Device-Assisted Interference Management in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
In heterogeneous wireless network environments, the coordination between access points and mobile stations is inadequate, leading to unmanaged interference that reduces the effectiveness of smaller cells and increases interference levels, despite efforts to improve signal quality through smaller cell deployments.
Innovation Solution
Device-assisted interference management is implemented, where mobile stations assist serving access points in assigning and granting radio resources based on interference management capabilities, minimizing residual interference by identifying and mitigating dominant interferers through advanced radio resource assignments and grants, and establishing secure tunnels for inter-AP communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If smaller cells are deployed to increase wireless capacity and improve signal quality, then the signal level is improved, but inter-cell interference increases due to coverage overlap
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of cell size by deploying smaller micro-cells and pico-cells instead of traditional macro-cells. This parameter change increases wireless capacity and signal quality while the patent addresses the resulting interference through coordination mechanisms and advanced reception techniques at the mobile station
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile station acts as an intermediary that receives signals from multiple access points simultaneously. By equipping the mobile station with advanced reception capabilities including interference cancellation and coordination functions, it can process and separate signals from overlapping cells, thereby managing the interference generated by smaller cell deployments
2Reliability
If a centralized network model is used to coordinate transmission and reception, then control is improved, but coordination between access points in heterogeneous environments deteriorates due to lack of global view
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the coordination function by distributing intelligence from a centralized controller to individual access points and mobile stations. Each access point can independently perform coordination functions with neighboring cells, and mobile stations can perform interference cancellation without requiring a single global controller, thus maintaining reliability while adapting to heterogeneous environments
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the network control the user equipment (dumb user equipment model), the patent inverts the relationship by enabling the mobile station to perform advanced reception and interference cancellation functions. This allows the user equipment to actively participate in coordination and interference management, compensating for the lack of centralized global view
Data Source
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AI summary
Devices and methods are provided for device-assisted interference management in heterogeneous wireless network environments. A mobile station (MS) assists a serving access point (AP) in assigning radio resources according to the interference management capabilities of the MS, the serving AP, and one or more neighboring interfering APs on the downlink, or alternatively, to one or more neighboring APs with interfering mobile stations on the uplink.