COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20120021743A1
• Filed: 04/26/2010
• Published: 01/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Serravalle, Francesca, Kuwano, Hiroaki, Filipovic, Milena, Sharma, Vivek
• Granted Patent: US 8,880,069 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/435.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0061 of neighbour cell information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/18 Management of setup rejection or failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/16 selectively restricting mobility data tracking
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

A communication system is described in which a home base station operating in a hybrid access mode is able to provide preferential connectivity to mobile communication devices that are members of a closed subscriber group associated with the home base station compared to mobile communication devices that are not members of the closed subscriber group.

Claims

1. A mobile communication device for connection in a communication network, the mobile communication device comprising:

means for receiving infoimation identifying a closed subscriber group (CSG) associated with a home base station;

means for identifying the CSG associated with said home base station from the received information;

means for determining whether the mobile communication device is a member of the identified CSG associated with said home base station;

means for generating a message including an indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the identified CSG, in dependence on a result of a determination made by the determining means; and

means for sending said generated message.

2. A home base station as claimed in claim 1 wherein said message generated by said generation means comprises a connection request message report and wherein said sending means is operable to send said message to said home base station.

3. A home base station as claimed in claim 1 wherein said message generated by said generation means comprises a measurement report and wherein said sending means is operable to send said message to a further base station.

4. A home base station via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the home base station having an associated closed subscriber group (CSG) and comprising:

means for receiving a connection request from a mobile communication device wherein said connection request includes an indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station;

means for monitoring congestion levels for said home base station and for indicating when said home base station is in a congested situation;

means for determining if the mobile communication device requesting connection is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station from said indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station; and

means for controlling access to said home base station, when said monitoring means indicates the home base station is in a congested situation, in dependence on whether or not the mobile communication device is determined to be a member of the CSG associated with the home base station.

5. A home base station as claimed in claim 4 wherein said controlling means is operable to control access by rejecting, allowing, or diverting the connection request in dependence on whether the mobile communication device is determined to be a member of the CSG associated with the home base station.

6. A home base station as claimed in claim 4 further comprising means for storing the indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station for subsequent use in control processing.

7. A home base station via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the home base station having an associated closed subscriber group (CSG) and comprising:

means for receiving connection requests from a plurality of mobile communication devices wherein each connection request includes a respective indication of whether the mobile communication device making the request is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station;

means for establishing respective connections with each mobile communication device making a request;

means for storing information indicating a membership status for each established connection based on the respective indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station;

means for monitoring congestion levels for said home base station and for indicating when said home base station is in a congested situation; and

means for controlling the established connections, when said monitoring means indicates the home base station is in a congested situation, in dependence on the respective membership status for each established connection.

8. A home base station as claimed in claim 7 wherein said controlling means is operable to control the established connections, when said monitoring means indicates the home base station is in a congested situation, by diverting an established connection when its respective membership status indicates that the mobile communication device for which the connection was established is not a member of the CSG.

9. A home base station as claimed in claim 7 wherein said controlling means is operable to control the established connections by initiating a reduction of resources for an established connection when its respective membership status indicates that the mobile communication device for which the connection was established is not a member of the CSG.

10. A home base station via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the home base station having an associated closed subscriber group (CSG) the home base station comprising:

means for generating system information including information indicating whether a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect via said home base station;

means for broadcasting said system information to mobile communication devices in the vicinity; and

means for monitoring congestion levels for said home base station;

wherein said generation means is operable, in response to a change in said congestion levels, to generate new system information in which the information indicating whether a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect via said home base station is changed between;

(i) information indicating a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect; and

(ii) information indicating a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is not allowed to connect;

and wherein said broadcasting means is operable to broadcast said new system information to mobile communication devices in the vicinity.

11. A home base station as claimed in claim 10 wherein said generation means is operable, in response to an increase in said congestion levels, to generate new system information in which the information indicating whether a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect is changed to:

information indicating a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is not allowed to connect.

12. A home base station as claimed in claim 10 wherein said generation means is operable, in response to a decrease in said congestion levels, to generate new system information in which the information indicating whether a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is not allowed to connect via said home base station is changed to:

information indicating a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect.

