U.S. patent number 9,271,311 [Application Number 14/572,294] was granted by the patent office on 2016-02-23 for methods and systems for automated activation and configuration of broadband incident area networks (ians).
This patent grant is currently assigned to MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC.. The grantee listed for this patent is MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC. Invention is credited to David P Gurney, Bradley M Hiben, Stephen L Kuffner.
United States Patent |
9,271,311 |
Gurney , et al. |
February 23, 2016 |
Methods and systems for automated activation and configuration of
broadband incident area networks (IANs)
Abstract
Disclosed herein are methods and systems for automated
activation and configuration of broadband LTE IANs. A mobile IAN
base station, an activated mode and a dormant mode, determines at
least one location in a local region of the mobile IAN base station
while in the dormant mode. An activation-permission request is
submitted to a geo-location-database (GDB) function, and the mobile
IAN base station receives an activation-permission response. The
response is based on an expected level of wide-area-network (WAN)
coverage associated with the determined location. Responsive to
receiving an activation-permission grant, the mobile IAN base
station transitions to the activated mode. Responsive to not
receiving an activation-permission grant, the mobile IAN base
station remains in the dormant mode.
Inventors: |
Gurney; David P
(Carpentersville, IL), Hiben; Bradley M (Glen Ellyn, IL),
Kuffner; Stephen L (Algonquin, IL) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC |
Schaumburg |
IL |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC.
(Schaumburg, IL)
|
Family
ID: |
55314847 |
Appl.
No.: |
14/572,294 |
Filed: |
December 16, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W
76/50 (20180201); H04W 4/02 (20130101); H04W
24/10 (20130101); H04W 4/90 (20180201); H04W
4/029 (20180201) |
Current International
Class: |
H04M
11/04 (20060101); H04W 4/02 (20090101); H04W
76/00 (20090101); H04W 24/10 (20090101); H04W
4/22 (20090101) |
Field of
Search: |
;455/404.1 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2009300250 |
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Jan 2011 |
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AU |
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2416609 |
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Feb 2012 |
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EP |
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2013176394 |
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Nov 2013 |
|
WO |
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2014064322 |
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May 2014 |
|
WO |
|
Other References
Federal Communications Commission; Third Memorandum Opinion and
Order: Apr. 5, 2012; p. 1-35, Web Address:
http://whitespacealliance.org/documents/us tvws rules
fcc-12-36a-1.pdf. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Bolourchi; Nader
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Haas; Kenneth A.
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A method carried out by a mobile incident-area-network (IAN)
base station having a plurality of selectable operating modes, the
plurality of selectable operating modes including an activated mode
and a dormant mode, the method comprising: determining at least one
location in a local region of the mobile IAN base station while the
mobile IAN base station is in the dormant mode; submitting, to a
geo-location-database (GDB) function, an activation permission
request that includes the determined at least one location for
processing by the GDB function; receiving, from the GDB function,
an activation-permission response associated with the submitted
activation-permission request, wherein the received
activation-permission response is based at least in part on an
expected level of wide area-network (WAN) coverage associated with
the determined at least one location; transitioning the mobile IAN
base station to the activated mode in response to confirming each
activation criterion in a set of one or more activation criteria,
the set of one or more activation criteria comprising the received
activation-permission response being an activation-permission
grant; and remaining in the dormant mode in response to failing to
confirm at least one activation criterion in the set of one or more
activation criteria.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the GDB function operates locally
in the mobile IAN base station.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the GDB function utilizes a local
cache of WAN-coverage data derived from a remote GDB function.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the GDB function operates remote
from the mobile IAN base station.
5. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising: operating
in accordance with the activation-permission grant.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the activation-permission grant
instructs the mobile IAN base station to operate at a full
transmission power level.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the activation-permission grant
instructs the mobile IAN base station as to permissible operating
ranges with respect to one or more operating parameters, the one or
more operating parameters including one or more of transmit power
level, carrier frequency, channel bandwidth, utilized resource
blocks, and time-frequency allocation.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the expected level of WAN
coverage comprises at least one of an expected WAN
signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR), an expected WAN
signal strength, an expected WAN loading level, and an expected WAN
available-capacity level.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: measuring an actual
level of WAN coverage, wherein the set of one or more activation
criteria further comprises the measured actual level of WAN
coverage being less than a predetermined WAN-coverage
threshold.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the measured actual level of WAN
coverage being less than the predetermined WAN-coverage threshold
corresponds to one or both of (i) a measured actual WAN
signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR) being less than a
predetermined SINR threshold and (ii) a measured actual WAN signal
strength being less than a predetermined signal-strength level.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of one or more
activation criteria further comprises the mobile IAN base station
having received a user instruction to transition to the activated
mode.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the mobile IAN base station
received the user instruction via a user interface of the mobile
IAN base station.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein the mobile IAN base station
received the user instruction from a user authorized to issue such
an instruction.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of one or more
activation criteria further comprises the mobile IAN base station
having received an activation instruction from a WAN.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of one or more
activation criteria further comprises the mobile IAN base station
having received an activation instruction from a mobile radio.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the mobile IAN base station
received the activation instruction from the mobile radio over a
land mobile radio (LMR) channel.
17. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving
expected-WAN-coverage data from the GDB function; measuring an
actual level of WAN coverage; and adapting the
expected-WAN-coverage data with the measured actual level of the
WAN coverage.
18. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining an
updated location of the mobile IAN base station while the mobile
IAN base station is in the activated mode; submitting, to the GBD
function, a continuing operation request that includes the
determined updated location for processing by the GDB function;
receiving, from the GDB function, a continuing-operation response
associated with the submitted continuing-operation request, wherein
the received continuing operation response is based at least in
part on an expected level of WAN coverage associated with the
determined updated location; remaining in the activated mode in
response to confirming each continuing operation criterion in a set
of one or more continuing-operation criteria, the set of one or
more continuing-operation criteria comprising the received
continuing-operation response being a continuing-operation grant;
and transitioning the mobile IAN base station to the dormant mode
in response to failing to confirm at least one continuing-operation
criterion in the set of one or more continuing operation
criteria.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein the GDB function formulates the
activation-permission response based at least in part on
information regarding one or more of a transmitter location, a
radiated power level, an antenna height, an antenna gain, an
antenna polarization, an antenna pattern, and terrain data.
