Abstract:
The invention relates to a method for transmitting signals via a point-to-point microwave radio link from a transmitting unit  1, 2  to a receiving unit  2, 1  of a point-to-point microwave radio system, which signals comprise packets. In order to improve the efficiency on the radio link, it is proposed that in a first step, the packets are classified before transmission based on at least one quality of service parameter assigned to each packet. In a second step, the signals are modulated by the transmitting unit  1, 2  for transmission with a real-time adaptive modulation. This modulation is adapted based on the current traffic amount, on signal quality measurements indicative of the propagation conditions on the radio link, and on the classification of packets comprised in the signals. The invention relates equally to such a point-to-point microwave radio system comprising two units  1, 2  between which signals are to be transmitted, and to transmitting unit  1, 2  for such a system.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The invention relates to a method for transmitting signals via a point-to-point microwave radio link from a transmitting unit to a receiving unit of a point-to-point microwave radio system, which signals comprise packets. The invention relates equally to such a point-to-point microwave radio system comprising two units between which signals are to be transmitted in at least one direction, and to a transmitting unit for such a system.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Point-to-point microwave radio systems are known in the state of the art. They have been defined for example in the European Standard ETSI EN 300 198 V1.4.1: “Fixed Radio Systems; Point-to-point equipment”. Microwave radio links can be employed in particular instead of a wired connection between all elements of a network for which a fixed connection is desired.  
         [0003]     Point-to-point microwave radio systems have traditionally been designed for Time Division Multiplex (TDM) like traffic. This means that a transmitting unit of the system provides a constant bit rate channel, which is often, though not always, transparent. Using this constant bit rate channel, the transmitting unit transmits packets embedded in the constant bitstream, e.g. using PPP protocol in conjunction with IP packets, to a receiving unit at the other end of the radio link. Each transmitting unit can include a multiplexer that multiplexes different signals together to form an aggregate signal to be transmitted on the constant bit rate channel to the receiving unit. The multiplexed signals can comprise in particular packets of payload bit streams and of control signals.  
         [0004]     The respective bit rate of a constant bit rate channel provided by a transmitting unit of conventional point-to-point microwave radio systems is selected according to different requirements. For the radio links, an availability percentage is defined as a certain yearly probability, with which the air interface can carry the signal with a low enough bit error rate in varying propagation conditions. The bit rate is determined primarily by the required bit rate, which depends on the required capacity, i.e. the assumed traffic load. The availability of transmission channels may also limit the choice. When the target bit rate is known, an availability target is set, and based on these conditions, the appropriate modulation and transmission power is determined in order to fill the given requirements. In a conventional point-to-point system, the modulation and bit rate are constant.  
         [0005]     This means that most of the time, the propagation conditions would allow much higher bit rates to be transported, since they will correspond only rarely to the assumed worst case propagation conditions. Thus, the air interface is often not used efficiently.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     It is an object of the invention to optimize a point-to-point microwave radio system for packet type traffic. It is in particular an object to increase the efficiency of a radio link in such a system.  
         [0007]     This object is reached on the one hand with a method for transmitting signals via a point-to-point microwave radio link from a transmitting unit to a receiving unit of a point-to-point microwave radio system, which signals comprise packets. In a first step, the packets are classified before transmission based on at least one quality of service parameter assigned to each packet. In a second step, the signals are modulated by the transmitting unit for transmission with a real-time adaptive modulation. This modulation is adapted based on the traffic amount, on signal quality measurements indicative of the propagation conditions on the radio link, and on the classification of packets comprised in the signals.  
         [0008]     On the other hand, the object is reached with a point-to-point microwave radio system comprising two units between which signals can be transmitted in at least one direction via a point-to-point microwave radio link, which two units comprise means for realizing a transmission according to the proposed method. Finally, the object is reached with a transmitting unit for such a system comprising means for transmitting signals according to the proposed method.  
         [0009]     The transmitting unit and the receiving unit can both be realized as exclusively transmitting or receiving unit or as a transceiver unit. Accordingly, of the two units of the proposed point-to-point microwave radio system one is at least a transmitting unit and one at least a receiving unit, while one or both units can also be realized as transceiver unit or as a combination of a transmitting and a receiving unit. The proposed adaptation of transmissions can be realized only in one direction or in both directions of a point-to-point radio link.  
