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WO2009071693A1 - Procédé et dispositif pour sélectionner une femto-cellule - Google Patents

Procédé et dispositif pour sélectionner une femto-cellule Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2009071693A1
WO2009071693A1 PCT/EP2008/066941 EP2008066941W WO2009071693A1 WO 2009071693 A1 WO2009071693 A1 WO 2009071693A1 EP 2008066941 W EP2008066941 W EP 2008066941W WO 2009071693 A1 WO2009071693 A1 WO 2009071693A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
base station
femtocell
handset
priority level
cell
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2008/066941
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Takahito Yoshizawa
Original Assignee
Thomson Licensing
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Thomson Licensing filed Critical Thomson Licensing
Publication of WO2009071693A1 publication Critical patent/WO2009071693A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W48/00—Access restriction; Network selection; Access point selection
    • H04W48/20—Selecting an access point
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W84/00—Network topologies
    • H04W84/02—Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
    • H04W84/04—Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks
    • H04W84/042—Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
    • H04W84/045—Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to cellular base station and femtocell base stations. In particular it relates to method at a cellular device to select a femtocell.
  • a femtocell is a cellular base station that is functionally similar to a macrocell cellular base station, noted a macrocell hereinafter.
  • a femtocell is also called an access point base station. It is adapted to connect cellular handsets to a mobile network.
  • the area covered by a base station is called a cell.
  • a femtocell is adapted to cover a much lower cell range than a macrocell.
  • the cell size covered by a macrocell is a macro cell.
  • the cell size covered by a femtocell is a femto cell.
  • a typical use of a femtocell is inside a building to cover areas that are not reached by a macrocell.
  • a cellular service operator provides a plurality of macrocells and femtocells.
  • a handset may be located in multiple cells at the same time. It performs selection between macrocells and / or femtocells. The selection is typically based on the reception power level. The handset selects the base station offering the best radio frequency quality. This selection based on the power level does not permit the handset to explicitly choose a base station among the others. The handset can't select a base station that is not offering the best radio frequency quality. If the handset is located inside several cells, the handset selects the base station providing the best radio frequency quality. The handset does not necessarily select the closer base station.
  • the present invention attempts to remedy at least some of the concerns connected with the selection of the base station.
  • the present invention relates to a method, at a cellular terminal for selecting a base station in a cellular network comprising at least one first base station and at least one second base station, wherein the first base station covers a much smaller area than the second base station.
  • the method comprises, at a cellular terminal, the steps of getting the priority level of said at least one first base station, measuring the signal strength received from said at least one first base station and said at least one second base station, selecting the first base station corresponding to the priority level of the first base stations, and having the highest signal strength and if no first base station corresponds to the highest priority level, selecting the second base station having the highest priority level and the highest signal strength.
  • the cellular terminal selects a first base station not only based on the signal strength but also on the priority level. The selection is performed among the first base stations having the highest priority level only.
  • the cellular network comprises various types of base stations. The base stations belong to the same cellular network. The first type of base station covers a much lower area then the second type of base station. The area covered by a base station is a cell. The cell range of the first type of base station is much lower than the cell range of the second type of base station.
  • the invention also concerns a method at a cellular terminal for selecting a base station in a cellular network comprising at least one first base station and at least one second base station, wherein the first base station covers a much smaller area than the second base station.
  • the method comprises, at a cellular terminal, the steps of getting the priority level of said at least one first base station, measuring the signal strength received from said at least one first base station and said at least one second base station and selecting among the at least one first base stations, the base station having the highest priority and the highest signal strength.
  • the cellular terminal selects a first base station not only based on the signal strength but also on the priority level. The selection is performed among all the first base stations.
  • the first base station having the highest priority and the highest signal strength is selected.
  • the method further comprises the step of, if no first base station has been selected, selecting the second base station having the highest priority level and the highest signal strength.
  • the first base station is a femtocell and the second base station is a macrocell.
  • the first base station is comprised in a gateway.
  • the step of getting the priority level comprises indicating the priority level through a user interface.
  • the invention also relates to a cellular device comprising communicating means for emitting and receiving in a cellular network comprising at least one first base station and at least one second base station, user interfacing means for indicating a priority level of a first base station, and selecting means for selecting the base station according to the priority level and the signal strength.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a handset device compliant with the embodiment
