Methods and apparatus for cell selection/reselection of a mobile terminal from a legacy network to an advanced network

• US 9,220,055 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2009
• Issued: 12/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Shin, Jong-Keol
• Primary Examiner(s): Zaidi, Iqbal
• Application Number:
  US12/637,443
• Publication Number:
  US 20110098046A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,199 Days
• Field of Search: 370331-338, 370/343, 370401-427, 455/434, 455/552.1, 455/560
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• 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

Methods and apparatus are provided for performing a cell selection by a multi-mode terminal from a legacy network (2G, 3G) to a advanced network (4G). The terminal performs the cell selection upon the existence of a Base Station (BS) on the advanced network system. The terminal does not attempt to perform the cell selection when the LTE BS does not exist.

Claims

1. A method for creating a mapping table in an advanced network of a terminal, comprising:

receiving a Master Information Block (MIB) and a plurality of System Information Blocks (SIBs) from a Base Station (BS) of the advanced network;

storing a cell IDentification (ID) of each of a legacy network and the advanced network using the MIB and plurality of SIBs;

attaching to the advanced network by performing a random access and a Radio Resource Control connection setup procedure with the advanced network;

transmitting a measurement request to the legacy network, and receiving a measurement response from the legacy network; and

creating the mapping table between the legacy network and the advanced network using the stored cell IDs based on the measurement response,

wherein the mapping table is used to select a cell when there is a cell of the advanced network which is mapped to a cell of the legacy network,

wherein the legacy network is at least one of a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and a Wideband CDMA network,

wherein the advanced network is at least one of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and an Advanced LTE network,

wherein the terminal is a multi-mode terminal supporting the legacy network and the advanced network, and

wherein the terminal connects to the advanced network using frequency information included in first and second SIBs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the BS is an evolved Node B.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal receives the first SIB including frequency information of a first legacy network, and the second SIB including frequency information of a second legacy network that is different from the first legacy network.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a new MIB and a new plurality of SIBs; and

updating the mapping table using the new MIB and the new plurality of SIB.

5. A method for performing cell reselection from a legacy network to an advanced network of a terminal, comprising:

storing, by the terminal, a cell IDentification (ID) of each of the legacy network and the advanced network in a mapping table;

attaching to the advanced network using the stored cell ID by performing a random access and a Radio Resource Control connection setup procedure with the advanced network;

receiving a Master Information Block (MIB) and a plurality of System Information Blocks (SIBs) of the advanced network, and a measurement response according to a measurement request to the legacy network; and

updating the mapping table using the MIB and the plurality of SIBs, and the cell IDs based on the measurement response,

wherein the mapping table is used to reselect a cell when there is a cell of the advanced network which is mapped to a cell of the legacy network,

wherein the legacy network is at least one of a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and a Wideband CDMA network,

wherein the advanced network is at least one of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and an Advanced LTE network,

wherein the terminal is a multi-mode terminal supporting the legacy network and the advanced network, and

wherein the terminal connects to the advanced network using frequency information included in first and second SIBs.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the information is received from an evolved Node B of the advanced network.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the MIB and the plurality of SIBs include a new cell ID that is received when the terminal performs a measurement of the legacy network.

8. A system for cell selection, comprising:

a terminal for transmitting a report including a first cell IDentification (ID) of a neighbor cell; and

a Base Station (BS) of an advanced network for receiving the first cell ID and transmitting a command message for obtaining a second cell ID of the neighbor cell,

wherein the terminal receives the command message, obtains the second cell ID by obtaining a Master Information Block (MIB) and a plurality of System Information Blocks (SIBs) from the Base Station, stores the second cell ID in a mapping table, attaches to the advanced network for cell selection by performing a random access and a Radio Resource Control connection setup procedure with the advanced network, transmits a measurement request to a legacy network according to the first cell ID, receives a measurement response from the legacy network, and creates the mapping table between the legacy network and the advanced network using the stored cell ID and the first cell ID based on the measurement response, and

wherein the mapping table is used to select a cell when there is a cell of the advanced network which is mapped to a cell of the legacy network,

wherein the legacy network is at least one of a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and a Wideband CDMA network,

wherein the advanced network is at least one of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and an Advanced LTE network,

wherein the terminal is a multi-mode terminal supporting the legacy network and the advanced network, and

wherein the terminal connects to the advanced network using frequency information included in first and second SIBs.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first cell ID comprises a physical cell ID of the legacy network, and the second cell ID comprises a Global cell ID of the legacy network.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the BS comprises an evolved Node B (eNB) of an advanced network.

11. (A method for a terminal to perform cell reselection from a legacy network to an advanced network, comprising:

performing registration with the legacy network;

maintaining an idle state, when a received signal from the legacy network is greater than a threshold;

accessing a cell IDentification (ID) of the legacy network and the advanced network from a mapping table; and

performing the cell reselection from the legacy network to the advanced network, when the received signal of the legacy network is less than a threshold,

wherein performing the cell reselection includes attaching to the advanced network by performing a random access and a Radio Resource Control connection setup procedure with the advanced network,

wherein the terminal transmits a measurement report to the legacy network, receives a measurement response from the legacy network, and creates the mapping table between the legacy network and the advanced network using the cell IDs based on the measurement response, and

wherein the mapping table is used to reselect a cell when there is a cell of the advanced network which is mapped to a cell of the legacy network,

wherein the legacy network is at least one of a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and a Wideband CDMA network,

wherein the advanced network is at least one of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and an Advanced LTE network,

wherein the terminal is a multi-mode terminal supporting the legacy network and the advanced network, and

wherein the terminal connects to the advanced network using frequency information included in first and second SIBs.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the cell ID includes a Global cell ID that is received from an evolved Node B (eNB) through a Broadcast Control CHannel (BCCH) message, and is stored in the mapping table.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the cell ID is re-accessed from the mapping table and another cell selection is performed, when the cell ID changes or cell reselection is unsuccessful.

14. A terminal for cell reselection, comprising:

a receiver for receiving a location of a Base Station (BS) by receiving a Master Information Block (MIB) and a plurality of System Information Blocks (SIBs) from the BS; and

a controller for determining a distance from the location of the BS to a location of the terminal and performing the cell reselection to the advanced network using a mapping table between a legacy network and an advanced network when the distance is less than a predefined threshold,

wherein performing the cell reselection includes attaching to the advanced network by performing a random access and a Radio Resource Control connection setup procedure with an advanced network,

wherein the controller transmits a measurement request to a legacy network, receives a measurement response from the legacy network, and creates the mapping table using cell Identifications (IDs) based on the measurement response, and

wherein the mapping table is used to reselect a cell when there is a cell of the advanced network which is mapped to a cell of the legacy network,

wherein the legacy network is at least one of a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and a Wideband CDMA network,

wherein the advanced network is at least one of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and an Advanced LTE network,

wherein the terminal is a multi-mode terminal supporting the legacy network and the advanced network, and

wherein the terminal connects to the advanced network using frequency information included in first and second SIBs.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the BS comprises an evolved Node B (eNB) of the advanced network.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the location information of the BS and the terminal comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS) location.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the location of the BS is pre-stored in the terminal or is received by a message.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the location of the BS or terminal is determined by a triangulation method.