SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMICALLY ALLOCATING SPECTRUM AMONG CROSS-INTERFERING RADIO NODES OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
Systems and methods for dynamic allocation of spectrum among cross-interfering radio nodes of wireless communications systems are disclosed. Multiple radio nodes may be deployed within a geographical region, and each radio node may support wireless communication over spectrum in which access is arbitrated by an external service not under the control of the operator of the radio node. Each radio node is configured to detect radio conditions which may indicate coexistence between the radio node and a neighboring radio node. A network entity associated with the radio node obtains radio condition information and determines a coexistence status between the radio node and the neighboring radio node, such as whether coexistence with the neighboring radio node is tolerable or intolerable. The network entity reports an indication of the coexistence status to a spectrum server, and the spectrum server reallocates the spectrum among the radio nodes.
1 . A method of requesting access to a plurality of radio frequency ranges shared by a plurality of radio access networks (RANs), comprising:
detecting a radio condition indicating potential interference between a first RAN and a second RAN of the plurality of RANs;
determining whether the potential interference is intolerable interference based on the detected radio condition;
transmitting an intolerability declaration to a server in response to the determined potential interference indicating intolerable interference;
receiving an allocation of a first radio frequency range of the plurality of radio frequency ranges in response to the transmitted intolerability declaration; and
accessing the first radio frequency range of the plurality of radio frequency ranges in accordance with the allocation of the first radio frequency range.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of radio frequency ranges is within a citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) frequency range.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the radio condition is based on at least one of measurements made by a first radio node in the first RAN or measurements made by a first mobile device connected to the first RAN.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the radio condition comprises at least one of an estimated pathloss, an estimation of an amount of degradation caused by a second radio node in the second RAN, or an estimation of an amount of degradation caused by a second mobile device connected to the second RAN.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the potential interference is intolerable interference is further based on whether transmitting the intolerability declaration would result in a more favorable allocation of the plurality of radio frequency ranges compared to not transmitting the intolerability declaration.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the potential interference is intolerable interference is further based on the first RAN and the second RAN occupying a same radio frequency range of the plurality of radio frequency ranges even if such occupying the same radio frequency range is not currently occurring.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the intolerability declaration comprises additional information based on the detected radio condition.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the additional information comprises at least one of a degree of intolerability, a distance between a first radio node in the first RAN and a second radio node in the second RAN, an estimated pathloss, an estimation of an amount of degradation caused by the second radio node, or an estimation of an amount of degradation caused by a second mobile device connected to the second RAN.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting an interfering but tolerable declaration to the server in response to the determined potential interference indicating tolerable interference;
wherein the interfering but tolerable declaration comprises an indication of a degree of interference based on the detected radio condition.
10 . A method of allocating a plurality of radio frequency ranges among a plurality of radio access networks (RANs), comprising:
receiving a request for access to the plurality of radio frequency ranges from the plurality of RANs;
receiving one or more intolerability declarations, each intolerability declaration indicating an intolerable interference between a respective first RAN and a respective second RAN of the plurality of RANs; and
dividing access to the plurality of radio frequency ranges among the plurality of RANs such that for each intolerability declaration the intolerable interference is avoided.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the dividing access to the plurality of radio frequency ranges among the plurality of RANs comprises, for each intolerability declaration:
granting the respective first RAN access to a first radio frequency range of the plurality of radio frequency ranges; and
granting the respective second RAN access to a second radio frequency range of the plurality of radio frequency ranges; and
the first radio frequency range does not overlap with the second radio frequency range.
12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising requesting an interference status from at least one of the plurality of RANs in response to the request for access to the plurality of radio frequency ranges.
13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising granting the plurality of RANs initial access to a first radio frequency range of the plurality of radio frequency ranges;
wherein the dividing access to the plurality of radio frequency ranges comprises granting the respective first RAN access to a second radio frequency range of the plurality of radio frequency ranges which is different from the first radio frequency range.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the second radio frequency range is a subset of the first radio frequency range.
15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the plurality of radio frequency ranges are within a citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) frequency range; and
each of the plurality of RANs comprises at least one citizens broadband radio service device (CBSD).
16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
at least one of the one or more intolerability declarations comprises an indication of a degree of intolerability; and
the dividing access to the plurality of radio frequency ranges among the plurality of RANs is based on the degree of intolerability.
17 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving an interfering but tolerable declaration from a third RAN of the plurality of RANs;
wherein the dividing access to the plurality of radio frequency ranges among the plurality of RANs is based on the interfering but tolerable declaration.
18 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising transmitting to each RAN of the plurality of RANs an indication of the divided access to the plurality of radio frequency ranges.