Enhanced wireless multiple-access and scheduling techniques using positional and environmental information

This paper proposes a number of novel uses for 3D location and environmental geometry information to enhance the performance of the wireless physical layer. In the context of this paper, such information is obtained in real-time from a mobile operative carrying the ViewNet system. A location-based multi-user scheduler is proposed to exploit multi-user diversity by choosing users with wide angular separation. If SINR feedback is also available, an SINR-based scheduler with location-assistance is developed to further enhance the system performance. These schedulers are then combined with a modified proportional fair scheduler based only on location information, which does not incur data-rate feedback requirements. Finally, the ability to associate rate and other parameters to location allows the prediction of future rate values and a family of novel scheduling methodologies are proposed to take advantage of this.