Systems for detecting and locating interference sources

1. A data communications system associated with a network operator having a license to transmit data in a given frequency range, the system comprising:

at least one base station;

at least one controller device configured to communicate with the base station over a first network channel and instruct the base station to initiate a quiet time during which time no data is to be transmitted in the given frequency range by the base station; and

a plurality of client devices, each client device having a transceiver and configured to communicate with the base station over a second network channel,

wherein the at least one controller device is configured to issue an instruction to the client devices to acquire at least one interference characteristic associated with an interference source operating in the given frequency range.

2. The data communications system of claim 1 , wherein the acquired at least one interference characteristic comprises a measured interference metric associated with the interference source, wherein the first network channel is a different medium than the second network channel.

3. The data communications system of claim 2 , wherein the measured interference metric is an interference magnitude associated with the given frequency range for which the base station has been instructed not to transmit any data by the controller device.

4. The data communications system of claim 2 , wherein the instruction further instructs the client devices to transmit the measured interference metric to the base station so that the controller device can receive the measured interference metric from the base station.

5. The data communications system of claim 4 , wherein the controller device is further configured to determine a location of the interference source based on the transmitted measured interference metric.

6. The data communications system of claim 1 , wherein the controller device is further configured to schedule the quiet time at a predetermined time that coincides with a time period within which the instruction is to be carried out by the client devices.

7. A computer-readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, which when executed, perform a method for detecting an interference source within a data communication network associated with a network operator having a license to transmit data in a given frequency range, the method comprising:

instructing a base station via a data communication link to initiate a quiet time wherein no data is to be transmitted in the given frequency range for a given time by the base station; and

issuing an instruction to a plurality of client devices to acquire at least one interference characteristic associated with an interference source operating in the given frequency range, the instruction being issued using the base station over a wireless communication link,

wherein each client device includes a transceiver and is configured to transmit and receive information from the base station.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the acquired at least one interference characteristic comprises a measured interference metric associated with the interference source, wherein the data communication link is a wired or wireless link.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the measured interference metric is an interference magnitude associated with the given frequency range for which the base station has been instructed not to transmit any data by the controller device.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instruction further instructs the client devices to transmit the measured interference metric to the base station so that the controller device can receive the measured interference metric from the base station.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the controller device is further configured to determine a location of the interference source based on the transmitted measured interference metric.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the controller device is further configured to schedule the quiet time at a predetermined time that coincides with a time period within which the instruction is to be carried out by the client devices.

13. A computer-implemented method for detecting an interference source within a data communication network associated with a network operator having a license to transmit data in a given frequency range, the method comprising:

instructing a base station to initiate a quiet time during which time no data is to be transmitted in the given frequency range by the base station;

issuing an instruction to a plurality of client devices to acquire at least one interference characteristic associated with an interference source operating in the given frequency range, the instruction being issued to the client devices via the base station over a wireless communication link, each client device including a transceiver and being configured to transmit and receive information from the base station; and

receiving from at least one client device the acquired at least one interference characteristic associated with an interference source operating in the given frequency range during the quiet time.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the acquired at least one interference characteristic comprises a measured interference metric associated with the interference source, and the controller device receives the acquired at least one interference characteristic from the base station.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 , wherein the measured interference metric is an interference magnitude associated with the given frequency range for which the base station has been instructed not to transmit any data during the quiet time.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 , wherein the measured interference metric received by the base station is transmitted to the controller device to determine the location of the interference source.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the controller device is further configured to determine a location of the interference source based on the acquired at least one interference characteristic received from the at least one client device.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the controller device is further configured to schedule the quiet time at a predetermine time that coincides with a time period within which the instruction is to be carried out by the client devices.

19. A method for detecting an interference source within a data communication network using a client device provided therein, the data communication network being associated with a network operator having a license to transmit data in a given frequency range, the client device having a wireless transceiver for receiving and transmitting information to one or more base stations, the method comprising:

receiving an instruction over a wireless link from a base station of the data communication network to scan for an interference source operating in the given frequency range during a scheduled quiet time when no data is to be transmitted on the given frequency range by the base station;

acquiring an interference characteristic associated with the interference source operating in the given frequency range during the scheduled quiet time; and

transmitting the acquired interference characteristic associated with the interference source to the base station.