Methods and apparatus for estimating citizens broadband radio service network coverage

1. A method of operating a Spectrum Access System (SAS), the method comprising:

receiving, from a first Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device (CBSD), first user equipment (UE) information including at least one of timing advance or power headroom information for one or more UEs in communication with said first CBSD;

estimating, based on the received first UE information, a first CBSD coverage area;

making a first resource allocation to the first CBSD based on the estimated first CBSD coverage area, said first resource allocation including an allocation of at least one of a frequency bandwidth allocation or transmission power allocation to the first CBSD;

prior to estimating the first CBSD coverage area, identifying the UE with the largest timing advance in communication with the first CBSD; and

determining if the UE in communication with the first CBSD having the largest timing advance also has the lowest power headroom of the UEs for which power headroom information is provided in said first UE information.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating, based on the received first UE information, the first CBSD coverage area includes, when the first CBSD having the largest timing advance also has the lowest power headroom of the UEs for which power headroom information is provided, using the timing advance of the UE with the largest timing advance to estimate the first CBSD coverage area.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein estimating, based on the received first UE information, the first CBSD coverage area includes, when the first CBSD having the largest timing advance also has the lowest power headroom of the UEs for which power headroom information is provided, taking into consideration the lowest power headroom information, in addition to the largest timing advance, when determining the first CBSD coverage area.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first UE information including at least one of timing advance or power headroom information for one or more UEs in communication with said first CBSD includes information corresponding to multiple UEs, the method further comprising:

in response to determining the UE in communication with the first CBSD having the largest timing advance does not also have the lowest power headroom, processing the first UE information received from the first CBSD corresponding to multiple UEs to determine at least one of a timing advance or power headroom value to be used in determining the coverage area of the first CBSD.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein processing the first UE information received from the first CBSD corresponding to multiple UEs to determine at least one of a timing advance or power headroom value to be used in determining the coverage area of the first CBSD includes performing at least one of determining an average timing advance for UEs using the first CBSD or determining an average power headroom for UEs in communication with the first CBSD.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein timing advances (TAs) of UEs in communication with the first CBSD having a timing advance (TA) within a determined range of the average timing advance are used in determining the coverage area of the first CBSD.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein power headroom values of UEs in communication with the first CBSD that have a power headroom within a determined range of the average power headroom, and which also have a TA within the determined range of the average TA, are used in determining the coverage area of the first CBSD.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, from a second CBSD, second user equipment (UE) information including at least one of timing advance or power headroom information for one or more UEs in communication with said second CBSD;

estimating, based on the received second UE information, a second CBSD coverage area; and

making a second resource allocation to the second CBSD based on the estimated first CBSD coverage area and the estimated second CBSD coverage area, said second resource allocation including an allocation of at least one of a frequency bandwidth allocation or transmission power allocation to the second CBSD.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: communicating the first resource allocation to the first CBSD.

10. A Spectrum Access System (SAS) comprising:

memory;

an input/output interface including at least one receiver and at least one transmitter;

one or more processors that control the SAS to:

receive, from a first Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device (CBSD), first user equipment (UE) information including at least one of timing advance or power headroom information for one or more UEs in communication with said first CBSD;

estimate, based on the received first UE information, a first CBSD coverage area;

make a first resource allocation to the first CBSD based on the estimated first CBSD coverage area, said first resource allocation including an allocation of at least one of a frequency bandwidth allocation or transmission power allocation to the first CBSD; and

wherein said one or more processors control the SAS to:

prior to estimating the first CBSD coverage area, identify the UE with the largest timing advance in communication with the first CBSD; and

determine if the UE in communication with the first CBSD having the largest timing advance also has the lowest power headroom of the UEs for which power headroom information is provided in said first UE information.

11. The Spectrum Access System of claim 10 , wherein said to estimate, based on the received first UE information, the first CBSD coverage area includes, when the first CBSD having the largest timing advance also has the lowest power headroom of the UEs for which power headroom information is provided, using the timing advance of the UE with the largest timing advance to estimate the first CBSD coverage area.

12. The Spectrum Access System of claim 11 , wherein said to estimate, based on the received first UE information, the first CBSD coverage area includes, when the first CBSD having the largest timing advance also has the lowest power headroom of the UEs for which power headroom information is provided, taking into consideration the lowest power headroom information, in addition to the largest timing advance, when determining the first CBSD coverage area.

13. The Spectrum Access System of claim 10 ,

wherein said first UE information including at least one of timing advance or power headroom information for one or more UEs in communication with said first CBSD includes information corresponding to multiple UEs;

wherein said one or more processors control the SAS to process the first UE information received from the first CBSD corresponding to multiple UEs to determine at least one of a timing advance or power headroom value to be used in determining the coverage area of the first CBSD in response to determining the UE in communications with the first CBSD having the largest timing advance does not also have the lowest power headroom.

14. The Spectrum Access System of claim 13 , wherein said processing the first UE information received from the first CBSD corresponding to multiple UEs to determine at least one of a timing advance or power headroom value to be used in determining the coverage area of the first CBSD includes performing at least one of determining an average timing advance for UEs in communication with the first CBSD or determining an average power headroom for UEs in communication with the first CBSD.

15. The Spectrum Access System of claim 14 , wherein timing advances of UEs in communication with the first CBSD having a timing advance (TA) within a determined range of the average timing advance are used in determining the coverage area of the first CBSD.

16. The Spectrum Access System of claim 15 , wherein power headroom values of UEs in communication with the first CBSD that have a power headroom within a determined range of the average power headroom, and which also have a timing advance within the determined range of the average timing advance, are used in determining the coverage area of the first CBSD.

17. The Spectrum Access System of claim 10 , wherein said one or more processors controls the SAS to:

receive, from a second CBSD, second user equipment (UE) information including at least one of timing advance or power headroom information for one or more UEs in communication with said second CBSD;

estimate, based on the received second UE information, a second CBSD coverage area; and

make a second resource allocation to the second CBSD based on the estimated first CBSD coverage area and the estimated second CBSD coverage area, said second resource allocation including an allocation of at least one of a frequency bandwidth allocation or transmission power allocation to the second CBSD.

18. The Spectrum Access System of claim 10 , wherein said one or more processors further control the SAS to communicate the first resource allocation to the first CBSD.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium including a first set of computer executable instructions which when executed by a processor of a Spectrum Access System (SAS) device cause the SAS device to perform the steps of:

receiving, from a first Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device (CBSD), first user equipment (UE) information including at least one of timing advance or power headroom information for one or more UEs in communication with said first CBSD;

estimating, based on the received first UE information, a first CBSD coverage area;

making a first resource allocation to the first CBSD based on the estimated first CBSD coverage area, said first resource allocation including an allocation of at least one of a frequency bandwidth allocation or transmission power allocation to the first CBSD; and

wherein estimating, based on the received first UE information, the first CBSD coverage area includes, when the first CBSD having the largest timing advance also has the lowest power headroom of the UEs for which power headroom information is provided, using the timing advance of the UE with the largest timing advance to estimate the first CBSD coverage area.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the first set of computer executable instructions which when executed by the processor of the Spectrum Access System (SAS) device further cause the SAS device to perform the steps of:

receiving, from a second CBSD, second user equipment (UE) information including at least one of timing advance or power headroom information for one or more UEs in communication with said second CBSD;

estimating, based on the received second UE information, a second CBSD coverage area; and

making a second resource allocation to the second CBSD based on the estimated first CBSD coverage area and the estimated second CBSD coverage area, said second resource allocation including an allocation of at least one of a frequency bandwidth allocation or transmission power allocation to the second CBSD.