Methods and apparatus for configuration of femtocells in a wireless network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9191839-B2
Application number	US-201414514997-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 15, 2014
Priority date	Apr 28, 2009
Publication date	Nov 17, 2015
Grant date	Nov 17, 2015

Abstract

Methods and apparatus that enable and optimize the simultaneous operation of several wireless femtocells having overlapping coverage areas. In one embodiment of the invention, a resource allocation (e.g., time-frequency grid for an OFDM or TDMA based wireless network) governs the simultaneous operation of several femtocells with overlapping coverage areas by specifying uses for resources. A resource allocation unit (RAU) entity is disclosed for managing and modifying resource allocations for femtocells. The community of femtocells can flexibly share resources according to the time-frequency grid, thereby maximizing spectral efficiency without requiring substantial network overhead.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
at a femtocell apparatus:
scanning to determine available radio resources; and
selecting between a self-configuration mode and a network-based configuration mode based on the available radio resources for a wireless network,
wherein in the self-configuration mode, the femtocell apparatus selects the at least one available resource as a downlink,
wherein in the network-based configuration mode, the femtocell apparatus receives a downlink radio resource from the wireless network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the femtocell apparatus selects the network-based configuration mode when it is determined that there are no available radio resources.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the self-configuration mode enables the femtocell apparatus to find one or more available radio resources without exchanging messages with a core portion of the wireless network.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network-based configuration mode enables the femtocell apparatus to find one or more available radio resources by exchanging messages with a core portion of the wireless network.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless network comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network and the femtocell apparatus comprises a Home evolved Node B (HeNB).

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining an occupational level of a plurality of radio resources of the wireless network.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is performed at startup or initialization of the femtocell apparatus.

8. A femtocell capable of operating within a wireless network, the femtocell comprising:
a memory that includes executable instructions; and
a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor executing the instructions cause the processor to perform operations, comprising,
scanning to determine available radio resources, and
selecting between a self-configuration mode and a network-based configuration mode based on the available radio resources for a wireless network,
wherein in the self-configuration mode, the femtocell selects the at least one available resource as a downlink, and
wherein in the network-based configuration mode, the femtocell apparatus receives a downlink radio resource from the wireless network.

9. The femtocell of claim 8 , wherein the operations selects the network-based configuration mode when it is determined that there are no available radio resources.

10. The femtocell of claim 8 , wherein the self-configuration mode enables the femtocell to find one or more available radio resources without exchanging messages with a core portion of the wireless network.

11. The femtocell of claim 8 , wherein the network-based configuration mode enables the femtocell to find one or more available radio resources by exchanging messages with a core portion of the wireless network.

12. The femtocell of claim 8 , wherein the wireless network comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network and the femtocell comprises a Home evolved Node B (HeNB).

13. The femtocell of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise: determining an occupational level of a plurality of radio resources of the wireless network.

14. The femtocell of claim 8 , wherein the operations are performed at startup or initialization of the femtocell.

15. The femtocell of claim 10 , further comprising:
a network interface subsystem in communication with the core portion of the wireless network.

16. The femtocell of claim 8 , further comprising:
a wireless subsystem, wherein the wireless subsystem performs operations related to the scanning for the available radio resources.

17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium that includes a executable instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, comprising:
scanning to determine available radio resources; and
selecting between a self-configuration mode and a network-based configuration mode based on the available radio resources for a wireless network,
wherein in the self-configuration mode, the processor selects the at least one available resource as a downlink, and
wherein in the network-based configuration mode, the femtocell apparatus receives a downlink radio resource from the wireless network.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations select the network-based configuration mode when it is determined that there are no available radio resources.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium is included in a femtocell apparatus of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining an occupational level of a plurality of radio resources of the wireless network.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Bienas Maik
• Choi Hyung-Nam
• Schmidt Andreas
• Luft Achim
• Mueck Markus

Classifications

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title

• H04W28/18

  Negotiating wireless communication parameters · CPC title

• H04W16/18

  Network planning tools · CPC title

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title

• H04W72/04 Primary

  Wireless resource allocation · CPC title