Shared spectrum access for broadcast and bi-directional, packet-switched communications
Techniques are disclosed relating to spectrum sharing between different radio access technologies. In some embodiments, a broadcast base station is configured to wirelessly broadcast audio and video data to a plurality of broadcast receiver devices using a particular frequency band. In these embodiments, the broadcast base station is configured to discontinue broadcasting in the particular frequency band during a scheduled time interval, to enable one or more cellular base stations to perform cellular packet-switched wireless data communications using the particular frequency band.
1. A method, comprising:
wirelessly broadcasting, by a broadcast base station, a common set of audio and video data to a plurality of broadcast receiver devices using a particular frequency band and a set of three or more consecutive broadcast frames, wherein the broadcast base station does not receive content data from any of the broadcast receiver devices; and
discontinuing broadcasting, based on one or more predetermined time durations between broadcast frames, between each of the broadcast frames in the set of broadcast frames, to enable one or more cellular base stations to perform cellular packet-switched wireless data communications using the particular frequency band.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: periodically discontinuing broadcasting for a longer predetermined time duration between broadcast frames.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising directing transmission power to one or more portions of the particular frequency band to achieve the discontinuing.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein, the discontinuing broadcasting includes ramping down broadcast transmission power during a guard interval.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the time durations is sufficient for a cellular device to obtain system information and connect to one of the one or more cellular base stations.
6. A method, comprising:
performing, by a base station, cellular packet-switched communication with one or more mobile devices using a particular frequency band; and
discontinuing, by the base station, communications using the particular frequency band, during scheduled transmission of broadcast frames from a broadcast base station, wherein the performing the cellular packet-switched communication occurs between each broadcast frame of a set of three or more consecutive broadcast frames.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
scheduling active discontinuous reception intervals for one or more user equipment devices during intervals between the scheduled broadcast frames.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
transmitting a certain set of system information only during active discontinuous reception intervals.
9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
transmitting a certain set of system information within a threshold time interval after a scheduled end of one of the broadcast frames.
10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
timing a handover to the base station to occur within a threshold time interval after a scheduled end of one of the broadcast frames.
11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the discontinuing includes discontinuing transmission of regularly transmitted signals in the particular frequency band.
12. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
performing cellular packet-switched communication with at least one of the one or more mobile devices using another frequency band as a primary carrier, wherein the particular frequency band is a secondary carrier.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
transmitting control signaling for the secondary carrier via the primary carrier.
14. An apparatus, comprising:
one or more processing elements configured to:
receive and decode a plurality of consecutive broadcast frames in a set of broadcast frames from a broadcast base station, using a particular frequency band, to determine broadcast audio and video data; and
perform cellular packet-switched communication with one or more cellular base stations using the particular frequency band during predetermined time intervals between each of the broadcast frames in the set of broadcast frames.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is configured to attempt to connect to at least one of the one or more cellular base stations during a longer predetermined time interval between two of the broadcast frames.
16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is configured to automatically determine the predetermined time intervals based on bootstrap portions of the broadcast frames.
17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein at least one of the predetermined time intervals is sufficient for a cellular device to obtain system information and connect to one of the one or more cellular base stations.
18. The apparatus of claim 14 , where the apparatus is configured to use active discontinuous reception intervals for cellular communications during the predetermined time intervals between the broadcast frames.
19. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to perform cellular packet-switched communication with one or more cellular base stations using another frequency band as a primary carrier, wherein the particular frequency band is used as a secondary carrier.
20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to receive control signaling for the secondary carrier via the primary carrier.