SCANNING OF WIRELESS ENVIRONMENT IN A FEMTO-BASED HOME MACRO SECTOR

• US 20100151858A1
• Filed: 12/17/2008
• Published: 06/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Brisebois, Arthur Richard, De Rosa, Giuseppe
• Granted Patent: US 8,487,516 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/434
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/32 Hierarchical cell structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/02 Access restriction performed under specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/18 Service support devices; Network management devices

Abstract

System(s) and method(s) are provided to trigger inter-carrier scanning in a mobile device based at least in part on location thereof. Femto access point (AP) that can serve the mobile device can determine location through cell or sector identifier that is extracted via scan(s) of macro wireless environment of the femto AP. Femto AP can rank extracted sector identifier(s) and establish home macro sector (HMS) identifier(s), and also can generate scanning requirements for idle-mode scan(s) by a mobile device that operates in a HMS and is authorized to access wireless coverage through the femto AP. Scanning requirement(s) can force periodic inter-carrier measurements of a HMS wireless environment, and establish HMS-specific radio link quality threshold(s). Wireless network can receive at least one of HMS identifier(s) and scanning requirement(s) and deliver same to mobile device(s) authorized to exploit wireless coverage through femto AP associated with the HMS ID(s) and the scanning requirement(s).

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a home macro sector (HMS) identifier, wherein a HMS is a ranked macro sector within a macro wireless environment of a home access point (HAP); and

receiving a set of scanning behavior requirements associated with idle-mode operation within the HMS.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of scanning behavior requirements associated with idle-mode operation includes at least one of a period of scans of the macro wireless environment, or a set of radio link quality thresholds that are different from radio quality thresholds employed in non-home macro sectors.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising delivering acknowledgement of at least one of the HMS identifier or the set of scanning behavior requirements when the at least one of the HMS identifier or the set of scanning behavior requirements are successfully received.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the HMS identifier or the set of scanning behavior requirements associated with idle-mode operation within the HMS are received through at least one of a SMS message, a USSD message, or one or more bits transported in a control channel, or a header of a data packet.

5. The method of claim 3, when an indication of removal from an access list that authorizes coverage through a femto access point that generates at least one of the successfully received HMS identifier or the successfully received set of scanning behavior requirements is received, further comprising deleting at least one of the successfully received HMS identifier or the successfully received set of scanning behavior requirements associated with operation within the HMS.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising retaining at least one of the successfully received HMS identifier or the successfully received set of scanning behavior requirements.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the successfully received HMS identifier or the successfully received set of scanning behavior requirements can be retained in at least one of an internal memory or a removable memory card that includes a unique identifier included in an access list that authorizes utilization of femto coverage by a mobile device linked to the unique identifier.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

probing whether idle-mode of operation is on, and scanning a wireless environment in accordance with conventional scanning mode;

monitoring a serving macro sector identifier; and

when the serving macro sector identifier matches the received HMS identifier, triggering scanning of wireless environment in a scanning mode in accordance with HMS scanning behavior.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein scanning mode in accordance with HMS scanning behavior is dictated by the received set of scanning behavior requirements associated with idle-mode operation within the HMS.

10. A mobile device, comprising:

a communication platform that receives at least one of a home macro sector (HMS) identifier, wherein a HMS is a ranked macro sector within a macro wireless environment of a home access point (HAP), or a set of scanning behavior requirements associated with idle-mode operation within the HMS; and

a scanner component that in idle-mode operation monitors a serving macro sector identifier and surveys the macro wireless environment when the serving macro sector identifier matches the HMS identifier.

11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein scanner component initiates a dedicated application to monitor the serving macro sector identifier.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, in idle-mode and within the HMS, the scanner component disregards scan instructions received through system broadcast messages.

13. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the set of scanning behavior requirements associated with idle-mode operation within the HMS includes at least one of a period of scans of the macro wireless environment, or a set of radio link quality thresholds that are different from radio quality thresholds employed in non-home macro sectors.

14. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein the at least one of the HMS identifier or the set of scanning behavior requirements associated with idle-mode operation within the HMS are retained in at least one of an internal memory or a removable memory card that includes a terminal unique identifier included in an access list that authorizes utilization of femto coverage.

15. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein at least one of the HMS identifier or the set of scanning behavior requirements associated with idle-mode operation within the HMS are received through at least one of a SMS message, a USSD message, or one or more bits transported in a control channel, or a header of a data packet.

16. The mobile device of claim 10, further comprising delivering acknowledgement of at least one of the HMS identifier or the set of scanning behavior requirements when the at least one of the HMS identifier or the set of scanning behavior requirements are successfully received.

17. The mobile device of claim 10, when an indication of removal from an access list that authorizes coverage through a femto access point that generates at least one of the successfully received HMS identifier or the successfully received set of scanning behavior requirements is received, further comprising deleting at least one of the successfully received HMS identifier or the successfully received set of scanning behavior requirements associated with operation within the HMS.

18. A system, the system comprising:

a management component that supplies at least one of a set of home macro sector (HMS) identifiers or a set of idle-mode scanning requirements; and

one or more access nodes that deliver the at least one of the set of HMS identifiers or the set of idle-mode scanning requirements.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising a component that generates a set of idle-mode scanning requirements when the management component delivers an indication to not generate scanning requirements.

20. The system of claim 18, the management component supplies at least one of the set of HMS identifiers or the set of idle-mode scanning requirements through at least one of short message service mechanisms or unstructured supplementary service data mechanisms.

21. The system of claim 18, further comprising a component that delivers a report that indicates whether at least one of the delivered set of HMS identifiers or the delivered set of idle-mode scanning requirements are successfully received in a mobile device.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein the one or more access nodes convey an indication to remove one or more mobile devices from an access list that authorizes coverage to the mobile devices through a femto access point that generates at least one of the set of HMS identifiers or the set of idle-mode scanning requirements.

23. A system, comprising:

a component that supplies a home access point (HAP) a schedule to scan a macro wireless environment and identify a home macro sector (HMS);

one or more access nodes that convey the indication to scan the macro wireless environment and identify the HMS to the HAP, and receive at least one of a set of HMS identifiers or a set of scanning requirements when a mobile device operates in a HMS;

a component that supplies at least one of the set of HMS identifiers or a set of scanning requirements when a mobile device operates in a HMS to one or more mobile devices authorized to exploit HAP-based coverage and recorded in an access list associated with the HAP; and

one or more access nodes that deliver the at least one of the set of HMS identifiers or the set of scanning requirements to one or more mobile devices authorized to exploit HAP-based coverage and recorded in an access list associated with the HAP.