13. A home base station via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the home base station having an associated closed subscriber group (CSG) and being operable in any of a plurality of access modes the home base station comprising:

means for monitoring congestion levels for said home base station;

and means for changing access mode, in response to a change in said congestion levels, between;

(i) an access mode in which new connections from mobile communication devices which are not members of the CSG are allowed and (ii) an access mode in which new connections from mobile communication devices which are not members of the CSG are inhibited.

14. A home base station as claimed in claim 13 wherein said access changing means is operable, in response to an increase in said congestion levels, to change to the access mode in which new connections from mobile communication devices which are not members of the CSG are inhibited.

15. A home base station as claimed in claim 13 wherein said access changing means is operable, in response to a decrease in said congestion levels, to change to the access mode in which new connections from mobile communication devices which are not members of the CSG are allowed.

16. A communication node via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the communication node comprising:

means for receiving a measurement report from a mobile communication device having an established connection with the communication node, wherein said measurement report includes an indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of a CSG associated with a home base station;

means for determining whether handover of said established connection to said home base station is allowable based on said indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station; and

means for initiating a handover of said established connection to said home base station in dependence on whether said handover is determined to be allowable.

17. A mobile communication device for connection in a communication network, the mobile communication device comprising:

means for generating a measurement report including an indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of a CSG associated with a home base station; and

means for sending said measurement report to another base station.

18. A communication node via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the communication node comprising:

means for receiving a measurement report from a mobile communication device having an established connection with the communication node, wherein said measurement report includes information identifying an access mode for a home base station;

means for determining whether handover of another established connection to said home base station is allowable based on said information identifying an access mode for a home base station; and

means for initiating a handover of said established connection, or said other established connection, to said home base station in dependence on whether said handover is determined to be allowable.

19. A mobile communication device for connection in a communication network, the mobile communication device comprising:

means for generating a measurement report including information identifying an access mode for a home base station; and

means for sending said measurement report to another base station.

20. A communication node via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the communication node comprising:

means for receiving information identifying an access mode for a home base station over an interface with said home base station;

means for determining whether handover of an established connection to said home base station is allowable based on said information identifying an access mode for said home base station; and

means for initiating a handover of said established connection to said home base station in dependence on whether said handover is determined to be allowable.

21. A method performed by a mobile communication device in a communication network, the method comprising:

receiving information identifying a closed subscriber group (CSG) associated with a home base station;

identifying the CSG associated with said home base station from the received information;

determining whether the mobile communication device is a member of the identified CSG associated with said home base station;

generating a message including an indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the identified CSG, in dependence on a result of a determination made by the determining means; and

sending said generated message.

22. A method as claimed in claim 21 wherein said message generated in said generation step comprises a connection request message report and wherein said message is sent to said home base station in said sending step.

23. A method as claimed in claim 21 wherein said message generated in said generation step comprises a measurement report and wherein said message is sent to a further base station in said sending step.

24. A method performed by a home base station via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the home base station having an associated closed subscriber group (CSG), the method comprising:

receiving a connection request from a mobile communication device wherein said connection request includes an indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station;

monitoring congestion levels for said home base station and indicating when said home base station is in a congested situation;

determining if the mobile communication device requesting connection is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station from said indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station; and

controlling access to said home base station, when a congested situation has been indicated in said indicating step, in dependence on whether or not the mobile communication device is determined to be a member of the CSG associated with the home base station in said determining step.

25. A method as claimed in claim 24 wherein said controlling step comprises controlling access by rejecting, allowing, or diverting the connection request in dependence on whether the mobile communication device is determined to be a member of the CSG associated with the home base station.

26. A method as claimed in claim 24 further comprising storing the indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station for subsequent use in control processing.

