HANDOFF IN A SELF-CONFIGURING COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20110130144A1
• Filed: 11/30/2010
• Published: 06/02/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Corning Optical Communications LLC (Corning Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: SpiderCloud Wireless, Inc. (Corning Incorporated)
• Inventors: Schein, Brett, Purohit, Darshan, Hemaraj, Yashwanth, Srinivasan, Murari
• Application Number:
  US12/957,180
• Publication Number:
  US 20110130144A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/442
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information

Abstract

Methods, devices, and computer program products facilitate various handoff operations to/from a network. A self-configuring and self-optimizing topology discovery operation provides detailed information regarding the various radio nodes that are internal and external to the network. This information is utilized to construct a plurality of neighbor lists that identify multiple tiers of neighboring radio nodes of the network. The neighbor lists and the measurements obtained from the user equipment within the network provide up-to-date information that facilitates various types of handoff operations.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

constructing a neighbor list associated with a particular radio node within a network pursuant to an automated network topology discovery;

receiving information associated with measurements made by user equipment associated with the particular node; and

mapping neighboring radio nodes of the particular radio node pursuant to the received information to facilitate a handoff operation.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating at least a portion of the constructed neighbor list to one or more user equipment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the automated network topology discovery assesses characteristics of a plurality of radio nodes that are within communication range of the network.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of radio nodes comprise radio nodes internal to the network and radio nodes external to the network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the constructed neighbor list comprises information indicative as to whether each neighboring radio node is internal to the network or external to the network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the constructed neighbor list comprises signaling information associated with each neighboring radio node.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the constructed neighbor list comprises information associated with a radio node selected from the group consisting of:

a directly scanned radio node;

a first-tier radio node;

a second- or higher-tier radio node; and

a radio node that is suitable for a handoff operation.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the communicating comprises broadcasting or unicasting at least a portion of the constructed neighbor list.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the handoff operation is selected from a group of handoff operations consisting of:

a soft handoff operation;

a softer handoff operation;

a hard handoff operation;

an inter-radio access technology handoff operation;

an inter-frequency handoff operation; and

an intra-frequency handoff operation.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the received information relates to a radio node internal to the network; and

the radio node internal to the network is selected as a candidate for a soft handoff operation.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the received information relates to a radio node external to the network; and

the radio node external to the network is selected as a candidate for a hard handoff operation.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information associated with measurements from user equipment associated with other radio nodes internal to the network;

and mapping neighboring radio nodes of the other radio nodes.

13. A method for adding a new radio node to a network, comprising:

scanning a portion of the network to obtain identities of neighboring radio nodes that are detectable by the new radio node;

constructing a first-tier neighbor list associated with the new radio node; and

mapping an identifier of the new radio node in accordance with the first-tier neighbor list.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the mapping of the identifier of the new radio node comprises associating a primary scrambling code with an identification information of the new radio node.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising reconstructing a neighbor list associated with at least one radio node other than the new radio node to reflect a presence of the new radio node.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the scanning of a portion of the network identifies the at least one radio node other than the new radio node.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein

the at least one radio node other than the new radio node is a first-tier scanned neighbor of the new radio node;

and

the reconstructing comprises updating the neighbor list associated with at least one radio node other than the new radio node to include identification information of the new radio node based on radio frequency reciprocity.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein

the at least one radio node other than the new radio node is a first-tier scanned neighbor of the new radio node;

and

the reconstructing comprises

using the at least one radio node other than the new radio node to conduct a scan of the network, and

updating the neighbor list associated with at least one radio node other than the new radio node to include identification information of the new radio node, if the new radio node is detected as a result of the scan of the network.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the identification information comprises at least one of a network controller identity (RNCID), a cell identifier (CID) and a public land mobile network identification (PLMNID).

20. The method of claim 13, further comprising updating the constructed first-tier neighbor list associated with the new radio node to include multiple tiers of neighboring radio nodes.

21. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving information associated with measurements made by one or more user equipment.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein at least a portion of the reconstructed neighbor list is communicated to the one or more user equipment.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein a mapping of radio nodes is updated pursuant to the received information.

