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WO2018229312A1 - Method, system and apparatus for automatic channel assignment in wireless communication networks - Google Patents

Method, system and apparatus for automatic channel assignment in wireless communication networks Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2018229312A1
WO2018229312A1 PCT/ES2017/070438 ES2017070438W WO2018229312A1 WO 2018229312 A1 WO2018229312 A1 WO 2018229312A1 ES 2017070438 W ES2017070438 W ES 2017070438W WO 2018229312 A1 WO2018229312 A1 WO 2018229312A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
automatic channel
access point
channel assignment
wireless
automatic
Prior art date
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Ceased
Application number
PCT/ES2017/070438
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Spanish (es)
French (fr)
Inventor
Victor BERROCAL-PLAZA
José AYUB GONZÁLEZ-GARRIDO
José Antonio DELGADO-ALFONSO
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Aoife Solutions SL
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Aoife Solutions SL
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Publication date
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Priority to PCT/ES2017/070438 priority Critical patent/WO2018229312A1/en
Publication of WO2018229312A1 publication Critical patent/WO2018229312A1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W16/00—Network planning, e.g. coverage or traffic planning tools; Network deployment, e.g. resource partitioning or cells structures
    • H04W16/02—Resource partitioning among network components, e.g. reuse partitioning
    • H04W16/10—Dynamic resource partitioning
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/20—Control channels or signalling for resource management
    • H04W72/27—Control channels or signalling for resource management between access points

