IP Library Granted Patent US 8,208,439
Granted Patent B2
US 8,208,439 · App. 12/344,380 · Granted Jun 26, 2012

Optimal user pairing for multiuser MIMO

Assignee: Nokia Corporation
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,208,439
App. No.
12/344,380
Granted
Jun 26, 2012
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method includes operating a receiver connected with n r receive antennas to receive uplink signals from K users having n t transmit antennas each; and scheduling which users are to transmit in a same time-frequency-code slot. A particular user pairing configuration is denoted by π within a set of all configurations Π, and scheduling includes expressing mutual information as an additive objective function and maximizing the additive objective function over a particular choice of πεΠ.

Claims (431)

1. A method, comprising:

operating a receiver connected with a plurality of receive antennas to receive uplink signals from a plurality of users each having a plurality of transmit antennas; and

scheduling which ones of the plurality of users are to transmit in a same time-frequency-code slot, where a particular user pairing configuration is denoted by π within a set of all configurations Π, and where scheduling comprises expressing mutual information as an additive objective function and maximizing the additive objective function over a particular choice of πεΠ,

wherein the additive objective function that is maximized comprises:

max

π

Π

(

k

1

,

k

2

)

π

(

N

)

f

k

1

,

k

2

(

π

)

,

where f is measure of performance for a pairing of users k 1 and k 2 and N is an integer total number of distinct pairs of users.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein maximizing comprises using an n×n matrix W=[w k, ]=[w(x k y )] where w k, is the weight of the k th , th element of the matrix W and w(x k , y ) is the weight for a pairing of user x k and user y in the matrix W, and finding a permutation σεS n , where S n denotes the group of all permutations of n number of elements, for which

k

=

1

n

w

(

x

k

y

σ

(

k

)

)

is a maximum, where W is a total bandwidth occupied and xy is an edge.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein there are paired users and unpaired users, wherein a pairing configuration π={π pair ,π sing } is mapped to a permutation σ of K total number of elements of the form:

π

σ

:

(

1

2

K

σ

(

1

)

σ

(

2

)

σ

(

K

)

)

,

where σ(k) is a user paired with user k by the permutation σ.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein for a case of an even number of users, maximizing the matrix W with zero entries on the diagonal and symmetric entries for w k1,k2 =w k2,k1 =f (k1,k2) , and obtaining a result by taking only the pairs (k,σ(k)), for k=1, . . . , K/2, where K is a total number of pairs of users for a given permutation and σ(k) is a user paired with user k by the permutation σ.

5. The method of claim 3 , where the additive objective function that is maximized is expressed as:

max

σ

S

K

(

k

,

σ

(

k

)

)

(

K

)

f

(

k

,

σ

(

k

)

)

where S K denotes a group of all permutations and k is an individual user from the K total number of elements.

6. The method of claim 5 , where maximizing comprises, given an n×n matrix W=[w k, ]=[w(x k y )], where W k, is a weight of the k th , th element of the matrix W and w(x k , y ) is a weight for a pairing of user x k and user y in the matrix W, finding a permutation σεS n , where S n denotes the group of all permutations of n number of elements, for which

k

=

1

n

w

(

x

k

y

σ

(

k

)

)

is a maximum, and by setting w(x k y σ(k) )=f (k,σ(k)) , and where a result is found by taking only the pairs (k,σ(k)), for k=1, . . . , K/2, where W is a total bandwidth occupied and xy is an edge.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

operate a receiver connected with a plurality of receive antennas to receive uplink signals from a plurality of users each having a plurality of transmit antennas; and

schedule which ones of the plurality of users are to transmit in a same time-frequency-code slot, where a particular user pairing configuration is denoted by π within a set of all configurations Π, and where scheduling comprises expressing mutual information as an additive objective function and maximizing the additive objective function over a particular choice of πεΠ,

wherein the additive objective function that is maximized comprises:

max

π

Π

(

k

1

,

k

2

)

π

(

N

)

f

k

1

,

k

2

(

π

)

,

where f is measure of performance for a pairing of users k 1 and k 2 and N is an integer total number of distinct pairs of users.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein maximizing comprises using an n×n matrix W=[w k, ]=[w(x k y )], where w k, is the weight of the k th , th element of the matrix W and w (x k , y ) is the weight for a pairing of user x k and user y in the matrix W, and finding a permutation σεS n , where S n denotes the group of all permutations of n number of elements, for which

k

=

1

n

w

(

x

k

y

σ

(

k

)

)

is a maximum, where W is a total bandwidth occupied and xy is an edge.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein there are paired users and unpaired users, wherein a pairing configuration π={π pair ,π sing } is mapped to a permutation σ of K total number of elements of the form:

