Managing external interference in a wireless network

An apparatus for configuring a wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes to mitigate effects of an external interference source, the apparatus comprising:

• transmission circuitry to transmit configuration data to a subset of nodes of the plurality of nodes to cause the subset of nodes to simultaneously participate in an external interference sampling process in which each node of the subset of nodes samples signals received by an antenna array of that node;
• reception circuitry to receive a measurement report from a node, wherein the measurement report comprises a signal source angle and a received signal strength;
• location estimation circuitry to estimate a location of the external interference source using the measurement report received by the reception circuitry from the node;
• characterisation circuitry to use the estimated location of the external interference source and the received signal strength by performing a characterisation particle filter process using a Particle Filter algorithm to calculate for the external interference source a set of particles used in the Particle Filter algorithm comprising at least one of:
• a source power;
• a beam width;
• an antenna bearing;
• and a front-to-back transmission ratio;
• and
• configuration circuitry to configure the plurality of nodes to mitigate the effects of the external interference source in dependence on an output of the characterising circuitry.

An apparatus for configuring a wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes to mitigate effects of an external interference source, the apparatus comprising:

• means for transmitting configuration data to a subset of nodes of the plurality of nodes to cause the subset of nodes to simultaneously participate in an external interference sampling process in which each node of the subset of nodes samples signals received by an antenna array of that node;
• means for receiving a measurement report from a node, wherein the measurement report comprises a signal source angle and a received signal strength;
• means for estimating a location of the external interference source using the measurement report received from the node;
• means for using the estimated location of the external interference source and the received signal strength by performing a characterisation particle filter process using a Particle Filter algorithm to calculate for the external interference source a set of particles used in the Particle Filter algorithm comprising at least one of:
• a source power;
• a beam width;
• an antenna bearing;
• and a front-to-back transmission ratio;
• and
• means for configuring the plurality of nodes to mitigate the effects of the external interference source in dependence on an output of the means for using the estimated location of the external interference source and the received signal strength.