Patents by Inventor Luca Zappaterra

Luca Zappaterra has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9967888
    Abstract: When a base station has just a small amount of data to transmit to a served UE, the base station will transmit the data to the UE in a DCI message on a PDCCH, rather than using the DCI message to allocate PDSCH resources to carry the data and transmitting the data on the allocated PDSCH resources. Further, the base station could advantageously make use of a standard DCI message format but could transmit the data in DCI message fields that would otherwise be used to allocate PDSCH resources or otherwise to facilitate PDSCH transmission, since those DCI message fields would not be needed when the data is transmitted in the DCI message itself.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
    Inventors: Luca Zappaterra, Yu Zhou, Muhammad A. Naim
  • Patent number: 9967306
    Abstract: A method for prioritized transmission of redundancy data in a voice-over-packet call. A sending device applies a variable rate codec to generate a sequence of encoded voice frames having varying sizes, and the sending device inserts the encoded voice frames into a sequence of fixed-size packets, one encoded voice frame per packet, resulting in varying left-over payload capacity per packet. The sending device further generates based on each encoded voice frame multiple redundancy blocks to help facilitate recovery of the encoded voice frame. And on a per packet-basis, the sending device selects, from a sliding-window set of recently generated redundancy blocks, one or more redundancy blocks to add into the left-over payload capacity of the packet, with the selecting of each redundancy block being based at least on importance of the voice frame based on which the redundancy block was generated, and the age and size of the redundancy block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
    Inventors: Yu Zhou, Luca Zappaterra, Muhammad A. Naim
  • Patent number: 9942893
    Abstract: In systems and methods for allocating physical resources in a communication system, a common periodicity of two or more allocations for a communication between a wireless device and an access node is determined. A permissible division of a data unit in at least two transmission time intervals in a single carrier within one of the two or more allocations is also determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP.
    Inventors: Yu Zhou, Muhammad Ahsan Naim, Luca Zappaterra
  • Patent number: 9924516
    Abstract: A method and system for assigning data packet transmission in a wireless communications network is provided. The method comprises receiving first and second user data packets having respective first and second packet sizes, one of the packet sizes being larger than the other, determining an uplink/downlink ratio based on network statistics, and assigning the first and second data packets to respective first and second signal carrier spectrums each having a different time interval between uplink transmissions with the network. A system is also provided comprising a network controller configured to receive data packets and assign individual data packets to one of a first and a second signal carrier spectrum based on the size of the data packets, the first and the second signal carrier spectrums having the same uplink/downlink ratio and different uplink intervals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: Sprint Communications Company L.P.
    Inventors: Muhammad Ahsan Naim, Yu Zhou, David Rosen, Luca Zappaterra
  • Publication number: 20180063833
    Abstract: Transmitting data via frame reconfiguration comprises encoding, at a source node, the data into a plurality of frame configurations, each of the plurality of frame configurations comprising a sequence of uplink and downlink subframes, and communicating, via an antenna of the source node, using the plurality of frame configurations, wherein a target node is configured to identify the plurality of frame configurations and decode the data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2016
    Publication date: March 1, 2018
    Inventors: Luca Zappaterra, Muhammad Ahsan Naim, Yu Zhou
  • Patent number: 9907059
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method and system for compensating excessive delay spread in uplink coordinated multipoint service. An uplink data-unit transmitted by a user equipment device (UE) on a first uplink air interface to a first base station (BS) using a first group of sub-carrier frequencies may be received at a time that is within an alignment-time range for simultaneously decoding uplink data-units from UEs transmitting on the first uplink. A determination is made that the uplink data-unit transmitted simultaneously by the UE on a second uplink air interface using a second group of sub-carrier frequencies will be received at a second BS at a time that is time is beyond the alignment-time range for simultaneously decoding uplink data-units from UEs transmitting on the second uplink. Decoding of the received uplink data-unit at the second BS is then delayed until a start time beyond the end of the alignment-time range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
    Inventors: Yu Zhou, Muhammad Ahsan Naim, Luca Zappaterra
  • Patent number: 9893775
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described for enhanced multi-antenna transmission. At a multi-antenna system of a first access node, implicit transmit symbols are assigned to a plurality of antennas. At least two antennas are selected from the plurality of antennas to simultaneously transmit explicit symbols to a wireless device. The explicit symbols are used at the wireless device to decode the implicit transmit symbols.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
    Inventors: Muhammad Ahsan Naim, Yu Zhou, Luca Zappaterra
  • Patent number: 9877342
    Abstract: When an upper layer of a device is going to initiate an exchange of two or more messages with a corresponding upper layer of another device, the initiating device will provide from its upper layer to a lower layer such as a MAC layer an indication of how many messages the devices will be exchanging. In response to that indication, the lower layer of the initiating device will then cause the lower layer of the other device to forgo checking for and confirming availability of the channel for transmission of the next message of the exchange from the other device to the initiating device. Further, the lower layer of the initiating device may also responsively forgo for and confirming availability of the channel for a subsequent message of the exchange.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
    Inventors: Luca Zappaterra, Yu Zhou, Muhammad A. Naim
  • Patent number: 9860849
    Abstract: A transmit power level of a wireless device is adjusted based on an uplink interference to neighboring sectors caused by the transmit power level. The wireless device can estimate the uplink interference using a reference signal transmitted by each neighboring sector. The uplink interference is based on a loss of signal strength of the reference signal as measured at the wireless device, i.e. a path loss. A determination is made to adjust the transmit power level of the wireless device so as to improve a coverage area of the serving sector, without generating excessive interference in neighboring sectors. Consequently, a transmit power level increase is based on a function of the data demand of the wireless device, the interference caused to neighbors, and the load on neighboring sectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
    Inventors: Muhammad Ahsan Naim, Yu Zhou, Luca Zappaterra
  • Patent number: 9848437
    Abstract: A method and system for managing uplink control channel communication by adjacent base stations. Adjacent base stations may programmatically work with each other to arrange for their respective use of different sub-carriers for scheduling their respective uplink control channel communications. Further, to help make more efficient use of all available sub-carriers, a given base station may schedule uplink traffic channel communication for one or more user equipment devices on the same sub-carriers that a neighboring base station is using for uplink control channel communication if those one or more user equipment devices do not report detecting the neighboring base station above a threshold level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
    Inventors: Yu Zhou, Luca Zappaterra, Muhammad Ahsan Naim
  • Patent number: 9801187
    Abstract: An improved method for controlling how long a device will occupy a wireless channel, based on consideration of QoS class of communication on the channel. With respect to a communication that the device detects on the channel, the device could determine QoS class by detecting a sequence of energy levels in association with the detected communication, the sequence of energy levels indicating the QoS class. The disclosed method could be applied by a cellular base station to control how long the base station will provide cellular service on the channel, where the channel is also used for other communications such as WiFi communications for instance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
    Inventors: Yu Zhou, Luca Zappaterra, Muhammad A. Naim
  • Patent number: 9332536
    Abstract: A method and apparatus to help manage communication on a wireless channel. When a neighboring node detects on a wireless channel a ready-to-send (RTS) message from a transmitting node to a receiving node, the neighboring node will set itself to avoid transmission on the channel for a time period but will then determine whether it detects in that time period a further transmission from the transmitting node to the receiving node, related to the data transmission. The further transmission may be a confirmation-to-send (CoTS) message that the transmitting node sends to the receiving node in response to a clear-to-send (CTS) from the receiving node. If the determination is affirmative, then the neighboring node will continue avoiding use of the channel. But if the determination is negative, then the neighboring node will discontinue avoiding use of the channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
    Inventors: Luca Zappaterra, Yu Zhou, Muhammad A. Naim
  • Publication number: 20110255442
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of reducing occurrence of masked nodes in a communication network comprising at least three communication nodes operating in the same frequency band and wherein a first node and a second node are within a radio communication range of each other, a third node being within the radio communication range of the second node, but outside the range of the first node. First control information is exchanged between the first node and the second node for establishing a data communication link between them. Then the second node detects intention of the third node to establish a data communication link and prevents the third node from establishing the data communication link.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2008
    Publication date: October 20, 2011
    Applicant: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V.
    Inventors: Xiangyu Wang, Luca Zappaterra