20. A mobile incident-area network (IAN) base station having a
plurality of selectable operating modes, the plurality of
selectable operating modes including an activated mode and a
dormant mode, the mobile IAN base station comprising: a
wireless-communication interface; a processor; and a non-transitory
computer readable medium containing instructions executable by the
processor for causing the mobile IAN base station to carry out a
set of functions, the set of functions comprising: determining at
least one location in a local region of the mobile IAN base station
while the mobile IAN base station is in the dormant mode;
submitting, to a geo-location-database (GDB) function, an
activation permission request that includes the determined at least
one location for processing by the GDB function; receiving, from
the GDB function, an activation-permission response associated with
the submitted activation-permission request, wherein the received
activation permission response is based at least in part on an
expected level of wide-area-network (WAN) coverage around the
determined at least one location; transitioning the mobile IAN base
station to the activated mode in response to confirming each
activation criterion in a set of one or more activation criteria,
the set of one or more activation criteria comprising the received
activation-permission response being an activation-permission
grant; and remaining in the dormant mode in response to failing to
confirm at least one activation criterion in the set of one or more
activation criteria.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is important that public-safety responders have an adequate link
to communication services (e.g., telephony, data services, and the
like) when responding to an incident. However, the reality of the
dynamic and mobile nature of the profession is that, in many
instances, incidents occur outside of the range or coverage of the
established radio access networks (RANs). In other cases, the
available RAN signal may not have enough capacity to support the
required public-safety mission. To facilitate communication between
the responders and offsite utilities, incident area networks (IANs)
are often set up using mobile base stations. These mobile base
stations establish a link between a given wireless-communication
device (WCD) (e.g., a handheld mobile radio) and a given network
resource, typically using some standard for over-the-air
communication, an example of which is 3GPP's Long Term Evolution
(LTE), which is one example protocol for a type of wireless
communication known as orthogonal frequency division multiplex
(OFDM) communication. In addition to mobile radios, some examples
of commonly used WCDs include cell phones, smartphones, dongles,
tablets, notebook computers, laptop computers, and the like. And
certainly many other examples of WCDs could be listed as well, as
known to those having skill in the relevant art.
It is desirable for public-safety responders to be able to
communicate with one another as efficiently as possible for at
least the reason that the immediacy and efficacy with which
public-safety responders can communicate with one another are quite
often determinative of a positive outcome in public-safety
incidents. For the sake of general efficiency and for optimized
allocation of network resources, it is important that mobile base
stations be coordinated with existing communication networks.
Accordingly, for this reason and others, there is a need for
methods and systems for automated activation and configuration of
broadband IANs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to
identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate
views, together with the detailed description below, are
incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to
further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed
invention, and explain various principles and advantages of those
embodiments.
FIG. 1 depicts a first example communication system, in accordance
with an embodiment.
FIG. 2 depicts a second example communication system, in accordance
with an embodiment.
FIG. 3 depicts a third example communication system, in accordance
with an embodiment.
FIG. 4 depicts examples of aspects of the communication system of
FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 5 depicts an example mobile IAN base station, in accordance
with an embodiment.
FIG. 6 depicts a first example process, in accordance with an
embodiment.
FIG. 7 depicts a second example process, in accordance with an
embodiment.
FIG. 8 depicts a number of types of regions within which a mobile
IAN base station could be activated, in accordance with at least
one embodiment.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are
illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily
been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the
elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other
elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the
present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where
appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only
those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the
embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the
disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of
ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description
herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Disclosed herein are methods and systems for an automated
activation and configuration of broadband (e.g., LTE) IANs. As a
general matter, an IAN is a rapidly deployable site (e.g., a mobile
LTE base station, perhaps comprising an eNodeB, an enhanced packet
core, and/or one or more other related network-entity functions)
that can be quickly set up at an incident scene to provide enhanced
coverage and/or capacity. As a non-limiting list of example
deployments, an IAN can be utilized for coverage extension (e.g.,
to extend wide area cellular coverage), coverage creation (e.g.,
where no wide area cellular coverage is available), capacity
off-loading and/or improvement (e.g., in areas where wide area
coverage exists, but does not have sufficient capacity or
throughput for a given situation (e.g., to properly service
public-safety personnel at a location of a given public-safety
incident)). IANs may utilize other in-band and/or out-of-band
networks for backhaul (e.g., to reach the Internet or other
servers, a core network, and/or the like). Furthermore, a typical
IAN is capable of operating in a standalone fashion, or in
conjunction with wide area networks. Moreover, in this disclosure,
IANs are referred to equivalently as IAN base stations, mobile IAN
base stations, mobile IANs, and the like.
One embodiment takes the form of a process carried out by a mobile
IAN base station having an activated mode and a dormant mode. The
process includes (i) determining at least one location in a local
region of the mobile IAN base station while the mobile IAN base
station is in the dormant mode, (ii) submitting to a
geo-location-database (GDB) function an activation-permission
request that includes at least the determined location for
processing by the GDB function, (iii) receiving, from the GDB
function, an activation-permission response associated with the
submitted activation-permission request, wherein the received
activation-permission response is based at least in part on an
expected level of wide-area-network (WAN) coverage associated with
the determined location, (iv) transitioning the mobile IAN base
station to the activated mode in response to confirming each
activation criterion in a set of one or more activation criteria,
the set of activation criteria including the received
activation-permission response being an activation-permission
grant, and (v) remaining in the dormant mode in response to failing
to confirm at least one activation criterion in the set of
activation criteria. The local region generally encompasses the
maximum expected IAN coverage area.
Another embodiment takes the form of a system that includes a
wireless-communication interface, a processor, and data storage
containing instructions executable by the processor for causing the
system to carry out at least the functions described in the
preceding paragraph.
Moreover, any of the variations and permutations described in the
ensuing paragraphs and anywhere else herein can be implemented with
respect to any embodiments, including with respect to any method
embodiments and with respect to any system embodiments.
Furthermore, this flexibility and cross-applicability of
embodiments is present in spite of the use of slightly different
language (e.g., process, method, steps, functions, set of
functions, and the like) to describe and or characterize such
embodiments.
In at least one embodiment the GDB function operates locally in the
mobile IAN base station. The GDB function is described below.
In at least one embodiment, the GDB function utilizes a local cache
of WAN-coverage data derived from a remote GDB function.
In at least one embodiment, the GDB function operates remote from
the mobile IAN base station.
In at least one embodiment, the received activation-permission
response is an activation-permission grant and the process further
includes operating in accordance with the activation-permission
grant. In at least one such embodiment, the activation-permission
grant instructs the mobile IAN base station to operate at a full
transmission power level (based on its operating location and GDB
computations); in at least one such embodiment, the
activation-permission grant instructs the mobile IAN base station
as to permissible operating ranges with respect to one or more
operating parameters, the one or more operating parameters
including one or more of a transmit power level, a carrier
frequency, a channel bandwidth, utilized resource blocks, and a
time-frequency allocation. The general concept in specifying
utilized resource blocks or a time-frequency allocation is to
provide some level of orthogonality between the WAN-system signal
and the IAN-system signal. Note that other forms of orthogonality
or quasi-orthogonality could also be applied, such as spreading
codes, space-time codes, antenna pattern/polarization, orbital
angular momentum, and the like.
The GDB function may utilize co-, adjacent, and alternate channel
interference protection ratios along with signal propagation
modeling to compute a maximum allowed transmission power level for
the IAN base station in order to avoid interference with other
systems (including the WAN system, which may be operating
co-channel). In general, the GDB function will compute the expected
desired (e.g., WAN) signal power and the aggregate interference
power at a given location to estimate a
signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR), signal-to-noise
ratio (SNR), or received signal strength indicator (RSSI) level of
the desired signal.
These estimates reflect the expected WAN coverage level at any
given operating location (in a local region), and can generally be
pre-computed for an entire operating area or greater region. The
GDB may also enforce a maximum allowed interference level with the
WAN (and possibly other nearby radio systems) to avoid causing
excessive interference to those systems at defined operating points
or contours (which may limit the maximum allowed IAN power level
based on its operating location). Note that RSSI values may include
other related measures, like the reference signal received power
(RSRP) value utilized in LTE systems. Likewise, related
WAN-coverage-level estimates, such as the channel quality indicator
(CQI) or block error rate (BLER) may also be predicted in the GDB
function. The GDB function should typically take into account
antenna heights of both the transmitter and receiver in the
computations. WCD antenna height (and/or unit altitude) may also be
taken into account in the computations.
