Transmission adjustment within a wireless network for a moving vehicle
An apparatus is described, comprising circuitry to obtain base station location information for a plurality of base stations that provide a wireless network for communication with a moving vehicle, the plurality of base stations comprising a current base station and one or more other base stations, circuitry to obtain moving vehicle tracking information for the moving vehicle, circuitry to determine, based on the moving vehicle tracking information and the base station location information, transmission adjustment control information associated with each other base station, and an interface configured to transmit, for reception by the moving vehicle, the transmission adjustment control information associated with at least a selected other base station, to enable the moving vehicle to adjust a signal transmitted to the selected other base station when a handover procedure is performed to transition communication with the moving vehicle from the current base station to the selected other base station.
1. An apparatus comprising:
base station location identifying circuitry to obtain base station location information for a plurality of base stations that provide a wireless network for communication with a moving vehicle, the plurality of base stations comprising a current base station connected with the moving vehicle and one or more other base stations, wherein the apparatus is at a location separate from the moving vehicle;
moving vehicle tracking circuitry to obtain moving vehicle tracking information for the moving vehicle;
correction determination circuitry to determine, based on the moving vehicle tracking information and the base station location information, transmission adjustment control information associated with each other base station; and
an interface configured to transmit, for reception by the moving vehicle, the transmission adjustment control information associated with at least a selected other base station, to enable the moving vehicle to adjust a signal transmitted to the selected other base station when a handover procedure is performed to transition communication with the moving vehicle from the current base station to the selected other base station,
wherein the transmission adjustment control information comprises at least one of:
frequency adjustment information indicative of a frequency adjustment to be applied to a transmission frequency of the signal, so as to reduce a frequency difference between an observed frequency of the signal at the selected other base station and a predetermined uplink frequency; and
timing adjustment information indicative of a timing adjustment to be applied to a transmission time of the signal, so as to reduce a timing difference between a reception timing of the signal at the selected other base station and an expected timing.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the transmission adjustment control information comprises absolute adjustment control information or relative adjustment control information, wherein:
the absolute adjustment control information comprises at least one of an absolute frequency adjustment and an absolute timing adjustment to be applied to the signal as generated by a terminal device of the moving vehicle; and
the relative adjustment control information comprises at least one of a relative frequency adjustment and a relative timing adjustment to be applied to the signal in addition to at least one of an existing frequency adjustment and an existing timing adjustment.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the moving vehicle tracking information comprises information indicative of a location and a velocity of the moving vehicle.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein:
the interface is configured to receive, from the current base station, identification information of the moving vehicle; and
the moving vehicle tracking circuitry is configured to obtain the location and the velocity of the moving vehicle by accessing a tracking information database using the identification information of the moving vehicle.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , comprising distance computation circuitry configured to determine, for each other base station, separation information indicating a separation between the moving vehicle and that other base station based on the location of the moving vehicle and a location of that other base station.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:
the transmission adjustment control information comprises the frequency adjustment information;
the separation information identifies a vector separation; and
the correction determination circuitry is configured to determine the frequency adjustment information associated with each other base station based on the vector separation between the moving vehicle and that other base station and the velocity of the moving vehicle.
7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:
the transmission adjustment control information comprises the timing adjustment information; and
the correction determination circuitry is configured to determine the timing adjustment information associated with each other base station based on the separation between the moving vehicle and that other base station.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the base station location identifying circuitry is configured to identify the one or more other base stations with reference to a bearing of the moving vehicle.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the correction determination circuitry is configured to perform a process of determining further transmission adjustment control information associated with the current base station; and
the interface is configured to transmit, for reception by the moving vehicle, the further transmission adjustment control information, to enable the moving vehicle to adjust at least one further signal transmitted to the current base station.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein:
the correction determination circuitry is configured to iteratively perform the process, to enable ongoing adjustment of signals to be transmitted by the moving vehicle to the current base station.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein:
the interface is configured to receive offset information for a plurality of previous signals received at the current base station from the moving vehicle, the offset information comprising at least one of frequency offset information indicative of a difference between an observed frequency of each of the plurality of previous signals received at the current base station and a predetermined uplink frequency of that previous signal, and timing offset information indicative of a difference between a reception timing of each of the plurality of previous signals at the current base station and an expected timing for that previous signal; and
the correction determination circuitry is configured to determine the further transmission adjustment control information based on the offset information.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the correction determination circuitry is configured to determine the further transmission adjustment control information by calculating a filtered estimate from the offset information received for the plurality of previous signals.
13. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:
the correction determination circuitry is configured to perform a process of determining further transmission adjustment control information associated with the current base station;
the interface is configured to transmit, for reception by the moving vehicle, the further transmission adjustment control information, to enable the moving vehicle to adjust at least one further signal transmitted to the current base station;
the further transmission adjustment control information associated with the current base station comprises frequency adjustment information associated with the current base station;
the distance computation circuitry is configured to determine, for the current base station, a vector separation between the moving vehicle and the current base station based on the location of the moving vehicle and a location of the current base station; and
the correction determination circuitry is configured to determine the frequency adjustment information associated with the current base station based on the vector separation between the moving vehicle and the current base station and the velocity of the moving vehicle.
14. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:
the correction determination circuitry is configured to perform a process of determining further transmission adjustment control information associated with the current base station;
the interface is configured to transmit, for reception by the moving vehicle, the further transmission adjustment control information, to enable the moving vehicle to adjust at least one further signal transmitted to the current base station;
the further transmission adjustment control information associated with the current base station comprises timing adjustment information associated with the current base station;
the distance computation circuitry is configured to determine, for the current base station, further separation information indicating a separation between the moving vehicle and the current base station based on the location of the moving vehicle and a location of the current base station; and
the correction determination circuitry is configured to determine the timing adjustment information associated with the current base station based on the separation between the moving vehicle and the current base station.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the interface is configured to transmit the transmission adjustment control information to the current base station, for reception by the moving vehicle.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the transmission adjustment control information is transmitted in an Internet Protocol (IP) packet comprising:
identification information of one of the plurality of base stations;
a relative bit indicative of whether the transmission adjustment control information comprises relative adjustment control information or absolute adjustment control information;
the transmission adjustment control information; and
identification information of the moving vehicle.
17. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the interface is configured to transmit the transmission adjustment control information associated with the selected other base station for reception by the selected other base station.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein:
the transmission adjustment control information associated with the selected other base station comprises timing adjustment information associated with the selected other base station for enabling the selected other base station to determine a reception timing of the signal transmitted to the selected other base station when the handover procedure is performed to transition communication with the moving vehicle from the current base station to the selected other base station.
19. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the moving vehicle is an aircraft.
20. A method comprising:
obtaining base station location information for a plurality of base stations that provide a wireless network for communication with a moving vehicle, the plurality of base stations comprising a current base station connected with the moving vehicle and one or more other base stations, wherein the method is performed at a location separate from the moving vehicle;
obtaining moving vehicle tracking information for the moving vehicle;
determining, based on the moving vehicle tracking information and the base station location information, transmission adjustment control information associated with each other base station; and
transmitting, for reception by the moving vehicle, the transmission adjustment control information associated with at least a selected other base station, to enable the moving vehicle to adjust a signal transmitted to the selected other base station when a handover operation procedure is performed to transition communication with the moving vehicle from the current base station to the selected other base station,
wherein the transmission adjustment control information comprises at least one of:
frequency adjustment information indicative of a frequency adjustment to be applied to a transmission frequency of the signal, so as to reduce a frequency difference between an observed frequency of the signal at the selected other base station and a predetermined uplink frequency; and
timing adjustment information indicative of a timing adjustment to be applied to a transmission time of the signal, so as to reduce a timing difference between a reception timing of the signal at the selected other base station and an expected timing.
21. An apparatus comprising:
means for obtaining base station location information for a plurality of base stations that provide a wireless network for communication with a moving vehicle, the plurality of base stations comprising a current base station connected with the moving vehicle and one or more other base stations, wherein the apparatus is at a location separate from the moving vehicle;
means for obtaining moving vehicle tracking information for the moving vehicle;
means for determining, based on the moving vehicle tracking information and the base station location information, transmission adjustment control information associated with each other base station; and
means for transmitting, for reception by the moving vehicle, the transmission adjustment control information associated with at least a selected other base station, to enable the moving vehicle to adjust a signal transmitted to the selected other base station when a handover operation procedure is performed to transition communication with the moving vehicle from the current base station to the selected other base station,
wherein the transmission adjustment control information comprises at least one of:
frequency adjustment information indicative of a frequency adjustment to be applied to a transmission frequency of the signal, so as to reduce a frequency difference between an observed frequency of the signal at the selected other base station and a predetermined uplink frequency; and
timing adjustment information indicative of a timing adjustment to be applied to a transmission time of the signal, so as to reduce a timing difference between a reception timing of the signal at the selected other base station and an expected timing.