Support for asynchronous adaptation to uplink and downlink traffic demands for wireless communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9288797-B2
Application number	US-201213592598-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2012
Priority date	Mar 16, 2012
Publication date	Mar 15, 2016
Grant date	Mar 15, 2016

Abstract

Technology is discussed to allow transmission points within a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) to adapt to Up Link (UL) and Down Link (DL) traffic demands independently. To mitigate potential interference arising from transmission points scheduled for conflicting UL and DL transmissions, measurements between transmission points can be made to indicate a level of coupling. Based on the various levels of coupling between transmission points, clusters can be formed. Where a high level of coupling is present, transmission points can be included in a common cluster. Where a low level of coupling is present, they can be isolated. Transmission points within the same cluster are scheduled with a common pattern of UL and DL transmissions to avoid interference. Transmission points in different clusters can have different patterns of UL and DL transmission to independently adapt to the relative demands for UL and DL transmissions experienced within these different clusters.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for interference management and traffic adaptation in a wireless network with different Up Link and Down Link time slots and adaptive, asynchronous directional traffic resource allocation, the method comprising:
measuring, at a first eNodeB, a unit of coupling information between the first eNodeB and an adjacent eNodeB;
making a clustering determination based on the unit of coupling information, wherein the clustering determination comprises one of a first determination that the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB belong in a common cluster and a second determination that the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB are isolated, wherein making the clustering determination based on the unit of coupling information further comprises reaching the first determination where at least one of a first condition and a second condition is met, wherein:
the first condition is that a performance of the first eNodeB is not substantiall egraded by a transmission direction of the adjacent eNodeB, and
the second condition is that a change of the transmission direction of the adjacent eNodeB does not substantially degrade the performance of the first eNodeB; and,
otherwise reaching the second determination; and

configuring the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB with a common Up Link-Down Link (UL-DL) configuration where the fi rst determination has been made and configuring the first eNodeB with a first UL-DL configuration independently from a potentially differing UL-DL configuration pertaining to the adjacent eNodeB where the second determination has been made.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a coupling metric is selected to characterize the unit of coupling information and a coupling threshold is used to determine that the performance of the first eNodeB is substantially degraded where the unit of coupling information is one of at the coupling threshold and above the coupling threshold for the coupling metric, otherwise that the first eNodeB is not substantially degraded where the unit of coupling information is below the coupling threshold for the coupling metric.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining the coupling threshold based on one of:
an estimate of a level of inter-cell interference calculated from the unit of coupling information where a transmission power of the adjacent eNodeB is known;
an average power of a useful UL signal; and
an average level of uplink inter-cell interference where all eNodeBs in the common cluster operate to receive uplink transmission.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising one of:
merging the common cluster with a second cluster where the common cluster and the second cluster have at least one eNodeB in common that couples the common and adjacent clusters; and
dividing a merged cluster into sub-clusters where at least one adapted eNodeB within the merged cluster can adapt to changing traffic demands in a manner such that at least one of the first condition and the second condition no longer obtain between the at least one adapted eNodeB and at least one additional eNodeB in the merged cluster, such that each sub-cluster can apply a different UL-DL configuration.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adapting a UL-DL configuration in substantially real-time to changing uplink and downlink traffic demands at any of the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB, wherein the UL-DL configuration comprises one of:
the common UL-DL configuration where the first determination has been made and the changing UL and DL traffic demands are communicated between eNodeBs in the common cluster over a low-latency backhaul infrastructure, and
the first UL-DL configuration where the second determination has been made.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating at least one of uplink and downlink traffic needs between the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB in the common cluster over a low-latency backhaul infrastructure.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining at least one of the common UL-DL configuration and a restricted set of UL-DL configurations for the common UL-DL configuration on the basis of at least one of joint UL and DL needs throughout the common cluster and splitting a difference between UL and DL traffic demands at the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB in the common cluster.

8. A device for adapting to asymmetric uplink and Down Link traffic loads in a wireless network comprising:
a coupling measurement module, operating at one of a first eNodeB and a network level entity, configured to a make coupling measurement on a Down Link (DL) transmission from an adjacent eNodeB to the first eNodeB, wherein the coupling measurement module is implemented as a hardware circuit or is stored in a memory device for execution by a computer processor;
an analysis module, in communication with the coupling measurement module, configured to compare the coupling measurement to a coupling threshold to determine that the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB are coupled where the coupling measurement is one of at the coupling threshold and above the coupling threshold, and to determine that the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB are isolated where the coupling measurement is below the coupling threshold, wherein the analysis module is implemented as a hardware circuit or is stored in a memory device for execution by a computer processor;
a configuration module, in communication with the analysis module, configured to identify a common Up Link (UL)-DL configuration where the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB are coupled and a first UL-DL configuration for the first eNodeB independently of a second UL-DL configuration for the adjacent eNodeB where the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB are isolated, wherein the configuration module is implemented as a hardware circuit or is stored in a memory device for execution by a computer processor; and
an update module, in communication with the configuration module, wherein the update module is implemented as a hardware circuit or is stored in a memory device for execution by a computer processor and the update module is configured to do one of:
update the common UL-DL configuration to adapt in substantially real time to changing traffic direction needs at both the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB where the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB are coupled in the common cluster; and
update the first UL-DL configuration independently of the second UL-DL configuration to adapt substantially in real time to changing traffic direction needs at the first eNodeB where the first eNodeB and the adjacent eNodeB are isolated.

9. The device of claim 8 , further comprising a communication module, in communication with the configuration module, wherein the communication module is implemented as a hardware circuit or is stored in a memory device for execution by a computer processor and the communication module is configured to do at least one of
send traffic direction information about traffic direction needs at the first eNodeB to the adjacent eNodeB; and
receive traffic direction information about traffic direction needs at the adjacent eNodeB.

10. The device of claim 8 , further comprising a calculation module, in communication with the analysis module, wherein the calculation module is implemented as a hardware circuit or is stored in a memory device for execution by a computer processor and the calculation module is configured to calculate the coupling threshold based on at least one of:
an estimate of a level of DL inter-cell interference by analyzing a coupling metric in terms of the coupling measurement and transmission power of the adjacent eNodeB;
useful s

Assignees

• Khoryaev Alexey
• Shilov Mikhail
• Panteleev Sergey
• Chervyakov Andrey
• Lomayev Artyom
• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Khoryaev Alexey
• Shilov Mikhail
• Panteleev Sergey
• Chervyakov Andrey
• Lomayev Artyom

Classifications

• H04W72/569

  of the traffic information · CPC title

• H04W72/27

  between access points · CPC title

• H04W72/20

  Control channels or signalling for resource management · 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