Radio communication apparatus and method

• US 6,778,520 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2001
• Issued: 08/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Katsura, Eiji, Watanabe, Masatoshi, Kato, Osamu
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzlo, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tsegaye, Saba
• Application Number:
  US09/805,508
• Publication Number:
  US 20010007551A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,252 Days
• Field of Search: 370/310, 370/324, 370/331, 370/318, 370/332, 370/342, 370/336, 370/350, 455/442, 455/437, 455/502, 455/524
• US Class Current: 370/342
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2618 using hybrid code-time division multiple access [CDMA-TDMA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/18 for allowing seamless reselection, e.g. soft reselection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/304 due to measured or perceived resources with higher communication quality

Abstract

A radio communication apparatus and system in a CDMA/TDD system includes a mobile station that detects received power of data received from a surrounding base station at a received power detecting circuit in switching a base station for communication while moving. When received power from a base station other than a main base station in current communication becomes higher than a predetermined level, the mobile station makes the base station a sub base station to transmit the same data as the main base station, and receives data from the main base station and the sub base station concurrently at a pair of correlators. After that, when the received power from the sub base station becomes higher than the received power from the main base station, the mobile station switches a main base station and a sub base station and transmits data to a new main base station.

Claims

1. A CDMA/TDD radio communication apparatus comprising:

a power detector that detects received power of data from base stations;

a demodulator that, when received power of data transmitted from a first base station other than a main base station in current communication is greater than a predetermined level and is less than received power of data transmitted from said main base station, selects said first base station as a sub base station, and decodes data from said sub base station with data from said main base station; and

a controller that, when received power of data from said sub base station is less than received power of data from said main base station, performs transmission power control and time alignment for said main base station, said time alignment being timing control for transmission data, wherein said apparatus further comprises a transmitter that transmits instruction information to the main base station, to instruct said sub base station to transmit same data as data being communicated in the current communication with the main base station.

2. The CDMA/TDD radio communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said apparatus further comprises a switch that switches the sub base station to a new main base station and in response to switching of the sub base station to said new main base station, said controller performs transmission power control and time alignment for said new main base station, when received power of data from said sub base station exceeds received power of data from the main base station in current communication.

3. A CDMA/TDD radio communication apparatus comprising:

a power detector that detects received power of data from base stations;

a demodulator that, when received power of data transmitted from a first base station other than a main base station in current communication is greater than a predetermined level and is less than received power of data transmitted from said main base station, selects said first base station as a sub base station, and decodes data from said first base station with data from said main base station; and

a controller that, when received power of data from said sub base station is less than received power of data from said main base station, performs transmission power control and time alignment for said main base station, said time alignment being timing control for transmission data, wherein, when received power of data from the sub base station is less than a predetermined level, the decoder does not decode the data from said sub base station.

4. A CDMA/TDD radio communication system comprising a plurality of base stations and a mobile station, wherein said mobile station, while communicating with a main base station:

selects another base station with greater received power than a predetermined level and with less received power than said main base station as a sub base station, and receives same data from said sub base station and said main base station; and

performs transmission power control and time alignment for the main base station, when received power of data from the sub base station is less than received power of data from said main base station, wherein, when received power of data from the sub base station is less than the predetermined level, the mobile station does not decode the data prom said sub base station.

5. The CDMA/TDD radio communication system according to claim 4, wherein said mobile station, when received power of data from the sub base station exceeds received power of data from the main base station in current communication, switches said sub base station to a new main base station and performs transmission power control and time alignment for said new main base station.

6. A CDMA/TDD radio Communication method comprising:

in a mobile station, comparing received power of data from a base station other than a main base station in current communication to (i) a predetermined level and (ii) received power of data from the main base station in current communication;

in the mobile station, when received power of data from the base station other than the main base station exceeds the predetermined level and is less than received power of transmission data from the main base station, selecting said base station as a sub base station;

in the sub base station, transmitting to the mobile station same data as data that the main base station in current communication transmits; and

in the mobile station, when received power of data from the sub base station is less than received power of data from the main base station, performing transmission power control and time alignment for said main base station, wherein, when received power of data from the sub base station is less than a predetermined level, the decoder does not decode the data from said sub base station.

7. The CDMA/TDD radio communication method according to claim 6, further comprising, in the mobile station, when received power of data from the sub base station exceeds received power of data from the main base station, switching the sub base station to a new main base station and performing transmission power control and time alignment for said new main base station.