In at least one embodiment, the expected level of WAN coverage
comprises at least one of an expected WAN SINR, an expected WAN
signal strength, an expected WAN loading level, and an expected WAN
available-capacity level. That is, some general examples of
WAN-performance measures include a predicted WAN SINR, RSSI, RSRP,
system loading level, an indication of the available
data-throughput capacity (e.g., CQI values), and the like. These
performance levels may be related and/or specific to a given WCD or
IAN operating location or locations, and may include the expected
and/or actual performance levels of WCD or IAN equipment (e.g.,
sensitivity, selectivity, antenna gain, transmit power level,
etc.). In addition, both desired and undesired (e.g., out-of-band)
radio signals may be considered in the determination of the
expected level of WAN coverage. In general, all of the nearby
interfering signals should be modeled and accounted for in the GDB
computations (as described below). And certainly other examples of
expected WAN coverage or performance could be listed as well.
In at least one embodiment, the process further includes measuring
an actual level of WAN coverage and the set of activation criteria
further includes the measured actual level of WAN coverage being
less than a predetermined WAN-coverage threshold. In at least one
such embodiment, the measured actual level of WAN coverage being
less than the predetermined WAN-coverage threshold corresponds to
one or both of (i) a measured actual WAN SINR being less than a
predetermined SINR threshold and (ii) a measured actual WAN signal
strength being less than a predetermined signal-strength level.
Additionally, as above, other WAN performance measures may be
considered, such as the system loading level, available
data-throughput capacity at a given location or locations, and the
like.
In at least one embodiment, consideration (when determining whether
or not to activate a given mobile IAN base station) is given to
respective locations of other WAN clients (e.g., heavy and/or light
and/or numerous WAN users), and further to location of such one or
more users as compared with the IAN location. In instances in which
no (or very few) WAN users are operating, activating a mobile IAN
base station would not generally tend to compromise WAN capacity.
However, in instances in which WAN usage is relatively heavy due to
one or more users, the WAN performance in that area could be
compromised by activation of an IAN. In those cases, it is
generally desirable to coordinate WAN and IAN resource usage (e.g.,
of time-frequency resources) through the use of resource sharing
techniques, such as through the use of extended Inter-Cell
Interference Coordination (eICIC) techniques (in LTE systems).
Almost Blank Subframes (ABS) may also be utilized (in LTE systems)
to reduce interference between WAN and IAN systems. Activation of
an IAN in such instances may result in WAN capacity being freed up
for other users if such heavy WAN users can no longer be supported,
and could instead or in addition result in one or more heavy WAN
users being handed off to the IAN after it has been activated. And
certainly numerous other example scenarios could be described as
well, as will be evident to those having skill in the relevant
art.
In at least one embodiment, the set of activation criteria further
includes the mobile IAN base station having received a user
instruction to transition to the activated mode. In at least one
such embodiment, the mobile IAN base station received the user
instruction via a user interface of the mobile IAN base station; in
at least one such embodiment, the mobile IAN base station received
the user instruction from a user authorized to issue such an
instruction.
In at least one embodiment, the set of activation criteria further
includes the mobile IAN base station having received an activation
instruction from a WAN. In such cases, the WAN may at least
partially determine that it does not have the required amount of
data-throughput capacity or signal coverage to meet the requested
capacity or coverage for an incident scene. Note that incident
scenes do not necessarily have to be large events, and could even
be routine (e.g., daily) events that are better served by local
radio coverage.
In at least one embodiment, the set of activation criteria further
includes the mobile IAN base station having received an activation
instruction from a mobile radio (or other WCD). In at least one
such embodiment, the mobile IAN base station received the
activation instruction from the mobile radio over a
land-mobile-radio (LMR) channel. LMR radio channels are often
narrow-band in nature (e.g., 25 kilohertz (kHz) channel bandwidth),
and can often tolerate higher path losses (which typically
translates into a longer communication range). This characteristic
may make an LMR radio channel a useful signaling mechanism for
activation of an IAN base station when there is limited or no
coverage from a broadband WAN radio system. This applies to cases
that use LMR to signal directly to the IAN base station (e.g., via
direct-mode communications), as well as to cases that utilize LMR
infrastructure (e.g., base stations or repeaters) to consequently
signal to the IAN base station. In any case, a given mobile radio
may determine that it has a poor connection quality, received
signal level, throughput, SINR, SNR, and/or the like, and may
responsively request that an IAN base station be activated.
In other embodiments, the IAN base station may receive an
activation instruction based on user context. For example, if a
given mobile IAN base station is located in a poor WAN-coverage
area (e.g., near a building with known poor WAN coverage and/or low
estimated SINR values), the IAN may automatically be activated once
a user leaves an associated vehicle. This can be accomplished by
any variety of technologies, including using short-range
communications (e.g., Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) to detect when at least
one of the users (e.g., a police officer) leaves the proximity of
the car containing the IAN base station. In such a case, the IAN
may responsively activate once the user is outside of some
predefined range (or inside of a building), thus providing improved
local coverage to the WCD user(s). And certainly numerous other
example scenarios could be described here as well.
In at least one embodiment, the process further includes (i)
receiving expected-WAN-coverage data (e.g., predictions of SINR,
SNR, RSSI, and/or the like for one or more operating locations)
from the GDB function, (ii) measuring an actual level of WAN
coverage (e.g., SINR, SNR, RSSI, capacity values, and/or the like
for, e.g., a representative user, a worst case of a survey of
multiple users, and/or the like), and (iii) adapting the
expected-WAN-coverage data with the measured actual level.
Filtering of the measured values (using, e.g., moving average or
finite impulse response filters) across time and users is also
recommended to reduce spurious variations. In this case, the
predictions of SINR, SNR, or RSSI values may be updated using a
wide variety of adaption algorithms known in the art (e.g., least
mean square, recursive least square, etc.) to adapt the GDB
predictions to the measured actual (e.g., mean and standard
deviation) values over time. There are many possible variants to
the method, depending on the desired measurement intervals and
adaption rates, among other considerations known to those of skill
in the relevant art. Other related measures, such as RSRP values,
CQI values, and/or the like may also be measured and compared to
GDB-predicted values to update the values to improve accuracy. In
general, predicted WAN coverage may refer to any number of
performance measures, including RSSI, RSRP, SINR, SNR, RSSI, CQI,
BLER, retransmission attempt values, and/or one or more other such
measures.
Actual characteristics of the receiver system utilized to measure
these values (e.g., antenna gains, polarization, measurement
variance, etc.) may also be taken into account in updating the
estimated values. In general, any value that helps to more
accurately reflect the WAN coverage and/or connection quality
(e.g., throughput level, error rate, retransmission rate, and/or
the like) can be measured and compared to GDB predictions to update
the prediction results.
