Mobile communication systems

• US 7,502,596 B2
• Filed: 05/14/2002
• Issued: 03/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Takao, Toshiaki, Chen, Lan, Umeda, Narumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Anderson; Matthew D
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUANG, WEN WU
• Application Number:
  US10/143,927
• Publication Number:
  US 20020173277A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,492 Days
• Field of Search: 455450-453, 455/78, 455/62, 455/63.3, 455/67.11, 455/552.1, 455/553.1, 455552- 3, 455/552.3, 370/330, 370/294, 370/295, 370/280, 370/281
• US Class Current: 455/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/04 Traffic adaptive resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/044 based on the type of the allocated resource
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/563 of the wireless resources

Abstract

A mobile communication system includes a base station connected to a backbone network, and a mobile station configured to communicate with the base station using a radio frequency. The system has a first communication mode, in which a first radio frequency is used for an uplink and a second radio frequency is used for a downlink; a second communication mode, in which the first radio frequency is used for the uplink, and the second radio frequency is shared by the uplink and the downlink; a third communication mode, in which the second radio frequency is used for the downlink, and the first radio frequency is shared by the uplink and the downlink; and a mode switcher configured to switch the first through third communication modes in accordance with data transfer volumes on the uplink and the downlink.

Claims

1. A mobile communication system including a base station and a mobile station configured to communicate with the base station, the system including:

a first communication mode between the base station and the mobile station in which a first radio frequency is used for an uplink and a second radio frequency is used for a downlink;

a second communication mode between the base station and the mobile station in which the first radio frequency is used for the uplink, and the second radio frequency is shared by the uplink and the downlink;

a third communication mode between the base station and the mobile station in which the first radio frequency is shared by the uplink and the downlink and the second radio frequency is used for the downlink; and

a mode switcher configured to switch a communication mode between the base station and the mobile station among the first, second, and third communication modes in accordance with data transfer volumes on the uplink and the downlink between the base station and the mobile station, while keeping the base station in synchronization with an adjacent base station so as to prevent interference.

2. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the base station includes a signal processing unit configured to receive a remote monitoring control signal supplied from a backbone network to which the base station is connected, and the mode switcher switches the communication modes based on the remote monitoring control signal.

3. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the mode switcher is configured to store a time schedule table for switching the communication modes, and switches the communication modes automatically based on the time schedule table, wherein the time schedule table is determined in advance based on statistics of time-varying data volumes on the uplink and the downlink.

4. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the base station includes a signal processing unit configured to measure and compare the data transfer volumes of the uplink and the downlink, and the mode switcher switches the communication modes based on the comparison result.

5. The mobile communication system according to claim 4, wherein the signal processing unit includes a communication volume monitoring unit configured to measure the data transfer volumes on the uplink and the downlink, and a comparator configured to compare the measuring results.

6. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein either the first or the second frequency is shared by the uplink and the downlink at a predetermined allocation ratio of time slots, and the base station includes a signal processing unit configured to adjust the allocation ratio of the time slots.

7. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, further comprising:

at least one cell, each cell including the base station, wherein the mode switcher switches the communication mode after at least two neighborhood base stations are synchronized with each other.

8. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, further comprising:

at least one cell, each cell including the base station, wherein uplink communication and downlink communication are switched at either the first or the second frequency at a predetermined time interval after at least two neighborhood base stations are synchronized with each other.

9. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein in the second communication mode, a concurrent time slot of the first and second radio frequency is either used only by the uplink or by the uplink and the downlink.