π

σ

:

(

1

2

K

σ

(

1

)

σ

(

2

)

σ

(

K

)

)

,

where σ(k) is a user paired with user k by the permutation σ.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the apparatus is embodied as at least one integrated circuit.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein for a case of an even number of users, maximizing the matrix W with zero entries on the diagonal and symmetric entries for w k 1 ,k 2 =w k 2 ,k 1 =f (k 1 ,k 1) , and obtaining a result by taking only the pairs (k,σ(k)), for k=1, . . . , K/2, where K is a total number of pairs of users for a given permutation and σ(k) is a user paired with user k by the permutation σ.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , where the additive objective function that is maximized is expressed as:

max

σ

S

K

(

k

,

σ

(

k

)

)

(

K

)

f

(

k

,

σ

(

k

)

)

where S K denotes a group of all permutations and k is an individual user from the total number of users K, and where maximizing comprises, given an n×n matrix W=[w k, ]=[w(x k y )], where w k, is the weight of the k th , th element of the matrix W and w(x k , y ) is the weight for a pairing of user x k and user y in the matrix W, finding a permutation σεS n , where S n denotes the group of all permutations of n number of elements, for which

k

=

1

n

w

(

x

k

y

σ

(

k

)

)

is a maximum, and by setting w(x k y σ(k) )=f k,σ(k)) , and where a result is found by taking only the pairs (k,σ(k)), for k=1, . . . , K/2, where W is a total bandwidth occupied and xy is an edge.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly embodying computer program code configured to, with at least one processor, perform operations, the operations comprising:

operating a receiver connected with a plurality of receive antennas to receive uplink signals from a plurality of users each having a plurality of transmit antennas; and

scheduling which ones of the plurality of users are to transmit in a same time-frequency-code slot, where a particular user pairing configuration is denoted by π within a set of all configurations Π, and where scheduling comprises expressing mutual information as an additive objective function and maximizing the additive objective function over a particular choice of πεΠ,

wherein the additive objective function that is maximized comprises:

max

π

Π

(

k

1

,

k

2

)

π

(

N

)

f

k

1

,

k

2

(

π

)

,

where f is measure of performance for a pairing of users k 1 and k 2 and N is an integer total number of distinct pairs of users.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein maximizing comprises using an n×n matrix W=[w k, ]=[w(x k y )], where w k, is the weight of the k th , th element of the matrix W and w(x k , y ) is the weight for a pairing of user x k and user y in the matrix W, and finding a permutation σεS n , where S n denotes the group of all permutations of n number of elements, for which

k

=

1

n

w

(

x

k

y

σ

(

k

)

)

is a maximum, where W is a total bandwidth occupied and xy is an edge.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein there are paired users and unpaired users, wherein a pairing configuration π={π pair ,π sing } is mapped to a permutation σ of K total number of elements of the form:

π

σ

:

(

1

2

K

σ

(

1

)

σ

(

2

)

σ

(

K

)

)

,

where σ(k) is a user paired with user k by the permutation σ.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein for a case of an even number of users, maximizing the matrix W with zero entries on the diagonal and symmetric entries for w k 1 ,k 2 =w k 2 ,k 1 =f (k 1 ,k 1) , and obtaining a result by taking only the pairs (k,σ(k)), for k=1, . . . , K/2, where K is a total number of pairs of users for a given permutation and σ(k) is a user paired with user k by the permutation σ.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , where the additive objective function that is maximized is expressed as:

max

σ

S

K

(

k

,

σ

(

k

)

)

(

K

)

f

(

k

,

σ

(

k

)

)

where S K denotes a group of all permutations and k is an individual user from the total number of users K, and where maximizing comprises, given an n×n matrix W=[w k, ]=[w(x k y )], where w k, is the weight of the k th , th element of the matrix W and w(x k , y ) is the weight for a pairing of user x k and user y in the matrix W, finding a permutation σεS n , where S n denotes the group of all permutations of n number of elements, for which

k

=

1

n

w

(

x

k

y

σ

(

k

)

)

is a maximum, and by setting w(x k y σ(k) )=f (k,σ(k)) , and where a result is found by taking only the pairs (k,σ(k)), for k=1, . . . , K/2, where W is a total bandwidth occupied and xy is an edge.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 30, 2016
From: NOKIA CORPORATION
To: NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY
Reel/Frame 040811/0772 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 18, 2009
From: HOTTINEN, ARI TAPANI; VITERBO, EMANUELE
To: NOKIA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 023109/0462 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 61009350 · Dec 28, 2007
Related Publication 20090296648A1 · Dec 3, 2009