SON-controlled DFS
View Patent ↗A centrally controlled dynamic frequency selection (DFS) mechanism is defined that uses a historical analytical database to define DFS hop patterns, which allows for a better probability of picking a non-interfering channel but also meets the performance requirements of the mesh and satisfying the timing constraints of DFS. A method for performing dynamic frequency selection (DFS) is disclosed, comprising: receiving, at a gateway, measurement reports from a radio access node regarding observed utilization of a 5 GHz radio frequency band shared with a plurality of radio access nodes; determining, based on the received measurement reports, a frequency hop pattern at the gateway; and sending the frequency hop pattern from the gateway to each of the plurality of radio access nodes, thereby enabling compliance with DFS regulations using a centralized gateway.
1. A method for performing dynamic frequency selection (DFS), comprising:
receiving, at a gateway, measurement reports from a radio access node regarding observed utilization of a 5 GHz radio frequency band shared with a plurality of radio access nodes;
determining, based on the received measurement reports, a frequency hop pattern at the gateway; and
sending the frequency hop pattern from the gateway to each of the plurality of radio access nodes,
thereby enabling compliance with DFS regulations using a centralized gateway.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of radio access nodes is at least two access points each using 802.11 Wi-Fi in a 5 GHz frequency band.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of radio access nodes is connected in a 5 GHz Wi-Fi mesh network and is configured to use the gateway to connect to a telecommunications operator core network.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the frequency hop pattern is a channel switching sequence.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising retrieving the frequency hop pattern from a database at the gateway.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating the frequency hop pattern based on historical DFS information stored at the gateway.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising switching, at the plurality of radio access nodes, to a next frequency specified by the frequency hop pattern to avoid, or avoid causing, interference to communications radars, weather radars, or military communications.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein an individual radio access node causes connected devices to move to the next frequency using a channel switch announcement in a beacon frame or channel switch announcement frame.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, from an individual radio access node, the frequency hop pattern to a plurality of connected stations to enable the plurality of connected stations to perform a backoff recovery procedure.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting, at one of the plurality of radio access nodes, a radar or military signal in the 5 GHz radio frequency band.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring a selection method at the gateway from a remote management client or periodically updating the selection method at the gateway.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising propagating the frequency hop pattern to each node in a mesh network.
13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a second frequency hop pattern to an additional radio access network.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting the frequency hop pattern based on received signal strength information (RSSI) or signal to noise ratio (SNR).
15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting the frequency hop pattern based on historical DFS event data, regulatory profile data, or indoor/outdoor frequency band configuration.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the frequency hop pattern is a single frequency to pick at a next DFS event.
17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing off-channel radar scanning.
18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting a backhaul radio frequency based on the frequency hop pattern and using a global table to avoid multiple radios being switched to the same frequency.
19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising advertising preferred frequencies at each radio access node in a mesh network, and caching the preferred frequencies at the gateway.
20. A system for performing dynamic frequency selection (DFS), comprising:
a gateway configured to perform steps comprising:
receiving, at a gateway, measurement reports from a radio access node regarding observed utilization of a 5 GHz radio frequency band shared with a plurality of radio access nodes;
selecting, based on the received measurement reports, a frequency hop pattern at the gateway;
retrieving the frequency hop pattern from a database at the gateway; and
sending the frequency hop pattern from the gateway to each of the plurality of radio access nodes,
thereby enabling compliance with DFS regulations using a centralized gateway.