SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OPERATION OF A COMMUNICATION NETWORK

• US 20080002631A1
• Filed: 06/28/2006
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ARRIS Enterprises LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramachandran, Shyamal
• Granted Patent: US 7,620,003 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2606 Arrangements for base station coverage control, e.g. by using relays in tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/26 Cell enhancers or enhancement, e.g. for tunnels, building shadow
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/047 using dedicated repeater stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/12 Access point controller devices

Abstract

A communication network includes a base station, a relay station, and a subscriber station. The base station is communicatively coupled to a backhaul for routing one or more messages through the backhaul to a destination. The relay station is communicatively coupled to the base station and further communicatively coupled to an alternate backhaul. The relay station includes a relay station mode of operation for relaying messages between the base station and the subscriber station, and a base station mode of operation for other messages from the subscriber station through the alternate backhaul to the destination. The subscriber station is communicatively coupled to the base station and further communicatively coupled to relay station.

Claims

1. A communication network comprising:

at least one base station communicatively coupled to a backhaul for routing one or more messages through the backhaul to at least one destination;

at least one relay station communicatively coupled to the at least one base station and further communicatively coupled to at least one alternate backhaul, the at least one relay station including;

a relay station mode of operation for relaying the one or more messages between the at least one base station and at least one subscriber station, and

a base station mode of operation for routing one or more other messages from the at least one subscriber station through the at least one alternate backhaul to the at least one destination; and

the at least one subscriber station communicatively coupled to the at least one base station and further communicatively coupled to the at least one relay station.

2. A communication network as claimed in claim 1 comprising an 802.16 network.

3. A method of operation of a communication network comprising:

communicating at least one message between a subscriber station and a destination by communicating the at least one message via a relay station to a base station coupled to a backhaul; and

communicating at least one other message between the subscriber station and the destination by communicating the at least one other message via the relay station coupled to an alternate backhaul.

4. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 3 wherein the communication network comprises an 802.16 network.

5. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 3 further comprising:

communicating one or more management information between the relay station and the base station.

6. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 3 wherein the communication via the alternate backhaul step comprises within the relay station:

receiving a communication packet including a CID from a subscriber station,

determining that the communication is to be forwarded over the alternate backhaul,

stripping a MAC header from the communication packet, and

passing the communication packet without the MAC header to a higher layer switching function for communication via the alternate backhaul.

7. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 6 further comprising prior to the passing step:

adding a new header to the communication packet.

8. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 3 wherein the communicating the at least one message via the relay station step comprises within the relay station:

translating an incoming communication to an outgoing communication inside an L2 layer.

9. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 8, wherein the communication network comprises an 802.16 network, and further wherein the L2 layer comprises an 802.16 MAC layer.

10. A relay station for use within a communication network, the relay station comprising:

a first port for relaying one or more messages between a subscriber station and at least one destination through a base station coupled to a backhaul when the relay station is in a relay station mode of operating; and

a second port for routing one or more other messages from the at least one subscriber station through an alternate backhaul to the at least one destination when the relay station is in a base station mode of operation.

11. A relay station as claimed in claim 10 wherein the communication network comprises an 802.16 network, and further wherein the first port comprises an 802.16 port.

12. A method of operation of a relay station within a communication network comprising:

operating the relay station in a first mode including relaying one or more received communications between a base station and at least one subscriber station; and

operating the relay station in a second mode including routing one or more received communications from at least one subscriber station to an alternate backhaul.

13. A method of operation of a relay station within a communication network as claimed in claim 12 wherein the communication network comprises an 802.16 network.

14. A method of operation of a relay station within a communication network as claimed in claim 12 further comprising:

communicating one or more management information between the relay station and the base station.

15. A method of operation of relay station within a communication network as claimed in claim 12 wherein the operating the relay station in a second mode step comprises:

receiving a communication packet including a CID from a subscriber station,

determining that the communication is to be forwarded over the alternate backhaul,

stripping a MAC header from the communication packet, and

passing the communication packet without the MAC header to a higher layer switching function for communication via the alternate backhaul.

16. A method of operation of a relay station within a communication network as claimed in claim 12 wherein the operating the relay station in a first mode step comprises:

translating an incoming communication to an outgoing communication inside an L2 layer.

17. A method of operation of a relay station within a communication network as claimed in claim 16, wherein the communication network comprises an 802.16 network, and further wherein the L2 layer comprises an 802.16 MAC layer.

18. A method of operation of a communication network comprising a base station, one or more relay stations, and one or more subscriber stations, the method comprising:

coupling an alternate backhaul to a relay station, wherein the alternate backhaul includes a cost metric; and

communicating a message between a subscriber station and a destination by the relay station using the alternate backhaul when the cost meets a predetermined criteria.

19. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:

communicating an other message between the subscriber station and the destination by the relay station through the base station using a network backhaul.

20. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 18, further comprising prior to the communication step:

reporting the cost metric from the relay station to the base station; and

determining an acceptance of the use of the alternate backhaul by the base station using the cost metric.

21. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 20, further comprising prior to the determining step:

maintaining a table in the base station including one or more alternate backhauls available in the one or more relay stations and each associated cost metric.

22. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 21, wherein the message includes a quality of service requirement, and wherein the determining step comprises:

determining an acceptance of the use of the alternate backhaul for the message by the base station using the cost metric and the quality of service requirement.

23. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 21 further comprising:

determining by a subscriber station one of the base station or a relay station to associate with using the cost metric.

24. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 23, further comprising prior to the determining step:

periodically transmitting by the base station a metric proportional to the cost of the backhaul for use by the subscriber station in the determining step.

25. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 24, further comprising prior to the determining step:

periodically transmitting by the relay station an additive metric including the metric proportional to the cost of the backhaul for use by the subscriber station in the determining step.

26. A method of operation of a communication network as claimed in claim 23, further comprising prior to the determining step:

periodically transmitting by the relay station a cost proportional to a cost of a cheapest alternate backhaul coupled to the relay station.