U.S. patent application number 14/743885 was filed with the patent office on 2015-12-17 for adaptive cross-radio access technology (rat) channel assignment.
This patent application is currently assigned to Broadcom Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is Broadcom Corporation. Invention is credited to Sam ALEX, Louay JALLOUL, Nihar JINDAL, Murat MESE, Amin MOBASHER, Arogyaswami PAULRAJ, Yan WANG.
Application Number | 20150365938 14/743885 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51686799 |
Filed Date | 2015-12-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150365938 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
PAULRAJ; Arogyaswami ; et
al. |
December 17, 2015 |
Adaptive Cross-Radio Access Technology (RAT) Channel Assignment
Abstract
Systems and methods for channel assignment configuration in a
multiple access point (AP) environment are provided. The multiple
APs can be homogeneous or heterogeneous and can implement one or
more radio access technologies (RATs), including Massive Multiple
Input Multiple Output (M-MIMO) RATs. A channel assignment
configuration for a user equipment (UE) can identify one or more
communication channels to be established to serve the UE by one or
more of the APs.
Inventors: |
PAULRAJ; Arogyaswami;
(Stanford, CA) ; MESE; Murat; (Ranchos Palos
Verdes, CA) ; WANG; Yan; (Plano, TX) ; JINDAL;
Nihar; (Mountain View, CA) ; JALLOUL; Louay;
(San Jose, CA) ; MOBASHER; Amin; (Sunnyvale,
CA) ; ALEX; Sam; (Sunnyvale, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Broadcom Corporation |
Irvine |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Broadcom Corporation
Irvine
CA
|
Family ID: |
51686799 |
Appl. No.: |
14/743885 |
Filed: |
June 18, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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14213031 |
Mar 14, 2014 |
9125081 |
|
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14743885 |
|
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61811563 |
Apr 12, 2013 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
370/329 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04B 7/0452 20130101;
H04W 88/08 20130101; H04W 88/10 20130101; H04L 5/0023 20130101;
H04W 16/04 20130101; H04L 5/0092 20130101; H04W 72/04 20130101;
H04W 16/00 20130101; H04W 24/08 20130101; H04W 24/02 20130101; H04B
7/0413 20130101; H04L 5/0094 20130101; H04B 7/0617 20130101; H04W
72/0433 20130101; H04W 28/0215 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 72/04 20060101
H04W072/04; H04W 88/10 20060101 H04W088/10 |
Claims
1. A central access controller communicatively coupled to a
plurality of Access Points (APs), comprising: a memory configured
to store AP information associated with the plurality of APs and
User Equipment (UE) information associated with one or more UEs in
a vicinity of the plurality of APs; and a processor configured to:
generate a first channel assignment configuration for a first UE of
the one or more UEs based at least in part on the AP information
and the UE information, wherein the first channel assignment
configuration identifies a first communication channel to be
established between at least a first AP of the plurality of APs and
the first UE; and send the first channel assignment configuration
to at least the first AP, adjust the channel assignment
configuration when changes in the AP information and/or the UE
information are detected.
2. The central access controller of claim I, wherein the AP
information includes information regarding capabilities of the
first AP, including information regarding a maximum transmit power
of the first AP, supported radio access technologies (RATs) at the
first AP, an antenna configuration of the first AP, Massive
Multiple Input Multiple Output (M-MIMO) communication availability
at the first AP, capacity of a backhaul link of the first AP, or
latency of the backhaul link of the first AP.
3. The central access controller of claim 1, wherein the UE
information includes information regarding the first UE, including
information regarding supported radio access technologies (RATs) at
the first UE, an antenna configuration of the first UE, Massive
Multiple Input Multiple Output (M-MIMO) communication availability
at the first UE, data traffic characteristics of the first UE, a
current serving AP of the first UE, a current receive power at the
first UE due to the current serving AP, a current estimate of a
downlink channel from the current serving AP to the first UE, a
location of the first UE, or a battery level of the first UE.
4. The central access controller of claim 1, wherein the first
channel assignment configuration identifies parameters of the first
communication channel, including: a first radio access technology
(RAT) of the first communication channel; downlink/uplink time and
frequency resources associated with the first communication
channel; downlink/uplink modulation and coding scheme (MCS)
associated with the first communication channel; or Massive
Multiple Input Multiple Output (M-MIMO) parameters for M-MIMO
communication over the first communication channel.
5. The central access controller of claim 4, wherein the M-MIMO
parameters include a number of transmit/receive antennas for use in
the M-MIMO communication over the first communication channel, a
selection between Single User MIMO (SU-MIMO) and Multi-User
(MU-MIMO), or a transmit precoder for use in the M-MIMO
communication over the first communication channel.
6. The central access controller of claim 1, wherein the first
channel assignment configuration further identifies a second
communication channel to be established between a second AP of the
plurality of APs and the first UE.
7. The central access controller of claim 6, wherein the first
communication channel corresponds to a. data channel and the second
communication channel corresponds to a control channel.
8. The central access controller of claim 6, wherein the first AP
corresponds to a small cell AP and the second AP corresponds to a
large cell AP.
9. The central access controller of claim 6, wherein the first
communication channel corresponds to a primary data channel and the
second communication channel corresponds to a secondary data
channel.
