Method and system for centralized or distributed resource management in a distributed transceiver network
A master application device comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers, a central baseband processor, and a network management engine that manages operation of the master application device and end-user application devices. The master application device communicates data streams to the end-user devices utilizing one or more distributed transceivers selected from the plurality of distributed transceivers. The selected distributed transceivers and the end-user devices are concurrently configured by the network management engine based on corresponding link quality and propagation environment. The network management engine allocates resources to the selected distributed transceivers and the end-user devices during the data communication. The network management engine continuously monitors communication environment information to configure beamforming settings and/or antenna arrangement for the selected distributed transceivers. Beam patterns are selected for the selected distributed transceivers so as to minimize power consumption and/or based on the location and orientation information of the end-user application devices.
1. A method of transmit power control by a first device comprising a set of transceivers, each transceiver comprising an antenna array comprising a plurality of antennas, the method comprising:
configuring the antenna arrays of a plurality of transceivers in the set of transceivers of the first device to establish a communication link with a second device;
defining a throughput function between the first and second devices based on (i) throughput of each transceiver in the plurality of transceivers and (ii) a transmission power level of each transceiver in the plurality of transceivers;
identifying a corresponding transmission power level for each transceiver in the plurality of transceivers of the first device to optimize the throughput function, said optimizing comprising minimizing a function of transmission power of the plurality of transceivers while maintaining the total throughput between the first and second devices above a threshold; and
communicating a data stream from the antenna array of each of the plurality of transceivers of the first device to the second device while each transceiver in the plurality of transceivers maintains the corresponding identified transmission power level.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a relationship between the throughput and the transmit power level of each transceiver is defined by a lookup table based on one or more of a set of communication parameters, system parameters, and implementation parameters.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a relationship between the throughput and the transmit power level of each transceiver is derived from one or more of a set of analytical throughput formulas and a set of channel capacity formulas.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the throughput function is defined to be further based on a transmit power level of other transceivers in the set of transceivers of the first device.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the throughput function is a Shannon channel capacity function.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
monitoring a set of conditions comprising a link quality and conditions of a propagation environment between the first and second devices during the communication of the data stream; and
adjusting the transmit power level of each transceiver in the plurality of transceivers of the first device based on the monitored conditions.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first device further comprises a plurality of baseband processors, the method further comprising activating and deactivating the baseband processors in the plurality of the baseband processors to meet a total throughput between the first and second devices.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring the plurality of transceivers of the first device to provide an effective omnidirectional coverage while maintaining an effective transmit power in every direction.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
identifying a set of reflectors in a propagation environment between the first and second devices; and
directing a total transmission power of the plurality of distributed transceivers of the first device over the set of identified reflectors.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating a data stream from the antenna array of each of the plurality of transceivers of the first device to the second device comprises selecting beam patterns for the plurality of transceivers of the first device.
11. A first device comprising:
a set of transceivers, each transceiver comprising an antenna array comprising a plurality of antennas; and
a network management engine configured to:
configure the antenna arrays of a plurality of transceivers in the set of transceivers of the first device to establish a communication link with a second device;
define a throughput function between the first and second devices based on (i) throughput of each transceiver in the plurality of transceivers and (ii) a transmission power level of each transceiver in the plurality of transceivers;
identify a corresponding transmission power level for each transceiver in the plurality of transceivers of the first device to optimize the throughput function, said optimizing comprising minimizing a function of transmission power of the plurality of transceivers while maintaining the total throughput between the first and second devices above a threshold; and
communicate a data stream from the antenna arrays of each of the plurality of transceivers of the first device to the second device while each transceiver in the plurality of transceivers maintains the corresponding identified transmission power level.
12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the network management engine is configured to define a relationship between the throughput and the transmit power level of each transceiver by a lookup table based on one or more of a set of communication parameters, system parameters, and implementation parameters.
13. The device of claim 11 , wherein the network management engine is configured to derive a relationship between the throughput and the transmit power level of each transceiver from one or more of a set of analytical throughput formulas and a set of channel capacity formulas.
14. The device of claim 11 , wherein the network management engine is configured to define the throughput function to be further based on a transmit power level of other transceivers in the set of transceivers of the first device.
15. The device of claim 11 , wherein the network management engine is configured to define the throughput function as a Shannon channel capacity function.
16. The device of claim 11 , wherein the network management engine is further configured to:
monitor a set of conditions comprising a link quality and conditions of a propagation environment between the first and second devices during the communication of the data stream; and
adjust the transmit power level of each transceiver in the plurality of transceivers of the first device based on the monitored conditions.
17. The device of claim 11 , wherein the first device further comprises a plurality of baseband processors, wherein the network management engine is further configured to activate and deactivate the baseband processors in the plurality of the baseband processors to meet a total throughput between the first and second devices.
18. The device of claim 11 , wherein the network management engine is further configured to configure the plurality of transceivers of the first device to provide an effective omnidirectional coverage while maintaining an effective transmit power in every direction.
19. The device of claim 11 , wherein the network management engine is further configured to:
identify a set of reflectors in a propagation environment between the first and second devices; and
direct a total transmission power of the plurality of distributed transceivers of the first device over the plurality of identified reflectors.
20. The device of claim 10 , wherein communicating a data stream from the antenna arrays of each of the plurality of transceivers of the first device to the second device comprises selecting beam patterns, by the network management engine, for the plurality of transceivers of the first device.