System and methods for reducing power consumed by a base station
First Claim
1. At a base station comprising a transmitter and a receiver, a method comprising:
- (a) configuring the transmitter such that it transmits control information on a discontinuous basis;
(b) configuring the base station in a mode whereby the receiver is activated on a discontinuous basis;
(c) when the receiver is activated, using the receiver to detect an access request message transmitted from a mobile station on an access frequency;
(d) after detecting an access request message, determining the quality of the access request message;
(e) determining whether the determined quality of the access request message exceeds a threshold; and
(f) in response to determining that the quality exceeds the threshold, transmitting from the base station to the mobile station, a response message comprising control information, wherein the control information contains information that is needed by the mobile station to further communicate with the base station.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides systems and methods that enable a base station to consume less power. According to an embodiment of the invention, the base station reduces its power consumption by not continuously broadcasting control information. In such an embodiment, a mobile station that seeks access to a network to which the base station provides access does not search for broadcast control information prior to transmitting an access message to the base station, but rather simply transmits on a predetermined access channel an access request message. A base station that receives the access request message may unicast control information to the mobile station.
13 Citations
24 Claims
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1. At a base station comprising a transmitter and a receiver, a method comprising:
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(a) configuring the transmitter such that it transmits control information on a discontinuous basis; (b) configuring the base station in a mode whereby the receiver is activated on a discontinuous basis; (c) when the receiver is activated, using the receiver to detect an access request message transmitted from a mobile station on an access frequency; (d) after detecting an access request message, determining the quality of the access request message; (e) determining whether the determined quality of the access request message exceeds a threshold; and (f) in response to determining that the quality exceeds the threshold, transmitting from the base station to the mobile station, a response message comprising control information, wherein the control information contains information that is needed by the mobile station to further communicate with the base station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method at a radio network controller (RNC) in communication with a set of base stations, the method comprising:
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receiving, from each one of a base stations, a control message sent by the base station in response to the base station receiving an access request message from a mobile station, wherein the receiver at the base station is activated on a discontinuous basis and wherein, for each control message, the control message comprises;
information indicating the quality of the access request message received by the base station; and
information indicating the position of the mobile station;selecting a base station from the set of base stations, wherein the selection is based on, at least in part, a location of the base stations, the location of the mobile station, and/or a quality of the access request messages received by the base stations; and transmitting a command message to the selected base station, wherein the command message causes the base station to transmit to the mobile station a response message comprising control information. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A base station, comprising:
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a transmitter configured such that it transmits control information on a discontinuous basis; an access message receiver, wherein the base station is configured such that the access message receiver is activated on a discontinuous basis, and the access message receiver is operable to detect an access request message transmitted from a mobile station on an access frequency; further comprising a controller, wherein the controller is configured such that, in response to the access message receiver detecting the access request message, the controller (a) determines a quality of the access request message;
(b) determines whether the determined quality of the access request message exceeds a threshold, and (c) in response to determining that the quality exceeds the threshold, causes the transmitter to transmit to the mobile station a response message comprising control information, wherein the control information contains information that is needed by the mobile station to further communicate with the base station. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A radio network controller (RNC), comprising:
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a transmit and receive circuit operable to receive, from each one of a set of base stations, a control message sent by a base station in response to the base station receiving an access request message from a mobile station wherein a receiver in the base station is activated on a discontinuous basis; and
wherein, for each control message, the control message comprises;
information indicating the quality of the access request message received by the base station; and
information indicating the position of the mobile station;a data processing system configured to select a base station from the set of base stations in response to receiving the control messages, wherein the selection is based on, at least in part, a location of the base stations, the location of the mobile station, and/or the quality of the access request messages received by the base stations, wherein the data processing system is further configured to use the transmit and receive circuit to transmit a command message to the selected base station, wherein the command message is configured to cause the base station to transmit to the mobile station a response message comprising control information. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification