RU2456770C2 - Configuration of identifier for access point of femtocell - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: information technologies.

SUBSTANCE: access point is configured on the basis of the received data. The access point may be configured on the basis of configuration (configurations) of at least one other access point. An identifier to be send by the access point may be selected on the basis of an identifier (identifiers) sent at least by one other access point. The access point may configure itself with the help of a configuration server. For instance, the access point may send information, such as location of the access point, into the configuration server, and the configuration server may respond with a list of neighbouring access points for this access point. The configuration server may represent configuration information into the access point on the basis of the access point location. The configuration server may also send an access point to a different configuration server.

EFFECT: higher reliability of received information.

80 cl, 22 dwg

Description

Priority claim pursuant to Section 119 § 35 of the US Code

This application claims the priority of provisional US patent application No. 60 / 989,054, filed November 19, 2007, assigned to the assignee, which is assigned patent number 072359P1 in the registry of attorney, US provisional patent application No. 60 / 989,057, registered November 19, 2007. which is assigned patent number 07230P1 in the attorney's registry and provisional patent application US No. 61 / 025,683, registered February 1, 2008, which is assigned patent number 080744P1 in the register of attorney, the disclosure of each of which is included in the present description by reference.

Technical field

This application, in General, relates to communication and, more specifically, but not exclusively, to the configuration of the communication node.

State of the art

Wireless communication systems are widely used to provide various types of communication (e.g., voice, data, multimedia services, etc.) to a variety of users. As the demand for high-speed and multimedia data services is growing rapidly, the challenge remains to implement efficient and reliable communication systems with improved performance.

To complement traditional base stations of a mobile phone network (e.g., macro cells), base stations with a small coverage area (e.g., installed in a user's home) can be used to provide a more reliable wireless indoor coverage area to mobile elements. Such base stations with a small coverage area are commonly known as access point base stations, home nodes B, or femtocells. Typically, such base stations with a small service area connect to the Internet and the mobile operator’s network via a DSL router or cable modem.

In practice, these base stations with a small service area can be used ad hoc (for a special case) and in relatively large quantities. Therefore, there is a need for improved methods for configuring such base stations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A summary of exemplary aspects of the disclosure follows. It should be noted that any reference to aspects of the terms given in this application may relate to one or more aspects of the disclosure.

In some aspects, the disclosure relates to configuring an access point. In various scenarios, such an access point may take the form of a femto node, a relay node, a pico node, or some other type of node.

In some aspects, the disclosure relates to configuring an access point based on the configuration (s) of at least one other access point. For example, an access point may obtain configuration information indicating the configuration (s) of at least one neighboring access point and select one or more configuration parameters based on the obtained configuration information.

In some aspects, the disclosure relates to determining an identifier for use (i.e., transmitted) by an access point. For example, an access point may select an identifier based on the identifier (s) used (i.e., transmitted) of at least one access point. These identifiers may comprise, for example, pilot identifiers (e.g., physical cell identifiers). For convenience, the description of this application will refer to such an identifier as a pilot identifier.

In some aspects, the disclosure relates to offline configuration of an access point. For example, if the access point is initialized (for example, after deployment, power-up, or restart), the access point can determine its location and then configure itself (for example, by determining the configuration based on its location). In this application, an access point may determine radio frequency (“RF”) parameters, optimization parameters, or other parameters. For example, an access point may determine a pilot identifier, a carrier frequency, a power profile, some other parameters, or a combination of two or more of these parameters.

In some aspects, the disclosure relates to an access point that configures itself using a configuration server. For example, an access point can send information, such as the location of an access point, to a configuration server, and a configuration server can respond with a list of any neighboring access points for that access point. Then, the access point may obtain configuration information indicating the configuration (s) of the identified neighboring access point (s) and select one or more configuration parameters based on the obtained configuration information.

In some aspects, the disclosure relates to providing configuration information to an access point. For example, the configuration server may provide configuration information to the access point based on the location of the access point.

In some aspects, the disclosure relates to directing an access point to a configuration server. For example, the configuration server may forward the access point to another configuration server for configuration information.

Brief Description of the Drawings

These and other exemplary aspects of the disclosure will be described in the detailed description and appended claims, which follow, and in the accompanying drawings, in which

figure 1 is a simplified block diagram of several exemplary aspects of a communication system in which an access point is configured based on the received information;

2 is a simplified block diagram illustrating exemplary service areas for wireless communications;

figure 3 is a simplified block diagram of the sequence of steps of several exemplary aspects of the operations that can be performed to configure the access point;

4 is a simplified block diagram of several exemplary aspects of components that can be used in communication nodes;

5 is a simplified diagram illustrating exemplary operations related to detecting a neighboring node;

6 is a simplified diagram illustrating exemplary operations related to the detection of a neighboring node;

7 is a flowchart of several exemplary aspects of operations that can be performed to configure an access point based on the configuration of one or more neighboring nodes;

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of several exemplary aspects of components that may be used in communication nodes; FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of several exemplary aspects of operations that may be performed to configure an access point based on location; FIG.

10 is a flowchart of several exemplary aspects of operations that can be performed to configure an access point based on received configuration information;

11 is a flowchart of several exemplary aspects of operations that can be performed to direct an access point to a configuration server;

12 is a simplified diagram of a wireless communication system;

13 is a simplified diagram of a wireless communication system including femto nodes;

14 is a simplified block diagram of several exemplary aspects of communication components; and

Fig - Fig.22 is a simplified block diagram of several exemplary aspects of apparatuses configured to perform operations associated with the configuration, as taught in this application.

In accordance with generally accepted practice, various features illustrated in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Thus, the sizes of various features can be arbitrarily increased or decreased for clarity. Thus, the drawings may not depict all of the components of this apparatus (eg, device) or method. Finally, the same reference numbers may be used to mean the same features throughout the description and figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Various aspects of the disclosure are described below. It should be understood that the ideas of this application can be implemented in a wide variety of forms and that any particular structure, function, or both, disclosed in this application are only indicative. Based on the teachings of this application, one skilled in the art should understand that the aspect disclosed herein can be implemented independently of any other aspects, and that two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, the apparatus may be practiced or the method may be practiced using any number of aspects described herein. In addition, such an apparatus can be implemented or such a method can be put into practice using a different structure, functionality or structure and functionality, additional to one or more of the aspects or different from one or more of the aspects described in this application. In addition, the aspect may contain at least one element of the claims.

1 illustrates several nodes in an exemplary communication system 100 (eg, portions of a communication network). For purposes of illustration, various aspects of the disclosure will be described in the context of one or more access terminals, access points, and network nodes that communicate with each other. However, it should be understood that the ideas of this application may be applicable to other types of devices or other similar devices that are mentioned using different terminology. For example, the access point taught in this application may be implemented or referred to as a base station, eNodeB, home eNodeB, etc. Also, the access terminal, as taught in this application, can be implemented or referred to as a mobile terminal, user equipment, etc. In addition, the network node may be implemented or referred to as a configuration server, an operation, accounting and management object (“OAM”), mobility management device, etc. Other exemplary terminology is provided in the following discussion.

An access point in system 100 provides one or more services (eg, network connectivity) for one or more wireless terminals (eg, access terminal 102) that can be installed in an associated geographic area or that can travel through an associated geographic area. For example, at various points in time, access terminal 102 may communicate with access point 104 or access point 106. Each of the access points 104 and 106 may communicate with one or more network nodes (provided by the network node 108 for convenience) to facilitate connectivity to the global network. Such network nodes may take various forms, such as, for example, one or more objects of a radio network and / or core network (for example, implemented as discussed above, or as some other suitable network object).

In some aspects, configuring an access point, such as access point 104, can advantageously be performed by providing configuration functionality at the access point. For example, in a network that has a relatively large number of access points, it can be more efficient for the overall operation of the network if each access point has the functionality to configure itself, at least to some extent. In this way, the network operator (for example, centralized objects controlled by the operator) can be freed from at least some of the burden of identifying suitable configurations and continuing to monitor configurations for all of these access points.

In the example of FIG. 1, access point 104 includes a configuration controller 110 that configures access point 104. In the present application, the configuration controller 110 may provide one or more configuration parameters that the access point 104 uses for communication operations. For example, the configuration controller 110 may provide configuration parameters for the wireless transceiver 112, such as a pilot identifier, operating frequency, and transmit power.

In some implementations, the configuration controller 110 determines configuration parameters based on the configuration (s) of at least one other access point (eg, a neighboring access point). To this end, the configuration controller 110 may receive configuration information from another access point (s) and / or information that can be used to obtain configuration information from another access point (s).

In some cases, the access point 104 may communicate with the access point 106 to determine the configuration of the access point 106. For example, the access point 104 may communicate with the access point 106 through a backhaul connection (eg, via a network node 108). As a more specific example, an eNodeB may receive a report message (e.g., via an X2 interface) about the PCI used by the neighboring eNodeB.

Also, access point 104 may receive configuration related information directly from access point 106 via wireless signals. For example, access point 104 may include a downlink receiver (not shown in FIG. 1) that receives signals transmitted by access point 106. As a more specific example, the PCI used by the eNodeB can be heard over the air in another eNodeB through the use of a downlink receiver.

Access point 104 may also receive configuration related information through an access terminal (for example, when access terminal 102 is served by access point 104). For example, access point 102 may transmit information that it receives from access point 106 (eg, information extracted from transmissions of access point 106) to access point 104. As a more specific example, the user equipment may report the PCI used by the eNodeB to another eNodeB.

In some cases, the access point 104 may receive configuration information from a network node 108. For example, network node 108 may identify any neighboring nodes of access point 104 and send this information about neighboring nodes to access point 104. Then, the configuration controller 110 uses this neighbor information to determine the configuration of the indicated neighbor (s).

In some cases, the network node 108 sends a list of pilot identifiers to the access point 104. Then, the access point 104 may select its pilot identifier from the list. For example, access point 104 may randomly select a pilot identifier from a list or select a pilot identifier based on a specific criterion or criteria. In the present application, the access point 104 may exclude any pilot identifiers used by other access points (eg, neighboring access points) from their choice.

As a more specific example, an OAM object may signal a list of PCI values in an eNodeB. This list may be cell specific. Then, the eNodeB can select the PCI value for the cell from the PCI list. For example, an eNodeB may randomly select a PCI value from the PCI list.

