METHOD FOR ASSOCIATING A PREMIER FEMTOCELL WITH USER EQUIPMENT

• US 20100113038A1
• Filed: 11/05/2008
• Published: 05/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Eskicioglu, Suat, Demetrescu, Cristian
• Granted Patent: US 8,862,137 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/446
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0094 Definition of hand-off measurement parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/322 by location data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer
• 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 user equipment that is configured to communicate with a wireless communication system that includes at least one macro-cell and a plurality of femtocells. The method includes providing a call connection request from the user equipment to one of the plurality of femtocells and receiving information indicating a location of the femtocell and information indicating the femto cell is a premier femtocell associated with the user equipment. The call connection request is received at the user equipment from the premier femtocell in response to providing the call connection request. The method further includes storing the information indicating the location of the premier femtocell in the user equipment.

Claims

1. A method for implementation in user equipment that is configured to communicate with a wireless communication system that comprises at least one macro-cell and a plurality of femtocells, the method comprising:

providing a call connection request from said user equipment to one of the plurality of femtocells;

receiving, at said user equipment from said one of the plurality of femtocells in response to providing the call connection request, information indicating a location of said one of the plurality of femtocells and information indicating that said one of the plurality of femtocells is a premier femtocell associated with said user equipment; and

storing the information indicating the location of the premier femtocell in said user equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the information indicating that said one of the plurality of femtocells is the premier femtocell associated with said user equipment comprises receiving a connection set up message including a Boolean value that is set to TRUE to indicate that said one of the plurality of femtocells is the premier femtocell.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the information indicating the location of the premier femtocell comprises storing the information in a data structure maintained in said user equipment.

4. The method of claim 3, comprising storing mobility-related cell information in the data structure.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein storing mobility-related cell information comprises storing at least one of a scrambling code, an international mobile subscriber identity, a location of the femtocell, and a U-RNTI.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising transmitting information indicative of the premier femtocell to a radio network controller associated with said at least one macrocell.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein transmitting said information indicative of the premier femtocell to the radio network controller comprises transmitting information indicating that the premier femtocell is available and information indicating a frequency used by the premier femtocell.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein transmitting said information indicative of the premier femtocell to the radio network controller comprises transmitting said information indicative of the premier femtocell in a connection set up complete message.

9. A method for implementation in a femtocell that is configured for deployment in a wireless communication system that comprises at least one macro-cell, the method comprising:

receiving, at the femtocell, a call connection request from user equipment;

providing, from the femtocell to said user equipment in response to the call connection request, information indicating a location of the femtocell and information indicating that the femtocell is a premier femtocell associated with said user equipment, such that the information indicating the location of the premier femtocell can be stored in said user equipment.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein providing the information indicating that the femtocell is the premier femtocell comprises providing a connection set up message including a Boolean value that is set to true to indicate that the femtocell is the premier femtocell.

11. The method of claim 9, comprising determining whether said user equipment supports femtocell functionality and providing the information indicating that the femtocell is the premier femtocell in response to determining that said user equipment supports femtocell functionality.

12. The method of claim 9, comprising establishing a call connection between the femtocell and said user equipment after providing the information indicating the location of the femtocell and the information indicating that the femtocell is the premier femtocell.

13. A method for implementation in a radio network controller configured for deployment in a wireless communication system that comprises at least one macro-cell and a plurality of femtocells, the method comprising:

receiving, at the radio network controller, a call connection request from user equipment configured to communicate with a premier femtocell that is one of the plurality of femtocells;

providing, from the radio network controller to said user equipment in response to the call connection request, a call connection set up message;

receiving, at the radio network controller and from said user equipment in response to the call connection set up message, information indicating availability of the premier femtocell associated with said user equipment at least one frequency used for transmission between said user equipment and the premier femtocell; and

storing, at the radio network controller, the information indicating the availability of the premier femtocell and said at least one frequency.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein receiving the information indicating availability of the premier femtocell comprises receiving a connection set up message including a Boolean value that is set to true to indicate availability of the premier femtocell.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein storing the information indicating the availability of the premier femtocell and said at least one frequency comprises storing the information indicating the availability of the premier femtocell and said at least one frequency in a context associated with said user equipment.

16. The method of claim 13, comprising establishing a call connection between the macrocell and said user equipment.