US Patent 7831257 Measuring interference in radio networks

In a radio access network (e.g., a cellular network), a radio receiver is configured with a switch that alternatively couples an antenna and an impedance-matched load to the remainder of the receiver. Sector load, e.g., rise-over-thermal (ROT), is monitored by comparing a first measurement of signal power in a radio receiver (e.g., signal power output by the receiver) when the radio receiver is coupled to an antenna receiving the data traffic with a second measurement of signal power in the radio receiver when the radio receiver is de-coupled from the antenna.