Granted Patent B2

US 12,225,555 · App. 17/670,233 · Granted Feb 11, 2025

Inventors: Michael J. Simon (Frederick, MD); Mark A. Aitken (Parkton, MD); Ebenezer K. Kofi (Hunt Valley, MD); Louis Herbert Libin (Woodmere, NY)

Assignee: SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP, INC.

H04W72/30H04W4/06H04W72/535

Abstract

Claims (43)

1. A method for broadcast spectrum sharing, the method comprising:

receiving data from a plurality of data sources in a broadcast core network for transmission over a radio access network (RAN);

assigning radio spectrum resources for transmitting the data over the RAN according to a policy guidance set by a plurality of network operators for sharing the radio spectrum resources;

generating a baseband packet corresponding to the data at a distributed unit (DU) in the RAN;

collecting transmission data from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) in the RAN for training a machine learning algorithm; and

scheduling transmission of the baseband packet to a remote unit (RU) over a fronthaul in a radio topology of a plurality of radio topologies stored in a database under control of the machine learning algorithm according to the policy guidance,

wherein the baseband packet is compatible for transmission in the plurality of radio technologies to optimize sharing of the radio spectrum resources of the plurality of radio topologies among the plurality of network operators.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scheduling transmission of the baseband packet further comprises selecting the radio topology according to a type of data content of the baseband packet.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising selecting a single frequency network as the radio topology for the type of data content comprising one of video content and real-time event content.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising steering radio traffic for a UE of the plurality of UEs from a first radio topology to a second radio topology based on comparison of a first measured radio signal strength of a first radio signal from a first radio frequency carrier in the first radio topology with a second measured radio signal strength of a second radio signal from a second radio frequency carrier in the second radio topology.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first radio topology is a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Fifth Generation (5G) network, and the second radio topology is an Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standard based network.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first radio topology and the second radio topology are multi-frequency networks.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating the policy guidance from a RAN interface controller using an open application programming interface.

8. A system, comprising:

a plurality of distributed computing devices, each computing device of the plurality of distributed computing devices coupled with a memory configured to store instructions; and

a plurality of transmitters in a radio access network (RAN),

wherein the instructions, when executed by the system, cause the system to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a first computing device of the plurality of distributed computing devices, data from a plurality of data sources in a broadcast core network for transmission over the RAN,

assigning, at the first computing device, radio spectrum resources for transmitting the data over the RAN according to a policy guidance set by a plurality of network operators for sharing the radio spectrum resources,

generating, at a second computing device of the plurality of distributed computing devices, a baseband packet corresponding to the data,

collecting, at a third computing device of the plurality of distributed computing devices, transmission data from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) in the RAN for training a machine learning algorithm, and

scheduling, at a fourth computing device of the plurality of distributed computing devices, transmission of the baseband packet to a fifth computing device over a fronthaul in a radio topology of a plurality of radio topologies stored in a database under control of the machine learning algorithm according to the policy guidance,

wherein the baseband packet is compatible for transmission in the plurality of radio technologies to optimize sharing of the radio spectrum resources of the plurality of radio topologies among the plurality of network operators.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first computing device comprises a broadcast media exchange (BMX) orchestration device.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the second computing device comprises a distributed unit (DU) or a central unit (CU).

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein for scheduling transmission of the baseband packet, the operations further comprise selecting the radio topology according to a type of data content of the baseband packet.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise selecting a single frequency network as the radio topology for the type of data content comprising one of video content and real-time event content.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise selecting a single frequency network as the radio topology for the type of data content comprising one of video content and real-time event content.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise steering radio traffic for a UE of the plurality of UEs from a first radio topology to a second radio topology based on comparison of a first measured radio signal strength of a first radio signal from a first radio frequency carrier in the first radio topology with a second measured radio signal strength of a second radio signal from a second radio frequency carrier in the second radio topology.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first radio topology is a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Fifth Generation (5G) network, and the second radio topology is an Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standard based network.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first radio topology and the second radio topology are multi-frequency networks.

17. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise communicating the policy guidance from a RAN interface controller using an open application programming interface.

18. A method, comprising:

distributing a plurality of baseband packets (BBPs) according to a predetermined order between a plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers;

selecting an RF carrier of the plurality of RF carriers based on a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) average for the RF carrier; and

transmitting a BBP of the plurality of BBPs over the RF carrier,

wherein the BBP is time aligned with another RF carrier of the plurality of RF carriers.

19. A method, comprising:

receiving a plurality of baseband packets (BBPs) over a plurality of RF carriers;

selecting a first BBP of the plurality of BBPs received over a first RF carrier of the plurality of RF carriers based on a first value of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first RF carrier, wherein the first value of SNR for the first RF carrier is better than a first value of SNR of a second RF carrier of the plurality of carriers;

selecting a second BBP of the plurality of BBPs received over the second RF carrier based on a second value of SNR of the second RF carrier, wherein the second value of SNR for the second RF carrier is better than a second value of SNR of the first RF carrier; and

generating a data stream based on the first BBP and the second BBP.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising time aligning the first RF carrier with the second RF carrier.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (43)