10. The central access controller of claim 6, wherein a first radio
access technology (RAT) of the first communication channel is
different than a second RAT of the second communication
channel.
11. The central access controller of claim 10, wherein the first
RAT is Long Term Evolution (LTE) and the second RAT is Wireless
Local Area Network (WLAN).
12. The central access controller of claim 10, wherein the first
RAT is a Multiple Input Multiple Output (M-MIMO) RAT and the second
RAT is a non-M-MIMO RAT.
13-20. (canceled)
21. The central access controller of claim 1, wherein: the first
channel assignment configuration identifies parameters of the first
communication channel including Massive Multiple Input Multiple
Output (M-MIMO) parameters for M-MIMO communication over the first
communication channel, and the processor is further configured to
adjust the M-MIMO parameters of the M-MIMO communication over the
first communication channel when the changes in the AP information
and/or the UE information are detected.
22. The central access controller of claim 21, wherein the
processor is further configured to adjust the M-MIMO parameters of
the M-MIMO communication to increase or decrease a number of
transmit antennas of the first AP or decrease or increase a number
of receive antennas used by the first UE for the M-MIMO
communication.
23. The central access controller of claim 21, wherein the
processor is further configured to adjust the M-MIMO parameters of
the M-MIMO communication to increase or decrease a number of data
streams carried by the M-MIMO communication.
24. The central access controller of claim 1, wherein the processor
is further configured to: receive the AP information or the UE
information directly from one of the plurality of APs; retrieve the
AP information or the UE information from one or more network
entities coupled to the at least one of the plurality of APs; or
collect the AP information or the UE information from eavesdropping
on a communication between the at least one of the plurality of APs
and the UE.
25. A central access controller communicatively coupled to a
plurality of Access Points (APs), comprising: a memory configured
to store AP information associated with the plurality of APs and
User Equipment (UE) information associated with one or more UEs in
a coverage area of the plurality of APs; and a processor configured
to execute logical instructions stored in the memory, wherein the
processor executes the instructions to: generate a channel
assignment configuration for the one or more UEs based at least in
part on the AP information and the UE information, wherein the
channel assignment configuration identifies each of the
communication channels to be established between a UE of the one or
more UEs and at least one of the plurality of APs, identifies each
of the communication channels as a data channel or a control
channel, and specifies the radio access technology (RAT) and
parameters related to each of the communication channels; and send
the channel assignment configuration to the at least one of the
plurality of APs.
26. The central access controller of claim 25, wherein the logic
instructions rely on heuristics to generate the channel assignment
configuration.
27. An Access Point (AP) communicatively coupled to a central
access controller, comprising: a first transmit/receive chain for
enabling a first radio access technology (RAT); and a second
transmit/receive chain for enabling a second RAT, wherein the first
or second transmit/receive chains receives a channel assignment
configuration from the central access controller which identifies a
first communication channel to be established using the first RAT
between the AP and a User Equipment (UE) and a second communication
channel to be established using the second RAT between the AP and
the UE.
28. The AP of claim 27, wherein the first RAT is a multi-carrier
based RAT and the second RAT is a single carrier RAT.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
[0001] The application is a continuation of U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 14/213,031, filed Mar. 14, 2014, which claims the benefit
of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/811,563, filed Apr. 12,
2013, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their
entireties.
BACKGROUND
Technical Field
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to adaptive
cross-radio access technology (RAT) channel assignment.
Background Art
[0003] Future wireless environments are envisioned to include
access points (APs) for multiple radio access technologies (RATs)
operating in close proximity to each other. These APs may include
Massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (M-MIMO) APs equipped with a
very large number of transmit/receive antennas (e.g., 32, 64, or
100) that can be used for simultaneous communication with one or
more terminals.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES
[0004] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and
form a part of the specification, illustrate the present disclosure
and, together with the description, further serve to explain the
principles of the disclosure and to enable a person skilled in the
pertinent art to make and use the disclosure.
[0005] FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which
embodiments can be implemented or practiced.
[0006] FIG. 2 illustrates an example central access controller
according to an embodiment.
[0007] FIG. 3 illustrates an example process according to an
embodiment.
[0008] FIG. 4 illustrates an example access point according to an
embodiment.
[0009] The present disclosure will be described with reference to
the accompanying drawings. Generally, the drawing in which an
element first appears is typically indicated by the leftmost
digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0010] For purposes of this discussion, the term "module" shall be
understood to include at least one of software, firmware, or
hardware (such as one or more circuits, microchips, processors, or
devices, or any combination thereof), or any combination thereof.
In addition, it will be understood that each module can include
one, or more than one, component within an actual device, and each
component that forms a part of the described module can function
either cooperatively or independently of any other component
forming a part of the module. Conversely, multiple modules
described herein can represent a single component within an actual
device. Further, components within a module can be in a single
device or distributed among multiple devices in a wired or wireless
manner.
[0011] For the purposes of this discussion, the term "processor
circuitry" shall be understood to include one or more: circuit(s),
processor(s), or a combination thereof. For example, a circuit can
include an analog circuit, a digital circuit, state machine logic,
other structural electronic hardware, or a combination thereof. A
processor can include a microprocessor, a digital signal processor
(DSP), or other hardware processor. The processor can be
"hard-coded" with instructions to perform corresponding function(s)
according to embodiments described herein. Alternatively, the
processor can access an internal or external memory to retrieve
instructions stored in the memory, which when executed by the
processor, perform the corresponding function(s) associated with
the processor.
