WO2016033049A1

WO2016033049A1 - Licensed shared access based spectrum sharing

Info

Publication number: WO2016033049A1
Application number: PCT/US2015/046699
Authority: WO
Inventors: Markus Dominik Mueck; Sabine Roessel
Original assignee: Intel IP Corporation
Priority date: 2014-08-28
Filing date: 2015-08-25
Publication date: 2016-03-03

Abstract

Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a network entity comprises processing circuitry to obtain a signal level measurement and location information related to the signal level measurement from one or more mobile devices operating on a network for a shared access band, and create an interference map for the shared access band for interference from a secondary system onto an incumbent shared access system based at least in part on the signal measurement and the location information for the one or more mobile devices. If an interference level for the shared access band is greater than a predefined level, the processing circuitry is to identify one or more interfering devices in the shared access band, and perform interference mitigation for one or more of the interfering devices.

Description

LICENSED SHARED ACCESS BASED SPECTRUM SHARING

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/043,285 filed Aug. 28, 2014 (Docket No. P72853Z). Said Application No. 62/043,285 is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The Licensed Shared Access (LSA) concept was recently developed by the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) on a European level. The objective of LSA is to propose a new way for addressing the availability of more spectrum. It is expected that no more dedicated spectrum will be available for cellular operators for mobile communications in the near future. LSA proposes mechanisms for introducing shared spectrum based solutions wherein mobile cellular operators will have access to additional licensed spectrum from other licensees such as public safety entities or government entities, to which mobile cellular operators otherwise would not have access. Other shared spectrum approaches have been proposed such as called Authorized Shared Access (ASA). ASA, however, is limited to International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) spectrum whereas LSA also may cover non-IMT bands. Cloud Spectrum Services (CSS) addresses the same framework as LSA and ASA, but CSS involves more detailed implementation solutions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, such subject matter may be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a network implementing Licensed Shared Access (LSA) zones in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a network implementing Spectrum Access System (SAS) in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an LSA network illustrating measurement points along the border of an LSA protection zone in accordance with one or more embodiments; FIG. 4 is a diagram of an LSA network illustrating measurement points along the border of an LSA protection zone close to a crowd of mobile devices in in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an extended LSA protection zone in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method to identify and mitigate interference in an LSA network in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an information handling system capable implementing licensed shared access based spectrum sharing in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of an information handling system of FIG. 7 that optionally may include a touch screen in accordance with one or more embodiments; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram of example components of a wireless device in accordance with one or more embodiments.

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, if considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and/or circuits have not been described in detail.

In the following description and/or claims, the terms coupled and/or connected, along with their derivatives, may be used. In particular embodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact with each other. Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact. However, coupled may also mean that two or more elements may not be in direct contact with each other, but yet may still cooperate and/or interact with each other. For example, "coupled" may mean that two or more elements do not contact each other but are indirectly joined together via another element or intermediate elements. Finally, the terms "on," "overlying," and "over" may be used in the following description and claims. "On," "overlying," and "over" may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical contact with each other. However, "over" may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other. For example, "over" may mean that one element is above another element but not contact each other and may have another element or elements in between the two elements. Furthermore, the term "and/or" may mean "and", it may mean "or", it may mean "exclusive-or", it may mean "one", it may mean "some, but not all", it may mean "neither", and/or it may mean "both", although the scope of claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In the following description and/or claims, the terms "comprise" and "include," along with their derivatives, may be used and are intended as synonyms for each other.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a diagram of a network implementing Licensed Shared Access

(LSA) zones in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shown in FIG. 1, network 100 may implement Licensed Shared Access (LSA) for spectrum sharing wherein an incumbent spectrum holder may share access to its spectrum with licensed users when the incumbent spectrum holder is in someway not using the spectrum. It should be noted that in one or more embodiments and for purposes of example and discussion, network 100 of FIG. 1 may implement Licensed Shared Access (LSA) in accordance with in accordance with a European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standard, and commensurate with reports, recommendations, and/or decisions of European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT). In such an arrangement, network 100 may allow the usage of occupied but underused bands by one or more mobile network operators (MNOs) on a shared license basis wherein an incumbent spectrum owner may guarantee the availability of the spectrum for a given period of time, for a given geographic area, and a given spectrum band to a licensed or otherwise authorized MNO, typically to deploy access in accordance with a Third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. A licensed MNO thus may receive quality of service (QoS) guarantees in the LSA spectrum 128. In Europe, for example, LSA spectrum 128 may include LTE time-division duplexing (TDD) Band 40 comprising 2.3-2.4 GHz. It should be noted, however, that these are merely example implementations of licensed shared access by network 100, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects.

In one example, a mobile device, or user equipment, 110 may communicate with a base station, or evolved Node B, 112 in an area or portion of LSA spectrum 128 in a licensed spectrum 126 that is licensed from an incumbent spectrum holder. In one or more embodiments, base stations 112 operating in the licensed spectrum 126 communicate with one or more Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OA&M) entities 114 of network 100. An LSA controller 1 16 of network 100 manages access to LSA spectrum 128, and maintains an LSA repository 118 in which LSA controller 116 stores information on the availability of LSA spectrum 128 over time, space, and/or frequency for one or more incumbent spectrum holders such as incumbent (incumbent 1) 120, incumbent (incumbent 2) 122, and/or incumbent (incumbent 3) 124, and so on.

In one or more embodiments, three types of LSA zones may be defined. Exclusion Zone 132 may refer to a geographical area within which LSA licensees are not allowed to have active radio transmitters. An exclusion zone typically may be applicable for a defined frequency interval and time period. Restriction Zone 130 may refer to a geographical area within which LSA licensees are allowed to operate radio transmitters under certain restrictive conditions, for example under maximum equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) and/or antenna height limits. A restriction zone typically may be applicable for a defined frequency interval and time period. Protection Zone 134 may refer to a geographical area within which the field strength due to transmissions by LSA licensees is to be kept below a certain defined level. Conditions for the measurement or estimation of the received field strength may have various definitions, for example a mean field strength that does not exceed a defined value in decibels referenced to one microvolt per meter per megahertz (dE^V/m/MHz) at a defined receiver antenna height above ground level. A protection zone typically may be applicable for a defined frequency interval and time period, and for a limited geographic area.

