Patent Application: US-90590210-A

Abstract:
method and apparatus for interference mitigation in wireless local area networks . in one embodiment , a centralized interference measurement and mitigation method is disclosed . the method may involve spectral sensing , beamforming , mimo , power control , mac scheduling using a cross - layer approach , and / or broadcast channel precoding , employed towards performance enhancement of wlan networks in presence of interference . in one variant , different actions at interference mitigation are selected based on the source of the interference .

Description:
this invention is targeted at inter alia addressing the harmful effect of interference , and in one particular aspect , co - channel interference when implementation of the conventional methodologies are not possible , not effective , inefficient and / or insufficient ( e . g . for support of the application &# 39 ; s qos requirements , etc . ), or whenever the effectiveness of these techniques can be further enhanced . there are in fact a number of likely implementation scenarios that could result in these situations . as used herein , the sta ( station ) is used to refer to a device that has the capability to use the ieee 802 . 11 protocol including mac and phy ( e . g . a pc , a laptop , pda etc .). however , from the network topology point of view , the station is the infrastructure mode of the wireless device which enables connection with the access point . a station , a node , and a client may be used interchangeably depending on the context . note however that the invention is in no way limited to 802 . 11 networks or equipment , or even wlans for that matter . the wlan embodiments described herein are merely exemplary of the broader principles of the invention . interference detection : this involves the process of ranging ( or tracking ) to locate the network nodes , and sensing , detection and / or characterization of the interference power source ( as labeled in fig3 , 336 ) which is categorized into direct , indirect and combined interference detection . interference correction : it includes all the actions necessary to reduce or cancel the interference effect . direct interference detection : in some embodiments the interference affecting the network nodes which could consist of uts and / or aps , is directly detected at the icn central node ( fig1 , 104 ). in some embodiments both uts and aps are considered for icn - assisted interference mitigation . in other embodiments , depending on the application , either uts or aps are considered for the icn - aided interference mitigation . in some embodiments the interferer parameters are detected by a simple spectral sensing including estimation of power and bandwidth of the signal . in other embodiments , in addition to the spectral sensing , other characteristics of the signal are collected including the signal statistics . prior to interference mitigation and upon power up , the icn tries to connect to its service area nodes ( e . g ., nodes that are assigned to a specific icn ) to establish information about the relative location of each network node within its range . this connection can be performed through the wireless link or if possible through the infrastructure connecting the aps . for example in the modern wlan architectures supporting the ieee 802 . 11v ( see reference [ 13 ], which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety ). network management , the ranging can be performed through the network management protocol over the wired infrastructure connecting the aps . for earlier version of the wlan standards , ranging can be established through well - studied signaling strategies proposed for wifi ranging ( see , e . g . references [ 14 ], [ 15 ], which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety ). note that the location information of network nodes helps the icn to predict the interference power ( or other characteristics ) as seen by the victim terminal ( e . g . by applying specific path loss and / or multipath channel statistical models and computing link budgets ). indirect interference detection : in this approach ( fig1 , 106 ) the interference is not directly detected at the icn node . instead , the existence of an interferer source and its characteristics such as power level can be established indirectly through close monitoring of the interference parameters such as snir of the network nodes ( ap , ut or both nodes may be considered for these measurements ). in some embodiments this monitoring information can be obtained from the victim node through for example a feedback channel or network management protocols and then updated based on ranging and transmission data for each node , as well as , propagation characteristics of the environment . in some embodiments , prior to interference mitigation and upon power up , the icn connects itself to the network to establish information about the relative location of each network node within its range ( as mentioned above ). for example in wlan this can be established through signaling strategies proposed for ranging ( e . g . [ 14 ], [ 15 ]) or using the ieee 802 . 