Interference detection and remedy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016183268-A1
Application number	US-201414577077-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 19, 2014
Priority date	Dec 19, 2014
Publication date	Jun 23, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Provided are methods and systems for, in some aspects, mitigating interference over a communication channel. In an aspect, a device can be configured to detect interference and to dynamically reconfigure to avoid interference. Such a device can be configured to receive content over various communication channels and can intelligently select a communication channel to avoid interference.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
detecting, by a first provider, interference from a second provider on a channel; identifying, by the first provider, the channel affected by the interference; identifying, by the first provider, content transmitted on the affected channel; and causing, by the first provider, the content to be transmitted on a second channel.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein causing, by the first provider, the content to be transmitted on the second channel comprises determining the second channel is transmitting the content and causing a user device to tune to the second channel.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein content transmitted on the first channel is a higher resolution than content transmitted on the second channel.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein content transmitted on the first channel is a lower resolution than content transmitted on the second channel.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein causing, by the first provider, the content to be transmitted on the second channel further comprises accessing the content from a server.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the server is a video on-demand server.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second provider provides long-term evolution (LTE) service.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting, by a first provider, interference from a second provider on a channel comprises measuring interference strength at one or more band gaps.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the one or more band gaps represents a difference between a bandwidth of a QAM signal and a bandwidth of a transmission mechanism of the second provider.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting, by a first provider, interference from a second provider on a channel comprises monitoring an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing subcarrier for interference.

11 . A method comprising:
receiving content from a first provider via a first channel; detecting interference on the first channel; determining the received content; determining that the content is available via a second channel; and receiving the content via the second channel.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving the content via the second channel further comprises tuning the user device to the second channel.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein content transmitted on the first channel is a higher resolution than content transmitted on the second channel.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein content transmitted on the first channels a lower resolution than content transmitted on the second channel.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving the content via the second channel further comprises accessing the content from a server.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the received content further comprises accessing an electronic programming guide.

17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the received content further comprises accessing metadata associated with the content.

18 . A method comprising:
receiving one or more signals transmitted via a communication path, wherein each of the one or more signals is transmitted at a respective center frequency; measuring aggregate signal power associated with each of the one or more received signals, wherein the aggregate signal power comprises power associated with data and power associated with interference; determining an interference signal power in a band gap frequency range, wherein the interference signal power relates to an interference signal affecting the one or more signals; determining a signal-to-noise ratio by dividing the determined interference signal power by the measured aggregate signal power associated with one of the one or more affected signals; and providing an alert if the signal-to-noise ratio drops below a threshold value.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the communication path comprises one or more QAM channels.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the band gap represents a difference between a bandwidth of a QAM signal and a bandwidth of a second transmission mechanism.

Assignees

• Comcast Cable Comm Llc

Inventors

• Albano Christopher
• Bastian Christopher
• Urban David
• Gundu Ravi Kiran

Classifications

• H04W72/541 Primary

  using the level of interference · CPC title

• H04W72/542

  using measured or perceived quality · CPC title

• H04W24/08

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title

• H04B1/1027

  assessing signal quality or detecting noise/interference for the received signal · CPC title

• H04B2001/1072

  by tuning the receiver frequency · CPC title