Optimized cellular transmission scheduling based on knowledge of interference-mitigation capabilities in neighbor cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016198486-A1
Application number	US-201514981985-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 29, 2015
Priority date	Jan 6, 2015
Publication date	Jul 7, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method includes identifying interference mitigation capabilities of a first communication unit in a first cell of a cellular communication network. Transmissions of a second communication unit in a second cell of the cellular communication network are scheduled based on the identified interference mitigation capabilities of the first communication unit in the first cell.

First claim

1 . A method, comprising:
identifying interference mitigation capabilities of a first communication unit in a first cell of a cellular communication network; and scheduling transmissions of a second communication unit in a second cell of the cellular communication network based on the identified interference mitigation capabilities of the first communication unit in the first cell.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the interference mitigation capabilities comprises identifying interference cancellation capabilities of a user terminal in the first cell, and wherein scheduling the transmissions comprises scheduling downlink transmissions of a base station that serves the second cell based at least in part on the interference cancellation capabilities of the user terminal in the first cell.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the interference mitigation capabilities comprises identifying interference cancellation capabilities of a base station that serves the first cell, and wherein scheduling the transmissions comprises scheduling uplink transmissions of a user terminal in the second cell based at least in part on the interference cancellation capabilities of the base station that serves the first cell.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the interference mitigation capabilities comprises identifying directional transmission capabilities of a user terminal in the first cell, and wherein scheduling the transmissions comprises scheduling uplink transmissions of a user terminal in the second cell based at least in part on the directional transmission capabilities of the user terminal in the first cell.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the interference mitigation capabilities comprises receiving a notification indicating the interference mitigation capabilities by direct communication between first and second base stations that serve the first and second cells, respectively.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the interference mitigation capabilities comprises identifying interference cancellation capabilities of a user terminal in the first cell, and wherein scheduling the transmissions comprises scheduling sidelink transmissions of a user terminal in the second cell that communicates peer-to-peer with another user terminal based at least in part on the interference cancellation capabilities of the user terminal in the first cell.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the interference mitigation capabilities comprises identifying that the first communication unit supports interference mitigation, and wherein scheduling the transmissions comprises scheduling the transmissions of the second communication unit independently of scheduling transmissions of the first communication unit.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the interference mitigation capabilities comprises identifying a number of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layers supported by a user terminal in the first cell, and inferring a number of receiving antennas of the user terminal based on the number of MIMO layers supported.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the interference mitigation capabilities comprises detecting a user terminal, which is served by the first cell and is likely to suffer from interference caused by a base station that serves the second cell, and identifying the interference mitigation capabilities of the detected user terminal.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein detecting the user terminal comprises receiving channel state information (CSI) from the user terminal including channel quality expected under interference caused by downlink transmissions in neighbor cells, and detecting the user terminal based on the CSI.

11 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein detecting the user terminal comprises accepting first power measurements of downlink transmissions of a base station serving the user terminal in the first cell, further accepting second power measurements of interfering downlink transmissions in neighbor cells and received by the user terminal, and detecting the user terminal based on the first and second power measurements.

12 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein detecting the user terminal comprises conducting in the base station first power measurements of uplink transmissions of one or more user terminals served by the base station, further conducting in the base station second power measurements of uplink transmissions of the user terminal, and detecting the user terminal based on the first and second power measurements.

13 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein scheduling the transmissions comprises setting at least one transmission attribute selected from a list consisting of a time interval used for transmission, a frequency allocated for transmission, and a spatial pattern of the transmission gain.

14 . Apparatus, comprising:
first and second base stations, which are configured to serve respective first and second cells of a cellular communication network; and a processor, which is configured to identify interference mitigation capabilities of a first communication unit in the first cell, and to schedule transmissions of a second communication unit in the second cell of the cellular communication network based on the identified interference mitigation capabilities of the first communication unit in the first cell.

15 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to identify interference cancellation capabilities of a user terminal in the first cell, and to schedule downlink transmissions of a base station that serves the second cell based at least in part on the interference cancellation capabilities of the user terminal in the first cell.

16 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein processor is configured to identify interference cancellation capabilities of a base station that serves the first cell, and to schedule uplink transmissions of a user terminal in the second cell based at least in part on the interference cancellation capabilities of the base station that serves the first cell.

17 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to identify directional transmission capabilities of a user terminal in the first cell, and to schedule uplink transmissions of a user terminal in the second cell based at least in part on the directional transmission capabilities of the user terminal in the first cell.

18 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to identify interference cancellation capabilities of a user terminal in the first cell, and to schedule sidelink transmissions of a user terminal in the second cell that communicates peer-to-peer with another user terminal based at least in part on the interference cancellation capabilities of the user terminal in the first cell.

19 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to identify that the first communication unit supports interference mitigation, and to schedule the transmissions of the second communication unit independently of scheduling transmissions of the first communication unit.

20 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to detect a user terminal, which is served by the first cell and is likely to suffer from interference caused by a base station that serves the second cell, and to iden

Assignees

• Marvell Int Ltd

Inventors

• Moshavi Shimon
• Melzer Ezer
• Perets Yona

Classifications

• H04W72/542

  using measured or perceived quality · CPC title

• H04W72/54 Primary

  based on quality criteria · CPC title

• H04B7/0626

  Channel coefficients, e.g. channel state information [CSI] · CPC title

• H04W72/12 Primary

  Wireless traffic scheduling · CPC title

• H04W72/082

  Electricity · mapped topic