HK1152441B - Virtual scheduling in heterogeneous networks - Google Patents

Description

Virtual scheduling in heterogeneous networks

Claiming priority based on 35U.S.C § 119

This patent application claims priority from U.S. provisional application No.61/025,515 entitled "SCHEDULINGMETHOD AND APPARATUS IN a communiation NETWORK," filed on 1/2/2008, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application AND is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Reference to copending patent applications

This patent application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application "VIRTUAL SCHEDULING IN HETEROGENEOUS NETWORKS" filed by Tingfang Ji, having attorney docket No.080738U1 and filed concurrently herewith, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The following relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to resource scheduling for wireless communications.

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice content, data content, and so on. A typical wireless communication system may be a multiple-access system capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems may include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, and the like.

Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Each mobile device may communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to mobile devices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from mobile devices to base stations. Moreover, communications between mobile devices and base stations can be established over single-input single-output (SISO) systems, multiple-input single-output (MISO) systems, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and so forth.

MIMO systems employing multiple (N)_TMultiple) transmitting antenna and multiple (N)_RAnd) receiving antennas for data transmission. May be composed of N_TA transmitting antenna and N_RMIMO channel decomposition into N_SIndividual channels, also called spatial channels, in which N_S≤min{N_T，N_R}。N_SEach of the individual channels corresponds to a dimension. MIMO systems may provide improved performance (e.g., higher throughput and/or higher reliability) if the additional dimensionalities created by the multiple transmit and receive antennas are utilized.

Wireless messages are typically subdivided in time, frequency, or according to coding, etc. to communicate information. For example, the forward link message includes at least one time segment (e.g., time slots of various lengths of time, superframes, etc.) divided into one or more preambles and several time sub-segments (e.g., sub-slots, time frames). The preamble carries acquisition and control information, while various other time frames carry traffic, such as voice information associated with a voice call, data packets associated with a data call or data session, and so on. Mobile terminals within a given mobile network cell may use the acquisition information to identify the transmitting base station within the sector. The control channel information provides commands and other instructions for decoding the received signal.

In various mobile communication systems (e.g., ultra mobile broadband [ UMB ], third generation partnership project [3GPP ] long term evolution [ LTE-or LTE only ]), a preamble or similar structure may carry similar information or different information as described above. For example, the preamble in some systems may carry synchronization or acquisition pilots to identify the remote transmitter and establish timing for the decoding function. In addition, the preamble may carry control information that enables the remote terminal to search for cells at power-on and to determine cell initial parameters necessary to make handover decisions, establish communication with the network, and demodulate non-control channels. Other functions may include defining the format of the traffic channel for some wireless systems. In general, the preamble is set apart from the traffic-related part of the wireless signal to help distinguish application-related information from control information at the receiver. Thus, the receiver can monitor the control portion to identify whether the signal contains traffic associated with the receiving device, without having to monitor the traffic portion itself. Because the control portion is typically only a small portion of the overall signal, the receiver device can significantly reduce processing requirements and power consumption by monitoring the preamble of the signal to determine whether the signal contains relevant information. Thus, by using a control channel for wireless signaling, more efficient communication can be achieved, as well as improved mobility via extending the battery life of the mobile device.

In a planned deployment of radio access networks, transmissions by access points (e.g., base stations) and access terminals may generate over-the-air signal interference. For example, access points or access terminals in neighboring cells may cause interference within a particular cell. Typically, planned deployments are managed by setting up base stations according to transmission power and expected interference. However, interference may still exist between transmitters, especially when the device uses high power transmissions. To reduce interference, an interference reduction signal may be used within the access network. A base station receiving an interference reduction signal may reduce its transmit power or reduce the transmit power of an Access Terminal (AT) served by the base station. However, in the presence of unplanned or semi-planned wireless access point deployments, additional interference reduction mechanisms may be helpful for reducing interference from transmitters whose locations or transmit powers are not precisely known by the access network.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The present disclosure provides for virtual management of radio resources in a mobile communication environment. An Access Terminal (AT) in a communication environment may maintain a connection with a nearby network transmitter and report factors related to wireless scheduling to a central entity, such as a macro base station. The macro base station may use the factors in improving wireless communication for other serving cells that are within or close to a macro coverage area served by the macro base station. Significant interference reduction can be achieved for macro coverage areas or nearby coverage areas by maintaining information related to prevailing radio conditions for transmissions within the cell, quality of service (QoS) requirements, pilot signal reporting, mobility management considerations, and the like.

According to other aspects of the disclosure, an AT may be configured to monitor wireless transmissions of a plurality of network Access Points (APs) within range of the AT. In particular, the AT may monitor a control channel or acquire a pilot signal of a cell serving the AT. In some aspects, data related to interference management for a serving cell is packaged into a source report message and provided to a macro base station. The AT may also obtain a Network Allocation Block (NAB) message from the macro base station. The NAB may be based on considerations of channel quality conditions, expected interference, transmission strength, QoS, etc. in the serving cell and neighboring cells of the wireless network (reported to the macro base station by the ATs in these neighboring cells). Accordingly, the NAB may provide improved communication for the serving cell and the neighboring cells based on management of radio conditions and traffic conditions of these cells.

In other aspects, the present disclosure provides virtual scheduling of multi-antenna communications. Such communications may include multiple-input (MI) -including multiple-input single-output (MISO), multiple-output (MO) -including single-input multiple-output (SIMO), or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications. For example, an AT may implement multi-antenna communication by cooperating with one or more other ATs (e.g., via peer-to-peer links), wireless relay devices or repeaters, or with neighboring cells. As discussed above, by using the radio conditions and traffic QoS requirements of nearby cells, the base station may provide the transmit or receive parameters (e.g., timing parameters, transmit power parameters, decoding parameters, filtering parameters, channel estimation parameters, etc.) involved with multi-antenna communications. Accordingly, based on knowledge of such conditions and needs, multi-antenna communications may result in improved interference mitigation and potentially improved beamforming gain. This result may be particularly advantageous, for example, in a heterogeneous AP environment, where a macro base station or serving cell may not have reliable or sufficient information regarding surrounding cells.

In at least one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication in a wireless network is provided. The method may include: scheduling code for an Access Terminal (AT) of a wireless network is executed using a set of processors, where a processor is associated with a non-serving Access Point (AP) for the AT in the wireless network. The instructions may be executable to cause a processor to: the AT is assigned uplink communications and the uplink communications assignment is specified in a scheduling message. Additionally, the instructions can be executable to cause the processor to initiate transmission of a scheduling message to the AT or a cell serving the AT. Further, the method may include storing the scheduling code in a memory.

In one or more other aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication in a wireless network is disclosed. The apparatus may include: a processor configured to execute centralized uplink scheduling codes for a wireless network. Further, the uplink scheduling code may cause the processor to: allocating uplink communications for an AT of the wireless network, wherein the apparatus is associated with a non-serving AP with respect to the AT; and encoding the uplink allocation into a scheduling message. Additionally, the apparatus may include: a transmitter that forwards the scheduling message OTA to a cell serving the AT.

In other aspects of the disclosure, an apparatus for wireless communication in a wireless network is provided. The apparatus may include: means for allocating uplink communications for ATs of the wireless network using a set of processors; the apparatus is associated with a non-serving cell in the wireless network with respect to the AT. Additionally, the processing instructions may include means for specifying the uplink communication allocation in a scheduling message. Further, the apparatus can include means for initiating transmission of the scheduling message to the AT or a cell serving the AT.

In other aspects, at least one processor configured for wireless communication in a wireless network is disclosed. The processor may include: a first module for allocating uplink communications for an AT of the wireless network, wherein the processor is associated with a non-serving cell of the wireless network. The processor may further include: a second module for specifying the uplink communication assignment in a scheduling message. Further, the processor may include: a third module for initiating transmission of the scheduling message to the AT or a cell serving the AT.

According to one or more additional aspects, a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium may include: a first set of codes causes a computer to allocate uplink communications for an AT of a wireless network, wherein the computer is associated with a non-serving cell of the wireless network. Additionally, the computer-readable medium may include: a second set of codes for causing the computer to specify the uplink communication allocation in a scheduling message. Additionally, the computer-readable medium can comprise a third set of codes for causing the computer to initiate transmission of the scheduling message to the AT or a cell serving the AT.

Further, a method of facilitating wireless communication in a wireless network is disclosed. The method may include: analyzing, using at least one processor, respective wireless signals of a serving base station and a non-serving wireless device within the wireless network. Further, the method may include: obtaining a scheduling message including an uplink communication assignment from the non-serving wireless device using at least one antenna. The method may further comprise: facilitating the uplink allocation within a serving cell of the wireless network, wherein the serving cell is identified in the scheduling message.

In other aspects of the disclosure, an apparatus that facilitates wireless communication in a wireless network is provided. The apparatus may include: at least one processor that analyzes respective wireless signals of a serving base station and a non-serving wireless device within the wireless network. Further, the apparatus may include: at least one antenna for transmitting and receiving wireless data, the antenna obtaining a scheduling message including an uplink communication assignment from the non-serving wireless device. Further, the apparatus may include: a reporting module that facilitates uplink scheduling for an AT indication of the serving base station if the scheduling message corresponds to the serving base station.

