Overlay of millimeter wave (mmWave) on citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) for next generation fixed wireless (NGFW) deployment

• US 10,694,395 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2019
• Issued: 06/23/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wong, Tony Wah-Tung, Kapoulas, Spyridon, Jayaram, Rajeev
• Primary Examiner(s): Milord, Marceau
• Application Number:
  US16/532,561
• Publication Number:
  US 20190387413A1
• Time in Patent Office: 322 Days
• Field of Search: 455454, 455 111, 455443, 455447, 455453, 455450, 4554521, 455 62, 455 631, 455464
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5019 Ensuring fulfilment of SLA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/10 Dynamic resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/26 Cell enhancers or enhancement, e.g. for tunnels, building shadow
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/32 Hierarchical cell structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/20 between access points

Abstract

An overlay of millimeter wave (mmWave)-capable cells are added to a citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) network to provide coverage in a next generation fixed wireless (NGFW) network. The availability of mmWave spectrum, with limited reach, can be utilized as a wireless backhaul for subsequent hops. In one aspect, integrated access front-haul nodes (IAFHNs) that are utilized for mmWave transmissions at a second (and/or subsequent) hop can be deployed with self aligning receivers. Further, the IAFHNs can facilitate adaptive resource allocation scheduling in an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) chain. In addition, an interface between macro access points can be enhanced to enable the adaptive resource allocation on the IAB chain. In one aspect, a fixed user equipment (UE) can be configured with dual connectivity (DC) and a network operator can offer different tiers of services based on a location of the UE.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

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

transmitting data signals using a citizens broadband radio service radio of a citizens broadband radio service network coverage area;

overlaying the citizens broadband radio service network coverage with millimeter wave network coverage that is generated via tiered millimeter wave radios that are configured in an integrated access and backhaul chain that utilize the backhaul resources;

facilitating a backhaul transmission between a first millimeter wave radio of the tiered millimeter wave radios and a second millimeter wave radio of the tiered millimeter wave radios via a first antenna that is configured to have a first gain;

facilitating a non-backhaul transmission between the first millimeter wave radio and a served user equipment via a second antenna configured to have a second gain, and wherein the first gain is higher than the second gain; and

performing adaptive resource allocation for millimeter wave transmissions based on traffic demand information associated with the tiered millimeter wave radios.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise directing, to a macro access point device, frequency utilization data to facilitate frequency reuse planning, and wherein the frequency utilization data is indicative of frequency bands utilized by a third millimeter wave radio of the tiered millimeter wave radios.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the directing comprises directing the frequency utilization data via an Xn interface.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first gain is set to satisfy a high gain criterion, and wherein the high gain criterion is defined to generate a directional antenna beam that provides a wireless backhaul link.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first antenna is controlled to point in a direction of a third millimeter wave radio within a first tier of the tiered millimeter wave radios, and wherein the first millimeter wave radio is within a second tier of the tiered millimeter wave radios.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting a first signal to a dual band user equipment via the citizens broadband radio service radio, wherein the first signal is transmitted via a priority access license frequency band of a citizens broadband radio service spectrum; and

transmitting a second signal to the dual band user equipment via a millimeter wave radio of the tiered millimeter wave radios, and wherein antennas of the dual band user equipment have been aligned based on a first location of the citizens broadband radio service radio and a second location of the millimeter wave radio.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving address data indicative of an area in which a user equipment is to be utilized; and

based on an analysis of the citizens broadband radio service network coverage area and the millimeter wave network coverage area, determining speed-tier data indicative of a downlink data throughput that is able to be provided to the user equipment within the area.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the performing the adaptive resource allocation is based on service level agreement data.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the performing the adaptive resource allocation is based on radio frequency condition data associated with the tiered millimeter wave radios.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the performing the adaptive resource allocation is based on target quality of service data.

11. A method, comprising:

facilitating, by a system comprising a processor, transmitting data signals via a citizens broadband radio service frequency band, wherein the facilitating the transmitting enables a first coverage area;

facilitating, by the system, a backhaul transmission between a first millimeter wave radio of millimeter wave radios and a second millimeter wave radio of the millimeter wave radios via a first antenna that is configured to have a first gain;

facilitating, by the system, a non-backhaul transmission between the first millimeter wave radio and a served user equipment via a second antenna that is configured to have a second gain, wherein the first gain is higher than the second gain, and wherein the backhaul transmission and the non-backhaul transmission enable a second coverage area overlapping at least a portion of the first coverage area; and

based on resource block demand data associated with the millimeter wave radios, facilitating, by the system, performing adaptive resource allocation for the backhaul transmission and the non-backhaul transmission.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the facilitating the performing of the adaptive resource allocation comprises determining an allocation of resource blocks based on service level agreement data.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the facilitating the performing of the adaptive resource allocation comprises determining an allocation of resource blocks based on radio frequency condition data associated with a third millimeter wave radio of the millimeter wave radios.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the facilitating the performing of the adaptive resource allocation comprises determining an allocation of resource blocks based on quality of service data.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

facilitating, by the system, receiving report data indicative of attributes of a third millimeter wave radio of the millimeter wave radios; and

based on the report data, determining, by the system, a distribution of millimeter wave spectrum among the millimeter wave radios.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

facilitating, by the system, transferring of first signal data to a dual band user equipment via a citizens broadband radio service radio, wherein the first signal data is transferred using a priority access license frequency band of a citizens broadband radio service spectrum; and

facilitating, by the system, transferring of second signal data to the dual band user equipment via the second millimeter wave radio, wherein antennas of the dual band user equipment have been aligned based on a first location of the citizens broadband radio service radio and a second location of the second millimeter wave radio.

17. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a network node device, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

facilitating a backhaul communication between a first millimeter wave radio of millimeter wave radios and a second millimeter wave radio of the millimeter wave radios via a first antenna that is configured with a first gain that satisfies a high gain criterion;

facilitating a broadcast of signals from the first millimeter wave radio to a served user equipment via a second antenna that is configured with a second gain that does not satisfy the high gain criterion, wherein the facilitating the broadcast provides millimeter wave coverage that overlaps a citizens broadband radio service coverage; and

performing adaptive resource allocation to schedule resource blocks of the signals.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise:

aligning the first antenna in a first direction towards the second millimeter wave radio; and

aligning the second antenna in a second direction towards a defined area to serve the user equipment.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining report data indicative of attributes of the network node device; and

transferring the report data to the second millimeter wave radio to facilitate a distribution of millimeter wave spectrum among the millimeter wave radios.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the report data comprises sector configuration data associated with the network node device.