Spatial Interference Metric Aggregation in 5G User Equipment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless communication systems, particularly in 5G NR, face challenges in accurately measuring and reporting interference, as interference levels can vary significantly across different antennas and over time due to factors like beamforming and dynamic TDD.
Innovation Solution
A method where a device measures interference metrics at multiple antennas and/or over multiple time instances, generates an overall interference metric by calculating averages, medians, variances, or other suitable metrics, and transmits this metric to a base station to inform modulation and coding scheme adjustments and transmission scheduling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If interference is measured at a single antenna, then the measurement process is simple, but the interference metric does not accurately represent overall interference conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines interference measurements from multiple antennas into a single overall interference metric. The device measures interference at each antenna individually, then merges these measurements by calculating an average value to produce a comprehensive interference metric that represents the overall interference conditions across all antennas, resolving the contradiction between measurement accuracy and process complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from single-antenna interference measurement to multi-antenna interference measurement by adding the spatial dimension. Instead of measuring interference at only one antenna location, the system measures interference across multiple antenna elements in the spatial domain, then aggregates these measurements to achieve more accurate overall interference representation.
2Reliability
If beamforming is used to improve signal directionality, then signal quality improves, but interference becomes highly variable across different antennas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges interference measurements from multiple antennas affected by beamforming into a single average interference metric. By combining the measurements from all antenna elements, the system obtains a representative overall interference value that accounts for the spatial variability introduced by beamforming, enabling reliable signal quality assessment despite interference inconsistencies across individual antennas.
3Measurement precision
If interference measurements are taken at multiple antennas, then overall interference representation improves, but processing and reporting complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple antenna-specific interference measurements into a single averaged overall interference metric. This consolidation reduces the complexity of processing and reporting by producing one comprehensive value that represents the interference conditions across all antennas, rather than requiring separate processing for each antenna measurement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential interference information from multiple antenna measurements by calculating an average value. This extraction process isolates the key characteristic (overall interference level) from the detailed individual antenna measurements, simplifying the data that needs to be processed and reported while retaining the critical information needed for communication decisions.
Data Source
AI summary
An interference metric measured at a specific antenna may differ from interference metrics at different antennas. As a result, any actions based on the interference metric may unduly be influenced by such difference. In some implementations, an apparatus or device reports an overall interference metric that accounts for spatial variations in interference metrics at different antennas. An example method includes measuring, by a user equipment, an interference metric at each antenna of two or more antennas for wireless signals transmitted by a base station, generating an overall interference metric based on the interference metrics for the two or more antennas, and transmitting, by the user equipment, the overall interference metric to the base station.