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 in which
embodiments can be implemented or practiced. Example environment
100 is provided for the purpose of illustration only and is not
limiting of embodiments. As shown in FIG. 1, example environment
100 includes a first Access Point (AP) 102, a second AP 104, a
central access controller 106, and a plurality of user equipments
(UEs) 110a, 110b, and 110c. As would be understood by a person of
skill in the art based on the teachings herein, in other
embodiments, example environment 100 can include more or less APs
and UEs than shown in FIG. 1.
[0013] APs 102 and 104 can be Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)
APs, cellular network base stations, Bluetooth APs, or other
wireless multi-access radio network APs. As further described
below, APs 102 and 104 may be homogeneous or heterogeneous. In the
homogeneous case, APs 102 and 104 have the same capabilities,
including maximum transmit power, antenna configuration, and
enabled radio access technologies (RATs), for example. For
instance, APs 102 and 104 can both be high power/large cell (e.g.,
macrocell) APs that have an omni-directional antenna configuration
and that support the Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol.
Alternatively, APs 102 and 104 can both be low power/small cell
(e.g., femtocell, picocell, etc.) APs that support both the LTE and
WLAN protocols. In the heterogeneous case, APs 102 and 104 have
different capabilities, including maximum transmit power, antenna
configuration, and enabled RATs, for example. For instance, AP 102
may be a high power/large cell LTE evolved Node B (eNB) and AP 104
may be a low power/small cell WLAN AP. In another example, AP 102
may include a Massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (M-MIMO)
antenna array that supports highly-directional M-MIMO
communication, whereas AP 104 may include only a small number of
antennas that enable omni-directional communication only.
[0014] UEs 110a, 110b, and 110c are located in a vicinity of APs
102 and 104. In an embodiment, any of UEs 110a, 110b, and 110c are
within the wireless coverage of any of APs 102 and 104.
Alternatively, some of UEs 110a, 110b, and 110c can be within the
wireless coverage of only one of APs 102 and 104. In embodiments,
UEs 110a, 110b, and 110c can be WLAN user stations (STAs), cellular
UEs, Bluetooth devices, and/or other wireless RAT devices.
[0015] Central access controller 106 is communicatively coupled to
APs 102 and 104. In an embodiment, central access controller 106 is
communicatively coupled directly to APs 102 and 104 via links 108a
and 108b respectively. Links 108a and 108b may be wired or
wireless. For example, links 108a and 108b may be optical fiber or
microwave links. In another embodiment, central access controller
106 is communicatively coupled to APs 102 and 104 via one or more
intermediate entities. For example, central access controller 106
can be coupled to a core network entity (not shown in FIG. 1),
which is coupled to APs 102 and 104 via a backhaul network (not
shown in FIG. 1), or to two core network entities each of which is
coupled to a respective one of APs 102 and 104 (when APs 102 and
104 do not belong to the same wireless network or to linked
wireless networks). In a further embodiment, central access
controller 106 is part of AP 102 or AP 104.
[0016] In an embodiment, central access controller 106 is
configured to collect AP information associated with APs 102 and
104 and UE information associated with UEs 110a, 110b, and 110c. In
an embodiment, the AP information and the UE information are sent
to central access controller 106 from APs 102 and 104. In another
embodiment, central access controller 106 retrieves the AP
information and the UE information via one or more core network
entities, coupled to APs 102 and 104. In a further embodiment,
central access controller 106 may eavesdrop on communication within
example environment 100 to collect some of the AP information
and/or some of the UE information.
[0017] In an embodiment, the AP information includes information
regarding the capabilities of APs 102 and 104. For example, AP
information associated with AP 102 or AP 104 can include, without
limitation, information regarding one or more of: a maximum
transmit power of the AP, supported RATs at the AP (e.g., LTE,
LTE-Advanced, WLAN, Bluetooth, etc.), an antenna configuration of
the AP (e.g., number of transmit/receive antennas,
omni-directional, fixed sector omni-directional, directional, MIMO,
M-MIMO, etc.), M-MIMO communication availability at the AP (e.g.,
presence/absence of a M-MIMO antenna array, instantaneous usage
availability of the M-MIMO antenna array, etc.), capacity of a
backhaul link of the AP, and latency of the backhaul link of the
AP.
[0018] The UE information includes information associated with one
or more of UEs 110a, 110b, and 110c. For example, UE information
associated with one of UEs 110a, 110b, and 110c can include,
without limitation, information regarding one or more of: supported
RATs at the UE, an antenna configuration at the UE (e.g., number of
transmit/antennas, omni-directional, fixed sector omni-directional,
directional, MIMO, M-MIMO, etc.), M-MIMO communication availability
at the UE (e.g., presence/absence of a M-MIMO antenna array,
instantaneous usage availability of the M-MIMO antenna array,
etc.), instantaneous data traffic characteristics of the UE (e.g.,
number of data streams (i.e., rank) of the UE, data traffic type
(e.g., video, voice, etc.), data traffic Quality of Service (QoS)
requirements, average uplink/downlink burst size, etc.), a current
serving AP (or APs) of the UE, a current receive power at the UE
due to the current serving AP(s), a current estimate of a downlink
channel from the current serving AP(s) to the UE, a location of the
UE (e.g., GPS location or approximate location based on current
serving AP), and a battery level of the UE.
