Patent ID: 6337853
Filing Date: 2002-01-08
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
A method of assigning radio channels in a mobile communication system with space division multiple access, wherein multiple terminals active in a same cell of the system can utilize a same channel if angular separation of the terminals does not drop below a preset threshold and wherein at least under conditions of re-use of the channels, a channel to be assigned to a terminal is determined by evaluating a cost of an assignment for each available channel, which cost is linked to a time that elapses between two successive channel assignments to said terminal, and by identifying the channel that allows maximizing of said time, said evaluation being performed by utilizing cost coefficients which take into account information about a topology of the cell and about a mobility of the terminals and which are determined in the course of a system initialization phase which comprises the steps of:subdividing a cell of the system into sectors; tracking active terminals during movements of the active terminals within the cell and storing an instant of entry of each terminal into each sector travelled by the terminal in the course of its movement; detecting collisions between two terminals, a collision being recognized as a drop in the angular separation between said terminals below the threshold, and detecting an instant wherein said collision occurs; storing, upon said detection, a collision event both for each of the sector pairs where two terminals involved in a collision were simultaneously present during movements of the two terminals within the cell, and for the individual sectors travelled by the two terminals; counting the nether of collisions for different sector pairs and for the individual sectors; computing a mean time elapsing between the entry of a terminal into one of the sectors considered and the instant of collision; and determining a cost coefficient for each sector pair, which coefficient is a function of the mean time necessary for the collision to take place.