Patent Description:
The present disclosure relates generally to the coexistence of heterogeneous wireless technologies.

Long-Term Evolution-Unlicensed (LTE-U) is an adaptation of the LTE standard that operates in unlicensed frequency bands. As currently defined by the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP), LTE-U targets <NUM> and other unlicensed frequency bands. In addition, other unlicensed wireless wide area networks, including Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) and MulteFire, also use frequency bands in the <NUM> range. As a consequence, LTE-U, LAA, MulteFire, and other unlicensed wireless wide area network technologies, operate in some of the same frequency bands defined for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) <NUM> standard (e.g., the <NUM> frequency bands). The spectrum overlap between unlicensed and Wi-Fi can present spectrum access and interference problems for wireless access points and eNodeBs/eNodeGs that are concurrently operating within transmission range of each other in a given geographical region.

In <CIT> a License Assisted Access (LAA) enhanced NodeB (eNB), user equipment (UE) and communication methods therebetween operating in a Long Term Evolution unlicensed band (LTE-U) are generally described. The eNB may transmit a request to the UE for information regarding a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) over which the UE may be able to communicate. The WLAN information may include an LTE-U channel and time window for reporting. The UE may obtain the WLAN information through communication with an access point (AP). Measurement information of the LTE-U channel may also be obtained by or on behalf of the UE. The UE may transmit the WLAN information to the eNB. The eNB may use the WLAN information or submit the WLAN information to a network entity to perform channel selection, UE grouping or localization, appointing delegate UEs to perform channel sensing or scheduling UEs in a same group or proximity.

<CIT> is directed to the provision of methods and devices for a transmit receive point (TRP) to access one or more unlicensed channels in an unlicensed spectrum jointly with at least one other TRP. An example method may include a step of aligning a starting time of a potential transmission on at least one of the one or more unlicensed channels with a starting time of a potential transmission of at least one other TRP on the at least one of the one or more unlicensed channels A further step includes performing channel access on the at least one of the one or more unlicensed channels by performing at least one of a spatial domain channel access procedure or a combination of a spatial domain channel access procedure and a frequency domain multi-channel access procedure. Another step includes transmitting at the aligned starting time on the at least one of the one or more unlicensed channels in the joint access period when the at least one of the one or more unlicensed channels is available.

There is provided: a method according to claim <NUM>.

There is provided: a system according to claim <NUM>.

There is provided: a computer-readable medium according to claim <NUM>.

Spectrum management for coexistence of heterogeneous wireless technologies may be provided. A first Radio Frequency (RF) event metric may be received from a first service end point. The first RF event metric may comprise a time a first event occurred. A second RF event metric may be received from a second service end point. The second RF event metric may comprise a time a second event occurred. Then it may be determined that the time the first event occurred and the time the second event occurred are substantially congruent. Next, in response to determining that the time the first event occurred and the time the second event occurred are substantially congruent, the first service end point and the second service end point may be grouped in a first RF group thereby allowing frequency re-use across similar RF groups. Then different channels may be assigned to the first service end point and the second service end point.

Both the foregoing overview and the following example embodiments are examples and explanatory only, and should not be considered to restrict the disclosure's scope, as described and claimed. Furthermore, features and/or variations may be provided in addition to those described. For example, embodiments of the disclosure may be directed to various feature combinations and sub-combinations described in the example embodiments.

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

Unlicensed frequency bands (such as <NUM> Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) and <NUM> U-NII (Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure bands)) have played a role in magnifying the scope and penetration of wireless technologies. Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers' (IEEE's) wireless local area networking standards (i.e., <NUM>. 11a/b/g/n/ac/ax) are examples of proliferating unlicensed band technologies for mobile applications. With up to <NUM> of unlicensed spectrum available in the <NUM> band on a global basis, even operators of licensed spectrum may deploy solutions that may tap into in this free spectrum. For example, to overcome spectrum shortages and to boost cellular network capacity, cellular service providers may deploy unlicensed Long Term Evolution (LTE) in the <NUM> band. As a result, the unlicensed <NUM> band has emerged as a spectrum for launching new wireless applications and services. This has given rise to deployment scenarios where heterogeneous networks may compete for their share of the unlicensed spectrum at any given location. This situation may be rendered more complex because competing technologies often do not understand each other (e.g., MulteFire vs. <NUM> Wi-Fi standards) or when they do, they may tend to use the same spectrum differently (<NUM>. 11a vs <NUM>. An unplanned and unmanaged deployment may impact user experience. Thus, embodiments of the disclosure may provide a coexistence process that may allow heterogeneous technologies to work together in order to optimize spectrum use.