11v protocols [ 13 ]. it is noted that for indirect interference detection , this location finding strategy is not mandatory and is usually employed if the icn would require the knowledge of victim link budget in the correction phase and / or when other interference related parameters such as ber or other quality metric estimations are required . once the location of nodes is established the snir and / or other interference parameters for each node are measured , they will be stored in the icn in association with each node location . in some other embodiments location finding step is unnecessary and the interference indicators such as snir measurement are obtained through a fast feedback channel communicating the value measured at the receiver of the network node back to the icn ( in many wlan architectures , this can be through the rts / cts handshake ). in some other embodiments the interference parameters can be indirectly obtained by the icn through the network management protocols . in some embodiments , this snir ( and / or other parameter ( s )) can be averaged over a sliding sample window with a size determined by the expected coherence time of the channel . once the variations of the snir ( and / or other parameter ( s ) such as number of erroneous packets ) are consistently above certain threshold , the icn concludes that an interferer is affecting the network node . combined interference detection : some embodiments may use a combined interference detection approach ( fig1 , 108 ). this strategy can help avoiding unnecessary false alarms and speedup the feedback channel information . for example in some embodiments , the interference power at the victim receiver can be initially obtained by a direct measurement and then using the ranging data it can be recomputed as the node moves across the network . interference correction : once the interference is detected and its parameters of interest are verified , the icn can deploy either or both of the following strategies : i . interference source based ( isb ): when the interference is generated by a node that the icn can communicate with , such as self interference generated by the adjacent cells of the network ( ap or ut ), the icn may request the interfering node to adjust its transmission such that its harmful effect on the victim receiver is removed or reduced ( fig1 , 112 ). this may include but not limited to adjustment of antenna patterns ( antenna pattern adaptation , 114 ), rescheduling the interferer transmission to avoid interfering with the victim node ( interferer scheduling coordination , 118 ) and / or reduction of the transmission power ( interferer power reduction 116 ), when possible . this approach can be applied to an inter - cell scenario ( interference generated by the ap or ut of neighboring cell ) or an intra - cell scenario ( interference generated within the victim cell , such as co - located radio interference ). ii . interference victim based ( ivb ): this approach ( fig1 , 120 ) can be applied to inter - cell and intra - cell interference scenarios . in this approach the radio link performance of the victim node is improved by addressing the data transmitter node or the receiver node , or both , as defined below : a . link transmitter based : the transmitter based approach i ( link tx - based , 122 ) includes , but not limited to , improving the link budget by adjusting the transmitting node &# 39 ; s power ( tx power increase , 132 ), antenna pattern ( tx antenna pattern adaptation , 128 ) and / or , adjustment of the transmitting node &# 39 ; s scheduling algorithm to adapt to the new interference scenario ( victim scheduling coordination , 126 , if the scheduler lies in the transmitter ). when an ap is using precoding in such as dirty paper coding ( dpc ) ( see reference [ 16 ], which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety ) during broadcasting to the uts that includes the victim node , the precoding scheme can be adapted to the interference scenario by incorporating the new channel state information ( csi ) to the precoding algorithm ( modified dpc , 134 ). another example of the transmitter based interference mitigation is to readjust the adaptive modulation and coding parameters ( amc , 130 ) to match the link budget variation due to the interference . b . link receiver based : in some embodiment interference parameters ( e . g . its statistics , bandwidth , duty cycle , etc .) is communicated to the victim receiver ( link rx - based , 124 ) to help the victim node adjusts its interference mitigation strategy and / or parameters locally . to reduce the messaging signaling overhead , in some other embodiments , the interference parameters are processed at the interference measuring node ( icn ) and a set of interference mitigation parameter updates are communicated to the victim node ( directly or through the cell &# 39 ; s ap ). these parameters include but are not limited to coordination function parameters ( cf adaptation , 138 ) and the receiver antenna pattern ( rx antenna pattern adaptation , 136 ). for example in a csma / ca wlan the interference statistics data can be processed at the icn to change the default parameters of the receiving node &# 39 ; s csma / ca . this includes a number of possible parameters such as the back off window size definition for the receiver , and / or its max / min values based on the access point interference detection and / or its prediction . on the other hand , when a qos - based mac is supported ( e . g . the hcca or hybrid coordination function ) controlled channel access used in 802 . 