Method and system for determining communication mode in a communication system

• US 8,660,550 B2
• Filed: 05/21/2008
• Issued: 02/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Jung, Young-Ho, Kim, Yung-Soo, Cho, Myeon-Kyun, Lee, Sang-Min
• Primary Examiner(s): Cumming, William D
• Application Number:
  US12/124,563
• Publication Number:
  US 20090011778A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,106 Days
• Field of Search: 455/421, 375/265
• US Class Current: 455/421
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72516 with means for out-of-range alerting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A method and system for determining a communication mode in a communication system are provided. The system and method include determining whether a first MS and a second MS are located within a preset area where P2P communications are available, estimating a first expected performance that can be achieved when the first and second MSs operate in a cellular communication mode, estimating a second expected performance that can be achieved when the first and second MSs operate in a P2P communication mode if the first and second MSs are located within the predetermined area, and selecting one of the cellular communication mode and the P2P communication mode as a communication mode between the first and second MSs by comparing the first expected performance with the second expected performance.

Claims

1. A method for determining a communication mode in a communication system, the method comprising:

estimating, by a first Mobile Station (MS), a first expected performance when the first MS and a second MS operate in a cellular communication mode;

estimating, by the first MS, a second expected performance when the first and second MSs operate in a P2P communication mode, if the first and second MSs are located within a preset area where Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communications are available; and

selecting, by the first MS, one of the cellular communication mode and the P2P communication mode as a communication mode between the first and second MSs by comparing the first expected performance with the second expected performance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first expected performance and the second expected performance are determined by at least one of a Quality of Service (QoS) class, a data rate, a communication charge rate, a transmission/reception power level, a communication capacity, a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), a Frame Error Rate (FER), a Bit Error Rate (BER) and a Symbol Error Rate (SER).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimating of the first expected performance comprises estimating the first expected performance using at least one of a preamble signal, a pilot signal and a data signal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimating of the second expected performance comprises:

receiving reference signal-related information from a Base Station (BS), the reference signal-related information including information about a predetermined time, predetermined resources and a predetermined signal pattern;

receiving a reference signal in the predetermined resources and the predetermined signal pattern at the predetermined time from the second MS; and

estimating the second expected performance by acquiring synchronization based on the reference signal-related information and the received reference signal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimating of the second expected performance comprises:

receiving a reference signal in predetermined resources and a predetermined signal pattern at a predetermined time from the second MS; and

estimating the second expected performance by measuring a signal level of the reference signal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of one of the cellular communication mode and the P2P communication mode comprises:

calculating a difference by subtracting the second expected performance from the first expected performance; and

selecting the cellular communication mode as the communication mode between the first and second MSs, if the difference is equal to or larger than a threshold.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of one of the cellular communication mode and the P2P communication mode comprises:

calculating a difference by subtracting the second expected performance from the first expected performance; and

selecting the P2P communication mode as the communication mode between the first and second MSs, if the difference is less than a threshold.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the threshold comprises a real value determined based on at least one of characteristics of MSs, a charge system, the number of MSs within the service coverage of the BS, an occupancy of communication resources and a data transmission amount.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the threshold comprises a real value determined based on at least one of characteristics of MSs, a charge system, the number of MSs within the service coverage of the BS, an occupancy of communication resources and a data transmission amount.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the preset area includes at least one of a cell of the BS and a neighbor cell.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting resource allocation information for operation in the cellular communication mode to the first MS, if the first MS and the second MS are not located within the preset area and the cellular communication mode is selected as the communication mode between the first and second MSs.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising feeding back the first expected performance and the second expected performance to a Base Station (BS).

13. A Mobile Station (MS) for determining a communication mode in a communication system, the MS comprising:

an estimator configured to estimate a first expected performance when the MS and a peer MS operate in a cellular communication mode; and

to estimate a second expected performance when the MS and the peer MS operate in a P2P communication mode, if the MS and the peer MS are located within a preset area where Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communications are available; and

a selector configured to select one of the cellular communication mode and the P2P communication mode as a communication mode between the MS and the peer MS by comparing the first expected performance with the second expected performance.

14. The MS of claim 13, wherein the first expected performance and the second expected performance are determined by at least one of a Quality of Service (QoS) class, a data rate, a communication charge rate, a transmission/reception power level, a communication capacity, a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), a Frame Error Rate (FER), a Bit Error Rate (BER) and a Symbol Error Rate (SER).

15. The MS of claim 13, wherein the MS estimates the first expected performance using at least one of a preamble signal, a pilot signal and a data signal.

16. The MS of claim 13, wherein the MS receives reference signal-related information from a Base Station (BS), the reference signal-related information including information about a predetermined time, predetermined resources, and a predetermined signal pattern, receives a reference signal in the predetermined resources and the predetermined signal pattern at the predetermined time from the peer MS, and estimates the second expected performance by acquiring synchronization based on the reference signal-related information and the received reference signal.

17. The MS of claim 13, wherein the MS receives a reference signal in predetermined resources and a predetermined signal pattern at a predetermined time from the peer MS, and estimates the second expected performance by measuring a signal level of the reference signal.

18. The MS of claim 13, wherein a difference is calculated by subtracting the second expected performance from the first expected performance, and the cellular communication mode is selected as the communication mode between the MS and the peer MS, if the difference is equal to or larger than a threshold.

19. The MS of claim 13, wherein a difference is calculated by subtracting the second expected performance from the first expected performance, and the P2P communication mode is selected as the communication mode between the MS and the peer MS, if the difference is less than a threshold.

20. The MS of claim 18, wherein the threshold comprises a real value determined based on at least one of characteristics of MSs, a charge system, the number of MSs within the service of a Base Station (BS), an occupancy of communication resources and a data transmission amount.

21. The MS of claim 19, wherein the threshold comprises a real value determined based on at least one of characteristics of MSs, a charge system, the number of MSs within the service of a Base Station (BS), an occupancy of communication resources and a data transmission amount.

22. The MS of claim 13, wherein the preset area includes at least one of a cell of a Base Station (BS) and a neighbor cell.

23. The MS of claim 13, wherein if the MS and the peer MS are not located within the preset area, the cellular communication mode is selected as the communication mode between the MS and the peer MS.

24. The MS of claim 13, wherein the MS feeds back the first expected performance and the second expected performance to a Base Station (BS).

25. A method for determining a communication mode in a communication system, the method comprising:

determining, by a Base Station (BS), whether a first Mobile Station (MS) and a second MS are located within a preset area where Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communications are available;

estimating, by the BS, a first expected performance when the first and second MSs operate in a cellular communication mode;

estimating, by the BS, a second expected performance when the first and second MSs operate in a P2P communication mode, if the first and second MSs are located within the preset area; and

selecting, by the BS, one of the cellular communication mode and the P2P communication mode as a communication mode between the first and second MSs by comparing the first expected performance with the second expected performance.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising acquiring location information about the first MS and location information about the second MS by the BS, wherein at least one of the first expected performance and the second expected performance estimated according to information about a distance between the first MS and the second MS, the information about the distance between the first MS and the second MS being calculated based on the location information about the first and second MSs.