<FIG> shows an operating environment <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, operating environment <NUM> may comprise a Shared Spectrum Manager (SSM) <NUM>, a first Radio Frequency (RF) group <NUM>, a second RF group <NUM>, and a plurality of service end points. The plurality of service end points may comprise a first service end point <NUM>, a second service end point <NUM>, a third service end point <NUM>, a fourth service end point <NUM>, a fifth service end point <NUM>, and a sixth service end point <NUM>. First RF group <NUM> may include first service end point <NUM>, second service end point <NUM>, and fourth service end point <NUM>. Second RF group <NUM> may include third service end point <NUM>, fifth service end point <NUM>, and sixth service end point <NUM>.

A plurality of client devices may be associated with the plurality of service end points. Individual ones of the plurality of client devices may comprise, but not limited to, a smart phone, a personal computer, a tablet device, a mobile device, a cable modem, a cellular base station, a telephone, a remote control device, a set-top box, a digital video recorder, an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, a network computer, a mainframe, a router, or other similar microcomputer-based device.

First service end point <NUM>, fourth service end point <NUM>, and fifth service end point <NUM> may comprise wireless Access Points (APs) that may provide network access using Wi-Fi technology, via a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) using a router connected to a service provider. Second service end point <NUM>, third service end point <NUM>, and sixth service end point <NUM> may comprise devices that may be connected to a cellular network and that may communicate directly and wirelessly with client devices. The cellular network may comprise, but is not limited to, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) broadband cellular network, a Fourth Generation (<NUM>) broadband cellular network, or a Fifth Generation (<NUM>) broadband cellular network, operated by a service provider. For example, second service end point <NUM>, third service end point <NUM>, and sixth service end point <NUM> may comprise eNodeBs (eNBs) or gNodeBs (gNBs).

First service end point <NUM>, fourth service end point <NUM>, and fifth service end point <NUM> may operate using a different wireless standard than second service end point <NUM>, third service end point <NUM>, and sixth service end point <NUM>. For example, first service end point <NUM>, fourth service end point <NUM>, and fifth service end point <NUM> may operate using the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) <NUM> standard. In contrast, second service end point <NUM>, third service end point <NUM>, and sixth service end point <NUM> may operate using the Long Term Evolution in Unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) standard, the License Assisted Access (LAA) standard, or the MulteFire standard for example.

Embodiments of the disclosure may provide a process that dynamically assigns frequency ranges in an unlicensed spectrum to competing wireless technologies. SSM <NUM> may optimize the usage of a shared unlicensed spectrum and may also allow heterogeneous wireless technologies to coexist. While SSM <NUM> may be shown in <FIG> as a standalone system, embodiments of the disclosure may also comprise SSM <NUM> as a software module within a Radio Resource Management (RRM) system or within Wireless LAN Controllers.

The elements described above of operating environment <NUM> (e.g., SSM <NUM>, first service end point <NUM>, second service end point <NUM>, third service end point <NUM>, fourth service end point <NUM>, fifth service end point <NUM>, and sixth service end point <NUM>) may be practiced in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or in any other circuits or systems. The elements of operating environment <NUM> may be practiced in electrical circuits comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged or integrated electronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizing a microprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements or microprocessors. Furthermore, the elements of operating environment <NUM> may also be practiced using other technologies capable of performing logical operations such as, for example, AND, OR, and NOT, including but not limited to, mechanical, optical, fluidic, and quantum technologies. As described in greater detail below with respect to <FIG>, the elements of operating environment <NUM> may be practiced in a computing device <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flow chart setting forth the general stages involved in a method <NUM> consistent with embodiments of the disclosure for providing spectrum management for coexistence of heterogeneous wireless technologies. Method <NUM> may be implemented using SSM <NUM> as described in more detail above with respect to <FIG>. Ways to implement the stages of method <NUM> will be described in greater detail below.

