COLLABORATIVE INTERFERENCE MITIGATION BETWEEN PHYSICALLY-PROXIMATE NARROWBAND AND BROADBAND COMMUNICATION DEVICES

• US 20130183904A1
• Filed: 01/17/2012
• Published: 07/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Inventors: Hiben, Bradley M., Anderson, Henry W., Anderson, Jeff S., Oberlies, Bruce D.
• Granted Patent: US 10,264,587 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/63.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/20 for optimising the interference level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A communication pathway (145) can be established between physically collocated narrowband (135) and broadband (105) devices. The narrowband device (135) can identify a communication channel. A transmission frequency used by the broadband device (105) can be spectrally-proximate to a reception frequency used by the narrowband device (135) in a frequency range associated with the communication channel, resulting in interference of the narrowband device'"'"'s (135) reception when the broadband device (105) is transmitting and the narrowband device (135) is receiving concurrently. The narrowband device (135) can instruct the broadband device (105) to switch to a transmission spectrum block that is spectrally separated from the reception spectrum block of the communication channel to minimize interference between the devices when the narrowband device (135) handles a call assignment.

Claims

1. A method for mitigating radio frequency interference comprising:

establishing a communication pathway between a narrowband device and a broadband device, wherein the narrowband device and broadband device are physically collocated or within direct wireless communication range of each other;

identifying a communication channel by the narrowband device, wherein at least one transmission frequency used by the broadband device is spectrally-proximate to at least one reception frequency used by the narrowband device in a frequency range associated with the communication channel, resulting in interference of the narrowband device'"'"'s reception when the broadband device and the narrowband device are concurrently in use; and

conveying messages from the narrowband device to the broadband device to take at least one interference mitigation action, wherein said messages indicate when the narrowband device is in use and when the narrowband device is not in use, wherein the at least one interference mitigation action changes default behavior of the broadband device to eliminate or mitigate interference resulting from concurrent use of the narrowband and broadband devices in spectrally-proximate bands.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

dynamically determining that the at least one transmission frequency used by the broadband device is spectrally-proximate to the at least one reception frequency.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

dynamically using a priori knowledge that the at least one transmission frequency used by the broadband device is spectrally-proximate to the at least one reception frequency.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the messages conveyed from the narrowband device to the broadband device instruct the broadband device to utilize a frequency range that is spectrally separated from a frequency range of the communication channel.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the broadband device is unable to switch from an initial frequency range to one that is spectrally separated from the frequency range of the communication channel, prohibiting transmissions of the broadband device when the narrowband device is in use, wherein messages are conveyed between the broadband device and the narrowband device to ensure that the gating of transmissions occurs only when the narrowband device is in use.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said communication pathway is able to span a physical distance to connect the narrowband and broadband devices.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

handling a call assignment by the narrowband device by;

receiving of the call assignment by the narrowband device, wherein at least one transmission frequency used by the broadband device is spectrally-proximate to at least one reception frequency used by the narrowband device in the frequency range of the call assignment, resulting in interference of the narrowband device'"'"'s reception when the broadband device is transmitting and the narrowband device is receiving concurrently; and

when a frequency range of the call assignment is different than the frequency range of the identified communication channel, the narrowband device instructing of the broadband device to temporarily disable transmissions, whereby interference of the narrowband device'"'"'s reception is eliminated.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

handling a call assignment by the narrowband device; and

upon conclusion of the call assignment, instructing of the broadband device by the narrowband device to re-enable transmissions using a transmission spectrum block that was previously deemed to interfere with the narrowband communication channel.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

handling a call assignment by the narrowband device;

requesting a plurality of transmission data from the broadband device;

determining a likelihood that the broadband device'"'"'s transmission will interfere with the narrowband device'"'"'s reception of the call assignment, wherein said determination is at least based upon the plurality of transmission data, receiver parameters of the narrowband device, and a broadband-to-narrowband path loss value;

when it is determined that the broadband device'"'"'s transmission will interfere with the narrowband device, instructing the broadband device to temporarily disable transmissions; and

when it is determined that interference is unlikely, proceeding to handle the call assignment by the narrowband device, wherein operation of the broadband device remains unaffected by the narrowband device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the requested transmission data comprises at least a power of transmitters in the frequency range of the call assignment and a frequency of transmitters in the frequency range of the call assignment, wherein the operational parameters of the narrowband device comprise at least a power of the communication channel, a frequency of a voice channel for the call assignment, and an antenna isolation.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying of the communication channel further comprises:

instructing of the broadband device by the narrowband device to temporarily disable transmissions made using the transmission spectrum block that is spectrally-proximate to the frequency range associated with the communication channel;

scanning of the frequency range for a time period to detect the communication channel by the narrowband device;

when the communication channel is not found by an end of the time period, selecting a secondary frequency range having a second communication channel usable by the narrowband device;

instructing of the broadband device by the narrowband device to re-enable transmissions using the transmission spectrum block that was previously disabled; and

repeating the instructing of the broadband device to temporarily disable transmissions and the scanning of the frequency range for the selected secondary frequency range.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the narrowband device and the broadband device are mechanisms within a single communication apparatus.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the narrowband device and the broadband device are each discrete devices that operate independent of each other, wherein each of the broadband device and the narrowband device comprise a short range wireless transceiver, wherein the communication pathway is a wireless communication pathway utilizing the short range wireless transceivers of the narrowband device and the broadband device.

14. A system for mitigating interference comprising:

a 3GPP, 3GPP2 or WiMAX conforming network communication device configured to transmit and receive broadband communications using a network;

a narrowband communication device configured to transmit and receive narrowband communications using a narrowband communications network, wherein at least one reception frequency used by the narrowband communication device is spectrally-proximate to at least one transmission frequency used by the network communication device, resulting in interference of the narrowband communication device'"'"'s reception when the network communication device is transmitting and the narrowband communication device is receiving concurrently;

a first interference manager installed upon the narrowband communication device configured to mitigate the interference of the narrowband communication device'"'"'s reception by directing the network communication device to move its spectrum block or to turn its transmitter on and off;

a second interference manager installed upon the network communications device configured to receive and execute instructions from the first interference manager; and

a communications pathway between the first interference manager and the second interference manager configured to allow a direct exchange of data, wherein said communications pathway is active when the narrowband communication device and the network communication device are physically proximate to each other.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the first interference manager further comprises:

an interference detector configured to determine when transmissions of the network communication device made using a transmission spectrum block that is spectrally-proximate to a reception spectrum block of the narrowband communication device will cause interference with the narrowband communication device'"'"'s reception, wherein said determination is based upon a plurality of transmission data from the network communication device, operational parameters of the narrowband communication device, and a broadband-to-narrowband path loss value.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the communications pathway comprises at least one of a unidirectional data cable, a bidirectional data cable, a wireless communications technology, and electronic circuitry components.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the communications pathway utilizes a data protocol and a data bus.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the network communication device and the narrowband communication device are integrated components of a wireless communication device, wherein only the first interference manager is necessary to mitigate interference.

19. A computer program product for mitigating radio frequency interference between two proximate communication devices, the computer program product comprising:

one or more computer-readable, tangible storage devices;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to establish a communication pathway between a narrowband device and a broadband device, wherein the narrowband device and broadband device are physically collocated and said communication pathway is able to span a physical distance to connect the narrowband and broadband devices; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to identify a communication channel by the narrowband device, wherein at least one transmission frequency used by the broadband device is spectrally-proximate to at least one reception frequency used by the narrowband device in a frequency range associated with the communication channel, resulting in interference of the narrowband device'"'"'s reception when the broadband device is transmitting and the narrowband device is receiving concurrently; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, conveyed from the narrowband device to the broadband device to instruct the broadband device to switch from using a transmission spectrum block that is spectrally separated from the reception spectrum block of the frequency range of the identified communication channel, wherein interference is minimized when the broadband device is transmitting and the narrowband device is receiving concurrently due to the switch.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, when a frequency range of a call assignment is different than the frequency range of the communication channel, instruct the broadband device to temporarily disable transmissions made using the transmission spectrum block that is spectrally-proximate to the reception spectrum block of the call assignment, wherein interference of the narrowband device'"'"'s reception is eliminated; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, upon conclusion of the call assignment, instruct the broadband device to re-enable transmissions using the transmission spectrum block that was previously disabled, wherein, when the established communication pathway provides bidirectional communication, prior to instructing the broadband device said computer program product further comprises;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to request a plurality of transmission data from the broadband device;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to determine a likelihood that the broadband device'"'"'s transmission will interfere with the narrowband device'"'"'s reception of the call assignment, wherein said determination is at least based upon the plurality of transmission data, operational parameters of the narrowband device, and a broadband-to-narrowband path loss value; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, when it is determined that the broadband device'"'"'s transmission will interfere with the narrowband device, continuing with the program instruction of the broadband device to temporarily disable transmissions.