In one or more embodiments, network 100 may obtain mobile device centric measurements on LSA band signal levels, for example by exploiting available measurement mechanisms. The measurements are then utilized to differentiate the source of interference in a given LSA spectrum, for example whether base station 112 or mobile device 1 10 is creating critical interference levels that may not be allowed in the LSA spectrum. Once the source of interference is identified, corresponding interference mitigation approaches may be implemented. For example, in one or more embodiments, network 100 may utilize existing mobile device measurements, directly or indirectly by measuring a signal level of a transmission point. The measurements are provided to LSA controller 116 to enable network 100 to create a signal strength map of a given LSA spectrum, in particular exploiting received signal strength indication (RSSI), RSPP, and/or cell-specific reference signal (CRS) feedback for identification of LSA signal interference into an incumbent protection zone 134 and/or exclusion zone 132 by exploiting minimization of drive test (MDT) immediate log, channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback, channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) joint zero padding-nonzero padding (ZP/NZP) feedback, and/or sub-frame analysis. In one or more embodiments, network 100 may utilize silence periods during which mobile device 110 operating in a standard licensed band may to switch to an LSA band or spectrum 128 to perform measurements on interference levels into protection zone and/or exclusion zones of an incumbent LSA spectrum holder, and to switch back to the original licensed band. After the measurements are obtained, one or more sources of interference in LSA spectrum 128 may be identified, for example whether an excessive interference level in protection zone 134 and/or in exclusion zone 132 is created by an LSA base station 1 12 or by one or more LSA mobile devices 1 10, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. Although FIG. 1 shows how network 100 may provide LSA based shared spectrum access, an alternative network structure for shared spectrum access is shown in described with respect to FIG. 2, below.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a diagram of a network implementing Spectrum Access System (SAS) in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. Network 200 of FIG. 2 may operate in a manner substantially similar to network 100 of FIG. 1 except that network 200 of FIG. 2 may be configured to provide Spectrum Access System (SAS). Whereas LSA based shared spectrum access as shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented in Europe, in the United States network 200 may implement a similar scheme called Spectrum Access System (SAS) in accordance with one or more rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) targeting the usage of licensed spectrum sharing in the range of 3.55-3.65 GHz. As a result, as discussed herein, similar principles for LSA network 100 also may apply to network 200, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. As shown in FIG. 2, network 200 may communicate with one or more citizens broadband radio service devices (CBSDs) such as CBSD (CBSD 1) 210, CBSD (CBSD 2) 212, CBSD (CBSD 3) 214, and/or CBSD (CBSD 4) 216 which in turn may be operated by one or more users such a user 218, user 220, and/or user 222. As an example, CBSD 210, CBSD 212, and/or CBSD 214 may be managed by a proxy/network manager 224 which communicates with a SAS entity (SAS 1) 226. Alternatively, a CSBD such as CSBD 216 may communicate directly with SAS entity 226. SAS entity 226 may manage and authorize utilization of shared spectra for the CSBDs in a manner substantially similar to LSA controller 116 of FIG. 1 except that SAS entity 226 may operate in accordance with one or more FCC rules. Multiple SAS entities such as SAS entity (SAS1) 226 and/or SAS entity (SAS2) 228 may manage spectrum usage with one or more FCC databases 230 for commercial users and/or licensees, and/or with one or more Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) entities such as ESC 232 for federal incumbent use to detect and the presence of an incumbent user and to communicate the presence of the incumbent user to the SAS entities. In the arrangement of network 200 as shown in FIG. 2, one or more SAS entities may coordinate spectrum usage between incumbent spectrum owners, priority access license (PAL) users, and general authorized access (GAA) users. PAL users may have priority access to the licensed spectrum over GAA users. In one or more embodiments, SAS entity 226 manages access to the shared spectrum or spectra, for example the 3.5 GHz channels, and devices may not be allowed to operate within a band managed by SAS entity 226. The device is in constant communication with SAS entity 226 and receives information of when and where the spectrum may be used. Since SAS entity 226 is the central coordinator for shared spectrum, SAS entity 226 needs to have substantial information about network 200 and the devices operating in the spectrum. In some embodiments, most of this information may be contained in SAS entity 226. If there are multiple SAS entities for a given geography or frequency, for example SAS entity 226 and SAS entity 228, the multiple SAS entities may be synchronized with one another. Although FIG. 2 shows a SAS based network 200 for shared spectrum access, for purposes of example, terminology and discussion, reference and will be made with respect to LSA based network 100 of FIG. 1, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. An example of how measurements may be made in a shared spectrum network is shown in and described with respect to FIG. 3, below.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a diagram of an LSA network illustrating measurement points along the border of an LSA protection zone in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shown in FIG. 3, one or more mobile devices 110 may obtain Licensed Shared Access (LSA) signal level measurements in order to identify interference in a protection zone 134 and/or an exclusion zone 132 of an incumbent spectrum owner. LSA users including base stations 112 and mobile devices 110 ensure that LSA band signal levels in protection zone 134 are maintained below a predefined threshold. Maintaining signal levels below the predefined threshold helps to ensure the Quality of Service (QoS) in protection zone 134. Typically, mobile devices 110 operating in protection zone 134 operate within bands as specified by a 3 GPP Long Term Access (LTE) licensed band. Such devices may be utilized to perform LSA signal level measurements within protection zone 134. The measurements that are obtained by

