System and method for spectrum sharing and interference management between wireless systems
A method of allocating resources in a first wireless system, wherein the first wireless system shares a frequency spectrum with a second wireless system, is described. The method comprises detecting a level of interference to the second wireless system caused by the first wireless system on a first frequency within the spectrum; determining if transmission on the first frequency should be restricted based on the level of interference; and restricting transmissions in the first system on the first frequency if it was determined that transmission on the first frequency should be restricted while allowing normal use of the remaining portions of the frequency spectrum to continue in the first system. A system for allocating resources in a first wireless system, wherein the first wireless system shares a frequency spectrum with a second wireless system, is also described.
1. A wireless communication device within a first wireless system, comprising:
at least one receiver configured to receive a level of interference to the first wireless system caused by a second wireless system on a first frequency within a frequency spectrum, wherein:
the first wireless system shares the frequency spectrum with the second wireless system,
the second wireless system is a non-cellular wireless system, and
the level of interference having been detected by at least one sensor whose location is known;
at least one processor configured to:
receive the level of interference,
determine if transmission on the first frequency in the first wireless system should be restricted based on the level of interference, and
generate at least one instruction for restricting transmissions on the first frequency in the first wireless system if it was determined that transmission on the first frequency should be restricted.
2. The device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one transmitter configured to transmit the instruction in the first wireless system.
3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication device further comprises at least one of a user equipment (UE) or a base station.
4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless system schedules signal transmissions by allocating scheduling units, where a scheduling unit is a frequency-time resource.
5. The device of claim 4 , wherein restricting transmission on the first frequency comprises restricting transmission on the corresponding scheduling units.
6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless system is an LTE wireless system, the frequency spectrum is divided into a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers, wherein the first wireless system schedules signal transmissions based on physical resource blocks (PRB), each PRB being a frequency-time resource containing one or more subcarriers over a time period, and wherein the first frequency corresponds to one or more PRBs.
7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the one or more PRBs corresponding to the first frequency carry physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions.
8. The device of claim 6 , wherein the one or more PRBs corresponding to the first frequency carry physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions.
9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the instruction for the first wireless system to restrict transmission on the first frequency comprises an instruction to block transmission on the first frequency.
10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the instruction for the first wireless system to restrict transmission on the first frequency comprises an instruction for one or more devices in the first wireless system to reduce the power of the transmissions on the first frequency.
11. The device of claim 1 , wherein the instruction for the first wireless system to restrict transmission on the first frequency comprises an instruction to restrict the transmission for a limited period of time.
12. The device of claim 1 , wherein the second wireless system is an incumbent military use network.
13. The device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one receiver is further configured to receive from the at least one sensor frequency use by the second wireless system over the frequency spectrum prior to receiving the level of interference to the second wireless system.
14. The device of claim 13 , wherein:
the at least one receiver is further configured to repeat the reception of frequency use and of the level of interference, wherein the first frequency may vary between repetitions; and
the at least one processor is further configured to repeat the determination and repeat the generation of the at least one instruction, wherein the first frequency may vary between repetitions.
15. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform a determination of whether transmission on the first frequency should be restricted, wherein the determination is based on whether the level of interference exceeds a threshold.