METHOD OF INTEGRATING FEMTOCELLS IN A PACKET CABLE MULTIMEDIA ARCHITECTURE

• US 20090109922A1
• Filed: 02/25/2008
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: LIVANOS, KONSTANTIN
• Granted Patent: US 8,325,674 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/331
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/16 Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for implementation in a cable modem termination system that is communicatively coupled to a first wireless access device configured to provide wireless connectivity to at least one mobile unit. The method includes receiving a request to allocate resources to the first wireless access device for a wireless connection to the mobile unit. The requested resources are determined based upon a quality of service associated with the mobile unit. The method also includes determining whether to grant the request for the resources based on policy information received from a policy server and providing information indicating whether the requested resources have been granted.

Claims

1. A method for implementation in a cable modem termination system that is communicatively coupled to a first wireless access device configured to provide wireless connectivity to at least one mobile unit, comprising:

receiving, at the cable modem termination system, a request to allocate resources to the first wireless access device for a wireless connection to said at least one mobile unit, the requested resources being determined based upon a quality of service associated with said at least one mobile unit;

determining whether to grant the request for the resources based on policy information received from a policy server; and

providing, from the cable modem termination system to the first wireless access device, information indicating whether the requested resources have been granted.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request to allocate resources comprises receiving the request from the first wireless access device in response to a relocation request from a second wireless access device providing wireless connectivity to said at least one mobile unit at the quality of service associated with said at least one mobile unit.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request to allocate resources comprises receiving the request from the first wireless access device in response to a call origination message provided to the first wireless access device by said at least one mobile unit.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether to grant the request for the resources comprises providing a request to allocate resources to the policy server.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining whether to grant the request for the resources comprises receiving a message from the policy server including information indicating whether the requested resources are available for allocation.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining whether to grant the request for the resources comprises granting the request for resources in response to receiving a message from the policy server indicating that the requested resources are available for allocation.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein determining whether to grant the request for the resources comprises declining to grant the request for resources in response to receiving a message from the policy server indicating that the requested resources are not available for allocation.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving, at the cable modem termination system, a request to de-allocate the resources allocated to the first wireless access device for the wireless connection to said at least one mobile unit.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the request to de-allocate the resources comprises receiving the de-allocation request from the first wireless access device in response to a request from a second wireless access device to release the resources allocated to said at least one mobile unit as part of a handoff from the first wireless access device to the second wireless access device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the request to de-allocate resources comprises receiving the request from the first wireless access device in response to a call termination message provided to the first wireless access device by said at least one mobile unit.

11. The method of claim 8, comprising providing, to the policy server, a request to de-allocate the resources associated with said at least one mobile unit and the first wireless access device.

12. The method of claim 11, comprising receiving a message from the policy server including information acknowledging de-allocation of the resources associated with said at least one mobile unit and the first wireless access device.

13. The method of claim 12, comprising providing, from the cable modem termination system to the first wireless access device, information indicating release of the resources associated with said at least one mobile unit.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request to allocate resources comprises receiving a request to allocate at least one of a bandwidth, a channel, a frequency, a code, and a timeslot provided by a cable modem.