Transmission of data using a plurality of radio frequency channels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9722842-B2
Application number	US-201615078603-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 23, 2016
Priority date	Jun 13, 2000
Publication date	Aug 1, 2017
Grant date	Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

Methods and systems are described for transmitting data to a node using a plurality of radio frequency channels. The data may be allocated, based on feedback from the node, into various portions amongst multiple radio frequency channels and/or amongst tones associated with the radio frequency channels. The data portions may be transmitted to the node, using frequency diversity, via respective radio frequency channels as at least part of respective orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmissions, which may be at least partially concurrent transmissions.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a first multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)-capable first node, at least one transmission from a second node;
determining data for transmission, wherein the data is divided into at least a first portion of the data and a second portion of the data, and wherein the second portion of the data is different from the first portion of the data;
determining:
a first plurality of tones, associated with a first radio frequency channel, for transmission of the first portion of the data to the second node; and
a second plurality of tones, associated with a second radio frequency channel, for transmission of the second portion of the data to the second node,
wherein one or both of the first plurality of tones or the second plurality of tones are determined based at least in part on the at least one transmission received from the second node; and

transmitting to the second node:
the first portion of the data, via the first plurality of tones associated with the first radio frequency channel and via at least one antenna of a plurality of antennas, as at least part of a first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission; and
the second portion of the data, via the second plurality of tones associated with the second radio frequency channel and via at least one antenna of the plurality of antennas, as at least part of a second OFDM transmission that is at least partially concurrent with the first OFDM transmission.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first OFDM transmission comprises a first plurality of OFDM symbols and the second OFDM transmission comprises a second plurality of OFDM symbols.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting the first portion of the data and the second portion of the data comprises transmitting, at least during a time slot, the first portion of the data and the second portion of the data.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a first inverse Fourier transformation of at least the first portion of the data and a second inverse Fourier transformation of at least the second portion of the data,
wherein the transmitting the first portion of the data as at least part of the first OFDM transmission comprises transmitting a result of the first inverse Fourier transformation as at least part of the first OFDM transmission, and the transmitting the second portion of the data as at least part of the second OFDM transmission comprises transmitting a result of the second inverse Fourier transformation as at least part of the second OFDM transmission.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transmission received from the second node comprises an indication based at least in part on a channel quality observed by the second node, and wherein the one or both of the first plurality of tones or the second plurality of tones are selected based at least in part on the indication.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first OFDM transmission and the second OFDM transmission are at least part of an aggregate set of links, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting the first portion of the data and the second portion of the data using a transmission characteristic that is based at least in part on a constraint associated with the aggregate set of links, and wherein the constraint is based at least in part on the at least one transmission received from the second node.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein both of the first OFDM transmission and the second OFDM transmission comprise a pseudorandom sequence that is associated with the second node.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting the first portion of the data and the second portion of the data comprises transmitting the first portion of the data and the second portion of the data modified with at least a pseudorandom sequence that is associated with the second node.

9. A method comprising:
receiving, by a first multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)-capable first node, feedback from a second node;
determining data for transmission, wherein the data is divided into at least a first portion of the data and a second portion of the data, and wherein the second portion of the data is different from the first portion of the data;
determining:
a first plurality of tones, associated with a first radio frequency channel, for transmission of the first portion of the data to the second node; and
a second plurality of tones, associated with a second radio frequency channel, for transmission of the second portion of the data to the second node,
wherein one or both of the first plurality of tones or the second plurality of tones are based at least in part on the feedback; and

transmitting to the second node:
the first portion of the data, via the first plurality of tones associated with the first radio frequency channel and via at least one antenna of a plurality of antennas, as at least part of a first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission; and
the second portion of the data, via the second plurality of tones associated with the second radio frequency channel and via at least one antenna of the plurality of antennas, as at least part of a second OFDM transmission that is at least partially concurrent with the first OFDM transmission.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first OFDM transmission and the second OFDM transmission are concurrent during at least one downlink time slot.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first OFDM transmission comprises a first plurality of OFDM symbols and the second OFDM transmission comprises a second plurality of OFDM symbols, and wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting at least one of the first plurality of OFDM symbols and at least one of the second plurality of OFDM symbols during a common transmission interval.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
encoding the first portion of the data to generate first encoded data; and
encoding the second portion of the data to generate second encoded data,
wherein the transmitting the first portion of the data as at least part of the first OFDM transmission comprises transmitting the first encoded data as at least part of the first OFDM transmission, and wherein the transmitting the second portion of the data as at least part of the second OFDM transmission comprises transmitting the second encoded data as at least part of the second OFDM transmission.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
performing a first inverse Fourier transformation of at least the first portion of the data; and
performing a second inverse Fourier transformation of at least the second portion of the data,
wherein the transmitting the first portion of the data as at least part of the first OFDM transmission comprises transmitting a result of the first inverse Fourier transformation as at least part of the first OFDM transmission, and wherein the transmitting the second portion of the data as at least part of the second OFDM transmission comprises transmitting a result of the second inverse Fourier transformation as at least part of the second OFDM transmission.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the feedback comprises an indication based at least in part on a channel quality observed by the second node, and wherein the one or both of the first plurality of tones or the second plurality of tones depend at least in part on the indication.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first OFDM transmission and the second OFDM transmission are at least part of an aggregate set of links, wherein the transmitting comprises

Assignees

• Comcast Cable Comm Llc

Inventors

• Agee Brian G
• Bromberg Matthew C

Classifications

• H04W72/542

  using measured or perceived quality · CPC title

• H04W72/23

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

• H04W24/02

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title

• H04B7/0413 Primary

  MIMO systems · CPC title

• H04L27/2602

  Signal structure · CPC title