In one or more other aspects, an apparatus that facilitates wireless communication in a wireless network is disclosed. The apparatus may include: means for analyzing, using at least one processor, respective wireless signals of a serving base station and a non-serving wireless device within the wireless network. The apparatus may further include: means for obtaining a scheduling message including an uplink communication assignment from the non-serving wireless device using at least one antenna. Further, the apparatus may include: means for facilitating the uplink allocation within a serving cell of the wireless network, wherein the serving cell is identified in the scheduling message.

According to other aspects, at least one processor configured to facilitate wireless communication in a wireless network is disclosed. The processor may include: a first module for analyzing respective wireless signals of a serving base station and a non-serving wireless device within the wireless network. Further, the processor may include: a second module for obtaining a scheduling message including an uplink communication assignment from the non-serving wireless device. In addition to the above, the processor may include: a third module that facilitates the uplink allocation within a serving cell of the wireless network, wherein the serving cell is identified in the scheduling message.

In at least one other aspect of the disclosure, a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium may include: a first set of codes causes a computer to analyze respective wireless signals of a serving base station and a non-serving wireless device within the wireless network. Further, the computer-readable medium may include: a second set of codes for causing the computer to obtain a scheduling message from the non-serving wireless device that includes an uplink communication assignment. Further, the computer-readable medium may include: a third set of codes for causing the computer to facilitate the uplink allocation within a serving cell of the wireless network, wherein the serving cell is identified in the scheduling message.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects of the one or more aspects. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed and the described aspects are intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that provides virtual scheduling in a heterogeneous network in accordance with aspects disclosed herein.

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of an exemplary system for providing radio conditions of neighboring cells of a network to a public base station.

Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that facilitates providing virtual scheduling to facilitate improved wireless communication.

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that provides virtual scheduling for distributed multi-antenna communication, in accordance with other aspects.

Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that includes a base station configured to facilitate virtual scheduling in a heterogeneous network.

Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that includes an AT configured to facilitate virtual scheduling in accordance with some aspects of the disclosure.

Fig. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for providing virtual scheduling in a heterogeneous network, in accordance with other aspects.

Fig. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method that in other aspects facilitates improved wireless communication in accordance with virtual scheduling.

Fig. 9 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for employing virtual scheduling for multi-antenna communication in a heterogeneous network.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of an example methodology that facilitates virtual scheduling in a heterogeneous network in accordance with further disclosed aspects.

Fig. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of an example methodology that facilitates virtual scheduling and multi-antenna communication in a heterogeneous network.

Fig. 12 and 13 illustrate block diagrams of providing and facilitating virtual scheduling in a heterogeneous network, respectively.

Fig. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example apparatus for wireless communication.

Fig. 15 illustrates a block diagram of an example mobile communication environment in accordance with some aspects of the disclosure.

Fig. 16 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary cellular communication environment in accordance with further aspects of the disclosure.

Detailed Description

Various aspects are now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects. It may be evident, however, that such aspect(s) may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing one or more aspects.

Further, various aspects of the disclosure are described below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure and/or function disclosed herein is merely representative. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein that aspects disclosed herein may be implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, an apparatus may be implemented and/or a method practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. Further, an apparatus may be implemented and/or a method practiced using other structure and/or functionality in addition to or other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. As AN example, various methods, devices, systems and apparatus described herein are described in the context of virtually implementing inter-sector interference avoidance for a heterogeneous mobile Access Network (AN). It should be clear to those skilled in the art that similar techniques can be applied to other communication environments.

As used in this disclosure, the term heterogeneous network refers to a network that includes different types of base stations deployed within a common or similar bandwidth. Different types of base stations may be classified according to different transmit powers, different association types, whether the base station is interconnected with a backhaul connection (e.g., a relay base station), or the like, or a combination thereof. An example of different transmit powers is: a typical macro base station transmitting up to 50 watts is compared to a typical pico base station transmitting at 1 watt. Base stations with different association types may include a universal access base station that provides network access to most or all wireless terminals with appropriate subscriptions as compared to a restricted access base station that provides network connectivity to only a limited subset of terminals with subscriptions.

Wireless communication systems enable the exchange of information between wireless nodes by employing various signaling mechanisms. In one example, a base station can be utilized to transmit a pilot signal that is used at least to establish a timing sequence and to identify a signal source and a network associated with the signal source. A remote wireless node, such as a User Terminal (UT) or Access Terminal (AT), may decode the pilot signal to obtain the information needed to establish basic communication with the base station. Additional data, such as radio frequencies or sets of frequencies, time slots, symbol codes, etc., may be communicated in control signals transmitted from the base station. The data may be used to establish radio resources over which traffic data carrying user information, such as voice communications or data communications, may be communicated between the base station and the UT.

One major problem in such systems is interference between wireless transmissions of nearby wireless nodes. Interference may degrade reception quality, slow throughput, or, when severe, render communications ineffective. Accordingly, planned base station deployments are ideal, as wireless nodes can be placed at suitable distances to mitigate interference. For example, the distance may be determined based on the combined transmission range of two such nodes (e.g., measured within a certain decibel [ dB ] level). Additionally, beamforming techniques may be used to reduce interference in a particular direction with respect to a node.

In dense or semi-planned/unplanned wireless deployments, interference of the Forward Link (FL) and Reverse Link (RL) within one cell may be controlled by wireless Access Points (APs) and ATs within neighboring cells, respectively. Furthermore, in heterogeneous wireless ANs, relatively low power nodes may be present within range of relatively high power nodes, which exacerbates the interference problem. To illustrate, an AP typically transmits at a power associated with the geographic area covered by the AP. Such geographical areas may be referred to as cells, which may vary in size. For example, a macro cell may be larger than a micro cell, pico cell, femto cell, etc. Therefore, a wireless AP serving a macro cell typically transmits at a higher power than an AP serving a micro, pico, or femto cell. For a planned network, APs are placed at appropriate distances from each other to mitigate interference. In the case where the placement of the APs is only semi-planned or unplanned, severe interference may be generated within the cells served by neighboring APs. A simple example is: the transmission of a high power macrocell AP can cause severe interference to lower power APs that are close to the macrocell. However, the opposite is also true. For example, if a terminal served by a macro cell is also close to a pico cell, the pico cell can be a serious source of interference to the macro cell. Furthermore, restricted associated APs (e.g., private femtocell APs) may exacerbate this problem. If a terminal is very close to a restricted AP and the terminal is not allowed to connect to the AP, the restricted AP may cause severe interference to the terminal, especially if the nearest general access AP is far away from the terminal.

To reduce interference in wireless networks (including, e.g., semi-planned/unplanned networks or heterogeneous access type networks), the present disclosure relates to aggregating radio conditions of nearby cells at a common network node. To facilitate such aggregation, an AT may be configured to maintain wireless links with multiple nodes and submit information from one node (e.g., a serving node) to a common node. Such an arrangement may be particularly useful in semi-planned or unplanned deployments, where the network may not have all or reliable information related to the deployment of all neighboring nodes. As an example, various owners may typically place owner-deployed femto nodes independently with little or no network operator information. Accordingly, the network may have information related to the deployment of some nodes (e.g., other macro nodes, or operator-deployed micro, pico, or femto deployed nodes), but not other nodes. However, by monitoring the wireless signals of nearby nodes, the ATs within the cell may help fill some gaps. As used herein, a serving node or AP refers to an access point that provides traffic services (e.g., voice, HTTP, FTP, etc.) to an AT or establishes a control link for an AT, etc.

Wireless communications of a wireless AN can be classified as forward link communications (e.g., communications from AN AP to AN AT) and reverse link communications (e.g., communications from AN AT to AN AP). On the forward link, the AT may experience interference from neighboring APs in neighboring cells. For example, signals received AT the AT from the serving AP may be intermixed with signals received from neighboring APs. In the case where the neighboring AP is a higher power transmitter (e.g., a macrocell AP) than the serving AP (e.g., a picocell AP), forward link interference can severely degrade the wireless communications of the AT. Accordingly, management of signal strength and/or channel resources may provide significant benefits to ATs served by lower power wireless APs.

As a specific example of the foregoing, it may be beneficial for an AT to select an AP with a small path loss as the serving AP. This can occur because: at a given distance from the transmitting AP, a low path loss signal loses less energy and can be received at the receiver with higher power than a high path loss signal traveling over the same distance. Thus, the transmitting AP can transmit low path loss signals using lower power and still achieve similar performance at the receiver. On average, transmitting AT lower power will cause less interference to the network, which is equally beneficial to the AP and the AT. Despite these advantages of low path loss, the selected AP may have much lower transmit power than a far higher path loss AP that transmits at much higher power. In this case, the signal from the low path loss AP may be much weaker than the high path loss AP signal when received AT the AT, which creates high interference. In an alternative scenario, a wireless AP with strong forward link signal strength may be a private AP that does not recognize the AT. Such an AP may deny the AT access to a back-end network (e.g., a mobile communications network, the internet, etc.). In this case, the AT may be forced to connect to a distant wireless AP that has a much weaker signal when received AT the AT.

To mitigate inter-cell interference problems, a public AP (which may include a macro base station, but may also include other APs, such as micro base stations, pico base stations, or even femto base stations in some cases, such as when femto base stations have access to network resources) may provide coordinated scheduling between neighboring cells within a particular coverage area served by the public AP. The public AP may use network information uploaded to the network by various APs within the coverage area, as well as information reported to the public AP by one or more ATs within or near the coverage area. From an interference perspective, the information may include transmit power for FL or RL transmissions, as well as prevailing FL or RL interference conditions (broadcast by the AP or calculated AT the AT, respectively). Further, the information may include QoS commitments for individual FL or RL data flows as reported by wireless nodes within or near the coverage area. In AT least one aspect, the information may also include mobility management information, such as an active set of APs maintained by the AT.