Method <NUM> may begin at starting block <NUM> and proceed to stage <NUM> where SSM <NUM> may receive a first RF event metric from first service end point <NUM>. For example, first service end point <NUM> attempting to utilize an unlicensed spectrum, may periodically report key RF metrics to SSM <NUM>. End point <NUM> may compile these RF metrics by either using a dedicated monitor radio or through periodic off-channel measurements from its serving radio. The first RF event metric may comprise a time a first event occurred. The first event may comprise, for example, first service end point <NUM> making a transmission or first service end point <NUM> detecting an interference.

In some embodiments of the disclosure, first service end point <NUM> may use a user configurable control channel to assist in neighbor discovery. First service end point <NUM> may use this user configurable control channel to transmit neighbor discovery frames and to also measure interference from other transmitting neighbors. For example, first service end point <NUM> may make the aforementioned transmission over the user configurable control channel or first service end point <NUM> may detect an interference in the user configurable control channel. The times these events (e.g., transmission and interference detection) occurred on the user configurable control channel may be reported in the first RF event metric.

From stage <NUM>, where SSM <NUM> receives the first RF event metric from first service end point <NUM>, method <NUM> may advance to stage <NUM> where SSM <NUM> may receive a second RF event metric from second service end point <NUM>. For example, second service end point <NUM> attempting to utilize an unlicensed spectrum, may periodically report key RF metrics to SSM <NUM>. End point <NUM> may compile these RF metrics by either using a dedicated monitor radio or through periodic off-channel measurements from its serving radio. The second RF event metric may comprise a time a second event occurred. The second event may comprise, for example, second service end point <NUM> making a transmission or second service end point <NUM> detecting an interference.

In some embodiments of the disclosure, second service end point <NUM> may use a user configurable control channel to assist in neighbor discovery. Second service end point <NUM> may use this user configurable control channel to transmit neighbor discovery frames and to also measure interference from other transmitting neighbors. For example, second service end point <NUM> may make the aforementioned transmission over the user configurable control channel or second service end point <NUM> may detect an interference in the user configurable control channel. The times these events (e.g., transmission and interference detection) occurred on the user configurable control channel may be reported in the second RF event metric.

Once SSM <NUM> receives the second RF event metric from second service end point <NUM>, method <NUM> may continue to stage <NUM> where SSM <NUM> may determine that first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM> correlate by determining that the time the first event occurred and the time the second event occurred are substantially congruent. Substantially congruent may comprise the time of the first event and the time of the second event being within a range of <NUM> to <NUM> of each other. For example, service end points (e.g., first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM>) attempting to utilize unlicensed spectrum, periodically report their key RF metrics to SSM <NUM>. While these service end points may not have the ability to discover neighboring service end points that use different technologies, SSM <NUM> may correlate various RF events captured in the service end point RF metrics. For example, when an eNB (e.g., second service end point <NUM>) reports a transmission event in its RF metrics sent to SSM <NUM>, a neighboring AP (e.g., first service end point <NUM>) may report interference for the same time window in its RF metrics. Similarly, when an AP e.g., (first service end point <NUM>) reports a transmission event in its RF metrics sent to SSM <NUM>, a neighboring eNB (e.g., second service end point <NUM>) may report interference for the same time window in its RF metrics.

This relationship between eNB (e.g., second service end point <NUM>) and AP (e.g., first service end point <NUM>) may be illustrated by <FIG>. When they are congruent (i.e., occurring substantially at the same time) eNB (e.g., second service end point <NUM>) transmission <NUM> may comprise interference for AP (e.g., first service end point <NUM>) transmission <NUM> and AP (e.g., first service end point <NUM>) transmission <NUM> may comprise interference for eNB (e.g., second service end point <NUM>) transmission <NUM>. SSM <NUM> may correlate reports of transmission with reports of interference using any correlation process to identify neighboring service end points.