mobile devices 1 10 are reported to network 100, for example to LSA processor 1 16 of FIG. 1. LSA processor 116 uses the obtained measurements to generate an interference map related to interference created by the wireless devices operating on network 100 such as base stations 1 12 and/or mobile devices 110 that are is operated in the LSA band or spectrum outside of protection zone 134 and/or exclusion zone 132 wherein the interference radiates into these zones. In one or more embodiments, protection zone 134 may be surrounded by an extended protection zone 310. In general, mobile devices 1 10 and/or base stations 112 may not operate in LSA bands within an area, defined as extended protection zone 310, close to or proximate to protection zone 134 in order to ensure that transmissions from devices in extended protection zone 310 do not emanate into protection zone 134 and contribute to interference levels within protection zone 134. Using extended protection zone 310 ensures that LSA interference levels in protection zone 134 do not exceed predefined levels. In one or more embodiments, mobile devices 1 10 that are on or near the borders of protection zone 134 may be used as measurement points to measure LSA interference levels for protection zone 134. LSA controller 116 obtains signal level measurements from multiple mobile devices 1 10 to ensure that an aggregate of the interference is maintained below a predefined threshold. Further details of obtaining interference threshold measurements are discussed with respect to FIG. 4, below.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a diagram of an LSA network illustrating measurement points along the border of an LSA protection zone close to a crowd of mobile devices in in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shown in FIG. 4, mobile devices 110 may be utilized as measurement points to measure interference levels in protection zone 134, for example along the border of protection zone 134. Typically, however, the LSA interference levels do not need to be measured along the entire border line of protection zone 134. It may be sufficient to identify a closest base station or base stations 1 12 accessing LSA bands as well as a dense group 416 of users proximate to and/or moving close to extended protection zone 310. It may be helpful to identify a dense group 416 of users since major interference events may be caused by large crowds transmitting devices at a given location and not by merely a single user. In order to have the interference level measurements performed by mobile devices 1 10, available measurement mechanisms may be utilized and combined with measurements obtained by other mobile devices 110 to provide network 100 with signal level per position information on the LSA band. Network 100 collects LSA band signal level in combination with location information from mobile devices 110 and aggregates the data from multiple devices and averaged across a predetermined amount of time to accurately estimate of LSA band signal level both in protection zones 134 and/or exclusion zones 132. From this estimation, network 100 can decide for which of the base stations 112, or evolved Node Bs (eNBs), the effective isotropic radiated power (EIPR) levels and/or antenna tilts should be adapted in order to match the requirements of exclusion zone 132 as well as protection zone 134. In some embodiments, the measurements points may comprise measurement point 410, measurement point 412, and/or measurement point 414 comprising locations at or close to the borders of protection zone 134, and in some embodiments close to one or more of the nearest LSA base stations 1 12, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects.

In one or more embodiments, network 100 may obtain one or more of the following signal measurement types using one or more mobile devices 110 at one or more of the measurement points: immediate or logged minimization of drive test (MDT); neighbor cell measurements typically used to trigger intra-frequency or inter-frequency handover which are based on reference signal received power (RSRP) or reference signal received quality (RSRQ) to also get received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurements; periodic reporting to ensure the measurement and reporting of a handover (HO) condition; configured secondary cell (SCell) measurements: reference signal received power (RSRP); activated SCell measurements: cell- specific reference signal (CRS) based channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback; zero padding channel quality indicator reference signal (ZP-CSI-RS) and non-zero padding channel quality indicator reference signal ( ZP-CSI-RS) configuration-based interference measurements; direct measurement of transmission (TX) points interference due to proper channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) configurations; and/or power headroom reporting (PHR) wherein PHR is based on downlink (DL) path loss. It should be noted, however, that these are merely example measurement techniques, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects.

In one or more embodiments, network 100 may obtain one or more measurements using one or more mobile devices 1 10 at one or more of the measurement points using one or more of the following location methods. One method may comprise location information embedded to minimization of drive test (MDT), for example radio-frequency (RF) fingerprint, Global Positioning System (GPS) or Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based location methods. Another method may comprise directly requested location information based on observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA). It should be noted, however, that these are merely example measurement techniques, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. The mobile devices 1 10 may be configured with measurement techniques and/or location methods that may be based at least in part on a state of the mobile device according to the following scenarios listed in Table 1, below. State of Mobile Device Measurements Location Information

Idle Mode camped on regular Logged MDT to obtain RSRP of As part of logged MDT based spectrum LSA cells in reach (inter- on GNSS or RF fingerprint frequency measurement object

configuration)

Idle mode camped on Logged MDT to obtain RSRP of As part of logged MDT based LSA cell LSA cells in reach (intra- on GNSS or RF fingerprint frequency measurement object

configuration)

RRC_Connected to Immediate MDT to obtain As part of immediate MDT regular spectrum RSRP of LSA cells in reach for based on GNSS or RF

potential inter-frequency HO fingerprint

Periodic neighbor cell GNSS-based location in measurements as for inter- addition and/or OTDOA based frequency HO location triggered by

positioning request of the network

RRC_Connected to Immediate MDT to obtain As part of immediate MDT

LSA cell RSRP of LSA cells in reach for based on GNSS or RF

potential intra-frequency HO fingerprint

Periodic neighbor cell GNSS-based location in measurements (as for intra- addition and/or OTDOA based frequency HO) location triggered by

In HetNet Scenarios with positioning request of the TM9/TM10 CSI-RS based network

measurements

Immediate MDT Power As part of immediate MDT Headroom Report (PHR) in based on GNSS or RF case the violators are the LSA fingerprint

UEs.

RRC_Connected to RSRP measurements of GNSS-based location in regular spectrum; with configured or activated addition and/or OTDOA based LSA SCell configured location triggered by

LSA Carrier following the

positioning request of the measSCellCycle (e.g. every network

160 ms)

CQI measurements of

configured or activated LSA

Carrier

Table 1 : LSA signal level measurement approaches and identification of location information

Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, inter-frequency measurement gaps may be utilized to introduce silence periods during which allow a Mobile Device 110 operating in a standard licensed band to switch to an LSA band, perform measurements on signal level into a protection zone 134 and/or exclusion zone 132 of an incumbent spectrum owner, and switch back to the original standard licensed band. Even if network 100 does not intend to handover the mobile device 110 to the LSA carrier, network 100 may introduce measurement gaps for the mobile device 110 as well as configure the measurement objects in the mobile device 1 10 to obtain a signal strength map of the LSA carrier.

In one or more embodiments, after a signal strength map of the LSA is obtained by network 100, identification of one or more sources of interference from one or more base stations 1 12 and/or one or more mobile devices 1 10 may be made, and suitable interference mitigation mechanisms may be implemented. The signal measurement mechanisms indicated, above, may be applied in order to identify LSA signal levels in protection zones 134 and/or exclusion zones 132 of an incumbent spectrum holder. The LSA signal levels typically are interference to the services of the incumbent spectrum holder. In order to identify the source of interference from an LSA base station 112 and/or an LSA mobile device 1 10, the following approaches may be applied. For frequency duplex division (FDD), measurements may be performed on uplink (UL) band and downlink (DL) bands independently. Because it is known that DL bands are utilized by base stations 1 12, and UL bands are utilized by mobile devices 1 10, identification of the source of interference may be straightforward. The DL signals are created by a base station 112, and if the corresponding DL signal levels are above the maximum thresholds allowed within a protection zone 134 and/or exclusion zone 132 of an incumbent spectrum holder, the corresponding power levels for DL transmissions from one or more interfering base stations 1 12 may be reduced. Downlink interference reduction typically may be achieved by lowering the output power levels in one or more of the concerned interfering LSA base stations 1 12. The UL signals are created by mobile devices 1 10, and if the corresponding signal levels are above a maximum threshold allowed within a protection zone 134 and/or exclusion zone 132 of an incumbent spectrum holder, the corresponding power levels for UL transmissions from one or more interfering mobile stations 110 may be reduced. Uplink interference reduction typically may be achieved by performing a handover (HO) from LSA bands into standard licensed bands. Alternatively, an LSA band may be used for supplemental DL transmissions only without utilizing an LSA band for UL transmissions for one or more mobile stations 1 10. In some embodiments, output power levels from one or more UL transmitters may be reduced such that the interference thresholds are met.

For time division duplex (TDD), LSA may be applied in the 2.3-2.4 GHz Long Term Evolution (LTE) TDD band. Measurements may be performed in the TDD frame which contains time multiplexed uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) portions. The base stations 112 have knowledge on the resource allocation within any TDD frame, so measurements may be reported from mobile devices 1 10 to the concerned base stations 112, and the relevant source of interference may be identified wherein for the UL portion of the TDD frame mobile devices 110 are sources of interference, and for the DL portion of the TDD frame base stations 1 12 are sources of interference.

In one or more embodiments, different techniques may be utilized to identify what actions network 100 may perform in order to eliminate the excessive interference levels into a protection zone 134 and/or exclusion zone 132 of an incumbent spectrum holder. Some example actions are shown in Table 2, below.

LSA band is TDD: The network may obtain the The network may obtain the

Other operator's LSA Base other operators' DL/UL other operators' DL/UL

Stations or LSA Mobile configuration from own configuration from own

Devices violates my LSA Mobile Devices neighbor cell Mobile Devices neighbor cell protection / exclusion measurements (SIB1 measurements (SIB1

zone contains the TDD UL/DL contains the TDD UL/DL

configuration). configuration).

Interference levels observed Interference levels observed

in DL subframes refer to LSA in UL subframes refer to

BS signal levels. aggregate LSA Mobile Device

transmission.

If information on UL/DL cannot be obtained, the network

must guess the cause of the interference (LSA Base Stations

vs. LSA Mobile Devices) from statistical analysis.

Table 2: Techniques for identification of a violator of LSA interference thresholds Referring now to FIG. 5, a diagram of an extended LSA protection zone in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shown in FIG. 5, the boundaries of extended protection zone 310 surrounding protection zone 134 may be adjusted or varied according to the amount of interference detected in or proximate to protection zone 134 using measurement and/or location data obtained by network 100 as discussed, above. With such signal level measurement and location determining mechanisms, it is possible to operate LSA base stations 1 12 and/or mobile devices 1 10 closer to a protection zone 134 and/or exclusion zone 132 of an incumbent spectrum holder. LSA typically may not be applied in the immediate vicinity outside the boundary of protection zone 134 and/or exclusion zone 132 in extended protection zone 310. If there are no upper signal level measurement mechanisms, extended protection zone 310 may be of considerable size. Since interference measurements and location determination techniques may be utilized as discussed herein, network 100 may reduce the size of extended protection zone 310 to a reduced extended protection zone 510 having a smaller size and/or area than extended protection zone 310. For example, network 100 may utilize a reduced extended protection zone 510 and utilize LSA interference mapping to determine if the aggregate interference in protection zone 134 exceeds a predefined level in which case network 100 may implement interference mitigation techniques to reduce interference rather than to rely on a larger sized extended protection zone 310 to avoid interference by keeping interferers farther away from protection zone 134. Conversely, if network 100 determines that aggregate interference levels are too high even after employing interference mitigation, network 100 may increase the size and/or area of extended protection zone 310. In general, network 100 may vary the size and/or area of extended protection zone 310 to an optimal or nearly optimal value wherein interference mitigation techniques are effective to address aggregate interference in protection zone 134, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. In general, the capability to adjust the size and/or area of extended protection zone 310 may provide a higher value of LSA bands for mobile network operators who desire to use the LSA bands, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

Referring now to FIG. 6, flow diagram of a method to identify and mitigate interference in an LSA network in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. It should be known that method 600 may include more or fewer blocks and/or operations than shown in FIG. 6, and/or in various other orders than the order shown in FIG. 6, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. In addition, method 600 may be tangibly embodied in an article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory storage medium, wherein the instructions, if executed by a processor or other circuitry, result in execution of the operations of method 600, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

