Methods and apparatus for enhancing coverage in quasi-licensed wireless systems
Methods and apparatus for enhancing area coverage and data rates in a quasi-licensed wireless communication network. In one embodiment, the methods and apparatus utilize so-called “quasi-licensed” CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) wireless spectrum in conjunction with a cellular wireless communication network (e.g. 4G, 5G, or LTE) for the delivery of services to a number of installed fixed wireless apparatus (CPE/FWA) at user or subscriber premises. The CPE/FWAs may act as relays or supplementation devices to provide requisite data rates to the CPEs that are out of the network coverage, effectively adding new customers to the network. As such, the CPEs that acts as relays are connected to one or more base stations, dynamically allocate some resources to the out of coverage CPEs, for the delivery/receipt of information to/from the out-of-coverage CPES/FWA.
1. A computerized method of operating a first computerized premises apparatus within a wireless network, the computerized method comprising:
obtaining first data relating to a first wireless connection with at least one base station in wireless range of the first computerized premises apparatus;
based at least on the first data, determining that the first wireless connection does not meet a prescribed performance level metric associated with the first computerized premises apparatus;
based on the determining, causing communication with at least one second computerized premises apparatus within the wireless range of the first computerized premises apparatus to request supplementation of the first wireless connection;
obtaining second data from the at least one second computerized premises apparatus enabling establishment of at least one second wireless connection between the first computerized premises apparatus and the at least one second computerized premises apparatus; and
based at least on the second data, causing the establishment of the at least one second wireless connection, the at least one second wireless connection utilized to provide an amount of bandwidth supplementation required by the first computerized premises apparatus to at least meet the prescribed performance level metric.
2. The computerized method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining of the first data relating to the first wireless connection comprises monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) of the first wireless connection using an iPerf application operative to execute on the first computerized premises apparatus.
3. The computerized method of claim 1 , further comprising, subsequent to the establishment of the at least one second wireless connection, monitoring performance of at least the first wireless connection to assure the prescribed performance level metric is at least met.
4. The computerized method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the first computerized premises apparatus, data relating to at least one spectrum grant from the at least one second computerized premises apparatus; and
utilizing the received data relating to the at least one spectrum grant in the establishment of the at least one second wireless connection.
5. The computerized method of claim 1 , wherein the causing of the communication with the at least one second computerized premises apparatus to request the supplementation of the first wireless connection comprises causing data representative of a request to obtain at least one spectrum grant to be issued from the first computerized premises apparatus to a spectrum allocation system (SAS) via the at least one second computerized premises apparatus, the SAS in data communication with the wireless network.
6. The computerized method of claim 1 , wherein the causing of the communication with the at least one second computerized premises apparatus to request the supplementation of the first wireless connection comprises causing data representative of a request to obtain at least one spectrum grant to be initiated from the at least one second computerized premises apparatus to a spectrum allocation system (SAS) in data communication with the wireless network.
7. The computerized method of claim 1 , wherein:
the obtaining of the first data relating to the first wireless connection comprises measuring data relating to performance indicators associated with the first wireless connection; and
the determining that the first wireless connection does meet the prescribed performance level metric associated with the first computerized premises apparatus comprises comparing the measured data to data representative of a service level agreement associated with the first computerized premises apparatus.
8. The computerized method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining of the second data from the at least one second computerized premises apparatus enabling the establishment of at least the at least one second wireless connection comprises receiving data configured to establish a device-to-device (D2D) communication channel.
9. A wireless system for enhancing coverage area and data rates for one or more computerized apparatus in a wireless network, the wireless system comprising:
at least one base station apparatus, the at least one base station apparatus configured to provide backhaul to the one or more computerized apparatus;
at least one receiver computerized apparatus, the at least one receiver computerized apparatus configured to:
determine an inadequacy associated with a wireless connection between the at least one receiver computerized apparatus and the at least one base station apparatus; and
based on the determination, transmit a communication requesting supplementation of wireless bandwidth; and
at least one serving computerized apparatus, the at least one serving computerized apparatus configured to:
receive the communication requesting the supplementation of the wireless bandwidth from the at least one receiver computerized apparatus; and
provide the at least one receiver computerized apparatus with the supplementation of the wireless bandwidth.