24. A method for facilitating a hand-in operation from an external entity to a network, comprising:

selecting an external radio node associated with the external entity;

creating a neighbor list associated with the external radio node, the neighbor list comprising information associated with one or more candidate radio nodes, the one or more candidate radio nodes being internal radio nodes of the network; and

communicating the neighbor list to the external entity to facilitate the hand-in operation.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the information associated with the one or more candidate radio nodes are obtained pursuant to an automated network topology discovery.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the neighbor list comprises information associated with first-tier neighbors of the external radio node.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the neighbor list comprises information associated with all radio nodes internal to the network.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the neighbor list is created in accordance with information provided by the internal radio nodes of the network.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the communicating comprises broadcasting or unicasting, by an internal network entity, at least a portion of the neighbor list to the external entity.

30. A method for facilitating a hand-in operation to a network, comprising:

receiving a neighbor list from an entity internal to the network at an external network entity, the neighbor list comprising one or more candidate internal radio nodes for the hand-in operation;

receiving a measurement report from a user equipment associated with the external entity, the measurement report comprising an identifier of an internal radio node;

mapping the identifier to a particular internal radio node on the received neighbor list;

producing a hand-out indication; and

commencing the hand-in operation to the particular internal radio node.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein upon the reception of the neighbor list, a neighbor list associated with an external radio node is updated.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the hand-out indication is produced as part of a serving radio network subsystem (SRNS) RELOCATION REQUIRED message.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the identifier is a primary scrambling code.

34. A device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising processor executable code, the processor executable code, when executed by the processor, configures the apparatus to;

construct a neighbor list associated with a particular radio node within a network pursuant to an automated network topology discovery;

receive information associated with measurements made by user equipment associated with the particular node; and

map neighboring radio nodes of the particular radio node pursuant to the received information to facilitate a handoff operation.

35. A computer program product, embodied on a computer readable medium, comprising:

program code for constructing a neighbor list associated with a particular radio node within a network pursuant to an automated network topology discovery;

program code for receiving information associated with measurements made by user equipment associated with the particular node; and

program code for mapping neighboring radio nodes of the particular radio node pursuant to the received information to facilitate a handoff operation.

36. A device for adding a new radio node to a network, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising processor executable code, the processor executable code, when executed by the processor, configures the apparatus to;

scan a portion of a network to obtain identities of neighboring radio nodes that are detectable by the new radio node;

construct a first-tier neighbor list associated with the new radio node; and

map an identifier of the new radio node in accordance with the first-tier neighbor list.

37. A computer program product, embodied on a computer readable medium, for adding a new radio node to a network, comprising:

program code for scanning a portion of a network to obtain identities of neighboring radio nodes that are detectable by the new radio node;

program code for constructing a first-tier neighbor list associated with the new radio node; and

program code for mapping an identifier of the new radio node in accordance with the first-tier neighbor list.

38. A device for facilitating a hand-in operation from an external entity to a network, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising processor executable code, the processor executable code, when executed by the processor, configures the apparatus to;

select an external radio node associated with the external entity;

create a neighbor list associated with the external radio node, the neighbor list comprising information associated with one or more candidate radio nodes, the one or more candidate radio nodes being internal radio nodes of the network; and

communicate the neighbor list to the external entity to facilitate the hand-in operation.

39. A computer program product, embodied on a computer readable medium, for facilitating a hand-in operation from an external entity to a network, comprising:

program code for selecting an external radio node associated with the external entity;

program code for creating a neighbor list associated with the external radio node, the neighbor list comprising information associated with one or more candidate radio nodes, the one or more candidate radio nodes being internal radio nodes of the network; and

program code for communicating the neighbor list to the external entity to facilitate the hand-in operation.

40. A device for facilitating a hand-in operation to a network, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising processor executable code, the processor executable code, when executed by the processor, configures the apparatus to;

receive a neighbor list from an entity internal to the network at an external network entity, the neighbor list comprising one or more candidate internal radio nodes for the hand-in operation;

produce a hand-in indication;

receive a measurement report from a user equipment associated with the external entity, the measurement report comprising an identifier of an internal radio node;

map the identifier to a particular internal radio node on the received neighbor list; and

commence the hand-in operation to the particular internal radio node.

41. A computer program product, embodied on a computer readable medium, for facilitating a hand-in operation to a network, comprising:

program code for receiving a neighbor list from an entity internal to the network at an external network entity, the neighbor list comprising one or more candidate internal radio nodes for the hand-in operation;

program code for producing a hand-in indication;

program code for receiving a measurement report from a user equipment associated with the external entity, the measurement report comprising an identifier of an internal radio node;

program code for mapping the identifier to a particular internal radio node on the received neighbor list; and

program code for commencing the hand-in operation to the particular internal radio node.