Dynamic cell configuration employing distributed antenna system for advanced cellular networks

• US 8,583,182 B2
• Filed: 04/21/2009
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks US LLC (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks US LLC (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Piirainen, Olli Juhani, Vainikka, Markku Juha, Van Phan, Vinh
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Huy C
• Application Number:
  US12/989,286
• Publication Number:
  US 20110105184A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,666 Days
• Field of Search: 455/562.1
• US Class Current: 455/562.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/022 Site diversity; Macro-diversity using two or more spaced independent antennas H04B7/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/04 Traffic adaptive resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

A method, an apparatus and a computer program product for configuring remote antenna units with communication properties in a radio access communication system employing a distributed antenna system (DAS) are provided. The method including configuring each of the one or more remote antenna units with remote-antenna-unit-specific communication properties dynamically during communication.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

establishing a communication connection between a base station and a network controller controlling the base station, wherein the base station and remote antenna units controlled by the base station form a distributed antenna system and the remote antenna units are distributed within a cell covered by the distributed antenna system,

configuring each of the one or more remote antenna units by the base station with remote-antenna-unit-specific communication properties dynamically by activating and/or deactivating said one or more remote antenna units during communication to adaptively control the remote antenna units and sub-cells covered by the remote antenna units, and

dividing, by the base station, the cell covered by the distributed antenna system into one or more sub-cells by assigning different cell identifiers to different groups of one or more remote antenna units, wherein each group of one or more remote antenna units having an identical cell identifier forms one sub-cell.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote-antenna-unit-specific communication properties comprise at least one of a cell identifier and an allowed maximum transmit power.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the cell identifier is a physical layer cell identifier.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

controlling the coverage area of the cell covered by the distributed antenna system dynamically by activating and deactivating one or more remote antenna units.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

controlling, by the base station, the division of the sub-cells within the cell covered by the distributed antenna system dynamically by at least one of the following operations;

assigning a cell identifier to one or more remote antenna units in order to increase the coverage area of a sub-cell corresponding to the cell identifier, and

releasing an assigned cell identifier from one or more remote antenna units in order to decrease the coverage area of a sub-cell corresponding to the cell identifier.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining, by the base station, the need for reconfiguring the coverage area of the different sub-cells on the basis of at least one of the following;

the spatial user distribution among the sub-cells, the need for uplink reception diversity within a sub-cell, and a reconfiguration request from the network controller.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

transmitting, from the base station to the network controller, information regarding the released cell identifiers over the established communication connection in order to enable the network controller to allocate the released cell identifiers to other base stations.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting, by the base station, from the network controller over the established communication connection a set of cell identifiers to be assigned to the one or more remote antenna units; and

receiving, by the base station, the set of cell identifiers from the network controller.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the requesting of the set of cell identifiers from the network controller comprises:

transmitting over the established communication connection information from the base station to the network controller regarding the amount of cell identifiers needed, wherein the amount of the cell identifiers needed is equal to or less than the number of the remote antenna units in the coverage area of the distributed antenna system.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, by the network controller, a request for a set of cell identifiers from the base station over the established communication connection;

allocating the set of cell identifiers to the base station; and

transmitting the set of cell identifiers from the network controller to the base station.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining, by the network controller, if a specific cell identifier can be allocated to the base station controlling the remote antenna units of the distributed antenna system on the basis of cell identifiers previously allocated to neighboring cells.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting over the established communication connection the maximum allowed transmit power from the network controller to the base station controlling the one or more remote antenna units of the distributed antenna system.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the received maximum allowed transmit power comprises a plurality of values, wherein each value denotes a maximum allowed transmit power for one or more specific communication channels.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

distributing the maximum allowed transmit power dynamically from the base station among the activated one or more remote antenna units according to a predetermined criterion.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting an increased maximum allowed transmit power from the network controller if the base station has determined a need for increased transmission power.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the base station, a need for handover of a terminal device from a sub-cell to another sub-cell in the area covered by the same distributed antenna system on the basis of handover-related information received from the terminal device.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting, by the network controller, a reconfiguration of the cell identifiers from the base station over the established communication connection if the network controller has determined that there is a need to reconfigure the cell identifiers.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the method according to claim 1.

19. A non-transitory computer program product comprising program code which, when run on a processor, executes the method according to claim 1.

29. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive a request for a set of cell identifiers from a base station controlling the remote antenna units of the distributed antenna system over the interface;

allocate the set of cell identifiers to the base station; and

transmit the set of cell identifiers to the base station.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine if a specific cell identifier can be allocated to the base station controlling the remote antenna units of the distributed antenna system on the basis of cell identifiers previously allocated to neighboring cells.

31. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the controller is further configured to:

transmit the maximum allowed transmit power to the base station controlling the one or more remote antenna units of the distributed antenna system over the interface.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the received maximum allowed transmit power comprises a plurality of values, wherein each value denotes a maximum allowed transmit power for one or more specific communication channels.

20. An apparatus comprising:

an interface configured to enable a communication connection between a base station and a network controller controlling the base station, wherein the base station and remote antenna units controlled by the base station form a distributed antenna system and the remote antenna units are distributed within a cell covered by the distributed antenna system, and

a base station controller configured to configure each of the one or more remote antenna units with remote-antenna-unit-specific communication properties dynamically by activating and/or deactivating said one or more remote antenna units during communication to adaptively control the remote antenna units and sub-cells covered by the remote antenna units,

wherein the controller is further configured to divide the cell covered by the distributed antenna system into one or more sub-cells by assigning different cell identifiers to different groups of one or more remote antenna units, wherein each group of one or more remote antenna units having an identical cell identifier forms one sub-cell.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the remote-antenna-unit-specific communication properties comprise at least one of a cell identifier and an allowed maximum transmit power.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the cell identifier is a physical layer cell identifier.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the controller is further configured to:

control the coverage area of the cell covered by the distributed antenna system dynamically by activating and deactivating one or more remote antenna units.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the controller is further configured to:

control the division of the sub-cells within the cell covered by the distributed antenna system dynamically by at least one of the following operations;

assigning a cell identifier to one or more remote antenna units in order to increase the coverage area of a sub-cell corresponding to the cell identifier, and

releasing an assigned cell identifier from one or more remote antenna units in order to decrease the coverage area of a sub-cell corresponding to the cell identifier.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine the need for reconfiguring the coverage area of the different sub-cells on the basis of at least one of the following;

the spatial distribution of users among the sub-cells, the need for uplink reception diversity within a sub-cell, and a reconfiguration request from the network controller.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to:

transmit information regarding the released cell identifiers to a network controller controlling a base station of the distributed antenna system, over the interface in order to enable the network controller to allocate the released cell identifiers to other base stations.

27. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the controller is further configured to:

request from the network controller over the interface a set of cell identifiers to be assigned to the one or more remote antenna units; and

receive the set of cell identifiers from the network controller.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the controller is further configured to:

transmit information regarding the amount of cell identifiers needed to the network controller over the interface, wherein the amount of the cell identifiers needed is equal to or less than the number of the remote antenna units in the coverage area of the distributed antenna system.

33. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

distribute the maximum allowed transmit power dynamically among the activated one or more remote antenna units according to a predetermined criterion.

34. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the controller is further configured to:

request an increased maximum allowed transmit power from the network controller if the base station has determined a need for increased transmission power and distribute the maximum allowed transmit power dynamically among the activated one or more remote antenna units according to a predetermined criterion.

35. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine a need for handover of a terminal device from a sub-cell to another sub-cell in the area covered by the same distributed antenna system on the basis of handover-related information received from the terminal device.

36. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the controller is further configured to:

request a reconfiguration of the cell identifiers from the base station over the interface if the network controller has determined that there is a need to reconfigure the cell identifiers and receive a request for a set of cell identifiers from a base station controlling the remote antenna units of the distributed antenna system over the interface;

allocate the set of cell identifiers to the base station; and

transmit the set of cell identifiers to the base station.

37. An apparatus comprising:

interface means for enabling a communication connection between a base station and a network controller controlling the base station, wherein the base station and remote antenna units controlled by the base station form a distributed antenna system and the remote antenna units are distributed within a cell covered by the distributed antenna system, and

controlling means for the base station to configure each of the one or more remote antenna units with remote-antenna-unit-specific communication properties dynamically by activating and/or deactivating said one or more remote antenna units during communication to adaptively control the remote antenna units and sub-cells covered by the remote antenna units,

wherein the controlling means divides the cell covered by the distributed antenna system into one or more sub-cells by assigning different cell identifiers to different groups of one or more remote antenna units, wherein each group of one or more remote antenna units having an identical cell identifier forms one sub-cell.

38. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories including computer program code, the one or more memories and the computer program code configured, with the one or more processors, to cause the apparatus to perform at least the following;

establishing a communication connection between a base station and a network controller controlling the base station, wherein the base station and remote antenna units controlled by the base station form a distributed antenna system and the remote antenna units are distributed within a cell covered by the distributed antenna system,

configuring each of the one or more remote antenna units by the base station with remote-antenna-unit-specific communication properties dynamically by activating and/or deactivating said one or more remote antenna units during communication to adaptively control the remote antenna units and sub-cells covered by the remote antenna units, and

dividing, by the base station, the cell covered by the distributed antenna system into one or more sub-cells by assigning different cell identifiers to different groups of one or more remote antenna units, wherein each group of one or more remote antenna units having an identical cell identifier forms one sub-cell.