Mitigating interference between satellite systems and mobile wireless systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10165452-B2
Application number	US-201615290209-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 11, 2016
Priority date	Oct 11, 2016
Publication date	Dec 25, 2018
Grant date	Dec 25, 2018

Abstract

Mitigating interference between transmitters and receivers associated with satellite systems and mobile wireless systems may include receiving information associated with the transmitter, determining a distance between the transmitter and the receiver based on the received information, determining if the distance is less than a distance threshold, estimating an interference level based on determining that the distance is less than the distance threshold, determining if the estimated interference level exceeds an interference threshold, computing an angle between an antenna of the transmitter and the receiver based upon determining that the estimated interference exceeds the interference threshold, and directing, when receiving a signal, a main lobe of a receive antenna pattern of the receiver towards the signal, and forming nulls in the receive antenna pattern in a direction of at least one side lobe of a transmit pattern of the transmitter.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for mitigating interference at a base station, comprising:
receiving information associated with a satellite system station via a network;
determining a distance between the satellite system station and the base station based on the received information;
determining if the distance is less than a distance threshold;
estimating an interference level, generated by the satellite system station, based on determining that the distance is less than the distance threshold;
determining if the estimated interference level exceeds an interference threshold;
computing an angle between an antenna of the satellite system station and a sector reference direction of the base station upon determining that the estimated interference exceeds the interference threshold; and
directing, when receiving a transmission from a mobile device, a main lobe of a receive antenna pattern of the base station towards the mobile device, and forming nulls in the receive antenna pattern in a direction of at least one side lobe of a transmit pattern of the satellite system station.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving information to track a satellite moving along a trajectory;
determining a time period associated with an altered transmit pattern of the satellite system station for tracking the satellite along the trajectory; and
compensating for the altered transmit pattern of the satellite system station by reforming nulls in the receive antenna pattern in a direction of at least one side lobe of the altered transmit pattern, while maintaining the main lobe of the receive antenna pattern pointing towards the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the received information to track a satellite comprises an angular speed of the satellite and an angular granularity to avoid interference, and wherein receiving the information comprises:
determining the time period associated with the altered transmit pattern based on the angular speed and the angular granularity.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein upon determining that the estimated interference exceeds the interference threshold, the method further comprises:
sending, from the base station, a handover request to a neighboring base station; and
sending a command to the mobile device to establish a connection with the neighboring base station.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein upon determining that the estimated interference exceeds the interference threshold, the method further comprises:
modifying at least one of an azimuth beamwidth, an elevation beamwidth, a gain, or a side lobe level of the receive antenna pattern of the base station.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving information associated with the satellite system station comprises:
receiving, from a database via the network, at least one of an antenna gain, antenna beamwidth, antenna pointing direction, antenna orientation, transmit power, or location of the satellite system station.

7. A base station, comprising:
a network interface;
an antenna array configured to generate an antenna pattern;
an antenna controller, coupled to the antenna array, configured to manipulate the antenna pattern;
a memory configured to store instructions; and
a processor coupled to the network interface, the antenna controller, and the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory to:
receive information associated with a satellite system station via a network,
determine a distance between the satellite system station and the base station based on the received information,
determine if the distance is less than a distance threshold,
estimate an interference level, at the base station, based on determining that the distance is less than the distance threshold,
determine if the estimated interference level exceeds an interference threshold,
compute an angle between an antenna of the satellite system station and a sector reference direction of the base station upon determining that the estimated interference exceeds the interference threshold; and
issue commands to the antenna controller to point, when receiving a transmission from a mobile device, a main lobe of a receive antenna pattern of the base station towards the mobile device, and form nulls in the receive antenna pattern in a direction of at least one side lobe of a transmit pattern of the satellite system station.

8. The base station of claim 7 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
receive information to track a satellite moving along a trajectory,
determine a time period associated with an altered transmit pattern of the satellite system station for tracking the satellite along the trajectory, and
compensate for the altered transmit pattern of the satellite system station by reforming nulls in the receive antenna pattern in a direction of at least one side lobe of the altered transmit pattern, while maintaining the main lobe of the receive antenna pattern pointing towards the mobile device.

9. The base station of claim 8 , wherein the instructions to receive information to track the satellite further cause the processor to:
receive an angular speed of the satellite and an angular granularity to avoid interference, and
determine a time period associated with the altered transmit pattern based on the angular speed and the angular granularity.

10. The base station of claim 7 , wherein upon the processor determines that the estimated interference exceeds the interference threshold, the instructions further cause the processor to:
send a handover request to a neighboring base station, and
send a command to the mobile device to establish a connection with the neighboring base station.

11. The base station of claim 7 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
modify at least one of an azimuth beamwidth, an elevation beamwidth, a gain, or a side lobe level of the receive antenna pattern of the base station, upon determining that the estimated interference exceeds the interference threshold.

12. The base station of claim 7 , wherein the instructions to receive information associated with the satellite system station further cause the processor to:
receive, from a database via the network, at least one of an antenna gain, antenna beamwidth, antenna pointing direction, antenna orientation, transmit power, or location of the satellite system station.

13. A method for mitigating interference received at a mobile device, comprising:
receiving information associated with a satellite system station from a base station;
determining a distance between the satellite system station and the mobile device based on the received information;
estimating an interference level at the mobile device generated by the satellite system station;
determining if the estimated interference level exceeds an interference threshold;
computing an angle between an antenna of the satellite system station and the mobile device upon determining that the estimated interference exceeds the interference threshold; and
pointing, when receiving a transmission from the base station, a main lobe of a receive antenna pattern of the mobile device towards the base station, and forming nulls in the receive antenna pattern in a direction of at least one side lobe of a transmit pattern of the satellite system station.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
receiving, from the base station, information to track a satellite moving along a trajectory;
determining a time period associated with an altered transmit pattern of the satellite system station for track

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Ramamurthi Vishwanath
• Dural Ozgur
• Aksu Arda

Classifications

• H04B7/086

  using weights depending on external parameters, e.g. direction of arrival [DOA], predetermined weights or beamforming · CPC title

• H04W36/0016

  Hand-off preparation specially adapted for end-to-end data sessions · CPC title

• H04W64/00

  Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management · CPC title

• H04W16/28 Primary

  using beam steering · CPC title

• H04W36/20

  for optimising the interference level · CPC title