Dual band unidirectional scheme in a cellular mobile radio telecommunications system

• US 20030104816A1
• Filed: 09/25/2002
• Published: 06/05/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Edwards, Keith, Duplessis, Philippe
• Granted Patent: US 7,379,430 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/448
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/1443 between licensed networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/20 Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A cellular radio telecommunications system and method of operating the same is described which includes a first cellular radio telecommunications network for providing frequency division duplex radio transmissions over an air interface to one or more fixed or mobile terminals and a second cellular unidirectional radio telecommunications network which at least partly overlaps the first cellular radio telecommunications network for providing unidirectional simplex radio transmissions over an air interface to the one or more fixed or mobile terminals. At least one of access to the unidirectional second cellular network and handover of a communication supported by the unidirectional second cellular network is managed by the first cellular network. A special dedicated uplink channel may be provided in the first network for trasmitting uplink control and/or error messages of the second network.

Claims

1. A cellular radio telecommunications system comprising a first cellular radio telecommunications network for providing frequency division duplex radio transmissions over an air interface to one or more fixed or mobile terminals and a second cellular unidirectional radio telecommunications network which at least partly overlaps the first cellular radio telecommunications network for providing unidirectional simplex radio transmissions over an air interface to the one or more fixed or mobile terminals, wherein unidirectional radio transmission capacity of the second network is associated with duplex radio transmission capacity of the first network.

2. The cellular radio telecommunications system of claim 1, wherein at least one of access to the unidirectional second cellular network and handover of a communication supported by the unidirectional second cellular network is managed by the first cellular network.

3. The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the unidirectional second cellular network is a time division simplex network.

4. The system according to any previous claim, wherein a dedicated uplink control channel of said duplex first cellular network is provided for carrying control and/or error messages of said unidirectional second cellular network from the one or more fixed or mobile terminals.

5. The system according to any previous claim, wherein a cell of the unidirectional second cellular network is allocated to each cell of the duplex first cellular network.

6. The system according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the control and or error messages transmitted on the dedicated uplink control channel are mapped into a virtual uplink channel of the unidirectional second cellular network by the duplex first cellular network.

7. The system according to any previous claim, wherein at least one of the first and second networks is a spread spectrum network.

8. A method of operating a cellular radio telecommunications system comprising the steps of:

providing frequency division duplex radio transmissions over an air interface to one or more fixed or mobile terminals in a first cellular radio telecommunications network;

providing unidirectional simplex radio transmissions over an air interface to the one or more fixed or mobile terminals in a second cellular unidirectional radio telecommunications network which at least partly overlaps the first cellular radio telecommunications network; and

asssociating unidirectional radio transmission capacity of the second network with duplex radio transmission capacity of the first network.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of managing at least one of access to the unidirectional second cellular network and handover in said unidirectional second cellular network using the first cellular network.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the unidirectional second cellular network is a time division simplex network.

11. The method according to any of the claims 8 to 10, wherein control and/or error messages of said unidirectional second cellular network are carried from the one or more fixed or mobile terminals in a dedicated uplink control channel of said duplex first cellular network.

12. The method according to any of claims 8 to 11, further comprising the step of allocating a cell of the unidirectional second cellular network to each cell of the duplex first cellular network.

13. The method according to claims 11 or 12, wherein the control and or error messages transmitted on the dedicated uplink control channel are mapped into a virtual uplink channel of the unidirectional second cellular network by the duplex first cellular network.

14. The method according to any of the claims 8 to 13 wherein the transmissions in the unidirectional second cellular network are dependent upon a quality signal of transmissions received by the one or more fixed or mobile terminals.

15. A base station transceiver system providing frequency division duplex radio transmissions over an air interface to one or more fixed or mobile terminals in a first cellular radio telecommunications network and for providing unidirectional simplex radio transmissions over an air interface to the one or more fixed or mobile terminals in a second cellular unidirectional radio telecommunications network which at least partly overlaps the first cellular radio telecommunications network.

16. A user equipment providing frequency division duplex radio transmissions over an air interface with one or more base station transceivers in a first cellular radio telecommunications network and for receiving unidirectional simplex radio transmissions over an air interface from one or more base stations transceivers in a second cellular unidirectional radio telecommunications network which at least partly overlaps the first cellular radio telecommunications network.

17. The user equipment according to claim 16, farther adapted to transmit uplink error and/or control messages of the second cellular unidirectional radio telecommunications network via a dedicated channel of the first cellular duplex radio telecommunications network.

18. The user equipment according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the user equipment is a mobile terminal.

19. A network element for a cellular radio telecommunications system comprising a first cellular radio telecommunications network for providing frequency division duplex radio transmissions over an air interface to one or more fixed or mobile terminals and a second cellular unidirectional radio telecommunications network which at least partly overlaps the first cellular radio telecommunications network for providing unidirectional simplex radio transmissions over an air interface to the one or more fixed or mobile terminals, the network element mapping an uplink control channel of the first cellular radio telecommunications network into a virtual uplink control channel of the second cellular unidirectional radio telecommunications network.

20. A radio controller for a cellular radio telecommunications system comprising a first cellular radio telecommunications network for providing frequency division duplex radio transmissions over an air interface to one or more fixed or mobile terminals and a second cellular unidirectional radio telecommunications network which at least partly overlaps the first cellular radio telecommunications network for providing unidirectional simplex radio transmissions over an air interface to the one or more fixed or mobile terminals, wherein the radio controller is adapted to associate unidirectional radio transmission capacity of the second network with duplex radio transmission capacity of the first network.