[0019] In an embodiment, central access controller 106 is
configured to generate a channel assignment configuration for at
least one of UEs 110a, 110b, and 110c based on the AP information
and the UE information. For example, central access controller 106
may generate a channel assignment configuration for UE 110a. The
channel assignment configuration identifies one or more
communication channels to be established to serve UE 110a by APs
102 and/or 104. Central access controller 106 sends the channel
assignment configuration to the AP(s) indicated in the channel
assignment configuration. As would be understood by a person of
skill in the art based on the teachings herein, central access
controller 106 may also generate channel assignment configurations
for UEs 110b and 110c in the same fashion.
[0020] For example, the channel assignment configuration may
identify a first communication channel to be established between AP
102 and UE 110a and/or a second communication channel to be
established between AP 104 and UE 110a. The channel assignment
configuration may further identify, for example, the first
communication channel as a data channel (e.g., for carrying user
data traffic) and the second communication channel as a control
channel (e.g., for carrying control information). Alternatively,
the channel assignment configuration may identify both the first
and second communication channels as data channels. For example,
the channel assignment configuration may identify the first
communication channel as a primary data channel and the second
communication channel as a secondary data channel. In an
embodiment, the secondary data channel may be used when the primary
data channel fails, when the data traffic exceeds the capacity of
the primary data channel, or when the data traffic is of a
particular type (e.g., video).
[0021] In embodiments, the first communication channel and the
second communication channel can be of the same RAT or of different
RATs depending on the capabilities of APs 102 and 104 and of UE
110a. For example, the first communication channel may be an LTE
channel and the second communication channel may be a WLAN channel,
or vice versa. In another example, the first communication channel
utilizes a M-MIMO RAT and the second communication channel utilizes
a non-M-MIMO (e.g., legacy) RAT.
[0022] In an embodiment, the channel assignment configuration can
include a number of parameters related to each of the one or more
communication channels to be established. For example, in addition
to identifying the communication channel end nodes (e.g., AP 102
and UE 110a), the RAT of the communication channel, and the traffic
type (e.g., data, control) to be carried over the communication
channel, in an embodiment, the channel assignment configuration
further identifies the downlink/uplink time and frequency resources
associated with the communication channel; the downlink/uplink
modulation and coding schemes (MCS) associated with the
communication channel; the number(s) of simultaneous (e.g., in time
and frequency) downlink/uplink data streams to be carried by the
communication channel, the transmit power(s) associated with the
communication channel, etc.
[0023] Channels as described herein can be defined in time,
frequency, and/or spatially. For example, a channel can be a
logical channel that exists during defined time intervals.
Alternatively or additionally, the channel can exist over a defined
frequency subset of a frequency band. Alternatively or
additionally, the channel can be associated with a spatial
direction.
[0024] In a further embodiment, where the RAT associated with the
communication channel is a M-MIMO RAT, the channel assignment
configuration can further include M-MIMO parameters for MIMO
communication over the communication channel. The M-MIMO parameters
can include one or more of: a number of transmit/receive antennas
for use in the M-MIMO communication over the communication channel,
a selection between Single User MIMO (SU-MIMO) and Multi-User MIMO
(MU-MIMO) for the M-MIMO communication (e.g., depending on whether
the communication channel is used to serve other UEs
simultaneously), a number of users in the case of MU-MIMO, and a
transmit precoder for use in the M-MIMO communication over the
communication channel.
[0025] In embodiments, the channel assignment configuration for a
particular UE can be statically, semi-statically, or dynamically
determined based on the AP information and the UE information.
Where the channel assignment configuration is semi-statically or
dynamically determined, central access controller 106 is configured
to detect changes in the AP information and/or the UE information
and to adjust the channel assignment configuration partially or
entirely in response to the detected changes.
[0026] For example, in an embodiment, where the first communication
channel identified in the channel assignment configuration for UE
110a corresponds to a data channel, central access controller 106
can be configured to detect a change in the data traffic
characteristics of UE 110a and to generate a second channel
assignment configuration for UE 110a responsive to the detected
change. The second channel assignment configuration can, for
example, identify a third communication channel to be established
to serve UE 110a instead of, or in addition to, the first
communication channel. The change in the data traffic
characteristics of UE 110a can include a change in traffic type,
traffic QoS, and/or traffic statistics. For example, in an
embodiment, the change in the data traffic characteristics of UE
110a can correspond to an increase in an average burst size of
downlink data traffic to UE 110a. Accordingly, the second channel
assignment configuration may identify the third communication
channel as using a M-MIMO RAT to support the higher burst size
downlink data traffic to UE 110a.
[0027] In another embodiment, where the first communication channel
identified in the channel assignment configuration for UE 110a is
established using M-MIMO communication between AP 102 and UE 110a,
central access controller 106 can be configured to detect a change
in a battery level of UE 110a and to adjust the M-MIMO parameters
of the M-MIMO communication over the first communication channel
responsive to the detected change. For example, central access
controller 106 may increase the number of transmit antennas used by
AP 102 and reduce the number of receive antennas used by UE 110a
for the M-MIMO communication in response to detecting that the
battery level of UE 110a has fallen below a threshold.
