Wireless Signal Quality Measurement Excluding Interfering Neighbors

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Solution Overview

Problem

In wireless communication networks, especially in dominant interference scenarios, existing techniques struggle to accurately measure receive signal quality due to interference from neighboring base stations, leading to suboptimal resource allocation and interference coordination.

Innovation Solution

The method involves determining a set of protected resources allocated to a base station by restricting transmissions from neighboring cells and excluding received power measurements from interfering neighbor cells when calculating receive signal quality measurements, thereby isolating the signal quality from interfering signals.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If received power measurements from all neighbor cells are included when calculating receive signal quality, then the measurement process is simple, but the measurement accuracy deteriorates due to interference from neighboring base stations

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereceive signal quality measurement accuracyVSAvoidmeasurement process complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the set of neighbor cells into two distinct groups: protected cells (whose transmissions are restricted during measurement resources) and non-protected cells (whose transmissions are not restricted). This segmentation allows the UE to selectively include or exclude specific cells based on their transmission status, thereby improving measurement accuracy by excluding interfering cells while maintaining a manageable measurement process through clear categorization rules.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local quality by treating different neighbor cells differently based on their interference characteristics. Protected cells are excluded from receive signal quality measurements when their transmissions are restricted, while non-protected cells are included. This differentiated treatment ensures that measurements reflect actual signal quality conditions without being corrupted by known interfering transmissions, resolving the contradiction between measurement simplicity and accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Measurement precision

If transmissions from all neighbor cells are allowed during measurement resources, then the network operation is simple, but the receive signal quality measurement accuracy deteriorates due to interference

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereceive signal quality measurement accuracyVSAvoidnetwork resource utilization
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary anti-action by proactively restricting transmissions from protected neighbor cells during designated measurement resources before the measurements are taken. This advance restriction prevents interference from occurring in the first place, ensuring accurate receive signal quality measurements without requiring complex post-measurement correction procedures. The network schedules these restricted transmission periods in advance, maintaining overall network productivity while enabling accurate measurements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

3Measurement precision

If received power measurements from interfering neighbor cells are excluded when calculating receive signal quality, then the measurement accuracy improves, but the calculation complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereceive signal quality measurement accuracyVSAvoidcalculation process complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by having the network configure and indicate to the UE in advance which neighbor cells are protected and should be excluded from measurements. This configuration is provided through RRC signaling before the actual measurements are performed. By preparing this information beforehand, the UE can efficiently exclude the correct cells during measurement calculations without requiring complex real-time analysis of interference sources, thus improving accuracy while keeping the calculation process manageable.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP2559284B1Measurement of received power and received quality in a wireless communication network
Publication Date: 2019.01.02 QUALCOMM INC
  • EP2559284B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2559284B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2559284B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatuses for wireless communications. According to certain aspects, a set of protected resources, allocated to a base station of a first cell, that are protected by restricting transmissions of a second cell is determined and received power of a first reference signal from the base station in the set of resources is measured. According to certain aspects, a subset of one or more neighbor base stations that have reduced interference in a set of protected resources is determined and received power measurements for the subset of neighbor cells is excluded when calculating receive signal quality measurements for the subframe.