HANDOVER PROCEDURE IN A COORDINATED MULTIPOINT (COMP) TRANSMISSION NETWORK

• US 20120252462A1
• Filed: 11/26/2010
• Published: 10/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Fahldieck, Torsten
• Granted Patent: US 8,738,001 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/438
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02 using radio waves using satellite radio beacon systems for determining position G01S19/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/08 Reselecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/32 by location or mobility data, e.g. speed data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for performing a handover procedure in a wireless coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission network (200; 700) of a mobile station (100) from a first base station (1) to a second base station (2), wherein the first base station coordinates a first group (202) of base stations, the first base station being a member of the first group, and the second base station coordinates a second group (204) of base stations, the second base station being a member of the second group, and wherein a network component (102) is adapted to transmit data to the first base station and the first group of base stations and/or to the second base station and the second group of base stations.

Claims

1. A method for performing a handover procedure in a wireless coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission network (200;

700) of a mobile station (100) from a first base station (1) to a second base station (2), wherein the first base station coordinates a first group (202) of base stations, the first base station being a member of the first group, and the second base station coordinates a second group (204) of base stations, the second base station being a member of the second group, and wherein a network component (102) is adapted to transmit data to the first base station and the first group of base stations and/or to the second base station and the second group of base stations, the method comprising the steps of;

estimating (610) a location of the mobile station in the first base station based on channel quality information (600;

606), the channel quality information being information of connections between the mobile station and the first group and/or information of connections between the mobile station and the second group;

sending a first signal (612) from the first base station to the second base station based on the comparison of channel quality information, the first signal being indicative of requesting the handover procedure;

sending a second signal (614) from the second base station to the network component, the second signal being indicative of initiating the handover procedure; and

transmitting data to the second base station and the second group from the mobile station.

2. The method of claim 1, the method comprising a further step of sending a fourth signal (602) to the second base station, the fourth signal being indicative of requesting a channel quality report.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein first channel quality information (600) is transmitted from the mobile station to the first base station, and wherein second channel quality information (606) is transmitted from the second base station to the first base station.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first channel quality information comprises information about a first connection quality between the mobile station and the first base station, and wherein the second channel quality information comprises information about a second connection quality between the mobile station and the second base station.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first channel quality information comprises information about the second connection quality between the mobile station and the second base station, and wherein the second channel quality information comprises information about the first connection quality between the mobile station and the first base station.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the handover procedure is initiated when the second connection quality of the connection between the mobile station and the second base station is above a first threshold.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the handover procedure is initiated when the first connection quality of the connection between the mobile station and the first station is below a second threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first base station is also member of the second group and the second base station is also member of the first group.

9. The method of claim 1, the method comprising a further step of sending a third signal (616) from the network component to the first base station and a fourth signal (618) from the network component to the second base station, the third and the fourth signal being indicative of initiating the handover procedure.

10. A computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that when executed by a base station cause the base station to perform a method according to claim 1.

11. Base station apparatus (702) for a wireless coordinated multipoint network comprising

means for coordinating a group of base stations;

means (716) for estimating a location of a mobile station (100) based on channel quality information (600;

606), the channel quality information being information of connections between the mobile station and the first group and/or information of connections between the mobile station and a second group of base stations;

means (704) for sending a first signal to a second base station (104), the first signal being indicative of requesting the handover procedure based on the comparison of channel quality information, wherein the second base station is adapted for coordinating the second group of base stations;

means (718) for sending a second signal to a network component (102), the second signal being indicative of initiating the handover procedure; and

means (704) for transmitting data to the second base station.

12. Telecommunication system (700) comprising a plurality of base stations according to claim 11.