System and method for performing handover in WiMAX mobile communication system

• US 8,588,176 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2008
• Issued: 11/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Hwang, Seong-Taek, Han, Shuangfeng, Zhou, Chunhui, Wang, Jing, Zhao, Ming, Xu, Zheng
• Primary Examiner(s): Moore, Ian N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huynh, Dung B
• Application Number:
  US12/034,706
• Publication Number:
  US 20080198808A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,098 Days
• Field of Search: 370310-350, 455/436
• US Class Current: 370/331
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/06 Reselecting a communication resource in the serving access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and a method for performing handover in a Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) mobile communication system supporting broadband wireless access. The system includes a plurality of Mobile Stations (MSs); at least one distributed antenna having the ability to perform simultaneous communications with the plurality of MSs; and a base station connected to the at least one distributed antenna through optical fibers for performing communications and handovers with the multiple MSs.

Claims

1. A system for performing handover in a Worldwide interoperability for Microwave (WiMAX) mobile communication system supporting broadband wireless access, the system comprising:

a plurality of Mobile Stations (MSs);

a plurality of distributed antennas configured to perform simultaneous communications with at least one MS of the plurality of MSs; and

a base station (BS) connected to at least one distributed antenna of the plurality of distributed antennas through optical fibers for directly performing handovers with each of the plurality of MSs, the base station having a plurality of processing stacks, each stack respectively connected to one of the at least one distributed antenna for performing communications;

wherein the mobile station provides to the first base station information regarding at least one potential target distributed antenna, from the plurality of distributed antennas, to which the mobile station plan to communicate with;

the base station determines based on the information whether the at least one potential target distributed antenna, of the plurality of distributed antennas, is located in a same service zone of the base station, transmits a handover message directly to a first distributed antenna of at least one potential target distributed antenna located in a same service zone of the same base station when the first distributed antenna of the least one potential target distributed antenna is connected, through the optical fibers, to one of the processing stacks within the same base station, and transmits the handover message to another base station when the first distributed antenna of the at least one potential target distributed antenna is not within the same service zone of the base station,

wherein each stack of the plurality of processing stacks have a PHYisical (PHY) layer and a Media Access Control (MAC) layer; and

a network access control unit, connected to each of the plurality of processing stacks and to the first network, for connecting and exchanging signals with the plurality of stacks and the first network, and for performing handover.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the PHY layer and the MAC layer of each of the plurality of processing stacks are based on a predetermined Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) communications protocol.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein an interface for exchanging information with the first network in the network access control unit corresponds to an interface used by one of the protocols selected from the group consisting of Internet Protocol (IP) and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first BS, the plurality of MSs and a set of associated distributed antennas of the plurality of distributed antennas form a cell corresponding to a range over which the first BS has communication control.

5. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of the set of associated distributed antennas describes a range of one subcell.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the subcell corresponds to an area where the describing distributed antenna of the subcell can communicate.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of the associated distributed antennas describes a range of one subcell.

8. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the subcell corresponds to an area where the describing distributed antenna of the subcell can communicate.

9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of distributed antennas further comprises a transceiver configured to perform conversion between a Radio Frequency (RF) signal and a digital Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal.

10. A method for performing handover in a Worldwide interoperability for Microwave (WiMAX) mobile communication system of the type having a plurality of mobile stations (MSs), a base station having a plurality of processing stacks in one to one connection to a plurality of distributed antennas through at least one optical fiber configured to communicate simultaneously with the at least one of the plurality of MSs, the method comprising:

receiving information regarding at least one potential target distributed antenna of the plurality of distributed antennas from at least one of the plurality of mobile stations through which the at least one mobile station plan to communicate;

determining based on the information whether the at least one potential target distributed antenna is located in a same service zone of the same base station to which the mobile station currently is communicating with,

directly transmitting, from the base station, a handover message to a first distributed antenna of the at least one potential target distributed antenna operatively coupled to the at least one optical fiber located in a same service zone of the same base station when the first distributed antenna of the at least one potential target distributed antenna is connected to one of the processing stacks within the same base station, and

transmitting the handover message to another base station when the first distributed antenna of the at least one potential target distributed antenna is not within the same service zone of the same base station,

wherein the plurality of processing stacks each comprise a PHYisical (PHY) layer and a Media Access Control (MAC) layer based on a predetermined Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) communications protocol.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising transmitting the handover message to another base station via the Access Control Router (ACR).

12. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein information on the potential target distributed antenna corresponds to an antenna which can communicate with the Mobile Station (MS) with an optimal signal power and an optimal signal quality.

13. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the transmitting step further comprises converting between a Radio Frequency (RF) signal and a digital Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal.