US 11,457,485 B2Granted

Methods and apparatus for enhancing coverage in quasi-licensed wireless systems

AssigneeCharter Communications Operating, LLC

InventorsSaran Khalid, MohammedYusuf Shaikh

Life of this patent

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Abstract

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.

Claims20

Dependent claims

Computerized premises apparatus for use in a wireless network, comprising:

at least one wireless interface;
processor apparatus in data communication with the at least one wireless interface;
and
storage apparatus in data communication with the processor apparatus, the storage apparatus comprising at least one computer program configured to, when executed by the processor apparatus, cause the computerized premises apparatus to:
utilize the at least one wireless interface to obtain first data relating to a performance or capability of a wireless connection with at least one base station in wireless range of the at least one wireless interface of the computerized premises apparatus;
cause communication with at least one fixed wireless access (FWA) device within wireless range of the computerized premises device to request supplementation of the wireless connection, the at least one fixed FWA device configured to operate within a frequency range between 3.550 and 3.70 GHz inclusive;
obtain second data from the at least one FWA device enabling establishment of at least a second wireless connection, the second wireless connection between the computerized premises apparatus and the at least one FWA device;
and
based at least on the obtained second data, cause establishment of the at least second wireless connection via at least one frequency within a spectrum grant, wherein the establishment of the at least second wireless connection is configured to follow a receipt of the spectrum grant, the receipt of the spectrum grant based at least on a request issued to a spectrum allocation system in data communication with the wireless network, the request initiated via the at least one FWA device.

6 more elements

A computerized method of operating a fixed wireless access (FWA) device within a wireless network, the computerized method comprising:

determining a deficiency in the operating of the FWA device;
identifying at least one other FWA device capable of supplementing the operation of the FWA device;
causing establishment of a wireless connection to the identified at least one other FWA device by at least causing data representative of a request to be transmitted from the at least one other FWA device to a spectrum allocation system in data communication with the wireless network to obtain at least one spectrum grant, at least one frequency within the at least one spectrum grant being utilized to establish the wireless connection;
and
transacting data with the at least one other FWA device in order to remedy the deficiency;
wherein the FWA device is configured to operate within a frequency range between 3.550 and 3.70 GHz inclusive.

3 more elements

Computer readable apparatus comprising a non-transitory storage medium, the non-transitory storage medium comprising at least one computer program having a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions configured to, when executed on a digital processing apparatus, cause a computerized apparatus to:

utilize the at least one wireless interface to receive data relating to a request from another computerized premises apparatus for a wireless connection between the computerized premises apparatus and the another computerized premises apparatus;
determine an amount of wireless bandwidth that the computerized premises apparatus can provide via the requested wireless connection;
communicate second data to the another computerized premises apparatus, the second data relating to the determined amount of wireless bandwidth, the second data enabling the another computerized premises apparatus to determine whether to establish the wireless connection based at least on the received data and an adequacy of the determined amount of wireless bandwidth;
and
based on a determination by the another computerized premises apparatus to establish the wireless connection:
obtain a grant for an allocation of at least one licensable frequency band;
perform the determination of whether to establish the requested wireless connection;
and
cause establishment of the wireless connection using the at least one licensable frequency band.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/676,188Filed 6 Nov 2019
Published: US 2021/0136838 A16 May 2021
Granted: 27 Sep 2022
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification21 codes

H04W 76/10
Connection management: connection setup
H04W 76/19
Connection setup: connection re-establishment
H04L 12/2803
Characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]: home automation networks
H04L 41/5009
Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS: determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g.…