Alternatively, or additionally, central access controller 106 may
reduce or increase the number of data streams carried by the M-MIMO
communication. Such adjustments can reduce the amount of receive
processing required at UE 110a or reduce the amount of time that UE
110a spends receiving a given packet and can prolong battery life
at UE 110a. Central access controller 106 can decide whether to
reduce or increase the number of data streams depending on which
option is more beneficial to the UE.
[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates an example central access controller 200
according to an embodiment. Example controller 200 is provided for
the purpose of illustration only and is not limiting of
embodiments. Example controller 200 can be an embodiment of central
access controller 106 described above. As shown in FIG. 2, example
controller 200 includes, without limitation, a processor 202
communicatively coupled to a memory 204. Memory 204 is configured
to store, without limitation, AP information 206, UE information
208, logic instructions 210, and assignment heuristics 212.
[0029] In an embodiment, processor 202 is configured to receive AP
information and UE information via an input interface 214 and to
cause the AP information and UE information to be stored in memory
204 as AP information 206 and UE information 208 respectively. In
one embodiment, input interface 214 is coupled to one or more
backhaul links that connect central access controller 200 to one or
more respective core network entities.
[0030] In another embodiment, processor 202 is configured to
execute logic instructions 210 stored in memory 204 to perform the
central access controller functions described herein. For example,
in an embodiment, processor 202 can execute logic instructions 210
to generate a channel assignment configuration for a UE based on AP
information 206 and/or UE information 208. In one embodiment, logic
instructions 210 rely on assignment heuristics 212, which provide
heuristics and/or algorithms for generating channel assignment
configurations. Processor 202 forwards the generated channel
assignment configuration via an output interface 216. In an
embodiment, output interface 216 is coupled to one or more backhaul
links that connect central access controller 200 to one or more
respective core network entities.
[0031] FIG. 3 illustrates an example process 300 according to an
embodiment. Example process 300 is provided for the purpose of
illustration only and is not limiting of embodiments. Example
process 300 can be performed by a central access controller, such
as central access controller 106, but can also be performed by a
different entity, including an AP. Example process 300 can be used
to generate and implement a channel assignment configuration for
one or more UEs in a region of interest. As would be understood by
a person of skill in the art based on the teachings herein, steps
302 and 304 of process 300 can be interchanged or performed
simultaneously in other embodiments.
[0032] As shown in FIG. 3, process 300 begins in step 302, which
includes determining AP information associated with a plurality of
APs in the region of interest. As described above, the AP
information may be collected through various ways, including
directly from the APs, from one or more core network entities via
the backhaul network, or by eavesdropping. In an embodiment, the AP
information includes information regarding the capabilities of the
plurality of APs including, without limitation, information
regarding one or more of: maximum transmit powers of the APs,
supported RATs at the APs (e.g., LTE, LTE-Advanced, WLAN,
Bluetooth, etc.), antenna configurations of the APs (e.g., number
of transmit/receive antennas, omni-directional, fixed sector
omni-directional, directional, MIMO, M-MIMO, etc.), M-MIMO
communication availability at the APs (e.g., presence/absence of a
M-MIMO antenna array, instantaneous usage availability of the
M-MIMO antenna array, etc.), capacity of backhaul links of the APs,
and latency of the backhaul links of the APs.
[0033] Subsequently, process 300 proceeds to step 304, which
includes determining UE information associated with one or more UEs
in the region of interest. Like the AP information, the UE
information can also be collected in various ways according to
embodiments, including directly from the APs, from one or more core
network entities via the backhaul network, or by eavesdropping. In
an embodiment, the UE information includes information associated
with the one or more of UEs. The information associated with a UE
can include, without limitation, information regarding one or more
of: supported RATs at the UE, an antenna configuration at the UE
(e.g., number of transmit/antennas, omni-directional, fixed sector
omni-directional, directional, MIMO, M-MIMO, etc.), M-MIMO
communication availability at the UE (e.g., presence/absence of a
M-MIMO antenna array, instantaneous usage availability of the
M-MIMO antenna array, etc.), instantaneous data traffic
characteristics of the UE (e.g., number of data streams (i.e.,
rank) of the UE, data traffic type (e.g., video, voice, etc.), data
traffic Qos requirements, average uplink/downlink burst size,
etc.), a current serving AP (or APs) of the UE, a current receive
power at the UE due to the current serving AP(s), a current
estimate of a downlink channel from the current serving AP(s) to
the UE, a location of the UE (e.g., GPS location or approximate
location based on current serving AP), and a battery level of the
UE.
[0034] Process 300 then proceeds to step 306, which includes
generating a channel assignment configuration for a UE of the one
or more UEs based on the AP information and the UE information. As
described above, the channel assignment configuration can identify
any number of communication channels to be established between one
or more of the plurality of APs and the UE. The channel assignment
configuration channel can identify each of the communication
channels as a data channel or a control channel, specify the RAT of
each of the communication channels, and specify communication
parameters related to each of the communication channels.
[0035] In an embodiment, process 300 terminates in step 308, which
includes sending the channel assignment configuration to at least
one AP of the plurality of APs. In an embodiment, step 308 includes
sending the channel assignment configuration to the AP(s)
identified in the channel assignment configuration. In another
embodiment, the channel assignment configuration is shared with all
of the plurality of APs. In a further embodiment, the channel
assignment configuration is also shared with the UE itself.
