identification information comprises an electronic serial number for the source of the interferer; and

generating, by the system, a list of channels having interferers.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the system, a type of communication activity initiated by the interferer to obtain a detected type of communication activity, wherein the interferer is allowed to continue using a portion of the wide frequency band based on the detected type of communication activity.

14. A machine-readable storage device, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a circuit, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

scanning wireless signals in a wide frequency band;

identifying, from the wireless signals, power levels in frequency channels that lie within the wide frequency band;

determining an adaptive threshold according to at least some of the power levels measured in the frequency channels;

identifying a frequency channel interferer based on the adaptive threshold to obtain a detected frequency channel interferer;

responsive to a detection of the frequency channel interferer, obtaining identification information for a source of the frequency channel interferer; and

developing a strategy for responding to interference in the wide frequency band caused by the detected frequency channel interferer, wherein the developing of the strategy is according to the identification information.

15. The machine-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the determining of the adaptive threshold is according to a subset of the power levels that excludes highest power levels.

16. The machine-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the source transmits the identification information.

17. The machine-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise submitting the identification information, to a system, about the detected frequency channel interferer enabling the system to determine the strategy according to the identification information.

18. The machine-readable storage device of claim 17, wherein the system causes a network element of the system to perform the strategy.

19. A system, comprising:

a receiver that receives wireless signals;

a circuit; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the circuit, facilitate performance of operations comprising;

causing the receiver to scan a wide frequency band;

receiving wireless signals from the receiver, the signals associated with the wide frequency band;

identifying power levels in frequency bands from the wireless signals, wherein the frequency bands lie within the wide frequency band;

determining an adaptive threshold from at least some of the power levels measured in the frequency bands;

determining from the wireless signals an interferer based on the threshold, to obtain a detected interferer;

responsive to a detection of the interferer, identifying a base station providing communication services to a source of the interferer; and

providing a request to the base station to initiate a strategy for responding to interference in the wide frequency band caused by the detected interferer.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise intercepting identification information for the source of the interferer, wherein the source transmits the identification information, wherein the identifying of the base station providing the communication services to the source is according to the identification information, and wherein the strategy comprises one of instructing the source to reduce a transmit power, changing a transmit frequency for the source or both.