In some cases, the eNodeB may limit the received list by removing a PCI that is reported by the user equipment notified by the neighboring eNodeB, heard over the air via a downlink received in some other way, or obtained through a combination of two or more of these methods. Then, the eNodeB can randomly select the PCI value from the restricted PCI list, or select the PCI value from the restricted list in some other way.

In some cases, the access point 104 may provide information to the configuration server (for example, as represented by the network node 108) to assist the configuration server in providing configuration information for the access point 104. For example, the access point 104 may determine its location and send the appropriate location information to the network node 108. The network node 108 can then determine the appropriate configuration information based on location and send this configuration information to the access point 104, where the configuration controller 110 uses the configuration information to configure the access point 104.

In some cases, the configuration server (for example, as represented by the network node 108) sends the access point to another configuration server for configuration information. For example, after receiving a request from the access point 104 for configuration information, the network node 102 may redirect the access point 104 to another node (eg, another configuration server). Such a redirection may be based, for example, on the location of the access point 104 and / or the load on one or more configuration servers.

Configuration operations, such as the operations described above, can advantageously be used on the network 200, as shown in FIG. 2, where some access points provide a macro service area and other access points provide a smaller service area. In this application, service macro zones 204 can be provided, for example, using macro access points of a large area cellular network, such as a 3G network, commonly referred to as a macro cell network or wide area network (“WAN”). In addition, smaller service areas 206 may be provided, for example, using access points of a network environment in an office or building, commonly referred to as a local area network (“LAN”). When an access terminal (“AT”) moves through such a network, the access terminal can be served at specific locations by access points that provide a macrozone of service, while the access terminal can be served at other locations by access points that provide a smaller service area. In some aspects, access points of a smaller service area can be used to provide a gradual increase in throughput, indoor service area and various services, all of which result in a more reliable user experience.

In the description in this application, a node (eg, an access point) that provides a service area for a relatively large area may be referred to as a macro node, while a node that provides a service area through a relatively small area (eg, office) may be referred to as a femtocell. It should be understood that the ideas of this application may be applicable to nodes associated with other types of service areas. For example, a pico node can provide a service area through an area that is smaller than the macroregion and larger than the femto area (for example, a service area in a commercial building). Also, the relay node may provide a wireless coverage area that enables the access point to communicate with other nodes in the network. In other words, the relay node can provide a wireless backhaul connection, which facilitates the ability to connect, for example, to a network node or to another relay node. Different terminology may be used in various applications to refer to a macro node, a femto node, or other nodes such as an access point. For example, a macro node may be configured or referred to as an access point, base station, eNodeB (“eNB”), macro cell, etc. Also, the femto node may be configured or referred to as home node B, home eNodeB, access point, base station, access point base station, eNodeB, femtocell, etc. In some implementations, a node may be associated with (eg, divided into one or more cells or sectors) one or more cells or sectors. A cell or sector associated with a macro node, a femto node, or a pico node may be referred to as a macro cell, a femto cell, or a pico cell, respectively. For convenience, the description in this application can usually refer to the operations and components of access points and femto nodes. It should be understood that these operations and components may also be applicable to other types of nodes (e.g., relay nodes and pico nodes).

In the example of FIG. 2, several tracking areas 202 (or routing areas, or location areas) are defined, each of which includes several service macro zones 204. In this application, the service areas associated with the tracking areas 202A, 202B and 202C are outlined by wide lines, and the service macro areas 204 are represented by hexagons. As mentioned above, tracking areas 202 may also include femtozone services 206. In this example, each of the service femto zones 206 (e.g., service femto zone 206 C) is depicted in one or more service macro zones 204 (e.g., service macro zone 204). However, it should be understood that the femtozone service 206 may not be completely located in the macrozone 204 service. Also, one or more service picozone or service femtozone (not shown) may be defined in a given tracking area 202 or service macrozone 204.

As indicated by small cells in the service macro 204 A, a large number of access points, such as femto nodes, can be used on the network. In such a case, the ideas of the present application can be advantageously used to configure these access points. Bearing in mind the above overview, various methods that can be used to configure access points in accordance with the ideas of the present application will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 11. Figure 3 - figure 6 in some aspect relate to operations and components that can be used to determine the pilot identifier used by the access point. FIG. 7 to FIG. 9 in some aspect relate to operations and components that can be used to configure an access point based on the configuration of at least one other node. 10, in some aspect, relates to operations that can be used to provide configuration information to an access point. 11 in some aspect relates to operations that can be used to direct an access point to a configuration server.

For purposes of illustrating the operations of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 to FIG. 11 (or any other operations discussed or taught in this application) may be described as being performed by specific components (for example, components of a system 100, the components depicted in FIG. 4, or the components depicted in FIG. 8). However, it should be understood that these operations can be performed by other types of components and can be performed using a different number of components. It should also be understood that one or more of the operations described in this application may not be performed in this implementation.

4 and 8 illustrate several exemplary components that may be included in nodes, such as an access point, a network node, and an access terminal, to perform configuration operations as taught in this application. The described components can also be included in other nodes in the communication system. For example, other nodes (eg, other access points) in the system may include components similar to those described for access point 402 and / or access point 802 to provide similar functionality.

As shown in FIG. 4, the access point 402 and the network node 404 (eg, a configuration server) may include transceivers 406 and 408, respectively, for communication with other nodes. The transceiver 406 includes a transmitter 410 for sending signals (e.g., messages), and a receiver 412 for receiving signals (e.g., including configuration related information). The transceiver 408 includes a transmitter 414 for sending signals, and a receiver 416 for receiving signals. Similarly, the access point 802 and the network node 804 (eg, a configuration server), as shown in FIG. 8, can respectively include a transceiver 806 (including a transmitter 808 and a receiver 810) and a transceiver 812 (including a transmitter 814 and receiver 816). Also, the access terminal 818, as shown in FIG. 8, may include a transceiver 820 (including a transmitter 822 and a receiver 824).

The nodes of FIGS. 4 to 8 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with configuration operations, as taught in this application. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, an access point 802, an access node 804, and an access terminal 818 may include communication controllers 826, 828, and 830, respectively, for controlling communication with other nodes (eg, sending and receiving messages / directions) and to provide other related functionality as taught in this application. Also, as shown in FIG. 8, one or more of the access point 802, access node 804, and access terminal 818 may include configuration controllers 832 (e.g., containing an integration reference point agent, an IRP agent), 834 (e.g., containing a device integration point management, IRP control device) and configuration 836, respectively, for performing operations related to the configuration, and for providing other related functionality, as taught in this application. Exemplary operations of other components of FIG. 4 and FIG. 8 are described below.

For convenience, the nodes of FIG. 4 and FIG. 8 are depicted as including components that can be used in various examples described below in conjunction with FIG. 3 - FIG. 11. In practice, one or more of the illustrated components may not be used in this example. As an example, in some implementations, the access terminal 818 may not include a conflict detector 838 and / or a configuration controller 836. As another example, in some implementations, the network node 804 may not include one or more of a configuration controller 834, an adjacent node determination device 840, or a configuration server selection device 842. As another example, in some implementations, the access point 802 may not include a location device 844.

Also, this node may contain one or more of the described components. For example, a node may contain many components of transceivers that enable the node to simultaneously operate on multiple frequencies and / or enable the node to communicate through various types of technology (for example, wired and / or wireless technology).

Now, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the ideas of the present application can be used to configure an access point with a pilot identifier based on the identifier (ies) of the pilot used by at least one other access point . By using such a scheme, access points in the network can select (e.g., autonomously select) pilot identifiers in a distributed manner. Thus, the probability of collisions of pilot identifiers in the network (for example, when a node hears multiple access points broadcasting the same pilot identifier) can be reduced or eliminated. In addition, this can be accomplished without the use of a centralized management device that assigns and continues to track all identifiers used by all access points on the network.

The pilot identifier may take various forms and may be mentioned using different terminology in various implementations. For example, a pilot identifier may be referred to as a cell identifier (“Cell ID”), a physical cell identifier (“PCI”), or a primary scrambling sequence (“PSC”). Also, the pilot identifier may be associated with a pseudo-random noise sequence (“PN sequence”) that is represented in the pilot signal.

As represented by step 302 of FIG. 3, in some implementations, the configuration server (eg, network node 404 of FIG. 4) determines a list of pilot identifiers that can be used by a given access point (eg, access point 402), and sends the list to access point. In the example of FIG. 4, these operations may be performed by the configuration controller 418.

In this application, the list of pilot identifiers may comprise a subset (e.g., 10 pilot identifiers) of a set of all pilot identifiers (e.g. 512 pilot identifiers) defined for a given network. In some implementations, the list contains multiple pilot identifiers.

The list of pilot identifiers may be a configurable operator. In some cases, this list may be applicable throughout the operator’s network (for example, the same list may be assigned to multiple access points in the network). In some cases, unique lists may be defined for different access points. For example, each access point on the network can be assigned its own list (however, all of these lists may not be unique).

In some implementations, the operator may divide the pilot identifier space into different subsets. The space of the pilot identifier may be divided based on various criteria.

In some implementations, the pilot identifier space is divided into different subsets for different types of access points. For example, macro access points may be assigned a first subset of pilot identifiers (e.g., pilot identifiers 0-49), femto nodes may be assigned a second subset of pilot identifiers (e.g., pilot identifiers 50-499), and mobile points an access can be assigned a third subset of pilot identifiers (e.g., pilot identifiers 500-511).

In some implementations, the pilot identifier space is divided into different subsets based on the transmit power of the access points. For example, a high power access point (e.g., macro access points) may be assigned a first subset of pilot identifiers, and a low power access point (e.g., femto nodes, pico nodes, or relay nodes) may be assigned a second subset of pilot identifiers.

In some implementations, the pilot identifier space may be divided into different subsets based on location. For example, different subsets of pilot identifiers may be defined for different geographical areas. Thus, the subset of pilot identifiers assigned to a given access point may depend on the location of the access point.

In view of the above, in some implementations, the configuration server operations in step 302 may be based on information that the configuration server 402 receives from the access point 402. For example, at some point in time (for example, if the access point 402 establishes a connection to the Internet), the access point 402 uses its network connectivity to contact the network node 404 and send this information.

Access point 402 (e.g., location device 420) may determine information indicating the location of access point 402 and send this information to network node 404. Such information may take various forms. For example, information indicating the location of the access point may indicate at least one of the following: the city in which the access point is located, the state in which the access point is located, the country in which the access point is located, the macro-point of access that serves the point access, the zone with which the access point is associated, the cell with which the access point communicates, identifies the network or operator with which the cell, GPS coordinates, geographical location or street address is associated.