         [0010]     The invention proceeds from the idea that the air interface can be used more efficiently, if the bit rate employed by a transmitting unit is not fixed, but rather adapted to diverse transmission conditions. This is achieved according to the invention by adapting at least the modulation scheme applied to signals that are to be transmitted on the radio link. With a higher order modulation, information can be packed to a shorter transmission burst than with a lower order modulation. Since accordingly time is left to transport more information, a higher bit rate is achieved. In order to ensure that the quality required for a particular transmissions is maintained, the modulation is adapted according to the current amount of traffic, according to the current conditions on the transmission path and according to the requirements for the respective packets transmitted in a signal, preferably in this priority order. The requirements for the packets are grouped by the proposed classification of the packets according to at least one quality of service parameter assigned to the packets. The conditions on the transmission path are reflected by quality measurements of signals that were transmitted on the radio link before.  
         [0011]     It is an advantage of the invention that it improves the efficiency on the air interface. As a result, also a better cost and/or performance ratio can be achieved. In addition, the tolerance for disturbances, e.g. changing weather conditions, can be enhanced. Thus, an intelligent media access control (MAC) of the point-to-point microwave radio system is achieved.  
         [0012]     The packets comprised by the signals that are to be transmitted in the system are data units provided by some network element to a transmitting unit for transmission to a receiving unit. They can be in particular IP packets, ATM cells, or segments of segmented TDM bit streams. The system can put more than one packet to a single transmission burst, preferably packets of the same class. The modulation of the signals that are to be transmitted can be adapted burst by burst each time new signal quality measurements are available.  
         [0013]     The packets can be classified based on any suitable quality of service (QoS) parameter or on a combination of suitable QoS parameters. In an IP system, the information included in the header field DiffServ (differentiated services) of an IP packet can be used for separating the packets. Equally, packets with a guaranteed quality of traffic and with a best effort traffic can be separated. The traffic can have a guaranteed quality in respect to different aspects, e.g. reliability, latency or delay. Further, packets may be separated into real-time and non real-time traffic. Moreover, the packets can be classified and thus prioritized depending on the network elements from which they are received at a transmitting unit or to which they are to be forwarded by a receiving unit.  
         [0014]     The signal quality measurements employed as basis for adapting transmission parameters like modulation, coding, transmit power and time slot allocation are preferably performed by the respective receiving unit of a radio link. The receiving unit then transmits the measures values as a feedback to the transmitting unit for a subsequent transmission.  
         [0015]     The signal quality measurements can be any signal quality measurement which reflects current conditions on the propagation path. Any suitable method can be used for implementing the signal quality measurements. For instance, the signal to noise-plus-interference ratio C/(N+I) can be employed, the signal strength, the number of bit errors detected (i.e. BER measured), or the number of “pseudo errors” detected, i.e. the instances, where an bit error was almost made, can be employed. This pseudo error method is described in international patent application WO 00/4417. It is also possible to use signaling quality indications provided by a forward error correction (FEC) decoder, e.g. an indication whether any corrections were needed or not.  
         [0016]     An adaptive modulation of signals has been proposed for point-to-multipoint microwave radio systems e.g. in the IEEE draft P802.16/D4-2001: “Local and Metropolitan Area Networks—Part 16: Standard Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems”, which is incorporated by reference herein. The standard specifies the air interface, including the medium access control layer (MAC) and a physical layer (PHY), of fixed point-to-multipoint broadband wireless access systems providing multiple services. The features described in this document can be adapted to further develop the method and the point-to-point microwave radio systems of the invention. These features include beside the adaptive modulation the ability to change coding and terminal transmit power in real time as a function of prevailing propagation conditions. They also include the ability to prioritize packets for transmission based on standard QoS classification parameters or to prioritize between network interfaces if multiple network interfaces are used, and the ability to switch off the transmitter, if a terminal does not have anything to transmit.  
         [0017]     It is to be noted, however, that the point-to-point microwave radio system of the invention is not to be understood as a special case of a point-to-multipoint microwave radio system, but rather as a system designed specifically for point-to-point transmissions.  
