CENTRALIZED CONTROL OF PEER-TO-PEER COMMUNICATION

• US 20100169498A1
• Filed: 12/21/2009
• Published: 07/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Bhushan, Naga, Palanki, Ravi, Agrawal, Avneesh
• Granted Patent: US 9,900,779 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• 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 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0206 in access points, e.g. base stations access point devices per se H04W88/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/25 Maintenance of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Techniques for centralized control of peer-to-peer (P2P) communication and centralized control of femto cell operation are described. For centralized control of P2P communication, a designated network entity (e.g., a base station) may control P2P communication of stations (e.g., UEs) located within its coverage area. The designated network entity may receive an indication of a first station (e.g., a UE) desiring to communicate with a second station (e.g., another UE). The designated network entity may determine whether or not to select peer-to-peer communication for the first and second stations, e.g., based on the quality of their communication link. The designated network entity may assign resources to the stations if peer-to-peer communication is selected. For centralized control of femto cell operation, the designated network entity may control the operation of femto cells (e.g., may activate or deactivate femto cells) within its coverage area.

Claims

1. A method of supporting wireless communication, comprising:

receiving at a network entity an indication of a first station desiring to communicate with a second station;

determining by the network entity whether or not to select peer-to-peer communication for the first and second stations; and

sending information indicative of whether peer-to-peer communication is selected for the first and second stations.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information indicative of quality of a communication link between the first and second stations, and wherein whether or not to select peer-to-peer communication is determined based on the received information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the received information comprises pilot measurements, interference measurements, round trip delay (RTD) measurements, location information, or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether or not to select peer-to-peer communication comprises

comparing quality of a communication link between the first and second stations against a threshold, and

selecting peer-to-peer communication for the first and second stations if the quality of the communication link exceeds the threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning resources to the first and second stations if peer-to-peer communication is selected; and

sending information indicative of the assigned resources if peer-to-peer communication is selected.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the assigned resources comprise time resources, frequency resources, or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

designating one of the first and second stations to operate as a base station and transmit on downlink and receive on uplink if peer-to-peer communication is selected; and

designating other one of the first and second stations to operate as a user equipment (UE) and transmit on the uplink and receive on the downlink if peer-to-peer communication is selected.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining by the network entity whether to select the second station as a relay station for the first station.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first station is a user equipment (UE), and wherein the second station is another UE or a femto cell.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the network entity is a base station controlling peer-to-peer communication for user equipments (UEs) within coverage of the base station.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein peer-to-peer communication, if selected, occurs on frequency spectrum not used for wireless wide area network (WWAN) communication.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein peer-to-peer communication, if selected, occurs on frequency spectrum used for wireless wide area network (WWAN) communication.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein peer-to-peer communication, if selected, occurs with time division duplexing (TDD) on frequency spectrum used for uplink for wireless wide area network (WWAN) communication.

14. An apparatus for supporting wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving at a network entity an indication of a first station desiring to communicate with a second station;

means for determining by the network entity whether or not to select peer-to-peer communication for the first and second stations; and

means for sending information indicative of whether peer-to-peer communication is selected for the first and second stations.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

means for receiving information indicative of quality of a communication link between the first and second stations, and wherein whether or not to select peer-to-peer communication is determined based on the received information.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the means for determining whether or not to select peer-to-peer communication comprises

means for comparing quality of a communication link between the first and second stations against a threshold, and

means for selecting peer-to-peer communication for the first and second stations if the quality of the communication link exceeds the threshold.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

means for assigning resources to the first and second stations if peer-to-peer communication is selected; and

means for sending information indicative of the assigned resources if peer-to-peer communication is selected.