11e [ 8 ]), the user priority parameters may be adjusted to the scenario . finally interference mitigation can be accommodated by adjustment of the scheduling algorithm at the receiving node to the new interference scenario ( victim scheduling coordination , 126 , if the scheduler lies in the receiver ). in some embodiment the whole network or a part of the network ( represented by a number of cells in a cellular network ) is served by the icn . we name this configuration as “ inter - cell interference mitigation ”. in some other embodiments the icn is dedicated to the interference reduction in a set of networks in a specific geographical area . we name this configuration as “ inter - network interference mitigation ”. the following gives detail examples of the apparatus and its connectivity , as well as an implementation of some of the above interference mitigation methodologies in a wlan environment . apparatus example block diagram : fig2 depicts an example block diagram for the apparatus proposed in this invention , i . e . the interference controller node ( icn ) device 220 and its connection example to the wlan network . the device is shown at two different levels namely , the phy 230 ( physical layer ), the mac & amp ; dlc 222 ( media access and data link control layers ). the link 224 shows the “ cross - layer ” connection between the icn phy 230 and its mac / dlc 222 , while 226 indicate the standard layer interfaces based on the osi ( open system interconnect ) model . fig2 also illustrates a network connection example between the icn and an ap 200 ( the “ victim ap ”), based on the wired infrastructure used in wlan . in ieee 802 . 11 terminology , this infrastructure is called distribution system or ( ds ). the interface 256 carries the network management traffic ( e . g . based on the ieee 802 . 11v amendment [ 13 ]). the ap 200 is also shown in terms of its phy 216 and mac 210 layers . in addition the higher layers 202 in ap ( such as network , session presentation and application layers ) is shown with an optional cross layer connectivity 204 to the mac & amp ; dll 210 along with the standard iso interface 206 . it is assumed that the ap phy has other co - located interfaces in its radio causing a co - location interface as addressed by the ieee 802 . 11v standard . the behavior of such interference ( s ) is processed in the phy module and through a co - location interface profile unit 214 is translated to a format that mac can receive ( through the interface 212 ). the icn phy layer constitutes of some standard transceiver blocks at the baseband digital , analog , and rf levels . the interference mitigation module 244 is responsible for detection of the interference , as well as , interference correction including support of the processing and the data exchange required for interference correction as stated above . for example in an inter - cell direct interference mitigation scenario the cross - layer connection may be used to aid the victim ap interference mitigation , by adjusting the scheduling at the mac level . more specifically , during interference detection the receiver of icn in fig2 detects the interference parameters such as power , with desired sensitivity / accuracy ( e . g . using smart antenna techniques in 240 ). this information is passed to the interference processor 238 , which can perform different computations on the received signal such as its energy , waveform , etc ., depending on the type of interference and its statistics . in the simplest scenario the interference processor measures the in - band rssi ( received signal strength indicator ) of the interferer ( or its snir at the victim node ) and communicates this information to the interference profiler block 236 . the interference profiler in turn processes this information and translates it to a signal protocol that through a cross - layer connection can eventually update the resource allocation strategy used in the mac module of the sta 210 , through the icn mac module 222 and the ds connection 256 . in a more complicated scenario the interference processor may process the signal spectrum , statistics , duty cycles , etc ., and translate this information to a form that can be used by the scheduler according to a specific qos constraint . the combination of interference processor and interference profiler constitutes the interference mitigation block 244 . in some embodiments the co - location interference information is also added in the interference profile through the ds interface 256 from the ap mac to icn mac and then through the connection 254 is incorporated to the interference processor 238 . note that although the ap in fig2 refers to the victim node , it can also be the interfering node as described above . in addition , the icn may establish connectivity to other aps , as will be described below . i . interference source . based . scenario example : fig3 shows an example of an interference scenario with a victim node ut ( a ) 1 316 belonging to the cell ( a ) 310 , administrated by the access point ap ( a ) 314 . the figure shows that an icn 324 , using a beam scanning technique , can detect the interference and obtains its information through a wireless link 328 . the icn ( being for example a device similar to fig2 block diagram ) processes this information and communicates them through a wlan distribution system ( ds ) interface 330 , to either or both access points . the interference is a self interference caused by a neighboring cell ( b ) 300 , due to a beamforming targeted to a user terminal ut ( b ) 1 306 which also penetrates interference signal into the ut ( a ) 1 316 . the figure shows that an icn 324 , uses a beam scanning technique ( e . g . beam switching such as butler matrix or through an adaptive antenna system , aas ) to detect the interference , and in one embodiment obtains the interference parameters through a wireless link 328 , although other types of links may be used . the icn 324 ( being for example a device similar to 220 in fig2 ) processes this information and communicates them through a distribution system ( ds ) 330 , to either or both cell &# 39 ; s access points ( ap ( a ) 314 and ap ( b ) 304 ). without loss of generality in this example we assume that the ds runs an ieee 802 . 