Inter-cell approach to operating wireless beam-forming and user selection/scheduling in multi-cell environments based on limited signaling between patterns of subsets of cells

A method of operating a multiple-cell network, each cell having at least one wireless transmission entity, the method comprising:

• dividing multiple cells into a plurality of subsets of cells, each subset having one or more cells, the plurality of subsets of cells having an associated priority, the priority of which is changed over transmission resources;
• causing cells of a subset to operate transmission processes independent of each other without requiring exchange of information between the cells of the same subset;
• causing cells of lower priority to utilize transmissions by cells of higher priority and transmission parameters from cells of higher priority in determining their own transmission parameters;
• performing scheduling and transmission parameter operations for each cell starting with a highest priority subset of cells, and ending with a lowest priority subset of cells, wherein performing scheduling operations comprises
• sending pilot signals,
• obtaining channel information with respect to user terminal within a corresponding cell, and
• performing beam selection and scheduling independently of other cells having the same priority, wherein the beam selection and scheduling correspond to transmissions to serve the user terminal within the corresponding cell;
• forwarding scheduling and transmission parameter information from each of the transmission entities in the subset of cells having a higher priority to selected transmission entities in a subset of cells having a lower priority.

A method of operating a multiple-cell network, each cell having at least one wireless transmission entity, the method comprising:

• dividing multiple cells into a plurality of subsets of cells, each subset having one or more cells, the plurality of subsets of cells having an associated priority, the priority of which is changed over transmission resources;
• causing cells of a subset to operate transmission processes independent of each other without requiring exchange of information between the cells of the same subset;
• causing cells of lower priority to utilize transmissions by cells of higher priority and transmission parameters from cells of higher priority in determining their own transmission parameters;
• performing scheduling and transmission parameter operations for each cell starting with a highest priority subset of cells, and ending with a lowest priority subset of cells;
• forwarding scheduling and transmission parameter information from each of the transmission entities in the subset of cells having a higher priority to selected transmission entities in a subset of cells having a lower priority, and
• further comprising:
• scheduling transmissions to one or more user terminal in the subset of cells having a second highest priority by each base station in the subset of cells having the second highest priority based, at least in part, on the channel information related to cells in the highest priority subset, wherein the scheduling is performed by each base station independently of other cells in the subset of cells having the second highest priority;
• and
• selecting a transmission solution, wherein the transmission solution includes selecting at least one of the following:
• (i) beamforming vectors to send data on, (ii) rate allocations to users, and (iii) power on each of the beamforming vectors;
• wherein the selection is in the subset of cells having the second highest priority by each base station in the subset of cells having the second highest priority based, at least in part, on the channel information;
• and
• wherein the selection is performed by each base station independent of other cells in the subset of cells having the second highest priority.

A method of operating a multiple-cell network, each cell having at least one wireless transmission entity, the method comprising:

• dividing multiple cells into a plurality of subsets of cells, each subset having one or more cells, the plurality of subsets of cells having an associated priority, the priority of which is changed over transmission resources;
• causing cells of a subset to operate transmission processes independent of each other without requiring exchange of information between the cells of the same subset;
• causing cells of lower priority to utilize transmissions by cells of higher priority and transmission parameters from cells of higher priority in determining their own transmission parameters;
• performing scheduling and transmission parameter operations for each cell starting with a highest priority subset of cells, and ending with a lowest priority subset of cells;
• forwarding scheduling and transmission parameter information from each of the transmission entities in the subset of cells having a higher priority to selected transmission entities in a subset of cells having a lower priority, wherein forwarding scheduling and transmission parameter information from the base stations in the subset of cells having the highest priority to base stations in a subset of cells having a second highest priority comprises each base station in the subset of cells having the highest priority forwarding to a selected subgroup of the subset of cells having a second highest priority, one or more of the following including user terminal identification information corresponding to user terminals operating within the subset of cells having the highest priority, beam information corresponding to beams transmitted by the base stations in the subset of cells having the highest priority, and channel information of some user terminals in the subset of cells having the highest priority.

A wireless communication system comprising:

• a first plurality of cells, each having at least one base station and an associated first priority, the base stations in the first plurality of cells to operate independently of each other, to send pilot signals, to obtain channel information from one or more user terminal that receive the pilot signals and to forward user and beam information to one or more base stations having a lower priority;
• and
• a second plurality of cells, each having at least one base station and an associated second priority, each the base stations in the second plurality of cells to select transmissions in order to limit interference to a subset of cells in the highest priority set, where selection is based on user terminal information, beam and channel information received form a subset of base stations in the first plurality of cells;
• and
• wherein the base stations in the first plurality of cells schedule transmissions to the one or more user terminal in the first plurality of cells based, at least in part, on the channel information, wherein the scheduling is performed by each base station independently of other base stations in the first plurality of cells, and to select beamforming solutions based, at least in part, on the channel information, wherein the scheduling is performed by each base station independently of other base stations in the first plurality of cells.

