Method and System for Soft Handoff in Mobile Broadband Systems

• US 20130329695A1
• Filed: 05/13/2013
• Published: 12/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Senarath, Nimal, Gage, Bill, Periyalwar, Shalini, Tong, Wen
• Granted Patent: US 9,307,472 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/331
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/18 for allowing seamless reselection, e.g. soft reselection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/20 for optimising the interference level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and system for facilitating efficient handoff and data throughput in mobile broadband communication systems. Methods implemented by a system constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention include selectively enabled soft handoff, performing Layer 2 bearer functions at the base station and using the mobile device to coordinate soft handoff and interference avoidance without the need for a centralized coordination function.

Claims

1. A method for communication from a mobile device in a first network to a destination device in a second network using soft handoff in a mobile broadband system, the method comprising:

determining an active set of base station transceiver systems;

determining resource reservations at a macrodiversity support function for base station transceiver systems in the active set of base station transceiver systems for communication of a high level data communication packet; and

transmitting radio link protocol packets comprising the high level data communication packet to the base station transceiver systems in the active set based on the determined resource reservations.

2. The method according to claim 1, further including:

forwarding the high level data communication packet to the macrodiversity support function.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the high level data communication packet is an Internet Protocol packet.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of a plurality of high level data communication packets is assigned a sequence number by the mobile device, the method further comprising:

reordering the high level packets into sequential order based on the assigned sequence number; and

transmitting the high level packet to the second network for delivery to the destination device.

5. A non-transitory, computer accessible memory medium storing program instructions for performing communication from a mobile device in a first network to a destination device in a second network using soft handoff in a mobile broadband system, wherein the program instructions are executable by a processor in mobile device to:

determine an active set of base station transceiver systems;

determine resource reservations at a macrodiversity support function for base station transceiver systems in the active set of base station transceiver systems for communication of a high level data communication packet; and

transmit radio link protocol packets comprising the high level data communication packet to the base station transceiver systems in the active set based on the determined resource reservations.

6. The non-transitory, computer accessible memory medium according to claim 5, further including:

forwarding the high level data communication packet to the macrodiversity support function.

7. The non-transitory, computer accessible memory medium according to claim 5, wherein the high level data communication packet is an Internet Protocol packet.

8. The non-transitory, computer accessible memory medium according to claim 5, wherein each of a plurality of high level data communication packets is assigned a sequence number by the mobile device, the method further comprising:

reordering the high level packets into sequential order based on the assigned sequence number; and

transmitting the high level packet to the second network for delivery to the destination device.

9. A method for communication between a plurality of base station transceiver systems and a mobile device, comprising:

transmitting resource reservation information determined by a macrodiversity support function for an active set of the plurality of base station transceiver systems to the mobile device;

receiving radio link protocol packets at one or more of the active set of the plurality of base station transceiver systems, wherein the radio link protocol packets include a high level communication packet; and

forwarding the high level communication packet to the macrodiversity support function.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the high level data communication packet is an Internet Protocol packet.

11. A non-transitory, computer accessible memory medium storing program instructions for performing communication between a plurality of base station transceiver systems and a mobile device, wherein the program instructions are executable by one or more processors in one or more of a plurality of base station transceiver systems to:

transmit resource reservation information determined by a macrodiversity support function for an active set of the plurality of base station transceiver systems to the mobile device;

receive radio link protocol packets at one or more of the active set of the plurality of base station transceiver systems, wherein the radio link protocol packets include a high level communication packet; and

forward the high level communication packet to the macrodiversity support function.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the high level data communication packet is an Internet Protocol packet.