Definitions

  • the present invention encompasses in a general way in the field of wireless telecommunications networks, and specifically defines methods, systems and devices for the automatic assignment of radio channels in wireless telecommunications networks.
  • a wireless telecommunications network is a communications network in which wireless connections are used to communicate to network nodes.
  • Examples of wireless telecommunications networks include, but are not limited to, wireless local area networks (WLAN), wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN) and public land mobile networks (PLMN).
  • WLAN wireless local area networks
  • WMAN wireless metropolitan area networks
  • PLMN public land mobile networks
  • Wireless networks use radio waves as a means of transmission to provide communications to one or more network devices.
  • One of the most important advantages of wireless networks is their ability to meet the dynamic connectivity needs typical of mobile devices. This is why wireless networks are commonly used to provide communications to mobile devices, such as but not limited to laptops, mobile phones or personal digital assistants (PDAs).
  • PDAs personal digital assistants
  • wireless telecommunications networks are widely used in the deployment of custom communications networks (ad-hoc networks) due to their easy installation.
  • the name of the different network entities that make up a wireless telecommunications network could depend on the underlying technology.
  • the network entity that provides access to users' wireless devices is known as an access point (AP) in a WLAN network, base station (BS) in second generation WiMAX and PLMN networks (ie GSM networks), NodeB in third generation PLMN networks (ie UMTS networks) or eNodeB in fourth generation PLMN networks (ie LTE networks).
  • AP access point
  • STA client station
  • the devices and equipment used in a wireless telecommunications network may have to meet a series of specific requirements defined by the corresponding standardization body.
  • Parameters such as carrier frequencies, channel bandwidths, modulation and coding schemes, structure of data and control frames, signaling information, transmission power, media access control operations, etc. They could be susceptible to being specified by the corresponding standardization body. Determining the proper configuration of these parameters within the ranges allowed for each is a major engineering problem that must be addressed to achieve maximum network performance and improve the quality of the end-user experience.
  • each possible use case may require a different parameter configuration.
  • the first group consists of those inventions that describe methods for selecting the best channel for a single AP, using information measured locally in the AP in question and, therefore, without considering global information of the wireless telecommunications network .
  • One of the main drawbacks of these inventions are that the effect that decisions made in isolation in a given AP can be caused in the rest of the APs in the network is not considered. That is, the fact that a decision taken in isolation in an AP could cause an avalanche effect in which other decision-making processes are activated in the rest of APs in the network is not considered. As a consequence, these prior art inventions could provide highly unstable channel assignments and, therefore, cause a large number of channel reassignments over time.
  • the second group corresponds to those inventions of the prior art that attempt to optimize the allocation of radio channels of a set of APs using global or partial information from the telecommunications network. This information is exchanged between all or a subset of the APs that make up the wireless telecommunications network.
  • the inventions of this group propose different methods to determine the best possible channel allocation for each AP of a set of APs. To do this, they focus on directly assigning one of the available radio channels for each AP of that set of APs.
  • the problem of assigning the best radio channel from among a set of radio channels to each AP of a set of APs is an NP-complete optimization problem, ie an optimization problem that cannot Be solved in polynomial time.
  • an NP-complete optimization problem ie an optimization problem that cannot Be solved in polynomial time.
  • N M the number of possible solutions (ie the size of the target space) is equal to N M. Therefore, the methods, systems and devices proposed in the inventions of the prior art must find the best possible solution (ie a quasi-optimal solution) from among a set of N M solutions.
  • the invention described herein is an advance with respect to the inventions of the prior art because the methods, systems and devices proposed in this invention are capable of considerably reducing the size of the target space associated with the problem of automatic channel assignment.
  • Radioelectric Unlike the inventions proposed in the prior art, the methods, systems and devices described in this document take into account that optimizing the order in which each AP of a set of APs must perform an automatic channel selection procedure (ie the order in which each AP selects its best radio channel) reduces the size of the target space from N M to N ⁇ . At this point it is important to differentiate a process for the automatic assignment of radio channels from a process for the automatic selection of radio channel.
  • a process of automatic assignment of radio channels is that used to assign radio channels to a set of APs.
  • an automatic channel selection process is one used to select the best possible channel in an AP in isolation.
  • N the number of APs
  • the present invention could be used at time intervals to dynamically adapt the system to changing environmental conditions.
  • the present invention encompasses in a general way in the field of wireless telecommunications networks, and specifically defines methods, systems and devices for the automatic assignment of radio channels in wireless telecommunications networks.
  • Certain aspects of this disclosure provide a method for the automatic assignment of radio channels in wireless telecommunications networks. This method could be performed centrally using a device with computing and communication capabilities, as well as distributed using a set of devices with computing and communication capabilities. Said method generically includes operations to obtain and share quality reports of a set of radio channels measured in a set of wireless devices, combine said quality reports in order to obtain coherent and unified network information, compute an optimization process to determine the best possible order in which an automatic channel selection process must be calculated for each AP of a set of APs, determine the new assignment of radio channels according to said arrangement and assign the new radio channel to each AP of a set of APs. Certain aspects of this disclosure provide a computer product for the automatic assignment of radio channels in wireless telecommunications networks.
  • Said computer product could be formed by a central device with computing and communication capabilities, as well as by a set of distributed devices with computing and communication capabilities.
  • Said computer program generically includes a means of storing computer data with instructions executable by a device for obtaining and sharing quality reports of a set of radio channels measured in a set of wireless devices, combining said quality reports in order to obtain coherent and unified network information, compute an optimization process to determine the best possible order in which an automatic channel selection process must be calculated for each AP of a set of APs, determine the new automatic channel assignment agreement to said arrangement and assign the new radio channel to each AP of a set of APs.
  • Said device generally includes a transceiver system or a transceiver system configured to transmit and / or receive quality reports from a set of radio channels measured in a set of wireless devices, a processing system configured to combine said quality reports. in order to obtain consistent and unified network information, a processing system configured to optimize with any type of optimization technique the order in which an automatic channel selection process must be calculated for each AP of a set of APs, a processing system configured to determine the new automatic channel assignment according to said arrangement and a storage medium configured to store all the information, code and instructions necessary to carry out the above tasks.
  • FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless telecommunication system in which certain aspects of the present invention could be applied.
  • FIG. 2 shows an example of a graph that represents the interference relationships between the devices of a wireless telecommunications network.
  • FIG. 3 shows an example of a wireless telecommunications network in which a set of APs connect and communicate through a backbone network.
  • FIG 4 shows an example of a telecommunication network in which the automatic radio channel assignment procedure is performed centrally by a device with computing and communications capabilities.
  • FIG. 5 shows an example of the mode of operation of the invention described herein.
  • FIG. 6 shows an example of a telecommunication network in which a set of devices share quality reports of a set of radio channels generated by a set of wireless devices.
  • FIG. 7 shows an example of a system that combines the received channel quality reports to form consistent and unified network information.
  • FIG 8 shows the operations to be performed to know the new channel assignment for a set of APs from an order that establishes the order in which an automatic channel selection procedure must be calculated for each AP of a set of APs.
  • FIG 9 shows an example of a functional block diagram of a device that could be used to perform the automatic assignment of radio channels described in this document.
  • the present invention encompasses generically in the field of wireless telecommunications networks, and more specifically, in the field of systems, methods and devices for the automatic assignment of channels in wireless telecommunications networks.
  • the automatic assignment of radio channels proposed in the present invention could be based on information obtained by a set of wireless devices such as but not limited to access points, client stations, wireless sensors and / or spectrum analyzers.
  • the procedure for automatic assignment of radio channels could be performed centrally on a device with computing and communications capabilities, as well as distributed on a set of devices with computing and communications capabilities.
  • any aspect of the present invention may be covered by one or more elements of a claim. Any variation, modification and / or permutation of the particular aspects described herein is within the scope of this document. Those skilled in the art should consider that the aspects described herein may be applicable to different communications networks, network topologies, technologies, devices, network protocols, standards and network configurations.
  • Wireless telecommunications networks are networks in which radio waves are used as a transmission medium to communicate devices wirelessly according to a specific communications protocol.
  • a wireless telecommunications network consists of two main sub-networks, called the network of access and trunk network.
  • the access network means that sub-network composed of one or more access points (APs) in charge of providing network access and wireless communications to a set of client stations (STAs).
  • APs access points
  • STAs client stations
  • the name of the access point depends on the underlying network technology, eg it is called the base station (BS) in WiMAX networks and second generation PLMNs (GSM networks), NodeB in third generation PLMNs (UMTS networks), eNodeB in fourth generation PLMNs (LTE networks), or access point (AP) in IEEE 802.11 networks (Wi-Fi networks).
  • BS base station
  • GSM Global System for Mobile communications
  • UMTS networks NodeB in third generation PLMNs
  • LTE networks fourth generation PLMNs
  • AP access point
  • any network entity that provides network access and wireless communications to users' devices is called an access point (AP).
  • the client station (STA) is called any wireless device of the end user, eg laptop, mobile phone, wireless sensor, or any other device connected to a wireless network interface adapter.
  • one or more STAs could be configured to act as an AP.
  • the set of APs that make up the access network could be distributed throughout the coverage area.
  • a set of APs could be connected through a backbone network in order to allow communication between APs. In this sense, any means of transmission of the prior art could be used to communicate the APs, eg optical fiber, radio waves, coaxial cable, twisted pair cable, etc.
  • the backbone network is the sub-network that provides services to the STAs connected through the access network.
  • the invention described herein can be used for any access network technology, as well as for any service provided through the wireless telecommunications network.
  • FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless telecommunication system 100 where some aspects of the present invention could be applied.
  • the wireless telecommunication system 100 could be composed of one or more wireless telecommunication networks 102, 103, 104, each of which could provide service to one or more STAs 106 that are within the coverage area 108 of one or more APs 102a , 102b, 103a, 103b, 104a, 104b, 104c. It should be noted that interference between wireless devices will occur as long as the wireless telecommunication networks use the same radio channels at the Same time and in the same location.
  • the coverage area of AP 102b (ie 108g) overlaps with the coverage area of other APs (ie 108a, 108b, 108c, 108e, 108f).
  • the existence of interference between wireless devices causes the quality of service provided to the end user to be degraded due to frequent disconnections, download speeds below expected, performance degradation and latency problems. Therefore, those skilled in the art should use appropriate tools to avoid these inconveniences as much as possible due to interference.
  • the wireless telecommunication system shown in FIG. 1 is broken down into three wireless telecommunications networks, the target network 104 and two external networks 102 and 103.
  • target network is defined to the network on which the automatic radio channel assignment procedure is applied, and by external network All telecommunications network or radio wave source that interferes with the target network is defined.
  • sources of interference include, but are not limited to other wireless telecommunication networks, microwave ovens, cordless telephones and any other radio wave emitting source that may interfere with the target network.
  • 102 and 103 are two other external telecommunications networks.
  • the radio channels assigned to each source of external interference could change over time.
  • STAs 106 are connected to the target network 104.
  • FIG. 2 shows a graphical representation of the interference relationships between the devices of the target network 204 as well as between the devices of the target network 204 and the devices of the external networks 202 and 203. Note the correspondence between FIG. FIG. 2 and FIG. 1.
  • each node represents an AP (circles, squares and triangles) and each edge represents the existence of interference between two nodes of the target network 204 as well as the existence of interference between a node of the target network and a node of an external network (202 or 203).
  • each STA 206 is represented with a star and each dashed line represents an AP-STA association.
  • a graph is a graphic representation that is very useful for obtaining a global understanding of the target network and its relationship with its environment.
  • a set of APs could request their corresponding associated STAs to perform interference level measurements on a set of radio channels. This way you could detect the existence of interference between non-neighboring APs, eg interference between APs 204a and 203b.
  • the existence of interference between non-neighboring APs could be induced from information measured in neighboring APs, eg AP 204a could detect the existence of interference with the AP 203b from the interference information between the APs 204b and 203b and / or between APs 204c and 203b.
  • the existence of interference between non-neighboring APs could be deduced from information related to the roaming of the STAs, information that could be stored in real time as the STAs move through the coverage area .
  • FIG. 3 shows another possible embodiment of the present invention, where a set of APs 304 of the target network 304 could be connected through a backbone network 302 to allow communication between APs.
  • APs of the target network could be connected using any means of transmission of the prior art 306. Examples of possible transmission means include, but are not limited to optical fiber, radio waves, cable coaxial and twisted pair cable.
  • the APs of the target network could use the backbone network to send and share their quality reports from a set of radio channels, thereby acquiring global network information.
  • the automatic radio channel assignment procedure could be performed in a distributed manner by a set of devices, eg a set of APs 304 of the target network.
  • This set of APs 304 share among themselves their quality reports of a set of radio channels, combine said quality reports in order to obtain consistent and unified network information, compute an optimization process to determine the best possible channel allocation and assign the new channels to each AP of a set of APs in the target network.
  • the optimization process could involve one or more objective functions and could also be performed using any prior art optimization method.
  • optimization techniques include, but are not limited to heuristics, parallel heuristics, distributed metaheuristics, metaheuristics based on island models and parallel metaheuristics. It should be taken into account that any modification and / or variation of the state of the art optimization methods could also be used in said optimization process.
  • the process of automatic assignment of radio channels could be performed centrally using a device 410 that receives the quality reports of a set of radio channels obtained in a set of wireless devices. , combines said quality reports to obtain consistent and unified network information, computes an optimization procedure to determine the best possible channel assignment and assigns the new channel to each AP of a set of APs of the target network. It should be taken into account that this device could be a central control system, a server, an AP, a STA or any other device with computing and communications capabilities.
  • FIG. 5 shows an example of the operation mode 500 of the invention described herein.
  • the operations related to this invention could be performed centrally by a device with computing and communications capabilities, or distributed in a set of devices with computing and communications capabilities.
  • the operations described in 500 could begin in 502 by receiving quality reports of a set of radio channels obtained in a set of wireless devices (see FIG. 6), such as but not limited to APs 604, STAs 606, wireless sensors 605 and 607 spectrum analyzers.
  • QR-Ap ⁇ j refers to the quality report j (QRj) received in the AP i (Ap ⁇ ).
  • QR-AP ⁇ 704 an estimate of the perceived channel quality for each radio channel of a set of radio channels
  • Examples of useful information to determine the quality of a radio channel could be the signal to interference ratio plus noise (SINR), channel occupancy, received signal strength (RSSI), channel availability and any other information available in the state of The technique.
  • an optimization procedure could be performed to determine the new assignment of radio channels for each AP of a set of APs in the target network.
  • the optimization procedure could involve one or more objective functions and could be performed using any method of optimization of the state of the art.
  • said optimization procedure could be performed taking into account the perceived quality of each radio channel of a set of 704 radio channels.
  • the problem to be solved is known as the Automatic Channel Assignment (ACA) problem and belongs to the family of problems NP-complete combinatorial optimization.
  • ACA Automatic Channel Assignment
  • ACS Automatic Channel Selection
  • the invention described herein instead of directly optimizing the assignment of radio channels to a set of APs (as proposed in the inventions of the prior art), optimizes the order in which a process of calculating automatic channel selection (ie the order in which each AP selects its best radio channel) in each AP of a set of APs.
  • a process of calculating automatic channel selection ie the order in which each AP selects its best radio channel
  • the size of the target space is considerably reduced from N M to N ⁇ , so it is possible to find the optimal channel allocation in a shorter time.
  • the size of the target space depends exclusively on the number of APs (N) involved in automatic channel assignment, ie there is no dependence on the number of available radio channels ( M).
  • N the number of APs
  • M the number of available radio channels
  • the result of an automatic channel selection procedure can be calculated on any device with computational capabilities without the need to perform said channel selection procedure on the corresponding AP. It is important to mention that the invention described herein can be applied at time intervals to dynamically adapt the system to changing environmental conditions.
  • FIG. 8 shows the operations 800 necessary to determine the allocation of C 818 radio channels of a set of APs from a given sorting S 802 (S specifies the order in which an automatic channel selection procedure must be calculated for each AP of that set of APs).
  • the first operation consists in selecting the corresponding AP 806 and updating the perceived quality values of each radio channel of the set of radio channels considered 808 for said AP.
  • operation 808 might be necessary to take into account that the channel assignments made in the APs that interfere with the AP selected in 806 affect the perceived quality values of a set of radio channels for the AP in question 806.
  • the result of an automatic channel selection procedure for the selected AP in 806 is calculated.
  • the radio channel resulting from said channel selection procedure 810 is chosen as the new channel for the AP selected in 806. This procedure is performed for each AP of the set of APs considered according to the order specified in S.
  • the challenge therefore lies in determining the S 802 order that provides the optimal radio channel assignment.
  • Those skilled in the art could use any state of the art optimization method for this purpose. It should be taken into account that the number of possible arrangements (ie the number of feasible solutions) is equal to N ⁇ . Examples of optimization techniques include, but are not limited to heuristics, metaheuristics, linear programming, mixed linear-integer programming, quadratic programming and non-linear programming.
  • optimization techniques include, but are not limited to heuristics, metaheuristics, linear programming, mixed linear-integer programming, quadratic programming and non-linear programming.
  • the invention described herein does not depend on the channel selection procedure used in 810. Therefore, any automatic channel selection method of the prior art could be used.
  • the new radio channels could be assigned to each AP of that set of APs 510.
  • the assignment could be performed centrally by a device with computing and communications capabilities.
  • said assignment could be carried out distributed by a set of devices with computing and communications capabilities.
  • said assignment could be made in each AP of the set of APs considered.
  • FIG. 9 shows an example of a functional block diagram of a device that could be used to perform the automatic radio channel assignment procedure described in this document.
  • Device 900 could be any device with computing and communications capabilities.
  • device 900 could be an AP, a STA, a central control system, a server, etc.
  • Device 900 could include a set of transceivers 902 or a set of transmitters 904 and receivers 906 to communicate with other devices through a set of transmission means 922.
  • Device 900 could include a set of processing units (916, 918 and 920) for the computation of operations involved in the radio channel allocation procedure described in this document.
  • the device 900 could include a memory system 912 (which could include both random access memories and read-only memories) to store the data and instructions necessary to perform the methods described herein.
  • the data could be in any allowed format and the instructions could be in any programming language and include software code.
  • the device 900 could include one or more signal detecting units 908 to detect, discriminate and quantify the desired signals from the signals received by a set of transceivers 902 or a set of receivers 906.
  • the device 900 could also include one or more processing units. of signal 910 that could be used to measure, filter, compress and / or execute signal processing algorithms.
  • Device 900 could also include other systems and units associated with additional functionalities such as but not limited to interface units. User graph, peripheral units and encoding / decoding units.
  • the components of the device 900 could be connected through data transfer systems such as but not limited to a data bus system.

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Abstract

The invention relates to a method, system and apparatus for automatic channel assignment in wireless communication networks. The method can be performed in a centralized way or in a distributed way by a plurality of devices with computing and communication capabilities. The method includes operations for collecting and sharing quality reports for a plurality of radio channels obtained by a plurality of wireless devices, combining said quality reports in order to produce coherent and unified network information, calculating an optimization process in order to determine the best possible order in which an automatic channel selection procedure must be calculated for each AP of a plurality of APs, determining the new radio channel assignment according to said order, and assigning the new radio channel to each AP of a plurality of APs. The invention allows the size of the objective space to be considerably reduced, thereby providing better radio channel assignments in less time.