18. An apparatus for supporting wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured to receive at a network entity an indication of a first station desiring to communicate with a second station, to determine by the network entity whether or not to select peer-to-peer communication for the first and second stations, and to send information indicative of whether peer-to-peer communication is selected for the first and second stations.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive information indicative of quality of a communication link between the first and second stations, and to determine whether or not to select peer-to-peer communication based on the received information.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is configured to compare quality of a communication link between the first and second stations against a threshold, and to select peer-to-peer communication for the first and second stations if the quality of the communication link exceeds the threshold.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is configured to assign resources to the first and second stations if peer-to-peer communication is selected, and to send information indicative of the assigned resources if peer-to-peer communication is selected.

22. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to receive at a network entity an indication of a first station desiring to communicate with a second station,

code for causing the at least one computer to determine by the network entity whether or not to select peer-to-peer communication for the first and second stations, and

code for causing the at least one computer to send information indicative of whether peer-to-peer communication is selected for the first and second stations.

23. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

sending an indication of a first station desiring to communicate with a second station, the indication being sent from the first station to a network entity; and

receiving information indicative of whether or not to use peer-to-peer communication between the first and second stations, the information being sent by the network entity to the first station.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

sending information indicative of quality of a communication link between the first and second stations, and wherein whether or not to use peer-to-peer communication is determined by the network entity based on the sent information.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

communicating directly with the second station if peer-to-peer communication is selected; and

communicating with the second station via a base station if peer-to-peer communication is not selected.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving an assignment of resources if peer-to-peer communication is selected; and

communicating with the second station based on the assigned resources if peer-to-peer communication is selected.

27. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for sending an indication of a first station desiring to communicate with a second station, the indication being sent from the first station to a network entity; and

means for receiving information indicative of whether or not to use peer-to-peer communication between the first and second stations, the information being sent by the network entity to the first station.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:

means for sending information indicative of quality of a communication link between the first and second stations, and wherein whether or not to use peer-to-peer communication is determined by the network entity based on the sent information.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:

means for communicating directly with the second station if peer-to-peer communication is selected; and

means for communicating with the second station via a base station if peer-to-peer communication is not selected.

30. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:

means for receiving an assignment of resources if peer-to-peer communication is selected; and

means for communicating with the second station based on the assigned resources if peer-to-peer communication is selected.

31. A method of supporting wireless communication, comprising:

receiving an access request from a user equipment (UE) at a network entity;

identifying a femto cell capable of serving the UE; and

activating the femto cell by the network entity to serve the UE.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the identifying the femto cell comprises identifying the femto cell based on a UE identity (ID) of the UE, or information received from the UE, or geographic locations of the UE and the femto cell, or radio locations of the UE and the femto cell, or past history of communication between the UE and the femto cell, or a combination thereof.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the femto cell is a Local IP Access (LIPA)-only femto cell not providing Internet connectivity.

34. An apparatus for supporting wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving an access request from a user equipment (UE) at a network entity;

means for identifying a femto cell capable of serving the UE; and

means for activating the femto cell by the network entity to serve the UE.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the means for identifying the femto cell comprises means for identifying the femto cell based on a UE identity (ID) of the UE, or information received from the UE, or geographic locations of the UE and the femto cell, or radio locations of the UE and the femto cell, or past history of communication between the UE and the femto cell, or a combination thereof.

36. A method of supporting wireless communication, comprising:

identifying a user equipment (UE) located within coverage of a femto cell but unable to access the femto cell due to restricted association; and

deactivating the femto cell to allow the UE to communicate with another cell.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

allowing the femto cell to operate if the UE is not within coverage of any macro cell.

38. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

allowing the femto cell to operate if the UE is in an idle mode; and

deactivating the femto cell if the UE is not in the idle mode.

39. An apparatus for supporting wireless communication, comprising:

means for identifying a user equipment (UE) located within coverage of a femto cell but unable to access the femto cell due to restricted association; and

means for deactivating the femto cell to allow the UE to communicate with another cell.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, further comprising:

means for allowing the femto cell to operate if the UE is not within coverage of any macro cell.

41. The apparatus of claim 39, further comprising:

means for allowing the femto cell to operate if the UE is in an idle mode; and

means for deactivating the femto cell if the UE is not in the idle mode.