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A Pilot Symbol Allocation Method for Opportunistic Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access Wireless Communications Systems

Project ID: 1748-AP
Available for licensing

Background

Today's high-density mobile wireless system users in urban areas together with the rich scattering characteristics of the underlying communication channels has driven tremendous amounts of attention to developing suitable efficient communication systems. Among the multiple mobile station supporting wireless communication systems, the orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) method is a powerful technique to overcome the fluctuations of a wireless channel while simultaneously delivering a certain quality of service to the users. WiMAX and LTE are two examples of such widely accepted standards.

Efficient distribution of network resources in multiple access networks requires some kind of feedback from users to the base station. In opportunistic-based multiple access systems, this feedback contains the frequency(ies) through which the user prefers to receive the downlink data.

Invention Description

This invention further harnesses the feedback sent by users through manipulating the allocation of resources in the downlink stream. Moreover, this invention supports both quality of service (QoS)--where most users are prioritized--and non-QoS communication links.

Benefits

Exploits feedback sent from users in opportunistic OFDMA bases wireless communication systems
Keeps the receivers simple

Features

More intelligent distribution of the symbols multiplexed into the down-link stream
Minimal complexity
Backward compatible with existing systems
Scalable
Fully software-based implementation

Market Potential/Applications

OFDMA-based systems supporting feedback from the users, such as WiMAX

UT Researcher

Robert W. Heath, Jr., Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
Ali Y. Panah, Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

OTC Contact Information

Jitendra Jain, Licensing Specialist
jjain@otc.utexas.edu
512-471-9055