In addition, or alternatively, access point 402 may send information indicating the type of access point 402 to network node 404. As discussed above, this information can take various forms. For example, this type of information may indicate one or more of a class of devices (e.g., femto, macro, mobile, etc.) access points 402, power classes (e.g., high power, low power, etc.) points 402, whether the access point is limited (for example, as taught in this application), whether the access point is stationary or mobile, or some other characteristic (s) associated with the access point 402.

Then, the network node 404 (e.g., the configuration controller 418) may determine a list of pilot identifiers for use by the access point 402 based on the information it receives from the access point 402. In some aspects, the network node 404 may use the pilot identifier ranges previously provided by the operator to select a valid pilot identifier range for use by the specified node type and / or for use at the specified location.

As mentioned above, some or all of the operations of step 302 may not be used in some implementations. For example, in some cases, pilot identifier lists (e.g., ranges) are standardized. In this case, the network node 404 can simply send a standard list of pilot identifiers to the access point 402. Alternatively, access point 402 may be configured with a list of pilot identifiers, with access point 402 not receiving this information from network node 404.

As represented by block 304 of FIG. 3, an access point 402 (for example, a pilot identifier determination device 422) determines at least one pilot identifier that is used by at least one access point. For example, access point 402 may determine which pilot identifiers are used by its neighboring nodes.

In some implementations, an access point 402 (eg, a neighboring node detection controller 424) may detect the neighboring node to identify its neighboring nodes. As will be discussed in more detail, access point 402 may detect single hop neighboring nodes or multi hop neighboring nodes (e.g., double hop, three hop, etc.). In the latter case, the access point 402 may choose to move in two, three, or more hops in order to obtain pilot identifier information from more distant neighboring nodes.

In some implementations, access point 402 obtains configuration information from neighboring nodes by detecting a neighboring node. For example, as a result of a neighbor discovery request issued by a neighbor detection controller 424, the access point 402 may receive a neighbor detection response from a neighboring access point (e.g., a single hop or multi hop neighboring access point) that includes the pilot identifier used this neighboring access point. Such an adjacent node discovery operation can be performed, for example, through a backhaul.

In some implementations, access point 402 may obtain pilot identifier information of its neighboring nodes from a server (eg, network node 404). For example, a network node 404 (e.g., a neighboring node determination device 426) may maintain this information on its own or receive this information upon request. Then, the network node 404 may send pilot identifier information to the access point 402 in response to a request from the access point 402. In some aspects, the network node 404 may identify pilot identifier information provided based on the location of the access point 402. For example, in its request may include information that indicates its location. The network node 404 can then identify the access points in this neighborhood and determine which pilot identifiers they use. In addition, the network node 404 can take into account the transmit power of these access points when determining whether the pilots transmitted by these access points can be received by a node that also receives pilot signals from the access point 402. Thus, only those pilot identifiers that could potentially cause collision can be sent to access point 402.

In some implementations, the access point 402 may first obtain a list of its neighboring nodes, and then conduct neighbor discovery at access points identified by the list. For example, a network node 404 (e.g., a neighbor detection device 426) can send such a list to an access point 402 based on the location of an access point 402 (for example, that can be provided to an access point 404 by an access point 402). Also, an access terminal that is associated (eg, serviced) with access point 402 can send a report to access point 402, which indicates which access points the access terminal is currently hearing (i.e., receiving signals from) or heard previously.

In some implementations, access point 402 may determine the pilot identifiers used by its neighboring nodes without formally detecting the neighboring node. For example, access point 402 may include a downlink receiver (e.g., as represented by receiver 412) that is configured to detect pilot signals from neighboring access points. That is, access point 402 may receive configuration information over the air. In this case, the access point 402 may determine the pilot identifiers used by these neighboring access points based on the detected signals (e.g., based on the PN sequence extracted from the received pilot signals) and, optionally, determine the identification of neighboring nodes (e.g., by analysis of information in other downlink messages).

In some implementations, access point 402 may receive a pilot identifier or other information about neighboring nodes from an access terminal (eg, access terminal 102 of FIG. 1). For example, an access terminal that is associated with access point 402 may send a report to access point 402 indicating the pilot signals that the access terminal is receiving. In the present application, the access terminal can extract information (eg, pilot identifier, PN sequence, or other access point identification information) from the signals that it receives and transmit this information to access point 402.

As represented by block 306 of FIG. 3, an access point 404 (e.g., pilot identifier selector 428) selects a pilot identifier to be used by access point 402 based on the pilot identifiers determined by step 304 and the assigned list of pilot identifiers signals, if applicable. For example, access point 402 may select a pilot identifier from an assigned list that does not conflict with any pilot identifier (for example, is not the same as any pilot identifier) used by neighboring access points.

Access point 402 may try to avoid conflict with the pilot identifiers of its immediate neighboring nodes (e.g., multi-hop neighboring nodes) and, optionally, multi-hop neighboring nodes. The detection of multi-hop neighboring nodes is discussed in more detail below in connection with FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.

Access point 402 may organize the pilot identifiers of its neighboring nodes into several groups and use these groups in the process of selecting a pilot identifier. Such groups can be organized in various ways. For example, the first group may include pilot identifiers heard by access point 402 and / or pilot identifiers communicated by access terminals associated with access point 402. The second group may include dual-hop neighboring nodes identified during the discovery of a neighboring node, but only those identified by a list provided by neighboring femto nodes (for example, low power access points). The third group may include double hop neighboring nodes identified during the detection of the neighboring node, but only those identified by the list provided by neighboring macro access points (for example, high power access points). In the present application, differentiation between groups two and three can be used, since a neighboring macro access point can report a large number of neighboring femto nodes, most of which can be located relatively far from access point 402 and, therefore, are less likely to cause a conflict with the identifier of the pilot the signal used by access point 402.

Continuing with the above example, in the case where one of the pilot identifiers in the assigned list is not used by any neighboring nodes of the access point 402 (for example, any of the group identifiers one, two and three), the access point 402 can simply select this pilot identifier signal. Conversely, if all of the pilot identifiers in the assigned set are used by at least one of the neighboring nodes, access point 402 can determine whether any of the pilot identifiers of the assigned set is in conflict with only the access point from group three (t .e. there is no conflict with group one or group two). If so, access point 402 may select one of these pilot identifiers in an attempt to minimize the risk of conflict. In the case where all the identifiers of the assigned list conflict with either group one or group two, access point 402 may select a pilot identifier that conflicts only with group two (in the case where such a pilot identifier exists). In some implementations, access point 402 is not allowed to select a pilot identifier from group one. In the case where there are many pilot identifiers to choose from, access point 402 may select one of the pilot identifiers randomly or in some other designated way.

As represented by step 308, the access point 402 is then configured to use the selected pilot identifier for wireless communication. For example, transmitter 410 may use the selected pilot identifier to generate the pilot signals that it broadcasts.

As represented by step 310, the access point 402 may continue to monitor the pilot identifiers used by its neighboring nodes (for example, using the operations of step 304), so that the access point can continue to ensure that the pilot identifiers that it uses are not in conflict with the pilot identifier used by the neighboring node. For example, such a conflict could be caused by a new access point that was recently installed in the vicinity of access point 402, or by a mobile access point that has entered the vicinity of access point 402. Also, a conflict (i.e., collision) of the pilot identifier can occur if two access points that are not within each other’s audibility select the same pilot identifier. Such a conflict, in the end, can be detected, for example, by an access terminal that receives signals from both access points. In this case, one or both of these access points can be configured to change their pilot identifiers. As described below in connection with FIG. 7, an access terminal that detects a conflict may inform one or all of the access points in question. For example, an access terminal may connect to one of these access points to transmit this information, or may send this information to the access points in question using a connection that the access terminal has to another access point.

In the event that a conflict is identified, the access point 402 may perform operations similar to the operations described above to select a new pilot identifier that does not conflict with any pilot identifier used by the neighboring access point. Thus, by using these methods, access point 402 can independently resolve pilot identifier conflicts (eg, collisions of pilot identifiers). For example, after receiving a conflict notification or conflict identification, the access point 402 can move its current pilot identifier to a group of identifiers that are designated as prohibited (for example, group one discussed above) and repeat the operations described above.

In some cases, when changing its pilot identifier, access point 402 may discard all the connections it currently supports and cause the associated access terminals to reconnect. As an optimization, the access terminal 402 may send a message in advance to inform the access terminals of the new pilot identifier and the point in time at which the access point 402 will switch to using the new pilot identifier. Thus, switching to a new pilot identifier can be performed with a minimum service gap.

Now, referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the access point can detect its neighboring nodes by using the detection of a neighboring node initiated by the access point and / or the detection of the neighboring node by the access terminal. 5 is an example of neighbor discovery initiated by an access point. 6 is an example of neighbor detection by an access terminal.

In Fig. 5, access point A may initiate the discovery of a neighboring node after learning about the existence of neighboring access point B. For example, as discussed above, access point A can listen to the broadcast information of its neighboring RF nodes (for example, by using a downlink receiver) or obtain information about its neighboring nodes in some other way. As represented by block 502 of FIG. 5, access point A may thus learn the identifier (eg, address) of one of its neighboring nodes.

An access point A (for example, using an operation of a component of a neighbor detection controller) can connect to a neighboring node directly through a backhaul and perform a neighbor discovery message exchange. For example, access point A sends a neighbor discovery request (“ND request”) to access point B. In response, the access point B (for example, using an operation of a component of the neighbor detection controller) sends a neighbor detection report (“ND report”) to the access point A. Similarly, access point B sends a neighbor discovery request to access point A, and in response receives a neighbor discovery report.

Advantageously, the report from access point B may include information about its neighboring nodes (eg, access point C). For example, information related to access point C may contain sufficient information (eg, identifier, address, etc.) to enable another node to access access point C. In this application, it should be understood that the access point C may be a two-hop neighboring node (or a jump of a higher order) to the access point A (for example, access point A cannot listen to access point C). In some implementations, access point B may automatically include information about its neighboring nodes in its report. Alternatively, access point A may specifically request that access point B include this information in the report.