Based on the information submitted by the network and the ATs, the common AP may determine an appropriate wireless transmission schedule for the APs and ATs within or near the coverage area. The scheduling may include transmit power for each transmission based on the dominant interference level. Additionally, the scheduling may specify one or more wireless signal resources (e.g., time slots and frequency subbands or suitable portions thereof, orthogonal frequency division multiple access [ OFDM ] symbols, code division multiple access [ CDMA ] codes, or a combination thereof) for each transmission. In AT least one aspect of the disclosure, the schedule may include network-indicated mobility instructions, e.g., instructing the AT to switch to a neighboring AP or adding a neighboring AP to the active mobility set.

In addition to the above, the wireless transmission schedule may establish priority levels for various transmission schedules. For example, the priority may be based on QoS agreements for different types of traffic, different types of wireless subscription services, and so on. The receiving AP or AT may use the priority to determine whether to comply with, modify, or ignore the scheduling provided by the public AP. Such a determination may be based on the respective priority of the traffic being managed by the AP or AT, as well as the existence of conflicts in priority, current interference level, QoS contract, traffic type, etc.

The wireless transmission schedule determined by the common AP may be packaged into a scheduling message that may provide uplink (or RL) or downlink (or FL) scheduling for APs and ATs in a particular coverage area of the common AP. The scheduling message may specify a transmission resource (e.g., time slot, frequency, symbol, coding of wireless signals) spatial multiplexing mode, transmit diversity mode, antenna coefficients, transmit power, modulation and coding scheme, etc., for one or more wireless nodes and for uplink or downlink communications. In some aspects of the disclosure, the scheduling message may comprise a Network Allocation Block (NAB) message (e.g., similar to a NAB employed in a code division multiple access [ CDMA ] network). It should be clear, however, that the transmission route for NAB or scheduling messages need not be pre-established from source to destination prior to transmission. Instead, the scheduling message/NAB is routed by the receiving node or sequence of such nodes (e.g., ATs or wireless repeaters within the coverage area) to one or more target nodes in real-time based on the serving or interfering cell ID specified in the message, or based on the ID of the AT or ATs to which the message is directed, or a combination thereof. Where the term NAB is used in the specification and the appended claims, it is to be understood that NAB refers to generic scheduling messages that follow the above attributes, and not necessarily to CDMANAB having a pre-established path route prior to NAB transmission, although generic scheduling information may include an explanation of the latter where appropriate.

Once the NAB is generated, it may be forwarded to nodes within or near the coverage area served by the public AP. In one aspect of the disclosure, a public AP may transmit NABs to other APs using a backhaul network. In other aspects, NABs may be routed over-the-air (OTA) to other APs via one or more ATs or wireless relay devices within or near the coverage area. For example, OTA routing would be beneficial in the absence of a backhaul connection, or in the case of a backhaul with relatively small throughput. In other aspects, the NAB may be sent directly to the AT via a unicast message for implementation by the AT or for forwarding to the AP serving the AT.

Further, the NAB may specify the identity of the node for which scheduling is intended. Such identification may include the ID of the target AT and the ID of the AP serving the AT. The receiving AT may decode the NAB to determine whether the message is intended for the receiving AT. If the determination is yes, the AT may analyze the message and forward the NAB to the serving AP.

In AT least one aspect, the receiving AT can inform the public AP of the status of the FL or RL transmission in a Network Allocation Status (NAS) message, a Network Allocation Indication (NAI) channel or message, or the like. The NAS/NAI message may be sent to the common AP on a dedicated control channel, such as an Acknowledgement (ACK) channel, a Request (REQ) channel, or similar control channel. Alternatively, the NAS message may be submitted to the public AP by the wireless relay station, or generated by the serving AP and submitted over the backhaul connection. In other aspects, the AT can employ a NAS/NAI channel or message to forward the NAB to the serving AP. Alternatively or additionally, the AT may employ a NAS/NAI channel or message to forward the NAB to the neighboring cell, e.g., where the NAB specifies the ID of the neighboring cell or an AT served by the neighboring cell.

According to other aspects of the disclosure, the NAB may include an ID of the interfering AP or interfering AT on the FL or RL channel, respectively. The priority of the NAB may additionally be used for contention mediation with other services that are not visible to the public AP. An interfering node (or serving node) decoding a NAB with its ID may determine not to interfere with NAB scheduling (e.g., by changing radio resources) or reduce interference to designated resources based on priority and radio conditions. If the interfering node is an AT, the node may also relay NABs to its serving AP for network managed FL and RL transmission scheduling. In AT least one aspect, the AT may decode and analyze the NAB and schedule or assist in scheduling RL transmissions according to scheduling information included in the NAB and according to radio conditions of the serving or surrounding cells. Likewise, if the interfering node is an AP, the interfering AP may determine to avoid (e.g., by selecting other resources) or reduce (e.g., by reducing transmit power) interference to the designated resources based on priority and prevailing network conditions.

In AT least one additional aspect of the disclosure, the public AP may employ wireless information submitted by the network and the AT to facilitate virtual multi-antenna communication for a set of wireless nodes configured for such communication. Because MIMO communications involve channel condition estimation to obtain beamforming gain, a centralized scheduler has advantages in computing multi-antenna communication parameters from wireless information, especially in heterogeneous AP networks. In this case, the common AP may calculate MIMO communication parameters for a plurality of nodes participating in the virtual multi-antenna communication. The parameters may be submitted in the NAB along with the assignments associating the respective parameters with the respective nodes. Accordingly, the node can implement the communication from centralized data written by a common AP, and gain the advantages provided by the centralized scheduling in terms of throughput.

Referring now to the drawings, fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary system 100 that provides virtual scheduling for wireless communications. The system 100 includes: AT least one serving cell AT 102, which is served by a serving cell AP 104. The AT 102 may monitor wireless transmissions of nearby APs (104, 106, 110) of the system 100 and provide interference-related information to the public base station (106) to facilitate virtual scheduling. In particular, where system 100 includes one or more APs for which the common base station is unknown or known unreliable, the information related to interference can result in significant interference reduction based on virtual scheduling, even on a packet-by-packet basis.

The serving cell AT 102 may include any suitable wireless communication device configured for wireless communication with a wireless network. Examples may include mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, personal digital assistants, smart phones, etc.) or fixed wireless devices (e.g., computers, fixed wireless stations, fixed relay devices, etc.). In particular, the serving cell AT 102 is configured to monitor control channel information of AT least two APs of the system 100. The monitored control channels may include a FL control channel or a RL feedback channel (including, e.g., ACK, REQ, channel quality indicator CQI, automatic request ARQ, hybrid ARQ HARQ, etc.). The AP may include a base station, such as a macro, micro, pico, or femto base station, or other suitable wireless network access point. Generally, at least one of the monitored APs is a serving AP 104. Another suitable monitored AP is macro cell coverage (overlay)106, which is a common scheduling AP in system 100. Additionally, however, the AT may monitor control channel information for interfering APs 110 within cells adjacent to the serving cell AP 104.

By monitoring the control channel information, the AT 102 can identify the current wireless channel conditions of the wireless node. The conditions may include allocation of RL or FL transmit power (e.g., for the AT or AP, respectively), interference AT the AP (104, 106, 110), and so on. The AT 102 may package one or more of the conditions into a cell report message 108 and communicate the message 108 to the macro cell coverage 106. In some aspects, the AT 102 may initiate the report 108 upon receiving the FL signal from the AP 104, 106, 110. Optionally, the report 108 may be triggered by an AP (e.g., the serving AP 104 or the macro-coverage AP 106). In at least one aspect, the report 108 may be submitted periodically or according to radio conditions falling below a threshold level.

Upon receiving the cell report message 108, the macro-coverage AP 106 may store the report 108 in the memory 114 and decode the report 108 using a set of communication processors 112. Information relating to the radio conditions of the cell is extracted and stored in the memory 114. For example, memory 114 may be a database that manages current radio conditions and changes in the conditions over time. In addition, the database (114) can facilitate statistical analysis based on stored wireless information to estimate future conditions based on various dynamic conditions (e.g., number of ATs in coverage area, QoS of transmissions, traffic load, dispersion conditions, etc.).

In addition to the foregoing, the processor 112 may be employed to calculate appropriate control or traffic channel resources to mitigate interference between the APs 104, 106, 110. Additionally, the processor 112 may be employed to calculate an appropriate transmission power level for FL or RL transmissions within or near the macrocell. The calculations may be based on data submitted and stored AT a wireless network database (not shown), data provided in reports 108 or similar reports submitted by other ATs within the macro cell, data submitted by APs 104 and 110 (e.g., data submitted directly over a backhaul connection between the APs 104, 110 and the macro AP 106, or data submitted via routing by the AT 102), or data obtained by other suitable methods.

Once the channel resources or transmission power level is determined, it is packaged into a NAB message 116 and forwarded OTA to the AT 102. In AT least one aspect, the NAB message is unicast to the AT 102. Unicast messaging may be advantageous for scheduling in relation to the AT 102, the serving AP 104, or other ATs served by the serving AP 104. In other aspects, the NAB message may be sent in a broadcast message to all ATs (102) within range of the macro cell, such as where scheduling is for nodes in multiple cells.