After SSM <NUM> determines that first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM> correlate by determining that the time the first event occurred and the time the second event occurred are substantially congruent in stage <NUM>, method <NUM> may proceed to stage <NUM> where SSM <NUM> may group, in response to determining that the time the first event occurred and the time the second event occurred are substantially congruent, first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM> in first RF group <NUM>. For example, SSM <NUM> may correlate reports of transmission with reports of interference as described above to identify neighboring service end points and then may group neighboring service end points into RF groups. Because first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM> correlate, they may be grouped into first RF group <NUM>. Because third service end point <NUM> may not correlate with first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM>, it may not be grouped with first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM>. Rather third service end point <NUM> may correlate with fifth service end point <NUM> and sixth service end point <NUM> and therefore be grouped by SSM <NUM> into second RF group <NUM>.

In some embodiments, SSM <NUM> may rely on RF metrics reported by dedicated multi-technology monitor radios to identify and group neighboring service end points into RF groups. Such monitoring radios may be co-located with APs and eNBs. In some embodiments, multi-technology wireless client devices like mobile phones and laptops may be queried by service end points for air scan reports that are then forwarded to SSM <NUM>. SSM <NUM> may then correlate client device's air scan report with the client device's location to group neighboring service end points into RF groups. Client devices may tag their air scan reports with location via GPS, for example, whenever possible or their location may be deduced using third party services.

In some embodiments, multi-technology sensors like Active Sensors may periodically forward air scan reports to SSM <NUM>. SSM <NUM> may then correlate the sensor reports with their location to group neighboring service end points into RF groups. As with wireless client devices, Active Sensors may tag their air scan reports with location via GPS, for example, when possible or their location may be deduced using third party services.

From stage <NUM>, where SSM <NUM> groups, in response to determining that the time the first event occurred and the time the second event occurred are substantially congruent, first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM> in first RF group <NUM>, method <NUM> may advance to stage <NUM> where SSM <NUM> may assign, in response to grouping first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM> in first RF group <NUM>, different channels to first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM>. For example, arranging neighboring endpoints into RF groups (i.e., first RF group <NUM> and second RF group <NUM>) allows SSM <NUM> to re-use frequency bands across RF groups. This is because transmissions from service end points belonging to one RF group cause no noticeable interference on service end points belonging to a different RF group. Once RF groups are arranged, SSM <NUM> may determine a resource requirement score for each service end point within an RF group based, for example, on characteristics such as its radio capability, client device capability, traffic, and quality of service.

With respect to radio capability, SSM <NUM> may take into account the capabilities of the radio of each service end point in the RF group. For example, radios that support Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) may cope better with Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) channels than non-OFDMA radios because OFDMA supporting radios may "puncture" their transmissions in the event of a radar hit whereas non-OFDMA radios may have to vacate the whole channel.

With respect to client device capability, SSM <NUM> may take into account the capabilities of the client devices associated to each service end point in the RF group. For example, radios serving many high efficiency client devices (e.g., laptops or mobile phones) may need to be assigned a greater share of bandwidth or a cleaner channel as opposed to radios serving IoT client devices.

With respect to traffic, SSM <NUM> may take into account service end points that actually serve uplink/downlink traffic. For example, radios serving uplink/downlink traffic may be assigned greater bandwidth or a cleaner channel as opposed to idle radios.

With respect to quality of service, SSM <NUM> may take into account the type of traffic on the radio. For example, a radio serving voice or video traffic may be assigned greater bandwidth or a cleaner channel as opposed to radios serving best effort traffic for example.

The resource requirement score may be determined by assigning weights to each of the aforementioned example characteristics. SSM <NUM> may then rank each service end point in an RF group (e.g., first RF group <NUM> and second RF group <NUM>) by their resource requirement score. A service end point with the highest score may be assigned the best possible channel whereas the one with the lowest score may be assigned a lesser quality channel.

