DYNAMIC RESOURCE SHARING AMONG CELLULAR NETWORKS

• US 20140056254A1
• Filed: 10/29/2013
• Published: 02/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: PANCHAL, Jignesh S., BUDDHIKOT, Milind M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,473,287 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0096 Indication of changes in allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/00 Local resource management

Abstract

According to a disclosed method, an MME in a network analyzes KPIs from the cells it serves and based on the KPIs, it decides to engage in sharing. The MME then contacts a sharing entity (SE) to announce that it wants to borrow or to supply resources. The MME obtains terms of a sharing agreement from the SE and the MME obtains the identity of the other network. In response to this information, the MME configures its network elements to share. The MME'"'"'s own network may be a supplier or a borrower. If the network is a supplier, the MME configures its base stations to support UEs subscribing to the other network. If the network is a borrower, the MME configures its UEs to accept service from the other network'"'"'s base stations. The SE applies knowledge of network topology and of services offered. This knowledge is obtained from a sharing database. At the expiration of the sharing agreement, the SE tells the MMEs to deactivate the sharing agreement.

Claims

1. Apparatus, comprising:

a module configured to receive announcements of sharing attempts from processors respectively connected to two or more networks having different operators, wherein each sharing attempt is an attempt to borrow or to supply cellular resources that affect capacity;

a module configured to retrieve information describing a topology of one or more wireless networks and listing services offered by the networks from a computer-accessible database;

a module configured to broker sharing agreements between network operators, using information retrieved from the database, wherein each sharing agreement specifies terms for the sharing of said resources;

a module configured to provide to each of two or more operators, in the event that a sharing agreement is successfully brokered between them, the terms of the sharing agreement and the identities of the other operator or operators that are parties to the sharing agreement; and

a module configured to notify each operator that is a party to the sharing agreement when the sharing agreement is expiring.

2. A method in a base station controlled by a home operator and serving mobile terminals in one or more sectors, comprising:

receiving sharing instructions from a core network controlled by the home operator;

activating a sharing state in a selected one or more of the sectors in response to the sharing instructions;

identifying a group of sharing partners from the received instructions, wherein the sharing partners include the home operator and at least one further operator and are parties to a sharing agreement while said agreement is in effect;

announcing the identities of the sharing partners to the mobile terminals of the selected sector or sectors in broadcast messages; and

deactivating the sharing state when the sharing agreement expires or terminates, wherein;

the sharing agreement specifies terms under which one or more parties borrow cellular resources that affect capacity, and one or more parties supply resources of said kind;

the activation of a sharing state comprises directing that during the sharing state, all mobile terminals in the activated sector that subscribe to any sharing partner shall be treated as home subscribers.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, during at least one sharing state, allocating a single pool of spectrum to mobile terminals that subscribe to different sharing partners in a manner that treats all sharing partners equally.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the base station is an eNodeB of an LTE network;

the activation and deactivation of the sharing state comprises communicating with an MME situated in the core network controlled by the home operator;

the method further comprises communicating with two or more gateways for management of user-plane mobility;

one said gateway is situated in the core network controlled by the home operator; and

at least one said gateway is situated in the core network of a further operator.

5. A wireless base station, comprising:

circuitry configured to provide sector-specific service to mobile terminals, in each of one or more respective sectors, that subscribe to at least a first operator;

circuitry configured to activate and deactivate a sharing state in one or more selected sectors in response to instructions received by the base station from a core network controlled by the first operator;

circuitry configured to identify a group of sharing partners from the received instructions; and

circuitry configured to announce the identities of the sharing partners to the mobile terminals in broadcast messages, wherein;

the sharing partners are network operators, including the first operator and at least one further operator, that are parties to a sharing agreement while said agreement is in effect;

the sharing agreement specifies terms under which one or more parties borrow cellular resources that affect capacity, and one or more parties supply resources of said kind;

the activation of a sharing state comprises directing that during the sharing state, all mobile terminals in the activated sector that subscribe to any sharing partner shall be treated as home subscribers; and

the sharing state is deactivated when the pertinent sharing agreement terminates or expires.

6. The base station of claim 5, wherein:

the base station is an eNodeB of an LTE network;

the base station is configured for connection to an MME, which is situated in a core network controlled by the first operator, for activation and deactivation of the sharing states;

the base station is configured for connection to two or more gateways for management of user-plane mobility;

one said gateway is situated in the core network controlled by the first operator; and

at least one said gateway is situated in the core network of a further operator.

7. The base station of claim 6, wherein:

the base station comprises a backhaul interface control card (BICC);

the BICC comprises a router;

the router is configured to route control-plane packets between the mobile terminals and the connected MME;

the router is further configured to route user-plane packets between the mobile terminals and the connected gateways;

the base station further comprises a computer-readable medium in which a routing table is stored; and

the router is further configured to perform the routing of the user-plane packets and control-plane packets according to the routing table.

8. The base station of claim 6, wherein:

the base station comprises a backhaul interface control card (BICC);

the BICC comprises a sharing controller;

the sharing controller is configured to activate and deactivate the sharing states by updating at least OAM parameters and admission control parameters.