Description

MÉTODO. SISTEMA Y DISPOSITIVO PARA LA ASIGNACIÓN AUTOMÁTICA DE CANALES EN REDES DE COMUNICACIONES INALÁMBRICAS  METHOD. SYSTEM AND DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC ASSIGNMENT OF CHANNELS IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS

DESCRIPCIÓN DESCRIPTION

CAMPO DE LA INVENCIÓN FIELD OF THE INVENTION

La presente invención se engloba de forma general en el campo de las redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas, y específicamente, define métodos, sistemas y dispositivos para la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos en redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas.  The present invention encompasses in a general way in the field of wireless telecommunications networks, and specifically defines methods, systems and devices for the automatic assignment of radio channels in wireless telecommunications networks.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE LA TÉCNICA ANTERIOR DESCRIPTION OF THE PREVIOUS TECHNIQUE

Una red de telecomunicaciones inalámbrica es una red de comunicaciones en la que se utilizan conexiones inalámbricas para comunicar a los nodos de red. Ejemplos de redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas incluyen, pero no están limitadas a, redes inalámbricas de área local (WLAN), redes inalámbricas de área metropolitana (WMAN) y redes públicas móviles terrestres (PLMN). Las redes inalámbricas utilizan las ondas de radio como medio de transmisión para proporcionar comunicaciones a uno o más dispositivos de red. Una de las ventajas más importantes de las redes inalámbricas es su capacidad para hacer frente a las necesidades de conectividad dinámica típica de los dispositivos móviles. Esta es la razón por la que las redes inalámbricas son comúnmente utilizadas para proporcionar comunicaciones a dispositivos móviles, tales como pero no limitados a ordenadores portátiles, teléfonos móviles o asistentes digitales personales (PDAs). Además, las redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas son ampliamente utilizadas en el despliegue de redes de comunicaciones a medida (redes ad-hoc) debido a su fácil instalación.  A wireless telecommunications network is a communications network in which wireless connections are used to communicate to network nodes. Examples of wireless telecommunications networks include, but are not limited to, wireless local area networks (WLAN), wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN) and public land mobile networks (PLMN). Wireless networks use radio waves as a means of transmission to provide communications to one or more network devices. One of the most important advantages of wireless networks is their ability to meet the dynamic connectivity needs typical of mobile devices. This is why wireless networks are commonly used to provide communications to mobile devices, such as but not limited to laptops, mobile phones or personal digital assistants (PDAs). In addition, wireless telecommunications networks are widely used in the deployment of custom communications networks (ad-hoc networks) due to their easy installation.

El nombre de las diferentes entidades de red que componen una red de telecomunicaciones inalámbrica podría depender de la tecnología subyacente. Por ejemplo, la entidad de red que proporciona acceso a los dispositivos inalámbricos de los usuarios se conoce como punto de acceso (AP) en una red WLAN, estación base (BS) en redes WiMAX y PLMN de segunda generación (i.e. redes GSM), NodeB en redes PLMN de tercera generación (i.e. redes UMTS) o eNodeB en redes PLMN de cuarta generación (i.e. redes LTE). En lo siguiente, por razones de simplicidad, pero sin pérdida de generalidad, se denomina punto de acceso (AP) a toda aquella entidad de red que proporciona acceso inalámbrico a un conjunto de dispositivos de un conjunto de usuarios. Asimismo, se denomina estación cliente (STA) a todo aquel dispositivo de usuario que se conecta mediante ondas de radio a un AP. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben tener en cuenta que el problema abordado en el presente documento es común a cualquier red de telecomunicaciones inalámbrica y, por lo tanto, los métodos, sistemas y dispositivos definidos en esta divulgación pueden ser utilizados en cualquier tecnología de red inalámbrica. The name of the different network entities that make up a wireless telecommunications network could depend on the underlying technology. For example, the network entity that provides access to users' wireless devices is known as an access point (AP) in a WLAN network, base station (BS) in second generation WiMAX and PLMN networks (ie GSM networks), NodeB in third generation PLMN networks (ie UMTS networks) or eNodeB in fourth generation PLMN networks (ie LTE networks). In the following, for reasons of simplicity, but without loss of generality, the entire network entity that provides wireless access to a set of devices in a set is called an access point (AP) of users. Likewise, it is called the client station (STA) to any user device that is connected by radio waves to an AP. Those skilled in the art should keep in mind that the problem addressed in this document is common to any wireless telecommunications network and, therefore, the methods, systems and devices defined in this disclosure can be used in any wireless network technology. .

Los dispositivos y equipamiento utilizados en una red de telecomunicaciones inalámbrica podrían tener que cumplir con una serie de requerimientos específicos definidos por el cuerpo de estandarización correspondiente. Parámetros tales como frecuencias portadoras, anchos de banda del canal, esquemas de modulación y codificación, estructura de tramas de datos y de control, información de señalización, potencia de transmisión, operaciones de control de acceso al medio, etc. podrían ser susceptibles de ser especificados por el correspondiente cuerpo de estandarización. Determinar la configuración adecuada de estos parámetros dentro de los rangos permitidos para cada uno es un importante problema de ingeniería que debe ser abordado para conseguir el máximo rendimiento de la red y mejorar la calidad de experiencia del usuario final. Además, cada posible caso de uso podría requerir de una configuración de parámetros diferente. The devices and equipment used in a wireless telecommunications network may have to meet a series of specific requirements defined by the corresponding standardization body. Parameters such as carrier frequencies, channel bandwidths, modulation and coding schemes, structure of data and control frames, signaling information, transmission power, media access control operations, etc. They could be susceptible to being specified by the corresponding standardization body. Determining the proper configuration of these parameters within the ranges allowed for each is a major engineering problem that must be addressed to achieve maximum network performance and improve the quality of the end-user experience. In addition, each possible use case may require a different parameter configuration.

Múltiples redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas podrían coexistir en la misma localización, interfiriéndose mutuamente y causando entre otros efectos degradación del rendimiento de la red, frecuentes desconexiones de los dispositivos de los usuarios, calidad de servicio por debajo de la esperada y problemas de latencia. Esto se debe principalmente a que las redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas co-localizadas podrían compartir el mismo espectro de frecuencias, el cual está especificado por el cuerpo de estandarización correspondiente. Con el fin de minimizar la interferencia mutua entre redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas, así como la interferencia entre redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas y cualquier otro tipo de fuente emisora de ondas de radio, determinar cuál es la asignación de canales radioeléctricos óptima es uno de los retos tecnológicos a resolver más importantes. Las invenciones de la técnica anterior relacionadas con la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos podrían clasificarse en dos grupos principales. El primer grupo está compuesto por aquellas invenciones que describen métodos para seleccionar el mejor canal para un único AP, utilizando para ello información medida de forma local en el AP en cuestión y, por lo tanto, sin considerar información global de la red de telecomunicaciones inalámbrica. Uno de los principales inconvenientes de estas invenciones reside en que no se considera el efecto que pueden causar en el resto de APs de la red las decisiones tomadas de forma aislada en un AP determinado. Es decir, no se considera el hecho de que una decisión tomada de forma aislada en un AP podría causar un efecto avalancha en el que se activan otros procesos de toma de decisiones en el resto de APs de la red. Como consecuencia, estas invenciones de la técnica anterior podrían proporcionar asignaciones de canal altamente inestables y, por tanto, provocar una gran cantidad de re-asignaciones de canales en el tiempo. Multiple wireless telecommunications networks could coexist in the same location, interfering with each other and causing, among other effects, degradation of network performance, frequent disconnections of users' devices, below-expected quality of service and latency problems. This is mainly because co-located wireless telecommunications networks could share the same frequency spectrum, which is specified by the corresponding standardization body. In order to minimize mutual interference between wireless telecommunications networks, as well as interference between wireless telecommunications networks and any other type of radio wave source, determining which is the optimal radio channel allocation is one of the technological challenges to solve more important. The prior art inventions related to the automatic assignment of radio channels could be classified into two main groups. The first group consists of those inventions that describe methods for selecting the best channel for a single AP, using information measured locally in the AP in question and, therefore, without considering global information of the wireless telecommunications network . One of the The main drawbacks of these inventions are that the effect that decisions made in isolation in a given AP can be caused in the rest of the APs in the network is not considered. That is, the fact that a decision taken in isolation in an AP could cause an avalanche effect in which other decision-making processes are activated in the rest of APs in the network is not considered. As a consequence, these prior art inventions could provide highly unstable channel assignments and, therefore, cause a large number of channel reassignments over time.

Por el otro lado, el segundo grupo se corresponde con aquellas invenciones de la técnica anterior que intentan optimizar la asignación de canales radioeléctricos de un conjunto de APs utilizando para ello información global o parcial de la red de telecomunicaciones. Esta información es intercambiada entre la totalidad o un subconjunto de los APs que componen la red de telecomunicaciones inalámbrica. Las invenciones de este grupo proponen distintos métodos para determinar la mejor asignación de canal posible para cada AP de un conjunto de APs. Para ello, se centran en asignar directamente uno de los canales radioeléctricos disponible para cada AP de ese conjunto de APs. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben tener en cuenta que el problema de asignar el mejor canal radioeléctrico de entre un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos a cada AP de un conjunto de APs es un problema de optimización NP-completo, i.e. un problema de optimización que no puede ser resuelto en tiempo polinómico. Por ejemplo, supóngase una red inalámbrica IEEE 802.11 con Λ/ APs operando en una banda de frecuencia con M canales radioeléctricos disponibles, cada uno con un ancho de banda Bm MHz ( m e {l, }). En este caso, el número de soluciones posibles (i.e. el tamaño del espacio objetivo) es igual a NM. Por tanto, los métodos, sistemas y dispositivos propuestos en las invenciones de la técnica anterior deben encontrar la mejor solución posible (i.e. una solución cuasi-óptima) de entre un conjunto de NM soluciones. On the other hand, the second group corresponds to those inventions of the prior art that attempt to optimize the allocation of radio channels of a set of APs using global or partial information from the telecommunications network. This information is exchanged between all or a subset of the APs that make up the wireless telecommunications network. The inventions of this group propose different methods to determine the best possible channel allocation for each AP of a set of APs. To do this, they focus on directly assigning one of the available radio channels for each AP of that set of APs. Those skilled in the art should keep in mind that the problem of assigning the best radio channel from among a set of radio channels to each AP of a set of APs is an NP-complete optimization problem, ie an optimization problem that cannot Be solved in polynomial time. For example, suppose an IEEE 802.11 wireless network with Λ / APs operating in a frequency band with M radio channels available, each with a bandwidth B m MHz (me {l,}). In this case, the number of possible solutions (ie the size of the target space) is equal to N M. Therefore, the methods, systems and devices proposed in the inventions of the prior art must find the best possible solution (ie a quasi-optimal solution) from among a set of N M solutions.

La invención descrita en el presente documento es un avance con respecto a las invenciones de la técnica anterior porque los métodos, sistemas y dispositivos propuestos en esta invención son capaces de reducir considerablemente el tamaño del espacio objetivo asociado con el problema de la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos. A diferencia de las invenciones propuestas en la técnica anterior, los métodos, sistemas y dispositivos descritos en el presente documento tienen en cuenta que optimizar el orden en el que cada AP de un conjunto de APs debe realizar un procedimiento de selección automática de canal (i.e. el orden en el que cada AP selecciona su mejor canal radioeléctrico) reduce el tamaño del espacio objetivo desde NM a N\. En este punto es importante diferenciar un proceso para la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos de un proceso para la selección automática de canal radioeléctrico. Un proceso de asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos es aquel utilizado para asignar canales radioeléctricos a un conjunto de APs. Por el otro lado, un proceso de selección automática de canal es aquel utilizado para seleccionar el mejor canal posible en un AP de forma aislada. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben apreciar que con la invención descrita en el presente documento el tamaño del espacio objetivo depende exclusivamente del número de APs (N) a considerar en el proceso de asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos y, por tanto, es independiente del número y tipo de canales radioeléctricos disponibles. Además, la presente invención podría ser utilizada a intervalos de tiempo para adaptar el sistema dinámicamente a las condiciones cambiantes del entorno. The invention described herein is an advance with respect to the inventions of the prior art because the methods, systems and devices proposed in this invention are capable of considerably reducing the size of the target space associated with the problem of automatic channel assignment. Radioelectric Unlike the inventions proposed in the prior art, the methods, systems and devices described in this document take into account that optimizing the order in which each AP of a set of APs must perform an automatic channel selection procedure (ie the order in which each AP selects its best radio channel) reduces the size of the target space from N M to N \. At this point it is important to differentiate a process for the automatic assignment of radio channels from a process for the automatic selection of radio channel. A process of automatic assignment of radio channels is that used to assign radio channels to a set of APs. On the other hand, an automatic channel selection process is one used to select the best possible channel in an AP in isolation. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that with the invention described herein, the size of the target space depends exclusively on the number of APs (N) to be considered in the process of automatic assignment of radio channels and, therefore, is independent of the number and type of radio channels available. In addition, the present invention could be used at time intervals to dynamically adapt the system to changing environmental conditions.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE LA INVENCIÓN DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Esta sección muestra un resumen de las características de los métodos, sistemas y dispositivos de la presente invención. Este resumen no debe considerarse como una limitación de las reivindicaciones descritas en el presente documento.  This section shows a summary of the characteristics of the methods, systems and devices of the present invention. This summary should not be considered as a limitation of the claims described herein.

La presente invención se engloba de forma general en el campo de las redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas, y específicamente, define métodos, sistemas y dispositivos para la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos en redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas. The present invention encompasses in a general way in the field of wireless telecommunications networks, and specifically defines methods, systems and devices for the automatic assignment of radio channels in wireless telecommunications networks.

Ciertos aspectos de esta divulgación proporcionan un método para la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos en redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas. Dicho método podría ser realizado de forma centralizada utilizando un dispositivo con capacidades de computación y comunicación, así como de forma distribuida utilizando un conjunto de dispositivos con capacidades de cómputo y de comunicación. Dicho método incluye de forma genérica operaciones para obtener y compartir reportes de calidad de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos medidos en un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos, combinar dichos reportes de calidad con el fin de obtener información de red coherente y unificada, computar un proceso de optimización para determinar el mejor orden posible en el que un proceso de selección automática de canal debe ser calculado para cada AP de un conjunto de APs, determinar la nueva asignación de canales radioeléctricos de acuerdo a dicha ordenación y asignar el nuevo canal radioeléctrico a cada AP de un conjunto de APs. Ciertos aspectos de esta divulgación proporcionan un producto informático para la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos en redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas. Dicho producto informático podría estar formado por un dispositivo central con capacidades de computación y comunicación, así como por un conjunto de dispositivos distribuidos con capacidades de cómputo y comunicación. Dicho programa informático incluye de forma genérica un medio de almacenamiento de datos informáticos con instrucciones ejecutables por un dispositivo para obtener y compartir reportes de calidad de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos medidos en un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos, combinar dichos reportes de calidad con el fin de obtener información de red coherente y unificada, computar un proceso de optimización para determinar el mejor orden posible en el que un proceso de selección automática de canal debe ser calculado para cada AP de un conjunto de APs, determinar la nueva asignación automática de canal de acuerdo a dicha ordenación y asignar el nuevo canal radioeléctrico a cada AP de un conjunto de APs. Certain aspects of this disclosure provide a method for the automatic assignment of radio channels in wireless telecommunications networks. This method could be performed centrally using a device with computing and communication capabilities, as well as distributed using a set of devices with computing and communication capabilities. Said method generically includes operations to obtain and share quality reports of a set of radio channels measured in a set of wireless devices, combine said quality reports in order to obtain coherent and unified network information, compute an optimization process to determine the best possible order in which an automatic channel selection process must be calculated for each AP of a set of APs, determine the new assignment of radio channels according to said arrangement and assign the new radio channel to each AP of a set of APs. Certain aspects of this disclosure provide a computer product for the automatic assignment of radio channels in wireless telecommunications networks. Said computer product could be formed by a central device with computing and communication capabilities, as well as by a set of distributed devices with computing and communication capabilities. Said computer program generically includes a means of storing computer data with instructions executable by a device for obtaining and sharing quality reports of a set of radio channels measured in a set of wireless devices, combining said quality reports in order to obtain coherent and unified network information, compute an optimization process to determine the best possible order in which an automatic channel selection process must be calculated for each AP of a set of APs, determine the new automatic channel assignment agreement to said arrangement and assign the new radio channel to each AP of a set of APs.

Ciertos aspectos de esta divulgación proporcionan un dispositivo para la asignación automática de canal en redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas. Dicho dispositivo incluye de forma general un sistema transceptor o un sistema transmisor-receptor configurado para transmitir y/o recibir reportes de calidad de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos medidos en un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos, un sistema de procesamiento configurado para combinar dichos reportes de calidad con el fin de obtener información de red coherente y unificada, un sistema de procesamiento configurado para optimizar con cualquier tipo de técnica de optimización el orden en el que un proceso de selección automática de canal debe ser calculado para cada AP de un conjunto de APs, un sistema de procesamiento configurado para determinar la nueva asignación automática de canal de acuerdo a dicha ordenación y un medio de almacenamiento configurado para almacenar toda la información, código e instrucciones necesarios para llevar a cabo las tareas anteriores. Certain aspects of this disclosure provide a device for automatic channel assignment in wireless telecommunications networks. Said device generally includes a transceiver system or a transceiver system configured to transmit and / or receive quality reports from a set of radio channels measured in a set of wireless devices, a processing system configured to combine said quality reports. in order to obtain consistent and unified network information, a processing system configured to optimize with any type of optimization technique the order in which an automatic channel selection process must be calculated for each AP of a set of APs, a processing system configured to determine the new automatic channel assignment according to said arrangement and a storage medium configured to store all the information, code and instructions necessary to carry out the above tasks.

En la divulgación descrita en el presente documento, se describen otros muchos aspectos de la presente invención, y particularmente se puntualizan en las reivindicaciones correspondientes. Varios aspectos de la presente invención se describen en detalle en las siguientes secciones de esta divulgación, haciendo referencia a las figuras correspondientes. Las descripciones, explicaciones y figuras mostradas a lo largo de la presente divulgación son meramente ilustrativas y no deben considerarse como una limitación del alcance de la invención descrita en este documento. In the disclosure described herein, many other aspects of the present invention are described, and particularly pointed out in the corresponding claims. Several aspects of the present invention are described in detail in the following sections of this disclosure, with reference to the corresponding figures. The descriptions, explanations and figures shown throughout this disclosure are merely illustrative and should not be considered as a limitation of the scope of the invention described herein.

BREVE DESCRIPCIÓN DE LAS FIGURAS BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Debe tenerse en cuenta que las figuras mostradas en el presente documento muestran ciertos aspectos de la invención descrita, y por lo tanto no deben considerarse como una limitación del alcance de la invención. It should be noted that the figures shown herein show certain aspects of the described invention, and therefore should not be considered as a limitation on the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 muestra un ejemplo de sistema telecomunicación inalámbrico en el que podrían aplicarse ciertos aspectos de la presente invención. FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless telecommunication system in which certain aspects of the present invention could be applied.

FIG. 2 muestra un ejemplo de un grafo que representa las relaciones de interferencia entre los dispositivos de una red de telecomunicaciones inalámbrica.  FIG. 2 shows an example of a graph that represents the interference relationships between the devices of a wireless telecommunications network.

FIG. 3 muestra un ejemplo de red de telecomunicaciones inalámbrica en la que un conjunto de APs se conectan y comunican a través de una red troncal.  FIG. 3 shows an example of a wireless telecommunications network in which a set of APs connect and communicate through a backbone network.

FIG 4 muestra un ejemplo de una red de telecomunicación en la que el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos es realizado de forma centralizada por un dispositivo con capacidades de cómputo y comunicaciones. FIG 4 shows an example of a telecommunication network in which the automatic radio channel assignment procedure is performed centrally by a device with computing and communications capabilities.

FIG. 5 muestra un ejemplo del modo de operación de la invención descrita en el presente documento.  FIG. 5 shows an example of the mode of operation of the invention described herein.

FIG. 6 muestra un ejemplo de una red de telecomunicación en la que un conjunto de dispositivos comparte reportes de calidad de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos generados por un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos. FIG. 6 shows an example of a telecommunication network in which a set of devices share quality reports of a set of radio channels generated by a set of wireless devices.

FIG. 7 muestra un ejemplo de un sistema que combina los reportes de calidad de canal recibidos para formar información de red coherente y unificada.  FIG. 7 shows an example of a system that combines the received channel quality reports to form consistent and unified network information.

FIG 8 muestra las operaciones a realizar para conocer la nueva asignación de canal para un conjunto de APs a partir de una ordenación que establece el orden en el que un procedimiento de selección automática de canal debe ser calculado para cada AP de un conjunto de APs. FIG 8 shows the operations to be performed to know the new channel assignment for a set of APs from an order that establishes the order in which an automatic channel selection procedure must be calculated for each AP of a set of APs.

FIG 9 muestra un ejemplo de diagrama de bloques funcional de un dispositivo que podría ser utilizado para realizar la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos descrita en este documento. FIG 9 shows an example of a functional block diagram of a device that could be used to perform the automatic assignment of radio channels described in this document.

DESCRIPCIÓN DETALLADA DE LA INVENCIÓN DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

La presente invención se engloba de forma genérica en el ámbito de las redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas, y más específicamente, en el ámbito de sistemas, métodos y dispositivos para la asignación automática de canales en redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas. La asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos propuesta en la presente invención podría estar basada en información obtenida por un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos tales como pero no limitados a puntos de acceso, estaciones cliente, sensores inalámbricos y/o analizadores de espectro. El procedimiento de asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos podría ser realizado de forma centralizada en un dispositivo con capacidades de cómputo y comunicaciones, así como de forma distribuida en un conjunto de dispositivos con capacidades de cómputo y comunicaciones. The present invention encompasses generically in the field of wireless telecommunications networks, and more specifically, in the field of systems, methods and devices for the automatic assignment of channels in wireless telecommunications networks. The automatic assignment of radio channels proposed in the present invention could be based on information obtained by a set of wireless devices such as but not limited to access points, client stations, wireless sensors and / or spectrum analyzers. The procedure for automatic assignment of radio channels could be performed centrally on a device with computing and communications capabilities, as well as distributed on a set of devices with computing and communications capabilities.

Varios aspectos de la presente invención se describen en detalle con referencia a las figuras correspondientes. Las descripciones y figuras mostradas en este documento son meramente ilustrativas y no deben considerarse como una limitación del alcance de la invención. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben apreciar que las enseñanzas del presente documento son meramente explicativas e intentan cubrir cualquier aspecto de la invención. Adicionalmente, el alcance de este documento está también destinado a cubrir otros métodos, sistemas y dispositivos que puedan ser implementados y/o diseñados utilizando cualquier aspecto de la invención descrita en el presente documento. El alcance del presente documento no se limita a los beneficios, ventajas, objetivos y usos particulares de las realizaciones aquí descritas. Debe entenderse que las descripciones detalladas en el presente documento pueden ser realizadas en muchas formas diferentes, y por tanto no deben considerarse como limitadas a cualquier función o estructura específica mostrada en el presente documento. Debe también tenerse en cuenta que cualquier aspecto de la presente invención puede estar cubierto por uno o más elementos de una reivindicación. Cualquier variación, modificación y/o permutación de los aspectos particulares aquí descritos se encuentra dentro del alcance del presente documento. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben considerar que los aspectos aquí descritos pueden ser aplicables a diferentes redes de comunicaciones, topologías de red, tecnologías, dispositivos, protocolos de red, estándares y configuraciones de red. Several aspects of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the corresponding figures. The descriptions and figures shown in this document are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the teachings of this document are merely explanatory and attempt to cover any aspect of the invention. Additionally, the scope of this document is also intended to cover other methods, systems and devices that can be implemented and / or designed using any aspect of the invention described herein. The scope of this document is not limited to the benefits, advantages, objectives and particular uses of the embodiments described herein. It should be understood that the descriptions detailed in this document can be made in many different ways, and therefore should not be considered as limited to any specific function or structure shown in this document. It should also be noted that any aspect of the present invention may be covered by one or more elements of a claim. Any variation, modification and / or permutation of the particular aspects described herein is within the scope of this document. Those skilled in the art should consider that the aspects described herein may be applicable to different communications networks, network topologies, technologies, devices, network protocols, standards and network configurations.

Las redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas son redes en las que las ondas de radio se utilizan como medio de transmisión para comunicar dispositivos de forma inalámbrica de acuerdo a un protocolo de comunicaciones específico. En algunos aspectos, una red de telecomunicaciones inalámbrica está formada por dos sub-redes principales, denominadas red de acceso y red troncal. Como red de acceso se entiende a aquella sub-red compuesta por uno o más puntos de acceso (APs) a cargo de proporcionar acceso de red y comunicaciones inalámbricas a un conjunto de estaciones cliente (STAs). Tal y como se mencionó previamente, el nombre del punto de acceso depende de la tecnología de red subyacente, e.g. recibe el nombre de estación base (BS) en redes WiMAX y PLMNs de segunda generación (redes GSM), NodeB en PLMNs de tercera generación (redes UMTS), eNodeB en PLMNs de cuarta generación (redes LTE), o punto de acceso (AP) en redes IEEE 802.11 (redes Wi-Fi). Por razones de simplicidad, pero sin pérdida de generalidad, se denomina punto de acceso (AP) a toda entidad de red que proporciona acceso de red y comunicaciones inalámbricas a los dispositivos de los usuarios. Asimismo, se denomina estación cliente (STA) a todo dispositivo inalámbrico del usuario final, e.g. ordenador portátil, teléfono móvil, sensor inalámbrico, o cualquier otro dispositivo conectado a un adaptador de interfaz de red inalámbrica. En algunas realizaciones, una o varias STAs podrían estar configuradas para actuar como un AP. De acuerdo a algunos aspectos de la presente invención, el conjunto de APs que componen la red de acceso podrían estar distribuidos a lo largo del área de cobertura. En otros aspectos de la presente invención, un conjunto de APs podrían estar conectados a través de una red troncal con el fin de permitir comunicación entre APs. En este sentido, se podría utilizar cualquier medio de transmisión del estado de la técnica para comunicar los APs, e.g. fibra óptica, ondas de radio, cable coaxial, cable de pares trenzado, etc. Wireless telecommunications networks are networks in which radio waves are used as a transmission medium to communicate devices wirelessly according to a specific communications protocol. In some aspects, a wireless telecommunications network consists of two main sub-networks, called the network of access and trunk network. The access network means that sub-network composed of one or more access points (APs) in charge of providing network access and wireless communications to a set of client stations (STAs). As previously mentioned, the name of the access point depends on the underlying network technology, eg it is called the base station (BS) in WiMAX networks and second generation PLMNs (GSM networks), NodeB in third generation PLMNs (UMTS networks), eNodeB in fourth generation PLMNs (LTE networks), or access point (AP) in IEEE 802.11 networks (Wi-Fi networks). For reasons of simplicity, but without loss of generality, any network entity that provides network access and wireless communications to users' devices is called an access point (AP). Also, the client station (STA) is called any wireless device of the end user, eg laptop, mobile phone, wireless sensor, or any other device connected to a wireless network interface adapter. In some embodiments, one or more STAs could be configured to act as an AP. According to some aspects of the present invention, the set of APs that make up the access network could be distributed throughout the coverage area. In other aspects of the present invention, a set of APs could be connected through a backbone network in order to allow communication between APs. In this sense, any means of transmission of the prior art could be used to communicate the APs, eg optical fiber, radio waves, coaxial cable, twisted pair cable, etc.

Por el otro lado, la red troncal es la sub-red que proporciona servicios a las STAs conectadas a través de la red de acceso. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben apreciar que la invención descrita en este documento puede ser utilizada para cualquier tecnología de red de acceso, así como para cualquier servicio proporcionado a través de la red de telecomunicaciones inalámbrica. On the other hand, the backbone network is the sub-network that provides services to the STAs connected through the access network. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the invention described herein can be used for any access network technology, as well as for any service provided through the wireless telecommunications network.

FIG. 1 muestra un ejemplo de un sistema de telecomunicación inalámbrico 100 donde algunos aspectos de la presente invención podrían ser aplicados. El sistema de telecomunicación inalámbrico 100 podría estar compuesta por una o más redes de telecomunicación inalámbricas 102, 103, 104, cada una de ellas podría proporcionar servicio a una o más STAs 106 que están dentro del área de cobertura 108 de uno o más APs 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b, 104a, 104b, 104c. Debe tenerse en cuenta que interferencias entre los dispositivos inalámbricos ocurrirán siempre que las redes de telecomunicación inalámbricas utilicen los mismos canales radioeléctricos al mismo tiempo y en la misma localización. Por ejemplo, observe que el área de cobertura del AP 102b (i.e. 108g) solapa con el área de cobertura de otros APs (i.e. 108a, 108b, 108c, 108e, 108f). La existencia de interferencia entre dispositivos inalámbricos hace que se degrade la calidad de servicio proporcionada al usuario final debido a desconexiones frecuentes, velocidades de descarga por debajo de la esperada, degradación del rendimiento y problemas de latencia. Por lo tanto, aquellos expertos en la técnica deberían utilizar herramientas apropiadas para evitar en la medida de lo posible estos inconvenientes debido a interferencias. En lo siguiente y sin pérdida de generalidad, el sistema de telecomunicación inalámbrico mostrado en la FIG. 1 se descompone en tres redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas, la red objetivo 104 y dos redes externas 102 y 103. Por notación, se define red objetivo a la red sobre la que se aplica el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos, y por red externa se define a toda aquella red de telecomunicaciones o fuente emisora de ondas de radio que interfiere con la red objetivo. Ejemplos de fuentes de interferencia incluyen, pero no están limitadas a otras redes de telecomunicación inalámbricas, hornos microondas, teléfonos inalámbricos y cualquier otra fuente emisora de ondas de radio que puede interferir con la red objetivo. En este ejemplo y sin pérdida de generalidad se asume que 102 y 103 son otras dos redes de telecomunicaciones externas. Los canales radioeléctricos asignados a cada fuente de interferencia externa podrían cambiar en el tiempo. Por el otro lado, por razones de simplicidad, se asume que las STAs 106 están conectadas a la red objetivo 104. FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless telecommunication system 100 where some aspects of the present invention could be applied. The wireless telecommunication system 100 could be composed of one or more wireless telecommunication networks 102, 103, 104, each of which could provide service to one or more STAs 106 that are within the coverage area 108 of one or more APs 102a , 102b, 103a, 103b, 104a, 104b, 104c. It should be noted that interference between wireless devices will occur as long as the wireless telecommunication networks use the same radio channels at the Same time and in the same location. For example, note that the coverage area of AP 102b (ie 108g) overlaps with the coverage area of other APs (ie 108a, 108b, 108c, 108e, 108f). The existence of interference between wireless devices causes the quality of service provided to the end user to be degraded due to frequent disconnections, download speeds below expected, performance degradation and latency problems. Therefore, those skilled in the art should use appropriate tools to avoid these inconveniences as much as possible due to interference. In the following and without loss of generality, the wireless telecommunication system shown in FIG. 1 is broken down into three wireless telecommunications networks, the target network 104 and two external networks 102 and 103. By notation, target network is defined to the network on which the automatic radio channel assignment procedure is applied, and by external network All telecommunications network or radio wave source that interferes with the target network is defined. Examples of sources of interference include, but are not limited to other wireless telecommunication networks, microwave ovens, cordless telephones and any other radio wave emitting source that may interfere with the target network. In this example and without loss of generality it is assumed that 102 and 103 are two other external telecommunications networks. The radio channels assigned to each source of external interference could change over time. On the other hand, for reasons of simplicity, it is assumed that STAs 106 are connected to the target network 104.

FIG. 2 muestra una representación en forma de grafo de las relaciones de interferencia entre los dispositivos de la red objetivo 204 así como entre los dispositivos de la red objetivo 204 y los dispositivos de las redes externas 202 y 203. Observe la correspondencia entre las figuras FIG. 2 y FIG. 1. En este grafo, cada nodo representa un AP (círculos, cuadrados y triángulos) y cada arista representa la existencia de interferencia entre dos nodos de la red objetivo 204 así como la existencia de interferencia entre un nodo de la red objetivo y un nodo de una red externa (202 o 203). Además, cada STA 206 es representada con una estrella y cada línea discontinua representa una asociación AP-STA. Un grafo es una representación gráfica que es muy útil para obtener una comprensión global de la red objetivo y su relación con su entorno. FIG. 2 shows a graphical representation of the interference relationships between the devices of the target network 204 as well as between the devices of the target network 204 and the devices of the external networks 202 and 203. Note the correspondence between FIG. FIG. 2 and FIG. 1. In this graph, each node represents an AP (circles, squares and triangles) and each edge represents the existence of interference between two nodes of the target network 204 as well as the existence of interference between a node of the target network and a node of an external network (202 or 203). In addition, each STA 206 is represented with a star and each dashed line represents an AP-STA association. A graph is a graphic representation that is very useful for obtaining a global understanding of the target network and its relationship with its environment.

Es importante observar que el número de nodos y aristas en el grafo podría depender de la información de red disponible. En una posible realización de la presente invención, un conjunto de APs podrían solicitar a sus correspondientes STAs asociadas la realización de medidas de niveles de interferencia en un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos. De esta forma se podría detectar la existencia de interferencia entre APs no vecinos, e.g. interferencia entre los APs 204a y 203b. En otra realización de la presente invención, la existencia de interferencia entre APs no vecinos podría ser inducida a partir de información medida en APs vecinos, e.g. AP 204a podría detectar la existencia de interferencia con el AP 203b a partir de la información de interferencia entre los APs 204b y 203b y/o entre los APs 204c y 203b. En otra realización de la presente invención se podría deducir la existencia de interferencia entre APs no vecinos a partir de información relacionada con la itinerancia de las STAs, información que podría ser almacenada en tiempo real a medida que las STAs se mueven por la zona de cobertura. En otra posible realización de la invención propuesta, podría no ser posible la detección de interferencia entre APs no vecinos, y por lo tanto, el grafo resultante podría carecer de las aristas correspondientes. It is important to note that the number of nodes and edges in the graph could depend on the available network information. In a possible embodiment of the present invention, a set of APs could request their corresponding associated STAs to perform interference level measurements on a set of radio channels. This way you could detect the existence of interference between non-neighboring APs, eg interference between APs 204a and 203b. In another embodiment of the present invention, the existence of interference between non-neighboring APs could be induced from information measured in neighboring APs, eg AP 204a could detect the existence of interference with the AP 203b from the interference information between the APs 204b and 203b and / or between APs 204c and 203b. In another embodiment of the present invention, the existence of interference between non-neighboring APs could be deduced from information related to the roaming of the STAs, information that could be stored in real time as the STAs move through the coverage area . In another possible embodiment of the proposed invention, it may not be possible to detect interference between non-neighboring APs, and therefore, the resulting graph may lack the corresponding edges.

FIG. 3 muestra otra posible realización de la presente invención, donde un conjunto de APs 304 de la red objetivo 304 podrían estar conectados a través de una red troncal 302 para permitir comunicación entre APs. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben entender que los APs de la red objetivo podrían estar conectados utilizando cualquier medio de transmisión del estado de la técnica 306. Ejemplos de posibles medios de transmisión incluyen, pero no se limitan a fibra óptica, ondas de radio, cable coaxial y cable de pares trenzado. Los APs de la red objetivo podrían utilizar la red troncal para enviarse y compartir sus reportes de calidad de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos, adquiriendo de este modo información global de la red. FIG. 3 shows another possible embodiment of the present invention, where a set of APs 304 of the target network 304 could be connected through a backbone network 302 to allow communication between APs. Those skilled in the art should understand that APs of the target network could be connected using any means of transmission of the prior art 306. Examples of possible transmission means include, but are not limited to optical fiber, radio waves, cable coaxial and twisted pair cable. The APs of the target network could use the backbone network to send and share their quality reports from a set of radio channels, thereby acquiring global network information.

En una realización de la presente invención (véase FIG. 3) el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos podría ser realizado de forma distribuida por un conjunto de dispositivos, e.g. un conjunto de APs 304 de la red objetivo. Este conjunto de APs 304 comparten entre ellos sus reportes de calidad de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos, combinan dichos reportes de calidad con el fin de obtener información de red coherente y unificada, computan un proceso de optimización para determinar la mejor asignación de canales posible y asignan los nuevos canales a cada AP de un conjunto de APs de la red objetivo. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben apreciar que el proceso de optimización podría involucrar una o más funciones objetivo y podría también ser realizado utilizando cualquier método de optimización del estado de la técnica. Ejemplos de técnicas de optimización incluyen, pero no se limitan a heurísticas, heurísticas paralelas, metaheurísticas distribuidas, metaheurísticas basadas en modelos de islas y metaheurísticas paralelas. Debe tenerse en cuenta que cualquier modificación y/o variación de los métodos de optimización del estado de la técnica podrían ser también utilizados en dicho proceso de optimización. En una realización de la presente invención (véase FIG. 4) el proceso de asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos podría ser realizado de forma centralizada utilizando un dispositivo 410 que recibe los reportes de calidad de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos obtenidos en un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos, combina dichos reportes de calidad para obtener información de red coherente y unificada, computa un procedimiento de optimización para determinar la mejor asignación de canales posible y asigna el nuevo canal a cada AP de un conjunto de APs de la red objetivo. Debe tenerse en cuenta que este dispositivo podría ser un sistema de control central, un servidor, un AP, una STA o cualquier otro dispositivo con capacidades de cómputo y comunicaciones. In one embodiment of the present invention (see FIG. 3) the automatic radio channel assignment procedure could be performed in a distributed manner by a set of devices, eg a set of APs 304 of the target network. This set of APs 304 share among themselves their quality reports of a set of radio channels, combine said quality reports in order to obtain consistent and unified network information, compute an optimization process to determine the best possible channel allocation and assign the new channels to each AP of a set of APs in the target network. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the optimization process could involve one or more objective functions and could also be performed using any prior art optimization method. Examples of optimization techniques include, but are not limited to heuristics, parallel heuristics, distributed metaheuristics, metaheuristics based on island models and parallel metaheuristics. It should be taken into account that any modification and / or variation of the state of the art optimization methods could also be used in said optimization process. In one embodiment of the present invention (see FIG. 4) the process of automatic assignment of radio channels could be performed centrally using a device 410 that receives the quality reports of a set of radio channels obtained in a set of wireless devices. , combines said quality reports to obtain consistent and unified network information, computes an optimization procedure to determine the best possible channel assignment and assigns the new channel to each AP of a set of APs of the target network. It should be taken into account that this device could be a central control system, a server, an AP, a STA or any other device with computing and communications capabilities.

FIG. 5 muestra un ejemplo del modo de operación 500 de la invención descrita en el presente documento. Tal y como se comentó previamente, las operaciones relativas a esta invención podrían ser realizadas de forma centralizada por un dispositivo con capacidades de cómputo y comunicaciones, o de forma distribuida en un conjunto de dispositivos con capacidades de cómputo y comunicaciones. Las operaciones descritas en 500 podrían comenzar en 502 mediante la recepción de reportes de calidad de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos obtenidos en un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos (véase FIG. 6), tales como pero no limitados a APs 604, STAs 606, sensores inalámbricos 605 y analizadores de espectro 607. FIG. 5 shows an example of the operation mode 500 of the invention described herein. As previously mentioned, the operations related to this invention could be performed centrally by a device with computing and communications capabilities, or distributed in a set of devices with computing and communications capabilities. The operations described in 500 could begin in 502 by receiving quality reports of a set of radio channels obtained in a set of wireless devices (see FIG. 6), such as but not limited to APs 604, STAs 606, wireless sensors 605 and 607 spectrum analyzers.

En 504 y en la FIG. 7, dichos reportes de calidad de canal obtenidos en un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos 706 podrían ser combinados 702 con el fin de obtener información de red coherente y unificada 704. En la FIG. 7, QR-Ap¡j hace referencia al reporte de calidad j (QRj) recibido en el AP i (Ap¡). De esta forma se puede obtener para cada AP de un conjunto de APs una estimación de la calidad de canal percibida por cada canal radioeléctrico de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos (QR-AP¡ 704). Aquellos expertos en la técnica deberían definir la información apropiada para los reportes de calidad de canal. Ejemplos de información útil para determinar la calidad de un canal radioeléctrico podrían ser la relación señal a interferencia más ruido (SINR), ocupación del canal, potencia de la señal recibida (RSSI), disponibilidad del canal y cualquier otra información disponible en el estado de la técnica. In 504 and in FIG. 7, said channel quality reports obtained in a set of wireless devices 706 could be combined 702 in order to obtain consistent and unified network information 704. In FIG. 7, QR-Ap¡j refers to the quality report j (QRj) received in the AP i (Ap¡). In this way, an estimate of the perceived channel quality for each radio channel of a set of radio channels (QR-AP¡704) can be obtained for each AP of a set of APs. Those skilled in the art should define the appropriate information for channel quality reports. Examples of useful information to determine the quality of a radio channel could be the signal to interference ratio plus noise (SINR), channel occupancy, received signal strength (RSSI), channel availability and any other information available in the state of The technique.

