Method and apparatus for controlling transmissions of a communications systems

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein the plurality of back-off factors are defined based in part on required outage probabilities;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein the plurality of back-off factors are defined based in part on one or more set points selected for the plurality of channels, wherein each set point corresponds to a required C/I for a data transmission, wherein the one or more set points are determined based in part on required outage probabilities;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising;

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one;
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors;
• estimating a required transmit power level for each of the plurality of channels, wherein the required transmit power level for a particular channel is estimated based on a C/I estimate of a data transmission on the particular channel;
• and
• adjusting the plurality of back-off factors based on the estimated required transmit power levels for the plurality of channels.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein at least one channel is associated with a back-off factor of one, representative of full transmit power, and remaining channels are associated with back-off factors of less than one;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein the plurality of back-off factors are dynamically defined to reflect changes in the communications system;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein the plurality of back-off factors are adaptively defined to approximately match changes in the communications system;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein one or more back-off factors are adjusted based on measured performance, wherein the one or more back-off factors are adjusted based on estimated or measured C/I;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising;

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein one or more back-off factors are adjusted based on measured performance, wherein the one or more back-off factors are adjusted based on measured frame erasure rates (FERs);
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-ff factor ranges from zero to one, wherein one or more back-off factors are adjusted based on measured performance, wherein the one or more back-off factors are adjusted based on estimated outage probabilities;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-of factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein one or more back-off factors are set to zero for selected time durations to eliminate interference on one or more associated channels;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• determining one or more characteristics of the communications system;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics of the communications system, wherein each channel is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein the back-off factor of a particular channel is set to zero if performance of the particular channel is degraded below a particular threshold;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels at power levels determined based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• defining a reuse pattern for the communications system, wherein the reuse pattern includes a plurality of cells;
• determining one or more characteristics for each cell in the reuse pattern;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels for each cell in the reuse pattern based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics, wherein each channel of each cell is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one;
• transmitting on the plurality of channels from the plurality of cells at power levels determined based at least in part on the associated back-off factors;
• estimating effective link margins for the plurality of channels for each cell in the reuse pattern;
• and
• redefining the back-off factors for each cell in the reuse pattern based on the estimated effective link margins.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• defining a reuse pattern for the communications system, wherein the reuse pattern includes a plurality of cells;
• determining one or more characteristics for each cell in the reuse pattern, including carrier-to-noise-plus-interference (C/I) characterization of receiver units in the communications system or loading probabilities for the communications system, or both;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels for each cell in the reuse pattern based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics, wherein each channel of each cell is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels from the plurality of cells at power levels determined based at least in part on the associated back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• defining a reuse pattern for the communications system, wherein the reuse pattern includes a plurality of cells;
• determining one or more characteristics for each cell in the reuse pattern;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels for each cell in the reuse pattern based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics, wherein each channel of each cell is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein the plurality of back-off factors for each cell are defined based in part on C/I characterization for receiver units in the cell, one or more set points selected for the plurality of channels, required outage probabilities, or a combination thereof;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels from the plurality of cells at power levels determined based at least in part on the associated back-off factors.

A method for controlling transmissions in a communications system, the method comprising:

• defining a reuse pattern for the communications system, wherein the reuse pattern includes a plurality of cells;
• determining one or more characteristics for each cell in the reuse pattern;
• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels for each cell in the reuse pattern based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics, wherein each channel of each cell is associated with a respective back-off factor that identifies a reduction from peak transmit power level, and wherein each back-off factor ranges from zero to one, wherein one or more back-off factors for a particular cell are adjusted based on measured or estimated performance corresponding to measured frame erasure rates (FERs), outage probabilities, or C/Is, or a combination thereof;
• and
• transmitting on the plurality of channels from the plurality of cells at power levels determined based at least in part on the associated back-off factors.

A method for operating a plurality of transmitter units in a wireless communications system, the method comprising;

• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a reuse pattern for the communications system, wherein the reuse pattern includes a plurality of cells;
• determining one or more characteristics for each cell in the reuse pattern;
• allocating a set of channels to each cell in the reuse pattern based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics for the cell, wherein each cell in the reuse pattern is allocated a respective set of channels that includes one or more channels available for transmission at full power level and one or more channels available for transmission at reduced power levels;
• and
• repeating the determining and allocating to reflect changes in the communications system.

