Configuring reference-signal transmission in a wireless communication system based on azimuths and distances

1. A method for configuring reference-signal transmission in a wireless communication system, wherein the wireless communication system includes a plurality of sectors, each sector having one of N distinct reference signal configurations, wherein N is at least 3, and each sector having an origin location and having an azimuth defining a direction of radiation from the origin location, the method comprising:

computing, by a processing system, an aggregate interference score associated with a given sector of the plurality of sectors, wherein computing the aggregate interference score comprises (i) identifying k sectors nearest to the given sector that are configured to provide the same reference signal configuration as the given sector, wherein k is at least 2, and wherein identifying the k sectors nearest to the given sector that have the same reference signal configuration as the given sector is based on a comparison of the reference signal configurations of the k sectors with the reference signal configuration of the given sector and a comparison of the origin locations of the k sectors with the origin location of the given sector, (ii) for each identified sector, computing a sector-based interference score based at least on a distance between the origin locations of the given sector and the identified sector, a degree to which the azimuth of the given sector is angled away from the origin location of the identified sector, and a degree to which the azimuth of the identified sector is angled away from the origin location of the given sector, and (iii) summing the computed sector-based interference scores for the k identified sectors; and

determining if the computed aggregate interference score is higher than a predefined threshold interference score and (a) if so, then changing the reference signal configuration of the given sector and (b) if not, then maintaining the reference signal configuration of the given sector.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the N distinct reference signal configurations occupies a respective recurring pattern of time-frequency resources, wherein the N different reference signal configurations are mutually exclusive.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference signal configuration of each sector in the system corresponds with a modulo N function of a primary synchronization signal of the sector.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein, for each identified sector, the computed sector-based interference score is inversely related to the distance between the origin locations of the given sector and the identified sector, the computed sector-based interference score is inversely related to the degree to which the azimuth of the given sector points away from the origin location of the identified sector, and the computed sector-based interference score is inversely related to the degree to which the azimuth of the identified sector points away from the origin location of the given sector.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, for each identified sector: determining the degree to which the azimuth of the given sector points away from the origin location of the identified sector, as an angle between (i) the azimuth of the given sector and (ii) a line connecting the origin locations of the given sector and the identified sector; and determining the degree to which the azimuth of the identified sector points away from the origin location of the given sector, as an angle between (i) the azimuth of the identified sector and (ii) the line connecting the origin locations of the given sector and the identified sector.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein computing the aggregate interference score is further based on a distance between the origin location of the given sector and an origin location of a particular sector nearest to, but not co-located with, the given sector that has a different reference signal configuration than the given sector.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising identifying the particular sector based on (i) a comparison of the reference signal configuration of the particular sector with the reference signal configuration of the given sector and (ii) a comparison of the origin location of the particular sector with the origin location of the given sector.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the computed aggregate interference score is directly related to the distance between the origin location of the given sector and the origin location of the particular sector.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein changing the reference signal configuration of the given sector comprises transmitting to a base station of the given sector a control command to which the base station is configured to respond by changing the reference signal configuration of the given sector.

10. A method for configuring reference-signal transmission in a wireless communication system, wherein the wireless communication system includes a plurality of cell sites each providing N directional sectors of coverage, wherein N is at least 3, wherein each sector in the system is configured to broadcast a reference signal using one of N distinct reference signal configurations, and wherein each sector has an origin location and has an azimuth defining a direction of radiation from the origin location, the method comprising, for a cell site of the plurality of cell sites:

computing a cumulative interference score respectively for each permutation of the N reference signal configurations among the N sectors of the cell site, wherein computing the cumulative interference score comprises computing for each sector of the cell site an aggregate interference score and computing as the cumulative interference score a sum of the aggregate interference scores of the sectors of the cell site;

determining which permutation of the N reference signal configurations among the N sectors of the cell site has a lowest computed cumulative interference score among the permutations of the N reference signal configurations among the N sectors of the cell site; and

configuring reference-signal transmission in the sectors of the cell site in accordance with the determined permutation of the N reference signals among the N sectors of the cell site, wherein computing the aggregate interference score for each given sector of the cell site comprises (i) identifying k sectors nearest to the given sector that have the same reference signal configuration as the given sector, wherein k is at least 2, and wherein identifying the k sectors nearest to the given sector that have the same reference signal configuration as the given sector is based on a comparison of the reference signal configurations of the k sectors with the reference signal configuration of the given sector and a comparison of the origin locations of the k sectors with the origin location of the given sector, (ii) for each identified sector, computing a sector-based interference score based at least on a distance between the origin locations of the given sector and the identified sector, a degree to which the azimuth of the given sector is angled away from the origin location of the identified sector, and a degree to which the azimuth of the identified sector is angled away from the origin location of the given sector, and (iii) summing the computed sector-based interference scores for the k identified sectors.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the reference signal configuration of each sector occupies a respective recurring pattern of time-frequency resources, wherein the N different reference signal configurations are mutually exclusive.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the reference signal configuration of each sector in the system corresponds with a modulo N function of a primary synchronization signal of the sector.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein, for each identified sector, the computed sector-based interference score is inversely related to the distance between the origin locations of the given sector and the identified sector, the computed interference score is inversely related to the degree to which the azimuth of the given sector points away from the origin location of the identified sector, and the computed interference score is inversely related to the degree to which the azimuth of the identified sector points away from the origin location of the given sector.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein computing the aggregate interference score for each given sector of the cell site further comprises, for each identified sector:

determining the degree to which the azimuth of the given sector points away from the origin location of the identified sector, as an angle between (i) the azimuth of the given sector and (ii) a line connecting the origin locations of the given sector and the identified sector; and

determining the degree to which the azimuth of the identified sector points away from the origin location of the given sector, as an angle between (i) the azimuth of the identified sector and (ii) the line connecting the origin locations of the given sector and the identified sector.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein computing the aggregate interference score for each given sector of the cell site is further based on a distance between the origin location of the given sector and an origin location of a particular sector nearest to, but not co-located with, the given sector that has a different reference signal configuration than the given sector.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein computing the aggregate interference score for each given sector of the cell site further comprises identifying the particular sector based on (i) a comparison of the reference signal configuration of the particular sector with the reference signal configuration of the given sector and (ii) a comparison of the origin location of the particular sector with the origin location of the given sector.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the computed interference score is directly related to the distance between the origin location of the given sector and the origin location of the particular sector.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein configuring reference-signal transmission in the sectors of the cell site in accordance with the determined permutation of the N reference signal configurations among the N sectors of the cell site comprises commanding a base station of the given sector to configuring the reference-signal transmission in the sectors of the cell site to provide the determined permutation of the N reference signal configurations among the N sectors of the cell site.