Upon receiving the NAB message 116, the AT 102 decodes the message and determines whether the message 116 contains scheduling information related to the AT 102 or the serving AP 104. The determination may be based on whether the NAB message 116 includes an ID of a node within the serving cell (104). If the NAB message is associated with AT 102, AT 102 can decode message 116 or forward message 116 to serving AP 104 for AP-directed scheduling. If the NAB message is not associated with the AT 102, the message 116 is instead forwarded to the AP (104, 110) identified in the message 116.

In at least some aspects, the NAB 116 may include a transmission power instruction or priority information for one or more resources determined by the macrocell AP 106. Based on the priority information, the receiving node (102, 104, 110) may determine whether to comply with, modify, or ignore the instruction. The determination may be based on, for example, current radio conditions, whether a priority conflict with existing traffic involving the receiving node (102, 104, 110) has occurred, and so on.

In AT least one additional aspect, the NAB message 116 may include mobility management instructions for the AT 102. The mobility management may include: selection of an AP (104, 106, 110) for an active handoff set, or a command to handoff to a different AP (e.g., based on traffic load, cell interference, etc.). AT 102 may choose to comply with, modify, or ignore mobility management instructions depending on the configuration of the AT or prevailing radio conditions.

Fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 200 that facilitates OTA determination of radio conditions for a heterogeneous AP network. The system 200 includes: an AT 202 within a serving cell (204) of the AP network; and an AT 206 within a neighboring cell (208) of the network. Further, the network includes a macro cell 210. The serving AP 204 and the neighboring AP 208 do not have a direct connection with the macrocell 210. Thus, for example, the serving AP 204 and the neighboring AP 208 may be femtocells deployed independently by respective owners of the cells. Each AP 204, 208, 210 may perform traffic scheduling for the cell it serves independently of the other APs 204, 208, 210. Accordingly, interference may occur between the FL and RL channels depending on the proximity of the respective ATs 202, 206 to the different APs 204, 208, 210 and other conditions of the various wireless transmissions, such as current transmission strength, path loss, etc.

To help mitigate such interference, the ATs 202, 206 may be configured to monitor control channel information for multiple APs within range. Generally, such monitoring will include at least the respective serving AP (204, 208) and the macrocell AP 210. By monitoring the control channel, the ATs 202, 206 may identify the current transmission strength within the respective cells served by the APs 204, 208, 210. Additionally, the radio resource allocation may be identified from a control channel. The ATs 202, 206 are configured to extract resource or transmission strength information from the control channel and package the information in respective cell report messages 212, 214. The messages provide radio channel conditions for the serving cell and the neighboring cells, respectively.

Report messages 212, 214 are sent on RL radio resources (e.g., ACK, CQI, ARQ, HARQ, or similar channels) to the macro cell 210. The macro cell 210 may decode the respective reports 212, 214 and maintain information related to the current radio conditions of the respective cells 204, 208. Accordingly, the macro cell 210 may obtain information related to femto cells that would otherwise not be available from the network supporting the macro cell 210. Based on this information, the macrocell 210 can provide coordinated interference management for FL or RL communications within the macrocell. For example, the macro cell may instruct AT 202 to use a first set of radio resources while instructing a neighboring AT 204 to use a second, different set of radio resources to avoid interference on the RL channel. Likewise, the macro cell 210 may instruct the various APs to use a different set of resources for FL transmission to reduce interference on the FL. Alternatively or additionally, the macro cell 210 may instruct one or more nodes (202, 204, 206, 208) to modify transmit power to reduce interference to neighboring nodes (202, 204, 206, 208). Thus, system 200 enables improved interference management in dynamic wireless conditions even for an evolving deployment of heterogeneous APs (204, 208).

Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 300 that facilitates virtual scheduling of wireless communications. As described herein, the system 300 includes a base station 302, the base station 302 configured to provide wireless scheduling for a cell served by the base station 302. To accomplish this, the base station 302 calculates the appropriate channel resources or transmission power levels for the particular AT306 within the cell. Scheduling information can be programmed into the NAB304, wherein the NAB304 can be transmitted to the AT306 on the FL channel used by the base station 302.

As shown, the NAB304 may include a variety of information. The ID of the AT306 can be included in the NAB304 to identify the AT306 as a scheduling target. Further, the NAB304 can include an ID of the cell serving the AT 306. The serving cell ID enables the AT306 to determine the target base station for FL scheduling (302). As shown in system 300, the serving base station is the node providing the NAB 304. However, if the AT306 hands off to another base station (not shown), for example, the AT306 can use the cell ID to determine whether the NAB304 is for its current cell or a neighboring cell.

In addition to the AT and base station IDs, the NAB304 may specify the IDs of one or more interfering nodes and the traffic priorities of the nodes. The NAB304 may also specify particular control or traffic channel resources to be used by the AT306, the serving base station (302) of the AT306, or an interfering node. Accordingly, the AT306 can identify the appropriate resources or strengths for its own transmissions based on the data. In at least one aspect, the decision is made with reference to a priority level specified within the NAB 304. Thus, AT306 may compare the priority level of its own transmission to the priority level of the interferer. For example, if the AT306 has a higher priority, it may increase the transmission strength. Alternatively or additionally, the AT306 can forward the NAB304 to an interfering node (e.g., a neighboring AP) to facilitate reducing interference to resources used by the AT 306. If the AT306 has a lower priority, it may reduce the transmission strength or select a different set of channel resources (as specified in the NAB 304) to avoid interfering with nodes with higher priorities. The decision whether to reduce interference or switch resources can be made based on the gap in priorities and the current interference situation associated with the respective set of channel resources.

In AT least another aspect of the disclosure, the NAB304 may include mobility management data for the AT 306. The data may be used in connection with handover decisions, selection of active AP sets, etc. According to other aspects, the NAB304 may include parameters for multi-antenna communication between the AT306 and another node (not shown). The parameters may indicate specific channel resources for the communication, and respective timing or transmit power for multi-antenna transmission, or decoding and filtering parameters for multi-antenna transmission. Since improved interference may be obtained through centralized scheduling as described herein, additional gains may be achieved from multi-antenna communications even in heterogeneous AP networks.

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 400 that provides virtual scheduling for distributed multi-antenna communication in accordance with some aspects of the disclosure. The system 400 may include a distributed multi-antenna arrangement (arrangement)402, the distributed multi-antenna arrangement 402 including distributed wireless communication devices 408A, 408B, 408C, 408D (408A-408D). MIMO, MISO, or SIMO communication with remote wireless transceivers, such as base stations 404, may be achieved using distributed arrangement 402. In some aspects, base station 404 includes a single antenna (for MISO or SIMO communications), while in other aspects, base station 404 includes multiple antennas (for MIMO communications).

As shown, the multi-antenna arrangement 402 may include various types of wireless devices 408A-408D. For example, the devices 408A-408D may include a serving AT 408A located within a cell of a serving AP 408B (e.g., a macro AP, a micro AP, a pico AP, or a femto AP). Additionally, the device can also include one or more wireless relay devices 408C (e.g., including fixed or mobile relay devices) and one or more nearby ATs 408D in cells that are nearby to the serving cell. Devices 408A-408D may use a variety of mechanisms to exchange traffic data or scheduling information to enable multi-antenna communication, where the multi-antenna communication is distributed among devices 408A-408D. For example, one or more peer-to-peer communication links may be employed to communicatively couple the peer devices (408A, 408D). These devices may be configured to transmit and receive on both RL and FL communication channels. Optionally, where at least one device is configured to transmit and receive on both RL and FL channels, a subset of the devices (408A, 408B) may employ typical cellular communication protocols to facilitate concurrent transmission or reception with another such device. In accordance with at least one aspect, wireless repeater 408C can be used to connect with other devices (408A, 408B, 408D) and facilitate multi-antenna communication with at least one other such device.

As described herein, the serving AT 408A can monitor transmissions of neighboring wireless nodes (404, 408B, 408C, 408D) and obtain wireless communication conditions (e.g., interference, transmission strength, transmit/receive resources) reported by these nodes. The serving AT 408A forwards data describing the communication conditions to the base station 404. From this information, the base station 404 may calculate parameters for multi-antenna transmission or reception by a subset of the devices that make up the distributed multi-antenna arrangement 402. The subset of parameters implemented by each device (408A-408D) may be associated with the respective ID of the device (408A-408D). These parameters are then packaged into NAB messages 406 and forwarded OTA to the serving AT 408A (e.g., via a unicast message), or broadcast to the distributed arrangement 402. In the former case, the serving AT 408A distributes NABs among the devices (or extracts subsets of parameters and distributes the respective subsets to the respective devices 408B, 408C, 408D), or distributes NABs to the relay device 408C for distribution.

Thus, each device 408A-408D may receive or extract parameters that control its respective multi-antenna transmission/reception. Using these parameters, the devices 408A-408D may transmit on the same frequency to implement a multi-antenna uplink 410 with the base station 404. Alternatively or additionally, the devices 408A-408D may receive a transmission of the multi-antenna downlink 412 and decode and distribute the transmission to achieve beamforming gain.

Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary system 500 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In particular, system 500 can include a base station 502 configured for virtual scheduling in a heterogeneous access point environment. For example, the base station 502 can be configured to receive cell report messages from one or more ATs 504, wherein the one or more ATs 504 are proximate or within a coverage area serviced by the base station 502. Additionally, the cell report message may include radio channel information related to wireless nodes within the coverage area and store the radio channel information in a database 530 coupled with the base station 502. Further, the base station 502 can employ the wireless channel information to schedule transmissions within the coverage area to achieve mitigated interference, as described herein.

