SPLIT-CELL RELAY APPLICATION PROTOCOL

• US 20100260096A1
• Filed: 04/01/2010
• Published: 10/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Huang, Xiaolong, Horn, Gavin Bernard, Agashe, Parag Arun, Ulupinar, Fatih, Shi, Yongsheng
• Granted Patent: US 8,867,428 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/315
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/29099 Material
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00013 Fully indexed content
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2606 Arrangements for base station coverage control, e.g. by using relays in tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/065 using assembly or disassembly of packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/36 due to handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/047 using dedicated repeater stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/04 Interfaces between hierarchically different network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/20 between access points

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate packet routing among relay eNBs in a wireless network. Packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer communications from a user equipment (UE) can terminate at a donor evolved Node B (eNB) and vice versa. In this regard, a relay application protocol (RAPP) layer is defined to transport application layer control data among relay eNBs to facilitate appropriate routing. RAPP layer messages can be similar to control messages at other application layers, such as S1-AP, X2, etc., while additionally including a relay UE identifier for routing the messages among relay eNBs. In addition, RAPP layer messages can exclude other parameters normally defined in other application layers to protect security and encryption/decryption details.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a packet having an application layer from an initial device;

generating a disparate packet having a relay application protocol (RAPP) layer that includes one or more parameters of the application layer and one or more additional parameters for routing the disparate packet among one or more relay evolved Node Bs (eNB); and

transmitting the disparate packet to an eNB.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more additional parameters includes a relay user equipment (UE) identifier that corresponds to a UE related to the packet and a relay eNB serving the UE.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving the packet includes receiving the packet from the UE, and the transmitting the disparate packet includes transmitting the disparate packet to a donor eNB.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising assigning a UE portion of the relay UE identifier to the UE, wherein the receiving the packet includes receiving the packet comprising an attach request.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising receiving a relay portion of the relay UE identifier from the donor eNB during a random access procedure with the donor eNB.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving the packet from the UE includes receiving the packet with a non-access stratum (NAS) message.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the generating the disparate packet having the RAPP layer includes generating a NAS transport including the NAS message as a NAS protocol data unit in the RAPP layer of the NAS transport.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving the packet from the UE includes receiving the packet that acknowledges one or more security parameters at the UE provided by the donor eNB or establishment of one or more radio bearers for communicating with the UE.

9. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining to handover communications of the UE to one or more disparate eNBs, wherein the receiving the packet from the UE includes receiving the packet comprising one or more measurement reports related to the one or more disparate eNBs.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the generating the disparate packet having the RAPP layer includes generating a handover request that includes one or more parameters regarding one or more relay radio bearers established for transmitting packets to the UE.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving an acknowledgement of the handover request from the donor eNB.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing one or more packets in an uplink receive buffer and one or more sequence number status transfer parameters to the donor eNB.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving the packet includes receiving the packet from a core network component, and the transmitting the disparate packet includes transmitting the disparate packet to the relay eNB serving the UE.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising assigning a relay portion of the relay UE identifier to the eNB upon establishing a connection with the eNB.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining the relay UE identifier from a routing table that associates relay UE identifiers with disparate identifiers for communicating with the core network component.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiving the packet from the core network component includes receiving the packet with an attach accept message from a mobility management entity related to an attach request from a UE.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the generating the disparate packet having the RAPP layer includes generating a security mode command message including one or more parameters related to one or more radio bearers for transmitting packets to the UE.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiving the packet from the core network component includes receiving the packet with a request to establish one or more radio bearers with the UE.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the generating the disparate packet having the RAPP layer includes generating a bearer setup request including one or more parameters related to the one or more radio bearers to establish with the UE.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiving the packet from the core network component includes receiving the packet comprising one or more messages from a disparate donor eNB related to handing over communications of the UE or a disparate UE.

21. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving the packet includes receiving the packet from a donor eNB, and the transmitting the disparate packet includes transmitting the disparate packet to a target relay eNB in handover.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the receiving the packet from the donor eNB includes receiving a handover request from the donor eNB.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising transmitting a connection reconfiguration to the target relay eNB to establish one or more relay radio bearers indicated in the handover request.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising receiving a connection reconfiguration complete from the target relay eNB and transmitting a handover request acknowledgement to the donor eNB.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the application layer is a radio resource control, S1-AP, or X2 layer.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the RAPP layer further excludes one or more disparate parameters of the application layer.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the one or more disparate parameters of the application layer relates to security or encryption of the packet.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the disparate packet to the eNB includes transmitting the disparate packet among the one or more relay eNBs to the eNB.

29. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

obtain a packet from a device having an application layer;

create a disparate packet with a relay application protocol (RAPP) layer that includes one or more parameters of the application layer and one or more additional parameters for routing the disparate packet among one or more relay evolved Node Bs (eNB); and

transmit the disparate packet to an eNB; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

30. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 29, wherein the one or more additional parameters comprises a relay user equipment (UE) identifier that corresponds to a UE related to the packet and a relay eNB serving the UE.

31. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 30, wherein the device is the UE, and the eNB is a donor eNB that provides wireless network access to the relay eNB.

32. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 31, wherein the packet includes a non-access stratum (NAS) message.

33. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 32, wherein the at least one processing creates the disparate packet to include the NAS message in a NAS protocol data unit of the RAPP layer.

34. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to assign a UE portion of the relay UE identifier upon establishing a connection with the UE.

35. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a relay portion of the relay UE identifier from the donor eNB.

36. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 31, wherein the packet includes an acknowledgement related to establishing one or more radio bearers for communicating with the UE or related to one or more security parameters provided by the donor eNB.

37. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine to handover communications of the UE to one or more disparate eNBs, and the packet includes one or more measurement reports related to the one or more disparate eNBs.

38. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 37, wherein the disparate packet includes a handover request comprising one or more parameters regarding one or more relay radio bearers established for communicating with the UE.

39. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 37, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide one or more packets in an uplink receive buffer and one or more sequence number status transfer parameters to the donor eNB.

40. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 30, wherein the device is a core network component, and the eNB is the relay eNB serving the UE.

41. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 40, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to locate the relay UE identifier in a routing table that associates relay UE identifiers with disparate identifiers for communicating with the core network component.

42. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 40, wherein the packet is an attach accept message from a mobility management entity related to an attach request from a UE, and the disparate packet includes a security mode command message including one or more parameters related to one or more radio bearers for transmitting packets to the UE.

43. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 40, wherein the packet comprises a request to establish one or more radio bearers with the UE, and the disparate packet includes a bearer setup request comprising one or more parameters related to the one or more radio bearers to establish with the UE.

44. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 40, wherein the packet comprises one or more messages from a disparate donor eNB related to handing over communications of the UE or a disparate UE.

45. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 40, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to assign a relay portion of the relay UE identifier to the relay eNB serving the UE.

46. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 30, wherein the device is a donor eNB, and the eNB is a target relay eNB in a handover procedure.

47. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 46, wherein the packet comprises a handover request, and the at least one processor is further configured to:

transmit a connection reconfiguration to the target relay eNB to establish one or more radio bearers indicated in the handover request; and

receive a connection reconfiguration complete from the target relay eNB.

48. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving a packet including an application layer from a device;

means for generating a disparate packet including a relay application protocol (RAPP) layer that comprises one or more parameters of the application layer and one or more additional parameters for routing the disparate packet; and

means for transmitting the disparate packet to an evolved Node B (eNB).

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the one or more additional parameters includes a relay user equipment (UE) identifier that corresponds to a UE related to the packet and a relay eNB that serves the UE.

50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the device is a UE, and the eNB is a donor eNB that serves the relay eNB that serves the UE or one or more intermediary relay eNBs communicating with the relay eNB that serves the UE.

51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the packet is a non-access stratum (NAS) message, and the disparate packet comprises the NAS message in a NAS protocol data unit in the RAPP layer.

52. The apparatus of claim 50, further comprising means for assigning a UE portion of the relay UE identifier to the UE.

53. The apparatus of claim 50, further comprising means for receiving a relay portion of the relay UE identifier from the donor eNB.

54. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the device is a core network component, and the eNB is the relay eNB that serves the UE.

55. The apparatus of claim 54, further comprising means for maintaining a routing table that associates relay UE identifiers with disparate identifiers for communicating with the core network component and determining the relay UE identifier from a routing table association to a corresponding disparate identifier received in a communication from the core network component.

56. The apparatus of claim 54, further comprising means for assigning a relay portion of the relay UE identifier to the relay eNB that serves the UE.

57. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the device is a donor eNB, and the eNB is a target relay eNB in a handover procedure.

58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the packet includes a handover request.

59. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the means for transmitting the disparate packet to the eNB further transmits a connection reconfiguration to the target relay eNB to establish one or more relay radio bearers indicated in the handover request.

60. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to obtain a packet from a device having an application layer;

code for causing the at least one computer to create a disparate packet with a relay application protocol (RAPP) layer that includes one or more parameters of the application layer and one or more additional parameters for routing the disparate packet among one or more relay evolved Node Bs (eNB); and

code for causing the at least one computer to transmit the disparate packet to an eNB.

61. The computer program product of claim 60, wherein the one or more additional parameters comprises a relay user equipment (UE) identifier that corresponds to a UE related to the packet and a relay eNB serving the UE.

62. The computer program product of claim 61, wherein the device is the UE, and the eNB is a donor eNB that provides wireless network access to the relay eNB.

63. The computer program product of claim 62, wherein the packet includes a non-access stratum (NAS) message, and the code for causing the at least one computer to generate generates the disparate packet to include the NAS message in a NAS protocol data unit of the RAPP layer.

64. The computer program product of claim 62, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to determine to handover communications of the UE to one or more disparate eNBs, the packet includes one or more measurement reports related to the one or more disparate eNBs, and code for causing the at least one computer to generate generates the disparate packet to include a handover request comprising one or more parameters regarding one or more relay radio bearers established for communicating with the UE.

65. The computer program product of claim 64, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to provide one or more packets in an uplink receive buffer and one or more sequence number status transfer parameters to the donor eNB.

66. The computer program product of claim 62, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to assign a UE portion of the relay UE identifier to the UE upon establishing a connection with the UE.

67. The computer program product of claim 62, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to receive a relay portion of the relay UE identifier from the donor eNB.

68. The computer program product of claim 61, wherein the device is a core network component, and the eNB is the relay eNB serving the UE.

69. The computer program product of claim 68, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to locate the relay UE identifier in a routing table that associates relay UE identifiers with disparate identifiers for communicating with the core network component.

70. The computer program product of claim 68, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to assign a relay portion of the relay UE identifier to the relay eNB serving the UE.

71. The computer program product of claim 61, wherein the device is a donor eNB, and the eNB is a target relay eNB in a handover procedure.

72. The computer program product of claim 71, wherein the packet comprises a handover request, and the computer-readable medium further comprises:

code for causing the at least one computer to transmit a connection reconfiguration to the target relay eNB to establish one or more radio bearers indicated in the handover request; and

code for causing the at least one computer to receive a connection reconfiguration complete from the target relay eNB.

73. An apparatus, comprising:

a component that receives a packet including an application layer from a device;

a relay application protocol (RAPP) translating component that generates a disparate packet including a RAPP layer that comprises one or more parameters of the application layer and one or more additional parameters for routing the disparate packet; and

a RAPP communicating component that transmits the disparate packet to an evolved Node B (eNB).

74. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein the one or more additional parameters includes a relay user equipment (UE) identifier that corresponds to a UE related to the packet and a relay eNB that serves the UE.

75. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein the device is a UE, and the eNB is a donor eNB that serves the relay eNB that serves the UE or one or more intermediary relay eNBs communicating with the relay eNB that serves the UE.

76. The apparatus of claim 75, further comprising a relay UE ID generating component that assigns a UE portion of the relay UE identifier to the UE.

77. The apparatus of claim 75, further comprising a relay identifier receiving component that obtains a relay portion of the relay UE identifier from the donor eNB.

78. The apparatus of claim 75, wherein the packet is a non-access stratum (NAS) message, and the disparate packet comprises the NAS message in a NAS protocol data unit in the RAPP layer.

79. The apparatus of claim 75, wherein the RAPP communicating component additionally transmits one or more packets in an uplink receive buffer or one or more sequence number status transfer parameters to the donor eNB.

80. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein the device is a core network component, and the eNB is the relay eNB that serves the UE.

81. The apparatus of claim 80, further comprising a routing table component that associates relay UE identifiers with disparate identifiers for communicating with the core network component and determines the relay UE identifier based on a stored association to a corresponding disparate identifier received in a communication from the core network component.

82. The apparatus of claim 80, wherein the packet includes one or more measurement reports related to one or more disparate eNBs.

83. The apparatus of claim 82, wherein the disparate packet includes a handover request comprising one or more relay radio bearers established for transmitting packets to the UE.

84. The apparatus of claim 79, further comprising a relay identifier assigning component that generates a relay portion of the relay UE identifier for the relay eNB serving the UE.

85. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein the device is a donor eNB, and the eNB is a target relay eNB in a handover procedure.

86. The apparatus of claim 85, wherein the packet includes a handover request.

87. The apparatus of claim 86, wherein the RAPP communicating component further transmits a connection reconfiguration to the target relay eNB to establish one or more relay radio bearers indicated in the handover request.