An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions to implement operation of a multiple-cell network, each cell having at least one base station, the instructions, when executed, to cause one or more processors to:

• divide multiple cells into a plurality of subsets of cells, each subset having one or more cells, the plurality of subsets of cells having an associated priority, the priority of which is changed over transmission resources;
• cause cells of a subset to operate transmission processes independent of each other without requiring exchange of information between the cells of the same subset;
• cause cells of lower priority to utilize transmissions by cells of higher priority and transmission parameters from cells of higher priority in determining their own transmission parameters;
• perform scheduling and transmission parameter operations starting with a highest priority subset of cells, and ending with a lowest priority subset of cells;
• forward scheduling and transmission parameter information from each of the base stations in the subset of cells having a higher priority to selected base stations in a subset of cells having a lower priority;
• send beam pilots from base stations in the subset of cells having a second highest priority, wherein beams and associated beam pilots in each such cell are selected in part to limit interference to a user terminal in at least some of the highest priority cells based on scheduling and transmission parameter information received form cells having the highest priority;
• and
• perform scheduling and transmission parameter decisions in each of the second priority cells where such cells are to operate such processes independent of those of other second priority cells.

An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions to implement operation of a multiple-cell network, each cell having at least one base station, the instructions, when executed, to cause one or more processors to:

• divide multiple cells into a plurality of subsets of cells, each subset having one or more cells, the plurality of subsets of cells having an associated priority, the priority of which is changed over transmission resources;
• cause cells of a subset to operate transmission processes independent of each other without requiring exchange of information between the cells of the same subset;
• cause cells of lower priority to utilize transmissions by cells of higher priority and transmission parameters from cells of higher priority in determining their own transmission parameters;
• perform scheduling and transmission parameter operations starting with a highest priority subset of cells, and ending with a lowest priority subset of cells;
• forward scheduling and transmission parameter information from each of the base stations in the subset of cells having a higher priority to selected base stations in a subset of cells having a lower priority, and
• further wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to perform scheduling operations comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
• send pilot signals;
• obtain channel information with respect to a user terminal within a corresponding cell;
• and
• perform beam selection and scheduling independently of other cells having a same priority, wherein beam selection and scheduling correspond to transmissions to serve the user terminal within the corresponding cell.

An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions to implement operation of a multiple-cell network, each cell having at least one base station, the instructions, when executed, to cause one or more processors to:

• divide multiple cells into a plurality of subsets of cells, each subset having one or more cells, the plurality of subsets of cells having an associated priority, the priority of which is changed over transmission resources;
• cause cells of a subset to operate transmission processes independent of each other without requiring exchange of information between the cells of the same subset;
• cause cells of lower priority to utilize transmissions by cells of higher priority and transmission parameters from cells of higher priority in determining their own transmission parameters;
• perform scheduling and transmission parameter operations starting with a highest priority subset of cells, and ending with a lowest priority subset of cells;
• forward scheduling and transmission parameter information from each of the base stations in the subset of cells having a higher priority to selected base stations in a subset of cells having a lower priority, and
• wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
• schedule transmissions to the one or more user terminal in the subset of cells having a second highest priority by each base station in the subset of cells having the second highest priority based, at least in part, on the channel information related to cells in the highest priority subset, wherein the scheduling is performed by each base station independently of other cells in the subset of cells having the second highest priority;
• and
• select a transmission solutions in the subset of cells having the second highest priority by each base station in the subset of cells having the second highest priority based, at least in part, on the channel information, wherein the selection is performed by each base station independently of other cells in the subset of cells having the second highest priority.