Thus, the access point A can use any information that it receives from a single hop neighboring node (for example, access point B) related to any multi-hop neighboring nodes in order to communicate with multi-hop neighboring nodes. For example, as indicated in FIG. 5, access point A sends a neighbor discovery request to access point C and receives a neighbor discovery report in response. Similarly, access point C sends a neighbor discovery request to access point A, and in response receives a neighbor discovery report. In a similar manner, as discussed above, a neighbor detection report from an access point C may include information about neighboring nodes (not shown in FIG. 5) of the access point C. Thus, access point A can receive information about its three hop neighboring nodes.

6, access point A learns information about its neighboring nodes by detecting a neighboring node using the access terminal. In this application, the access terminal sends a pilot signal to its serving access point (access point A), which indicates all the pilot signals that the access terminal receives (for example, pilot ID2 and other pilot IDs). In the case where the pilot ID in the pilot report is new for access point A, access point A may use the access terminal to resolve the address (eg, IP address) of the new access point. For example, access point A may send a request for a sector ID or other suitable request (for example, including the pilot ID of a new access point) to the access terminal. The access terminal may then send a sector response that includes the corresponding sector ID (or the access terminal sends some other suitable response) to access point A.

Then, access point A can exchange the neighbor discovery with a new access point (for example, access point B). As discussed above in connection with FIG. 5, the access point A can receive information on double hop neighboring nodes (for example, access point C from access point B, and then exchange the discovery of a neighboring node with a double hop neighboring node (s)).

Now, referring to Fig.7 - Fig.9, the ideas of the present application are applicable to the configuration of the access point as a whole. For example, the ideas described above, as well as other ideas described in this application, can be used to determine the variety of configuration parameters for the access point. Examples of such configuration parameters include, without limitation, a frequency band, a carrier frequency, a pilot identifier, a maximum transmit power, and a transmit power profile.

As represented by block 702 of FIG. 7, an access point 802 (eg, a neighbor detection controller 846) can selectively determine the identity of its neighboring nodes. For example, in a similar manner, as discussed above, the access point 802 may receive a list of its neighboring nodes from a configuration server (eg, network node 804). In this application, an operator may provide one or more centralized configuration servers in its network to participate in the configuration of access points in the network. If the access point 802 is initialized, it can initiate the configuration process.

In some aspects, initializing an access point 802 includes obtaining that the access point 802 is able to communicate with an operator network. In this application, the access point 802 may need to be authenticated before it is allowed access to the operator’s network.

In addition, access point 802 can determine the location of the configuration server. For example, the access point 802 may be preconfigured with a known address (eg, IP address) of the configuration server. Alternatively, the access point 802 may be aware of the operator of the network with which it is connected (for example, operator.com), so that the access point 802 can make a DNS FQDN query “config_server.operator.com” and in response accept the IP address . In other implementations, the access point 802 may use some other method to obtain information about a suitable address. Then, the access point 802 can establish a connection with the configuration server. For example, communication can be established using standardized SNMP or other configuration protocols such as NetConf, OMA DM, CWMP (TR 069) or DOCSIS, or by using the proprietary CLI via SSH.

As discussed above, the configuration server may provide a list of neighboring nodes to the access point based on location information that the configuration server receives from the access point. These operations will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 9 and the flowchart of the nodes 802 and 804 of FIG. 8.

As represented by block 902 of FIG. 9, after initializing the access point 802, the location device 844 can determine the location of the access point 802. A location device 844 can determine a location in various ways. For example, a location may be determined using global positioning system (“GPS”) technology, GPS assist technology, a network based positioning method, an RG based method, or some other suitable method.

As represented by block 904, the access point 802 sends information related to its location (e.g., an estimate of its location) to the network node 804. In some implementations, this operation may be initialized by the access point 802 (for example, if the access point 802 is connected to a configuration server). In some implementations, the configuration server may explicitly request this location information as part of its connection setup protocol (eg, through a request). Access point 802 may also send other information (eg, power profile, node type) to network node 804, which network node 804 can use to provide an appropriate response.

As represented by step 906, if the network node 804 (for example, the neighboring node determination apparatus 840) receives location information from the access point 802, the network node 804 identifies neighboring nodes of the access point 802 and generates a list of neighboring nodes. This list of neighboring nodes may include, for example, any macro access points that are relatively close to access point 802, as well as other access points (eg, femto nodes, etc.) in the geographical vicinity of access point 802.

The list of neighboring nodes may be a function of the power classes (or power profiles) of the access point 802 and its neighboring nodes. For example, a remote macro access point that transmits at high power may be a neighboring node of an access point 802. In contrast, a low power access point (eg, a femto node) that is relatively close to access point 802 may not be included in the list of neighboring nodes if the service areas of the low power access point and access point 802 do not intersect. Therefore, in some cases, the access point 802 may send power class information to the network node 802 along with location information. In addition, the network node 804 may receive power related information from other access points in the network. As represented by step 908, if a list of neighboring nodes is generated, the network node 804 sends a list of neighboring nodes to the access point 802.

Referring again to FIG. 7, as represented by block 704, an access point 802 (eg, a configuration controller 832) determines the configuration of its neighboring nodes. As discussed above, the access point 802 may obtain configuration information for its neighboring nodes in various ways. For example, an access point 802 may connect directly to a neighboring node through a backhaul and thus read the selection of a set of parameters. Access point 802 may listen over the air to detect one or more parameters of a neighboring access point (eg, pilot identifier, as discussed above). The access point 802 may utilize neighbor discovery using the access terminal, wherein the access terminal associated with the access point 802 can send configuration information to the access point 802. For example, an access terminal 818 (eg, a configuration controller 836) may inform the access point 802 of neighboring access points that the access terminal 818 has heard. Also, the access point 802 may receive configuration information of neighboring nodes from a configuration server, such as a network node 804 (e.g., a configuration controller 834), as discussed herein. It should be understood that the access point 102 may obtain configuration information by using one or more of the methods described herein, or by other methods.

As represented by block 706, the access point 802 (for example, configuration determination device 848) may configure the access point 802 based on the configuration information obtained in step 704. In some aspects, the access point 802 can autonomously select its own set of parameters (e.g., parameters RF) as a function of the parameters (e.g., RF parameters) of its neighboring nodes.

In some cases, the access point 802 may select its power profile based on the power profile or power profiles of its neighboring nodes. For example, an access point 802 may select the same profile as that used by its neighboring nodes. Alternatively, the access point 802 may select a power profile that is complementary to the power profile (s) used by its neighboring node (s). The power profile may determine, for example, maximum transmit power, different transmit powers for different conditions, or other power parameters.

As discussed above, in some cases, the access point 802 may select a pilot identifier (eg, a PN pilot) based on the pilot identifiers used by its neighboring nodes. For example, access point 802 may select a different pilot identifier than its neighboring nodes.

In some cases, the access point 802 may select a carrier (eg, RF bandwidth) based on the carrier (s) used by its neighboring nodes. For example, neighboring nodes in the network may select additional sets of carrier priorities (for example, as indicated by a carrier mask or some other suitable indication) in order to implement an interference control scheme. In this application, each access point can radiate more energy on some carriers and less energy (for example, or none at all) on other carriers. If neighboring access points select these carrier priorities in an additional way, it can be guaranteed that the access terminals associated with each of the access points can have more preferred interference environments on at least some carriers. To accomplish this in an autonomous manner, a new access point (for example, an access point that has recently been initialized) can determine the carrier priorities used by its neighboring nodes and select their own carrier priorities as additional to them as possible.

In some aspects, the configuration of the access point 802 may depend on its location. For example, a configuration server (eg, configuration controller 834) may determine a list (eg, a subset) of parameters (eg, an allowed range of parameters) that may be used by the access point. As discussed above in connection with FIG. 3, a predetermined list may be based on the location of the access point 802. For example, a specific list of power profiles that may be used by access point 802 may be specified based on the location of access point 802. Similarly, a specific list of frequency bands that may be used by access point 802 may be specified based on the location of access point 802. At a broad level, in the city, state, or country in which the access point 802 is currently located, you can limit which frequency band the access point 802 can use. For example, the same operator may own different frequency bands in different countries or the operator may designate the use of different frequency bands in different cities.

In some implementations, the configuration information may include certain optimization parameters (eg, non-radio parameters). Such parameters may include, for example, secret keys that can be used to access one or more services (for example, the ability to connect to a network). Such parameters may also include addresses of other nodes with which the access point 802 may have a need to connect.

As represented by block 708 of FIG. 7, the access point 802 may then use the configuration specified in block 706 for communication or other operations. For example, as discussed above, the transceiver 806 may be configured with certain RF parameters to determine which pilot identifier to advertise on which carriers to operate, and the transmit power level used on these carriers.

As represented by block 710, the access point 802 may continue to monitor the configurations of its neighboring nodes to detect a conflict (eg, collision). As mentioned above, in the event of a conflict, the access point 802 may perform configuration operations as described above to resolve the conflict.

In some implementations, the access point 802 may receive a conflict indication from the access terminal (eg, access terminal 818). For example, if the access terminal 818 detects a conflict (for example, the conflict detector 838 detects two access points using the same pilot identifier), the access terminal 818 may send a corresponding message to the access point 802. Based on this message, the configuration controller 802 may perform the operations as discussed above to select a different configuration for the access point 802.

It should be understood that the operations and components described above in connection with Fig.7 - Fig.9, may be applicable to the configuration schemes described in this application with reference to other figures. For example, these operations and components can be used in connection with the configuration of the pilot identifier for the access point (for example, as described above in connection with FIG. 3 - FIG. 6).

Now, referring to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, in some implementations, the access point may receive configuration information from another node (eg, a configuration server), wherein the configuration information depends on the location of the access point. For convenience, the operations of FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 will be described in the context of the access point 802 and the network node 804 of FIG.

As represented by steps 1002 and 1004 of FIG. 10, the access point 102 (eg, location determination device 844) determines its location and provides this information to the network node 804. Thus, this operation may be similar to the location operations described above (for example, at steps 902 and 904).

As represented by step 1006, the network node 804 (e.g., the configuration controller 834) determines the configuration information for the access point 802 based on the received location information. For example, as discussed above, the configuration information may comprise RF parameters, optimization parameters, other parameters, or a combination of two or more of these parameters. In some cases, this operation may result in a completely new configuration specific to the access point 802. Alternatively, the network node 804 can only determine a portion of the parameters used by the access point 802.

As represented by step 1008, the network node 804 sends configuration information at the access point 802. Then, the access point 802 is configured using the received configuration information (step 1010).

Now, referring to FIG. 11, in some cases, the configuration server may decide to redirect the access point to another configuration server. Such a decision can be made, for example, based on the location of the access point and / or the load on the configuration server.

As represented by block 1102, the access point 802 sends a message to the network node 804 to obtain configuration information. As discussed above, such a message may include information indicating the location of the access point 802.

As represented by block 1104, the network node 804 (e.g., configuration server selection device 842) may determine whether to provide the requested configuration information. For example, the network node 804 may determine, based on the location of the access point 802, that another configuration server (eg, which is closer to the access point 802) should process the request. Also, the network node 804 may decide to redirect the request based on the load in the network node 804. For example, if the network node 804 is heavily loaded, the network node 804 may redirect the request to another configuration server that is not so heavily loaded.

As represented by steps 1106 and 1108, in the case where the network node 804 decides to process the request, the network node 804 may provide the requested configuration information to the access point 802. For example, the operation may be similar to the operations described above in connection with FIG. 10.

As represented by block 1110, if the network node 804 decides that it will not process the request (for example, based on its load or the proximity of the access point 802), the network node 804 (for example, the configuration server selection device 842) identifies another configuration server that may provide configuration information for access point 802. To this end, the network node 804 may maintain a database that includes information about other configuration servers in the network. In addition, or alternatively, the network node 804 may be configured to detect or communicate with another network node to obtain this information.

As represented by block 1112, the network node 804 sends an indication of another configuration server to the access point 802 (for example, in the form of a redirect message). In some implementations, the indication may contain information that will enable the access point 802 to determine the address of another configuration server. For example, the indication may contain the location (eg, city) of the configuration server. After receiving this information, the access point 802 can determine the address of another configuration server (for example, through a DNS query).

In some implementations, the indication may contain the address of another configuration server. In some implementations, the redirection can be performed using the configuration server, setting a parameter that indicates the address of another configuration server. After determining that there is then a change in this parameter, the access point 802 will attempt to establish a connection with the new configuration server.

As represented by block 1114, the access point 802 may thus send a message to another configuration server to obtain configuration information. If the access point 802 completes its configuration exchange with the configuration server, the access point 802 may initiate user communication operations.

As mentioned above, the ideas of this application can be implemented in a network that uses macro access points, relay nodes, etc. 12 and 13 illustrate examples of how access points can be used in such a network. 12 illustrates in a simplified manner how cells 1202 (e.g., macro cells 1202A-1202G) of a wireless communication system 1200 can be served by corresponding access points 1204 (e.g., access points 1204A-1204G). In this application, macrocells 1202 may correspond to macrozone 204 of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 12, access terminals 1206 (eg, terminals 1206A-1206L) may be distributed at various locations throughout the system over time. Each access terminal 1206 may communicate with one or more access points 1204 on the forward link (“FL”) and / or reverse link (“RL”) at a given point in time, for example, depending on whether terminal 1206 is access active, and whether it is in a soft handoff state. By using this cellular scheme, the wireless communication system 1200 can provide services for a relatively large geographic area. For example, each of the 1202A-1202G macrocells can cover a few blocks in a neighborhood or a few square miles in a village.

13 illustrates an example of how one or more femto nodes can be used in a network environment (eg, system 1200). In the system 1300 of FIG. 13, a plurality of femto nodes 1310 (e.g., nodes 1310A and 1310B) are illustrated in a network environment regarding serving a small area (e.g., in one or more user dwellings 1330). Each femto node 1310 can be connected to a global network 1340 (e.g., the Internet) and a core network 1350 of a mobile operator (e.g., containing network nodes, as discussed in this application) using a DSL router, cable modem, wireless link, or other means of opportunity connections (not shown).

The owner of the femto node 1310 can subscribe to a mobile service, such as, for example, a 3G mobile service offered through an operator’s core mobile network 1350. In addition, the access terminal 1320 can operate both in macro environments and in network service environments of a smaller area (eg, residential). In other words, depending on the current location of the access terminal 1320, the access terminal 1320 may be served by an access macro point 1360 associated with a mobile operator’s core network 1350, or using one of the sets of femto nodes 1310 (for example, femto nodes 1310A and 1310B located in corresponding dwelling 1330 user). For example, when a subscriber is outside his home, the subscriber can be served using a standard macro access point (e.g., access point 1360), and when the subscriber is near or inside his home, the subscriber can be served by a femto node (e.g., node 1310A). In the present application, the femto node 1310 may be backward compatible with existing access terminals 1320.

Femtocell 1310 can be used on a single frequency or, alternatively, on multiple frequencies. Depending on the particular configuration, one frequency or one or more of the plurality of frequencies may overlap with one or more frequencies used by access macro points (eg, access point 1360).

In some aspects, the access terminal 1320 may be configured to connect to a preferred femto node (e.g., the home femto node of the access terminal 1320) whenever such a connectivity is possible. For example, whenever the access terminal 1320A is located in the user's home 1330, it may be desirable for the access terminal 1320A to communicate only with the home femto node 1310A or 1310B.

In some aspects, if the access terminal 1320 operates on a macrocell network 1350 but is not in its most preferred network (e.g., as defined in the preferred roaming list), access terminal 1320 may continue to search for the most preferred network (e.g., preferred femtocell 1310) with using re-selecting the best system (“BSR”), which may include periodically scanning available systems to determine if the best system is currently available, and subsequent attempts that would be associated with such preferred systems. Upon receipt of the input, access terminal 1320 may limit the search for a particular band and channel. For example, a search for the most preferred system may be repeated periodically. After the discovery of the preferred femto node 1310, the access terminal 1320 selects the femto node 1310 for temporary location in its service area.

Femtocell may be limited in some aspects. For example, a given femto node can only provide certain services to specific access terminals. In uses with so-called limited (or closed) association, this access terminal can only be served by a mobile macro macro network and a given set of femto nodes (for example, femto nodes 1310, which are located in the respective user dwellings 1330). In some implementations, the node may be limited so as not to provide at least one node with at least one of the following: signaling, data access, registration, paging or service.

In some aspects, a limited femto node (which may also be referred to as a home node In a closed subscriber group) is a node that provides a service to a limited set of access terminals provided. This kit can be temporarily or permanently expanded when necessary. In some aspects, a closed subscriber group (“CSG”) may be defined as a set of access points (eg, femto nodes) that share a common access control list of access terminals. A channel in which all femto nodes (or all restricted femto nodes) of a region operate, may be referred to as a femto channel.

Thus, various communications may exist between a given femto node and a given access terminal. For example, from the perspective of the access terminal, an open femto node may relate to a femto node with unlimited association (for example, a femto node allows access to any access terminal). A restricted femto node may refer to a femto node that is restricted in some way (e.g., restricted for association and / or registration). A home femto node may be referred to as a femto node in which the access terminal is authorized to access and operate (for example, permanent access is provided for a specific set of one or more access terminals). A guest femto node may refer to a femto node in which an access terminal is temporarily authorized to access or operate. A foreign femtocell may refer to a femtocell where the access terminal is not authorized to access or operate, possibly except in emergency situations (for example, 911 calls).

From the perspective of a limited femto node, a home access terminal may refer to an access terminal that is authorized to access a limited femto node (for example, an access terminal has constant access to a femto node). A guest access terminal may refer to an access terminal with temporary access to a limited femto node (for example, limited based on a deadline, usage time, bytes, connection count, or some other criterion or criteria). A foreign access terminal may refer to an access terminal that does not have permission to access a restricted femto node, possibly, except in emergency situations, such as 911 calls (for example, an access terminal that does not have authority or permission to register with a restricted femto node).

For convenience, the disclosure of this application describes various functionalities in the context of a femto node. However, it should be understood that a pico node or relay node may provide the same or similar functionality for different (eg, larger) service areas. For example, a pico node or a relay node may be limited, a home pico node or a relay home node may be defined for a given access terminal, etc.

The ideas of this application can be implemented in various types of communication devices. In some aspects, the ideas of the present application can be implemented in wireless devices that can be used in multiple access communication systems that can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless access terminals. In this application, each access terminal can communicate with one or more access points via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (also known as the downlink) refers to the communication line from the access points to the terminals, and the reverse link (also known as the uplink) refers to the communication line from the terminals to the access points. This communication line can be established using a system with one input and one output, a system with multiple inputs and multiple outputs (“MIMO”), or some other type of system.

) антенн передачи и множество (

) антенн приема для передачи данных. Канал MIMO, сформированный посредством

антенн передачи и

антенн приема, может быть разбит на

независимых каналов, которые также упоминают как пространственные каналы

. Каждый из

независимых каналов соответствует некоторому измерению. Система MIMO может обеспечивать улучшенную производительность (например, более высокую пропускную способность и/или большую надежность), если используют дополнительные измерения, созданные с помощью множества антенн передачи и приема.For purposes of illustration, FIG. 14 describes exemplary communication components that may be used in a wireless device in the context of a MIMO-based system 800. The 1400 system uses many (

) transmission antennas and many (

) receive antennas for data transmission. MIMO channel formed by

transmission antennas and

receiving antennas, can be divided into

independent channels, which are also referred to as spatial channels

. Each of

independent channels corresponds to some dimension. A MIMO system can provide improved performance (for example, higher throughput and / or greater reliability) if additional measurements created using multiple transmit and receive antennas are used.

System 1400 can support time division duplex (“TDD”) and frequency division duplex (“FDD”). In a TDD system, forward and reverse link transmissions occur in the same frequency domain, so that the reciprocity principle enables estimation of the forward link channel from the reverse link channel. This enables the access point to derive a beamforming gain in forward link transmission when multiple antennas are available at the access point.

System 1400 includes a wireless device 1410 (e.g., an access point) and a wireless device 1450 (e.g., an access terminal). At device 1410, traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from a data source 1412 to a transmit (TX) data processor 1414.

In some aspects, each data stream is transmitted through a respective transmission antenna. TX data processor 1414 formats, codes, and interleaves the traffic data for each data stream based on the particular coding scheme selected for that data stream to provide encoded data.

The encoded data for each data stream may be multiplexed with pilot data using OFDM methods. The pilot data is usually a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner, and it can be used in the receiver system to estimate the channel response. The multiplexed pilot data and encoded data for each data stream is then modulated (i.e., mapped to symbols) based on a particular modulation scheme (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, M-PSK or M-QAM) selected for that data stream, to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream can be selected using instructions executed by processor 1430. Data memory 1432 can store program code, data, and other information used by processor 1430 or other components of device 1410.

