Method for identifying home cell and apparatus thereof

• US 20060291427A1
• Filed: 06/26/2006
• Published: 12/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Park, Sun-Yong
• Granted Patent: US 8,023,472 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/332
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7083 Cell search, e.g. using a three-step approach
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/70701 featuring pilot assisted reception
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00692 using simultaneous multiple data streams, e.g. cooperative multipoint [CoMP], carrier aggregation [CA] or multiple input multiple output [MIMO] allocation of physical resources in CoMP or in CA H04L5/0035
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point

Abstract

A method for identifying a cell that provides a differentiated service in a mobile communication system. The method comprises searching for a plurality of pilots having strength greater than a minimum pilot strength; comparing strengths of the pilots, and designating a pilot having the greatest strength as an active pilot; determining whether a corresponding cell of the active pilot transmits a cell classifier for the differentiated service along with an overhead message; if the corresponding cell transmits a cell classifier, determining whether the cell classifier matches a cell classifiers stored in an access terminal; and if the cell classifier matches with a cell classifier stored in the access terminal, performing an operation under the control of the corresponding cell.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a cell that provides a differentiated service in a mobile communication system, the method comprising the steps of:

searching for a plurality of pilots having a strength greater than a minimum pilot strength;

comparing strengths of the pilots, and designating a pilot having the greatest strength as an active pilot;

determining whether a corresponding cell of the active pilot transmits a cell classifier for the differentiated service along with an overhead message;

if the corresponding cell transmits a cell classifier, determining whether the cell classifier matches a cell classifier stored in an access terminal; and

if the cell classifier matches with a cell classifier stored in the access terminal, performing an operation under the control of the corresponding cell.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

if the corresponding cell transmits no cell classifier or the transmitted cell classifier does not match a cell classifier stored in the access terminal, receiving an overhead message transmitted along with cell classifier information for a neighbor cell; and

performing a match operation on at least one received neighbor cell classifier.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of, if there is no matched cell classifier, maintaining the pilot having the greatest strength as an active pilot, receiving an overhead message from the corresponding cell, and performing an idle mode operation depending on the received overhead message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the overhead message includes home cell identification information or neighbor cell classifier information.

5. A base transceiver system (BTS) apparatus for identifying a cell that provides a differentiated service in a mobile communication system, the apparatus comprising:

a cell information provider for redefining a message including subscriber information indicating whether the BTS provides the differentiated service;

a traffic transceiver for transmitting/receiving voice and data traffics to/from an access terminal;

a controller for processing information provided from the cell information provider and the traffic transceiver such that the access terminal can identify a cell capable of providing the differentiated service; and

a radio frequency (RF) processor for, under the control of the controller, combining the redefined message and the traffic such that the access terminal can identify the cell capable of providing the differentiated service, and performing thereon a serious of communication processes in a physical layer or a media access control (MAC) layer.

6. The BTS apparatus of claim 5, wherein the subscriber information includes an International Mobile Station Identity (IMSI) specific to each individual access terminal, or a Network Access Identifier (NAI) specific to each individual subscriber.

7. An access terminal (AT) apparatus for identifying a cell that provides a differentiated service in a mobile communication system, the apparatus comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) processor for receiving a frame transmitted from a base transceiver system (BTS), and performing thereon a series of communication processes in a physical layer or a media access control (MAC) layer;

a traffic transceiver including a buffer therein, for storing traffic data transmitted from the RF transceiver;

a controller for comparing a pilot signal from its own cell with a pilot signal from a neighbor cell according to a predetermined procedure, and identifying a cell capable of providing the differentiated service depending on the comparison result; and

a cell information parser for parsing a corresponding field of a received message under the control of the controller.

8. A mobile communication system for identifying a cell that provides a differentiated service, comprising:

means for searching for a plurality of pilots having a strength greater than a minimum pilot strength;

means for comparing strengths of the pilots, and designating a pilot having the greatest strength as an active pilot;

means for determining whether a corresponding cell of the active pilot transmits a cell classifier for the differentiated service along with an overhead message;

means for determining whether the cell classifier matches a cell classifier stored in an access terminal, wherein it is determined whether the cell classifier matches a cell classifier stored in an access terminal if the corresponding cell transmits a cell classifier; and

means for performing an operation under the control of the corresponding cell, wherein the operation is performed if the cell classifier matches with a cell classifier stored in the access terminal.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

means for receiving an overhead message transmitted along with cell classifier information for a neighbor cell, wherein the overhead message is received along with cell classifier information for a neighbor cell if the corresponding cell transmits no cell classifier or the transmitted cell classifier does not match a cell classifier stored in the access terminal; and

means for performing a match operation on at least one received neighbor cell classifier.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising means for (a) maintaining the pilot having the greatest strength as an active pilot, (b) receiving an overhead message from the corresponding cell, and (c) performing an idle mode operation depending on the received overhead message.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the overhead message includes home cell identification information or neighbor cell classifier information.

12. A base transceiver system (BTS) apparatus for identifying a cell that provides a differentiated service in a mobile communication system, the apparatus comprising:

means for redefining a message including subscriber information indicating whether the BTS provides the differentiated service;

means for transmitting and/or receiving voice and data traffic to and/or from an access terminal;

means for processing information provided from the means for redefining a message and the means for transmitting and/or receiving such that the access terminal can identify a cell capable of providing the differentiated service; and

means, under the means for processing information, for combining the redefined message and the traffic such that the access terminal can identify the cell capable of providing the differentiated service, and for performing thereon a serious of communication processes in a physical layer or a media access control (MAC) layer.

13. The BTS apparatus of claim 12, wherein the subscriber information includes an International Mobile Station Identity (IMSI) specific to each individual access terminal, or a Network Access Identifier (NAI) specific to each individual subscriber.

14. An access terminal (AT) apparatus for identifying a cell that provides a differentiated service in a mobile communication system, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a frame transmitted from a base transceiver system (BTS), and performing thereon a series of communication processes in a physical layer or a media access control (MAC) layer;

means for storing traffic data transmitted from the RF transceiver;

means for comparing a pilot signal from its own cell with a pilot signal from a neighbor cell according to a predetermined procedure, and for identifying a cell capable of providing the differentiated service depending on the comparison result; and

means for parsing a corresponding field of a received message.