[0036] In another embodiment, process 300 proceeds to step 310
after step 308. Step 310 includes detecting a change in the AP
information and/or the UE information. If no change is detected,
process 300 loops back to step 310, e.g., after a predetermined
delay. Otherwise, process 300 returns to step 306 to adjust the
channel assignment configuration partially or entirely in response
to the detected change. Example changes that can trigger an
adjustment of the channel assignment configuration (e.g., change in
the data traffic characteristics of the UE, change in the battery
level of the UE, etc.) and example adjustments in response to the
changes are described above with reference to FIG. 2, for the
purpose of illustration only and not limitation.
[0037] FIG. 4 illustrates an example AP 400 according to an
embodiment. Example AP 400 is provided for the purpose of
illustration only and is not limiting of embodiments. Example AP
400 can be an embodiment of AP 102 or AP 104 for example. In an
embodiment, example AP 400 can be used to support at least two
different M-MIMO RATs (e.g., M-MIMO LTE and M-MIMO WLAN) and to
implement embodiments as described herein, including implementing a
channel assignment configuration provided by a central access
controller.
[0038] As shown in FIG. 4, example AP 400 includes, without
limitation, a first transmit/receive chain for enabling a first RAT
and a second transmit/receive chain for implementing a second RAT.
The first transmit/receive chain includes, without limitation, a
processor 402, a multi-carrier modulator/demodulator 404, a radio
frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) 406, a switching module 408, an
antenna array controller 410, and a M-MIMO antenna array 416,
including a plurality of antenna elements 416.0, 416.1, . . . ,
416.n. In an embodiment, processor 402 includes an embedded memory
for storing logic instructions that can be executed by processor
402 to perform the functions described herein. In another
embodiment, the memory is external to processor 402. In an
embodiment, the first transmit/receive chain can be used to
implement a multi-carrier based RAT, such as LTE, for example.
[0039] The second transmit/receive chain is similar to the first
transmit/receive chain, and includes, without limitation, a
processor 418, a single carrier modulator/demodulator 420, a RFIC
422, a switching module 426, an antenna array controller 424, and a
M-MIMO antenna array 428, including a plurality of antenna elements
428.0, 428.1, . . . , 428.n. In an embodiment, the second
transmit/receive chain can be used to implement a single carrier
based RAT, such as WLAN, for example. As would be understood by a
person of skill in the art based on the teachings herein, in other
embodiments, some of the components of AP 400 can be reused across
different RATs and can therefore be eliminated. For example, in an
embodiment, a single M-MIMO antenna array, antenna array
controller, switching module, RFIC, modulator/demodulator, and/or
processor can be shared across the different RATs.
[0040] In an embodiment, AP 400 is configured to receive a channel
assignment configuration for a UE in the vicinity of AP 400. The
channel assignment configuration can be received using either one
or both of the first and second transmit/receive chains.
Alternatively, AP 400 receives the channel assignment configuration
via a backhaul link, not shown in FIG. 4. For the purpose of
illustration only, it is assumed herein that the channel assignment
configuration identifies a first (data) communication channel to be
established using the first RAT between AP 400 and the UE, and a
second control communication channel to be established using the
second RAT between AP 400 and the UE. As would be understood by a
person of skill in the art based on the teachings herein, the
channel assignment configuration may identify further communication
channels to be established by other APs, which would operate
similar to AP 400 to establish those channels. For illustration
only, it is further assumed that the first communication channel is
identified as a M-MIMO communication channel and that the second
(control) communication channel is identified as a non-M-MIMO
communication channel by the channel assignment configuration.
[0041] After receiving the channel assignment configuration, AP 400
can be configured to respond to one or more attachment requests
from the UE. For example, one or more of the first and second
communication channels may require attachment before data/control
traffic can be served to the UE. In another embodiment, no
attachment is required. In a further embodiment, AP 400 can be
configured to instruct the UE to transmit pilot signals for
estimating the uplink/downlink channel corresponding to the first
communication channel.
[0042] In an embodiment, once AP 400 obtains an estimate of the
downlink channel to the UE, AP 400 can use the first
transmit/receive chain to serve downlink data traffic to the UE
using M-MIMO communication according to the channel assignment
configuration, thereby establishing the first communication
channel.
[0043] In an embodiment, processor 402 includes a baseband
processor which generates one or more (e.g., N) symbol streams (not
shown in FIG. 4) for transmission by AP 400 over the same time and
frequency resources. The symbol streams each typically comprises a
sequence of modulated symbols. The symbol streams can be different
from each other. Alternatively, some of the symbol streams can be
duplicate. The symbol streams are generally intended for one or
more UEs (e.g., K UEs) served by AP 400.
[0044] The UE associated with the received channel assignment
configuration may be the intended recipient of one or more or none
of the symbol streams transmitted by AP 400 at any given time. In
an embodiment, the symbol stream(s) for the UE result from
modulating and/or coding respective bit streams according to
modulation and coding schemes identified by the channel assignment
configuration. As further described below, in an embodiment, AP 400
can be configured to transmit the one or more symbol streams such
that the symbol stream(s) intended for the UE associated with the
received channel assignment configuration is (are) transmitted over
the first communication channel in accordance the channel
assignment configuration. Other symbol streams are transmitted to
other UEs over respective communication channels, which in turn may
have been identified by respective channel assignment
configurations associated with the other UEs.
