Method and apparatus for sharing radio network infrastructure using carrier aggregation
First Claim
1. A method, in a base station, for controlling resource allocation in a multi-carrier system that comprises a multiple of cells controlled by the base station, where each cell of said multiple of cells corresponds to a carrier that is associated with a respective Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the method comprising:
- receiving, on a first carrier, a User Equipment (UE) request comprising information of a UE in a connected mode, where a first cell of said multiple of cells corresponds to said first carrier associated with a first PLMN, wherein the first cell either comprises the UE or receives the UE in a handover procedure, and wherein said first carrier is used as a Primary Component Carrier (PCC);
determining, based on base station settings and the UE information, whether another carrier that corresponds to a second cell of said multiple of cells and associated with a respective PLMN differing from said first PLMN is available to said UE, wherein said another carrier is used as a Secondary Component Carrier (SCC),wherein the base station settings comprise;
load based policy settings, charging based policies, and equal use policies, and wherein the UE information comprises at least one of;
UE capability information, UE subscription information, and UE policy information; and
responsive to determining that said another carrier is available to said UE, sending, to said UE, a resource configuration message for configuration of said PCC and said SCC, enabling said UE to use said SCC in addition to said PCC, wherein said another carrier is used as said SCC for the first PLMN and the respective PLMN.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This disclosure relates a method and a base station for network sharing using carrier aggregation. The base station of a multi-carrier system comprises a multiple of cells, where each cell corresponds to a carrier that is associated with a PLMN. The base station receives (302, S-424, S-516, S-616) a UE request with information of a UE (402, 502, 602), where a first cell of said multiple of cells corresponds to a first carrier. The base station determines (304, S-428, S-520, S-626) based on base station settings and/or UE information, whether an other carrier associated with a different PLMN is available to said UE. If so, the base station sends (306, S-430, S-440, S-524, S-530) a resource configuration message destined for said UE (402, 502, 602), enabling said UE to configure said other carrier as a SCC. Better coverage, peak rates and capacity, without suffering from the drawbacks of existing RAN sharing techniques, are provided.
20 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method, in a base station, for controlling resource allocation in a multi-carrier system that comprises a multiple of cells controlled by the base station, where each cell of said multiple of cells corresponds to a carrier that is associated with a respective Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the method comprising:
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receiving, on a first carrier, a User Equipment (UE) request comprising information of a UE in a connected mode, where a first cell of said multiple of cells corresponds to said first carrier associated with a first PLMN, wherein the first cell either comprises the UE or receives the UE in a handover procedure, and wherein said first carrier is used as a Primary Component Carrier (PCC); determining, based on base station settings and the UE information, whether another carrier that corresponds to a second cell of said multiple of cells and associated with a respective PLMN differing from said first PLMN is available to said UE, wherein said another carrier is used as a Secondary Component Carrier (SCC), wherein the base station settings comprise;
load based policy settings, charging based policies, and equal use policies, and wherein the UE information comprises at least one of;
UE capability information, UE subscription information, and UE policy information; andresponsive to determining that said another carrier is available to said UE, sending, to said UE, a resource configuration message for configuration of said PCC and said SCC, enabling said UE to use said SCC in addition to said PCC, wherein said another carrier is used as said SCC for the first PLMN and the respective PLMN. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A base station for controlling resource allocation in a multi-carrier system that comprises a multiple of cells controlled by the base station, where each cell of said multiple of cells corresponds to a carrier that is associated with a respective Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), said base station comprising:
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a transceiver configured to receive, on a first carrier, a User Equipment (UE) request comprising information of a UE in a connected mode, where a first cell of said multiple of cells corresponds to said first carrier associated with a first PLMN, wherein the first cell either comprises the UE or receives the UE in a handover procedure, wherein said first carrier is used as a Primary Component Carrier (PCC); and a processor configured to; determine, based on base station settings and the UE information, whether another carrier that corresponds to a second cell of said multiple of cells and associated with a respective PLMN differing from said first PLMN is available to said UE, wherein said another carrier is used as a Secondary Component Carrier (SCC), wherein the base station settings comprise;
load based policy settings, charging based policies, and equal use policies, and wherein the UE information comprises at least one of;
UE capability information, UE subscription information, and UE policy information; andresponsive to a determination that said another carrier is available to said UE, control the transceiver to send, to said UE, a resource configuration message for configuration of said PCC and said SCC, to enable said UE to use said SCC in addition to said PCC, wherein said another carrier is used as said SCC for the first PLMN and the respective PLMN. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification