METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDING OVER MOBILE CELL

• US 20140003327A1
• Filed: 03/26/2012
• Published: 01/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Seo, Hanbyul, Kim, Hakseong, Kim, Byounghoon
• Granted Patent: US 9,276,662 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18541 for handover of resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/08 Reselecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/322 by location data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for performing a handover related to a mobile cell. A method for a user equipment handing over a mobile relay, according to one embodiment of the present invention, can comprise a step of reporting to a serving base station information on the state of the user equipment with respect to the mobile relay handover, and a step of handing over the mobile relay based on a handover command by the serving base station, the handover being determined based on the state of the user equipment. As a result, a way for efficiently and accurately performing the handover related to the mobile cell can be provided.

Claims

1. A method for performing a mobile relay handover at a user equipment, the method comprising:

reporting information about a state of the user equipment regarding the mobile relay handover to a serving base station; and

performing the mobile relay handover based on a handover command received from the serving base station, the handover command being determined based on the state of the user equipment by the serving base station.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the state of the user equipment is one of a first state in which the user equipment and a mobile relay travel in the same predicted route and a second state in which the user equipment and the mobile relay travel in different predicted routes.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein if the mobile relay handover is a handover from the mobile relay to another base station, the mobile relay handover is not performed when the state of the user equipment is the first state and the mobile relay handover is performed when the state of the user equipment is the second state.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein if the mobile relay handover is a handover from another base station to the mobile relay, the mobile relay handover is performed when the state of the user equipment is the first state and the mobile relay handover is not performed when the state of the user equipment is the second state.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the state of the user equipment is determined based on at least one of information input by a user of the user equipment, identification information preset in the user equipment, and a sensing result of the user equipment.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the information input by the user of the user equipment is a response to a request for confirming the state of the user equipment.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the preset identification information includes at least one of information about a predicted travel route of the mobile relay, identification information about the mobile relay, identification information about a transportation means in which the mobile relay is installed, time information, and place information.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the sensing result of the user equipment is at least one of a result of sensing a signal from the mobile relay or a device co-located with the mobile relay and a result of sensing a medium containing information about at least one of a predicted travel route, a departure time, a departure location, an arrival time, and an arrival location of the mobile relay.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the state of the user equipment is one of a first state in which the mobile relay handover is allowed and a second state in which the mobile relay handover is prohibited.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mobile relay handover is a handover from the mobile relay to another base station or a handover from another base station to the mobile relay.

11. A method for supporting a mobile relay handover, the method comprising:

receiving information about a state of a user equipment regarding the mobile relay handover; and

determining whether the mobile relay handover is to be performed based on the state of the user equipment and transmitting a handover command to the user equipment.

12. A user equipment for performing a mobile relay handover, the user equipment comprising:

a transmission module for transmitting a signal to a network;

a reception module for receiving a signal from the network; and

a processor for controlling the user equipment including the transmission module and the reception module,

wherein the processor is configured to report information about a state of the user equipment regarding the mobile relay handover to a serving base station through the transmission module, and to perform the mobile relay handover based on a handover command received from the serving base station, the handover command being determined based on the state of the user equipment by the serving base station.

13. A base station for supporting a mobile relay handover, the base station comprising:

a transmission module for transmitting a signal to a user equipment;

a reception module for receiving a signal from the user equipment; and

a processor for controlling the base station including the transmission module and the reception module,

wherein the processor is configured to receive information about a state of the user equipment regarding the mobile relay handover through the reception module, to determine whether the mobile relay handover is to be performed based on the state of the user equipment, and to transmit a handover command to the user equipment through the transmission module.