потоков символов модуляции в

приемопередатчиков (“XCVR”) 1422А по 1422Т. В некоторых аспектах процессор 1420 MIMO ТХ применяет весовые коэффициенты формирования луча к символам потоков данных и к антенне, из которой передают символ.The modulation symbols for all data streams are then provided to a TX MIMO processor 1420, which can further process the symbols (e.g., for OFDM). The 1420 MIMO TX processor then provides

modulation symbol streams in

transceivers (“XCVR”) 1422A to 1422T. In some aspects, TX MIMO processor 1420 applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which the symbol is transmitted.

модулированных сигналов из приемопередатчиков 1422А по 1422Т затем передают из

антенн 1424А по 1424Т, соответственно.Each transceiver 1422 receives and processes a respective symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further leads to predetermined conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission through the MIMO channel .

modulated signals from transceivers 1422A through 1422T are then transmitted from

antennas 1424A through 1424T, respectively.

антенн 1452А по 1452R, и принятый сигнал из каждой антенны 1452 предоставляют в соответственный приемопередатчик (“XCVR”) 1454А по 1454R. Каждый приемопередатчик 1454 приводит к заданным условиям (например, фильтрует, усиливает и преобразует с понижением частоты) соответственный принятый сигнал, оцифровывает приведенный к заданным условиям сигнал, чтобы предоставить выборки, и дополнительно обрабатывает выборки, чтобы предоставить соответственный “принятый” поток символов.At device 1450, the transmitted modulated signals are received by

antennas 1452A through 1452R, and the received signal from each antenna 1452 is provided to a respective transceiver (“XCVR”) 1454A through 1454R. Each transceiver 1454 leads to predetermined conditions (for example, filters, amplifies, and downconverts) a corresponding received signal, digitizes the reduced signal to predetermined conditions to provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide a corresponding “received” symbol stream.

принятых потоков символов из

приемопередатчиков 1454 на основании конкретной схемы обработки приемника, чтобы предоставить

“детектированных” потоков символов. Затем процессор данных RX демодулирует, осуществляет обратное перемежение и декодирует каждый детектированный поток символов, чтобы восстановить данные трафика для потока данных. Обработка процессором данных RX является дополнительной в обработке, выполненной процессором 1420 MIMO TX и процессором 1414 данных ТХ в устройстве 1410.A receive data processor (“RX”) 1460 then receives and processes

received character streams from

transceivers 1454 based on a specific receiver processing scheme to provide

“Detected” character streams. The RX data processor then demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes each detected symbol stream to recover traffic data for the data stream. Processing by the RX data processor is optional in processing performed by the TX MIMO processor 1420 and TX data processor 1414 in device 1410.

A processor 1470 periodically determines which precoding matrix to use (discussed below). The processor 1470 formulates a reverse link message comprising a matrix index portion and a rank value portion. Data memory 1472 can store program code, data, and other information used by processor 1470 or other components of device 1450.

The reverse link message may contain various types of information related to the communication line and / or the received data stream. The reverse link message is then processed by TX data processor 1438, which also receives traffic data for a number of data streams from the data source 1436, modulates it with a modulator 1480, leads to predetermined conditions by transceivers 1454A through 1454R, and transmits it to device 1410.

At device 1410, modulated signals from device 1450 are received by antennas 1424, conditioned by transceivers 1422, demodulated with a demodulator (“DEMOD”) 1440, and processed by RX data processor 1442 to extract the reverse link message transmitted by device 1450. Then, processor 1430 determines which precoding matrix to use to determine the beamforming weights, and then processes the extracted message.

14 also illustrates that communication components may include one or more components that perform configuration management operations (“CONFIG”), as taught in this application. For example, the configuration management component 1490 may interact with the processor 1430 and / or other components of the device 1410 to send / receive signals to / from another device (eg, device 1450), as taught in this application. Similarly, the configuration control component 1492 can communicate with the processor 1470 and / or other components of the device 1450 to send / receive signals to / from another device (e.g., device 1410). It should be understood that for each device 1410 and 1450, the functionality of two or more of the described components can be provided by one component. For example, one processing component may provide the functionality of a configuration management component 1490 and a processor 1430, and one processing component may provide the functionality of a configuration management component 1492 and a processor 1470.

The ideas of this application may be incorporated into various types of communication systems and / or system components. In some aspects, the ideas of this application can be used in multiple access systems that can communicate with multiple users by sharing available system resources (for example, by defining one or more of the following: frequency bands, transmit power, coding, interleaving, etc. d.). For example, the ideas of this application can be applied to any one or combination of the following technologies: code division multiple access (“CDMA”) systems, multi-carrier CDMA (“MCCDMA”), broadband CDMA (“W-CDMA”), high-speed systems packet access (“HSPA”, “HSPA +”), time division multiple access systems (“TDMA”), frequency division multiple access systems (“FDMA”), single-carrier FDMA systems (“SC-FDMA”), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (“OFDMA”) systems and a friend im multiple access methods. A wireless communication system using the teachings of this application can be designed to enforce one or more standards, such as IS-95, cdma2000, IS-856, W-CDMA, TDSCDMA, and other standards. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (“UTRA”), cdma2000, or some other technology. UTRA includes WCDMA and low chip rate (“LCR”). Cdma2000 technology covers IS-2000, IS-95 IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (“GSM”). An OFDMA network may implement radio technology such as Enhanced UTRA (“E-UTRA"), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA and GSM are part of the universal mobile communications system (“UMTS”). The ideas of this application can be implemented in the 3GPP (“LTE”) long-term development project system, the UMB system and other types of systems. LTE is a version of UMTS and uses E-UTRA. Although certain aspects of the disclosure may be described using 3GPP terminology, it should be understood that the ideas of this application can be applied to 3GPP technology (Rel99, Rel5, Rel6, Rel7), as well as 3GPP2 technology (IxRTT, 1xEV-DO RelO , RevA, RevB) and other technologies.

The ideas of this application may be included in (for example, implemented in or implemented through) a number of apparatuses (for example, nodes). In some aspects, a node (eg, a wireless node) implemented in accordance with the teachings of this application may comprise an access point or access terminal.

For example, an access terminal may comprise, be implemented as or known as a user equipment, a subscriber station, a subscriber device, a mobile station, a mobile device, a remote station, a remote terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, a user device, or some other terminology. In some implementations, the access terminal may comprise a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (“SIP”) telephone, a Wireless Local Area Station (“WLL”), a personal digital assistant (“PDA”), and a handheld device having wireless functionality , or some other suitable processing device connected to a wireless modem. Thus, one or more aspects taught in this application can be included in a telephone (e.g., cell phone or smartphone), computer (e.g., portable laptop), portable communications device, portable computing device (e.g., personal data assistant) , an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, video device or satellite radio), a global positioning system device, or any suitable device that is configured to communicate via the wireless medium.

An access point may comprise, be implemented as, or known as a Node B, an eNodeB, a radio network controller (“RNC”), a base station (“BS”), a radio base station (“RBS”), a transceiver function (“FT”), a radio transceiver, a radio router, a basic services station (“BSS”), an advanced services station (“ESS”), or some other terminology.

In some aspects, a node (eg, an access point) may comprise an access node for a communication system. Such an access node may provide, for example, the ability to connect to a network or network (for example, a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication line with the network. Thus, an access node may enable another node (eg, an access terminal) to access a network or some other functionality. In addition, it should be understood that one or both of the nodes may be portable or, in some cases, relatively non-portable.

It should also be understood that the wireless node may allow the transmission and / or reception of information in a non-wireless manner (for example, via a wired connection). Thus, a receiver and a transmitter as discussed herein may include appropriate communication interface components (e.g., components of an electrical or optical interface) to communicate through a non-wireless medium.

A wireless node may communicate through one or more wireless communication lines that are based on suitable wireless technology or otherwise support wireless technology. For example, in some aspects, a wireless node may be associated with a network. In some aspects, the network may comprise a local area network or a wide area network. A wireless device may support or otherwise use one or more of a variety of wireless communications technologies, protocols or standards, such as wireless communications technologies, protocols or standards discussed herein (e.g., CDMA, TDMA, OFDM, OFDMA, WiMAX, Wi-Fi etc.). Similarly, a wireless node may support or otherwise use one or more of a plurality of respective modulation and multiplexing schemes. Thus, a wireless node may include appropriate components (eg, air interfaces) to establish one or more wireless communication lines or communicate through one or more wireless communication lines using the aforementioned or other wireless communication technologies. For example, a wireless node may comprise a wireless transceiver with associated transmitter and receiver components, which may include various components (e.g., signal generators and signal processors) that facilitate communication through a wireless medium.

The components described in this application can be implemented in many ways. Referring to FIG. 15 to FIG. 22, apparatuses 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, 2100 and 2200 are represented as a sequence of interconnected functional blocks. In some aspects, the functionality of these units may be implemented as a processing system including one or more processor components. In some aspects, the functionality of these units may be implemented, for example, using at least part of one or more integrated circuits (eg, ASIC). As discussed herein, an integrated circuit may include a processor, software, other related components, or some combination thereof. The functionality of these blocks can also be implemented in some other way, as taught in this application. In some aspects, one or more of the dotted blocks in FIGS. 15 to 22 are optional.