Base station 502 (e.g., access point) may include: a receiver 510 that obtains wireless signals from one or more ATs 504 through one or more receive antennas 506; and a transmitter 528 that transmits the encoded/modulated wireless signals provided by modulator 526 through transmit antenna 508 to one or more ATs 504. Receiver 510 may obtain information from receive antennas 506 and may also include a signal receiver (not shown) that receives uplink data transmitted by ATs 504. Additionally, receiver 510 is operatively associated with a demodulator 512, wherein demodulator 512 demodulates received information. Communication processor 514 analyzes the demodulated symbols. The communication processor 514 is coupled to a memory 516, where the memory 516 stores information related to functions provided or implemented by the base station 502. In one example, the stored information can include protocols for parsing wireless signals and scheduling forward link transmissions by the base station 502 and reverse link transmissions by the UT 504.

Further, the base station 502 can employ the communication processor 514 to generate a NAB message for the AT504 or a radio network node serving the AT 504. The NAB message may provide resource scheduling, transmission power level, or mobility management indication calculated by processor 514 based on network conditions (534) reported by AT504 or obtained from network database 530. Additionally, scheduling, power levels, or mobility management may be configured to achieve optimal interference reduction for heterogeneous APs that are adjacent to base station 502. The NAB message may be submitted to the AT504 by way of broadcast or unicast messaging, or may be submitted to a neighboring node of the wireless network through a wired or wireless backhaul interface 520, where the backhaul interface 520 communicatively couples the base station 502 with the node.

Additionally, base station 502 may include: a coordination module 518 for calculating respective parameters for implementing the multi-antenna communication for the ATs 504. In at least one aspect, base station 502 can comprise: an assignment module 522 that maintains ID information for the AT504 and neighboring nodes, where the ID information is obtained from a network database 530 or submitted by the AT 504. The assignment module 522 can include ID information in the NAB message to identify a particular schedule for a particular AT504 or neighboring node. Further, the assignment module 522 can use the ID information to distinguish between transmit or receive parameters related to multi-antenna communications for individual ATs 504 or neighboring nodes, as described herein. In at least another aspect, base station 502 can further comprise: an importance module 524, the importance module 524 determines a priority of the respective traffic flow of the AT504 and specifies AT least one priority within the NAB message. The priority may specify the relative importance of the traffic flow associated with the AT504, or the traffic flow associated with the interfering node, or both. Based AT least in part on the specified priority, the AT504 can determine whether to adhere to, modify, or ignore the scheduling provided by the base station 502.

Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary system 600 that includes an AT 602, where the AT 602 is configured to implement some aspects of the disclosure. The AT 602 may be configured to wirelessly couple with one or more remote transceivers 604 (e.g., access points, P-P partners) of a fixed or ad-hoc wireless network. For fixed network communications, an AT 602 may receive wireless signals from a base station (504) on a forward link channel and respond with wireless signals on a reverse link channel. Further, for peer-to-peer (P-P) communication, AT 602 can receive wireless signals from a remote P-P partner (504) on a forward link channel or a reverse link channel, respectively, and respond with wireless signals on a reverse link channel or a forward link channel. Additionally, as described herein, the AT 602 may include: instructions stored in the memory 614 for monitoring control channels of a plurality of network access points and reporting radio condition information to a macro base station (604).

The AT 602 includes: at least one antenna 606 (e.g., a wireless transmit/receive interface or a set of such interfaces including an input/output interface) for receiving signals; and a receiver 608, where the receiver 608 performs typical operations (e.g., filters, amplifies, downconverts, etc.) on the received signal. In general, the antenna 606 and the transmitter 626 (collectively referred to as a transceiver) may be configured to facilitate wireless data exchange with the remote transceiver 604.

The antenna 606 and receiver 608 may also be coupled to a demodulator 610, which demodulator 610 may demodulate received symbols and provide the signal to a processing circuit 612 for evaluation. It should be appreciated that the processing circuit 612 can control and/or interrogate one or more components (606, 608, 610, 614, 616, 618, 620, 622, 624, 626) of the AT 602. Further, the processing circuit 612 can execute one or more modules, applications, engines, etc. (616, 618, 620, 622) that include information or controls related to performing the functions of the AT 602. For example, the functions may include monitoring a plurality of base station control channels for transmission power levels, scheduled transmission resources, or interference conditions. Additionally, as described herein, the functions may include extracting radio conditions or scheduling information from a control channel, packetizing the data into a cell report message, receiving a response to the message, and determining whether to implement the scheduling provided in the response, or the like.

Additionally, the memory 614 of the AT 602 is operatively coupled to the processing circuit 612. The memory 614 may store data to be transmitted, received, etc., as well as instructions suitable for directing wireless communications with a remote device (504). In particular, the instructions may be used to implement wireless channel reporting, mobility management, determination of traffic priority, or distributed multi-antenna communication, as described herein. Further, the memory 614 may store the modules, applications, engines, etc. (520, 622, 624) described above as being executed by the processing circuit 612.

In AT least one aspect, the AT 602 can include a reporting module 618. The reporting module may be configured to package control signal information into a cell report message, wherein the control signal information is obtained by the processing circuit 612 from the received wireless signal. Additionally, the reporting module may initiate transmission of a cell report message to the remote transceiver 604. Additionally, the AT 602 may include: a mobility module 618 that maintains an active set of network APs (604) for mobility management decisions. Alternatively or additionally, the mobility module 618 may analyze pilot report signals of the serving base station (604) and neighboring base stations (not shown) to determine an optimal serving cell in conjunction with handover decisions. In AT least some aspects, the mobility module 618 can include a pilot report signal or an active set of APs in a cell report message to facilitate network-managed mobility for the AT 602.

According to additional aspects, the AT 602 may include: a shared communication module 620 that uses the radio resource schedule obtained from the remote transceiver 604 to enable multi-antenna communication between the AT 602 and another wireless device (604). For example, the shared communication module 620 can extract multiple antenna parameters from the resource schedule to identify parameters related to the AT 602. The shared communication module 620 may then transmit on the resources using the timing and according to the parameters to achieve multi-antenna transmission, or decode and filter the received communications using the parameters to achieve multi-antenna reception. In AT least one other aspect, the AT 602 can further comprise: mediation module 622 is configured to decode the resource scheduling information and obtain a priority of a traffic flow or an interference traffic of AT 602. Based on the priority, mediation module 622 may determine whether to comply with, modify, or ignore the radio resource schedule or the specified transmission power level. Other factors in the determination may include: a priority conflict with interfering traffic, channel conditions on resources provided by resource scheduling, or expected interference at a specified transmit power level.

The above-described system has been described with reference to interaction between several components, modules, and/or communication interfaces. It should be clear that the system and components/modules/interfaces may include those components or sub-components specified herein, some of the specified components or sub-components, and/or additional components. For example, the system may include the AT 602, the base station 502, the database 530, and the multi-antenna arrangement 402, or different combinations of these or other components. A sub-component may also be implemented as a component communicatively coupled to other components rather than included within a parent component. Additionally, it should be noted that one or more components may be combined into a single component providing aggregate functionality. For example, the reporting module 616 may include a mobility module 618 and vice versa to facilitate wireless channel reporting and mobility management reporting in a single component. The components may also interact with one or more other components not specifically described herein but well known to those of skill in the art.

Further, it should be clear that various portions of the above disclosed systems and methods below may include or consist of the following components: artificial intelligence or knowledge or rule based components, subcomponents, processes, modules, methods, or mechanisms (e.g., support vector machines, neural networks, expert systems, bayesian belief networks, fuzzy logic, data fusion engines, classifiers … …). The components can also cause certain mechanisms or processes to be performed automatically in addition to what has been described herein, thereby making portions of the systems and methods more adaptive and more efficient and intelligent.

In view of the exemplary systems described above, methodologies that may be implemented in accordance with the disclosed subject matter will be better appreciated with reference to the flow charts of fig. 7-11. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what is depicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks may be required to implement the methodologies described hereinafter. Additionally, it should be further appreciated that the methodologies disclosed hereinafter and throughout this specification are capable of being stored on an article of manufacture to facilitate transporting and transferring such methodologies to computers. The term article of manufacture, as used, is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, device or storage medium in combination with a carrier.

Fig. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 700 for providing virtual scheduling in a heterogeneous AP network environment in accordance with some aspects of the disclosure. At 702, the method 700 can initiate a set of processors to generate a NAB for communicating a wireless communication assignment. The NABs may be directed to downlink traffic (e.g., APs for wireless networks) or uplink traffic (e.g., ATs for wireless networks), or both. Additionally, for downlink communications, the communication allocation may be for any cell of the wireless network, any cell other than a cell directly served by a central scheduling apparatus (e.g., an overlay macro base station), or may be limited to non-serving cells (e.g., cells not within a particular AT active set) for a particular AT or set of ATs. Likewise, for uplink communications, the communication allocations may be for uplink traffic within any cell of the wireless network, for uplink traffic served by a base station other than the central scheduler, or for a centralized scheduler, may be limited to uplink traffic within non-serving cells (e.g., cells that do not share an active set with the centralized scheduler with respect to a particular AT or set of ATs).

