Shared spectrum access for broadcast and bi-directional, packet-switched communications

1. A broadcast base station, comprising:

at least one radio transmitter;

one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio transmitter;

wherein the broadcast base station is configured to:

wirelessly broadcast a common set of audio and video data to a plurality of broadcast receiver devices using a particular frequency band, wherein the broadcast base station is not configured to receive content data from any of the broadcast receiver devices;

discontinue broadcasting in the particular frequency band during a scheduled time interval, to enable one or more cellular base stations to perform bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications using the particular frequency band;

transmit control signaling during a pre-determined portion of the scheduled time interval, wherein the control signaling includes synchronization information to enable one or more broadcast receiver devices to remain connected to the broadcast base station during the scheduled time interval such that the receiver devices remain synchronized with the broadcast base station at the end of the scheduled time interval; and

resume broadcasting in the particular frequency band after the scheduled time interval and after use of the particular frequency band by one or more cellular base stations performing bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications using the particular frequency band.

2. The broadcast base station of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast base station is configured to discontinue broadcasting in the particular frequency band based on information indicating that one or more cellular base stations will utilize the particular frequency band during the scheduled time interval.

3. The broadcast base station of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast base station is configured to align a broadcast frame boundary with a boundary for cellular frames transmitted by the one or more cellular base stations and configured to transmit the control signaling using a pre-determined portion of the cellular frame based on the alignment.

4. The broadcast base station of claim 1 , wherein the scheduled time interval corresponds to a portion of a frame of bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications data transmitted by the one or more cellular base stations.

5. The broadcast base station of claim 4 , wherein the broadcast base station is configured to wirelessly broadcast audio and video data during another portion of the frame.

6. The broadcast base station of claim 5 , wherein the other portion of the frame corresponds to a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframe.

7. The broadcast base station of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast base station is configured to transmit blanking information indicating the scheduled time interval to receiving devices of the broadcast audio and video data.

8. A method, comprising:

wirelessly broadcasting a common set of audio and video data, by a broadcast base station, to a plurality of broadcast receiver devices using a particular frequency band, wherein the broadcast base station is not configured to receive content data from any of the receiver devices;

discontinuing broadcasting in the particular frequency band, by the broadcast base station, during a scheduled time interval, to enable one or more cellular base stations to perform bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications using the particular frequency band;

transmitting, by the broadcast base station, control signaling during a pre-determined portion of the scheduled time interval, wherein the control signaling includes synchronization information to enable one or more broadcast receiver devices to remain connected to the broadcast base station during the scheduled time interval such that the receiver devices remain synchronized with the broadcast base station at the end of the scheduled time interval; and

resume broadcasting in the particular frequency band, by the broadcast base station, after the scheduled time interval and after use of the particular frequency band by one or more cellular base stations performing bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications using the particular frequency band.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the packet-switched wireless data communications are Long Term Evolution (LTE) communications.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

the broadcast base station aligning frames of broadcast data with a boundary of frames transmitted by the one or more cellular base stations; and

the broadcast base station receiving scheduling information indicating the scheduled time interval;

wherein the scheduled time interval corresponds to a portion of a frame of bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications data transmitted by the one or more cellular base stations.

11. A mobile device, comprising:

at least one antenna;

one or more radios; and

one or more processing elements;

wherein the mobile device is configured to:

perform bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications with a base station using a first frequency band;

in response to receiving control signaling from the base station, perform bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications using a second frequency band during a scheduled time interval, wherein the second frequency band is used for wirelessly broadcasting a common set of audio and video data to a plurality of devices, by a broadcast base station that is not configured to receive content data from any of the plurality of devices, during a time interval prior to the scheduled time interval and a time interval subsequent to the scheduled time interval; and

receive cellular control information that includes synchronization information in the second frequency band outside of the scheduled time interval and remain connected to and synchronized with the base station for communications using the second frequency band during one or more broadcast intervals outside of the scheduled time interval, based on the received cellular control information.

12. The mobile device of claim 11 , wherein the mobile device is further configured to:

receive broadcast audio and video data during at least one of the prior and subsequent time intervals.

13. The mobile device of claim 11 , wherein the scheduled time interval corresponds to a portion of a frame of packet-switched wireless data communications.

14. The mobile device of claim 13 , wherein the mobile device is configured to receive broadcast audio and video data during a portion of a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframe.

15. The mobile device of claim 11 , wherein the scheduled time interval corresponds to a portion of a subframe of packet-switched wireless data communications.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a mobile computing device to perform operations comprising:

performing bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications with a base station using a first frequency band; and

in response to receiving control signaling from the base station, performing bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications on a second frequency band during a scheduled time interval, wherein the second frequency band is used for wirelessly broadcasting a common set of audio and video data to a plurality of devices, by a broadcast base station that is not configured to receive content data from any of the plurality of devices, during a time interval prior to the scheduled time interval and a time interval subsequent to the scheduled time interval; and

receiving cellular control information that includes synchronization information in the second frequency band outside of the scheduled time interval and remaining connected to and synchronized with the base station for communications using the second frequency band during one or more broadcast intervals outside of the scheduled time interval, based on the received cellular control information.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the performing bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications using the first frequency band and the performing bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communications using the second frequency band are performed via different base stations.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the scheduled time interval corresponds to a portion of a frame of packet-switched wireless data communications.

19. A base station, comprising:

at least one radio transmitter;

one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio transmitter;

wherein the base station is configured to:

perform bi-directional packet-switched communication with one or more mobile devices using a first frequency band; and

perform bi-directional packet-switched communication with one or more mobile devices using a second frequency band during a scheduled time interval, wherein the second frequency band is used for wirelessly broadcasting a common set of audio and video data to a plurality of devices, by a broadcast base station that is not configured to receive content data from any of the plurality of devices, during a time interval prior to the scheduled time interval and a time interval subsequent to the scheduled time interval; and

transmit cellular control information that includes synchronization information for the second frequency band outside of the scheduled time interval to enable one or more cellular devices to remain synchronized with and connected to the base station outside of the scheduled time interval.

20. The base station of claim 19 , wherein the base station is configured to align wireless frames for the bi-directional packet-switched communication with broadcast frames corresponding to the wirelessly broadcasting audio and video data.

21. The base station of claim 19 , wherein the scheduled time interval corresponds to a subframe of bi-directional packet-switched wireless data communication.

22. A method, comprising:

performing, by a cellular base station, bi-directional packet-switched communication with one or more mobile devices using a first frequency band; and

performing, by the cellular base station, bi-directional packet-switched communication with one or more mobile devices using a second frequency band during a scheduled time interval, wherein the second frequency band is used for wirelessly broadcasting a common set of audio and video data to a plurality of devices, by a broadcast base station that is not configured to receive content data from any of the plurality of devices, during a time interval prior to the scheduled time interval and a time interval subsequent to the scheduled time interval; and

transmitting cellular control information that includes synchronization information for the second frequency band outside of the scheduled time interval to enable one or more cellular devices to remain synchronized with and connected to the cellular base station outside of the scheduled time interval.