Method and apparatus for operating a communications arrangement comprising femto cells
First Claim
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1. A method for operating a communications arrangement comprising femto cells and including opportunistic use of the spectrum by a femto cell.
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Abstract
A method for operating a communications arrangement comprising femto cells includes opportunistic use of the spectrum by a femto cell. The method may involve multi-operator spectrum re-use and/or multi-service spectrum re-use. The femto cell may use parts of the spectrum when they are not used by primary license holders. A femto base station 12 includes a spectrum decision unit 20 for using information about primary usage to determine operation of the femto base station 12 to achieve opportunistic re-use.
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Citations
28 Claims
- 1. A method for operating a communications arrangement comprising femto cells and including opportunistic use of the spectrum by a femto cell.
- 18. A femto base station for supporting a femto cell and configured to provide opportunistic use of the spectrum by the femto cell.
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23. A multi-operator spectrum server, for use with a femto base station for supporting a femto cell and configured to provide opportunistic use of the spectrum by the femto cell, the server comprising:
- a collector configured to collect information about use of spectrum by multiple operators; and
a processor for using the collected information to determine the aggregate spectrum available for opportunistic reuse by the femto cell; and
a communicator for communicating the determination to permit opportunistic use of the spectrum by the femto base station. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
- a collector configured to collect information about use of spectrum by multiple operators; and
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26. A femto controller for coordinating operation of a plurality of femto base stations of an operator comprising:
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a coordinator for coordinating opportunistic spectrum usage by femto cells supported by the plurality of femto base stations; and a server for providing information to a femto base stations including at least one of;
spectrum usage of neighboring femto cells;
power levels of neighboring femto cells;
locations of macro-cell base stations; and
transmitters of primary users.
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27. A spectrum usage decision processor, for use with a femto base station for supporting a femto cell, to determine available spectrum for opportunistic use by the femto cell, comprising using in the determination at least one of information about:
- type of primary user;
type of primary user signals;
locations of primary user transmitters;
localized spectrum sensing to detect presence or absence of primary transmissions and/or presence of other secondary femto cells;
information from other sensors or neighbor femto base stations on their real-time measurements spectral energy present in a band;
signal specific characteristics; and
detection of known signatures.
- type of primary user;
Specification