Method and system for switching antenna and channel assignments in broadband wireless networks
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. method for assigning channels to support communication between subscribers and a base station in a broadband wireless network, comprising:
- for each of multiple antenna resources configured for communication on multiple channels, at the base station, obtaining one or more channel characteristics for each channel hosted by each antenna resource, the channel characteristics indicative of reception quality for a corresponding channel; and
assigning, by said base station, one or more channels to subscribers based on the one or more channel characteristics that are obtained;
wherein said obtaining one or more channel characteristics is accomplished, at least in part, by ranging operations performed by said subscribers;
wherein the channel characteristics are measured by performing operations comprising;
performing ranging operations between a subscriber and a base station over one of an uplink or bi-directional link, the ranging operations including transmissions sent from the subscriber station and received by each antenna resource, the transmissions carried over multiple channels; and
obtaining, at each antenna resource, channel characteristics indicative of signal quality of each of the multiple channels.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for antenna switching, grouping, and channel assignments in wireless communication systems. The invention allows multiuser diversity to be exploited with simple antenna operations, therefore increasing the capacity and performance of wireless communications systems. Channel characteristics indicative of signal reception quality for downlink or bi-directional traffic for each channel/antenna resource combination are measured or estimated at a subscriber. Corresponding channel characteristic information is returned to the base station. Channel characteristics information may also be measured or estimated for uplink or bi-directional signals received at each of multiple receive antenna resources. The base station employs channel allocation logic to assign uplink, downlink and/or bi-directional channels for multiple subscribers based on channel characteristics measured and/or estimated for the uplink, downlink and/or bi-directional channels.
88 Citations
31 Claims
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1. method for assigning channels to support communication between subscribers and a base station in a broadband wireless network, comprising:
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for each of multiple antenna resources configured for communication on multiple channels, at the base station, obtaining one or more channel characteristics for each channel hosted by each antenna resource, the channel characteristics indicative of reception quality for a corresponding channel; and assigning, by said base station, one or more channels to subscribers based on the one or more channel characteristics that are obtained; wherein said obtaining one or more channel characteristics is accomplished, at least in part, by ranging operations performed by said subscribers; wherein the channel characteristics are measured by performing operations comprising; performing ranging operations between a subscriber and a base station over one of an uplink or bi-directional link, the ranging operations including transmissions sent from the subscriber station and received by each antenna resource, the transmissions carried over multiple channels; and obtaining, at each antenna resource, channel characteristics indicative of signal quality of each of the multiple channels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A base station, comprising:
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multiple antenna resources to support wireless communications system transmissions; a transmission module to generate signals over various downlink or bi-directional channels via which data is transmitted via the multiple antenna resources to multiple subscribers; a reception module to extract data indicative of reception quality for a corresponding channel from signals received at the multiple antenna resources over various uplink or the bi-directional channels from the subscribers; and channel allocation logic to assign at least one of uplink, downlink and the bi-directional channels for the multiple subscribers based at least on channel characteristics indicative of reception quality obtained for the uplink, downlink and/or bi-directional channels; wherein said assigning comprises; maintaining and updating the set of available subchannels for each of available antennas on an ongoing basis, and selecting the available subchannel with the highest gain among available antennas. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A wireless communications system, comprising:
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a plurality of subscriber units, each configured to support wireless communication; and a base station including, multiple antenna resources, including transmit antenna resources to transmit wireless communication transmission signals and receive antenna resource to receive wireless communication transmission signals; a transmission module, to generate signals over various downlink or bi-directional channels via which data is transmitted via the transmit antenna resources to the plurality of subscribers; a reception module, to extract data from signals received at the receive antenna resources over various uplink or the bi-directional channels from the plurality of subscribers; and channel allocation logic to assign at least one of uplink, downlink and the bi-directional channels for the plurality of subscribers based on channel characteristics measured and/or estimated for the uplink, downlink and/or bi-directional channels, each of the plurality of subscribers to measure or estimate channel characteristic information indicative of channel signal quality at the subscriber and provide feedback to the base station containing the channel characteristic information;
wherein said assigning comprises;maintaining and updating the set of available subchannels for each of available antennas on an ongoing basis, and selecting the available subchannel with the highest gain among available antennas. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31)
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Specification