En 506, un procedimiento de optimización podría ser realizado para determinar la nueva asignación de canales radioeléctricos para cada AP de un conjunto de APs de la red objetivo. El procedimiento de optimización podría involucrar una o más funciones objetivo y podría ser realizado utilizando cualquier método de optimización del estado de la técnica. Además, dicho procedimiento de optimización podría ser realizado teniendo en cuenta la calidad percibida de cada canal radioeléctrico de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos 704. El problema a resolver es conocido como problema de Asignación Automática de Canales (ACA) y pertenece a la familia de problemas de optimización combinatoria NP-completos. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben apreciar que existen varios métodos, sistemas y dispositivos en la técnica anterior centrados en seleccionar el mejor canal radioeléctrico para un AP dado, procedimiento que es conocido como Selección Automática de Canal (ACS). Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben también apreciar que muchos de esos métodos, sistemas y dispositivos son bastante eficientes para un AP aislado. El problema aparece cuando se consideran redes de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas formadas por varios APs. En este caso, las invenciones del estado de la técnica anterior presentan muchas deficiencias porque no consideran que selecciones de canal realizadas de forma aislada en un AP dado podrían causar un efecto avalancha en el que se activan otros procesos de selección de canal en el resto de APs de la red. Como consecuencia, esas invenciones de la técnica anterior podrían proporcionar asignaciones de canal altamente inestables y, por tanto, provocar una gran cantidad de re-asignaciones de canales en el tiempo. Otras invenciones de la técnica anterior evitan estas deficiencias utilizando información global o parcial de la red en el procedimiento de optimización relativo a la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos. Esas otras invenciones de la técnica anterior proponen métodos, sistemas y dispositivos para asignar directamente un canal radioeléctrico de entre un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos a cada AP de un conjunto de APs. Si, por ejemplo, se considera una red IEEE 802.11 con Λ/ APs operando en una banda de frecuencias con M canales radioeléctricos diferentes (cada uno con un ancho de banda dado Bm, ( m e {l, }), el número de posibles soluciones es igual a NM. Por tanto, esas invenciones del estado de la técnica anterior deben buscar la mejor asignación de canal posible de entre un conjunto de NM soluciones factibles. In 506, an optimization procedure could be performed to determine the new assignment of radio channels for each AP of a set of APs in the target network. The optimization procedure could involve one or more objective functions and could be performed using any method of optimization of the state of the art. In addition, said optimization procedure could be performed taking into account the perceived quality of each radio channel of a set of 704 radio channels. The problem to be solved is known as the Automatic Channel Assignment (ACA) problem and belongs to the family of problems NP-complete combinatorial optimization. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that there are several methods, systems and devices in the prior art focused on selecting the best radio channel for a given AP, a procedure known as Automatic Channel Selection (ACS). Those skilled in the art should also appreciate that many of those methods, systems and devices are quite efficient for an isolated AP. The problem appears when considering wireless telecommunications networks formed by several APs. In this case, the inventions of the prior art have many deficiencies because they do not consider that channel selections made in isolation in a given AP could cause an avalanche effect in which other channel selection processes are activated in the rest of the APs of the network. As a consequence, those inventions of the prior art could provide highly unstable channel assignments and, therefore, cause a large number of channel reassignments over time. Other prior art inventions avoid these deficiencies by using global or partial network information in the optimization procedure related to the automatic assignment of radio channels. These other inventions of the prior art propose methods, systems and devices to directly assign a radio channel from among a set of radio channels to each AP of a set of APs. If, for example, an IEEE 802.11 network with Λ / APs operating in a frequency band with M different radio channels is considered (each with a given bandwidth B m , (me {l,}), the number of possible solutions is equal to N M. Therefore, those inventions of the prior art should seek the best possible channel assignment from a set of N M feasible solutions.

La invención descrita en el presente documento, en lugar de optimizar directamente la asignación de canales radioeléctricos a un conjunto de APs (tal y como se propone en las invenciones de la técnica anterior), optimiza el orden en el que se debe calcular un procedimiento de selección automática de canal (i.e. el orden en el que cada AP selecciona su mejor canal radioeléctrico) en cada AP de un conjunto de APs. De esta forma, el tamaño del espacio objetivo es reducido considerablemente desde NM hasta N\, por lo que es posible encontrar la asignación de canales óptima en un menor tiempo. Además, es posible encontrar distintas ordenaciones para las que se obtiene la asignación de canales óptima, i.e. se aumenta la probabilidad de encontrar la solución óptima. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben apreciar que con la invención descrita en el presente documento el tamaño del espacio objetivo depende exclusivamente del número de APs (N) involucrados en la asignación automática de canales, i.e. no hay dependencia con el número de canales radioeléctricos disponibles (M). Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben también tener en cuenta que el resultado de un procedimiento de selección automática de canal puede calcularse en cualquier dispositivo con capacidades de cómputo sin necesidad de realizar dicho procedimiento de selección de canal en el AP correspondiente. Es importante mencionar que la invención aquí descrita puede aplicarse a intervalos de tiempo para adaptar dinámicamente el sistema a las condiciones cambiantes del entorno. The invention described herein, instead of directly optimizing the assignment of radio channels to a set of APs (as proposed in the inventions of the prior art), optimizes the order in which a process of calculating automatic channel selection (ie the order in which each AP selects its best radio channel) in each AP of a set of APs. In this way, the size of the target space is considerably reduced from N M to N \, so it is possible to find the optimal channel allocation in a shorter time. In addition, it is possible to find different arrangements for which the optimal channel assignment is obtained, ie it is increased the probability of finding the optimal solution. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that with the invention described herein, the size of the target space depends exclusively on the number of APs (N) involved in automatic channel assignment, ie there is no dependence on the number of available radio channels ( M). Those skilled in the art should also take into account that the result of an automatic channel selection procedure can be calculated on any device with computational capabilities without the need to perform said channel selection procedure on the corresponding AP. It is important to mention that the invention described herein can be applied at time intervals to dynamically adapt the system to changing environmental conditions.

FIG. 8 muestra las operaciones 800 necesarias para determinar la asignación de canales radioeléctricos C 818 de un conjunto de APs a partir de una ordenación dada S 802 (S especifica el orden en el que un procedimiento de selección automática de canal debe calcularse para cada AP de ese conjunto de APs). De acuerdo a la ordenación especificada en S 802, la primera operación consiste en seleccionar el AP correspondiente 806 y actualizar los valores de calidad percibida de cada canal radioeléctrico del conjunto de canales radioeléctricos considerado 808 para dicho AP. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben apreciar que la operación 808 podría ser necesaria para tener en cuenta que las asignaciones de canal realizadas en los APs que interfieren con el AP seleccionado en 806 afectan a los valores de calidad percibida de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos para el AP en cuestión 806. En 810 se calcula el resultado de un procedimiento de selección automática de canal para el AP seleccionado en 806. Por último, en 812 se elige el canal radioeléctrico resultante de dicho procedimiento de selección de canal 810 como el nuevo canal para el AP seleccionado en 806. Este procedimiento se realiza para cada AP del conjunto de APs considerado de acuerdo a la ordenación especificada en S. FIG. 8 shows the operations 800 necessary to determine the allocation of C 818 radio channels of a set of APs from a given sorting S 802 (S specifies the order in which an automatic channel selection procedure must be calculated for each AP of that set of APs). According to the arrangement specified in S 802, the first operation consists in selecting the corresponding AP 806 and updating the perceived quality values of each radio channel of the set of radio channels considered 808 for said AP. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that operation 808 might be necessary to take into account that the channel assignments made in the APs that interfere with the AP selected in 806 affect the perceived quality values of a set of radio channels for the AP in question 806. In 810 the result of an automatic channel selection procedure for the selected AP in 806 is calculated. Finally, in 812 the radio channel resulting from said channel selection procedure 810 is chosen as the new channel for the AP selected in 806. This procedure is performed for each AP of the set of APs considered according to the order specified in S.

El reto reside por tanto en determinar el orden S 802 que proporciona la asignación de canales radioeléctricos óptima. Aquellos expertos en la técnica podrían utilizar cualquier método de optimización del estado de la técnica para este propósito. Debe tenerse en cuenta que el número de ordenaciones posibles (i.e. el número de soluciones factibles) es igual a N\. Ejemplos de técnicas de optimización incluyen, pero no se limitan a heurísticas, metaheurísticas, programación lineal, programación lineal-entera mixta, programación cuadrática y programación no lineal. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben notar que la invención descrita en el presente documento no depende del procedimiento de selección de canal utilizado en 810. Por lo tanto, se podría utilizar cualquier método de selección automática de canal del estado de la técnica. Tras finalizar el procedimiento de optimización 506 y determinar la nueva asignación de canales radioeléctricos 508 para cada AP de un conjunto de APs (i.e. el vector C 818), los nuevos canales radioeléctricos podrían asignarse a cada AP de ese conjunto de APs 510. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben saber que la forma en la que dicha asignación debe ser realizada depende de la tecnología de red subyacente, así como de la topología de red. En una realización de la presente invención dicha asignación podría realizarse de forma centralizada por un dispositivo con capacidades de cómputo y comunicaciones. En otra posible realización, dicha asignación podría realizarse de forma distribuida por un conjunto de dispositivos con capacidades de cómputo y comunicaciones. En otra posible realización, dicha asignación podría realizarse en cada AP del conjunto de APs considerado. En esta última realización cada AP del conjunto de APs considerado podría sintonizarse en su nuevo canal radioeléctrico inmediatamente después del proceso de optimización 506. FIG. 9 muestra un ejemplo de diagrama de bloques funcional de un dispositivo que podría emplearse para realizar el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos descritos en este documento. El dispositivo 900 podría ser cualquier dispositivo con capacidades de cómputo y comunicaciones. Por ejemplo, el dispositivo 900 podría ser un AP, una STA, un sistema de control central, un servidor, etc. El dispositivo 900 podría incluir un conjunto de transceptores 902 o un conjunto de transmisores 904 y receptores 906 para comunicarse con otros dispositivos a través de un conjunto de medios de transmisión 922. El dispositivo 900 podría incluir un conjunto de unidades de procesamiento (916, 918 y 920) para el cómputo de operaciones involucradas en el procedimiento de asignación de canales radioeléctricos descritos en el presente documento. Además, el dispositivo 900 podría incluir un sistema de memorias 912 (que podría incluir tanto memorias de acceso aleatorio como memorias de sólo lectura) para almacenar los datos e instrucciones necesarios para realizar los métodos aquí descritos. Los datos podrían estar en cualquier formato permitido y las instrucciones podrían estar en cualquier lenguaje de programación e incluir código de programas informáticos. El dispositivo 900 podría incluir una o varias unidades detectoras de señal 908 para detectar, discriminar y cuantificar las señales deseadas de las señales recibidas por un conjunto de transceptores 902 o un conjunto de receptores 906. El dispositivo 900 podría también incluir una o varias unidades procesadoras de señal 910 que podrían ser utilizadas para medir, filtrar, comprimir y/o ejecutar algoritmos de procesamiento de señal. El dispositivo 900 podría también incluir otros sistemas y unidades asociadas con funcionalidades adicionales tales como pero no limitadas a unidades de interfaz gráfica de usuario, unidades periféricas y unidades de codificación/decodificación. Los componentes del dispositivo 900 podrían estar conectados a través de sistemas de transferencia de datos tales como pero no limitados a sistema de buses de datos. The challenge therefore lies in determining the S 802 order that provides the optimal radio channel assignment. Those skilled in the art could use any state of the art optimization method for this purpose. It should be taken into account that the number of possible arrangements (ie the number of feasible solutions) is equal to N \. Examples of optimization techniques include, but are not limited to heuristics, metaheuristics, linear programming, mixed linear-integer programming, quadratic programming and non-linear programming. Those skilled in the art should note that the invention described herein does not depend on the channel selection procedure used in 810. Therefore, any automatic channel selection method of the prior art could be used. After completing the optimization procedure 506 and determining the new allocation of radio channels 508 for each AP of a set of APs (ie vector C 818), the new radio channels could be assigned to each AP of that set of APs 510. Those experts in the art they should know that the way in which such assignment should be performed depends on the underlying network technology, as well as the network topology. In an embodiment of the present invention said assignment could be performed centrally by a device with computing and communications capabilities. In another possible embodiment, said assignment could be carried out distributed by a set of devices with computing and communications capabilities. In another possible embodiment, said assignment could be made in each AP of the set of APs considered. In this last embodiment, each AP of the set of APs considered could be tuned into its new radio channel immediately after the 506 optimization process. FIG. 9 shows an example of a functional block diagram of a device that could be used to perform the automatic radio channel assignment procedure described in this document. Device 900 could be any device with computing and communications capabilities. For example, device 900 could be an AP, a STA, a central control system, a server, etc. Device 900 could include a set of transceivers 902 or a set of transmitters 904 and receivers 906 to communicate with other devices through a set of transmission means 922. Device 900 could include a set of processing units (916, 918 and 920) for the computation of operations involved in the radio channel allocation procedure described in this document. In addition, the device 900 could include a memory system 912 (which could include both random access memories and read-only memories) to store the data and instructions necessary to perform the methods described herein. The data could be in any allowed format and the instructions could be in any programming language and include software code. The device 900 could include one or more signal detecting units 908 to detect, discriminate and quantify the desired signals from the signals received by a set of transceivers 902 or a set of receivers 906. The device 900 could also include one or more processing units. of signal 910 that could be used to measure, filter, compress and / or execute signal processing algorithms. Device 900 could also include other systems and units associated with additional functionalities such as but not limited to interface units. User graph, peripheral units and encoding / decoding units. The components of the device 900 could be connected through data transfer systems such as but not limited to a data bus system.