Apparatuses 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, 2100, and 2200 may include one or more modules that may perform one or more of the functions described above with respect to the various drawings. For example, identifier means 1502 or conflict identifier 1516 may correspond, for example, to an identifier device, as discussed above. An identifier selector 1504 may correspond, for example, to an identifier selector, as discussed herein. Type sending means 1506 or location sending means 1510 may correspond, for example, to a transmitter, as discussed in this application. The list receiving means 1508 may correspond, for example, to a receiver, as discussed in this application. Means 1512 for receiving, generating, and sending neighboring nodes and means 1514 for identifying an access point may correspond, for example, to a neighboring node detection controller, as discussed herein. An identifier list determination means 1602 may correspond, for example, to a configuration controller, as discussed herein. The list sending means 1604 may correspond, for example, to a transmitter, as discussed herein. The receiving means 1606 may correspond, for example, to a receiver, as discussed in this application. Means 1608 determining the neighboring nodes and sending may correspond, for example, to the device for determining neighboring nodes, as discussed in this application. The access point identification means 1702 may correspond, for example, to a neighbor detection controller, as discussed herein. The configuration determining means 1704 may correspond, for example, to a configuration determining device, as discussed herein. The configuration tool 1706 may correspond, for example, to a configuration controller, as discussed herein. Conflict identification means 1708 may correspond, for example, to a configuration determining device, as discussed herein. The sending means 1710 may correspond, for example, to a transmitter, as discussed in this application. The receiving means 1712 may correspond, for example, to a receiver, as discussed in this application. The receiving means 1802 may correspond, for example, to a receiver, as discussed in this application. An access point determination means 1804 may correspond, for example, to a neighbor determination apparatus, as discussed herein. The sending means 1806 may correspond, for example, to a transmitter, as discussed in this application. The configuration tool 1808 may correspond, for example, to a configuration controller, as discussed herein. The location information sending means 1902 may correspond, for example, to a positioning device, as discussed herein. The means for receiving configuration information 1904 may correspond, for example, to a configuration controller, as discussed herein. Means 1906 determining the location of the server may correspond, for example, to a communication controller, as discussed in this application. The location information receiving means 2002 may correspond, for example, to a receiver, as discussed herein. The means 2004 for determining configuration information may correspond, for example, to a configuration controller, as discussed herein. The means 2006 for sending configuration information may correspond, for example, to a transmitter, as discussed in this application. The means 2102 for sending a message may correspond, for example, to a transmitter, as discussed in this application. Means 2104 receiving instructions of the configuration server may correspond, for example, to the receiver, as discussed in this application. The address determining means 2106 may correspond, for example, to a communication controller, as discussed herein. The request receiving means 2202 may correspond, for example, to a receiver, as discussed in this application. The configuration server identification means 2204 may correspond, for example, to a configuration server selection device, as discussed herein. An indication tool 2206 may correspond, for example, to a transmitter, as discussed herein.

It should be understood that any reference to an element in this application using a designation such as “first”, “second”, etc., usually does not limit the number or order of these elements. Instead, these designations can be used in this application as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, reference to the first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be used here, or that the first element must precede the second element in some way. Also, unless otherwise indicated, a set of elements may contain one or more elements. In addition, terminology of the form “at least one of: A, B or C” used in the description or in the claims means “A, or B, or C, or any combination of these elements”.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the foregoing description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination of them.

Those of ordinary skill in the art would further understand that various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, tools, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementation, analog implementation or a combination of the first and second, which can be constructed using source coding or some other method), various kinds of program or development code, including yuchayuschego an instruction (which may be referred to herein for convenience as "software" or "software module"), or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality as hardware or software is implemented depends on the limitations of the particular application and design imposed on the entire system. Experienced inventors may implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented in, or implemented by, an integrated circuit (“IC”), access terminal, or access point. An IC may include a universal processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a specialized integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, electrical components, optical components, mechanical components or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described in this application, and can execute codes or instructions that find in IC, outside IC or both in IC and outside IC. A universal processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in combination with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

It is clear that any specific sequence or hierarchy of stages in any open process is an example of an exemplary approach. Based on the design preferences, it is understood that the specific sequence or hierarchy of steps in the processes can be reordered, while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. The accompanying claims of the method represent the elements of the various steps in an exemplary sequence, and do not mean that they should be limited to the specific sequence or hierarchy represented.

The functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code in a computer-readable medium, or transmitted through a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium includes both a computer storage medium and a communication medium including any medium that facilitates transferring a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such a computer readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical disk memory, magnetic disk memory, or other magnetic memory devices, or any other medium that can be used to transfer or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures, and can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is accordingly called a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared radiation, radio waves, and microwaves, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared radiation, radio waves and microwaves are included in the definition of the environment. Disk and disc, as used herein, include a compact disc (CD), a laser disc, an optical disc, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a floppy disk, and a blu-ray disc, where disk typically reproduces data in a magnetic manner, and disc - optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included with the scope of the concept of a computer-readable medium. In conclusion, it should be understood that a computer-readable medium can be implemented in any suitable computer program product.

In view of the foregoing, in some aspects, the first communication method comprises: sending information indicating the location of the access point from the access point, and receiving at the access point, configuration information for the access point, wherein the configuration information is based on information indicating the location. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following can also be applied to the first communication method: configuration information comprises at least one RF parameter; the configuration information comprises at least one of the group consisting of: a frequency band, a carrier frequency, a pilot identifier, a maximum transmit power and a transmit power profile; the access point sends location indicating information to the configuration server, and the access point receives configuration information from the configuration server; the method further comprises receiving a request from the configuration server for information indicating the location, the access point sending information indicating the location in response to the request; the method further comprises determining a location of the configuration server; configuration information comprises at least one optimization parameter; moreover, the information indicating the location indicates at least one of the group consisting of: the city in which the access point is located, the country in which the access point is located, macro access points that serves the access point, the zone with which the access point is associated , the cell with which the access point communicates, GPS coordinates, geographical location and street address; The access point contains a femto node and a relay node.

In some aspects, the second communication method comprises: receiving information indicating the location of the access point, determining configuration information for the access point based on information indicating the location; and sending configuration information to the access point. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following can also be applied to the second communication method: configuration information comprises at least one RF parameter; the configuration information comprises at least one of the group consisting of: a frequency band, a carrier frequency, a pilot identifier, a maximum transmit power and a transmit power profile; the method further comprises sending a request for information indicating the location, wherein the information indicating the location is received in response to the request; configuration information comprises at least one optimization parameter; information indicating the location indicates at least one of the group consisting of: the city in which the access point is located, the country in which the access point is located, macro access points that serve the access point, the zone with which the access point is associated, the cell with which the access point communicates, GPS coordinates, geographical location and street address; the method is performed using the configuration server.

In some aspects, the third communication method comprises: sending a first message to a first configuration server to obtain configuration information for an access point; receiving an indication of the second configuration server from the first configuration server in response to the first message; and sending a second message to the second configuration server to obtain configuration information for the access point. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following can also be applied to the third communication method: the indication contains the address of the second configuration server; the method further comprises determining based on the address of the second configuration server; the first message contains information indicating the location of the access point, and an indication of the second configuration server is received based on the information indicating the location; information indicating the location indicates at least one of the group consisting of: the city in which the access point is located, the country in which the access point is located, macro access points that serves the access point, the zone with which the access point is associated, the cell with which the access point communicates, the operator’s network, which serves the access point, GPS coordinates, geographical location and street address; configuration information comprises at least one RF parameter; the configuration information comprises at least one of the group consisting of: a frequency band, a carrier frequency, a pilot identifier, a maximum transmit power and a transmit power profile; configuration information comprises at least one optimization parameter; The access point contains a femto node and a relay node.

In some aspects, the fourth communication method comprises: receiving, at a first configuration server, a request for configuration information for an access point; identifying a second configuration server that can provide configuration information; and sending an indication of the second configuration server in response to the request. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following can also be applied to the fourth communication method: the identification of the second configuration server is based on the load in the first configuration server and / or the load in the second configuration server; the identification of the second configuration server is based on the location of the first configuration server and / or the location of the second configuration server; the request contains information indicating the location of the access point, and the identification of the second configuration server is based on information indicating the location; information indicating the location indicates at least one of the group consisting of: the city in which the access point is located, the country in which the access point is located, macro access points that serves the access point, the zone with which the access point is associated, the cell to which the access point is connected, the operator’s network, which serves the access point, GPS coordinates, geographical location and street address; the instruction contains the address of the second configuration server; configuration information comprises at least one RF parameter; the configuration information comprises at least one of the group consisting of: a frequency band, a carrier frequency, a pilot identifier, a maximum transmit power and a transmit power profile; configuration information contains at least one optimization parameter.

In some aspects, the fifth communication method comprises: identifying at least one neighboring access point of a first access point; determining at least one configuration of at least one neighboring access point; and setting in the first access point at least one configuration for the first access point based on at least one configuration of at least one neighboring access point. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following can also be applied to the fifth communication method: defining at least one configuration comprises defining at least one RF parameter; setting at least one configuration comprises setting at least one of the group consisting of: a frequency band, a carrier frequency, a pilot identifier, a maximum transmit power, a transmit power profile; and a set of carrier priorities; setting at least one configuration comprises setting a power profile that is identical to the power profile of at least one neighboring access point; defining at least one configuration comprises defining a pilot identifier that is different than any pilot identifiers used by at least one neighboring access point; defining at least one configuration comprises defining a set of carrier priorities that is complementary to another set of carrier priorities used by the at least one access point; the method further comprises: identifying a conflict between the determined at least one configuration and the configuration previously set for at least the first access point, and setting a non-conflicting configuration for at least the first access point in response to the conflict identification; determining at least one configuration comprises at least one of the group consisting of: receiving configuration information over the air at a first access point, receiving configuration information at a first access point from an associated access point, receiving configuration information at a first access point through a backhaul and receiving configuration information at the first access point from the server; determining at least one configuration comprises receiving information that indicates at least one configuration of at least one multi-hop neighboring access point; the identification of the at least one access point comprises: sending the first access point information indicating the location of the first access point and / or the power profile of the first access point, and receiving at the first access point an indication of at least one neighboring access point, wherein based on the information sent; the first access point sends location information to the configuration server, and the first access point receives an indication from at least one other neighboring access point; information indicating the location indicates at least one of the group consisting of: the city in which the access point is located, the country in which the access point is located, macro access points that serves the access point, the zone with which the access point is associated, the cell with which the access point communicates, the operator’s network, which serves the access point, GPS coordinates, geographical location and street address; the first access point contains a femto node and a relay node.

In some aspects, a sixth communication method comprises: receiving information indicating a location of a first access point, determining at least one neighboring access point based on information indicating a location; and sending an indication of at least one neighboring access point at the first access point. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following can also be applied to the sixth communication method: the method further comprises receiving information indicating a power profile of the first access point, wherein determining at least one neighboring access point is further based on information indicating at least one power profile; the method further comprises: determining at least one configuration of at least one neighboring access point and sending an indication of at least one configuration to the first access point; at least one configuration contains at least one RF parameter; at least one configuration comprises at least one of the group consisting of: a frequency band, a carrier frequency, a pilot identifier, a maximum transmit power and a transmit power profile; information indicating the location indicates at least one of the group consisting of: the city in which the access point is located, the country in which the access point is located, macro access points that serves the access point, the zone with which the access point is associated, the cell with which the access point communicates, GPS coordinates, geographical location and street address; the method is performed using the configuration server.

In some aspects, functionality corresponding to one or more of the above aspects related to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth communication methods can be implemented, for example, in an apparatus using a structure as taught in this application. In addition, the computer program product may comprise codes configured to cause the computer to provide functionality consistent with one or more of the above aspects related to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth communication methods.