In at least one embodiment, the process further includes (i)
determining an updated capacity need and/or location of the mobile
IAN base station while the mobile IAN base station is in the
activated mode, (ii) submitting, to the GDB function, a
continuing-operation request that includes the determined updated
location for processing by the GDB function, (iii) receiving, from
the GDB function, a continuing-operation response associated with
the submitted continuing-operation request, wherein the received
continuing-operation response is based at least in part on an
expected level of WAN coverage associated with the determined
updated capacity need and/or location, (iv) remaining in the
activated mode in response to confirming each continuing-operation
criterion in a set of one or more continuing-operation criteria,
the set of continuing-operation criteria comprising the received
continuing-operation response being a continuing-operation grant;
and (v) transitioning the mobile IAN base station to the dormant
mode in response to failing to confirm at least one
continuing-operation criterion in the set of continuing-operation
criteria.
In at least one embodiment, the GDB function formulates the
activation-permission response based at least in part on
information regarding one or more of a transmitter location, a
transmitter power level, an antenna height, an antenna gain, an
antenna polarization, an antenna pattern, and terrain data. The
transmitter's effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) level can
be computed from these values in various directions by the GDB
function. This is typically modeled for both desired and undesired
WAN base station transmitters and IAN mobile transmitters, and can
be performed to estimate both the uplink and downlink desired and
aggregate undesired signal strengths. Thus, at any given location,
the GDB function is able to compute a set of expected desired and
undesired signal strengths, for potentially all of the transmitters
(and receivers) in the system. This allows both a WAN coverage
level to be estimated, and IAN transmitter operating parameters to
be computed to avoid causing undue interference to WAN or other
systems operating in the area. The use of eICIC or ABS interference
reduction techniques (for LTE systems) may also be accounted for in
the GDB computations.
In terms of computing the maximum allowable interference to WAN
systems, the SINR or desired to undesired (D/U) signal ratio is
typically modeled for the WAN system (transmitters and receivers),
again based on transmitter and receiver locations. For example, in
TV white space, incumbent transmitter signal strength is modeled in
one-degree (radial) steps over varying propagation distances,
taking into account the transmitter power level output (TPO) and
antenna gain in each direction. Furthermore, antenna height above
average terrain (HAAT) or above ground level (AGL) could be taken
into account in the various GDB function predictions, as well as
terrain data in signal-propagation modeling. One example of a
signal-propagation model that takes into account terrain data is a
Longley-Rice propagation model. The extended HATA model is an
example of a model that takes into account coarse terrain features
and/or classifications (e.g., large urban, suburban, etc.). The
receiver interference protection ratios (e.g., on co-, adjacent,
and alternate channels) can also be taken into account when
computing a maximum permissible IAN transmit power level to avoid
causing harmful interference to other WAN systems (whether they be
public-safety-related or commercial cellular systems).
Before proceeding with this detailed description, it is noted that
the entities, connections, arrangements, and the like that are
depicted in--and described in connection with--the various figures
are presented by way of example and not by way of limitation. As
such, any and all statements or other indications as to what a
particular figure "depicts," what a particular element or entity in
a particular figure "is" or "has," and any and all similar
statements--that may in isolation and out of context be read as
absolute and therefore limiting--can only properly be read as being
constructively preceded by a clause such as "In at least one
embodiment, . . . . " And it is for reasons akin to brevity and
clarity of presentation that this implied leading clause is not
repeated ad nauseum in this detailed description.
It is also noted that the terms "mobile IAN base station" and
"mobile IAN" are used interchangeably in the present description
and figures.
FIG. 1 depicts an example communication system, in accordance with
an embodiment. In particular, FIG. 1 depicts an example
communication system 100 that includes one or more commercial RANs
102, a public-safety RAN 104, a data network 106, a circuit network
108, WCDs 110, communication links 112-126, a mobile IAN 128 and
communication links 130 and 132 to the mobile IAN.
An example public-safety RAN 104 is discussed below in connection
with FIG. 4, though in general, each RAN 102 and the public-safety
RAN 104 includes typical RAN elements such as base stations, base
station controllers (BSCs), routers, switches, and the like,
arranged, connected, and programmed to provide wireless service to
user equipment (e.g., WCDs 110) in a manner known to those of skill
in the relevant art.
The public-safety RAN 104 may include one or more packet-switched
networks and/or one or more circuit-switched networks, and in
general functions to provide one or more public-safety agencies
with any necessary computing and communication needs. Thus, the
public-safety RAN 104 may include a dispatch center communicatively
connected with the data network 106 and also with the circuit
network 108, for retrieving and transmitting any necessary
public-safety-related data and communications. The public-safety
RAN 104 may also include any necessary computing, data-storage, and
data-presentation resources utilized by public-safety personnel in
carrying out their public-safety functions. Moreover, the
public-safety RAN 104 may include one or more network access
servers (NASs), gateways, and the like for bridging communications
to one or more other entities and/or networks, such as the
commercial RANs 102, the data network 106, and the circuit network
108, as representative examples.
The data network 106 may be, include, or be a part of the global
network of networks typically referred to as the Internet. The data
network 106 may be a packet-switched network, and entities (i.e.,
servers, routers, computers, and the like) that communicate over
the data network 106 may be identified by a network address such as
an Internet Protocol (IP) address. Moreover, the data network 106
may include one or more NASs, gateways, and the like for bridging
communications to one or more other entities and/or networks, such
as the commercial RANs 102, the public-safety RAN 104, and the
circuit network 108, as representative examples.
The circuit network 108 may be, include, or be a part of the
circuit-switched telephone network commonly referred to as the
public switched telephone network (PSTN), and in general functions
to provide circuit-switched communications to various communication
entities as is known in the relevant art. Moreover, the circuit
network 108 may include one or more NASs, gateways, and the like
for bridging communications to one or more other entities and/or
networks, such as the commercial RANs 102, the public-safety RAN
104, and the data network 106, as representative examples.
The mobile IAN 128 may comprise a mobile eNodeB (eNB) connected to
a public-safety vehicle to transport the mobile eNB to different
locations. The public-safety vehicle in conjunction with the mobile
eNB can be used to establish an IAN, which in at least one
embodiment provides local WCDs 110 with respective
wireless-communication links to (or as part of) the public-safety
RAN 104. In this example, the mobile IAN 128 can be positioned and
repositioned where needed by driving the public-safety vehicle to
various incident locations. If an incident occurs in a place where
there is no wireless service, the mobile IAN 128 can be transported
to that area to facilitate its accompanying mobile eNB being used
by nearby WCDs 110. Certainly other possible uses and deployments
of the mobile IAN 128 could be listed here. For example, a mobile
IAN or eNB could be set up in a more permanent fashion to provide
service over an area.
The depicted example communication system 100 includes
communication links 112-126 and 130-132, any one or more of which
could include one or more wireless-communication links and/or one
or more wired-communication links. In FIG. 1, the communication
links 112, 114, 130, and 132 are depicted with respective
lightning-bolt graphics; while this graphic typically denotes
wireless communication, and does in this example as well, this is
not to the exclusion of one or more of the other communication
links 116-126 being or at least including wireless-communication
links as well.
The WCDs 110 may be any suitable computing and communication
devices configured to engage in wireless communication with the
RANs 102 over the air interface 112, the public-safety RAN 104 over
the air interface 114, and/or the mobile IAN 128 over the air
interface 130, as is known to those in the art. Some example WCDs
110 are discussed below in connection with the various figures.
Example WCDs 110 include mobile radios, portable radios, mobile
phones, smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, personal
digital assistants, connected wearable accessories, and the
like.
