Method And Apparatus For Interference Management In Heterogenous Networks

• US 20120014360A1
• Filed: 07/19/2010
• Published: 01/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Zou, Jialin, Vasudevan, Subramanian, Sivanesan, Kathiravetpillai
• Granted Patent: US 9,807,620 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/16 for PBS [Private Base Station] arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method is provided a wireless system for providing small “guard” cells in a heterogeneous network at locations proximate to privately-maintained HeNB (or femto) cells in the heterogeneous network. More particularly, the methodology of the invention addresses the problem of a mobile user in a heterogeneous network located nearby to a privately maintained HeNB cell in the heterogeneous network, and the inherent interference created for the HeNB cell by the necessity of the mobile user having to transmit and receive communications from a distant public macro eNB. By deploying small public “guard” cells in the macro cell proximate to the private HeNB cells, such a public mobile terminal is enabled to communicate with the public small cell at generally lower power than would have been necessary for communication with the distant macro eNB, with a resulting reduction in interference for the nearby HeNB cell. The FL interference between the macro cell and the HeNBs is also mitigated.

Claims

1. A method in a wireless communication system wherein at least one cell in the wireless communication system is characterized as a heterogeneous cell having a serving base station and including at least one non-public small cell subtended within a coverage area of the serving base station, the heterogeneous cell constituting a macro cell for subtended small cells, the method comprising:

deploying in the macro cell at least one public small cell having approximately a comparable coverage area to that of the at least one non-public small cell at a location proximate to that of the non-public small cell;

establishing a communication path between the public small cell and a mobile terminal located within a coverage area of the public small cell.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the public small cell operates to “

guard”

one or more nearby non-pubic small cells against interference from power transmission from the mobile terminal or a macro or small cell base station.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein power transmission levels between the mobile station and a public small cell with which it is communicating are maintained at a comparable level to that which would be applied were the mobile terminal in communication with a nearby non-public cell.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein a public small cell deployed within the macro cell at a location subject to movement by an attached mobile terminal at significant velocity is provided with larger coverage area.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein ones of the deployed small public cells are established using remote radio head technology.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the deployed small public cells are arranged as sectors of a macro cell base station.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein forward link (FL) transmissions to and reverse link (RL) transmissions from the mobile terminal are split between the small public cell and a macro cell base station.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein, for a small public cell deployed at a significant distance from the macro cell base station, the mobile terminal RL will be connected to the small public cell and the FL will be connected from the macro cell base station to the mobile terminal.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein, for a small public cell deployed nearby to the macro cell base station, the mobile terminal RL will be connected to the macro cell base station and the FL will be connected from the small public cell to the mobile station.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein, upon power-up of the mobile station in an area of overlapped coverage between a macro cell base station and one or more small public cells, the mobile station will camp on to the small public cell.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein two or more small public cells deployed in a common geographical area are assigned identification indicia having a common group identification indicia and the group identification indicia is provisioned to the mobile terminal.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the mobile terminal determines a small public cell for camp on based on the provisioned group identification indicia.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the non-public small cell is implemented as a Home evolved Node B cell.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the non-public small cell is implemented as a femto cell.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the non-public small cell is implemented as a pico cell.

16. In a wireless communication system including at least one cell characterized as a heterogeneous cell having a serving base station and including a plurality of small cells subtended within a coverage area of the serving base station, the heterogeneous cell constituting a macro cell for the plurality of subtended small cells, a deployment architecture for the small cells comprising:

at least one non-public small cell; and

at least one public small cell having an approximately comparable coverage area to that of the at least one non-public small cell deployed at a location proximate to that of the non-public small cell.

17. The deployment architecture of claim 16 wherein the public small cell operates to “

guard”

one or more nearby non-pubic small cell against interference from power transmission from the mobile terminal or a macro or small cell base station.

18. The deployment architecture of claim 16 wherein ones of the deployed small public cells are established using remote radio head technology.

19. The deployment architecture of claim 18 wherein the deployed small public cells are arranged as sectors of a macro cell base station.