10. The wireless system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one receiver computerized apparatus is further configured to:
receive one or more first data packets from the at least one base station apparatus;
receive one or more second data packets from the at least one serving computerized apparatus;
aggregate the one or more first data packets and the one or more second data packets at a transport layer of a backhaul connection of the at least one receiver computerized apparatus; and
apply congestion and flow control so as to optimize the backhaul connection as a virtual unified transport.
11. The wireless system of claim 9 , further comprising a computerized spectrum allocation entity, the computerized spectrum allocation entity configured to provide at least one spectrum grant;
wherein the at least one serving computerized apparatus is further configured to:
transmit data representative of a request for the at least one spectrum grant;
receive data representative of the at least one spectrum grant;
utilize the data representative of the at least one spectrum grant to establish a communication session with the at least one receiver computerized apparatus; and
effect the supplementation of the wireless bandwidth via the communication session.
12. The wireless system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one serving computerized apparatus is further configured to:
based on a determination that the supplementation of the wireless bandwidth is no longer needed by the at least one receiver computerized apparatus, relinquish the at least one spectrum grant and terminate the communication session.
13. The wireless system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one receiver computerized apparatus is further configured to:
access at least one of (i) historical data or (ii) predictive data regarding a plurality of candidate computerized apparatus, the plurality of candidate computerized apparatus comprising the at least one serving computerized apparatus; and
utilize the at least one of (i) the historical data or (ii) the predictive data to determine which of the plurality of candidate computerized apparatus is likely to be an optimal choice for the supplementation of the wireless bandwidth.
14. A computerized method of operating a wireless network infrastructure, the computerized method comprising:
determining wireless bandwidth provided to a first computerized premises apparatus is below a prescribed threshold; and
based on the determining, utilizing one or more second computerized premises apparatus to supplement the wireless bandwidth provided to the first computerized premises apparatus, such that the prescribed threshold is met or exceeded.
15. The computerized method of claim 14 , wherein the determining the wireless bandwidth provided to the first computerized premises apparatus is below the prescribed threshold comprises determining of the first computerized premises apparatus has deficient wireless bandwidth via a request-grant procedure.
16. The computerized method of claim 14 , further comprising:
measuring data relating to one or more key performance indicators (KPIs) for a wireless connection between the one or more second computerized premises apparatus and at least one base station apparatus;
comparing the data relating to the one or more KPIs to at least one service level agreement (SLA); and
based on the comparing, transmitting advertisement messaging indicating that the one or more second computerized premises apparatus can supplement the wireless bandwidth.
17. The computerized method of claim 14 , further comprising:
determining an amount of wireless bandwidth that the one or more second computerized premises apparatus can provide to supplement the wireless bandwidth; and
communicating first data to the first computerized premises apparatus, the first data relating to the determined amount of the wireless bandwidth, the first data enabling the first computerized premises apparatus to determine (i) whether to establish a wireless connection with the one or more second computerized premises apparatus based at least on the first data and (ii) an adequacy of the determined amount of the wireless bandwidth to at least meet the prescribed threshold.
18. The computerized method of claim 17 , further comprising:
obtaining a grant for an allocation of at least one quasi-licensed frequency band; and
causing establishment of the wireless connection using the at least one quasi-licensed frequency band.
19. The computerized method of claim 18 , wherein the causing of the establishment of the wireless connection using the at least one quasi-licensed frequency band comprises causing the establishment of the wireless connection using at least one of (i) a priority access license (PAL) Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) frequency band, or (ii) a general authorized access (GAA) CBRS frequency band.
20. The computerized method of claim 14 , further comprising:
based on a determination that the supplementation of the wireless bandwidth is no longer needed by the one or more second computerized premises apparatus, causing relinquishment of a at least one spectrum grant and termination of a communication session between the first computerized premises apparatus and the one or more second computerized premises apparatus.