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a femtocell device compliant with the embodiment
  • FIG. 4 is a flow chart representing the first part of the reselection algorithm compliant with the embodiment
  • FIG. 5 is a flow chart representing the second part of the reselection algorithm compliant with the embodiment.
  • the system according to the embodiment is indicated in figure 1. It comprises a handset 1 , which is a cellular terminal that conforms to the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) standards.
  • UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
  • the handset could be any type of cellular terminal such as any type of second, third or fourth generation terminal.
  • Figure 1 represents a typical case where the handset is located in a macrocell 4 and two femtocells 2 and 3, which are part of a cellular network.
  • the macrocell and the femtocell conform to the same standard, which is the UMTS standard.
  • the femto cell coverage diameter is typically a few dozen meters.
  • the macro cell coverage diameter is typically several hundreds of meters.
  • the first femtocell 2 corresponds to the home femtocell.
  • the second femtocell 3 corresponds to the neighbor femtocell.
  • Home and neighbor femtocells are further described hereinafter.
  • the femtocells At the handset there is a priority level defined for the femtocells. All the femtocells don't have the same priority level as regards to the handset. Here the first femtocell has a priority higher than the second femtocell.
  • the handset is represented in figure 2.
  • the handset comprises a communicating module 14 for emitting and receiving in the UMTS network.
  • the communicating module is adapted to detect the radio signal strengths received on the surrounding cells.
  • the radio signal strengths are indicated to the selecting module 15.
  • the user interface 13 is adapted to indicate the management information to the end user. In particular it indicates that the handset is connected or not to a femtocell.
  • the user interface also provides means for the end user to indicate the preferred femtocells.
  • the end user may indicate the priority level of some femtocells. It classifies the femtocells per their priority levels. The preferred femtocells get the priority level 1. Another set of femtocells then get a priority level 2 that is lower than the priority 1. And the femtocell that have not been indicated get the priority level 3 that is lower than priority 2.
  • the number of priority levels might be more or less than three. This is configurable at the user interface. The number of priority levels might also be fixed at the terminal.
  • the priority level may also be remotely entered in the handset by the cellular operator. It is indicated to the handset through a configuration file downloaded to the handset through the cellular network.
  • the processor 11 is adapted to execute the programs of the different modules of the handset.
  • the storing module 12 is adapted to store all the data necessary for the modules of the handset. In particular it stores the CeII ID corresponding to the home cell.
  • the subscriber's handset maintains the "home cell" information.
  • the home cell is a femtocell installed at the subscriber's residence. This is the femtocell to which a particular handset identifies the cell to be its associated femtocell.
  • the home cell is information that identifies the subscriber's femtocell installed at his/her residence. This home cell is the one that the subscriber's handset communicates with when the subscriber is at home.
  • the home cell information is derived from the combination of "cell ID" and "cell type" being transmitted from the cell in the broadcast information.
  • the handset comprises a selection module 15.
  • the selection module is adapted to select the cell to which the handset connects.
  • the user's handset uniquely identifies the femtocell with which the user's cellular service subscription is associated with (i.e. "my femtocell at home"). This identification distinguishes itself from all macrocells and all other femtocells served by a service provider. Based on this identification, the intended femtocell that the subscriber owns is selected whenever the subscriber is at home and the femtocell coverage is optimized in order to meet end user's expectation with respect to the femtocell coverage within the residential environment. From the base stations (both macrocells and femtocell), "cell ID" information is transmitted in the broadcast information.
  • the "cell ID” uniquely identifies a cell within a cellular operator's network.
  • the handset uses the "cell type”.
  • the "cell type” categorizes the cells into multiple types of cells. One of the types defines the femtocell as one type of cell. Another type of cell is the macrocell.
  • a femtocell is uniquely categorized as a femtocell and further uniquely identifies itself and differentiates from all other femtocells in a service provider's network.
  • the femtocell 2 is represented in figure 3. It comprises a communicating module 24 for emitting and receiving in the UMTS network. It also comprises storing module 22 for storing among others the femtocell celljd. The cell type is also stored in the storing module. The storing module is a non volatile memory. The celljd and the cell type are configured during commissioning. Of course the storing module might be a flash memory, wherein the celljd might be managed and updated by the cell operator.
  • the femtocell is a standalone device.
  • the femtocell could be comprised in another device such as a gateway device.
  • the femtocell accepts connection from the handsets that has the subscription from the same mobile operator from which the femtocell is associated with.
  • femtocells are sold by a mobile operator, and only the mobile operator subscribers can connect to it.
  • a pairing mechanism is performed in the subscriber's handset.
  • This mechanism allows the handset to store the "cell ID" for which the handset uses to identify the presence of "home cell.”
  • the pairing operation needs to be done when the femtocell is put into operation so that the handset can correctly identify the femtocell.
  • the exact pairing operation may involve manual operation of the handset, which is out of the scope of the disclosure. Of course the handset can pair to more than one femtocell.