AT 704, method 700 can optionally obtain uplink transmissions from the AT and extract from the uplink transmissions radio channel conditions, mobility management data, or existing cell scheduling data for the serving AT or cells neighboring the serving cell. At 706, the method 700 can allocate uplink or downlink communications within the wireless network. The assignment may optionally be based on the extracted information from reference numeral 704. As discussed above, uplink or downlink communications may be for any cell of the wireless network, a cell different from the cell served by the centralized scheduler that generated the assignment, or simply a cell in which AT least one AT does not have a centralized scheduler in the active set. In some aspects, the allocation may be computed to mitigate interference in a wireless node of a wireless network, provide mobility management, implement transmit diversity for uplink or downlink, spatial multiplexing, a centralized modulation or coding scheme, and so on. In at least one aspect, the extracted information optionally obtained at reference numeral 704 can be supplemented with network information describing channel conditions of at least one cell. AT 708, the method 700 can initiate sending the assignment OTA to the AT. At 710, method 700 may optionally store the extracted information or allocation in memory.

Fig. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 800 for enabling improved communication in a heterogeneous network based on a cell report of a remote terminal. AT 802, method 800 can receive an uplink transmission from an AT. AT 804, the method 800 can initiate a set of processors to generate a NAB message (scheduling message) for an AT to facilitate interference mitigation, mobility management or multi-antenna communication for the AT, and/or the like.

At 806, the method 800 may extract OTA scheduling information from the uplink transmission. AT 808, method 800 can determine interference caused by neighboring traffic to the AT or interference caused by the AT to the traffic. At 810, the method 800 can extract QoS and network radio frequency data from the transmission. At 812, the method 800 may calculate multi-cell interference from the OTA scheduling information. AT 814, the method 800 can calculate a schedule to mitigate interference between traffic flows of the AT and the neighboring wireless nodes based on the interference, OTA scheduling information, or QoS requirements. AT 816, the method 800 may encode the computed schedule in a NAB message for the AT. AT 818, the method 800 can specify an ID of the AT or a cell serving the AT in the NAB message. AT 820, the method 800 can unicast the NAB message to the AT OTA or submit the NAB message to the serving cell over a wired or wireless backhaul network to facilitate reduced interference.

Fig. 9 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 900 for implementing virtual scheduling for distributed multi-antenna communication in a heterogeneous AP network. AT 902, methodology 900 can receive an uplink transmission from an AT. AT 904, the method 900 can initiate a set of processors to generate a NAB message for the AT. AT 906, methodology 900 can extract OTA scheduling information from the uplink transmission to determine a dominant interference condition of the AT. AT 908, the methodology 900 can determine from the uplink transmission whether the AT is configured for multi-antenna communication and whether such communication is available to the AT.

AT 910, if multi-antenna communication is available for the AT, method 900 proceeds to 912; otherwise, method 900 proceeds to 916. AT 912, method 900 can calculate parameters for respective multi-antenna communications for the AT and the AT least one additional wireless node. At 914, the method 900 can include the parameter in a NAB message. Further, the respective parameters may be distinguished by the ID of the AT or the cell serving the AT or the ID of the additional wireless node.

AT 916, methodology 900 can calculate a multi-cell interference schedule for the AT. At 918, the methodology 900 can include the interference schedule in a NAB message. AT 920, the methodology 900 can broadcast a NAB message to the AT and additional wireless nodes, unicast the NAB message to the AT, or submit the NAB message to a cell serving the AT over a wired or wireless backhaul network.

Fig. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 1000 that facilitates virtual scheduling of wireless communications in accordance with further aspects of the disclosure. At 1002, method 1000 may analyze wireless signals of a plurality of cells of a wireless network using a set of processors. In some aspects of the disclosure, the wireless network is a heterogeneous network. In other aspects of the disclosure, the at least one wireless signal is a control channel signal.

At 1004, the method 1000 may optionally use a processor to package at least one parameter into a cell report message. The packaged parameters may represent interference for AT least one of the plurality of cells, a current resource schedule for the cell, a transmit power level for a cell traffic flow or a QoS contract for such a traffic flow, mobility management information (e.g., pilot signal reports, APs of the active set), or transmit diversity information related to a group of ATs within the cell or a group of APs of the cell.

At 1006, method 1000 may optionally submit the report message to a macro base station, wherein the macro base station provides wireless access to a macro coverage area of the wireless network. At 1008, the method 1000 may receive a NAB message that includes a wireless communication schedule configured for a cell of a wireless network. The NAB message may include an uplink communication assignment, a downlink communication assignment, or both. Additionally, the NAB may be generated and transmitted by a centralized scheduler within the wireless network (e.g., a macro base station of the wireless network), and the NAB may be directed to any suitable cell of the wireless network, a cell not served by the centralized scheduler, or a cell containing AT least one AT that does not have a centralized scheduler in the active mobility set (e.g., a cell in which the centralized scheduler does not serve AT least one AT).

In some aspects of the disclosure, the NAB message may include network resource scheduling, transmission power scheduling, traffic flow priority, or mobility management indication calculated by the macro base station. Additionally, the scheduling or indication may optionally be determined from information submitted to the macro cell. At 1010, the method 1000 can store the NAB message in memory to implement the scheduling information provided by the message. For example, based on the information, specified RL traffic resources can be employed, specified transmit powers can be used, or mobility management decisions can be implemented. The implementation can lead to improved interference even in semi-planned or unplanned network environments, since the schedule can be calculated from information related to multiple cells in the AP network.

Fig. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of an example methodology 1100 that facilitates reduced interference and improved throughput in wireless communications. At 1102, method 1100 can monitor control signals of neighboring access points of a wireless network. In particular, the control signal may be associated with a serving or interfering cell and a macro base station. At 1104, the method 1100 can identify interference or QoS data from the control signal. At 1106, method 1100 packages interference or QoS data into a macrocell report message. At 1108, the method 1100 may receive a NAB message in response to the macro cell report message. AT 1110, the methodology 1100 can determine whether the NAB message is intended for an AT that receives the message. The determination may be based on whether the ID of the receiving AT or the ID of the serving cell is included in the NAB message.

AT 1112, if the NAB message is not intended for the receiving AT, the method 1100 may proceed to 1114; otherwise, method 1100 may proceed to 1118. AT 1114, the method 1100 can identify a cell/AT for which the NAB message is intended. AT 1116, the method 1100 may forward the NAB to the identified cell or AT over the OTA. For transmission to a cell, RL channel resources may be used. While FL peer-to-peer communication resources may be used for transmissions to the AT. After forwarding the NAB message, the method 1100 ends.

AT 1118, the methodology 1100 can forward the NAB message to a serving cell associated with the receiving AT. At 1120, the method 1100 may decode the NAB and identify a priority for the competing traffic. At 1122, the method 1100 can determine whether to comply with the interference schedule specified within the NAB message based at least in part on the priority. The determination may also be based on a priority of the traffic flow of the receiving AT, for example. At 1124, the method 1100 can implement the scheduling specified by the NAB message based on the priority, such as following or modifying the scheduling. At 1126, the method 1100 can optionally decode and implement parameters specified in the NAB message for multi-antenna communication. The implementation can be based on identifying the parameter associated with the ID of the receiving AT. Additionally, as described herein, the implementation may be influenced by the feasibility of other suitable wireless nodes to participate in multi-antenna communications.

Fig. 12 and 13 illustrate block diagrams of example systems 1200, 1300, respectively, for utilizing and facilitating virtual scheduling in heterogeneous AP networks, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. For example, system 1200 and system 1300 can reside at least partially within a wireless communication network and/or within a transmitter (e.g., a node, base station, access point, user terminal, personal computer coupled to a mobile interface card, etc.). It is to be appreciated that systems 1200 and 1300 are represented as including functional blocks, where such functional blocks can be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware).

The system 1200 may include: a module 1202 for processing a NAB message for communicating wireless communication instructions for one or more wireless nodes in a wireless communication environment. For example, the NAB message may be sent OTA to the node using a broadcast or unicast control channel. Alternatively or additionally, NAB messages may be sent to one or more of the nodes over a dedicated wired or wireless connection (e.g., backhaul). In some aspects, the NAB may comprise a downlink communication assignment, while in other aspects, the NAB may comprise an uplink communication assignment, or both uplink and downlink assignments. Additionally, the NAB can generate an assignment for any cell in the wireless communication environment, a cell adjacent to system 1200, or a node within a cell in which system 1200 is not a serving cell (e.g., AT least one AT does not have system 1200 in the active mobility set).

System 1200 may additionally optionally include: a module 1204 is provided for extracting scheduling information related to a cell of a communication environment from a received uplink transmission. In particular, the information may relate to at least one restricted access AP. The extracted scheduling information can be provided to a module for scheduling uplink or downlink wireless traffic 1206. The scheduling may be computed to achieve mitigated interference, improved QoS, mobility management, transmit or receive diversity, multi-antenna communication, and so on. In an alternative example, module 1206 may use the cell scheduling information to identify an interference condition within the cell and the node causing the interference. Based on the identified interference, wireless traffic scheduling may be performed using resource selection or reduced power transmission to mitigate the interference. A block 1206 may encode the scheduled uplink or downlink wireless traffic into the NAB message generated by the block 1202. The module for transmitting scheduled traffic 1208 may then forward the NAB message to the target wireless node via broadcast or unicast signaling, or to a neighboring cell via backhaul signaling.

