Method and apparatus for a sectored cell of a cellular radio communications system
First Claim
1. Cell-site equipment for location at a cell-site of a cell in a code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular radio communications system, said cell having more than one sector, comprising:
- one or more antennas for generating a plurality of radio communications main beams, a respective one of said main beams covering each one of said sectors; and
a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTS), each BTS being independently coupled to a base station controller (BSC) and coupled to one or more of said antennas for handling communications in a respective coverage area comprising one or more of said sectors, at least one of said BTSs handling communications in a coverage area comprising two mutually-adjacent sectors, such that a subscriber unit located in a sector in a coverage area of a BTS communicates with said BTS using said respective main beam covering said sector;
said cell-site equipment operating such that, if a subscriber unit moves from a first of said sectors to a second of said sectors, said first of said sectors being in said coverage area of a first of said BTSs and said second of said sectors being in said coverage area of a second of said BTSs, then radio communication between said subscriber unit and said second of said BTSs is set up by means of a soft handoff, said soft handoff being controlled bv said BSC;
and said cell-site equipment operating such that, if a subscriber unit moves from a first of said sectors to a second of said sectors, said first of said sectors and said second of said sectors being in said coverage area of the same one of said BTSs, then radio communication in said second sector between said subscriber unit and said one of said BTSs is set up by means of a softer handoff, said softer handoff being controlled by said one of said BTSs.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A nine-sectored cell (20) of a cellular radio communications system has three base transceiver stations (BTSs) colocated at its cell site (26). Each BTS is substantially independently coupled to a remote base station controller (BSC). Each BTS handles communications with subscriber units within a respective coverage area including three mutually-adjacent sectors (e.g. a1, b1, c1). When a subscriber unit moves between the coverage areas of different BTSs, a soft handoff is controlled by the BSC. When a subscriber unit moves between two sectors in the same coverage area, a softer handoff is implemented by the respective BTS.
76 Citations
15 Claims
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1. Cell-site equipment for location at a cell-site of a cell in a code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular radio communications system, said cell having more than one sector, comprising:
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one or more antennas for generating a plurality of radio communications main beams, a respective one of said main beams covering each one of said sectors; and a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTS), each BTS being independently coupled to a base station controller (BSC) and coupled to one or more of said antennas for handling communications in a respective coverage area comprising one or more of said sectors, at least one of said BTSs handling communications in a coverage area comprising two mutually-adjacent sectors, such that a subscriber unit located in a sector in a coverage area of a BTS communicates with said BTS using said respective main beam covering said sector; said cell-site equipment operating such that, if a subscriber unit moves from a first of said sectors to a second of said sectors, said first of said sectors being in said coverage area of a first of said BTSs and said second of said sectors being in said coverage area of a second of said BTSs, then radio communication between said subscriber unit and said second of said BTSs is set up by means of a soft handoff, said soft handoff being controlled bv said BSC; and said cell-site equipment operating such that, if a subscriber unit moves from a first of said sectors to a second of said sectors, said first of said sectors and said second of said sectors being in said coverage area of the same one of said BTSs, then radio communication in said second sector between said subscriber unit and said one of said BTSs is set up by means of a softer handoff, said softer handoff being controlled by said one of said BTSs. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for operating a cell of a code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular radio communications system, said cell having a cell site at which a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTSs) is located, each BTS being independently coupled to a base station controller (BSC), and each BTS being coupled to one or more antennas for generating one or more radio communications main beams, said cell being divided into a plurality of sectors such that a respective one of said main beams carries communications to and from subscriber units located in each one of said sectors, and each of said BTSs handles such communications in a coverage area comprising one or more of said sectors, said method comprising:
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handling communications with subscriber units in each of said coverage areas using a respective one of said BTSs; when a subscriber unit moves between a first of said sectors and a second of said sectors within different ones of said coverage areas, handling a transfer of communications from said first of said sectors to said second of said sectors by means of a soft handoff, under the control of said BSC; and when a subscriber unit moves between a first of said sectors and a second of said sectors, both of said sectors being within said coverage area of one of said BTSs, handling a transfer of communications between said first of said sectors and said second of said sectors by means of a softer handoff, under the control of said one of said BTSs. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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- 13. A method for upgrading a cell of a code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular radio communications system having a cell site at which one or more BTSs are located, each said BTS being coupled to a base station controller (BSC), by increasing the number of BTSs at said cell site and increasing the sectorisation of said cell, communications with subscriber units in each sector being carried by a respective radio communications main beam generated by an antenna at said cell site, and each BTS handling communications in a coverage area comprising one or more respective sectors of said cell, a transfer of communications between sectors when a subscriber unit moves between two sectors in said coverage areas of two different BTSs being handled by means of a soft handoff, under the control of said BSC, and a transfer of communications between sectors when a subscriber unit moves between two sectors in said coverage area of the same BTS being handled by means of a softer handoff, under the control of said BTS.
Specification