METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING A HAND-IN OF USER EQUIPMENT TO FEMTO CELLS

• US 20100203891A1
• Filed: 02/09/2010
• Published: 08/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Rauber, Peter H., Gholmieh, Aziz, Nanda, Sanjiv, Zhao, Lijun, Yavuz, Mehmet, Chen, Jen M., Singh, Damanjit, Nagaraja, Sumeeth, Radulescu, Andrei D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,204,349 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/436
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0055 Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0061 of neighbour cell information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/08 Reselecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/26 by agreed or negotiated communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

Aspects are disclosed for facilitating a hand-in to a femto cell. An identifier is assigned to a femto cell in which the identifier is based on a scrambling parameter and a timing parameter. A relationship between the identifier and the femto cell is then communicated. In another embodiment, a user equipment report is received, which includes attributes related to a signal broadcast by a femto cell. An identifier associated with the femto cell is ascertained from an attribute included in the report. The femto cell is then identified based on the identifier. In a further embodiment, a timing parameter is received, and a scrambling parameter is set. A signal including the scrambling parameter is then broadcast according to an offset related to the timing parameter. In yet another embodiment, a femto cell is detected during an active call. An identifier associated with the femto cell is then ascertained and reported.

Claims

1. A method that facilitates a hand-in of user equipment to a femto cell comprising:

identifying the femto cell;

assigning a unique identifier to the femto cell, wherein the unique identifier is a function of a scrambling parameter and a timing parameter; and

communicating a relationship between the unique identifier and the femto cell.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the relationship is an assignment of the unique identifier to the femto cell, and wherein the communicating includes a communication of the relationship to an external entity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the relationship identifies at least one of a frame number or a timing offset associated with the timing parameter, and wherein the communicating includes a communication of the relationship to the femto cell, the frame number being either relative or absolute.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising ascertaining a primary scrambling code corresponding to a macro node associated with the femto cell, wherein the scrambling parameter is based on the primary scrambling code.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the ascertaining includes receiving a selection of at least one candidate primary scrambling code from the femto cell, the primary scrambling code ascertained from the selection.

6. The method of claim 5, the primary scrambling code ascertained from auxiliary macro cell information including at least one of a path loss of a wireless channel between a pair of neighboring cells, a quality of a macro cell pilot signal, or a strength of a macro cell signal.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique identifier is unique with respect to a localized area relative to a macro node associated with the femto cell.

8. An apparatus that facilitates a hand-in of user equipment to a femto cell, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to execute computer executable components stored in memory, the components including;

an identification component configured to identify the femto cell;

an assignment component configured to assign a unique identifier to the femto cell, wherein the unique identifier is a function of a scrambling parameter and a timing parameter; and

a transmitting component configured to communicate a relationship between the unique identifier and the femto cell.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the relationship is an assignment of the unique identifier to the femto cell, and wherein the transmitting component is configured to communicate the relationship to an external entity.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the relationship identifies a frame number associated with the timing parameter, and wherein the transmitting component is configured to communicate the relationship to the femto cell.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a code component configured to ascertain a primary scrambling code corresponding to a macro node associated with the femto cell, wherein the scrambling parameter is based on the primary scrambling code.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a receiving component configured to receive a selection of at least one candidate primary scrambling code from the femto cell.

13. A computer program product that facilitates a hand-in of user equipment to a femto cell, comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium comprising code for causing at least one computer to;

identify the femto cell;

assign a unique identifier to the femto cell, wherein the unique identifier is a function of a scrambling parameter associated with the femto cell and a timing parameter associated with the femto cell; and

communicate a relationship between the unique identifier and the femto cell.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, the code further causing the at least one computer to ascertain the unique identifier by combining the scrambling parameter with the timing parameter.

15. An apparatus that facilitates a hand-in of user equipment to a femto cell comprising:

means for identifying the femto cell;

means for assigning a unique identifier to the femto cell, wherein the unique identifier is a function of a scrambling parameter and a timing parameter; and

means for communicating a relationship between the unique identifier and the femto cell.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for ascertaining the unique identifier by combining the scrambling parameter with the timing parameter.

17. A method that facilitates a disambiguation of femto cells comprising:

receiving a report associated with a target femto cell, the report including a plurality of attributes related to a signal broadcast by the target femto cell;

ascertaining an identifier associated with the target femto cell, the identifier ascertained from at least one attribute included in the report; and

distinguishing the target femto cell from at least one other femto cell, the distinguishing based on the identifier.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising obtaining a plurality of assignments, each of the plurality of assignments exclusively pairing a femto cell with a corresponding unique identifier, wherein the distinguishing comprises matching the identifier with a matching unique identifier.