As can be seen in FIG. 1, the communication link 112 (as mentioned
above) connects the commercial RANs 102 and the WCDs 110, the
communication link 114 (as mentioned above) connects the
public-safety RAN 104 and the WCDs 110, the communication link 116
connects the commercial RANs 102 and the public-safety RAN 104, the
communication link 118 connects the commercial RANs 102 and the
data network 106, the communication link 120 connects the
commercial RANs 102 and the circuit network 108, the communication
link 122 connects the public-safety RAN 104 and the data network
106, the communication link 124 connects the data network 106 and
the circuit network 108, the communication link 126 connects the
public-safety RAN 104 and the circuit network 108, the
communication link 130 connects the WCDs 110 and the mobile IAN
128, and the communication link 132 connects the mobile IAN 128 to
the public-safety RAN 104. This arrangement is provided purely by
way of example, as other arrangements could be implemented by those
of skill in the relevant art in various different contexts.
FIG. 2 depicts an example communication system, in accordance with
an embodiment. In particular, FIG. 2 depicts an example
communication system 200. The example communication system 200
includes the components of the example communication system 100, a
local geo-location database (GDB) function 202, and a communication
link 204. A GDB function utilizes the location of the mobile IAN to
predict poor reception areas, predict WAN coverage/capacity,
predict interference, and/or perform one or more additional
functions, perhaps including one or more of the additional
functions described herein.
In various embodiments, the GDB function operates locally with the
mobile IAN, utilizes a local cache of WAN-coverage data derived
from a remote GDB function, or operates remote from the mobile IAN.
The local cache of WAN coverage data may be represented by any of
the measures mentioned herein (e.g., predicted SINR, SNR, RSSI,
RSRP, CQI, BLER values), and/or it may be stored as low-resolution
data (e.g., one-bit values) per location to indicate whether those
values are above or below a threshold. The WAN-coverage data may be
further compressed by any number of algorithms known in the art
(e.g., run-length encoding, Huffman encoding, variable spatial
resolution encoding, discrete cosine transforms (DCT) encoded,
etc.) to reduce the required cache storage size.
It is noted that the functions described by one version of the GDB
function (e.g. a local GDB function) may also be executed by
another version (e.g. a remote GDB function) of the GDB function,
as known by those with skill in the art. The remote GDB function
may comprise a server on the infrastructure side of the network. In
the example communication system 200, the GDB function is the local
GDB function 202. The local GDB function is connected by the
communication link 204, which could take the form of a data cable,
a wireless connection, or could instead represent integration of
the mobile IAN 128 and the local GDB function 202 in a single
device. Wireless communications to the remote GDB function could
occur over any of a variety of connections, including a wide area
cellular network (either in-band or out-of-band), a local area
network (e.g., Wi-Fi), or via a narrowband LMR data channel (as
described above), as examples.
FIG. 3 depicts an example communication system, in accordance with
an embodiment. In particular, FIG. 3 depicts an example
communication system 300. The example communication system 300
includes the components of the example communication system 100, a
remote GDB function 302, and a communication link 304. The remote
GDB function 302 is capable of carrying out the functions of any
GDB function described in this disclosure. The communication link
304 provides a communication path between the remote GDB function
302 and the public-safety RAN 104. The communication link 304 could
take the form of or include a data cable or a wireless
communication link, and the remote GDB function could be embodied
as a standalone server or integrated as a functional component of
another system, among other possible implementations.
FIG. 4 depicts examples of aspects of the communication system of
FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment. FIG. 4 depicts the
communication system 400, which is a detailed view of portions of
the example communication system 100 of FIG. 1. The example
communication system 400 shows more detail regarding some example
WCDs 110, an example public-safety RAN 104, and a mobile IAN 128.
And it is noted that a similar figure could be depicted with an
example commercial RAN 102 instead of the example public-safety RAN
104.
In particular, FIG. 4 depicts the public-safety RAN 104 as
including an eNB (labeled "eNodeB" in FIG. 4) 402, which
communicates directly or indirectly with an evolved packet core
(EPC) 404 over a communication link 406. As is the case with each
of the links mentioned above, and as is the case with any of the
links mentioned anywhere else in this disclosure, the communication
link 406 may be or include one or more wireless-communication links
and/or one or more wired-communication links, as deemed suitable by
those of skill in the art in a given context.
In at least one embodiment, the eNB 402 includes the hardware and
software (and/or firmware) necessary for the eNB 402 to function as
an eNodeB, a NodeB, a base station, a base transceiver station
(BTS), a WiFi access point, and/or the like, as known to those
having skill in the relevant art. In some instances, the eNB 402 in
the example RAN 104 also includes functionality typically
associated in the art with entities that are often referred to by
terms such as BSCs, radio network controllers (RNCs), and the like.
Also, while one eNB 402 is depicted by way of example in FIG. 4,
any suitable number of eNBs could be deployed as deemed suitable by
those of skill in the relevant art. As mentioned above, the mobile
IAN 128 may include both eNB and EPC functionality. It may also
include a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), which handles security and
authentication functions. Typical eNB functions that are
implemented may include physical (PHY) layer functions (e.g.,
modulation/demodulation, coding, etc.), media access control (MAC),
radio link control (RLC), radio resource control (RRC), and related
functions, such as the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)
functions. Typical EPC functions that are implemented may include a
mobility management entity (MME), a serving gateway (SGW), a packet
gateway (PGW), related functions (e.g., all required Non-Access
Stratum (NAS) signaling) as well as related application services,
such as group/dispatch voice communications, push-to-talk (PTT)
services, or video services. These functions combined may allow
completely isolated IAN operation, for operation where other
communications means may not be available. This allows typical WCD
user equipment (e.g., broadband smartphones or subscriber radios)
to be utilized when outside of typical cellular WAN coverage. In
other cases, even when the IAN is not isolated from other networks,
it may be advantageous to keep much of the data traffic local to
the incident scene, thereby offloading data traffic from the other
(e.g., WAN) networks.
In general, the eNB 402 is an entity that, on one side (i.e., the
wireless-network side (interface)), engages in wireless
communications over the air interface 114 (or 114B in FIG. 4) with
one or more WCDs 110 according to a protocol such as LTE or the
like and, on the other side (i.e., the "backhaul" side), engages in
communications with the EPC 404 via the communication link 406, to
facilitate communications between various WCDs 110 and networks
such as the networks 102, 106, and 108, as examples.
The EPC 404 may include one or more network entities such as one or
more MMEs, one or more SGWs, one or more packet data network (PDN)
gateways (PGWs), one or more evolved packet data gateways (ePDGs),
one or more HSSs, one or more access network discovery and
selection functions (ANDSFs), and/or one or more other entities
deemed suitable for a given implementation by those of skill in the
relevant art. Moreover, these entities may be configured and
interconnected in a manner known to those of skill in the relevant
art to provide wireless service to the WCDs 110 via the eNB 402,
and to bridge such wireless service with various transport
networks. In general, a commercial RAN and a public-safely RAN may
each provide wireless service according to a protocol such as LTE,
WiFi, APCO P25, TETRA, digital mobile radio (DMR) and/or the like.
These examples are provided for illustration and not by way of
limitation; moreover, those of skill in the art are aware of
variations among different protocols and among different
implementations of a given protocol, and of similarities across
different protocols.
