METHOD AND AN APPARATUS FOR SYNCHRONIZATION AMONG THE NEIGHBORING BASE STATIONS IN THE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20100296491A1
• Filed: 07/16/2007
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Wang, Yonggang, Chen, Yu, Hu, Zhongji
• Granted Patent: US 8,730,937 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/336
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0638 Clock or time synchronisation among nodes; Internode synchronisation synchronization for ring networks H04L12/422; data switching networks with synchronous transmission H04L12/43
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0682 by delay compensation, e.g. by compensation of propagation delay or variations thereof, by ranging
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/20 between access points

Abstract

The object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for performing synchronization among neighboring base stations in the wireless communication network. According to the technical solution of the present invention, a base station turns off a transmitter randomly to receive a synchronization signal from neighboring base stations, and obtains a new local synchronization reference time based on the synchronization reference time of other neighboring base station. With the apparatus and the method provided by the present invention, the strongly robust synchronization among base stations is realized.

Claims

1. A method, in a synchronization apparatus of a network device of a wireless communication network, for performing synchronization based on synchronization signals from one or more neighboring network devices, comprising the steps of:

a. turning off the transmitter for a predefined time slot at one or more random moments within each downstream synchronization cycle;

b. within the predefined time slot, receiving synchronization signals from one or more neighboring network devices via synchronization related channels, wherein the synchronization signals comprise synchronization reference information of corresponding one or more neighboring network devices.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, further comprising the step of:

c. determining local synchronization reference information based on the synchronization reference information of the one or more neighboring network devices.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, the step c is:

determining local synchronization reference information based on the synchronization reference information of the one or more neighboring network devices and pre-stored signal transmission related information.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the step a comprises:

a1. determining the one or more random moments within each synchronization cycle;

a2. turning off the transmitter for a predefined time slot when the random moment arrives.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein, the step c comprises:

c1;

from the received synchronization signals from the one or more neighboring network devices, obtaining the synchronization reference information of the one or more neighboring network devices;

c2;

adding the obtained synchronization reference information to the pre-stored signal transmission related information so as to determine the synchronization reference information of the network device.

6. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of:

detecting the received synchronization signals from the one or more neighboring network devices and determining the synchronization signal from a synchronization dedicated network device;

wherein, the step c further comprises;

c1′

;

determining the local synchronization reference information based on the pre-stored signal transmission related information and the determined synchronization reference information in the synchronization signal from the synchronization dedicated network device.

7. The method according to claim 2, wherein, the signal transmission related information comprises:

signal spatial transmission delay between the network device and the one or more neighboring network devices.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the synchronization related channels comprise:

downstream pilot channels and synchronization channels.

9. A synchronization apparatus, in a network device of a wireless communication network, for performing synchronization based on synchronization signals from one or more neighboring network devices, comprising:

a controlling means, for turning off the transmitter for a predefined time slot at one or more random moments within each downstream synchronization cycle;

a receiving means, within the predefined time slot, for receiving synchronization signals from one or more neighboring network devices via synchronization related channels, wherein the synchronization signals comprise synchronization reference information of corresponding one or more neighboring network devices.

10. The synchronization apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, further comprising:

a synchronization determining means, for determining local synchronization reference information based on the synchronization reference information of the corresponding one or more neighboring network devices.

11. The synchronization apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, the synchronization determining means is further configured to determine the local synchronization reference information based on pre-stored signal transmission related information and the synchronization reference information of the one or more neighboring network devices.

12. The synchronization apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, the controlling means comprises:

a random generating means, for determining the one or more random moments within each synchronization cycle;

a turn-off means, for turning off the transmitter for a predefined time slot when the random moment arrives.

13. The synchronization apparatus according to claim 11, wherein, the synchronization determining means comprises:

an obtaining means, for obtaining the synchronization reference information of the one or more neighboring network devices from the received synchronization signals from the one or more neighboring network devices;

a calculating means, for adding the obtained synchronization reference information of the one or more neighboring network devices to the pre-stored signal transmission related information so as to determine the local synchronization reference information.

14. The synchronization apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising:

a detecting means, for detecting the received synchronization signals from the one or more neighboring network devices and determining the synchronization signal from the synchronization dedicated network device;

the synchronization determining means further configured to determine local synchronization reference information based on pre-stored signal transmission related information and the synchronization reference information obtained from the synchronization signal of the synchronization dedicated network device.

15. The synchronization apparatus according to claim 10, wherein,

the signal transmission related information comprises:

signal spatial transmission delay between the network device and the one or more neighboring network devices.

16. The synchronization apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, the synchronization related channels comprise:

downstream pilot channels and synchronization channels.

17. A method, in a network device of a wireless communication network, for assisting one or more neighboring network devices to perform synchronization, comprising the steps of:

i. determining local synchronization reference information based on an external synchronization source;

ii. sending the local synchronization reference information to the one or more neighboring network devices via air interface.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein, further comprising the step of:

receiving a synchronization signal transmitted by means of cable from another neighboring synchronization dedicated network device;

wherein, the step i further comprises;

determining local synchronization reference information based on the synchronization reference information in the synchronization signal from said another synchronization dedicated network device.

19. A synchronization assisting apparatus, in a network device of a wireless communication network, for assisting one or more neighboring network devices to perform synchronization, comprising:

a synchronization determining means, for determining local synchronization reference information based on an external synchronization source

a synchronization notifying means, for sending the local synchronization reference information to the one or more neighboring network devices via air interface.

20. The synchronization assisting apparatus according to claim 19, wherein, further comprising:

a receiving means, for receiving a synchronization signal transmitted by means of cable from another neighboring synchronization dedicated network device;

wherein,

the synchronization determining means is further configured to determine local synchronization reference information based on the synchronization reference information in the synchronization signal from said another synchronization dedicated network device.

21. (canceled)

22. (canceled)