19. The method of claim 18, the ascertaining further comprising ascertaining each of a scrambling parameter and a timing parameter based on the report, wherein the identifier is based on the scrambling parameter and the timing parameter.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising maintaining a topological representation of a plurality of nodes, wherein the topological representation includes a relative information between the plurality of nodes, and wherein the timing parameter is ascertained using the relative information.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising compiling a list of candidate femto cells.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising ranking the list of candidate femto cells according to a likelihood of being the target femto cell.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the ranking is based on at least one of a received user equipment power or the plurality of attributes.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising testing the list of candidate femto cells in an order consistent with the ranking.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the list of candidate femto cells are tested individually.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the list of candidate femto cells are tested in groups.

27. The method of claim 21, further comprising identifying a set of femto cells accessible by a user equipment that generated the report, wherein a relocation preparation includes only preparing the set of femto cells accessible by the user equipment.

28. The method of claim 21, further comprising reducing the list of candidate femto cells according to at least one of a measurement included in a relocation message or an uplink scrambling signal strength detection performed by candidate femto cells in the list of candidate femto cells.

29. The method of claim 21, the compiling based on at least one of a vicinity measurement associated with each of the list of candidate femto cells or a user equipment measurement received from at least one external node.

30. The method of claim 21, the compiling comprising at least one of manipulating a threshold associated with detecting the list of candidate femto cells or maintaining a history of handover attempts associated with each of the list of candidate femto cells.

31. The method of claim 17, further comprising initializing a user equipment to provide a primary scrambling code associated with the target femto cell.

32. The method of claim 17, the distinguishing based on at least one of a global identifier associated with a source cell or a set of radio environment measurements associated with the target femto cell.

33. An apparatus that facilitates a disambiguation of femto cells, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to execute computer executable components stored in memory, the components including;

a receiving component configured to receive a report associated with a target femto cell, the report including a plurality of attributes related to a signal broadcast by the target femto cell;

an ascertaining component configured to ascertain an identifier associated with the target femto cell, the identifier ascertained from at least one attribute included in the report; and

a distinguishing component configured to distinguish the target femto cell from at least one other femto cell based on the identifier.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, the receiving component further configured to receive a plurality of assignments, each of the plurality of assignments exclusively pairing a femto cell with a corresponding unique identifier, wherein the distinguishing component is configured to associate the identifier with a matching unique identifier.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, the ascertaining component further configured to utilize the report to find each of a scrambling parameter and a timing parameter, wherein the identifier is based on the scrambling parameter and the timing parameter.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising a topological component configured to maintain a topological representation of a plurality of nodes, wherein the topological representation includes a relative information between the plurality of nodes, and wherein the timing parameter is ascertained using the relative information.

37. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising a compilation component configured to compile a list of candidate femto cells.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, the compilation component further configured to rank the list of candidate femto cells according to a likelihood of being the target femto cell.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the ranking is based on at least one of a received user equipment power or the plurality of attributes.

40. The apparatus of claim 38, the distinguishing component configured to test the list of candidate femto cells in an order consistent with the ranking.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, the distinguishing component configured to test the list of candidate femto cells individually.

42. The apparatus of claim 40, the distinguishing component configured to test the list of candidate femto cells in groups.

43. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising a preparation component configured to perform a relocation preparation, the compilation component configured to identify a set of femto cells accessible by a user equipment that generated the report, wherein the preparation component is configured to perform the relocation preparation only on the set of femto cells accessible by the user equipment.

44. The apparatus of claim 37, the compilation component configured to reduce the list of candidate femto cells according to at least one of a measurement included in a relocation message or an uplink synchronization attempt performed on the list of candidate femto cells.

45. The apparatus of claim 37, the compilation component configured to compile the list of candidate femto cells based on at least one of a vicinity measurement associated with each of the list of candidate femto cells or a user equipment measurement received from at least one external node.

46. The apparatus of claim 37, the compilation component configured to compile the list of candidate femto cells by at least one of manipulating a threshold associated with detecting the list of candidate femto cells or maintaining a history of handover attempts associated with each of the list of candidate femto cells.

47. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising a transmitting component configured to initialize a user equipment to provide a primary scrambling code associated with the target femto cell.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the user equipment is initialized to automatically provide the primary scrambling code upon a detection of the target femto cell.

49. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the user equipment is initialized to provide the primary scrambling code only upon receiving a request.

50. The apparatus of claim 33, the distinguishing component configured to distinguish the target femto cell based on at least one of a global identifier associated with a source cell or a set of radio environment measurements associated with the target femto cell.

51. A computer program product that facilitates a disambiguation of femto cells, comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium comprising code for causing at least one computer to;

receive a report associated with a target femto cell, the report including a plurality of attributes related to a signal broadcast by the target femto cell;

ascertain an identifier associated with the target femto cell, the identifier ascertained from at least one attribute included in the report; and

distinguish the target femto cell from at least one other femto cell based on the identifier.