[0045] The one or more symbol streams are provided to multi-carrier
modulator/demodulator 404. In an embodiment, multi-carrier
modulator/demodulator 404 includes an Inverse Fast Fourier
Transform (IFFT) module and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) module.
Multi-carrier modulator/demodulator 404 modulates the symbol
streams onto one or more physical resources of a multi-carrier
frame (e.g., Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
frame) at the control of processor 402. As understood by a person
of skill in the art, a multi-carrier frame, such as an OFDM frame,
corresponds to a grid of physical resources, with each physical
resource being associated with a respective time slot (or symbol)
and frequency sub-carrier of the multi-carrier frame.
[0046] In an embodiment, multi-carrier modulator/demodulator 404
modulates the symbol streams onto physical resources of the
multi-carrier frame that correspond to downlink time/frequency
resources identified by the channel assignment configuration. In an
embodiment, the symbol streams are modulated onto different
physical resources of the multi-carrier frame. In another
embodiment, the symbol streams are modulated onto the same time and
frequency physical resources of the multi-carrier frame, but are
pre-coded in such a manner that they are transmitted on spatially
orthogonal paths by M-MIMO antenna array 416. As further described
below, in embodiments, the pre-coding can be performed by applying
a transmit precoder matrix to the symbol streams before
multi-carrier modulation and/or by applying a transmit weight
vector to the antenna signals prior to transmission. In the former
case, the pre-coding can be performed on a physical resource basis,
a sub-carrier basis, or a timeslot basis (e.g., OFDM symbol basis).
In the latter case, the pre-coding is applied in the time domain on
a multi-carrier modulated signal.
[0047] In an embodiment, processor 402 selects a subset of M-MIMO
antenna array 416 (which can be the entire M-MIMO antenna array
416) for transmitting the one or more symbol streams. In an
embodiment, the subset of M-MIMO antenna array 416 is identified by
the received channel assignment configuration. Based on the size of
the selected subset of M-MIMO antenna array 416 and the number of
symbol streams being transmitted, processor 402 determines a
transmit precoder matrix for pre-coding the one or more symbol
streams.
[0048] Processor 402 then pre-codes the one or more symbol streams
using the transmit precoder matrix to generate a plurality of
signals. Depending on the actual values of the transmit precoder
matrix, the plurality of signals can each correspond to an
amplitude and/or phase adjusted version of a single symbol stream,
or one or more of the plurality of signals can be a weighted
combination of the one or more symbol streams. In an embodiment,
processor 402 is configured to determine the transmit precoder
matrix based at least in part on the estimate of the downlink
channel to the UE associated with the channel assignment
configuration. In another embodiment, processor 402 determines the
transmit precoder matrix such that transmission of the plurality of
signals by M-MIMO antenna array 416 results in each symbol stream
of the one or more symbol streams being beamformed to its intended
UE. In a further embodiment, the transmit precoder matrix is
provided by the channel assignment configuration to AP 400.
[0049] The plurality of signals resulting from the pre-coding of
the first and second user data symbol streams are provided by
processor 402 to multi-carrier modulator/demodulator 404. In an
embodiment, as described above, multi-carrier modulator/demodulator
404 modulates the plurality of signals onto the same time and
frequency resources. This is equivalent to having multiple parallel
(time and frequency synchronized) OFDM frames, with each signal of
the plurality of signals being mapped to one of the multiple
parallel OFDM frames such that all signals occupy in their
respective OFDM frames the same time and frequency resources.
[0050] The plurality of signals modulated by multi-carrier
modulator/demodulator 404 are then provided to RFIC 406. RFIC 406
includes analog hardware circuits and/or components such as
filters, frequency up-converters, and power amplifiers. RFIC 406
acts on the plurality of signals to generate a respective plurality
of carrier-modulated signals. The plurality of carrier-modulated
signals are then provided to switching module 408. Switching module
408 is controllable by processor 402 by means of a control signal
432 to couple the plurality of carrier-modulated signals to M-MIMO
antenna array 416. In an embodiment, processor 402 controls
switching module 408 to couple the plurality of carrier-modulated
signals to respective antenna elements of the selected subset of
M-MIMO antenna array 416. In an embodiment, switching module 408
couples the plurality of carrier-modulated signals to M-MIMO
antenna array 416 via antenna array controller 410 as further
described below.
[0051] Antenna array controller 410 is coupled between switching
module 408 and M-MIMO antenna array 416. In an embodiment, antenna
array controller 410 includes a plurality of antenna controllers
410.0, 410.1, . . . , 410.n that correspond respectively to antenna
elements 416.0, 416.1, . . . , 416.n of M-MIMO antenna array 416.
In an embodiment, each antenna controller 410.0, 410.1., . . . ,
410.n includes a respective phase controller 412 and a respective
amplitude controller 414. Antenna array controller 410 can be
implemented using digital and/or analog components.