At block 610, one or more mobile devices 1 10 in the vicinity of, or on or near a border of, an LSA network 100 may switch to an LSA band, for example during a silence period. During the silence period and after switching to an LSA band, the one or more mobile devices 1 10 may take signal level measurements at one or more measurement points at block 612. Location information for the one or more mobile devices 1 10 may be obtained at block 614 to determine the location of the measurement points, for example using GPS or GNSS location determination techniques or using other techniques such as triangulation or observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA). In one or more embodiments, the signal level measurements and/or the location determination techniques may be performed according to Table 1 as discussed, above, although the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. At block 616 the mobile devices 110 may send the signal level measurements and/or the location information to network 100, for example to LSA controller 116 of FIG. 1 or alternatively to SAS entity 226 of FIG. 2. At block 618, the LSA controller 1 16, or SAS entity 226, may utilize the signal level measurements and the location information to create an interference map for network 100. Using the interference map, a determination may be made at block 620 whether an interference level is greater than a predefined level. The interference level may be an aggregate of interference from multiple devices such a multiple mobile devices 110 and/or multiple base stations 112. If the interference is not greater than the predefined level, method 600 may continue at block 610, for example to continue to obtain signal level measurements and location information during silence periods to generate an update interference map. If the interference is greater than the predefined level, an identity of one or more interfering devices may be obtained at block 622, for example according to the techniques of Table 2, and network 100 may then perform interference mitigation techniques. For example, at block 624 a transmit power level of one or more interfering base stations 1 12 may be reduced. At block 626, a number of mobile devices 1 10 may be switched to a non-LSA band. The number of mobile devices 110 that are switched off the LSA band may be a subset of the total number of mobile devices 1 10 operating on the LSA band, and may not include all of the mobile devices 110 that are contributing to the interference. Since the interference may be an aggregate interference level, a number of mobile devices 1 10 sufficient to reduce the aggregate interference may switched off the LSA band. At block 628, the size of an extended protection zone 310 optionally may be adjusted to help reduce interference levels on the LSA band. It should be noted that method 600 of FIG. 6 may be implemented by hardware such as an information handling system as shown in and described with respect to FIG. 7, below.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a block diagram of an information handling system capable of implementing licensed shared access based spectrum sharing in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. Information handling system 700 of FIG. 7 may tangibly embody any one or more of the network elements described herein, above, including for example mobile device 1 10, base station 1 12, OA&M entity 114, LSA controller 116, and/or SAS entity 226, with greater or fewer components depending on the hardware specifications of the particular device. Although information handling system 700 represents one example of several types of computing platforms, information handling system 700 may include more or fewer elements and/or different arrangements of elements than shown in FIG. 7, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects.

In one or more embodiments, information handling system 700 may include an application processor 710 and a baseband processor 712. Application processor 710 may be utilized as a general-purpose processor to run applications and the various subsystems for information handling system 700. Application processor 710 may include a single core or alternatively may include multiple processing cores. One or more of the cores may comprise a digital signal processor or digital signal processing (DSP) core. Furthermore, application processor 710 may include a graphics processor or coprocessor disposed on the same chip, or alternatively a graphics processor coupled to application processor 710 may comprise a separate, discrete graphics chip. Application processor 710 may include on board memory such as cache memory, and further may be coupled to external memory devices such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) 714 for storing and/or executing applications during operation, and NAND flash 716 for storing applications and/or data even when information handling system 700 is powered off. In one or more embodiments, instructions to operate or configure the information handling system 1 100 and/or any of its components or subsystems to operate in a manner as described herein may be stored on an article of manufacture comprising a non- transitory storage medium. In one or more embodiments, the storage medium may comprise any of the memory devices shown in and described herein, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. Baseband processor 712 may control the broadband radio functions for information handling system 700. Baseband processor 712 may store code for controlling such broadband radio functions in a NOR flash 718. Baseband processor 712 controls a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 720 which is used for modulating and/or demodulating broadband network signals, for example for communicating via a 3 GPP LTE or LTE-Advanced network or the like.

In general, WWAN transceiver 720 may operate according to any one or more of the following radio communication technologies and/or standards including but not limited to: a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) radio communication technology, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) radio communication technology, an Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) radio communication technology, and/or a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio communication technology, for example Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Freedom of Multimedia Access (FOMA), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3 GPP Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE Advanced), Code division multiple access 2000 (CDMA2000), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mobitex, Third Generation (3G), Circuit Switched Data (CSD), High-Speed Circuit- Switched Data (HSCSD), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Third Generation) (UMTS (3G)), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) (W-CDMA (UMTS)), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System-Time-Division Duplex (UMTS-TDD), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), Time Division- Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 8 (Pre-4th Generation) (3 GPP Rel. 8 (Pre-4G)), 3 GPP Rel. 9 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 9), 3 GPP Rel. 10 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 10) , 3 GPP Rel. 11 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 11), 3GPP Rel. 12 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 12), 3 GPP Rel. 13 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 12), 3 GPP Rel. 14 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 12), 3GPP LTE Extra, LTE Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E- UTRA), Long Term Evolution Advanced (4th Generation) (LTE Advanced (4G)), cdmaOne (2G), Code division multiple access 2000 (Third generation) (CDMA2000 (3G)), Evolution-Data Optimized or Evolution-Data Only (EV-DO), Advanced Mobile Phone System (1st Generation) (AMPS (1G)), Total Access Communication System/Extended Total Access Communication System (TACS/ETACS), Digital AMPS (2nd Generation) (D-AMPS (2G)), Push-to-talk (PTT), Mobile Telephone System (MTS), Improved Mobile Telephone System (IMTS), Advanced Mobile Telephone System (AMTS), OLT (Norwegian for Offentlig Landmobil Telefoni, Public Land Mobile Telephony), MTD (Swedish abbreviation for Mobiltelefonisystem D, or Mobile telephony system D), Public Automated Land Mobile (Autotel/PALM), ARP (Finnish for Autoradiopuhelin, "car radio phone"), NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony), High capacity version of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) (Hicap), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mobitex, DataTAC, Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN), Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), Circuit Switched Data (CSD), Personal Handy-phone System (PHS), Wideband Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (WiDEN), iBurst, Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), also referred to as also referred to as 3 GPP Generic Access Network, or GAN standard), Zigbee, Bluetooth®, Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) standard, millimeter wave (mmWave) standards in general for wireless systems operating at 10-90 GHz and above such as WiGig, IEEE 802. Had, IEEE 802.11 ay, and so on, and/or general telemetry transceivers, and in general any type of RF circuit or RFI sensitive circuit. It should be noted that such standards may evolve over time, and/or new standards may be promulgated, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