11v protocol . note that in fig3 both cells are assumed to show antenna patterns referring the time that the interference is detected . fig4 shows exactly the same network as in fig3 , but after a so called “ antenna pattern adaptation ”, “ interference source based ” algorithm ( 114 in fig1 ) which employs transmitter antenna pattern adaptation for interference mitigation . here the interfering antenna pattern in cell ( b ) 400 is adjusted so that it does not harm the user terminal ut ( a ) 1 416 in cell ( a ) 410 . ii . interference victim based scenario example : fig5 depicts the network similar to the networks in fig3 and 4 , but with an extra interferer 542 with a range that can affect a new node in cell ( a ), i . e . ut ( a ) 3 532 . in this example the victim node is not affected by a neighboring cell , but rather with a foreign interferer , that the icn can analyze , but cannot establish a connection ( e . g . a different standard , or an unauthorized node ). the figure shows that an icn 524 , employs a beam scanning technique , examples of which is given above , to detect the interference and obtain its parameters through a wireless link 528 . the icn 524 ( being for example a device similar to 220 fig2 ) processes this information and communicates them through a distribution system ( ds ) 530 , to the victim cell &# 39 ; s access point ap ( a ) 514 in order to adjust its interference mitigation and for mac scheduling parameters , including but not limited to , increasing the tx power , changing the antenna pattern , increasing the back off window , adjusting the hcca parameters [ 8 ], etc . without loss of generality this example we assume that the ds runs an ieee 802 . 11v protocol [ 13 ]. note that the both cells are assumed to show the antenna patterns that refer to the time that the interference is detected . fig6 shows exactly the same network as in fig5 , but after a so called “ link tx - based ”, “ interference victim based ” algorithm which employs transmitter antenna pattern adaptation ( 128 in fig1 ) for interference mitigation has taken place . here the interfering antenna pattern in cell ( a ) 610 is adjusted to enhance the link budget of the victim node , to the extent that the ut ( a ) 3 632 is not disturbed by the interference , or the interference effect is reduced to an acceptable snir . note that without loss of generality , in the above examples , we assume that the ieee 802 . 11v network management standard [ 13 ] is running over the distribution system ( ds ). when this standard protocol is used , the interference profiles ( e . g . combination of the interference profiles measured by the icn and the co - located interference ) can be easily communicated across the network stas using especial fields proposed for co - located interference . these fields transmitted on the so called interference frame [ 13 ] include many informative fields including interference report period , interference type ( index or identifier ), frequency domain fields ( including interference level , power , bandwidth , carrier frequency , etc ), time domain fields ( such as interference period , start time ), etc . it will be recognized that while certain aspects of the invention are described in terms of a specific sequence of steps of a method , these descriptions are only illustrative of the broader methods of the invention , and may be modified as required by the particular application . certain steps may be rendered unnecessary or optional under certain circumstances . additionally , certain steps or functionality may be added to the disclosed embodiments , or the order of performance of two or more steps permuted . all such variations are considered to be encompassed within the invention disclosed and claimed herein . while the above detailed description has shown , described , and pointed out novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments , it will be understood that various omissions , substitutions , and changes in the form and details of the device or process illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention . the foregoing description is of the best mode presently contemplated of carrying out the invention . this description is in no way meant to be limiting , but rather should be taken as illustrative of the general principles of the invention . the scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims . all references listed below are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety . j . tousch , m - h . hamon and j . benko , “ turbo - codes complexity estimates ”, ieee 802 . 11 n proposal 1385 - r 1 , november 2004 . 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