KR20060126902A - Method and apparatus for controlling wireless transmission and system comprising same - Google Patents

Abstract

Wireless transmission by an ultra wide band (UWB) wireless device 10 is controlled by measuring the transmission operation of one or more wireless devices 10, and in accordance with a predetermined criterion in response to the measured transmission operation. 10) by controlling the transmission operation of at least one. The measurement method for checking the transmission operation level may include a method of measuring a transmission time rate during a predetermined period or a method of measuring an indication of total power transmitted by a plurality of wireless devices averaged during the predetermined period. . The method of controlling the operating element (to reduce interference and power consumption) can be achieved by a method of reducing the power level, preventing the transmission of one or more devices, or transmitting according to a stored timetable (implemented by location information or centralized reporting). A method of scheduling the operation.

Description

Wireless transmission control method and apparatus and system including same {WIRELESS TRANSMISSION CONTROL IN UWB (ULTRA WIDE BAND) TECHNOLOGY}

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling a transmission operation of a wireless device, and is not particularly limited to an ultra wide band (UWB) device.

Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology will be one of the most important means of wirelessly transmitting high-speed information in the next few years. After the February 14, 2002 first report and order by the Federal Communications Commission for the Americas, a new market for mobile data devices was opened, and legislation is expected soon in Europe. do. Some of the advantages of UWB technology include the reuse of existing radio spectrum without authorization, simple transceiver structure, high data rates, and accurate ranging.

One of the main factors that still distrust UWB's success is whether it can coexist with other services without significantly affecting the operation of other services. UWB transmission is within the frequency bands already occupied by other commercial systems such as cellular systems, microwave links and satellite links, while the main transmission prediction frequency is between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz but according to the power mask shown in FIG. It also radiates outside the spectrum. In Fig. 2, the mask shown in solid lines with respect to the maximum allowable average effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) for the wideband frequency was officially authorized in February 2002 to allow indoor use of the UWB device. Shows the FCC UWB transmission limit for. The dashed lines in FIG. 2 illustrate the UWB transmission limitations discussed at the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), with a single dashed line at -41.3 dBm / MHz for personal computers, kitchen appliances, razors, television and other broadcasts. FCC Part 15 restriction on unintentional radiation from electronic devices such as receivers.

In addition, minimizing the power consumption of the UWB chipset is necessary to be competitive with other low power wireless solutions such as Bluetooth ™. The first generation UWB chipset can consume about 200 microseconds, which is four to five times the current Bluetooth ™ chipset.

It is an object of the present invention to enable reduction of interference.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling wireless transmission by one or more wireless elements, the method comprising the steps of measuring a transmission operating level of the one or more wireless elements, and determined in response to the measured transmission operating level; Controlling a transmission operation of at least one of the wireless devices according to the reference.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for controlling wireless transmission by one or more wireless elements, comprising measuring means for measuring the transmission operating level of the one or more wireless elements, and in advance in response to the measured transmission operating level. And control means for controlling a transmission operation of at least one of the wireless elements in accordance with the determined criteria.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a system comprising an apparatus according to the second aspect of the invention and one or more radio elements, comprising transmitter means for modifying the transmission operation in response to the signaling produced by the control means. do.

The method of measuring the transmission operation level may be a method of measuring a transmission time rate for a predetermined period for one or more wireless devices or a method of measuring an indication of total power transmitted by a plurality of wireless devices averaged over a predetermined period. It includes.

Methods of controlling the transmission operation include reducing the transmission power level of one or more devices and, in certain cases, inhibiting transmission by one or more devices for a predetermined additional period.

By controlling the operating element, the level of interference generated by the wireless device can be reduced and the power consumption of the wireless device can also be reduced.

The device controlling the wireless transmission can be combined with a wireless element controlled by the device. The device can control one or more external devices via wireless communication.

The present invention is based on the fact that, since active wireless devices typically transmit only for a fraction of the maximum theoretical time, temporal averaging and control are advantageous for controlling the degree of interference, which also allows for reduced power consumption. In the present specification, an apparatus for controlling a transmission operation is also referred to as an operation element controller.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of example only.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a cluster of wireless devices.

2 is a graph showing defined emission limits.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing simulation results for total interference effects from UWB to Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) hot-spot link according to different operating factors.