The WCDs are generally able to operate over any of the available
RANs. The example communication system 400 includes three example
wireless-communication devices 110: the wireless-communication
devices 110A, 110B, and 110C, and the wireless communication links
112A, 114B, and 130C. The WCD 110A is connected to the commercial
RAN 102 via the link 112A, the WCD 110B is connected to the
public-safety RAN 104 via the link 114B, and the WCD 110C is
connected to the mobile IAN 128 via the link 130C. The WCDs may be
configured to operate over specific networks (via a SIM card and
HSS provisioning).
It is noted that the present disclosure depicts systems and methods
according to which a mobile IAN base station interoperates with a
public-safety RAN. However, one with skill in the relevant art can
apply the systems and methods of this application with the mobile
IAN base station operating with any suitable type of RAN (e.g., a
commercial RAN). Additionally, the mobile IAN base station could be
a commercial mobile base station, and need not be dedicated to
public-safety service. One of the primary goals of the IAN is to
provide enhanced coverage and capacity to the WAN. WANs often have
coverage holes, interference zones, and/or fringe reception areas
that are difficult and/or expensive to address utilizing WAN base
station equipment. The mobile IAN provides significant coverage
enhancement to the WAN. Having reliable communications coverage
over a very wide area is important to public-safety users.
FIG. 5 depicts an example mobile IAN base station, in accordance
with an embodiment. In particular, FIG. 5 depicts the components of
the example mobile IAN 128. In the depicted embodiment, the mobile
IAN 128 includes a communications interface 502, a first
transceiver 504, a second transceiver 506, operating-mode
parameters 508, activated-mode parameters 510, dormant-mode
parameters 512, a processor 514, data storage 516, program
instructions 518, operational data 520, optional peripherals 522,
an optional user interface 524, a communication bus 526, and an
optional local GDB function 202.
The communication interface 502 includes the first transceiver 504
and the second transceiver 506. Each of the first transceiver 504
and the second transceiver 506 can be configured (e.g., tuned) to
receive and transmit on one of a set of channels. The communication
interface 502 may be configured to be operable for communication
according to one or more wireless-communication protocols, some
examples of which include LMR, LTE, APCO P25, ETSI DMR, TETRA,
WiFi, Bluetooth, and the like. The communication interface 502 may
also include one or more wired-communication interfaces (for
communication according to, e.g., Ethernet, USB, and/or one or more
other protocols). As such the communication interface 502 may
include any necessary hardware (e.g., chipsets, antennas, Ethernet
interfaces, etc.), any necessary firmware, and any necessary
software for conducting one or more forms of communication with one
or more other entities as described herein.
The operating-mode parameters 508 includes parameters for the
activated mode (i.e., the activated-mode parameters 510) and the
dormant mode (i.e., the dormant-mode parameters 512). The
operating-mode parameters 508 control the functions and operations
of the mobile IAN in the activated mode and the dormant mode. Some
example parameters include transmit power level, carrier frequency,
channel bandwidth, utilized resource blocks, and time-frequency
allocation. In at least one embodiment, the operating-mode
parameters 508 are configurable (e.g., user-configurable and/or
network-administrator-configurable).
The processor 514 may include one or more processors of any type
deemed suitable by those of skill in the relevant art, some
examples including a general-purpose microprocessor and a dedicated
digital signal processor (DSP).
The data storage 516 may take the form of any non-transitory
computer-readable medium or combination of such media, some
examples including flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), and
random-access memory (RAM) to name but a few, as any one or more
types of non-transitory data-storage technology deemed suitable by
those of skill in the relevant art could be used. As depicted in
FIG. 5, the data storage 516 contains program instructions 518
executable by the processor 514 for carrying out various functions
described herein, and further is depicted as containing operational
data 520, which may include any one or more data values stored by
and/or accessed by the example mobile base station 128 in carrying
out one or more of the functions described herein.
The peripherals 522 may include any mobile base station accessory,
component, or the like that is accessible to and useable by the
mobile IAN base station 128 during operation. Example peripherals
522 include a GPS receiver, an altimeter, or similar
location-determination peripherals. The peripherals 522 are
optional as some embodiments do not require additional peripherals
to determine the mobile IAN location. In some such embodiments
without the optional peripherals, the location of the mobile IAN is
determined by a user input, by detecting nearby wireless
communication networks, by receiving a message from one or more
network entities (e.g., utilizing time difference of arrival or
angle of arrival techniques), and/or by any other method known by
those with skill in the relevant art.
The user interface 524 may include one or more input devices
(a.k.a. components and the like) and/or one or more output devices
(a.k.a. components and the like). With respect to input devices,
the user interface 524 may include one or more touchscreens,
buttons, switches, microphones, and the like. With respect to
output devices, the user interface 524 may include one or more
displays, speakers, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and the like.
Moreover, one or more components (e.g., an interactive touchscreen
and display) of the user interface 524 could provide both
user-input and user-output functionality. Other user interface
components (e.g., a PTT button) could also be present, as known to
those of skill in the art. The user interface 524 may also be
remote to the mobile IAN, and can include a user interface on a
wireless communication device. In some embodiments, the mobile IAN
128 does not include a user interface.
The local GDB function 202 carries out the functions described in
more detail in conjunction with FIGS. 5-6. In some embodiments, the
mobile IAN 128 does not include a local GDB function 202. In some
such embodiments, the mobile IAN 128 communicates via the
communications interface 502 with a remote GDB function.
The various components of the mobile radio 128 are all
communicatively coupled with one another via a communication bus
526 (or other suitable communication connection, network, or the
like).
FIG. 6 depicts a first example process, in accordance with an
embodiment. In particular, FIG. 6 depicts the example process 600.
The example mobile IAN 128 of FIG. 5 can be used to execute the
steps of the example process 600.
In step 602, at least one location in a local region of the mobile
IAN is determined while in the dormant mode. By way of example, a
mobile IAN peripheral 522 (e.g., a GPS receiver) can be used to
determine the mobile IAN location, or the potential operating
locations of WCDs in the local region that could utilize the IAN.
Hence, the locations of areas nearby the IAN (e.g., nearby
buildings, etc.) may also be submitted to the GDB function to
determine whether any nearby areas (where a WCD user may operate)
would have poor WAN coverage or throughput. This may assist a first
responder in completing their task in the local area, where
additional coverage or capacity may be needed.
In step 604, the mobile IAN submits to the GDB function an
activation-permission request that includes at least the determined
location for processing by the GDB function. In some embodiments,
the mobile IAN 128 submits the request to a local GDB function
(e.g., local GDB function 202), a local GDB function that utilizes
a local cache of WAN coverage data derived from a remote GDB
function, or a remote GDB function (e.g., remote GDB function
302).
In step 606, the mobile IAN receives, from the GDB function, an
activation-permission response associated with the submitted
activation-permission request. The received activation-permission
response is based at least in part on an expected level of WAN
coverage associated with the determined location and the
communication/capacity need.
At the decision box 608, the mobile IAN determines whether the
activation-permission response is an activation-permission grant.
If the activation-permission response is not an
activation-permission grant, the mobile IAN (at 610) remains in the
dormant mode (e.g., operates in accordance with the dormant-mode
parameters 512).
If, at 608, the activation-permission response is an
activation-permission grant, the mobile IAN determines (at 612)
whether there are additional activation criteria. If there are not
any other activation criteria, the mobile IAN transitions (at 614)
to the activated mode (e.g., operates in accordance with the
activated-mode parameters 510).
If there are one or more additional activation criteria, the mobile
IAN then determines (at 616) whether all such additional activation
criteria are confirmed. Additional activation criteria may include
user input, user proximity, or user signaling (e.g., as described
above). If all such additional activation criteria are confirmed,
the mobile IAN transitions (at 614) to the activated mode;
otherwise, the mobile IAN (at 610) remains in the dormant mode.
In some embodiments wherein the received activation-permission
response is an activation grant, the process further includes
operating in accordance with the activation-permission grant. In at
least one embodiment, operating in accordance with the
activation-permission grant includes configuring the activated-mode
parameters 510. In some embodiments, the activation-permission
grant instructs the mobile IAN to operate at a full transmission
power level; in some embodiments, the activation-permission grant
instructs the mobile IAN as to permissible operating ranges with
respect to one or more operating parameters. The one or more
operating parameters may include one or more of transmit power
level, carrier frequency, channel bandwidth, utilized resource
blocks, and time-frequency allocation.
In some embodiments, the expected level of WAN coverage comprises
at least one of an expected WAN SINR, an expected WAN signal
strength, an expected WAN loading level, or an expected WAN
available capacity. The GDB function utilizes the expected level of
WAN coverage to determine optimal mobile IAN operating parameters.
The optimal mobile IAN operating parameters may take into
consideration interference with nearby WAN systems, coordination
with nearby WAN systems (e.g., utilizing resource sharing), and the
ability to add useful capacity to the local incident scene, among
other possibilities. In some such embodiments, the
activation-permission response is an activation-permission grant
when either one or both of the expected WAN SINR and WAN signal
strength are less than a first and a second predetermined
threshold, respectively. In one example, a first threshold,
associated with the expected WAN SINR, is set at or near 6 dB, and
the second threshold, associated with the WAN signal strength, is
set at or near -90 dBm. Either or both of the first and second
thresholds could be programmable or configurable (either locally by
the user and/or remotely by the network) in practice. Actual values
implemented in practice may depend on the desired throughput levels
and/or the interference/noise floors present in the system (which
may vary based on operating time and/or implementation
requirements, objectives, and/or the like).
In some embodiments, the process further includes measuring an
actual level of WAN coverage, and the set of activation criteria
further includes the measured actual level of WAN coverage being
less than a predetermined WAN-coverage threshold. The predetermined
WAN-coverage threshold may be determined by the GDB function to
optimize the mobile IAN's performance. In some such embodiments,
the measured actual level of WAN coverage being less than the
predetermined WAN-coverage threshold corresponds to one or both of
(i) a measured actual WAN SINR being less than a predetermined SINR
threshold and (ii) a measured actual WAN signal strength being less
than a predetermined signal-strength level. And certainly other
possible example implementations could be listed here, as described
above.
In some embodiments, the set of activation criteria further
includes the mobile IAN base station having received a user
instruction to transition to the activated mode. Using the example
mobile IAN 128 of FIG. 5, the user instruction to transition to the
activated mode may be received via the user interface 524.
In some embodiments wherein the set of activation criteria further
includes the mobile IAN base station having received a user
instruction to transition to the activated mode, the received user
instruction is from a user authorized to issue such an instruction.
The authorized user may be an incident commander, a public-safety
official, or any other user with appropriate authorization. The
mobile IAN may include authentication devices and methods to ensure
that users have appropriate authorization. The authentication
devices and methods may include password protection, biometric
verification, or any other device(s) and/or method(s) known by
those with skill in the relevant art.
In some embodiments, the set of activation criteria further
includes the mobile IAN having received an activation instruction
from a mobile radio. The activation instruction from the mobile
radio may include a manual activation instruction (such as a user
activating the mobile IAN from the mobile radio) or an automatic
activation instruction (such as the mobile radio automatically
sending an activation instruction responsive to a public safety
officer leaving a public safety vehicle or a police officer
withdrawing a firearm from a holster). The mobile radio may be any
of the WCDs 110 described herein. In such embodiments, the received
activation instruction from a mobile radio may be received over an
LMR channel. The GDB function may record such locations (e.g.,
locations nearby those to users in a building that have poor
coverage) for future reference, to enable potential IAN operation.
In general, the term WAN coverage may refer to any number of
measures, including RSSI, RSRP, SINR, SNR, RSSI, CQI, BLER,
retransmission attempt values, and/or one or more other such
measures.
In some embodiments, the process further includes (i) receiving
expected-WAN-coverage data from the GDB function, (ii) measuring an
actual level of WAN coverage, and (iii) adapting the
expected-WAN-coverage data with the measured actual level of the
WAN coverage. In such embodiments, adapting the
expected-WAN-coverage data may include overwriting
expected-WAN-coverage data entirely, adapting the
expected-WAN-coverage data partially (e.g., using a weighted
average or adaptive filter), or by any other method of updating the
expected-WAN-coverage data of a GDB function as known by those with
skill in the relevant art.
In some embodiments, the GDB function formulates the
activation-permission response based at least in part on the
information regarding one or more of a transmitter location, a
radiated power level, an antenna height, an antenna gain, an
antenna polarization, an antenna pattern, terrain data, and any
other piece of relevant information known by those with skill in
the relevant art. Such information may pertain to one or more WAN
transmitters, one or more IAN transmitters, and/or one or more
transmitters of any other type.
FIG. 7 depicts a second example process, in accordance with an
embodiment. In particular, FIG. 7 depicts an example process 700.
The example mobile IAN 128 of FIG. 5 can be used to execute the
steps of the example process 700.
In step 702, the location of the mobile IAN is determined while in
the activated mode. By way of example, a mobile IAN peripheral 522
(e.g., a GPS receiver) can be used to determine the mobile IAN
location.
In step 704, the mobile IAN submits to the GDB function a
continuing-operation request that includes at least the determined
location for processing by the GDB function. In some embodiments,
the mobile IAN 128 submits the request to a local GDB function
(e.g., local GDB function 202), a local GDB function that utilizes
a local cache of WAN coverage data derived from a remote GDB
function, or a remote GDB function (e.g., remote GDB function
302).
In step 706, the mobile IAN receives, from the GDB function, a
continuing-operation response associated with the submitted
continuing-operation request. The received continuing-operation
response is based at least in part on an expected level of WAN
coverage and communications need associated with the determined
location.
At the decision box 708, the mobile IAN determines whether the
continuing-operation response is a continuing-activation grant. If
the continuing-operation response is not a continuing-operation
grant (step 710), the mobile IAN transitions to the dormant mode
(e.g., operates in accordance with the dormant-mode parameters
512).
If the continuing-operation response is a continuing-operation
grant (step 712), the mobile IAN determines whether there are
additional continuing-operation criteria. If there are no other
continuing-operation criteria (step 714), the mobile IAN remains in
the activated mode (e.g., operates in accordance with the
activated-mode parameters 510).
If there are additional continuing-operation criteria, the mobile
IAN then determines whether all additional continuing-operation
criteria are confirmed (step 716). If all additional
continuing-operation criteria are confirmed, the mobile IAN remains
in the activated mode (step 714), otherwise, the mobile IAN
transitions to the dormant mode (step 710).