Es importante mencionar que el alcance de la presente invención no está limitada a las realizaciones aquí descritas. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben apreciar que los métodos, sistemas y dispositivos descritos en el presente documento pueden ser combinados y modificados para formar variaciones de la presente invención sin desviarse del alcance de las reivindicaciones. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben también apreciar que, aunque no se haya descrito de forma explícita, las realizaciones aquí descritas podrían combinarse con otras posibles realizaciones con modificaciones apropiadas. It is important to mention that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the methods, systems and devices described herein can be combined and modified to form variations of the present invention without departing from the scope of the claims. Those skilled in the art should also appreciate that, although not explicitly described, the embodiments described herein could be combined with other possible embodiments with appropriate modifications.

También es importante mencionar que la implementación en forma de programas informáticos de las realizaciones aquí descritas podría variar dependiendo de la forma en la que la presente invención es programada. Aquellos expertos en la técnica deben apreciar las diferentes implementaciones y configuraciones de la invención descrita en el presente documento. It is also important to mention that the implementation in the form of computer programs of the embodiments described herein could vary depending on the way in which the present invention is programmed. Those skilled in the art should appreciate the different implementations and configurations of the invention described herein.

Claims

REIVINDICACIONES 1 . Un método para la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos, que comprende: one . A method for the automatic assignment of radio channels, comprising: recibir reportes de calidad de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos obtenidos en un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos,  receive quality reports from a set of radio channels obtained from a set of wireless devices, combinar dichos reportes de calidad para formar información de red coherente y unificada,  combine these quality reports to form consistent and unified network information, optimizar, utilizando dicha información de red, el orden en el que un procedimiento de selección automática de canal debe ser calculado para cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso,  optimize, using said network information, the order in which an automatic channel selection procedure must be calculated for each access point of a set of access points, determinar, a partir de dicha ordenación optimizada, la nueva asignación de canales radioeléctricos para cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso, y  determine, from said optimized arrangement, the new assignment of radio channels for each access point of a set of access points, and asignar a cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso su nuevo canal radioeléctrico de acuerdo a dicha asignación.  assign to each access point of a set of access points its new radio channel according to said assignment. 2. El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado en cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed at each access point of a set of access points. 3. El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un conjunto de puntos de acceso. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a set of access points. 4. El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado en un punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed at an access point of a set of access points. 5. El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un dispositivo inalámbrico distinto de un punto de acceso. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a wireless device other than an access point. 6. El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos distintos de un punto de acceso. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a set of wireless devices other than an access point. 7. El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un dispositivo inalámbrico. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a wireless device. 8. El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a set of wireless devices. 9. El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un dispositivo que no es inalámbrico. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a device that is not wireless. 10. El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un conjunto de dispositivos que no son inalámbricos. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a set of devices that are not wireless. 11 . El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el proceso de optimización es realizado utilizando metaheurísticas, heurísticas o cualquier otro tipo de técnica de optimización. eleven . The method of claim 1, wherein the optimization process is performed using metaheuristics, heuristics or any other type of optimization technique. 12. El método de la reivindicación 1 , donde el proceso de optimización es realizado considerando una o más funciones objetivo y uno o más parámetros, tales como pero no limitados a frecuencia central, anchos de banda, potencia de transmisión, potencia de la señal recibida, ocupación del canal, relación señal a interferencia más ruido, etc. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the optimization process is performed considering one or more objective functions and one or more parameters, such as but not limited to center frequency, bandwidths, transmission power, received signal power , channel occupancy, signal to interference ratio plus noise, etc. 13. Un producto de programa de ordenador para la asignación automática de canales radioeléctricos, que comprende medios de instrucciones de programa configurados para, cuando el programa se ejecuta en un procesador: 13. A computer program product for the automatic assignment of radio channels, comprising program instruction means configured for, when the program is run on a processor: recibir reportes de calidad de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos obtenidos en un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos,  receive quality reports from a set of radio channels obtained from a set of wireless devices, combinar dichos reportes de calidad para formar información de red coherente y unificada,  combine these quality reports to form consistent and unified network information, optimizar, utilizando dicha información de red, el orden en el que un procedimiento de selección automática de canal debe ser calculado para cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso,  optimize, using said network information, the order in which an automatic channel selection procedure must be calculated for each access point of a set of access points, determinar, a partir de dicha ordenación optimizada, la nueva asignación de canales radioeléctricos para cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso, y  determine, from said optimized arrangement, the new assignment of radio channels for each access point of a set of access points, and asignar a cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso su nuevo canal radioeléctrico de acuerdo a dicha asignación. assign to each access point of a set of access points its new radio channel according to said assignment. 14. El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado en cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso. 14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed at each access point of a set of access points. 15. El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un conjunto de puntos de acceso. 15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a set of access points. 16. El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado en un punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso. 16. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed at an access point of a set of access points. 17. El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un dispositivo inalámbrico distinto de un punto de acceso. 17. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a wireless device other than an access point. 18. El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos distintos de un punto de acceso. 18. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a set of wireless devices other than an access point. 19. El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un dispositivo inalámbrico. 19. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a wireless device. 20. El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un conjunto de dispositivos inalámbricos. 20. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a set of wireless devices. 21 . El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un dispositivo que no es inalámbrico. twenty-one . The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a device that is not wireless. 22. El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el procedimiento de asignación automática de canales es realizado por un conjunto de dispositivos que no son inalámbricos. 22. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the automatic channel assignment procedure is performed by a set of devices that are not wireless. 23. El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el proceso de optimización es realizado utilizando metaheurísticas, heurísticas o cualquier otro tipo de técnica de optimización. 23. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the optimization process is performed using metaheuristics, heuristics or any other type of optimization technique. 24. El producto de programa de ordenador de la reivindicación 13, donde el proceso de optimización es realizado considerando una o más funciones objetivo y uno o más parámetros, tales como pero no limitados a frecuencia central, anchos de banda, potencia de transmisión, potencia de la señal recibida, ocupación del canal, relación señal a interferencia más ruido, etc. 24. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the optimization process is performed considering one or more objective functions and one or more parameters, such as but not limited to center frequency, bandwidths, transmission power, power of the received signal, channel occupancy, signal to interference ratio plus noise, etc. 25. Un dispositivo para comunicaciones, que comprende: 25. A device for communications, comprising: un sistema transceptor o un sistema transmisor-receptor configurado para transmitir y/o recibir reportes de calidad de canal de un conjunto de canales radioeléctricos,  a transceiver system or a transceiver system configured to transmit and / or receive channel quality reports from a set of radio channels, un sistema de procesamiento configurado para combinar dichos reportes de calidad para obtener información de red coherente y unificada,  a processing system configured to combine said quality reports to obtain consistent and unified network information, un sistema de procesamiento configurado para optimizar con cualquier técnica optimización el orden en el que un procedimiento de selección automática de canal debe ser calculado para cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso,  a processing system configured to optimize with any optimization technique the order in which an automatic channel selection procedure must be calculated for each access point of a set of access points, un sistema de procesamiento configurado para determinar a partir de dicha ordenación el nuevo canal radioeléctrico asignado para cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso, y  a processing system configured to determine from said arrangement the new radio channel assigned for each access point of a set of access points, and un medio de almacenamiento configurado para almacenar toda la información, código e instrucciones necesarios.  a storage medium configured to store all the necessary information, code and instructions. 26. El dispositivo para comunicaciones de la reivindicación 25, con un sistema de procesamiento con capacidades para configurar el nuevo canal asignado a una o varias radios físicas asociadas. 26. The communication device of claim 25, with a processing system capable of configuring the new channel assigned to one or more associated physical radios. 27. El dispositivo para comunicaciones de la reivindicación 25, donde un sistema transceptor o un sistema transmisor-receptor está configurado para transmitir el nuevo canal asignado a cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso. 27. The communication device of claim 25, wherein a transceiver system or a transceiver system is configured to transmit the new channel assigned to each access point of a set of access points. 28. El dispositivo para comunicaciones de la reivindicación 25, donde un sistema transceptor o un sistema transmisor-receptor está configurado para transmitir el nuevo mapa de canales a cada punto de acceso de un conjunto de puntos de acceso. 28. The communication device of claim 25, wherein a transceiver system or a transceiver system is configured to transmit the new channel map to each access point of a set of access points. 29. El dispositivo para comunicaciones de la reivindicación 25, donde un sistema transceptor o un sistema transmisor-receptor está configurado para transmitir a un conjunto de dispositivos que pueden o no ser dispositivos inalámbricos un conjunto de los nuevos canales radioeléctricos asignados. 29. The communication device of claim 25, wherein a transceiver system or a transceiver system is configured to transmit to a set of devices that may or may not be wireless devices a set of the new assigned radio channels.
PCT/ES2017/070438 2017-06-15 2017-06-15 Method, system and apparatus for automatic channel assignment in wireless communication networks Ceased WO2018229312A1 (en)

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