Mobile Device Cluster Formation via Channel Quality Indicators
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication systems lack mechanisms for effectively identifying and coordinating mobile devices to form virtual MIMO clusters for spatial diversity, as controller nodes are unaware of factors influencing mobile device participation and interference levels.
Innovation Solution
A method where a controller node identifies a primary mobile device with a scheduled transmission and selects eligible assistant devices based on channel quality indicators and interference information to form a cluster set, enabling these devices to retransmit signals to improve communication reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mobile devices are coordinated to form virtual MIMO clusters for spatial diversity, then signal reception quality and communication reliability are improved, but controller node complexity and coordination overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
Mobile devices autonomously determine their eligibility to participate in cluster sets by evaluating their own channel conditions, interference levels, and availability status without requiring the controller node to collect and process detailed information from each device. The devices self-organize into clusters based on pre-defined criteria, eliminating complex coordination overhead while achieving spatial diversity gains
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses channel quality indicators (CQIs) and interference measurements as dynamic parameters to automatically adjust cluster formation and device eligibility. By monitoring these parameters and comparing them against thresholds, the system adapts cluster configurations in response to changing wireless conditions without requiring complex controller intervention
2Measurement precision
If the controller node collects information from all mobile devices to identify cluster sets, then accurate cluster determination is achieved, but bandwidth consumption and signaling overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring all mobile devices to report their status to the controller node, the system enables each device to locally evaluate its own eligibility criteria including channel quality, interference level, and availability. Only devices that meet the eligibility thresholds generate cluster determination information, significantly reducing the quantity of data that needs to be transmitted over the air interface while maintaining accurate cluster formation
3Productivity
If more mobile devices are included in cluster sets for retransmissions, then signal strength and throughput are improved, but interference with neighboring controller nodes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates interference level measurements as a feedback parameter in the cluster determination process. Each mobile device measures the interference it would cause to neighboring controller nodes and compares this against predefined thresholds. The controller node receives this interference information and uses it to adjust cluster formations, ensuring that devices are only included in clusters when their retransmission activities remain below harmful interference levels, thus maintaining system-wide throughput while controlling interference
Data Source
AI summary
Mechanisms for determining a cluster set of mobile devices are disclosed. A controller node (12A) identifies a primary mobile device (14-7) that has a scheduled transmission for the controller node at a first time. The controller node identifies, from a plurality of mobile devices (14-1...14-6), a set of eligible assistant, EA, mobile devices (14-3...14-6). Each EA mobile device in the set is directed to determine a corresponding mobile device-to-mobile device, MD-MD, channel indicator that identifies a quality of a channel between the each EA mobile device and the primary mobile device. The controller node receives from at least one EA mobile device in the set the corresponding MD-MD channel indicator. The controller node then determines a cluster set that includes the primary mobile device and the at least one EA mobile device.