Method and arrangement for interference mitigation

• US 9,819,470 B2
• Filed: 05/22/2012
• Issued: 11/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Fodor, Gbor, Kazmi, Muhammad, Wang, Yi-Pin Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamza, Faruk
• Assistant Examiner(s): DECKER, CASSANDRA L
• Application Number:
  US14/402,475
• Publication Number:
  US 20150139004A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,002 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0036 at the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0062 Avoidance of ingress interference, e.g. ham radio channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/14 Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference

Abstract

A method in a network node for assisting a first user equipment in interference mitigation. The network node is comprised in a cellular communications network. The cellular communications network further comprises the first user equipment and a second user equipment. The second user equipment causes interference to the first user equipment when at least one of the first user equipment and second user equipment communicate by using Device-to-Device communication. The network node obtains information about the receiver of the first user equipment. The network node then determines one or more parameters required by the first user equipment for mitigating the interference. The parameters relate to the obtained information and to the interfering second user equipment. The network node then sends the one or more parameters to the first user equipment thereby assisting the first user equipment to mitigate interference caused by the second user equipment.

Claims

1. A method in a network node for assisting a first user equipment in interference mitigation, which network node is comprised in a cellular communications network, which cellular communications network further comprises the first user equipment and a second user equipment, which second user equipment causes interference to the first user equipment when the first user equipment communicates by using Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, the method comprising:

obtaining information about a receiver of the first user equipment;

determining at least one parameter usable by the first user equipment for selecting a receiver type, when the first user equipment is using D2D communication and comprises more than one receiver that supports D2D communication, and algorithm for mitigating the interference caused by the second user equipment, which at least one parameter relates to the obtained information and to the interfering second user equipment, the at least one parameter including a timing of an interference signal; and

sending the at least one parameter to the first user equipment thereby assisting the first user equipment to mitigate the interference caused by the second user equipment.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving from the first user equipment, information that the first user equipment has capability of mitigating interference.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information about the receiver comprises at least one of receiver type and algorithms used by the first user equipment for mitigating the interference caused by the second user equipment.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining the information about the receiver is performed explicitly by receiving the information from the first user equipment.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining the information about the receiver is performed implicitly by deriving the information from one of the first user equipment reported radio measurements and performance indicators.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising obtaining information about at least one of a location of the second user equipment and radio measurements performed by the second user equipment, and wherein determining the at least one parameter further is based on at least one of (a) the location of the second user equipment, (b) relative location between the second user equipment and the first user equipment and (c) radio measurements performed by the first user equipment on signals transmitted by the second user equipment.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the cellular communications network further comprises a plurality of user equipments including the second user equipment, and wherein the determining the at least one parameter further comprises determining which of the plurality of user equipments are causing the interference to the first user equipment.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising obtaining information about radio operational parameters in the cellular communications network, and wherein the determining the at least one parameter is further based on the radio operational parameters in the cellular communications network.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the radio operational parameters relate to at least one of:

network synchronization, cell size and cell load.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determined at least one parameter further comprises at least one of:

transport format, signal pattern, information about reference symbols, number of layers, precoder matrix used for each layer, antenna configuration, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) channelization code, scrambling code information, information related to scheduling and information related to configuration of physical signals.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

performing one of a radio operation task and a Radio Resource Management (RRM) action based on the interference being mitigated by the first user equipment.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising forwarding the information about the receiver of the first user equipment to a second network node.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter is associated with at least one of (a) at least one specific channel and (b) physical signals causing the interference.

14. A method in a first user equipment for mitigating interference, which first user equipment is served by a network node comprised in a cellular communications network, which cellular communications network further comprises the first user equipment and a second user equipment, which second user equipment causes interference to the first user equipment when the first user equipment communicates by using Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, the method comprising:

receiving at least one parameter from the network node, which at least one parameter relates to information about a receiver of the first user equipment and to the interfering second user equipment, the at least one parameter including a timing of an interference signal; and

selecting a receiver type, when the first user equipment is using D2D communication and comprises more than one receiver that supports D2D communication, and algorithm for mitigating the interference caused by the second user equipment according to the at least one parameter received from the network node.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising sending information to the network node, which information comprises that the first user equipment has capability of mitigating interference.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the sending information to the network node further comprises sending information about the receiver of the first user equipment.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the information about the receiver comprises at least one of receiver type and algorithms used by the first user equipment for mitigating the interference caused by the second user equipment.

18. The method according to claim 14, wherein mitigating the interference caused by the second user equipment comprises at least one of suppressing, reducing, eliminating and canceling said interference.

19. The method according to claim 14, wherein the received at least one parameter further comprises at least one of:

transport format, signal pattern, information about reference symbols, number of layers, precoder matrix used for each layer, antenna configuration, scrambling code information, scheduling, and a number of a plurality of user equipments including the second user equipment that causes interference to the first user equipment.

20. The method according to claim 14, wherein the cellular communications network further comprises a plurality of user equipments including the second user equipment, wherein the received at least one parameter is further used for determining which of at least one of the plurality of user equipments are causing interference to the first user equipment and the respective corresponding interference level of the at least one of the plurality of user equipments that are causing the interference.

21. The method according to claim 14, wherein the at least one parameter further relates to at least one of (a) at least one of information about radio operational parameters in the cellular communications network and location of the second user equipment and (b) radio measurements performed by the second user equipment.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the radio operational parameters relate to at least one of:

network synchronization, cell size and cell load.

23. The method according to claim 14, wherein the received at least one parameter is associated with at least one of (a) at least one specific channel and (b) physical signals causing the interference.