27. A method performed by a home base station via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the home base station having an associated closed subscriber group (CSG), the method comprising:

receiving connection requests from a plurality of mobile communication devices wherein each connection request includes a respective indication of whether the mobile communication device making the request is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station;

establishing respective connections with each mobile communication device making a request;

storing information indicating a membership status for each established connection based on the respective indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station;

monitoring congestion levels for said home base station and for indicating when said home base station is in a congested situation; and

controlling the established connections, when said monitoring step indicates the home base station is in a congested situation, in dependence on the respective membership status for each established connection.

28. A method as claimed in claim 27 wherein said controlling step comprises controlling the established connections, when a congested situation has been indicated in said indicating step, by diverting an established connection when its respective membership status indicates that the mobile communication device for which the connection was established is not a member of the CSG.

29. A method as claimed in claim 27 wherein said controlling step comprises controlling the established connections by initiating a reduction of resources for an established connection when its respective membership status indicates that the mobile communication device for which the connection was established is not a member of the CSG.

30. A method performed in a home base station via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the home base station having an associated closed subscriber group (CSG), the method comprising:

generating system information including information indicating whether a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect via said home base station;

broadcasting said system information to mobile communication devices in the vicinity; and

monitoring congestion levels for said home base station;

generating, in response to a change in said congestion levels, new system information in which the information indicating whether a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect via said home base station is changed between;

(i) information indicating a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect; and

(ii) information indicating a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is not allowed to connect; and

(iii) broadcasting said new system information to mobile communication devices in the vicinity.

31. A method as claimed in claim 30 wherein said generation of new system information comprises generating, in response to an increase in said congestion levels, new system information in which the information indicating whether a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect via said home base station is changed to:

information indicating a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is not allowed to connect.

32. A method as claimed in claim 30 wherein said generation of new system information comprises generating, in response to a decrease in said congestion levels, new system information in which the information indicating whether a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect via said home base station is changed to:

information indicating a mobile communication device which is not a member of the CSG is allowed to connect.

33. A method performed by a home base station via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the home base station having an associated closed subscriber group (CSG) and being operable in any of a plurality of access modes, the method comprising:

monitoring congestion levels for said home base station;

changing access mode, in response to a change in said congestion levels, between;

(i) an access mode in which new connections from mobile communication devices which are not members of the CSG are allowed and (ii) an access mode in which new connections from mobile communication devices which are not members of the CSG are inhibited.

34. A method as claimed in claim 33 wherein said access mode changing step comprises changing access mode, in response to an increase in said congestion levels, to the access mode in which new connections from mobile communication devices which are not members of the CSG are inhibited.

35. A method as claimed in claim 33 wherein said access mode changing step comprises changing access mode, in response to a decrease in said congestion levels, to change to the access mode in which new connections from mobile communication devices which are not members of the CSG are allowed.

36. A method performed by a communication node via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the method comprising:

receiving a measurement report from a mobile communication device having an established connection with the communication node, wherein said measurement report includes an indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of a CSG associated with a home base station;

determining whether handover of said established connection to said home base station is allowable based on said indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of the CSG associated with the home base station; and

initiating a handover of said established connection to said home base station in dependence on whether said handover is determined to be allowable.

37. A method performed by a mobile communication device in a communication network, the method comprising:

generating a measurement report including an indication of whether the mobile communication device is a member of a CSG associated with a home base station; and

sending said measurement report to another base station.

38. A method performed by a communication node via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the method comprising:

receiving a measurement report from a mobile communication device having an established connection with the communication node, wherein said measurement report includes information identifying an access mode for said home base station;

determining whether handover of another established connection to said home base station is allowable based on said information identifying an access mode for a home base station; and

initiating a handover of said established connection, or said other established connection, to said home base station in dependence on whether said handover is determined to be allowable.

39. A method performed by a mobile communication device in a communication network, the method comprising:

generating a measurement report including information identifying an access mode for a home base station; and

sending said measurement report to another base station.

40. A method performed by a communication node via which a plurality of mobile communication devices are connectable in a communication network, the method comprising:

receiving information identifying an access mode for a home base station over an interface with said home base station;

determining whether handover of an established connection to said home base station is allowable based on said information identifying an access mode for said home base station; and

initiating a handover of said established connection to said home base station in dependence on whether said handover is determined to be allowable.