Selecting access nodes for broadcast

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9237461-B1
Application number	US-201313766484-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Feb 13, 2013
Priority date	Feb 13, 2013
Publication date	Jan 12, 2016
Grant date	Jan 12, 2016

Abstract

In systems and methods of selecting access nodes for broadcast, signal strength metrics are received from a plurality of wireless devices, wherein the signal strength metrics are based on signals received by the plurality of wireless devices from a plurality of access nodes. A first signal strength criteria is determined for each of the wireless devices based on the received signal strength metrics, and wireless devices for which the first signal strength criteria meets a threshold are selected from among the plurality of wireless devices. A second signal strength criteria is determined for each of the plurality of access nodes. A minimum number of the access nodes is selected wherein the second signal strength criteria meets the threshold for each of the selected wireless devices, and a multicast transmission is transmitted from the selected access nodes to the selected wireless devices.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of selecting access nodes for broadcast, comprising:
receiving signal strength metrics associated with a plurality of access nodes and determining, based on the received signal strength metrics, a first signal strength criteria for each of a plurality of wireless devices;
selecting, from the plurality of wireless devices, those wireless devices for which the first signal strength criteria meets a first signal strength threshold;
determining, based on the first signal strength threshold, a second signal strength criteria for each of the plurality of access nodes and selecting, from the plurality of access nodes, a minimum number of access nodes that meet the first signal strength threshold and the second signal strength criteria;
transmitting a multicast transmission from the selected access nodes to the selected wireless devices;
detecting, based on the received signal strength metrics, a change in the selected wireless devices that requires re-selection of the access nodes and re-determining the first signal strength criteria for each of the plurality of wireless devices;
re-selecting those wireless devices for which the re-determined first signal strength criteria meets a second signal strength threshold; and
re-determining, based on the second signal strength threshold, the second signal strength criteria and re-selecting, from the plurality of access nodes, the minimum number of access nodes that meet the re-determined second signal strength threshold and the second signal strength criteria.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first signal strength criteria further comprises a sum of the signal strength metrics for each wireless device based on signals received by the wireless devices.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second signal strength criteria further comprises a sum of the signal strength metrics for each access node based on signals received by the wireless device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected access nodes transmit the multicast transmission over a frequency shared by the plurality of access nodes.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the first signal strength criteria for each of the wireless devices based on the signal strength metrics received during a first time period.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting a unicast transmission from the plurality of access nodes which are not selected.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting a unicast transmission to the wireless devices which are not selected from among the plurality of wireless devices.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
when a number of the selected wireless devices changes, repeating the method.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
when a number of the selected wireless devices meets a wireless device threshold, repeating the method.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
when a number of the selected wireless devices meets a wireless device threshold, transmitting a unicast transmission to the plurality of wireless devices from the selected access nodes.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving from a new wireless device signal strength metrics based on signals received by the new wireless device from the plurality of access nodes;
determining that a signal strength criteria for the new wireless device does not meet the first signal strength threshold;
re-determining the first signal strength criteria for each of the wireless devices based on the received signal strength metrics;
selecting from among the plurality of wireless devices and the new wireless device those wireless devices comprising a signal strength criteria which meets a third signal strength threshold;
re-determining the second signal strength criteria for each of the plurality of access nodes;
selecting a minimum number of the access nodes wherein the second signal strength criteria meets the third signal strength threshold for each of the selected wireless devices; and
transmitting a multicast transmission from the selected access nodes to the selected wireless devices.

12. A system for selecting access nodes for broadcast, comprising:
a processing node configured to:
receive signal strength metrics associated with a plurality of access nodes and determine, based on the received signal strength metrics, a first signal strength criteria for each of a plurality of wireless devices;
select, from the plurality of wireless devices, those wireless devices for which the first signal strength criteria meets a first signal strength threshold;
determine, based on the first signal strength threshold, a second signal strength criteria for each of the plurality of access nodes and select, from the plurality of access nodes, a minimum number of access nodes that meet the first signal strength threshold and the second signal strength criteria;
transmit a multicast transmission from the selected access nodes to the selected wireless devices;
detect, based on the received signal strength metrics, a change in the selected wireless devices that requires re-selection of the access nodes and re-determining of the first signal strength criteria for each of the plurality of wireless devices;
re-select those wireless devices for which the re-determined first signal strength criteria meets a second signal strength threshold; and
re-determine, based on the second signal strength threshold, the second signal strength criteria and re-select, from the plurality of access nodes, the minimum number of access nodes that meet the second signal strength threshold and the re-determined second signal strength criteria.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first signal strength criteria further comprises a sum of the signal strength metrics for each wireless device based on signals received by the wireless device from the plurality of access nodes.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the second signal strength criteria further comprises a sum of the signal strength metrics for each access node based on the signals received by the wireless devices.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the selected access nodes transmit the multicast transmission over a frequency shared by the plurality of access nodes.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processing node is further configured to:
determine the first signal strength criteria for each of the wireless devices based on the signal strength metrics received during a first time period.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processing node is further configured to:
instruct the transmission of a unicast transmission from the plurality of access nodes which are not selected.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processing node is further configured to:
instruct the transmission of a unicast transmission to the wireless devices which are not selected from among the plurality of wireless devices.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processing node is further configured to:
receive from a new wireless device signal strength metrics based on signals received by the new wireless device from the plurality of access nodes;
determine that a signal strength criteria for the new wireless device does not meet the first signal strength threshold;
re-determine the first signal strength criteria for each of the wireless devices based on the received signal strength metrics;
select from among the plurality of wireless devices and the new wireless device those wireless de

Assignees

• Sprint Spectrum Lp
• Sprint Spectrum Lp

Inventors

• Zhou Yu
• Vivanco Daniel
• Naim Muhammad
• Rasool Shahzada

Classifications

• H04W24/02 Primary

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title