REPEATER, COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, BASE STATION, RADIO TERMINAL, AND MANAGEMENT SERVER

• US 20110211521A1
• Filed: 08/20/2009
• Published: 09/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Inventors: Baba, Takashi, Kuchiki, Nobuo, Ishida, Akira
• Granted Patent: US 8,693,385 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/155 Ground-based stations H04B7/204 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/0085 detecting a given structure in the signal

Abstract

Provided is a repeater for relaying communication by achieving synchronization with a base station and a mobile station without using GPS. The repeater includes a donor unit communicating with the base station and a remote unit communicating with the mobile station. Upon receipt of a signal from the base station, the donor unit specifies a preamble of the received signal to achieve synchronization with the base station. This determines start of each frame in the communication between the base station and the repeater. After the synchronization achievement, the remote unit starts performing procedures for achieving synchronization with the mobile station. Upon notification of the start timing of each frame from the donor unit, the remote unit determines the notified timing as start timing of each frame in the communication between the repeater and the mobile station, and transmits a preamble referred to by the mobile station when it achieves synchronization.

Claims

1. A repeater for relaying data communication between a base station and a mobile station, the repeater comprising:

a donor unit operable to perform data communication with the base station;

a remote unit operable to perform data communication with the mobile station, wherein

the donor unit (i) receives a signal including a preamble from the base station, (ii) achieves synchronization with the base station in accordance with the received signal to determine start timing of each frame to be used in the data communication between the donor unit and the base station, and (iii) notifies the remote unit of timing serving as a reference for determination of start timing of each frame to be used in the data communication between the remote unit and the mobile station, and

the remote unit transmits a frame including a preamble at the start timing determined with reference to the notified reference timing so that the preamble reception by the donor unit is synchronized with the preamble transmission from the remote unit to the mobile station.

2. The repeater of claim 1, wherein

the donor and the remote units operate in accordance with an identical clock signal,

the reference timing notified from the donor unit to the remote unit equals timing of the preamble reception by the donor unit as measured in terms of the clock signal, and

the start timing of each frame to be used in the data communication between the remote unit and the mobile station is determined so that the preamble is transmitted from the remote unit to the mobile station at the reference timing.

3. The repeater of claim 1, wherein

the remote unit performs data communication with a plurality of mobile stations in parallel, and

the repeater further includes an instruction unit operable to instruct all the mobile stations to perform a handover in a case where an error satisfying a predetermined condition is detected in the data communication between the repeater and the mobile stations.

4. The repeater of claim 1, further comprising:

a storage unit storing therein a neighbor list indicating information of one or more base stations as candidates for a handover target of the repeater;

a handover performing unit operable to perform a handover from the base station to a target base station selected from the base stations whose information is indicated by the neighbor list, with reference to the neighbor list stored in the storage unit;

an acquisition unit operable to acquire, in a case where the handover performing unit has performed the handover, a new neighbor list held by the target base station; and

a replacement unit operable to replace the neighbor list stored in the storage unit with the new neighbor list and add information of the target base station to the new neighbor list, wherein

the remote unit transmits the neighbor list stored in the storage unit to the mobile station with which the repeater is in communication.

5. The repeater of claim 4, wherein

the replacement unit is further operable, in a case where information of the repeater is included in the neighbor list acquired by the acquisition unit, to delete the information of the repeater from the neighbor list.

6. In a communication system including one or more base stations, one or more repeaters, and one or more mobile stations, a mobile station comprising:

a communication unit operable to perform communication;

a detection unit operable to detect an error in the communication;

a storage unit storing therein a neighbor list indicating information of one or more repeaters and one or more base stations as candidates for a handover target of the mobile station; and

a handover performing unit operable to perform a handover to a target repeater selected from the repeaters whose information is indicated by the neighbor list in a case where an error rate of errors detected by the detection unit is greater than a predetermined threshold value.

7. The mobile station of claim 6, wherein

the handover performing unit comprises:

a request unit operable to request a base station, with which the mobile station has achieved synchronization, to permit the mobile station to perform a handover;

a reception unit operable to receive a permission signal indicating permission for the request; and

a search unit operable to search the neighbor list for the target repeater, upon receipt of the permission signal by the reception unit.

8. The mobile station of claim 7, wherein

the information of the repeaters and the base stations indicated by the neighbor list is registered such that the repeaters have a higher priority than the base stations for the mobile station in performing the handover,

the search unit searches the neighbor list for a repeater or a base station in accordance with order of the priority, and

the handover performing unit performs the handover to the target repeater searched by the search unit, in a case where a signal received from the target repeater has a signal strength greater than or equal to a predetermined level.