A method for operating a plurality of transmitter unit in a wireless communications system, the method comprising:

• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a reuse pattern for the communications system, wherein the reuse pattern includes a plurality of cells;
• determining one or more characteristics for each cell in the reuse pattern;
• allocating a set of channels to each cell in the reuse pattern based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics for the cell, wherein one or more channels allocated to a particular cell are temporarily prohibited from transmitting to reduce interference;
• and
• repeating the determining and allocating to reflect changes in the communications system.

A method for operating a plurality of transmitter units in a wireless communications system, the method comprising:

• partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;
• defining a reuse pattern for the communications system, wherein the reuse pattern includes a plurality of cells;
• determining one or more characteristics for each cell in the reuse pattern;
• allocating a set of channels to each cell in the reuse pattern based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics for the cell, wherein a particular cell transmits on a non-allocated channel for a transmission demand not supportable by the capacity of the allocated set of channels;
• and
• repeating the determining and allocating to reflect changes in the communications system.

A method for providing data transmissions to a plurality of receiver units in a communications system, the method comprising:

• defining a reuse scheme to be used for the data transmissions to the plurality of receiver units, wherein the defined reuse scheme identifies a particular reuse pattern, an initial allocation of available system resources, and a set of operating parameters, including:
• characterizing one or more parameters of the communications system, and
• defining a reuse plan based at least in part on the one or more characterized parameters, wherein the reuse plan identifies the particular reuse pattern and an initial cell reuse layout based on the particular reuse pattern;
• transmitting to the plurality of receiver units in accordance with the defined reuse scheme;
• evaluating performance of the communications system;
• determining whether the evaluated system performance is within particular thresholds;
• and
• if the evaluated system performance is not within the particular thresholds, redefining the reuse scheme.

A method for providing data transmissions to a plurality of receiver units in a communications system, the method comprising:

• defining a reuse scheme to be used for the data transmissions to the plurality of receiver units, wherein the defined reuse scheme identifies a particular reuse pattern, an initial allocation of available system resources, and a set of operating parameters;
• transmitting to the plurality of receiver units in accordance with the defined reuse scheme;
• evaluating performance of the communications system, including determining effective link margins, frame erasure rates (FERs), outage probabilities, or average throughputs, or a combination thereof, for a particular cell;
• determining whether the evaluated system performance is within particular thresholds;
• and
• if the evaluated system performance is not within the particular thresholds, redefining the reuse scheme.

A method for providing data transmissions to a plurality of receiver units in a communications system, the method comprising:

• updating a first set of parameters to be used for scheduling the data transmissions;
• prioritizing the data transmissions;
• assigning the data transmissions to respective available channels based at least in part on priorities of the data transmissions;
• updating a second set of parameters to be used for transmitting the data transmissions;
• and
• transmitting on the assigned channels to the plurality of receiver units using the updated second set of parameters.

A method for providing data transmissions on a plurality of channels to a plurality of receiver units in a communications system, the method comprising:

• computing channel metrics for the plurality of channels for each receiver unit;
• prioritizing the data transmissions;
• assigning data transmissions to the plurality of channels based on priorities of the data transmissions and the computed channel metrics, wherein the assigning includes:
• selecting a data transmission having a highest priority,
• assigning the selected data transmission to a channel having a least favorable channel metrics but meeting requirements, and
• successively assigning remaining data transmissions, in order of decreasing priorities, to available channels;
• transmitting on the assigned channels to the plurality of receiver units;
• and
• upgrading one or more data transmissions to available channels having more favorable channel metrics, including:
• selecting a data transmission having a highest priority;
• selecting a channel, from a list of available channels, having a most favorable channel metrics;
• and
• reassigning the selected data transmission to the selected channel if the channel metrics associated with the selected channel is more favorable than the channel metrics associated with the original assigned channel.

A method for providing data transmissions on a plurality of channels to a plurality of receiver units in a communications system, the method comprising:

• defining a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels, wherein the back-off factors identify reduction from peak transmit power level for the respective channels;
• assigning the data transmissions to the plurality of channels;
• determining required transmit power levels for the data transmissions;
• adjusting the plurality of back-off factors in accordance with the determined required transmit power levels;
• transmitting the data transmissions on the plurality of channels in accordance with the plurality of adjusted back-off factors;
• and
• computing channel metrics for the data transmissions based at least in part on the plurality of back-off factors, and
• wherein the assigning the data transmissions to the plurality of channels is performed based in part on the computed channel metrics.