52. The computer program product of claim 51, the code further causing the at least one computer to obtain a plurality of assignments, each of the plurality of assignments exclusively pairing a femto cell with a corresponding unique identifier, the code further causing the at least one computer to associate the identifier with a matching unique identifier.

53. An apparatus that facilitates a disambiguation of femto cells comprising:

means for receiving a report associated with a target femto cell, the report including a plurality of attributes related to a signal broadcast by the target femto cell;

means for ascertaining an identifier associated with the target femto cell, the identifier ascertained from at least one attribute included in the report; and

means for distinguishing the target femto cell from at least one other femto cell based on the identifier.

54. The apparatus of claim 53, further comprising means for compiling a list of candidate femto cells.

55. A method that facilitates identifying a femto cell comprising:

receiving a communication, the communication including a timing parameter;

setting a scrambling parameter;

ascertaining an offset related to the timing parameter; and

broadcasting a signal according to the offset, the signal including the scrambling parameter.

56. The method of claim 55, further comprising communicating at least one of the scrambling parameter, the offset, a radio environment measurement, or a received user equipment power to an external entity.

57. The method of claim 55, the ascertaining further comprising selecting the offset.

58. The method of claim 55, the ascertaining further comprising extrapolating the offset from the communication.

59. An apparatus that facilitates identifying a femto cell, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to execute computer executable components stored in memory, the components including;

a receiving component configured to receive a communication, the communication including a timing parameter;

a scrambling component configured to set a scrambling parameter;

a timing component configured to ascertain an offset related to the timing parameter; and

a transmitting component configured to broadcast a signal according to the offset, the signal including the scrambling parameter.

60. The apparatus of claim 59, the transmitting component further configured to communicate at least one of the scrambling parameter, the offset, a radio environment measurement, or a received user equipment power to an external entity.

61. The apparatus of claim 59, the timing component configured to select the offset.

62. The apparatus of claim 59, the timing component configured to extrapolate the offset from the communication.

63. A computer program product that facilitates identifying a femto cell, comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium comprising code for causing at least one computer to;

receive a communication, the communication including a timing parameter;

set a scrambling parameter;

ascertain an offset related to the timing parameter; and

broadcast a signal according to the offset, the signal including the scrambling parameter.

64. The computer program product of claim 63, the code further causing the at least one computer to communicate at least one of the scrambling parameter, the offset, a radio environment measurement, or a received user equipment power to an external entity.

65. An apparatus that facilitates identifying a femto cell comprising:

means for receiving a communication, the communication including a timing parameter;

means for setting a scrambling parameter;

means for ascertaining an offset related to the timing parameter; and

means for broadcasting a signal according to the offset, the signal including the scrambling parameter.

66. The apparatus of claim 65, the means for ascertaining including means for selecting the offset.

67. The apparatus of claim 65, the means for ascertaining including means for extrapolating the offset from the communication.

68. A method that facilitates performing a hand-in to a femto cell comprising:

detecting a target femto cell during an active call;

ascertaining a global identifier associated with the target femto cell; and

reporting the global identifier to an external entity.

69. The method of claim 68, further comprising receiving a request to ascertain the global identifier, wherein the global identifier is ascertained in response to the request.

70. The method of claim 68, the ascertaining performed automatically upon a detection of a detected femto cell.

71. An apparatus that facilitates performing a hand-in to a femto cell, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to execute computer executable components stored in memory, the components including;

a detection component configured to detect a target femto cell during an active call;

an identifier component configured to ascertain a global identifier associated with the target femto cell; and

a transmitting component configured to report the global identifier to an external entity.

72. The apparatus of claim 71, further comprising a receiving component configured to receive a request to provide the global identifier, wherein the identifier component is configured to determine the global identifier in response to the request.

73. The apparatus of claim 71, the identifier component configured to automatically determine the global identifier upon a detection of a detected femto cell.

74. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the identifier component is configured to determine the global identifier according to a timing offset associated with a frame number.

75. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein the global identifier is received without an interruption of a source cell active mode traffic.

76. A computer program product that facilitates performing a hand-in to a femto cell, comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium comprising code for causing at least one computer to;

detect a target femto cell during an active call;

ascertain a global identifier associated with the target femto cell; and

report the global identifier to an external entity.

77. The computer program product of claim 76, the code further causing the at least one computer to receive a request to provide the global identifier, and the code further causing the at least one computer to determine the global identifier in response to the request.

78. An apparatus that facilitates performing a hand-in to a femto cell comprising:

means for detecting a target femto cell during an active call;

means for ascertaining a global identifier associated with the target femto cell; and

means for reporting the global identifier to an external entity.

79. The apparatus of claim 78, the means for ascertaining comprising means for automatically ascertaining the global identifier upon a detection of a detected femto cell.