EFFICIENT HANDOVER EXECUTION METHOD OF TERMINAL IN BROADBAND WIRELESS ACCESS SYSTEM INCLUDING MULTIPLE FEMTO BASE STATIONS

• US 20120165021A1
• Filed: 06/21/2010
• Published: 06/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Jung, In Uk, Lee, Jin, Ryu, Ki Seon, KIM, Yong Ho
• Granted Patent: US 8,849,263 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0055 Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0064 of control information between different access points
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

The present invention relates to methods for performing fast handover by a terminal in an environment in which multiple femto base stations exist. A method for performing handover by a terminal includes transmitting, to a serving femto base station, a message for requesting seamless handover within a group including multiple femto base stations, the serving femto base station belonging to the group; receiving, from the serving femto base station, first command message including power information and allocation information; broadcasting an uplink signal that is applied with transmission power indicated by the power information, through an uplink resource indicated by the allocation information; receiving second command messages including measurements of the uplink signal measured by the multiple femto base stations from the serving femto base stations; and performing network re-entry to a target base station among the femto base stations.

Claims

1. A method for performing handover carried out by a terminal in a radio access system, wherein multiple femto base stations including a serving femto base station form a single group, the method comprising:

transmitting a request message for requesting a seamless handover within the formed group to the serving femto base station;

receiving a first command message from the serving femto base station, the first command message including transmission power information and dedicated uplink resource allocation information being commonly applied to the formed group;

broadcasting a predetermined uplink signal, wherein transmission power indicated by the transmission power information through an uplink resource, which is indicated by the dedicated uplink resource allocation information, is applied to the predetermined uplink signal;

receiving a second command message from the serving femto base station, the second command message including measurement results of the uplink signal measured by each of at least one femto base station included in the group; and

performing network re-entry to a target base station among the at least one femto base station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request message includes a handover type field set up to have a value indicating a seamless femto base station handover (SFBS HO).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple femto base stations included in the group correspond to Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) femto base stations or correspond to femto base stations belonging to the same Open Subscriber Group (OSG), and wherein the multiple femto base stations share context of the terminal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of performing network re-entry comprises:

transmitting a ranging request message to the target base station; and

receiving a ranging response message from the target base station, and

wherein the ranging response message includes a handover (HO) optimization field, the HO optimization field being set up to have a value indicating a process step that can be omitted from the step of performing network re-entry due to the sharing of the context of the terminal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first command message further includes periodicity information according to which the dedicated uplink resource is being allocated, and

wherein the step of broadcasting a predetermined uplink signal is performed at each cycle period indicated by the periodicity information.

6. A method for supporting handover of a terminal carried out by a serving femto base station which belongs to a group comprising multiple femto base stations in a radio access system, the method comprising:

receiving a request message for requesting a seamless handover within the formed group from the terminal;

negotiating at least one of a transmission power, at which a predetermined uplink signal that is to be broadcasted by the terminal, and a dedicated uplink resource for the terminal, with at least one femto base station belonging to the group;

transmitting a first command message to the terminal, the first command message including at least one of transmission power information and dedicated uplink resource allocation information based upon the negotiation;

receiving a measurement result from each of the at least one femto base station, each femto base station having measured the uplink signal; and

transmitting a second command message to the terminal, the second command message including at least one measurement result.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the request message includes a handover type field set up to have a value indicating a seamless femto base station handover (SFBS HO).

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the multiple femto base stations included in the group correspond to Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) femto base stations or correspond to femto base stations belonging to the same Open Subscriber Group (OSG), and wherein the multiple femto base stations share context of the terminal.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the transmission power of the uplink signal and the dedicated uplink resource for the terminal are commonly applied to the multiple femto base stations belonging to the group.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of negotiating comprises:

negotiating a cycle period according to which the dedicated uplink resource is being allocated, and

wherein the first command message further includes the negotiated periodicity information.

11. A mobile terminal operating in a radio access system, wherein multiple femto base stations including a serving femto base station form a single group, the mobile terminal comprising:

a processor; and

a wireless communication module (or RF module) configured to transceives radio signals externally in accordance with a control of the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to control a request message for requesting a seamless handover within the formed group to be transmitted to the serving femto base station, obtain transmission power information and dedicated uplink resource allocation information being commonly applied to the formed group through a first command message received from the serving femto base station, control a predetermined uplink signal applying transmission power indicated by the transmission power information to be broadcast through an uplink resource indicated by the dedicated uplink resource allocation information, control a second command message to be received from the serving femto base station, the second command message including measurement results of the uplink signal measured by each of at least one femto base station included in the group, and decide a target base station for performing network re-entry among the at least one femto base stations.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller sets up a handover type field of the request message to have a value indicating a seamless femto base station handover (SFBS HO).

13. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the multiple femto base stations included in the group correspond to Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) femto base stations or correspond to femto base stations belonging to the same Open Subscriber Group (OSG), and wherein the multiple femto base stations share context of the terminal.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the controller controls the mobile terminal so that a ranging request message can be transmitted to the decided target base station, and so that a ranging response message can be received from the target base station, and wherein the ranging response message includes a handover (HO) optimization field, the HO optimization field being set up to have a value indicating a process step that can be omitted from the step of performing network re-entry due to the sharing of the context of the terminal.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the first command message further includes periodicity information according to which the dedicated uplink resource is being allocated, and

wherein the controller controls the mobile terminal so that a predetermined uplink signal can be broadcasted at each cycle period indicated by the periodicity information.