Patent ID: 8279821
Filing Date: 2012-10-02
Classification: H04B,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method of assigning bandwidth or channels to users in wireless networks that incorporate multi-user detection (MUD), comprising: collecting link statistics for a set of network users, including associating with each user (i) a bandwidth (BW) for a user signal transmitted from the user, (ii) a required receive power (RRP) for the user signal to be demodulated or decoded at a certain receiving terminal in the network, and (iii) an available transmit margin (ATM) corresponding to a difference between a maximum achievable receive power density for the user signal with respect to a noise floor at the receiving terminal; ordering the set of network users according to their associated BW from a greatest BW to a least BW, and ordering users having the greatest BW according to their associated ATM from a smallest ATM to a highest ATM; dividing a first set of users having the greatest BW into a group of lower half users including users having relatively low ATM, and a group of upper half users including users having relatively high ATM with respect to the ATM of the lower half users; defining a channel plan including a number of network channels of determined bandwidth for assignment to the users, defining a lower tier in the channel plan for placement of certain lower users (L User), and defining an upper tier in the channel plan for placement of certain upper users (U User); first assigning the group of lower half users to corresponding network channels in the lower tier of the channel plan; second assigning a given upper half user to a given channel in the upper tier of the channel plan after placing a lower half user in the lower tier and assigning the lower half user signal bandwidth that occupies the given channel, provided the upper half user has an associated ATM that satisfies a selected one of a first relationship: or a second relationship: wherein U User RRP is the RRP associated with the upper half user, and L User RRP is the RRP associated with the lower half user; third assigning the given upper half user to a different channel in the lower tier of the channel plan if the ATM associated with the upper half user does not satisfy the selected relationship; and repeating the dividing and subsequent steps for each, if any, remaining sets of users having successively smaller signal bandwidths with respect to the bandwidth of the first set of users, in order from most BW to least BW sets of users.