In FIG. 1, a cluster of UWB wireless elements 10 and an operating element controller 20 are shown. Each wireless element 10 includes a UWB transmitter 12. The operation element controller 20 is a control means for controlling the transmission operation of the radio element 10 by signaling means (M) 22 for measuring the transmission operation level of the radio element 10 and signaling via the link 30. (C) (24). This link 30 is shown for only one wireless device, but may exist for each wireless element 10 to be controlled in practice. The link 30 may be wired or wireless. Optionally, the operating element controller 20 comprises positioning means (L) 26, for example a GPS receiver, for determining the position of the operating element controller 20.

The measuring means 22 measures the amount of transmission operation by the wireless element 10 during the period, and when the transmission operation level follows a predetermined criterion, the control means 24 performs control for further transmission.

In measuring transmission operation, examples of parameters such as total transmission time, total transmission power, transmission cycle duration, transmission cycle interval duration, and maintaining a given quality of service such as a given bit rate may be considered. This predetermined criterion may comprise one or more of the above parameters.

Examples of predetermined criteria are as follows. The total transmission time for the measurement period reaches a predetermined duration; The total transmission time exceeding the predetermined power during the measurement period amounts to a predetermined duration; The number of transmissions exceeding a predetermined duration reaches a predetermined value; For example, the total transmission time with a data rate that can be given above 200 Mbit / s to increase interference exceeds a predetermined value.

The controls that can be executed during further transmission are as follows. Transmission may be inhibited for a predetermined period; Transmit power may be reduced to zero if possible for a predetermined period; The maximum transmission duration may be reduced; The minimum period between transmissions can be extended; The data rate may be reduced to reduce the possibility of interference with other services. This combination of transmission characteristics can be controlled.

The operating element controller 20 can be implemented in one of two different ways.

a) The operating element controller 20 is integrated with the wireless element 10 so that a single wireless element 10 can be measured and controlled so that the controlled and controlled functions are in the same physical element.

b) The operating element controller 20 can measure and control the plurality of wireless elements 10. In this case, the measured transmission operation level may be an average value for the plurality of wireless elements 10. Such a configuration can be deployed, for example, in a home, office or factory. The operating element controller 20 determines its own control based on the user's daily needs and the priority assigned by the user according to the class of service provided by each wireless element 10, which is a switching off or low priority. For example, reducing the quality of service of a wireless device first.

As a result of the control performed by the operating element controller 20, the amount of interference generated by the controlled radio element 10 and the power consumption of these devices are reduced. Another consequence of the control performed by the operating element controller 20 may be a degradation of the quality of service provided by the wireless element 10. In a data transfer application, this may mean a long wait during the file transfer. In sensing applications, this may mean a low system update rate. In a video transmission system, this may mean switching to a lower resolution mode, for example.

The predetermined criterion for determining the level of transmission operation or the control performed by the operating element controller 20 may depend on the position of the operating element controller 20 or the wireless element 10. For example, the total interference power generated by the wireless device 10 may be a major factor for large buildings located in close proximity to the FWA microwave link, but in small homes or suburbs using only a small amount of the wireless device 10. There may be little impact on the area. The user can select the control criteria or type or automatically select in response to the position indication provided by the positioning means 22 or other source.

Predetermined criteria for determining the transmit operation level or type of control performed by the operating element controller 20 may be automatically updated by data received from the central database UWB radio centralized control station, which is a vital microwave relay of the disaster area. As in the link, the effect of the interference caused by the wireless device 10 is monitored in real time in the main areas where proper protection is required, so that the communication can be kept active by suppressing the function of the low priority wireless device 10. .

The operating element controller 20 may comprise means for displaying information to a user. For example, when the transmission operation of the wireless element 10 reaches an intermediate level lower than the level at which the control means 24 begins to control, the user may be alerted. This alert allows the user to reduce the use of the wireless element 10 and will delay or prohibit the initiation of transmission operation control by the operation element controller.

The operation element controller 20 determines the transmission time of one or more elements 10 according to a dynamic timetable that is generated and periodically updated based on a preset concentration limit for the area controlled by the operation controller 20. The transmission can be controlled by scheduling at.

Optionally, the control means 24 of the operating element controller 20 may comprise a memory means 28 for storing the timetable, which may schedule the transmission of one or more wireless elements 10 according to the stored timetable. The timetable may be based on a preset concentration limit that may be location dependent. The timetable may depend on the location of the wireless device 10 to be controlled and may be updated in response to the location information received from the wireless device 10. The timetable may be updated in response to the received concentrated report, eg control means 24 may be independent of potential harmful interference due to reported concentrated malfunction of the system, for example, where radio waves are heavily concentrated or located close to a UWB hot-spot. External reports may receive instructions emitted at the center that block traffic in specific areas.

The network of operating element controllers 20 may be co-located with each controller that controls and updates a timetable for a particular geographic area based on location information received from one or more elements 10 or using received centralized reporting. .

Figure 3 shows the simulation results for the reduction of interference power that can be obtained by reducing the operating level according to the invention, which was measured in dBW / MHz as a function of distance. 3 shows the total interference power generated by the UWB device as visualized by a FWA microwave receiver placed at a variable distance from the UWB transmitter. FIG. 3 shows three curves, 1% (lower curve) and 5% (middle curve) of a pair of wireless devices 10 arranged in the receive path of the FWA link and operating in a typical duty cycle. ), A curve for a moving element of 10% (above curve). By way of example, these curves limit the transmission operating level of the wireless device 10 to 1% at 1 km (i.e., percent integrated transmission time for all wireless devices), so that the total interference power reaches an operating level of 10%. This is about 13 dB less than when used. Due to path loss, the interference level decreases with increasing distance.

The term "one" described before an element in the specification and claims does not exclude the possibility of a plurality of such elements being present. In addition, the term "comprising" does not exclude those other than the described components or steps.

Reference numerals in parentheses in the claims are for the purpose of understanding and not limitation.

Those skilled in the art will clearly appreciate that other changes are possible by reading this specification. These changes include other features already known in UWB technology and wireless device technology, and can be used in conjunction with or instead of the features already described herein.

Claims (20)

A method of controlling wireless transmission by one or more wireless elements (10), Measuring a transmission operation level of the at least one wireless element 10; Controlling the transmission operation of at least one of the wireless elements 10 in accordance with a predetermined criterion in response to the measured transmission operation level, Wireless transmission control method. The method of claim 1, Measuring the transmission operation level comprises measuring a transmission time rate for a first predetermined period, Wireless transmission control method. The method of claim 1, Measuring the transmission operation level comprises measuring an indication of total power transmitted by the plurality of wireless elements 10 averaged over a second predetermined period, Wireless transmission control method. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, Controlling the transmission operation comprises reducing a transmission power level of the one or more wireless devices 10, Wireless transmission control method. The method of claim 4, wherein Reducing the power level comprises inhibiting transmission by the one or more devices for a third predetermined period; Wireless transmission control method. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The predetermined criterion is location dependent, Wireless transmission control method. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, Controlling the transmission operation comprises scheduling the transmission operation according to a stored timetable; Wireless transmission control method. The method of claim 7, wherein Updating the timetable in response to the location information received from at least one of the wireless elements 10, Wireless transmission control method. The method of claim 8, Updating the timetable in response to the received centralized report, Wireless transmission control method. In an apparatus 20 for controlling wireless transmission by one or more wireless elements, Measuring means (22) for measuring a transmission execution level of said at least one wireless element (10); Control means 24 for controlling the transmission operation of at least one of the wireless elements 10 in accordance with a predetermined criterion in response to the measured transmission operation level, Wireless transmission control unit. The method of claim 10, The measuring means 22 is suitable for measuring the transmission operation level at a transmission time rate for a first predetermined period, Wireless transmission control unit. The method of claim 10, The measuring means 22 is suitable for measuring the transmission operating level as an indication of the total power transmitted by the plurality of wireless elements 10 averaged over a second predetermined period, Wireless transmission control unit. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, The control means 24 are suitable for controlling the transmission operation by reducing the transmission power level of the one or more wireless elements 10, Wireless transmission control unit. The method of claim 13, The control means 24 are suitable for controlling the transmission operation by prohibiting transmission by the one or more wireless elements 10 for a predetermined third period, Wireless transmission control unit. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, The measuring means 22 is suitable for changing the predetermined criterion in response to the position indication of the device, Wireless transmission control unit. The method of claim 15, Positioning means 26 suitable for generating the position indication of the device, Wireless transmission control unit. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, The control means 24 further comprises a memory means 28 for storing a timetable, The control means 24 is configured to control the transmission operation of at least one of the wireless elements 10 by scheduling the transmission operation according to the stored timetable. Wireless transmission control unit. The method of claim 17, The control means 24 is configured to update the timetable in response to positional information received from at least one of the wireless elements 10, Wireless transmission control unit. The method of claim 18, The control means 24 is configured to update the timetable in response to the received centralized report, Wireless transmission control unit. 20. At least one wireless element (10) comprising an apparatus as claimed in any of claims 10 to 19 and transmitter means responsive to signaling generated by the control means (24) for altering the transmission operation. , system.

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