24. A network node for assisting a first user equipment in interference mitigation, which network node is configured to be included in a cellular communications network, which cellular communications network further is configured to include the first user equipment and a second user equipment, which second user equipment is configured to cause interference to the first user equipment when the first user equipment communicates by using Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, the network node comprising:

an obtaining circuit configured to obtain information about a receiver of the first user equipment;

a determining circuit configured to determine at least one parameter useable by the first user equipment for selecting a receiver type, when the first user equipment is using D2D communication and comprises more than one receiver that supports D2D communication, and algorithm for mitigating the interference caused by the second user equipment, which at least one parameter relates to the obtained information and to the interfering second user equipment, the at least one parameter including a timing of an interference signal; and

a sending circuit configured to send the at least one parameter to the first user equipment thereby assisting the first user equipment to mitigate the interference caused by the second user equipment.

25. The network node according to claim 24, further comprising a receiving circuit configured to receive from the first user equipment, information that the first user equipment has capability of mitigating interference.

26. The network node according to claim 24, wherein the information about the receiver comprises at least one of receiver type and algorithms adapted to be used by the first user equipment for mitigating the interference caused by the second user equipment.

27. The network node according to claim 24, wherein the obtaining circuit further is configured to obtain the information about the receiver explicitly by receiving the information about the receiver from the first user equipment.

28. The network node according to a claim 24, wherein the obtaining circuit further is configured to obtain the information about the receiver implicitly by deriving the information about the receiver from one of first user equipment reported radio measurements and performance indicators.

29. The network node according to claim 24, wherein the obtaining circuit further is configured to obtain information about at least one of the location of the second user equipment and radio measurements performed by the second user equipment, and wherein the determining circuit is configured to determine the at least one parameter further based on at least one of (a) the location of the second user equipment, (b) relative location between the second user equipment and the first user equipment and (c) radio measurements performed by the first user equipment on signals transmitted by the second user equipment.

30. The network node according to claim 29, wherein the cellular communications network is further configured to include a plurality of user equipments including the second user equipment, and wherein the determining circuit is configured to determine the at least one parameter by determining which of at least one of the plurality of user equipments are causing interference to the first user equipment.

31. The network node according to claim 30, wherein the obtaining circuit further is configured to obtain information about radio operational parameters in the cellular communications network, and wherein the determining circuit is configured to determine the at least one parameter further based on the radio operational parameters in the cellular communications network.

32. The network node according to claim 31, wherein the radio operational parameters relate to at least one of:

network synchronization, cell size and cell load.

33. The network node according to claim 24, wherein the at least one parameter further comprises at least one of:

transport format, signal pattern, information about reference symbols, number of layers, precoder matrix used for each layer, antenna configuration, Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA, channelization code, scrambling code information, information related to scheduling and information related to configuration of physical signals.

34. The network node according to claim 24, further comprising:

a performing circuit configured to perform one of a radio operation task and an Radio Resource Management (RRM) action based on that the interference is mitigated by the first user equipment.

35. The network node according to claim 24, further comprising:

a forwarding circuit configured to forward the information about the receiver of the first user equipment to a second network node.

36. The network node according to claim 24, wherein the determined at least one parameter is associated with at least one of (a) at least one specific channel and (b) physical signals causing the interference.

37. A first user equipment for mitigating interference, which first user equipment is configured to be served by a network node in a cellular communications network, which cellular communications network further is configured to include the first user equipment and a second user equipment, which second user equipment is configured to cause interference to the first user equipment when the first user equipment communicates by using Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, the first user equipment comprising:

a receiving circuit configured to receive at least one parameter from the network node, which at least one parameter relates to information about a receiver of the first user equipment and to the interfering second user equipment, the at least one parameter including a timing of an interference signal; and

a mitigating circuit configured to select a receiver type, when the first user equipment is using D2D communication and comprises more than one receiver that supports D2D communication, and algorithm to mitigate the interference caused by the second user equipment according to the at least one parameter received from the network node.

38. The first user equipment according to claim 37, further comprising a sending circuit configured to send information to the network node, which information comprises that the first user equipment has capability of mitigating interference.

39. The first user equipment according to claim 37, wherein the mitigating circuit is configured to mitigate the interference caused by the second user equipment by one of suppressing, reducing, eliminating and cancelling said interference.

40. The first user equipment according to claim 37, wherein the sending circuit further is configured to send to the network node, information about the receiver of the first user equipment.

41. The first user equipment according to claim 40, wherein the information about the receiver comprises at least one of receiver type and algorithms used by the first user equipment for mitigating the interference caused by the second user equipment.

42. The first user equipment according to claim 37, wherein the received at least one parameter further comprises at least one of:

transport format, signal pattern, information about reference symbols, number of layers, precoder matrix used for each layer, antenna configuration, scrambling code information, scheduling, and a number of a plurality of user equipments including the second user equipment that causes interference to the first user equipment.

43. The first user equipment according to claim 37, wherein the cellular communications network is further configured to include a plurality of user equipments including the second user equipment, and wherein the received at least one parameter is further used for determining which of the plurality of user equipments are causing interference to the first user equipment and respective corresponding interference levels of the plurality of user equipments causing interference.

44. The first user equipment according to claim 37, wherein the at least one parameter further relates to at least one of (a) information about radio operational parameters in the cellular communications network, (b) location of the second user equipment and (c) radio measurements performed by the second user equipment.

45. The first user equipment according to claim 44, wherein the radio operational parameters relate to at least one of:

network synchronization, cell size and cell load.

46. The first user equipment according to claim 37, wherein the received at least one parameter is associated with at least one of (a) at least one specific channel and (b) physical signals causing the interference.