Methods and apparatus for optimization of femtocell network management
First Claim
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1. A method of operating a cellular network having femtocells, the method comprising:
- receiving, by a processing device, a registration request from a least one of the femtocells;
obtaining, by the processing device, information relating to at least;
(i) the operating environment of the at least one femtocell; and
(ii) the current operational state of the network; and
based at least in part on the information, enabling a plurality of operating modes, the enabling of the plurality of the operating modes causing the at least one femtocell to select only one of the plurality of operating modes, the selection based on;
evaluating the information relating to the current operating state of the network to determine the level of loading or congestion within the network; and
where the loading or congestion within the network is determined to be sufficiently high, causing the at least one femtocell to assume a partly autonomous operating mode, the partly autonomous operating mode allowing for the at least one femtocell to operate with only intermittent communication with the network; and
wherein the plurality of operating modes comprise varying levels of active network supervision.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus that reduce network management overhead required for the operation of wireless femtocells. In one aspect of the invention, a central network entity governs the simultaneous operation of several femtocells by specifying modes of operation, and operational parameters for one or more of the femtocells. In one embodiment, at least one of the specified modes of operation directs a femtocell to operate in a substantially autonomous manner within the network-defined operational parameters. The network-defined constraints are provided to the femtocell for example, responsive to a successful registration attempt.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. A method of operating a cellular network having femtocells, the method comprising:
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receiving, by a processing device, a registration request from a least one of the femtocells; obtaining, by the processing device, information relating to at least;
(i) the operating environment of the at least one femtocell; and
(ii) the current operational state of the network; andbased at least in part on the information, enabling a plurality of operating modes, the enabling of the plurality of the operating modes causing the at least one femtocell to select only one of the plurality of operating modes, the selection based on; evaluating the information relating to the current operating state of the network to determine the level of loading or congestion within the network; and where the loading or congestion within the network is determined to be sufficiently high, causing the at least one femtocell to assume a partly autonomous operating mode, the partly autonomous operating mode allowing for the at least one femtocell to operate with only intermittent communication with the network; and wherein the plurality of operating modes comprise varying levels of active network supervision. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. Network apparatus capable of arbitrating between a plurality of operating modes for a femtocell in communication therewith, the apparatus comprising:
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a processing device in data communication with a memory; an interface subsystem configured for data communication with the femtocell; and a plurality of executable instructions resident within the memory that are configured to, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to; receive a plurality of information from the femtocell via the interface subsystem; determine one or more internal operating conditions; based at least in part on the received information and one or more internal conditions, select an operating mode for the femtocell, where; the selected operating mode is based at least on; evaluating the information relating to the current operating state of the network to determine the level of loading or congestion within the network; and where the loading or congestion within the network is determined to be sufficiently high, causing the at least one femtocell to assume a partly autonomous operating mode, the partly autonomous operating mode characterized in that the at least one femtocell operated with only intermittent communication with the network; and signal a plurality of frequency resources selected from an available pool of frequency resources, the femtocell to select one of the plurality of frequency resources, the selection occurring without further network control. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium with an executable program stored thereon, wherein the program instructs a processor to perform operations comprising:
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receiving a registration request from a femtocell; obtaining information relating to at least;
(i) the operating environment of the femtocell; and
(ii) the current operational state of the network; andbased at least in part on the information, enabling a plurality of operating modes, the enabling of the plurality of the operating modes causing the femtocell to select only one of the plurality of operating modes, the selection based on; evaluating the information relating to the current operating state of the network to determine the level of loading or congestion within the network; and where the loading or congestion within the network is determined to be sufficiently high, causing the femtocell to assume a partly autonomous operating mode, the partly autonomous operating mode allowing for the femtocell to operate with only intermittent communication with the network; and wherein the plurality of operating modes comprise varying levels of active network supervision.
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Specification