The WWAN transceiver 720 couples to one or more power amps 742 respectively coupled to one or more antennas 724 for sending and receiving radio-frequency signals via the WWAN broadband network. The baseband processor 712 also may control a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 726 coupled to one or more suitable antennas 728 and which may be capable of communicating via a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, and/or an amplitude modulation (AM) or frequency modulation (FM) radio standard including an IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n standard or the like. It should be noted that these are merely example implementations for application processor 710 and baseband processor 712, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. For example, any one or more of SDRAM 714, NAND flash 716 and/or NOR flash 718 may comprise other types of memory technology such as magnetic memory, chalcogenide memory, phase change memory, or ovonic memory, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

In one or more embodiments, application processor 710 may drive a display 730 for displaying various information or data, and may further receive touch input from a user via a touch screen 732 for example via a finger or a stylus. An ambient light sensor 734 may be utilized to detect an amount of ambient light in which information handling system 700 is operating, for example to control a brightness or contrast value for display 730 as a function of the intensity of ambient light detected by ambient light sensor 734. One or more cameras 736 may be utilized to capture images that are processed by application processor 710 and/or at least temporarily stored in NAND flash 716. Furthermore, application processor may couple to a gyroscope 738, accelerometer 740, magnetometer 742, audio coder/decoder (CODEC) 744, and/or global positioning system (GPS) controller 746 coupled to an appropriate GPS antenna 748, for detection of various environmental properties including location, movement, and/or orientation of information handling system 700. Alternatively, controller 746 may comprise a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) controller. Audio CODEC 744 may be coupled to one or more audio ports 750 to provide microphone input and speaker outputs either via internal devices and/or via external devices coupled to information handling system via the audio ports 750, for example via a headphone and microphone jack. In addition, application processor 710 may couple to one or more input/output (I/O) transceivers 752 to couple to one or more I/O ports 754 such as a universal serial bus (USB) port, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, a serial port, and so on. Furthermore, one or more of the I/O transceivers 752 may couple to one or more memory slots 756 for optional removable memory such as secure digital (SD) card or a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an isometric view of an information handling system of FIG. 7 that optionally may include a touch screen in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. FIG. 8 shows an example implementation of information handling system 700 of FIG. 7 tangibly embodied as a cellular telephone, smartphone, or tablet type device or the like. The information handling system 700 may comprise a housing 810 having a display 730 which may include a touch screen 732 for receiving tactile input control and commands via a finger 816 of a user and/or a via stylus 8 18 to control one or more application processors 710. The housing 810 may house one or more components of information handling system 700, for example one or more application processors 710, one or more of SDRAM 714, NAND flash 716, NOR flash 718, baseband processor 712, and/or WWAN transceiver 720. The information handling system 700 further may optionally include a physical actuator area 820 which may comprise a keyboard or buttons for controlling information handling system via one or more buttons or switches. The information handling system 700 may also include a memory port or slot 756 for receiving nonvolatile memory such as flash memory, for example in the form of a secure digital (SD) card or a subscriber identity module (SIM) card. Optionally, the information handling system 700 may further include one or more speakers and/or microphones 824 and a connection port 754 for connecting the information handling system 700 to another electronic device, dock, display, battery charger, and so on. In addition, information handling system 700 may include a headphone or speaker jack 828 and one or more cameras 736 on one or more sides of the housing 810. It should be noted that the information handling system 700 of FIG. 8 may include more or fewer elements than shown, in various arrangements, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may include logic, at least partially operable in hardware. Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software.

Referring now to FIG. 9, example components of a wireless device such as User Equipment (UE) device 900 in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. User equipment (UE) may correspond, for example, to mobile device 1 10 of FIG. 1, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, UE device 900 may include application circuitry 902, baseband circuitry 904, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 906, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 908 and one or more antennas 910, coupled together at least as shown.

Application circuitry 902 may include one or more application processors. For example, application circuitry 902 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single- core or multi-core processors. The one or more processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors, for example graphics processors, application processors, and so on. The processors may be coupled with and/or may include memory and/or storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory and/or storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.

Baseband circuitry 904 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Baseband circuitry 104 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of RF circuitry 906 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 906. Baseband processing circuity 904 may interface with the application circuitry 902 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 906. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 904 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor 904a, third generation (3G) baseband processor 904b, fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 904c, and/or one or more other baseband processors 904d for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future, for example fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G), and so on. Baseband circuitry 904, for example one or more of baseband processors 904a through 904d, may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via RF circuitry 906. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation and/or demodulation, encoding and/or decoding, radio frequency shifting, and so on. In some embodiments, modulation and/or demodulation circuitry of baseband circuitry 904 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation mapping and/or demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding and/or decoding circuitry of baseband circuitry 904 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder and/or decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation and/or demodulation and encoder and/or decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 904 may include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. Processor 904e of the baseband circuitry 904 may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSP) 904f. The one or more audio DSPs 904f may include elements for compression and/or decompression and/or echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of baseband circuitry 904 and application circuitry 902 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 904 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 904 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which baseband circuitry 904 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 906 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, RF circuitry 906 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and so on, to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 906 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from FEM circuitry 908 and provide baseband signals to baseband circuitry 904. RF circuitry 906 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 904 and provide RF output signals to FEM circuitry 908 for transmission.

In some embodiments, RF circuitry 906 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of RF circuitry 906 may include mixer circuitry 906a, amplifier circuitry 906b and filter circuitry 906c. The transmit signal path of RF circuitry 906 may include filter circuitry 906c and mixer circuitry 906a. RF circuitry 906 may also include synthesizer circuitry 906d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 106a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from FEM circuitry 908 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 1906d. Amplifier circuitry 906b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 906c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to baseband circuitry 904 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 906a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 906d to generate RF output signals for FEM circuitry 908. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 904 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 906c. Filter circuitry 906c may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 906a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down conversion and/or up conversion respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 906a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection, for example Hartley image rejection. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 906a may be arranged for direct down conversion and/or direct up conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path and mixer circuitry 906a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, RF circuitry 906 may include analog- to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and baseband circuitry 904 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with RF circuitry 906. In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio integrated circuit (IC) circuitry may be provided for processing signals for one or more spectra, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 906d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 906d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

Synthesizer circuitry 106d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by mixer circuitry 906a of RF circuitry 906 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 906d may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either baseband circuitry 904 or applications processor 902 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by applications processor 902.

