Dynamic Antenna Reference Signal Transmission for Interference Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cellular-wireless access technologies, particularly 4G systems, experience performance degradation due to control channel interference between neighboring cell sites, which use the same frequency bands and have overlapping coverage areas, leading to increased interference and power consumption.
Innovation Solution
A method where a cell site dynamically activates and de-activates antennas based on network conditions, such as data traffic load, to selectively transmit reference signals, reducing interference by using a subset of antennas only when necessary and conserving power by minimizing continuous transmission across all antennas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all antennas continuously transmit reference signals to maintain coverage and enable mobile device identification, then network coverage and reliability are improved, but control channel interference between neighboring cell sites increases and power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic antenna activation where the cell site adapts its transmission configuration based on real-time network conditions. Mobile devices send feedback indicating their camping status (camped or non-camped), and the cell site responds by selectively activating or deactivating antennas. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to maintain reliability when needed while reducing interference during low-traffic periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different transmission states to different antennas based on local network conditions. Instead of uniformly transmitting from all antennas, the system identifies specific antennas that require activation based on which mobile devices are camped versus non-camped. This localized approach ensures coverage for active users while minimizing unnecessary transmissions from other antennas, thereby reducing control channel interference.
2Reliability
If all antennas continuously transmit reference signals to maintain network operation, then network coverage is maintained, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic evaluation of network conditions through mobile device feedback mechanisms. Mobile devices periodically report their camping status, and the cell site periodically adjusts antenna activation states based on these reports. This periodic action allows the system to maintain coverage when necessary while conserving power during periods when fewer antennas are needed, optimizing the balance between reliability and energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent temporarily deactivates antennas when they are not currently needed for serving camped mobile devices, and reactivates them when needed. This discarding and recovering approach allows the system to conserve power by turning off unnecessary transmission while maintaining the capability to quickly restore full coverage when network conditions change and additional antennas are required.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If a subset of antennas is activated to reduce interference and power consumption, then control channel interference and power consumption are reduced, but data throughput may be limited when multiple antennas are needed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dynamically adjusts the number of active antennas based on real-time network conditions and mobile device feedback. When mobile devices report being non-camped or when traffic load increases, the system activates additional antennas to restore full MIMO capability and maximize data throughput. This dynamic scaling ensures the system maintains optimal performance for both interference reduction and high-speed data transmission as conditions require.
Data Source
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AI summary
The techniques described herein manage the transmission of reference signals on associated antennas of a cell site based on network conditions (e.g., the load of user data being transmitted via down-link (DL) transmissions). A reference signal includes control channel information that mobile devices are able to use to identify a particular cell and/or determine whether the particular cell is suitable for "camping" or "idling". The techniques are configured to dynamically activate and/or de-activate various ones of multiple antennas, so that an inactive antenna does not broadcast reference signals. Rather, the techniques described herein configure a subset (e.g., one antenna) of a larger set of antennas (e.g., two antennas or four antennas) of a cell site to transmit reference signals so that the likelihood of control channel interference between neighboring cell sites is reduced.