Granted Patent B2

US 10,965,364 · App. 16/851,620 · Granted Mar 30, 2021

Inventors: Peter Paul Smyth (Newbourne, GB); Lin Cheng (Superior, CO); Jim O'Connor (Idaho Springs, CO); Eric Winkelman (Boulder, CO); Thomas H. Williams (Longmont, CO); Belal Hamzeh (Westminster, CO); Steve Arendt (Longmont, CO)

Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.

H04B7/18519H04B7/0413H04B7/18517H04B17/3913H04W16/14H04W16/20H04W52/242H04B7/0617

Abstract

Claims (27)

1. A communication system, comprising:

an earth station configured to receive a downlink transmission from a satellite and transmit an uplink transmission to the satellite;

a server in operable communication with the earth station;

a beacon detector in operable communication with the server; and

a plurality of access points (APs), each AP of the plurality of APs including a beacon transmitter disposed within close proximity thereto,

wherein each beacon transmitter of the plurality of APs is configured to transmit, to one or more of the server and the beacon detector, a beacon signal that uniquely identifies the respective AP in close proximity to that beacon detector,

wherein the server is configured to implement a self-calibrating measurement-based protection scheme with respect to at least one of the downlink transmission and the uplink transmission,

wherein the self-calibrating measurement-based protection scheme is configured to (i) dynamically collect a plurality of beacon signals over time from a first beacon transmitter in close proximity to a first AP of the plurality of APs, and (ii) automatically update and calibrate the self-calibrating measurement-based protection scheme according to the plurality of beacon signals dynamically collected from the first beacon transmitter.

2. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the self-calibrating measurement-based protection scheme is further configured to generate a model of the environment between the earth station and the first AP.

3. The communication system of claim 2 , wherein the generated model is based on at least one of a distance, a diffraction loss from a structure, and a terrain feature between the first AP and the earth station.

4. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the self-calibrating measurement-based protection scheme implements a dynamic closed loop propagation model.

5. The communication system of claim 4 , wherein the self-calibrating measurement-based protection scheme is further configured to dynamically collect a plurality of beacon signals over time from a second beacon transmitter in close proximity to a second access point of the plurality of access points.

6. The communication system of claim 5 , wherein the server is further configured to identify, using the dynamic closed loop propagation model, a hot spot region of interference between the earth station and one or both of the first and second APs.

7. The communication system of claim 5 , wherein the server is further configured to calculate, using the dynamic closed loop propagation model, a distance from the earth station to a source of co-channel interference.

8. The communication system of claim 5 , wherein the beacon detector is configured to detect a beacon signal from the first beacon transmitter and a beacon signal from the second beacon transmitter substantially simultaneously.

9. The communication system of claim 5 , wherein the second AP is located within a first terrain region representing an operational range of the earth station, and also within an overlapping area of a second terrain region representing an operational range of a different earth station.

10. The communication system of claim 9 , wherein the server is further configured to implement the dynamic closed loop propagation model separately for each of the first terrain region and the second terrain region.

11. The communication system of claim 9 , wherein the server is further configured to implement the dynamic closed loop propagation model for both of the first and second terrain regions together.

12. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the beacon detector is configured to record a signal strength for each of the beacon signals dynamically collected from the first beacon transmitter.

13. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the beacon signal from the first beacon transmitter includes at least one of a unique identifier and a transmit power of the first beacon transmitter.

14. The communication system of claim 13 , wherein the beacon signal from the first beacon transmitter further includes location information of the first AP.

15. The communication system of claim 13 , wherein the beacon signal from the first beacon transmitter further includes information indicating a number of user equipment devices (UEs) associated with the first AP.

16. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the beacon signal from the first beacon transmitter includes at least one of a unique beacon identifier transmitted over a dedicated signaling channel.

17. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the server is further configured to determine, from the self-calibrating measurement-based protection scheme and the plurality of beacon signals dynamically collected from the first beacon transmitter, that the first AP represents a source of interference.

18. The communication system of claim 17 , wherein the server is further configured to instruct the first AP to cease operation.

19. The communication system of claim 17 , wherein the server is further configured to instruct the first AP to transmit at a different frequency.

20. The communication system of claim 17 , wherein the server is further configured to instruct the first AP to transmit at a lower transmit power.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (13)