The system 1300 may include: a module 1302 for monitoring and processing wireless signals (e.g., control channel signals) of multiple APs of a network simultaneously. The plurality of APs may include a serving AP, an interfering AP, or a macro serving AP (e.g., associated with or including a centralized scheduling apparatus of a wireless network). In at least one aspect, the serving or interfering AP may comprise a femto base station. Additionally, system 1300 may optionally include a module 1304 for packaging at least one control signal parameter of the interfering AP in a cell report message 1304. Another optional module 1306 may send the message to the macro service AP. Additionally, system 1300 can include a module 1308 for receiving a NAB message that includes uplink or downlink traffic scheduling. System 1300 can employ NAB messages to facilitate centralized traffic management in a wireless environment. Further, by employing optional modules 1304 and 1306, centralized traffic management may be implemented in heterogeneous networks that include base station deployments and wireless networks may have limited or unreliable information for the base station deployments.

Fig. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 1400 that can facilitate wireless communication in accordance with some aspects disclosed herein. On the downlink, at access point 1405, a Transmit (TX) data processor 1410 receives, formats, codes, interleaves, and modulates (or symbol maps) traffic data and provides modulation symbols ("data symbols"). A symbol modulator 1415 receives and processes the data symbols and pilot symbols and provides a stream of symbols. A symbol modulator 1415 multiplexes data and pilot symbols and provides them to a transmitter unit (TMTR) 1420. Each transmit symbol may be a data symbol, a pilot symbol, or a signal value of zero. The pilot symbols may be sent continuously in each symbol period. The pilot symbols may be Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM), Time Division Multiplexed (TDM), Code Division Multiplexed (CDM), suitable combinations thereof, or suitable combinations of similar modulation and/or transmission techniques.

TMTR 1420 receives the stream of symbols, converts the stream of symbols into one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to generate a downlink signal suitable for transmission over the wireless channel. The downlink signal is then transmitted through an antenna 1425 to the terminals. At terminal 1430, an antenna 1435 receives the downlink signal and provides a received signal to a receiver unit (RCVR) 1440. Receiver unit 1440 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and frequency downconverts) the received signal and digitizes the conditioned signal to obtain samples. A symbol demodulator 1445 demodulates received pilot symbols and provides them to a processor 1450 for channel estimation. Symbol demodulator 1445 also receives a frequency response estimate for the downlink from processor 1450, performs data demodulation on the received data symbols to obtain data symbol estimates (which are estimates of the transmitted data symbols), and provides the data symbol estimates to an RX data processor 1455, where RX data processor 1455 demodulates (i.e., symbol demaps), deinterleaves, and decodes the data symbol estimates to recover the transmitted traffic data. The processing by symbol demodulator 1445 and RX data processor 1455 is complementary to the processing by symbol modulator 1415 and TX data processor 1410, respectively, at access point 1405.

On the uplink, a TX data processor 1460 processes traffic data and provides data symbols. A symbol modulator 1465 receives the data symbols, multiplexes the data symbols with pilot symbols, performs modulation, and provides a stream of symbols. A transmitter unit 1470 then receives and processes the stream of symbols to generate an uplink signal, which is transmitted by the antenna 1435 to the access point 1405. In particular, the uplink signal may comply with SC-FDMA requirements and may include a frequency hopping mechanism as described herein.

At access point 1405, an antenna 1425 receives the uplink signal from terminal 1430 and a receiver unit 1475 processes the uplink signal to obtain samples. A symbol demodulator 1480 then processes the samples and provides received pilot symbols and data symbol estimates for the uplink. An RX data processor 1485 processes the data symbol estimates to recover the traffic data transmitted by terminal 1430. A processor 1490 performs channel estimation for each active terminal transmitting on the uplink. Multiple terminals may transmit pilot concurrently on the uplink on their respective assigned sets of pilot subbands, where the pilot subband sets may overlap.

Processors 1490 and 1450 direct (e.g., control, coordinate, manage, etc.) operation at access point 1405 and terminal 1430, respectively. Respective processors 1490 and 1450 can be associated with memory units (not shown) that store program codes and data. Processors 1490 and 1450 can also perform computations to derive frequency and impulse response estimates for the uplink and downlink, respectively.

For a multiple-access system (e.g., SC-FDMA, OFDMA, CDMA, TDMA, etc.), multiple terminals can transmit simultaneously on the uplink. For such a system, the pilot subbands may be shared among different terminals. Channel estimation techniques may be used where the pilot subbands for each terminal span the entire operating band (possibly except for the band edges). Such a pilot subband structure is required to obtain frequency diversity for each terminal. The techniques described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, which may be digital, analog, or both digital and analog, the processing units for channel estimation may be implemented within one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For software, implementation can be through modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in memory unit and executed by the processors 1490 and 1450.

Fig. 15 illustrates a wireless communication system 1500 with multiple Base Stations (BSs) 1510 (e.g., wireless access points) and multiple terminals 1520 (e.g., UTs), e.g., as may be used in connection with one or more aspects. BS (1510) is typically a fixed station that communicates with the terminals and may also be referred to as an access point, a node B, or some other terminology. Each BS 1510 provides communication coverage for a particular geographic area or coverage area (shown in fig. 5 as three geographic areas, labeled 1502a, 1502b, 1502 c). The term "cell" may refer to a BS or its coverage area depending on the context in which the term is used. To increase system capacity, the geographic area/coverage area of a base station may be divided into multiple smaller areas (e.g., into three smaller areas, according to cell 1502a in fig. 15) 1504a, 1504b, and 1504 c. Each smaller area (1504a, 1504b, 1504c) may be served by a respective Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS). The term "sector" can refer to a BTS or its coverage area depending on the context in which the term is used. For a sectorized cell, the BTSs for all sectors of the cell are typically co-located within the base station for the cell. The transmission techniques described herein may be used for systems with sectorized cells as well as systems with non-sectorized cells. For simplicity, in this specification, unless otherwise specified, the term "base station" is used generically for a fixed station that serves a sector as well as a fixed station that serves a cell.

Terminals 1520 are typically dispersed throughout the system, and each terminal 1520 may be fixed or mobile. As described herein, a terminal 1520 may also be referred to as a mobile station, user equipment, user device, or some other terminology. The terminal 1520 may be a wireless device, a cellular phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a wireless modem card, or the like. Each terminal 1520 may communicate with zero, one, or multiple BSs 1510 on the downlink (e.g., FL) and uplink (e.g., RL) at any given moment. The downlink refers to the communication link from the base station to the terminal, and the uplink refers to the communication link from the terminal to the base station.

For a centralized architecture, a system controller 1530 couples to base station 1510 and provides coordination and control for base station 1510. For a distributed architecture, the base stations 1510 may communicate with each other as necessary (e.g., by way of a wired or wireless backhaul network communicatively coupled to the BS 1510). Data transmission on the forward link from an access point to an access terminal is typically conducted at or near a maximum data rate that can be supported by the forward link or the communication system. Additional channels of the forward link (e.g., control channels) can be transmitted from multiple access points to an access terminal. Reverse link data communication may occur from one access terminal to one or more access points.

Fig. 16 is an illustration of a planned or semi-planned wireless communication environment 1600 in accordance with various aspects. System 1600 can comprise one or more base stations 1602 in one or more cells and/or sectors that can receive, transmit, forward, etc., wireless communication signals to each other and/or to one or more mobile devices 1604. As shown, each BS 1602 can provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area (shown as four geographic areas, labeled 1606a, 1606b, 1606c, and 1606 d). Each BS 1602 can comprise a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, which in turn can comprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, etc., see fig. 5), as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. For example, the mobile device 1604 can be a cellular phone, a smart phone, a laptop, a handheld communication device, a handheld computing device, a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a PDA, and/or any other suitable device for communicating over the wireless network 1600. As presented herein, system 1600 can be employed in conjunction with various aspects described herein to facilitate providing virtual scheduling in a heterogeneous wireless communication environment (1600).

As used in this disclosure, the terms "component," "system," "module," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, software, executing software, firmware, middleware, microcode, and/or any combination thereof. For example, a module may be, but is not limited to: a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, a device, and/or a computer. One or more modules may reside within a process or thread of execution; and a module may be located on one electronic device or distributed between two or more electronic devices. Further, these modules can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The modules may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal). Additionally, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the components or modules of the systems described herein can be rearranged or complimented by additional components/modules/systems in order to facilitate achieving the various aspects, goals, advantages, etc., described herein, and are not limited to the precise configurations set forth in a given figure.

Further, various aspects are described herein in connection with a UT. A UT can also be called a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile communication device, mobile device, remote station, remote terminal, Access Terminal (AT), User Agent (UA), user device, or User Equipment (UE). A subscriber station may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless connection capability, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem or similar mechanism that facilitates wireless communication with a processing device.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or any suitable combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any physical media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, smart cards and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive … …), or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are also included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

For a hardware implementation, the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the processing units disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with one or more ASICs, DSPs, DSPDs, PLDs, FPGAs, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, general purpose processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors or other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration. Additionally, at least one processor may comprise one or more modules operable to perform one or more steps and/or operations described herein.

Moreover, various aspects or features described herein can be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. Further, the steps and/or operations of a method or algorithm described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Additionally, in some aspects, the steps or operations of a method or algorithm may reside as at least one code or instruction, or any combination or set of codes or instructions, in a machine readable medium or computer readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any suitable computer-readable device or media.

Additionally, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, the use of the exemplary word is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, "X employs A or B" is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X uses A, X uses B, or X uses both A and B, "X uses A or B" satisfies any of the above examples. In addition, the articles "a" and "an" as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean "one or more" unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.