  • the selection module of the handset performs rove-in and rove- out as described hereinafter.
  • Rove-in is an action by the handset when it re-selects a femtocell from a macrocell as a subscriber moves from outside to inside the residence in which the femtocell is installed.
  • the subscriber's handset When the handset detects the "home cell" to be present with above the minimum radio signal strength, the subscriber's handset attempts to re-select it. This selection is irrespective of the signal strength of other cells in the environment, such as nearby macrocells. By intentionally giving preference to the "home cell” over macrocell(s) in the area, the usage of the in-home femtocell is ensured whenever the subscriber is at home. This also ensures that the intended femtocell that the subscriber owns and installed at his/her residence is used over some other femtocell(s) present in the environment irrespective of its radio signal strength. If the handset does not detect the "home cell" at all or its received radio signal strength is below the minimum level, then the handset attempts to re-select other available cells based on a pre-defined mechanism.
  • Rove-out is an action by the handset when it re-selects a macrocell or another femtocell from the subscriber's femtocell as a subscriber moves from inside to outside the residence in which the subscriber's femtocell is installed.
  • the goal of this mechanism is to maximize the femtocell coverage in the residential environment the subscriber expects. This may include the immediate area around the residence as well (e.g. garage, front door, back porch, etc.). In this case, the handset should stay with the femtocell rather than re-selecting the macrocell or other femtocell.
  • This method re-uses an existing mechanism described in 3GPP TS25-304. This Technical Specification defines a mechanism in which the currently served cell is kept as long as the signal strength from it meets minimum acceptable threshold.
  • the reselection algorithm that is performed by the section module 15 of the handset 1 is indicated in figures 4 and 5.
  • the mobile When camped on a cell, the mobile regularly searches for a better cell according to the cell reselection criteria. If a better cell is found, that cell is selected.
  • the handset is powered on.
  • the handset is not associated to any cell. It performs measurement of all cells in the environment at step S2.
  • the handset measures the signal strength of all the cells in a manner well known per se in the UMTS environment.
  • S2 represents also the case where the handset is associated to a macrocell and performs the signal strength measurement of all surrounding cells.
  • the handset classifies the cells into two lists.
  • a first list comprises the femtocells.
  • the second list comprises the macrocells.
  • Each list orders the cells by the signal strength.
  • the handset verifies whether any of the femtocells is the home cell, and whether it reaches the allowable minimum signal strength. If such a femtocell is identified, the handset performs a reselection procedure, at step S5, to the home cell. If the reselection succeeds, the handset is associated to the femtocell and the procedure is terminated. If it does not succeed, the handset moves to the step S6.
  • step S6 the handset performs reselection procedure to the first femtocell in the list. If the reselection succeeds, the procedure is terminated. If it does not succeed, and if there is another femtocell in the list, the handset moves to the step S6. If it does not succeed, and if there is no other femtocell in the list, the handset moves to the step S7.
  • the handset reselects to the first macrocell in the macrocell list. If the reselection succeeds, the procedure is terminated. If it does not succeed, the handset performs reselection to the macrocell following in the list. While reselection does not succeed and there is a macrocell in the list, the handset performs the reselection.
  • step S6 enables the "community femtocell". This is a situation similar to a public Wi-Fi hotspot service where there's a group of Wi-Fi access points open to public. Here a group of multiple femtocells open to public.
  • the handset does not detect that any of the femtocells is the home cell and/or whether it does not reach the allowable minimum signal strength the handset moves to the step
  • the embodiment distinguishes a home femtocell and other femtocells such as neighbor femtocells.
  • the home femtocell has the highest priority.
  • the other femtocells have lower priority than the home femtocell.
  • the handset first selects the home femtocell, and then selects the femtocells having lower priority.
  • the femtocells are classified into different levels of priority. Several femtocells may have the same priority. The priority of femtocells is indicated at the handset as specified hereinabove. The handset then selects the femtocells based on their priority level. The femtocell having higher priority is always selected. The reselection procedure is then performed at step S6 with femtocells classified according to their priority.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un terminal cellulaire et un procédé sur un terminal cellulaire permettant de sélectionner une station de base dans un réseau cellulaire comprenant au moins une première station de base et au moins une seconde station de base, la première couvrant une zone bien plus petite que la seconde. Le procédé comprend, sur un terminal cellulaire, les étapes de récupération du niveau de priorité d'au moins une première station de base, de mesure de la force du signal reçu d'au moins une première station de base et d'au moins une seconde station de base, de sélection de la première station de base correspondant au niveau de priorité de la première station de base et ayant la plus grande force de signal et, lorsqu'aucune station de base ne correspond au plus fort niveau de priorité, sélection de la seconde station de base ayant le plus haut niveau de priorité et la plus grande force de signal.
PCT/EP2008/066941 2007-12-06 2008-12-05 Procédé et dispositif pour sélectionner une femto-cellule WO2009071693A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP07447066.7 2007-12-06
EP07447066 2007-12-16