         [0018]     In point-to-multipoint systems, the intelligence required for adapting a transmission to the conditions on the propagation path is always integrated in network elements called base stations, which can serve as a respective single end of a transmission. Other network elements involved in point-to-multipoint transmissions as the multiple ends are referred to as terminals and do not comprise such intelligence.  
         [0019]     Two known point-to-multipoint terminals will not be able to establish a link between each other without modifications. Equally, two known point-to-multipoint base stations will not be able to establish a link between each other.  
         [0020]     In point-to-point radio systems the responsibility and intelligence for adaptation preferably exist in both ends, but in some special cases the main responsibility may be more bound to other end. As there is intelligence in both ends, each transmitter controls the modulation of its outbound signals, whereas if the intelligence is only in one end, this one end controls the modulation in both directions. The intelligence may also be divided in some other way between the two ends of a point-to-point microwave radio link. Naturally, a divided decision responsibility requires negotiation to take place between the two parties.  
         [0021]     Moreover, in dedicated point-to-point microwave radio systems, there is always the same amount of timeslots available, whereas in point-to-multipoint timeslots can be borrowed from another connection within the same sector.  
         [0022]     Preferred embodiments of the invention become apparent from the subclaims.  
         [0023]     The invention can be employed for any desired fixed connection between two elements, in particular network elements. The invention can be employed for example, but not exclusively, for a connection between a Broadband Wireless Access network, which may be a private company network, and an internet service provider (ISP) network, as a backhaul radio between a PMP radio system and an ISP network, or within a cellular network base station subsystem.  
         [0024]     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. It is to be understood, however, that the drawing is designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0025]     The invention is described in more detail with reference to drawings, of which  
         [0026]      FIG. 1  schematically shows an embodiment of a point-to-point microwave radio system in which the invention can be implemented; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 2  schematically shows an embodiment of a transceiver according to the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0028]     The embodiment of a point-to-point microwave radio system according to the invention depicted in  FIG. 1  can be employed for instance for establishing a fixed connection between a Broadband Wireless Access network and an ISP network.  
         [0029]     The system can be either an FDD or a TDD based system which comprises a first transceiver  1  and a second transceiver  2 . Between the two transceivers  1 ,  2  signals are to be transmitted bi-directionally and point-to-point over the air interface by using microwave radio signals. In FDD these signals are transmitted in frames or bursts in go and return channels and in TDD these signals are transmitted in transmit and receive frames or bursts. The first transceiver  1  is connected to n network interfaces  11 ,  12 , . . .  1   n , e.g. the respective interface of several Broadband Wireless Access network elements, while the second transceiver  2  is connected to m network interfaces  21 ,  22 , . . .  2   m , e.g. the respective interface of several ISP network elements. Both transceivers  1 ,  2  comprise multiplexing means, adaptive modulation means, adaptive coding means, a transmitter with an adjustable transmit power, a receiver, means for measuring the signal quality of signals received via a microwave radio link, and processing means having a controlling access to the adaptive modulation means, the coding means and the transmitter.  
         [0030]     The first transceiver  1  receives via the network interfaces  11 ,  12 , . . . in packets of signals that are to be transmitted over the air interface to the second transceiver  2 . This is indicated in the figure by arrows.  
         [0031]     The processing means of the first transceiver  1  classify all incoming packets based on QoS parameters assigned to the respective packet. More specifically, the processing means separate real-time traffic packets from non real-time traffic packets and packets with a guaranteed quality from packets for which only best effort traffic is required. This way, the packets are associated to classes with different requirements with regard to bit rate and quality.  
         [0032]     The multiplexing means of the first transceiver  1  then multiplex payload bit streams and control signals provided in packets by a single network interface  11 ,  12 , . . .  1   n  to form an aggregate signal. At the same time, the multiplexing means of the first transceiver  1  aggregate packets provided by the different network interfaces  11 ,  12 , . . .  1   n . The multiplexing means can take care that packets of the same class are placed consecutively.  
         [0033]     In addition, the first unit  1  receives from the second transceiver  2  regularly signal quality measurement results.  
         [0034]     These results comprise a quality indication by an FEC, a BER, a pseudo error, a received signal level or a signal to noise-plus-interference ratio C/(N+I) determined at the second transceiver  2  for the preceding signals that were transmitted via the radio link. The measurement results thus indicate the current conditions on the radio link between the two transceivers  1 ,  2 .  