[0052] In an embodiment, processor 402 controls antenna array
controller 410 by means of a control signal 434. In another
embodiment, processor 402 controls antenna array controller 410
using control signal 434 to activate one or more of antenna
controllers 410.0, 410.1, . . . , 410.n depending on which of
antenna elements 416.0, 416.1, . . . , 416.n is being used for
transmission or reception. In an embodiment, when an antenna
element 416.0, 416.1, . . . , 416.n is used for transmission or
reception, its corresponding antenna controller 410.0, 410.1, . . .
, 410.n is active. A phase shift can be applied to a signal being
transmitted or received by an antenna element 416.0, 416.1, . . . ,
416.n using its respective phase controller 412.0, 412.1, . . . ,
412.n. An amplitude amplification/attenuation can be applied to a
signal being transmitted or received using an antenna element
416.0, 416.1, . . . , 416.n using its respective amplitude
controller 414.0, 414.1, . . . , 414.n. In an embodiment, the phase
shift and amplitude amplification/attenuation are applied in the
time domain to the signal.
[0053] In an embodiment, processor 402 determines, based on one or
more of: a desired transmit beam pattern, the downlink channel to
the UE, the transmit precoder matrix, and the selected subset of
antenna elements used for transmission, a transmit weight vector
for antenna array controller 410. In an embodiment, the transmit
weight vector includes a complex element for each antenna
controller 410.0, 410.1, . . . , 410.n, which determines the
respective phase shift and amplitude amplification/attenuation to
be applied by the antenna controller to the signal being
transmitted by its respective antenna element. Hence, as described
above, antenna array controller 410 provides an additional layer
for shaping the transmit beam pattern of M-MIMO antenna array 416,
and can be used with or without the above described symbol stream
precoding to realize a desired transmit beam pattern using M-MIMO
antenna array 416. The desired transmit beam pattern can be, as
described above, such that each of the one or more symbol streams
is beamformed to its intended UE.
[0054] After processing by antenna array controller 410, the
plurality of carrier-modulated signals are coupled to respective
antenna elements of the selected subset of M-MIMO antenna array 416
and are transmitted. In an embodiment, the selected subset of
M-MIMO antenna array transmits the plurality of carrier-modulated
signals on the same time and frequency physical resources as
described above.
[0055] Implementing the second data channel using the second
transmit/receive chain of AP 400 is similar to implementing the
first communication channel using the first transmit/receive chain
as described above. Briefly, in an embodiment, processor 418 is
configured to generate a symbol stream corresponding to a control
bit stream, to be transmitted to the UE associated with the
received channel assignment configuration. The symbol stream is
provided to modulator/demodulator 420 which modulates the symbol
stream onto appropriate physical resources associated with the
second communication channel. The output of modulator/demodulator
420 is then provided to RFIC 422 to generate a carrier-modulated
signal. At the control of processor 418 via control signals 436 and
438 respectively, switching module 426 and antenna array controller
424 couple the carrier-modulated signal to one or more respective
antenna elements of M-MIMO antenna array 428. In an embodiment, the
antenna element(s) of M-MIMO antenna array 428 used to transmit the
carrier-modulated signal are selected to produce an
omni-directional or a fixed sector transmit pattern in accordance
with the received channel assignment configuration. As would be
understood by a person of skill in the art based on the teachings
herein, these operations using the second transmit/receive chain
can be performed at a same/different time as the operations
described above with respect to the first transmit/receive
chain.
[0056] As would be understood by a person of skill in the art based
on the teachings, the above operation description of AP 400
corresponds to one example scenario according to embodiments and is
provided for the purpose of illustration only. A myriad of other
communication scenarios can be implemented using AP 400 according
to embodiments. For example, AP 400 can be used to support any of
the above described channel assignment configuration embodiments.
For example, as would be apparent to a person of skill in the art,
AP 400 can be used to implement a channel assignment configuration
whereby both the first and the second transmit/receive chains are
used to establish data channels with the UE. Further, both data
channels can use the same RAT and both can be M-MIMO RATs or
non-MIMO RATs. In addition, in some embodiments, one of the data
channels can be a primary data channel and the other data channel
can be a secondary data channel, where the secondary data channel
may be established/used when the primary data channel fails, when
the UE's data traffic exceeds the capacity of the primary data
channel, or when the UE's data traffic is of a particular type
(e.g., video).
[0057] In other embodiments, where processors 402 and 418 implement
different RATs, communication related parameters can be shared
between processors 402 and 418 so as to enable cross-RAT
cooperation. In such embodiments, any type of information available
within a given RAT network and which is accessible to AP 400 can be
shared between processors 402 and 418. For example, processors 402
and 418 can share such information as the UE's location,
uplink/downlink channel estimates, transmit/receive precoders, etc.
with each other.
[0058] Embodiments have been described above with the aid of
functional building blocks illustrating the implementation of
specified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of
these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined
herein for the convenience of the description. Alternate boundaries
can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships
thereof are appropriately performed.
[0059] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will
so fully reveal the general nature of the disclosure that others
can, by applying knowledge within the skill of the art, readily
modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific
embodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from
the general concept of the present disclosure. Therefore, such
adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning
and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments, based on the
teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that
the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of
description and not of limitation, such that the terminology or
phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by
the skilled artisan in light of the teachings and guidance.
[0060] The breadth and scope of embodiments of the present
disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described
exemplary embodiments as other embodiments will be apparent to a
person of skill in the art based on the teachings herein.
* * * * *