Synthesizer circuitry 906d of RF circuitry 906 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l, for example based on a carry out, to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 906d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency, for example twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency, and so on, and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a local oscillator (LO) frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, RF circuitry 906 may include an in-phase and quadrature (IQ) and/or polar converter.

FEM circuitry 908 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 910, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 906 for further processing. FEM circuitry 908 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by RF circuitry 906 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 910.

In some embodiments, FEM circuitry 908 may include a transmit/receive (TX/RX) switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. FEM circuitry 908 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of FEM circuitry 908 may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and to provide the amplified received RF signals as an output, for example to RF circuitry 906. The transmit signal path of FEM circuitry 908 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals, for example provided by RF circuitry 906, and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission, for example by one or more of antennas 910. In some embodiments, UE device 900 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory and/or storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

In a first non-limiting example, a network entity comprises processing circuitry to obtain a signal level measurement and location information related to the signal level measurement from one or more mobile devices operating on a network for a shared access band, and create an interference map for the shared access band for interference from a secondary system onto an incumbent shared access system based at least in part on the signal measurement and the location information for the one or more mobile devices. If an interference level for the shared access band is greater than a predefined level, the processing circuitry is to identify one or more interfering devices in the shared access band, and perform interference mitigation for one or more of the interfering devices. The shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band. The network entity comprises a license shared access (LSA) controller, a spectrum access system (SAS) entity, or an evolved Node B (eNB), or a combination thereof. The signal level measurement is obtained from the one or more mobile devices during a silent period. The interference comprises an aggregate interference into the incumbent system from one or more mobile devices in an uplink, or from one or more base stations in a downlink, or a combination thereof. The interference map is for a protection zone or an exclusion zone of the network for the shared access band. The interference mitigation comprises causing one or more base stations operating on the network to reduce a transmit power level, causing a number of mobile devices to switch from the shared access band to a non-shared access band, or adjusting a size of an extended protection zone of the network, or a combination thereof.

In a second non-limiting example, user equipment (UE) comprises processing circuitry to switch to a shared access band of a network to take a signal level measurement, obtain a signal level measurement on the shared access band, determine a location of the UE, and transmit the signal level measurement and the location of the UE to the network. The processing circuitry is further to perform the switch to the shared access band during a silence period. The processing circuitry is further to switch from the shared access band to a non-shared access band in response to a command from the network. The UE further comprises a touchscreen to receive an input from a user to control the processing circuitry of the UE.

In a third non-limiting example, an evolved Node B (eNB) comprises processing circuitry to transmit a command to one or more mobile devices to cause the one or more mobile devices to obtain a signal level measurement and location information for the signal level measurement for a shared access band of a network, receive the signal level measurement and the location information from the one or more mobile devices, and provide the signal level measurement and the location information to a network entity on the network from which the network entity is to create an interference map for the shared access band. The shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band. The processing circuitry is further to receive a command from the network entity to reduce a transmit power level of the eNB on the shared access band if the eNB is a source of interference in the interference map, and to reduce the transmit power level in response to the command.

In a fourth non-limiting example, an article of manufacture comprises a non-transitory storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a processor, result in obtaining a signal level measurement and location information related to the signal level measurement from one or more mobile devices operating on a network for a shared access band, and creating an interference map for the shared access band for interference from a secondary system onto an incumbent shared access system based at least in part on the signal measurement and the location information for the one or more mobile devices, wherein the interference comprises an aggregate interference into the incumbent system from one or more mobile devices in an uplink, or from one or more base stations in a downlink. If an interference level for the shared access band is greater than a predefined level, the instructions result in identifying one or more interfering devices in the shared access band, and performing interference mitigation for one or more of the interfering devices. The shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band. The signal level measurement is obtained from the one or more mobile devices during a silent period. The interference map is for a protection zone or an exclusion zone of the network for the shared access band. The interference mitigation comprises causing one or more base stations operating on the network to reduce a transmit power level, causing a number of mobile devices to switch from the shared access band to a non-shared access band, or adjusting a size of an extended protection zone of the network, or a combination thereof.

In a fifth non-limiting example, article of manufacture comprises a non-transitory storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a processor, result in switching to a shared access band of a network to take a signal level measurement, obtaining a signal level measurement on the shared access band, determining a location of the where the signal level measurement is obtained, and transmitting the signal level measurement and the location of the UE to the network. The shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band. The instructions, if executed, further result in switching to the shared access band during a silence period. The instructions, if executed, further result in switching from the shared access band to a non-shared access band in response to a command from the network.

In a sixth non-limiting example, an article of manufacture comprises a non-transitory storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a processor, result in transmitting a command to one or more mobile devices to cause the one or more mobile devices to obtain a signal level measurement and location information for the signal level measurement for a shared access band of a network, receiving the signal level measurement and the location information from the one or more mobile devices, and providing the signal level measurement and the location information to a network entity on the network from which the network entity is to create an interference map for the shared access band. The shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band. The instructions if executed further result in receiving a command from the network entity to reduce a transmit power level on the shared access band, and reducing the transmit power level in response to the command.

