Communication devices and methods for operating a communication device

Abstract

A communication device is described comprising a receiver configured to receive a radio signal from another communication device via a communication channel; a detector configured to detect the presence of an impairment of the communication channel; a determiner configured to determine a type of the impairment of the communication channel; and a transmitter configured to transmit an indication of the type of the impairment of the communication channel to the other communication device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A communication device comprising:
 a receiver configured to receive a radio signal from another communication device via a communication channel;   a detector configured to detect the presence of an impairment of the communication channel;   a determiner configured to determine a type of the impairment of the communication channel; and   a transmitter configured to transmit an indication of the type of the impairment of the communication channel to the other communication device.   
     
     
         2 . The communication device of  claim 1 , wherein the type of the impairment of the communication channel is a fading type. 
     
     
         3 . The communication device of  claim 1 , wherein the type of the impairment of the communication channel is flat fading or frequency selective fading. 
     
     
         4 . The communication device of  claim 1 , wherein the type of the impairment of the communication channel is an interference type. 
     
     
         5 . The communication device of  claim 4 , wherein the type of the impairment of the communication channel is an interference type of a dominant interferer. 
     
     
         6 . The communication device of  claim 1 , wherein the type of the impairment of the communication channel is both a fading type and an interference type. 
     
     
         7 . The communication device of  claim 4 , wherein the type of the impairment of the communication channel is adjacent channel interference or co-channel interference. 
     
     
         8 . The communication device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication device is a mobile communication terminal and the other communication device is a base station or wherein the communication device is a base station and the other communication device is a mobile communication terminal. 
     
     
         9 . The communication device of  claim 1 , wherein the indication is transmitted with a measurement report message. 
     
     
         10 . A method for operating a communication device comprising:
 the communication device receiving a radio signal from another communication device via a communication channel;   the communication device detecting the presence of an impairment of the communication channel;   the communication device determining a type of the impairment of the communication channel; and   the communication device transmitting an indication of the type of the impairment of the communication channel to the other communication device.   
     
     
         11 . A communication device comprising:
 a transmitter configured to transmit a radio signal to another communication device via a communication channel;   a receiver configured to receive an indication of a type of an impairment of the communication channel from the other communication device; and   a controller configured to determine, based on the indication, a mitigation mechanism for mitigating the impairment and to control the transmitter according to the determined mitigation mechanism.   
     
     
         12 . The communication device of  claim 11 , wherein the mitigation mechanism is frequency hopping. 
     
     
         13 . The communication device of  claim 11 , wherein the mitigation mechanism is a change in the frequency or frequencies assigned to the communication device. 
     
     
         14 . The communication device of  claim 11 , wherein the communication device and the other communication device are communication devices of a cellular mobile communication system and the mitigation mechanism is handover. 
     
     
         15 . The communication device of  claim 11 , wherein the mitigation mechanism is a new channel assignment or a physical channel reconfiguration. 
     
     
         16 . The communication device of  claim 11 , wherein the mitigation mechanism is a change of the coding scheme used by the transmitter to transmit radio signals to the other communication device. 
     
     
         17 . The communication device of  claim 11 , wherein the controller determines a mitigation mechanism other than frequency hopping or frequency change if the indication indicates that the type of impairment is flat fading. 
     
     
         18 . The communication device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the mitigation mechanism further based on the communication resources available for the communication between the communication device and the other communication device. 
     
     
         19 . A method for operating a communication device comprising:
 the communication device transmitting a radio signal to another communication device via a communication channel;   the communication device receiving an indication of a type of an impairment of the communication channel from the other communication device;   the communication device determining, based on the indication, a mitigation mechanism for mitigating the impairment and controlling the transmitter according to the determined mitigation mechanism.