         [0035]     The signals aggregated by the multiplexing means of the first transceiver  1  are to be transmitted on the radio link in frames or bursts, each frame or burst comprising several packets. Based, in this priority order, on the current amount of outbound traffic, on the current conditions on the transmission path and on the respective class to which packets in one burst were associated, the processing means of the first transceiver  1  determine on a real-time basis an optimal combination of modulation, coding and transmit power for a burst comprising these packets in a way that ensures an optimal efficiency on the air interface.  
         [0036]     The bit rate may be reduced for example by selecting a simple modulation and/or the coding scheme whenever bad channel conditions were detected, as far as this cannot be compensated by a higher transmission power. Further, the processing means of the first unit  1  can decide that some packets have to be queued in a buffer before transmission or to be dropped completely, in order to ensure that the required transmission time for real-time or other delay sensitive class traffic packets can be met also in case of bad conditions on the radio link. Packets may also first be queued in a buffer and then be dropped later if they still cannot be forwarded after the buffering. Thus, the invention is of particular advantage for connections which contain a certain portion of low priority traffic or traffic that is not delay sensitive.  
         [0037]     Next, the adaptive coding means of the first transceiver  1  code the outbound bursts or frames according to the determined coding scheme, the adaptive modulating means of the first transceiver  1  modulate the coded bursts or frames with the determined modulation scheme, and the transmitter transmit the modulated bursts or frames with the determined transmit power via the point-to-point microwave radio link to the second transceiver  2 . The transmission via the air interface is indicated in the figure again by an arrow.  
         [0038]     The modulation and the coding of the signals that are to be transmitted and the transmit power can be adapted in the first transceiver  1  burst by burst or frame by frame respectively each time new signal quality measurements are available.  
         [0039]     The receiver of the second transceiver  2  receives the signals and takes care after an appropriate processing, including demodulation, decoding and possibly demultiplexing, of forwarding the signals to at least one connected network element via one or more of the network interfaces  21 ,  22 , . . . ,  2   m  indicated in the figure as well by an arrow.  
         [0040]     In many cases, bursts are contained in fixed length frames, and after the end of the burst, there might be spare time left before the end of the frame. During this time, the transmitter of the first transceiver  1  is switched off in order to avoid generating unnecessary interference to other links on the same channel or to other systems. In contrast to the previously presented aspects of the invention, which all relate to the MAC layer of the system, this aspect relates to the PHY layer of the system.  
         [0041]     In  FIG. 1 , the transmission of signals is indicated only in one direction, but a transmission in opposite direction can be carried out correspondingly. In this case, the second transceiver  2  performs all tasks described above for the first transceiver  1  and vice versa.  
         [0042]     In the case of TDD, the TDD timeslot allocation to the different transmission directions of the system can be used in addition for compensating simple modulations. For example, in case of bad weather conditions, which require a more simple modulation in order to achieve a good signal to noise (S/N) ratio, more timeslots are allocated to this traffic in order to maintain a sufficient capacity, in case only little capacity is needed at this time in the other direction. Thus, an adaptive capacity asymmetry between the opposite directions is implemented.  
         [0043]      FIG. 2  schematically presents in more detail a possible implementation of a transceiver according to the invention.  
         [0044]     The depicted transceiver comprises for its function as transmitting unit a first MAC  31 , an FEC encoder  32 , a modulator  33  and a transmitter TX  34 . An output of the MAC  31  is connected via the FEC encoder  32  and the modulator  33  to an input of the transmitter  34 . In addition, the MAC  31  has a direct controlling access to control inputs of the FEC encoder  32 , the modulator  33  and the transmitter  34 . The MAC  31  is moreover connected, usually via a multiplexer, to interfaces of network elements from which signals are to be transmitted via a microwave radio link, which multiplexer, interfaces and network elements are not shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0045]     The transceiver comprises for its function as receiving unit a receiver RX  44 , a demodulator  43 , an FEC decoder  32  and a second MAC  41 . An output of the receiver  44  is connected via the demodulator  43  and the FEC decoder  32  to an input of the MAC  41 . The MAC  41  further has a controlling access to the demodulator  43 . The MAC  41  is moreover connected, preferably via a demultiplexer, to interfaces of network elements to which signals received via a microwave radio link are to be forwarded, which demultiplexer, interfaces and network elements are not shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0046]     The output of the transceiver  34  and the input of the receiver  44  are connected via a duplexer  35  to a highly directional antenna  40 . The antenna  40  provides the radio connection to the other end of the point-to-point microwave radio system, i.e. in  FIG. 1  to the respective other transceiver  2  or  1 .  