Moreover, as used herein, the term to "infer" or "inference" refers generally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, or user from a set of observations as captured via events or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate a probability distribution over states, for example. Such inference can be probabilistic-that is, the computation of a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and data come from one or several event and data sources.

The above description includes examples of aspects of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the disclosed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" or "having" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

Claims (43)

1. A method for reducing interference of a transmitter whose location or transmit power is unknown to an access network in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving and decoding an uplink message provided by an Access Terminal (AT) or another AT of the wireless network to obtain wireless channel data related to a cell serving the AT or a neighboring cell thereof;

executing scheduling code for the AT using a set of processors, wherein the processors are associated with a non-serving Access Point (AP) for the AT in the wireless network, and the code causes the processors to:

assigning uplink communications to the AT based on the wireless channel data and specifying the uplink communications assignment in a scheduling message;

initiating transmission of the scheduling message to the AT or the cell serving the AT; and

storing the scheduling code in a memory.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

an Identifier (ID) of the AT or the serving cell is specified within the scheduling message.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

routing the scheduling message to the serving cell Over The Air (OTA) and via the AT or another AT of the wireless network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the AT or another AT determines a recipient of the scheduling message based on the identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: including in the scheduling message at least one of:

a priority of AT traffic flows, wherein the serving cell decodes the scheduling message and complies with, modifies, or ignores the assigned communications according to the priority; or

A priority of a traffic flow interfering with a cell of the serving cell, wherein the serving cell adheres to, modifies, or ignores the assigned communication according to the priority of the interfering traffic flow.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a plurality of antenna coefficients for macro-diversity of an uplink; and

the coefficients are forwarded to respective corresponding APs by a backhaul network or routed to the respective APs by OTA and via one or more ATs of the wireless network.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

uplink channel resources, modulation or coding scheme, transmit power, antenna coefficients, spatial multiplexing mode, or transmit diversity are specified for the allocated communications in the scheduling message.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

channel quality, node diversity, or interference related data is obtained from the wireless channel data.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

employing a Network Allocation Block (NAB) message for the scheduling message; and

and initiating to send the NAB to the AT through an NAB channel or sending the NAB to the service cell through a backhaul network.

10. An apparatus for reducing interference of a transmitter whose location or transmit power is unknown to an access network in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver to receive and decode an uplink message associated with a cell serving an Access Terminal (AT) of the wireless network to obtain wireless channel data for the cell serving the AT or its neighboring cells;

a processor configured to execute centralized uplink scheduling code for a wireless network, the scheduling code causing the processor to:

allocating uplink communications for the AT based on the wireless channel data, wherein the apparatus is associated with a non-serving AP for the AT;

encoding the uplink communication allocation into a scheduling message; and

a transmitter that forwards the scheduling message OTA to the cell serving the AT.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor specifies an ID of the AT or the serving cell in the scheduling message.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transmitter routes the scheduling message to the serving cell through the AT or another AT of the wireless network.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the AT or another AT identifies the serving cell by the ID.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

an importance module that includes within the scheduling message at least one of:

a priority of AT traffic flows, wherein the serving cell decodes the scheduling message and complies with, modifies, or ignores the assigned communications according to the priority; or

A priority of a traffic flow interfering with a cell of the serving cell, wherein the serving cell adheres to, modifies, or ignores the assigned communication according to the priority of the interfering traffic flow.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

a coordination module that computes a plurality of antenna coefficients for uplink macro-diversity, wherein the transmitter routes the coefficients to respective APs either OTA or through a backhaul network.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor specifies uplink channel resources, modulation or coding scheme, transmit power, antenna coefficients, spatial multiplexing mode, or transmit diversity for the allocated communications within the scheduling message.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

the receiver obtains channel quality, node diversity, or interference related data from the decoded uplink message.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

the transmitter packages the scheduling message into a NAB message and sends the NAB message to the AT over a NAB channel.

19. An apparatus for reducing interference of a transmitter whose location or transmit power is unknown to an access network in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving and decoding an uplink message associated with a cell serving an Access Terminal (AT) of the wireless network to obtain wireless channel data for the cell serving the AT or its neighboring cells;

means for allocating uplink communications for the AT based on the wireless channel data using a set of processors, wherein the apparatus is associated with a non-serving cell in the wireless network with respect to the AT;

means for specifying the uplink communication allocation in a scheduling message; and

means for initiating transmission of the scheduling message to the AT or the cell serving the AT.

20. At least one processor configured for wireless communication in a wireless network, comprising:

a first module for allocating uplink communications for an Access Terminal (AT) of the wireless network based on wireless channel data for a cell serving the AT or its neighboring cells, wherein the processor is associated with a non-serving cell of the wireless network and the wireless channel data is obtained from an uplink message related to the cell serving the AT;

a second module for specifying the uplink communication allocation in a scheduling message; and

a third module for initiating transmission of the scheduling message to the AT or the cell serving the AT.

21. A method that facilitates wireless communication in a wireless network, comprising:

analyzing, using at least one processor, respective wireless signals of a serving base station and a non-serving wireless device within the wireless network;

obtaining an estimate of radio quality or radio interference from the analysis;

forwarding the estimate to the non-serving wireless device;

obtaining, from the non-serving wireless device, a scheduling message comprising an uplink communication allocation based on the estimate using at least one antenna; and

facilitating the uplink allocation within a serving cell of the wireless network, wherein the serving cell is identified in the scheduling message.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

decoding the scheduling message and extracting a base station ID or an AT ID from the scheduling message.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

forwarding the scheduling message to an AP of a neighboring cell of the wireless network if the ID corresponds to the neighboring cell.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

forwarding the scheduling message to the serving cell if the ID corresponds to the serving cell.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

implementing the uplink allocation if the ID corresponds to an identifier associated with the at least one antenna.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein analyzing the respective wireless signals further comprises:

control channel signals of the serving base station and non-serving wireless devices are analyzed.

27. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

identifying respective uplink transmission streams for the assigned multi-antenna communication, wherein the assigned multi-antenna communication is identified in the scheduling message.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

transmitting at least one identified transmission stream to enable the multi-antenna communication.

29. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

extracting a priority of communication of the serving cell from the scheduling message; and

forwarding the priority to the serving cell to facilitate the uplink allocation.

30. The method of claim 21, wherein:

receiving the scheduling message as a NAB message or over a NAB channel; and

routing the scheduling message or the decoded portion thereof to the serving cell over an uplink NAI channel.

31. An apparatus that facilitates wireless communication in a wireless network, comprising:

at least one processor that analyzes respective wireless signals of a serving base station and a non-serving wireless device within the wireless network and obtains an estimate of wireless quality or wireless interference from the analysis;

at least one antenna for transmitting and receiving wireless data, the antenna forwarding the estimate to the non-serving wireless device and obtaining a scheduling message from the non-serving wireless device that includes an uplink communication allocation based on the estimate; and

a reporting module that facilitates uplink scheduling for an AT indication of the serving base station if the scheduling message corresponds to the serving base station.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the processor decodes the scheduling message and extracts a base station ID or an AT ID therefrom.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the reporting module forwards the scheduling message to an AP of a neighboring cell of the wireless network if the base station ID corresponds to the neighboring cell.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the reporting module forwards the scheduling message to the serving base station if the base station ID corresponds to the serving base station.

35. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the processor employs a transmitter to implement the uplink allocation if the AT ID corresponds to the apparatus.

36. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising: providing wireless channel data, mobility data of the apparatus or uplink transmit diversity data to the non-serving wireless node, wherein the uplink communication is based on at least one such data.

37. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising:

a mobility module to decode the scheduling message and extract mobility instructions therefrom.

38. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising:

and a shared communication module for implementing uplink transmit diversity according to the multi-antenna communication command specified in the scheduling message.

39. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the apparatus is an AT within a serving cell of the wireless network or a wireless repeater.

40. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the non-serving wireless device is a macro-overlay base station, wherein the macro-overlay base station provides centralized uplink scheduling for a micro, pico, or femto cell within the wireless network, and the macro-overlay does not provide service to the micro, pico, or femto cell.

41. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising:

a mediation module that decodes the scheduling message and obtains a priority of a traffic flow involving the apparatus or a priority of a traffic flow involving an interfering wireless device, and the mediation module performs at least one of:

observing, modifying, or ignoring the uplink communication allocation according to a priority or interference priority of the apparatus; or

Forwarding the decoded one or more priorities to the serving base station to at least partially

And performing network-indicated uplink scheduling according to the device or the interference priority.

42. An apparatus that facilitates wireless communication in a wireless network, comprising:

means for analyzing, using at least one processor, respective wireless signals of a serving base station and a non-serving wireless device within the wireless network and obtaining an estimate of wireless quality or wireless interference from the analysis;

means for forwarding the estimate to the non-serving wireless device using at least one antenna and obtaining a scheduling message from the non-serving wireless device that includes an uplink communication allocation based on the estimate; and

means for facilitating the uplink allocation within a serving cell of the wireless network, wherein the serving cell is identified in the scheduling message.

43. At least one processor configured to facilitate wireless communication in a wireless network, comprising:

a first module for analyzing respective wireless signals of a serving base station and a non-serving wireless device within the wireless network and obtaining an estimate of wireless quality or wireless interference from the analysis, wherein the estimate is to be forwarded to the non-serving wireless device;

a second module for obtaining a scheduling message from the non-serving wireless device that includes an uplink communication allocation based on the estimate; and

a third module that facilitates the uplink allocation within a serving cell of the wireless network, wherein the serving cell is identified in the scheduling message.