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WO2009071693A1 true WO2009071693A1 (fr) 2009-06-11

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Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2355587A1 (fr) * 2010-01-28 2011-08-10 Alcatel Lucent Indication de station de base
FR2986688A1 (fr) * 2012-02-08 2013-08-09 Commissariat Energie Atomique Gestion dynamique de petites cellules pour optimiser la consommation energetique d'un reseau en fonction du trafic
WO2014130018A1 (fr) * 2013-02-19 2014-08-28 Nokia Corporation Réponse de radiorecherche via une cellule de délestage
TWI462608B (zh) * 2009-10-26 2014-11-21 Arcadyan Technology Corp 行動通訊方法以及其系統
US20160095031A1 (en) * 2014-09-30 2016-03-31 Alcatel-Lucent Usa Inc. Policy Engine In Mobile Unit For Enhanced Femtocell Handover

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EP0862346A2 (fr) * 1997-02-28 1998-09-02 Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd. Etablissement de priorité de cellule dans un système radio cellulaire
US6202059B1 (en) * 1994-06-03 2001-03-13 Motorola, Inc. Method and apparatus for selecting a wireless communication site
EP1286564A1 (fr) * 2001-04-05 2003-02-26 Kabushiki Kaisha Kenwood Procede de detection d'un mouvement tres rapide d'un terminal de communication mobile, terminal de communication mobile et programme
US20060221901A1 (en) * 2005-04-01 2006-10-05 Toshiba America Research, Inc. Autonomous and heterogeneous network discovery and reuse

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US6202059B1 (en) * 1994-06-03 2001-03-13 Motorola, Inc. Method and apparatus for selecting a wireless communication site
EP0724371A1 (fr) * 1995-01-30 1996-07-31 CABLE & WIRELESS PLC Terminal de communication sans fil
DE19643186A1 (de) * 1996-10-18 1998-04-30 Siemens Ag Verfahren zum Zugreifen von mobilen Kommunikationsendgeräten auf öffentliche, private bzw. Heim-Kommunikationsbereiche
EP0862346A2 (fr) * 1997-02-28 1998-09-02 Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd. Etablissement de priorité de cellule dans un système radio cellulaire
EP1286564A1 (fr) * 2001-04-05 2003-02-26 Kabushiki Kaisha Kenwood Procede de detection d'un mouvement tres rapide d'un terminal de communication mobile, terminal de communication mobile et programme
US20060221901A1 (en) * 2005-04-01 2006-10-05 Toshiba America Research, Inc. Autonomous and heterogeneous network discovery and reuse

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
TWI462608B (zh) * 2009-10-26 2014-11-21 Arcadyan Technology Corp 行動通訊方法以及其系統
EP2355587A1 (fr) * 2010-01-28 2011-08-10 Alcatel Lucent Indication de station de base
FR2986688A1 (fr) * 2012-02-08 2013-08-09 Commissariat Energie Atomique Gestion dynamique de petites cellules pour optimiser la consommation energetique d'un reseau en fonction du trafic
EP2627144A1 (fr) * 2012-02-08 2013-08-14 Commissariat A L'energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives Gestion dynamique de petites cellules pour optimiser la consommation énergétique d'un réseau en fonction du trafic
US8929296B2 (en) 2012-02-08 2015-01-06 Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives Dynamic management of small cells for traffic-related optimization of the energy consumption of a network
WO2014130018A1 (fr) * 2013-02-19 2014-08-28 Nokia Corporation Réponse de radiorecherche via une cellule de délestage
US9769720B2 (en) 2013-02-19 2017-09-19 Nokia Technologies Oy Paging response via an offload cell
US20160095031A1 (en) * 2014-09-30 2016-03-31 Alcatel-Lucent Usa Inc. Policy Engine In Mobile Unit For Enhanced Femtocell Handover
US9491675B2 (en) * 2014-09-30 2016-11-08 Alcatel-Lucent Usa Inc. Policy engine in mobile unit for enhanced femtocell handover

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