Channel control for communication using dynamic spectrum access

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021360412-A1
Application number	US-202017037533-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 29, 2020
Priority date	May 15, 2020
Publication date	Nov 18, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

The disclosure described herein configures a base station and client devices for communication using dynamic spectrum access within a frequency spectrum that includes selecting, from a list of available channels, a set of channels as active channels. The active channels include uplink channels and downlink channels, and the active channels are distributed among a plurality of base station radios of a base station. A different channel is assigned to different base station radios. At least one uplink channel and at least one downlink channel are assigned to a plurality of client devices based on locations the client devices, wherein at least some client devices have active channels in common. The client devices having the active channels in common are also grouped on shared channels and time slots assigned to the client devices in the group, thereby allowing narrowband communication over the channels by the client devices.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system for communication using dynamic spectrum access, the system comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
select from a list of available dynamic spectrum access channels, a set of channels as active channels, the active channels comprising uplink channels and downlink channels;
distribute the active channels among a plurality of base station radios of a base station, wherein a different channel is assigned to different base station radios of the plurality of base station radios;
assign at least one uplink channel and at least one downlink channel to a plurality of client devices based on locations of the plurality of client devices, wherein at least some client devices of the plurality of client devices have active channels in common;
group at least some of the client devices having the active channels in common on shared channels that include the active channels and at least one backup channel;
assign time slots to the client devices in the group; and
enable communication, with channel hopping between the active channels and the at least one backup channel, between the client devices using the shared channels during the assigned time slots.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to group all client devices having the active channels in common on same ones of the shared channels and assign different time slots for communication for each of the client devices on the same ones of the shared channels, wherein each of the client devices within the group sequentially hops across the active channels in common and transmits data at the assigned time slot for the client device on each of the active channels, such that each client device changes the active channel on which the client device is transmitting at each of the assigned time slots for the client device.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to group client devices having at least two active channels in common to share one or more of the active channels, and assign remaining client devices only one active channel, wherein a dwell time is a same for all active channels, the dwell time of the base station radios on an uplink channel defining a time the base station radios stay on an uplink channel to serve the grouped client devices, and a number of dwell time overlaps are no greater than a number of available base station radios.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to group acknowledgements from the plurality of client devices on a same active channel, the acknowledgments containing medium access control (MAC) commands specific to the client devices, wherein each message of a plurality of messages on the uplink channels is followed by a downlink acknowledgement.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of client devices is located within a plurality of regions and wherein the computer program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to select one active channel as a beaconing channel to communicate during a beaconing period by hopping across the downlink channels on which the base station can communicate and transmit a beacon signal on each of the downlink channels, the beaconing period occurring outside of a normal transmission period, wherein the beacon signals have embedded information including coordinates of a region of the plurality of regions, available channels for the region and a buffer slot in the channels, and further cause the at least one processor to use the beaconing period to configure a new client device, the new client device hopping across a plurality of channels stored within the new client device, the new client device identifying during the beaconing period (i) a region of the plurality of regions in which the new client device is located based on a GPS location of the new client device and (ii) available channels from the plurality of channels stored within the new client device.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to allow a client device to communicate only on the assigned uplink and downlink channels and during the assigned time slot, wherein a time slot length for the assigned time slot for each client device is determined based at least on a throughput requirement of the client device and a configuration of the plurality of base station radios, wherein each client device begins communication within the assigned time slot assigned to the client device based at least in part on communication configuration information received from one or more of the plurality of base station radios, the communication configuration information comprising at least a timestamp, a first data transmission time, a period length of the plurality of base station radios, and a slot length of the assigned time slot.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the base station and the plurality of client devices each have a local count-up counter and a local count-down counter, the local count-up counter and the local count-down counter of the base station are shared with the plurality of client devices, and vice versa, as shared counters within uplink and downlink packets, and wherein the computer program code is further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to identify a number of missing packets based on a mismatch between (i) the shared counters and (ii) the local count-up counters and a local count-down counters, the mismatch defining a quality level, and to switch channels when the mismatch exceeds a predetermined number.

8 . A computerized method for communication using dynamic spectrum access, the computerized method comprising:
selecting from a list of available dynamic spectrum access channels, a set of channels as active channels, the active channels comprising uplink channels and downlink channels; distributing the active channels among a plurality of base station radios of a base station, wherein a different channel is assigned to different base station radios of the plurality of base station radios; assigning at least one uplink channel and at least one downlink channel to a plurality of client devices based on locations of the plurality of client devices, wherein at least some client devices of the plurality of client devices have active channels in common; grouping at least some of the client devices having the active channels in common on shared channels that include the active channels and at least one backup channel; and assigning time slots to the client devices in the group; and enabling communication, with channel hopping between the active channels and the at least one backup channel, between the client devices using the shared channels during the assigned time slots.

9 . The computerized method of claim 8 , further comprising grouping all client devices having the active channels in common on same ones of the shared channels and assigning different time slots for communication for each of the client devices on the same ones of the shared channels.

10 . The computerized method of claim 8 , further comprising grouping client devices having at least two activ

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Chakraborty Tusher
• Vasisht Deepak
• Chandra Ranveer
• Kapetanovic Zerina
• Shi Heping
• Priyantha Nissanka Arachchige Bodhi

Classifications

• H04W72/12

  Wireless traffic scheduling · CPC title

• H04W72/51

  based on terminal or device properties · CPC title

• H04W72/21

  in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network · CPC title

• H04W72/23

  in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal · CPC title

• H04W16/14

  Spectrum sharing arrangements {between different networks} · CPC title