US 8,897,796 B2Granted

Ordered list channel assignments

AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation

InventorDouglas O. Reudink

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Abstract

There is disclosed a system and method for improving wireless system capacity by reducing collisions where the Signal to Interference Ratio (SIR) is high in systems having a channel reuse of 1. By ordering the channel assignment in each of the interfering cells according to a pattern, for example, according to the distance from a base station (determined by power levels), the mobile stations will become paired on the same channel in a manner to reduce interference between them. In one embodiment, this intelligent assignment is accomplished by assigning mobile stations in one cell such that the mobile station having the strongest signal is assigned channel A while in the interfering cell the mobile station with the weakest signal is assigned to channel A. In another embodiment, certain preferred mobile stations are assigned either interference-free channels or channels paired with weak interference mobile stations.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

determining a strength of a signal at a base station, the signal being received wirelessly from a mobile station;
determining whether the mobile station has a preferred status that allows the mobile station to be assigned to a reserved wireless channel in a first subset of wireless channels based on a preference assignment;
responsive to a determination that the mobile station does not have the preferred status:
determining a position in an ordering of the wireless channels based on signal strength;
and
assigning a wireless channel that corresponds to the determined position to the mobile station, the wireless channel being formed by a set of OFDMA subcarriers for a predetermined period of time;
reserving the first subset of the wireless channels for a first set of mobile stations in a first cell that have preferred statuses, the first subset of the wireless channels having a restricted assignment status in a second cell;
causing a second subset of the wireless channels to remain vacant by restricting an assignment status of the second subset of the wireless channels in the first cell;
and
assigning a third subset of the wireless channels to a second set of mobile stations in the first cell based on signal strength.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/197,151Filed 3 Aug 2011 · continuation
Priority: 30 Jun 2005
Published: US 2011/0286351 A124 Nov 2011
Granted: 25 Nov 2014
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

H04W 72/541
Based on quality criteria: using the level of interference
H04J 11/003
Of multi-user interference: at the transmitter
H04J 11/0056
Of intercell interference: inter-base station aspects
H04L 5/0007
Time-frequency: the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM or DMT

Family

Application11/172,604Parent of this continuation · filed 30 Jun 2005
Application11/777,801Parent of this continuation · filed 13 Jul 2007
US 2011/0286351 A1Pre-grant publication · published 24 Nov 2011
US 8,010,118 B2Parent of this continuation
US 7,257,376 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2007/0004420 A1Published application
US 2008/0009301 A1Published application
US 8,897,796 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.