To evaluate the quality of each channel for an RF group, SSM <NUM> may consider the RF metrics reported by the RF group's service end points and combine their noise, interference, and load metrics into a single Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) based metric known as a cost metric. This cost metric may represent a Signal to Interference Plus Noise Ratio (SINR) of a specific channel and may be used to evaluate the throughput potential of one channel over another. Following this, SSM <NUM> may match a best channel or channels with service end points that may have the highest resource requirement score such that the expected co-channel interference may be minimized across the RF group. This may be accomplished using optimization processes such as linear programming or game theory for example. In some embodiments, SSM <NUM> may request RRM to determine a channel plan for all service end points in an RF group given their resource requirement scores and bandwidth constraints.

By minimizing co-channel interference, SSM <NUM> may ensure that heterogeneous service end points may coexist and may also ensure that each competing technology (e.g., LTE vs. Wi-Fi) may receive a fair share of the unlicensed spectrum that matches their requirements. Once SSM <NUM> assigns, in response to grouping first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM> in first RF group <NUM>, different channels to first service end point <NUM> and second service end point <NUM> in stage <NUM>, method <NUM> may then end at stage <NUM>.

<FIG> shows computing device <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, computing device <NUM> may include a processing unit <NUM> and a memory unit <NUM>. Memory unit <NUM> may include a software module <NUM> and a database <NUM>. While executing on processing unit <NUM>, software module <NUM> may perform, for example, processes for providing spectrum management for coexistence of heterogeneous wireless technologies as described above with respect to <FIG>. Computing device <NUM>, for example, may provide an operating environment for SSM <NUM>, first service end point <NUM>, second service end point <NUM>, third service end point <NUM>, fourth service end point <NUM>, fifth service end point <NUM>, or sixth service end point <NUM>. SSM <NUM>, first service end point <NUM>, second service end point <NUM>, third service end point <NUM>, fourth service end point <NUM>, fifth service end point <NUM>, and sixth service end point <NUM> may operate in other environments and are not limited to computing device <NUM>.

Computing device <NUM> may be implemented using a Wi-Fi access point, a cellular base station, a tablet device, a mobile device, a smart phone, a telephone, a remote control device, a set-top box, a digital video recorder, a cable modem, a personal computer, a network computer, a mainframe, a router, a switch, a server cluster, a smart TV-like device, a network storage device, a network relay devices, or other similar microcomputer-based device. Computing device <NUM> may comprise any computer operating environment, such as hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable sender electronic devices, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Computing device <NUM> may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices. The aforementioned systems and devices are examples and computing device <NUM> may comprise other systems or devices.

Embodiments of the disclosure, for example, may be implemented as a computer process (method), a computing system, or as an article of manufacture, such as a computer program product or computer readable media. The computer program product may be a computer storage media readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. The computer program product may also be a propagated signal on a carrier readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. Accordingly, the present disclosure may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). In other words, embodiments of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. A computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced via a system-on-a-chip (SOC) where each or many of the element illustrated in <FIG> may be integrated onto a single integrated circuit. Such an SOC device may include one or more processing units, graphics units, communications units, system virtualization units and various application functionality all of which may be integrated (or "burned") onto the chip substrate as a single integrated circuit. When operating via an SOC, the functionality described herein with respect to embodiments of the disclosure, may be performed via application-specific logic integrated with other components of computing device <NUM> on the single integrated circuit (chip).

Claim 1:
A method performed by a Shared Spectrum Manager, SSM, comprising:
receiving (<NUM>), by a computing device, a first Radio Frequency, RF, event metric from a first service end point, the first RF event metric comprising a time a first event occurred;
receiving (<NUM>) a second RF event metric from a second service end point, the second RF event metric comprising a time a second event occurred;
determining (<NUM>) that the first service end point and the second service end point correlate by determining that the time the first event occurred and the time the second event occurred are within a range of <NUM> to <NUM> of each other;
grouping (<NUM>), in response to determining that the time the first event occurred and the time the second event occurred are within a range of <NUM> to <NUM> of each other, the first service end point and the second service end point in a first RF group thereby allowing frequency re-use across similar RF groups; and
assigning (<NUM>), in response to grouping the first service end point and the second service end point in the first RF group, different channels to the first service end point and the second service end point, wherein the first service end point operates using a first standard and the second service end point operates using a second standard, wherein the first service end point comprises a wireless Access Point, AP and the second service end point comprises one of: an eNodeB, eNB, and an gNodeB, gNB.