Directional channel measurement and interference avoidance
AssigneeMarvell International Ltd.
InventorsYong Liu, Raja Banerjea, Hongyuan Zhang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method in a communication network including a communication channel includes generating a first message, where the first message includes a field indicative of a direction along which a quality of the communication channel is to be measured, causing the first message to be transmitted to a target device, and receiving a second message responsive to the first message, where the second message includes at least one channel quality metric.
Claims16
A method in a communication network including a communication channel between a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the second communication device includes multiple antennas and is configured to implement receive beamforming using the multiple antennas, the method comprising:
- receiving, at the first communication device and from the second communication device, an indication that a beamformed link of the communication channel associated with the second communication device is broken;
- generating, at the first communication device and in response to the received indication, a first message requesting the second communication device to make a plurality of directional measurements regarding a quality of the communication channel, wherein each directional measurement is to be made by the second communication device i) in a different one of a plurality of directions from the standpoint of the second communication device by applying a respective different receive beamforming vector and ii) while the second communication device is not receiving a signal from the first communication device and intended for the second communication device in response to the indication;
- causing the first message to be transmitted from the first communication device to the second communication device;
- and
- receiving, at the first communication device, a second message responsive to the first message, wherein the second message includes at least one channel quality metric corresponding to the plurality of directional measurements made by the second communication device using receive beamforming.
A method in a communication network including a communication channel between a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device includes multiple antennas and is configured to implement receive beamforming using the multiple antennas, the method comprising:
- determining, at the first communication device, that a receive beamformed link on the communication channel and to the first communication device is broken;
- generating, at the first communication device, a first message having an indication that the receive beamformed link is broken;
- causing the first message to be transmitted to the second device;
- receiving, at the first communication device, a second message from the second communication device, wherein the second message indicates a request to make a plurality of directional measurements, using receive beamforming, regarding a quality of the communication channel;
- making the plurality of directional measurements, with the first communication device, i) in a plurality of different directions from the standpoint of the first communication device by applying, for each direction, a respective different receive beamforming vector, and ii) while the first communication device is not receiving a signal from the first communication device and intended for the second communication device in response to the indication;
- generating, with the first communication device, one or more channel quality metrics based on the plurality of directional measurements;
- and
- generating, with the first communication device, a third message to be transmitted to the second communication device, wherein the third message includes at least one of the one or more channel quality metrics.
An apparatus comprising:
- a frame controller to generate communication frames to be transmitted from a first communication device to a second communication device, wherein the second communication device includes multiple antennas and is configured to implement receive beamforming using the multiple antennas of the second communication device;
- and
- a directional measurement controller to cause the frame controller to generate, in response to a received indication that a beamformed link associated with the second communication device is broken, a communication frame that includes a field indicative of a request for the second communication device to make a plurality of directional measurements regarding a quality of a communication channel between the first communication device and the second communication device, wherein each directional measurement is to be made by the second communication device i) in a different one of a plurality of directions from the standpoint of the second communication device by applying a respective different receive beamforming vector, and ii) while the second communication device is not receiving a signal from the first communication device and intended for the second communication device in response to the indication.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.