Method and apparatus for adjacent channel interference mitigation

Abstract

Systems and methods for mitigation of cross channel interference are disclosed in which the TDD configuration of a potential cross channel interference source is detected by received signals within the network with which the source interferes. The TDD configuration is then used to synchronize the transmissions from the network with which the source interferes to reduce the interference. In addition, interference is mitigated by providing adaptive guard bands based on results of a radio frequency environmental survey and/or coaxing an interfering user to another channel. Sub-channels can be assigned based on the results of the radio frequency environmental survey and Quality of Service requirements for traffic flows.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A communications system comprising:
 a) an interference mitigation unit (IMU) configured to:
 i. output Radio Frequency (RF) environmental survey request to cause at least one recipient of the instructions to measure signals received by the recipient; 
 ii. receive, in response to the RF environmental survey request, Time Division Duplex (TDD) configuration information for the potential source of cross channel interference; and 
 iii. output the TDD configuration information; and 
   b) a Network Operations Unit coupled to the IMU and configured to:
 i. receive TDD configuration information; and 
 ii. in response to the received TDD configuration information, output TDD sync instructions to the IMU for instructing the at least one recipient to operate in synchronicity with the received TDD configuration. 
   
     
     
         2 . The communications system of  claim 1 , wherein the recipient of the instructions is at least one of a plurality of target base station/access points (BS/APs). 
     
     
         3 . The communications system of  claim 2 , wherein the instructions cause the at least one of the BS/APs to measure signals within a predetermined frequency range. 
     
     
         4 . The communication system of  claim 3 , the IMU further configured to:
 a) receive a report indicating the RF environment;   b) determine from the received report whether there are any potential cross channel interference sources in the RF environment; and   c) output the TDD configuration only if there is a potential cross channel interference source.   
     
     
         5 . The communication system of  claim 1 , further including a server Medium Access Control sub-layer module (server MAC) coupled to the IMU, the server MAC configured to:
 a) receive from the IMU the RF environmental survey request;   b) in response to receipt of the RF environmental survey request, generate RF environmental survey instructions;   c) transmit the RF environmental survey instructions to the at least one recipient;   d) receive in response to the transmission of the RF environmental survey instructions, measurements from the at least one recipient indicating the RF environment;   e) generate a report based on the measurements; and   f) provide the report to the IMU.   
     
     
         6 . The communication system of  claim 5 , the server MAC further configured to:
 a) receive TDD sync instructions from the Network Operations Unit; and   b) in response to received sync instructions, transmit sync instructions to at least one recipient to cause the at least one recipient to operate in synchronicity with the received TDD configuration.   
     
     
         7 . The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the recipient of the instructions is at least one of a plurality of user equipment (UEs) and wherein the instructions cause the at least one of the plurality of UEs to measure signals within a predetermined frequency range.