In a seventh-non limiting example, a network entity comprises means for obtaining a signal level measurement and location information related to the signal level measurement from one or more mobile devices operating on a network for a shared access band, means for creating an interference map for the shared access band for interference from a secondary system onto an incumbent shared access system based at least in part on the signal measurement and the location information for the one or more mobile devices, wherein the interference comprises an aggregate interference into the incumbent system from one or more mobile devices in an uplink, or from one or more base stations in a downlink, means for identifying one or more interfering devices in the shared access band if an interference level for the shared access band is greater than a predefined level, and means for performing interference mitigation for one or more of the interfering devices. The shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band. The signal level measurement is obtained from the one or more mobile devices during a silent period. The interference map is for a protection zone or an exclusion zone of the network for the shared access band. The means for performing interference mitigation comprises means for causing one or more base stations operating on the network to reduce a transmit power level, means for causing a number of mobile devices to switch from the shared access band to a non-shared access band, or means for adjusting a size of an extended protection zone of the network, or a combination thereof. In an eighth non-limiting example, user equipment (UE) comprises means for switching to a shared access band of a network to take a signal level measurement, means for obtaining a signal level measurement on the shared access band, means for determining a location of the where the signal level measurement is obtained, and means for transmitting the signal level measurement and the location of the UE to the network. The shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band. The UE further comprises means for switching to the shared access band during a silence period. The UE further comprises means for switching from the shared access band to a non-shared access band in response to a command from the network.

In a ninth non-limiting example, an evolved Node B (eNB), comprises means for transmitting a command to one or more mobile devices to cause the one or more mobile devices to obtain a signal level measurement and location information for the signal level measurement for a shared access band of a network, means for receiving the signal level measurement and the location information from the one or more mobile devices, and means for providing the signal level measurement and the location information to a network entity on the network from which the network entity is to create an interference map for the shared access band. The shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band. The eNB further comprises means for receiving a command from the network entity to reduce a transmit power level on the shared access band, and means for reducing the transmit power level in response to the command.

Although the claimed subject matter has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements thereof may be altered by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and/or scope of claimed subject matter. It is believed that the subject matter pertaining to licensed shared access based spectrum sharing and many of its attendant utilities will be understood by the forgoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and/or arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the claimed subject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, and/or further without providing substantial change thereto. It is the intention of the claims to encompass and/or include such changes.

Claims

What is claimed is: 1. A network entity comprising processing circuitry to:

obtain a signal level measurement and location information related to the signal level measurement from one or more mobile devices operating on a network for a shared access band; create an interference map for the shared access band for interference from a secondary system onto an incumbent shared access system based at least in part on the signal measurement and the location information for the one or more mobile devices;

if an interference level for the shared access band is greater than a predefined level, identify one or more interfering devices in the shared access band; and

perform interference mitigation for one or more of the interfering devices.

2. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band.

3. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the network entity comprises a license shared access (LSA) controller, a spectrum access system (SAS) entity, or an evolved Node B (eNB), or a combination thereof.

4. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the signal level measurement is obtained from the one or more mobile devices during a silent period.

5. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the interference comprises an aggregate interference into the incumbent system from one or more mobile devices in an uplink, or from one or more base stations in a downlink, or a combination thereof.

6. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the interference map is for a protection zone or an exclusion zone of the network for the shared access band.

7. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the interference mitigation comprises causin more base stations operating on the network to reduce a transmit power level, causing number of mobile devices to switch from the shared access band to a non-shared access band, or adjusting a size of an extended protection zone of the network, or a combination thereof.

8. User equipment (UE) comprising processing circuitry to:

switch to a shared access band of a network to take a signal level measurement;

obtain a signal level measurement on the shared access band;

determine a location of the UE; and

transmit the signal level measurement and the location of the UE to the network.

9. The UE of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is further to perform the switch to the shared access band during a silence period.

10. The UE of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is further to switch from the shared access band to a non-shared access band in response to a command from the network.

1 1. The UE of claim 8, further comprising a touchscreen to receive an input from a user to control the processing circuitry of the UE.

12. An evolved Node B (eNB) comprising processing circuitry to:

transmit a command to one or more mobile devices to cause the one or more mobile devices to obtain a signal level measurement and location information for the signal level measurement for a shared access band of a network;

receive the signal level measurement and the location information from the one or more mobile devices; and

provide the signal level measurement and the location information to a network entity on the network from which the network entity is to create an interference map for the shared access band.

13. The eNB of claim 1 1, wherein the shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band.

14. The eNB of claim 1 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further to receive a command from the network entity to reduce a transmit power level of the eNB on the shared access band if the eNB is a source of interference in the interference map, and to reduce the transmit power level in response to the command.

15. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a processor, result in:

obtaining a signal level measurement and location information related to the signal level measurement from one or more mobile devices operating on a network for a shared access band; creating an interference map for the shared access band for interference from a secondary system onto an incumbent shared access system based at least in part on the signal measurement and the location information for the one or more mobile devices, wherein the interference comprises an aggregate interference into the incumbent system from one or more mobile devices in an uplink, or from one or more base stations in a downlink;

if an interference level for the shared access band is greater than a predefined level, identifying one or more interfering devices in the shared access band; and

performing interference mitigation for one or more of the interfering devices.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the signal level measurement is obtained from the one or more mobile devices during a silent period.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the interference map is for a protection zone or an exclusion zone of the network for the shared access band.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the interference mitigation comprises causing one or more base stations operating on the network to reduce a transmit power level, causing a number of mobile devices to switch from the shared access band to a non-shared access band, or adjusting a size of an extended protection zone of the network, or a combination thereof.

20. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a processor, result in:

switching to a shared access band of a network to take a signal level measurement; obtaining a signal level measurement on the shared access band;

determining a location of the where the signal level measurement is obtained; and transmitting the signal level measurement and the location of the UE to the network.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 20, wherein the shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 20, wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in switching to the shared access band during a silence period.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 20, wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in switching from the shared access band to a non-shared access band in response to a command from the network.

24. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a processor, result in:

transmitting a command to one or more mobile devices to cause the one or more mobile devices to obtain a signal level measurement and location information for the signal level measurement for a shared access band of a network;

receiving the signal level measurement and the location information from the one or more mobile devices; and

providing the signal level measurement and the location information to a network entity on the network from which the network entity is to create an interference map for the shared access band.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the shared access band comprises a licensed shared access (LSA) band or a spectrum access system (SAS) band.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the instructions if executed further result in receiving a command from the network entity to reduce a transmit power level on the shared access band, and reducing the transmit power level in response to the command.