9. A communication system including one or more base stations, one or more repeaters, and one or more mobile stations, in which relative positional relations between the repeaters and the base stations are changeable, wherein

a base station comprises:

a first storage unit storing therein a neighbor list indicating information of one or more base stations and one or more repeaters as candidates for a handover target of each repeater and each mobile station that are in communication with the base station;

an update unit operable to update, in a case where the base station has achieved synchronization with a new repeater whose information is not indicated by the neighbor list, the neighbor list by adding the information of the new repeater; and

a first transmission unit operable to transmit the neighbor list stored in the first storage unit to each repeater and each mobile station that are in communication with the base station,

a repeater comprises;

a second storage unit storing therein a neighbor list indicating information of one or more base stations and one or more repeaters as candidates for a handover target of each mobile station with which the repeater is in communication;

an acquisition unit operable to acquire, in a case where the repeater has cancelled synchronization previously achieved and achieved synchronization with a new base station, a new neighbor list from the new base station;

a replacement unit operable to replace the neighbor list stored in the second storage unit with the new neighbor list and adds information of the new base station to the new neighbor list; and

a second transmission unit operable to transmit the neighbor list stored in the second storage unit to each mobile station with which the repeater is in communication.

10. The communication system of claim 9, wherein

the update unit is further operable to update, in a case where the base station has cancelled synchronization with a repeater whose information is indicated by the neighbor list, the neighbor list by deleting the information of the repeater.

11. The communication system of claim 9, wherein

the replacement unit is further operable to delete, in a case where information of the repeater is indicated by the new neighbor list acquired by the acquisition unit, the information of the repeater from the new neighbor list.

12. The communication system of claim 9, wherein

the first storage unit stores therein a plurality of neighbor lists each in association with a different time period, each neighbor list indicating information of one or more base stations and one or more repeaters which are located close to the base station in the time period,

the base station further includes:

a determination unit operable to determine, in accordance with the time periods, one of the stored neighbor lists to be broadcast, and

the first transmission unit transmits the neighbor list determined by the determination unit to each repeater and each mobile station that are in communication with the base station.

13. In a communication system including one or more base stations, one or more repeaters, and one or more mobile stations, a base station comprising:

a storage unit storing therein a neighbor list indicating information of one or more base stations and one or more repeaters as candidates for a handover target of each repeater and each mobile station that are in communication with the base station;

an update unit operable to update, in a case where the base station has achieved synchronization with a new repeater whose information is not indicated by the neighbor list, the neighbor list by adding the information of the new repeater; and

a transmission unit operable to transmit the neighbor list stored in the storage unit to each repeater and each mobile station that are in communication with the base station.

14. The base station of claim 13, wherein

the update unit is further operable to update, in a case where the base station has cancelled synchronization with a repeater whose information is indicated in the neighbor list, the neighbor list by deleting the information of the repeater.

15. In a communication system including a management server, one or more base stations, one or more repeaters, and one or more mobile stations, the management server being used for managing broadcast destinations of contents in the communication system,

each base station (i) receiving a content broadcast from the management server and (ii) transmitting the received content to a repeater managed by the base station and, in a case where the received content is addressed to the base station, to a mobile station managed by the base station, and

the repeater transmitting the received content to a mobile station managed by the repeater in a case where the received content is addressed to the repeater, wherein

the management server comprises:

a storage unit storing therein a broadcast list referred to by the management server when broadcasting any content, the broadcast list indicating zones each in association with one or more base stations and one or more repeaters belonging to the zone, each zone being determined as a broadcast destination of one of the contents.

16. The management server of claim 15, further comprising:

a content storage unit storing therein the contents; and

a broadcast unit operable to broadcast a content to each base station and each repeater belonging to the corresponding one of the zones, with reference to the broadcast list.

17. The management server of claim 15, wherein

at least one of the repeaters performs a handover from one base station to a new base station as a result of positional movement of the repeater,

the management server further comprises:

a reception unit operable to receive, from the new base station, handover performing information indicating that the at least one repeater has performed the handover; and

an update unit operable to update the broadcast list, by adding information of the at least one repeater indicated by the handover performing information to a zone to which the new base station belongs and deleting the information of the at least one repeater from a zone to which the repeater previously belongs.