SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING HANDOVER IN WiMAX MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20080198808A1
• Filed: 02/21/2008
• Published: 08/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Zhao, Ming, Han, Shuangfeng, Xu, Zheng, Wang, Jing, Zhou, Chunhui, HWANG, Seong-Taek
• Granted Patent: US 8,588,176 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/331
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/06 Reselecting a communication resource in the serving access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and a method for performing handover in a Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) mobile communication system supporting broadband wireless access. The system includes a plurality of Mobile Stations (MSs); at least one distributed antenna having the ability to perform simultaneous communications with the plurality of MSs; and a base station connected to the at least one distributed antenna through optical fibers for performing communications and handovers with the multiple MSs.

Claims

1. A system for performing handover in a Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) mobile communication system supporting broadband wireless access, the system comprising:

a plurality of Mobile Stations (MSs),

at least one distributed antenna configured to perform simultaneous communications with at least one MS of the plurality of MSs; and

a base station (BS) connected to the at least one distributed antenna through optical fibers for performing communications and handovers with each of the plurality of MSs.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base station comprises:

a plurality of processing stacks, each stack respectively connected to a different one of the at least one distributed antenna for performing communications, each stack of the plurality of processing stacks having a PHYsical (PHY) layer and a Media Access Control (MAC) layer; and

a network access control unit, connected to each of the plurality of processing stacks and to a network, for connecting and exchanging signals with the plurality of stacks and the network, and for performing handover.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the PHY layer and the MAC layer of each stack of the plurality of processing stacks are based on an IEEE 802.16 standard.

4. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein an interface for exchanging information with the network in the network access control unit corresponds to an interface used by one of the protocols selected from the group consisting of Internet Protocol (IP) and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the BS, the plurality of MSs and at the at least one distributed antenna form a cell corresponding to a range over which the BS has communication control.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of the at least one distributed antenna describes a range of one subcell.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the subcell corresponds to an area where the describing distributed antenna of the subcell can communicate.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the at least one distributed antenna describes a range of one subcell.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the subcell corresponds to an area where the describing distributed antenna of the subcell can communicate.

10. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one distributed antenna further comprises a transceiver configured to perform conversion between a Radio Frequency (RF) signal and a digital Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal.

11. A method for performing handover in a Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) mobile communication system supporting broadband wireless access, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving information on a distributed antenna to perform handover from a Mobile Station (MS) through a distributed antenna;

distinguishing a relevant processing stack corresponding to the received information from a plurality of other processing stacks; and

transmitting a handover message with the relevant processing stack if there exists the relevant processing stack corresponding to the received information.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising the step of transmitting a handover message to an Access Control Router (ACR) if the relevant processing stack corresponding to received information is prevented from inputting the received information.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein information on the distributed antenna corresponds to an antenna which can communicate with a Mobile Station (MS) with an optimal signal power and an optimal signal quality.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein when there is a plurality of processing stacks there is a plurality of distributed antennas such that there is a one-to-one connection between each relevant processing stack and a distributed antenna of said plurality of distributed antennas.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the transmitting step further comprises the step of converting between a Radio Frequency (RF) signal and a digital Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal.

16. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the relevant stack and the plurality of other stacks each comprise a PHYsical (PHY) layer and a Media Access Control (MAC) layer based on an IEEE 802.16 standard.

17. The method as claimed in claim 11, where the receiving step further comprises the step of when an MS moves, first performing the steps of:

scanning for a distributed antenna within a pre-set neighboring distance; and

selecting a scanned distributed antenna with said distance such that the MS that moved can communicate with an optimal quality and an optimal power of signal.