Mobile station supervision of the forward dedicated control channel when in the discontinuous transmission mode

• US 6,480,472 B1
• Filed: 07/21/1999
• Issued: 11/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Tiedemann, Edward G. Jr., Jou, Yu-Cheun
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Chau
• Assistant Examiner(s): KWOH, JASPER C
• Application Number:
  US09/358,634
• Time in Patent Office: 1,210 Days
• Field of Search: 370/342, 370/437, 370/524, 370/252, 370/335, 455/515, 455/517
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/53295 Stacked insulating layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 24/02 Bonding areas on insulating substrates, e.g. chip carriers, H01L23/49816, H01L23/49838, H01L23/5389; Manufacturing methods related thereto
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01004 Beryllium [Be]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01006 Carbon [C]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01013 Aluminum [Al]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01014 Silicon [Si]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01019 Potassium [K]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01027 Cobalt [Co]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01033 Arsenic [As]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01067 Holmium [Ho]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01074 Tungsten [W]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01075 Rhenium [Re]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/26 using historical data, averaging values or statistics
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/327 Received signal code power [RSCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/336 Signal-to-interference ratio [SIR] or carrier-to-interference ratio [CIR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/20 using signal quality detector
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/201 Frame classification, e.g. bad, good or erased frame indication per se H04L1/0082
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/08 Reselecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 : using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 : according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 : based on quality criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method and apparatus for supervising a dedicated control channel when in the discontinuous transmission mode. The mobile station monitors the frames it receives from a base station and maintains a counter of bad, good, and empty frames, referred to as COUNT1, COUNT2, COUNT3, respectively. If a received frame is a good frame, COUNT1 is reset to zero and COUNT2 is incremented. If the received frame is a bad frame, COUNT1 is incremented and COUNT2 is reset to zero. If the received frame is an empty frame, COUNT1 and COUNT2 are unchanged but COUNT3 is incremented. A transmitter coupled to the mobile station is enabled or disabled depending upon which, if any, of the COUNTs reaches or exceeds a designated threshold value. In another embodiment, an average aggregated value reflecting the strength of the pilot signals in an active set, measured at the mobile station, is used for comparison to a threshold.

Claims

1. A method for supervising a dedicated control channel transmitted in a discontinuous transmission (DTX) mode to a mobile station, comprising:

tracking a type of frame received in a transmission, wherein said frames comprise bad frames, good frames, and empty frames;

counting the number of bad frames received (COUNT1), wherein COUNT1 is incremented if a bad frame is received, reset to zero if a good frame is received;

disabling a mobile station transmitter if COUNT1 exceeds a first threshold (TH1);

counting the number of good frames received (COUNT2), wherein COUNT2 is incremented if a good frame is received, and reset to zero if a bad frame is received;

enabling said mobile station transmitter if COUNT2 exceeds a second threshold (TH2);

setting a fade timer if COUNT2 exceeds a third threshold (TH3);

disabling said mobile station transmitter and terminating said received transmission if said fade timer expires before COUNT1 is reset to zero;

counting the number of empty frames received (COUNT3), wherein COUNT3 is incremented if an empty frame is received, and reset to zero if a good frame is received;

disabling said mobile station transmitter if COUNT3 exceeds a fourth threshold (TH4); and

terminating said received transmission if COUNT3 exceeds a fifth threshold (TH5), wherein TH5 is greater than TH4, or upon completion of said received transmission.

2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein said type of frame received in the transmission includes a supervisory frame transmitted at a set interval, and wherein said method further comprises increasing COUNT1 if a good frame is not received within said set interval.

3. The method recited in claim 2, wherein said set interval occurs whenever the number of empty frames in a selected interval exceeds a sixth threshold (TH6).

4. The method recited in claim 3, wherein the number of empty frames are continuous empty frames.

5. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting from said mobile station to a base station a message requiring a reply from said base station, said message transmitted when the number of consecutive empty frames detected exceeds a seventh threshold (TH7); and

incrementing COUNT1 if a good frame is not received by said mobile within a designated time after sending said message.

6. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting from said mobile station to a base station K number of messages requiring a reply from said base station, said K number of messages transmitted when the number of consecutive empty frames detected exceeds a threshold; and

disabling said mobile station transmitter and deeming said received transmission terminated if no reply to said message is received from said base station.

7. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting from said mobile station to a base station a message requiring a reply from said base station, said message transmitted when the number of consecutive empty frames detected in a given interval exceeds a threshold; and

incrementing COUNT1 if a good frame is not received by said mobile within a designated time after sending said message.

8. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting from said mobile station to a base station K number of messages requiring a reply from said base station, said K number of messages transmitted when the number of consecutive empty frames detected in a given interval exceeds a threshold; and

disabling said mobile station transmitter and deeming said received transmission terminated if no reply to said message is received from said base station within a time period.

9. An apparatus used to supervise a dedicated control channel transmitted operating in a discontinuous transmission (DTX) mode, comprising:

transceiver means for transmitting and receiving transmissions;

count means communicatively coupled to said transceiver means for counting a number of bad, good, and empty frames received in a transmission, wherein said count means is reset when a new transmission is received, and wherein said count means counts the number of bad frames received (COUNT1), the number of good frames received (COUNT2), and the number of empty frames received (COUNT3), and where said COUNTs may be incremented when;

COUNT1 is incremented if a bad frame is received;

COUNT2 is incremented if a good frame is received, and reset to zero if a bad frame is received; and

COUNT3 is incremented if an empty frame is received, and reset to zero if a good frame is received;

a fade timer, wherein said fade timer is set for a designated period if COUNT2 exceeds a third threshold (TH3);

disabling/enabling means for disabling said transceiver, wherein said transceiver is enabled if COUNT2 exceeds a second threshold (TH2), and wherein said transceiver is disabled if said fade timer expires before COUNT1 is reset to zero, and wherein said transceiver is disabled if COUNT3 exceeds a fourth threshold (TH4); and

terminating means for terminating a transmission, wherein said transmission is terminated if said fade timer expires before COUNT1 is reset to zero, or if COUNT3 exceeds a fifth threshold (TH5).

10. The apparatus in accordance with claim 9, wherein said apparatus further comprises:

an acknowledgement counter means for counting the number of attempted inquiry messages transmitted to a station from said apparatus, wherein said inquiry messages requiring a reply from said station; and

a timer means for tracking designated time periods.