An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions to implement operation of a multiple-cell network, each cell having at least one base station, the instructions, when executed, to cause one or more processors to:

• divide multiple cells into a plurality of subsets of cells, each subset having one or more cells, the plurality of subsets of cells having an associated priority, the priority of which is changed over transmission resources;
• cause cells of a subset to operate transmission processes independent of each other without requiring exchange of information between the cells of the same subset;
• cause cells of lower priority to utilize transmissions by cells of higher priority and transmission parameters from cells of higher priority in determining their own transmission parameters;
• perform scheduling and transmission parameter operations starting with a highest priority subset of cells, and ending with a lowest priority subset of cells;
• forward scheduling and transmission parameter information from each of the base stations in the subset of cells having a higher priority to selected base stations in a subset of cells having a lower priority,
• wherein forwarding scheduling and transmission parameter information from the base stations in the subset of cells having the highest priority to base stations in a subset of cells having a second highest priority comprises each base station in the subset of cells having the highest priority forwarding to a selected subgroup of the subset of cells having the second highest priority, one or more of the following including user terminal identification information corresponding to user terminal operating within the subset of cells having the highest priority, beam information corresponding to beams transmitted by the base stations in the subset of cells having the highest priority, and channel information of some user terminals in the subset of cells having the highest priority.

An apparatus for operating a multiple-cell network, where each cell having at least one wireless transmission entity, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory to store instructions;
• and
• a processor to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions when executed cause the apparatus to perform operations including:
• dividing multiple cells into a plurality of subsets of cells, each subset having one or more cells, the plurality of subsets of cells having an associated priority, the priority of which is changed over transmission resources;
• causing cells of a subset to operate transmission processes independent of each other without requiring exchange of information between the cells of the same subset;
• causing cells of lower priority to utilize transmissions by cells of higher priority and transmission parameters from cells of higher priority in determining their own transmission parameters;
• performing scheduling and transmission parameter operations starting with a highest priority subset of cells, and ending with a lowest priority subset of cells;
• forwarding scheduling and transmission parameter information from each of the base stations in the subset of cells having a higher priority to selected base stations in a subset of cells having a lower priority, and
• the operations further comprising selecting beamforming vectors by sending beam pilots from base stations in the subset of cells having a second highest priority, wherein beams and associated beam pilots in each such cell are selected in part to limit interference to user terminal in at least some of the highest priority cells based on scheduling and transmission parameter information received form cells having the highest priority;
• performing scheduling and transmission parameter decisions in each of the second priority cells where such cells operate such processes independent of those of other second priority cells.

An apparatus for operating a multiple-cell network, where each cell having at least one wireless transmission entity, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory to store instructions;
• and
• a processor to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions when executed cause the apparatus to perform operations including:
• dividing multiple cells into a plurality of subsets of cells, each subset having one or more cells, the plurality of subsets of cells having an associated priority, the priority of which is changed over transmission resources;
• causing cells of a subset to operate transmission processes independent of each other without requiring exchange of information between the cells of the same subset;
• causing cells of lower priority to utilize transmissions by cells of higher priority and transmission parameters from cells of higher priority in determining their own transmission parameters;
• performing scheduling and transmission parameter operations starting with a highest priority subset of cells, and ending with a lowest priority subset of cells, wherein performing the scheduling operations;
• includes
• sending pilot signals,
• obtaining channel information with respect to user terminal within a corresponding cell, and
• performing beam selection and scheduling independently of other cells having the same priority, wherein the beam selection and scheduling correspond to transmissions to serve the user terminal within the corresponding cell;
• and
• forwarding scheduling and transmission parameter information from each of the base stations in the subset of cells having a higher priority to selected base stations in a subset of cells having a lower priority.

An apparatus for operating a multiple-cell network, where each cell having at least one wireless transmission entity, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory to store instructions;
• and
• a processor to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions when executed cause the apparatus to perform operations including:
• dividing multiple cells into a plurality of subsets of cells, each subset having one or more cells, the plurality of subsets of cells having an associated priority, the priority of which can be changed over transmission resources;
• causing cells of a subset to operate transmission processes independent of each other without requiring exchange of information between the cells of the same subset;
• causing cells of lower priority to utilize transmissions by cells of higher priority and transmission parameters from cells of higher priority in determining their own transmission parameters;
• performing scheduling and transmission parameter operations starting with a highest priority subset of cells, and ending with a lowest priority subset of cells;
• forwarding scheduling and transmission parameter information from each of the base stations in the subset of cells having a higher priority to selected base stations in a subset of cells having a lower priority, and
• the operations further comprising scheduling transmissions to one or more user terminal in the subset of cells having the second highest priority by each base station in the subset of cells having a second highest priority based, at least in part, on the channel information related to cells in the highest priority subset, wherein the scheduling is performed by each base station independently of other cells in the subset of cells having the second highest priority;
• and
• selecting a transmission solutions in the subset of cells having the second highest priority by each base station in the subset of cells having the second highest priority based, at least in part, on the channel information, wherein the selection is performed by each base station independently of other cells in the subset of cells having the second highest priority.