The previous description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to implement and use the present disclosure. Various modifications in these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is not intended that the present disclosure be limited to the aspects depicted in this application, but should be within the broadest possible framework consistent with the principles and new features disclosed in this application.

Claims (80)

1. A communication method, comprising the steps of determining at least the first identifier transmitted by the at least one other access point at the access point and selecting, on the basis of the at least first identifier, a second identifier for transmission by the access point wherein the second identifier contains an identifier for a cell associated with an access point. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second identifier comprises a pilot identifier, a physical cell identifier, or a primary scrambling sequence. 3. The method according to claim 2, in which the access point contains an eNodeB, and at least one other access point contains at least one other eNodeB. 4. The method according to claim 1, in which the determination phase includes the steps in which:
receive a list of identifiers of physical cells,
removing from the list at least one of the group consisting of: a physical cell identifier reported by the user equipment, a physical cell identifier reported by a neighboring eNodeB, and a physical cell identifier received over the air using a downlink receiver, and wherein which select includes the selection of a physical cell identifier for the cell after deletion. 5. The method according to claim 4, in which the step of selecting the identifier of the physical cell, comprises the step of randomly selecting the identifier of the physical cell from the list after deletion. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of selecting the second identifier comprises the step of selecting an identifier that is not used by at least one other access point. 7. The method according to claim 1, in which the stage at which the second identifier is selected, comprises a step on which the second identifier is selected from the list of identifiers. 8. The method according to claim 7, in which the list contains a subset of the set of identifiers. 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of selecting the second identifier further comprises the step of randomly selecting the second identifier from the list. 10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of receiving a list from the configuration server. 11. The method according to claim 10, in which the configuration server implements the functions of operation, accounting and management. 12. The method according to claim 7, in which the list is a configurable operator. 13. The method of claim 7, wherein the list is associated with at least one predetermined type of access point. 14. The method according to item 13, in which at least one predetermined type refers to at least one of the group consisting of: transmit power of the access point, mobility of the access point, and whether the access point is limited so as not to provide for at least one node, at least one of the following: signaling, data access, registration, paging or service. 15. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of sending information indicating the type of access point to the server, and receiving the list from the server, the list being based on the type. 16. The method according to claim 7, in which the list is associated with a geographical area. 17. The method according to claim 7, in which the list is based on the location of the access point. 18. The method according to claim 7, further comprising stages, in which
send information indicating the location of the access point to the server, and
receive the list from the server, and the list is based on information indicating the location. 19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining at least the first identifier comprises the step of receiving identifier information via the air from at least one other access point. 20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining at least the first identifier comprises the step of receiving identifier information from at least one associated user equipment. 21. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining at least the first identifier comprises the step of receiving information about the identifier through a transit connection. 22. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining at least the first identifier comprises the step of receiving at least one report of a neighboring node that includes at least a first identifier . 23. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining at least a first identifier comprises the step of receiving at least a first identifier of at least one adjacent multi-hop access point. 24. The method according to item 23, in which at least the first identifier of the at least one neighboring multi-hop access point is received through at least one report of the neighboring node. 25. The method of claim 23, wherein the step of selecting an identifier for the access point comprises the steps of:
classify each identifier of at least the first identifier in accordance with the associated number of hops to the access point and
selecting an identifier based on classification if a non-conflicting identifier is unavailable. 26. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining at least the first identifier comprises the steps of:
receive information related to a two-hop or three-hop access point from a single-hop access point, and
communicate with a two-hop or three-hop access point to determine the identifier used by the two-hop or three-hop access point. 27. The method according to claim 1, further comprising stages, which take the first report of the neighboring node from at least one other access point,
generating a second neighbor report that identifies any access points identified by the first neighbor report and sending a second neighbor report in response to a neighbor discovery request. 28. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of identifying at least one other access point by receiving signals over the air from at least one neighboring access point. 29. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying at least one other access point by receiving an indication of the at least one neighboring access point from the configuration server. 30. The method according to claim 1, further comprising stages in which:
identify the conflict between the at least first identifier and the identifier previously set for the access point, and set the non-conflicting identifier for the access point in response to the identification of the conflict. 31. The method according to clause 30, in which the identification of the conflict, comprises the step of receiving an indication of the conflict from the associated user equipment. 32. The method according to claim 1, wherein the access point comprises a femto node or a relay node. 33. A communication apparatus, comprising: an identifier determining device configured to determine at an access point at least a first identifier transmitted by at least one other access point, and an identifier selecting device configured to be selected based on, at least a first identifier, a second identifier for transmission by an access point, the second identifier containing an identifier for a cell associated with an access point. 34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the second identifier comprises a pilot identifier, a physical cell identifier, or a primary scrambling sequence. 35. The apparatus according to clause 34, in which the access point contains an eNodeB, and at least one other access point contains at least one other eNodeB. 36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the indicator determining apparatus is further configured to: receive a list of physical cell identifiers, remove from the list at least one of the group consisting of: a physical cell identifier reported by the user equipment, a physical cell identifier, communicated by a neighboring eNodeB and a physical cell identifier received over the air using a downlink receiver, and wherein the identifier selector is further configured to select dentifikatora physical cell to cell after removal. 37. The apparatus according to clause 36, in which the selection of the identifier of the physical cell contains a random selection of the identifier of the physical cell from the list after removal. 38. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein selecting the second identifier comprises selecting an identifier that is not used by at least one other access point. 39. The apparatus according to p, in which the selection of the identifier contains the selection of the second identifier from the list of identifiers. 40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the list contains a subset of the set of identifiers. 41. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein selecting a second identifier further comprises randomly selecting a second identifier from a list. 42. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the list is associated with at least one predetermined type of access point. 43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the at least one predetermined type refers to at least one of the group consisting of: transmit power of the access point, mobility of the access point, and whether the access point is limited so as not to provide for at least one node, at least one of the following: signaling, data access, registration, paging or service. 44. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the list is associated with a geographical area. 45. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the list is based on the location of the access point. 46. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein determining the at least first identifier comprises receiving identifier information via the air from at least one other access point. 47. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein determining the at least first identifier comprises receiving identifier information from at least one associated user equipment. 48. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein determining the at least first identifier comprises receiving identifier information via a transit connection. 49. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the determination of the at least first identifier comprises receiving at least one report of a neighboring node that includes at least a first identifier. 50. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein determining the at least first identifier comprises receiving at least one identifier of at least one multi-hop neighboring access point. 51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the at least one identifier of the at least one multi-hop neighboring access point is received by at least one report of the neighboring node. 52. Apparatus for communication, containing
means for determining at an access point at least a first identifier transmitted by at least one other access point, and
means for selecting, based on at least the first identifier, a second identifier for transmission by the access point, the second identifier containing an identifier for a cell associated with the access point. 53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the second identifier comprises a pilot identifier, a physical cell identifier, or a primary scrambling sequence. 54. The apparatus according to item 53, in which the access point contains an eNodeB, and at least one other access point contains at least one other eNodeB. 55. The apparatus according to item 53, in which the means for determining further includes:
means for receiving a list of identifiers of physical cells,
means for removing from the list at least one of the group consisting of: a physical cell identifier reported by the user equipment, a physical cell identifier reported by a neighboring eNodeB, and a physical cell identifier received over the air using a downlink receiver, and
wherein the selection means further includes means for selecting a physical cell identifier for the cell after deletion. 56. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein selecting a physical cell identifier comprises randomly selecting a physical cell identifier from a list after deletion. 57. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein selecting the second identifier comprises selecting an identifier that is not used by at least one other access point. 58. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein selecting the second identifier comprises selecting an identifier from a list of identifiers. 59. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the list contains a subset of the set of identifiers. 60. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein selecting a second identifier further comprises randomly selecting a second identifier from a list. 61. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the list is associated with at least one predetermined type of access point. 62. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the at least one predetermined type refers to at least one of the group consisting of: transmit power of the access point, mobility of the access point, and whether the access point is limited so as not to provide for at least one node, at least one of the following: signaling, data access, registration, paging or service. 63. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the list is associated with a geographical area. 64. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the list is based on the location of the access point. 65. The apparatus according to paragraph 52, in which the definition of at least the first identifier includes receiving information about the identifier via the air from at least one other access point. 66. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein determining the at least first identifier comprises receiving identifier information from at least one associated user equipment. 67. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein determining the at least first identifier comprises receiving <identifier information via a transit connection. 68. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the determination of the at least first identifier comprises receiving at least one report of a neighboring node that includes at least a first identifier. 69. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein determining the at least first identifier comprises receiving at least a first identifier of at least one multi-hop neighboring access point. 70. The apparatus of claim 69, wherein the at least first identifier of the at least one multi-hop neighboring access point is received using at least one report of the neighboring node. 71. Computer-readable media containing computer-executable instructions to cause a computer to execute a communication method comprising the steps of:
determining at the access point at least a first identifier transmitted by at least one other access point, and
based on at least the first identifier, select a second identifier transmitted by the access point, the second identifier containing the identifier for the cell associated with the access point. 72. The computer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein the second identifier comprises a pilot identifier, a physical cell identifier, or a primary scrambling sequence. 73. The computer-readable medium of claim 72, wherein the access point comprises an eNodeB, and at least one other access point comprises at least one other eNodeB. 74. The computer-readable medium of claim 72, wherein the instructions further include instructions to cause the computer:
receive a list of identifiers of physical cells,
remove from the list at least one of the group consisting of: a physical cell identifier reported by the user equipment, a physical cell identifier reported by a neighboring eNodeB, and a physical cell identifier received over the air using a downlink receiver, and
selection of the identifier of the physical cell for the cell, after deletion. 75. The computer-readable medium of claim 74, wherein selecting a physical cell identifier comprises randomly selecting a physical cell identifier from a list after deletion. 76. The computer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein selecting the second identifier comprises selecting an identifier that is not used by at least one other access point. 77. The computer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein selecting the second identifier comprises selecting a second identifier from the list of identifiers. 78. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the list is associated with at least one predetermined type of access point. 79. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the list is based on the location of the access point. 80. The computer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein the definition of the at least first identifier comprises at least one of the group consisting of: receiving identifier information via the air from at least one other access point, receiving identifier information from at least one associated user equipment, receiving identifier information via a backhaul, and receiving at least one report of a neighboring node that includes at least the first ide tifikator.

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