The example method 700 permits the mobile IAN to remain in the
active mode in various circumstances such as but not limited to the
mobile IAN moving to a new location, a second mobile IAN
activating, and other circumstances. For example, one deployed and
activated IAN may be instructed to power down (or otherwise enter
its respective dormant mode) when a second, better located IAN
arrives on scene to serve the current users; in other instances,
multiple IANs may cooperate as a coordinated multipoint (CoMP)
network to enhance (e.g., in-building) coverage and/or capacity.
The mobile IAN may receive an updated continuing-operations grant
that includes updated operating parameters (e.g., transmit power
level, frequency, and/or the like). The updated operating
parameters reflect selected operating parameters for the mobile
IAN. Thus, the GDB function may also consider more than one IAN
operating simultaneously in the overall system (e.g., consider the
aggregate interference levels from multiple IAN transmitters).
FIG. 8 depicts a number of types of regions within which a mobile
IAN base station could be activated, in accordance with at least
one embodiment. In particular, FIG. 8 depicts an example terrain
map 800 that includes a center region or main coverage area 802, a
fringe coverage region 804, an outlying region 806, and a
coverage-hole region 810. Note that a coverage hole region may be
due to weak desired WAN signal strength (e.g., due to shadowing or
indoor WCD usage), or due to interference from other transmitters
or systems (resulting in a low desired SINR). The other
transmitters or systems may be either in-band or out-of-band (e.g.,
adjacent channel) systems.
The central region 802 represents an area where coverage from the
eNB 402 of RAN 104, which may be a public-safety eNB operating on
LTE band B14, is generally expected to be strong (e.g., above a
given threshold level of SINR and/or one or more other metrics),
although it is noted that the coverage-hole region 810 is a
coverage hole in the region 802 where, for example, mobile radios
attempting to communicate with the eNB 402 may struggle to do so
based on a near-far problem caused by the eNB 808, which may be a
commercial eNB operating on LTE band B13, which is adjacent to B14.
The fringe region 804 surrounds both the center region 802 and the
coverage-hole region 810. Desired WAN signal strength or SINR is
generally poor in the fringe coverage region. Similarly, the
outlying region 806 surrounds all three of the center region 802,
the fringe region 804, and the coverage-hole region 810. Desired
WAN signal strength or SINR is generally very poor or non-existent
in the outlying coverage region. IAN operation in these areas is
generally referred to as an isolated or stand-alone operational
scenario.
In at least one embodiment, a mobile IAN base station that is
situated in the center region 802 (but not within the coverage-hole
region 810) may be activated to increase the capacity of the
public-safety RAN 104, offload traffic from the public-safety RAN
104, and/or for one or more other reasons. Whatever the reason or
reasons for activation, the mobile IAN base station may be
activated in a manner that compliments--and at a minimum does not
interfere significantly with--operation of the public-safety RAN
104. Resource sharing (e.g., of time-frequency resources) may be
utilized to minimize interference between the IAN and WAN systems.
The use of interference reduction or coordination techniques (e.g.,
eICIC or ABS) may also be employed in this region, with a potential
reduction of the maximum allowed IAN base station transmit power
level (as discussed above) to reduce the interference impact to WAN
systems.
In at least one embodiment, a mobile IAN base station that is
situated in the coverage-hole region 810 may be activated to extend
the coverage of the public-safety RAN 104 to nearby mobile radios,
and/or for one or more other reasons, and may be configured to
activate in a manner that does not interfere with either the
operation of the public-safety RAN 104 or the commercial RAN of
which the eNB 808 may be a part (as described above).
In at least one embodiment, a mobile IAN base station that is
situated in the fringe region 804 may be activated to extend
coverage to and/or improve coverage for one or more mobile radios
that are communicating or at least attempting to communicate over
the public-safety RAN 104, and/or for one or more other reasons.
The techniques utilized in the center region 802 may also be
employed here (e.g., IAN transmit power level reduction, resource
sharing, and/or interference coordination techniques), though
likely to a lesser extent, since the IAN is operating further away
from the WAN transmitter/system.
In at least one embodiment, a mobile IAN base station that is
situated in the outlying region 806 may be activated to provide
coverage to mobile radios that would otherwise not be able to
communicate over the public-safety RAN 104, to provide
communication links and services among those more remotely located
mobile radios themselves, and/or for one or more other reasons. Due
to being outside the coverage area (i.e., outside both the center
region 802 and the fringe region 804), a mobile IAN base station
that is situated in the outlying region 806 may be activated using
full transmission power, among other possible settings. And
certainly numerous other example types of regions and example
configurations in such regions could be listed here. The IAN may
also be operating on a more permanent basis in these areas.
In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments have been
described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates
that various modifications and changes can be made without
departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the
claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be
regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and
all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope
of present teachings.
The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s)
that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or
become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical,
required, or essential features or elements of any or all the
claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims
including any amendments made during the pendency of this
application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.
Moreover in this document, relational terms such as first and
second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to
distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action
without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such
relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms
"comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes,"
"including," "contains," "containing," or any other variation
thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that
a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has,
includes, contains a list of elements does not include only those
elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or
inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element
preceded by "comprises . . . a," "has . . . a," "includes . . . a,"
"contains . . . a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the
existence of additional identical elements in the process, method,
article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains the
element. The terms "a" and "an" are defined as one or more unless
explicitly stated otherwise herein. The terms "substantially,"
"essentially," "approximately," "about," or any other version
thereof, are defined as being close to as understood by one of
ordinary skill in the art, and in one non-limiting embodiment the
term is defined to be within 1%, in another embodiment within 5%,
in another embodiment within 1% and in another embodiment within
0.5%. The term "coupled" as used herein is defined as connected,
although not necessarily directly and not necessarily mechanically.
A device or structure that is "configured" in a certain way is
configured in at least that way, but may also be configured in ways
that are not listed.
It will be appreciated that some embodiments may be comprised of
one or more generic or specialized processors (or "processing
devices") such as microprocessors, digital signal processors,
customized processors and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)
and unique stored program instructions (including both software and
firmware) that control the one or more processors to implement, in
conjunction with certain non-processor circuits, some, most, or all
of the functions of the method and/or apparatus described herein.
Alternatively, some or all functions could be implemented by a
state machine that has no stored program instructions, or in one or
more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), in which
each function or some combinations of certain of the functions are
implemented as custom logic. Of course, a combination of the two
approaches could be used.
Moreover, an embodiment can be implemented as a computer-readable
storage medium having computer readable code stored thereon for
programming a computer (e.g., comprising a processor) to perform a
method as described and claimed herein. Examples of such
computer-readable storage mediums include, but are not limited to,
a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic
storage device, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable Read
Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an
EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) and a
Flash memory. Further, it is expected that one of ordinary skill,
notwithstanding possibly significant effort and many design choices
motivated by, for example, available time, current technology, and
economic considerations, when guided by the concepts and principles
disclosed herein will be readily capable of generating such
software instructions and programs and ICs with minimal
experimentation.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to
quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is
submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to
interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition,
in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various
features are grouped together in various embodiments for the
purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure
is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the
claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly
recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect,
inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single
disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby
incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim
standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
* * * * *
References