Granted Patent B2

US 8,842,621 · App. 13/218,829 · Granted Sep 23, 2014

Abstract

Claims (41)

1. A method of controlling a wireless network for connecting network users to a communications network, the wireless network comprising a plurality of network components, the network components comprising a plurality of base stations connected to the communications network and a plurality of terminals connected to the network users, each terminal having a link with a base station to form a base station/terminal pair, and the links being established over a wireless resource comprising a plurality of resource blocks, the method comprising the steps of:

determining, for each base station/terminal pair, a set of resource utilisation fractions, said set of resource utilisation fractions indicating probabilities for establishing said link between that base station and that terminal via each of said plurality of resource blocks;

determining a set of co-channel interference matrices, a co-channel interference matrix being determined for each network component, said co-channel interference matrix indicative of an expected interference from other network components, for each of said plurality of resource blocks, when that network component receives network traffic via that resource block, wherein said expected interference is probabilistically determined in dependence on said sets of resource utilisation fractions;

distributing, to each base station, corresponding elements from said sets of resource utilisation fractions and from said sets of co-channel interference matrices;

suppressing, in each network component, co-channel interference in dependence on the co-channel interference matrix determined for that network component; and

in each base station, when exchanging network traffic with said plurality of terminals, dynamically establishing said links as required to handle said network traffic for that base station by selecting from said resource blocks in accordance with said resource utilisation fractions.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said dynamically establishing said links comprises selecting from said resource blocks according to probabilities given by said resource utilisation fractions.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said dynamically establishing said links comprises selecting from said resource blocks such that within a predetermined time period usage of said resource blocks corresponds to said resource utilisation fractions.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the step, prior to said step of determining, for each base station/terminal pair, said set of resource utilisation fractions, of:

determining a metric for each link, said metric indicative of a current quality of that link,

and wherein said sets of resource utilisation fractions are determined in dependence on said metrics.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein said metric comprises a packet loss measurement.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein said metric comprises a packet delay measurement.

7. The method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein said metric comprises a link throughput measurement.

8. The method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein said step of determining, for each base station/terminal pair, a set of resource utilisation fractions comprises adjusting said resource utilisation fractions to reduce a difference between said metric determined and a target metric for each link.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said suppressing co-channel interference comprises arranging a beam pattern at that network component to suppress the co-channel interference during reception.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said suppressing co-channel interference comprises applying beam weights to a multi-element antenna.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the step, prior to said step of determining, for each base station/terminal pair, said set of resource utilisation fractions, of:

receiving traffic reports from the wireless network, said traffic reports indicative of previous usage of said links,

and wherein said sets of resource utilisation fractions are determined in dependence on said traffic reports.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the step, prior to said step of determining, for each base station/terminal pair, said set of resource utilisation fractions, of:

receiving sounding data from the wireless network, said sounding data indicative of visibility between said network components,

and wherein said sets of co-channel interference matrices are determined in dependence on said sounding data.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the step, prior to said step of determining, for each base station/terminal pair, said set of resource utilisation fractions, of:

receiving expected traffic information, said expected traffic information indicative of an expectation of usage of said links,

and wherein said sets of resource utilisation fractions are determined in dependence on said expected traffic information.

14. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said wireless network is a wireless feeder network, said plurality of base stations comprises a plurality of feeder base stations and said plurality of terminals comprises a plurality of feeder terminals.

15. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said resource blocks are formed by dividing the wireless resource in both the frequency and time domains.

16. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said base stations and terminals are at fixed locations.

17. A wireless network controller for controlling a wireless network which connects network users to a communications network, the wireless network comprising a plurality of network components, the network components comprising a plurality of base stations connected to the communications network and a plurality of terminals connected to the network users, each terminal having a link with a base station to form a base station/terminal pair, and the links being established over a wireless resource comprising a plurality of resource blocks, the wireless network controller comprising:

a resource utilisation fraction computation circuitry for determining, for each base station/terminal pair, a set of resource utilisation fractions, said set of resource utilisation fractions indicating probabilities for establishing said link between that base station and that terminal via each of said plurality of resource blocks;

co-channel interference matrix computation circuitry for determining a set of co-channel interference matrices, a co-channel interference matrix being determined for each network component, said co-channel interference matrix indicative of an expected interference from other network components, for each of said plurality of resource blocks, when that network component receives network traffic via that resource block, wherein said expected interference is probabilistically determined in dependence on said sets of resource utilisation fractions; and

a distribution interface for distributing, to each base station, corresponding elements from said sets of resource utilisation fractions and from said sets of co-channel interference matrices,

wherein said co-channel interference matrix computation circuitry is configured to determine said co-channel interference matrices to cause the suppression, in each network component, of co-channel interference in dependence on the co-channel interference matrix determined for that network component,

and wherein said resource utilisation fraction computation circuitry is configured to determine said resource utilisation fractions such that, in each base station, when exchanging network traffic with said plurality of terminals, said links are dynamically establishing as required to handle said network traffic for that base station by selecting from said resource blocks in accordance with said resource utilisation fractions.

18. A wireless network controller for controlling a wireless network which connects network users to a communications network, the wireless network comprising a plurality of network components, the network components comprising a plurality of base stations connected to the communications network and a plurality of terminals connected to the network users, each terminal having a link with a base station to form a base station/terminal pair, and the links being established over a wireless resource comprising a plurality of resource blocks, the wireless network controller comprising:

resource utilisation fraction computation means for determining, for each base station/terminal pair, a set of resource utilisation fractions, said set of resource utilisation fractions indicating probabilities for establishing said link between that base station and that terminal via each of said plurality of resource blocks;

co-channel interference matrix computation means for determining a set of co-channel interference matrices, a co-channel interference matrix being determined for each network component, said co-channel interference matrix indicative of an expected interference from other network components, for each of said plurality of resource blocks, when that network component receives network traffic via that resource block, wherein said expected interference is probabilistically determined in dependence on said sets of resource utilisation fractions; and

a distribution interface means for distributing, to each base station, corresponding elements from said sets of resource utilisation fractions and from said sets of co-channel interference matrices,

wherein said co-channel interference matrix computation means is configured to determine said co-channel interference matrices to cause the suppression, in each network component, of co-channel interference in dependence on the co-channel interference matrix determined for that network component,

and wherein said resource utilisation fraction computation means is configured to determine said resource utilisation fractions such that, in each base station, when exchanging network traffic with said plurality of terminals, said links are dynamically establishing as required to handle said network traffic for that base station by selecting from said resource blocks in accordance with said resource utilisation fractions.

Assignments (10)