         [0047]     Finally, the transceiver comprises a microprocessor  45 . The microprocessor  45  has on the one hand access to the first MAC  31 , and on the other hand inputs for control signals from the receiver  44 , the demodulator  43  and the FEC decoder  42 .  
         [0048]     First, the receiving function of the transceiver of  FIG. 2  will be explained.  
         [0049]     Microwave signals transmitted by the transceiver of the other end of the point-to-point microwave radio system are received by the antenna  40  and provided to the duplexer  35 . The duplexer  35 , which is used for handling the two signaling directions from and to the antenna  40 , forwards all received signals to the receiver  44 . The receiver  44  forwards the signals further via the demodulator  43 , which demodulates the signals, and the FEC decoder  42 , which decodes the signals, to the MAC  41 . The MAC  41  finally forwards the signals to a demultiplexer (not shown), which demultiplexes the processed signals and forwards them to the respective network elements for which the signals are destined. The MAC  41  may, but does not have to, provide control information to the demodulator  43 , in order to enable the demodulator  43  to know what kind of signal it will probably receive. Alternatively, the demodulator  43  can be designed in a way that it receives control information for demodulation from a control channel using a predetermined modulation scheme, which is preferably a robust modulation scheme. The demodulator  43  is then always able to receive the information on the used modulation. Thus, the following incoming modulated data can be received correctly, since the used modulation scheme is known.  
         [0050]     Based on the respectively received signals, the receiver  44 , the demodulator  43  and the FEC decoder  42  provide in addition control signals to the microprocessor  45 , which comprises intelligence for handling the information in received control signals.  
         [0051]     More specifically, the receiver  44  provides control signals with information about the received signal level (RSL) of received signals. The demodulator  43  provides control signals with information about the signal quality, for instance on the signal to noise-plus-interference ratio S/(N+I). The FEC decoder  42  provides control signals with information on the received signal quality, for instance by reporting on the corrections needed for the signal.  
         [0052]     For the transmitting function of the transceiver, signals that are to be transmitted arrive at the MAC  31 , possibly via a multiplexer (not shown) which multiplexes signals proceeding from connected interfaces. The MAC  31  forwards the received multiplexed signals via the FEC encoder  32 , which encodes the signals, and the modulator  33 , which modulates the signals, to the transmitter  34 . The transmitter  34  transmits the received signals with a selected transmission power via the duplexer  35  and the antenna  40  to the other end of the point-to-point microwave radio system.  
         [0053]     For adapting the respective transmissions via the microwave radio link of the system according to the invention, the microprocessor  45  provides information on received signal quality etc. to the transmitting MAC  31 . The MAC  31  determines in addition the current outbound amount of traffic and classifies the packets that are to be transmitted. Based on the determined information and on the received information, the MAC  31  controls the FEC encoder  32 , the modulator  33  and the transmitter  34  via the respective control input, in order to achieve the optimum combination of the settings for signals that are to be transmitted as explained with reference to  FIG. 1 . The MAC  31  will thus control an adaptation of the coding made by the FEC encoder  32 , the modulation scheme used by the modulator  33  and the transmission power employed by the transmitter  34 .  
         [0054]     The transceiver presented in  FIG. 2  adapts the transmissions via the radio link based on signal quality measurements on received signals. Alternatively, the adaptation may be based on signal quality measurements performed at the other end of the radio link. In this case, information on the signal quality of signals received at the other end of the radio link may be included in subsequent signals transmitted by this other end and received via antenna  40 . This information is then extracted from the signals after demodulation and decoding and provided to the microprocessor  45 . This feedback information may be included in the internal control traffic part of the signals sent from the receiving unit to the transmitting unit over the bi-directional link.  
         [0055]     While the invention was described as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the details of the devices and methods described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is also expressly intended that some of the described features and steps may be omitted. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.