Radio communication system, base station, communication method, mobile station, and computer-readable medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9380505-B2
Application number	US-201214233273-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 9, 2012
Priority date	Aug 12, 2011
Publication date	Jun 28, 2016
Grant date	Jun 28, 2016

Abstract

A base station ( 1 ) is connectable to a mobile station ( 4 ) by a plurality of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) including first and second RATs. The base station ( 1 ) is configured to be able to use a communication path ( 400 ) that passes through a first upstream network ( 140 ) corresponding to the first RAT, when the mobile station ( 4 ) performs communication via the second RAT. This enables, for example, efficient use of the upstream networks when the Multi-RAT base station ( 1 ) supports a plurality of upstream networks.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A radio communication system comprising:
a base station connectable to a mobile station via a plurality of radio access technologies including first and second radio access technologies; and
a plurality of upstream networks including a first upstream network corresponding to the first radio access technology and a second upstream network different from the first upstream network and corresponding to the second radio access technology, each of the first and second network being connected to the base station, including a gateway to an external network, and being configured to transfer user data between the base station and the external network,
wherein the base station is configured to, when the mobile station communicate with the base station using the second radio access technology, use a first communication path that passes through the first upstream network without passing through the second upstream network, for data transfer between the mobile station and the external network.

2. The radio communication system according to claim 1 , wherein when an inter-radio access technology handover is performed to switch a connection with the mobile station from the first radio access technology to the second radio access technology, the base station is configured to continuously use the first communication path, established before the handover, for a data transfer even after the handover.

3. The radio communication system according to claim 2 , wherein during the handover, the base station sends, to at least one of the first and second upstream networks, a control message for notifying that switching of the first communication path is unnecessary.

4. The radio communication system according to claim 1 , wherein the first communication path is a bearer established between the base station and a transfer node that is disposed in the first upstream network and operates as a gateway to an external network.

5. The radio communication system according to claim 1 , wherein the base station selects, based on a first condition, a communication path for a data transfer from among a plurality of communication paths that pass through different routes in the plurality of upstream networks, the plurality of communication paths including the first communication path.

6. The radio communication system according to claim 5 , wherein the first condition relates to a load of at least one of the plurality of upstream networks.

7. The radio communication system according to claim 6 , wherein the base station preferentially selects, as the communication path for the data transfer, a communication path that passes through an upstream network having a first load rather than a upstream network having a second load higher that the first load.

8. The radio communication system according to claim 5 , wherein the first condition relates to a radio access technology used in the vicinity of the base station.

9. The radio communication system according to claim 8 , wherein the base station preferentially selects, as the communication path for the data transfer, a communication path that passes through an upstream network corresponding to a radio access technology used by at least one nearby base station disposed in the vicinity of the base station.

10. The radio communication system according to claim 5 , wherein the first condition relates to whether or not the plurality of upstream networks are available to the base station.

11. The radio communication system according to claim 10 , wherein the base station preferentially selects, as the communication path for the data transfer, a communication path that passes through an upstream network available to the base station.

12. The radio communication system according to claim 1 , wherein
the first radio access technology is an E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) of 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), and
the first upstream network includes an EPC (Evolved Packet Core) of 3GPP.

13. The radio communication system according to claim 12 , wherein
the second radio access technology is a UTRAN of 3GPP, and
the second upstream network includes a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) packet core of 3GPP.

14. The radio communication system according to claim 12 , wherein
the second radio access technology is a non-3GPP radio access technology, and
the second upstream network includes a non-3GPP access network connectable to the first upstream network.

15. A base station connectable to a mobile station via a plurality of radio access technologies including first and second radio access technologies and also connectable to a plurality of upstream networks including a first upstream network corresponding to the first radio access technology and a second upstream network different from the first upstream network and corresponding to the second radio access technology, each of the first and second network being connected to the base station, including a gateway to an external network, and being configured to transfer user data between the base station and the external network, the base station comprising:
communication path control unit configured to use, when the mobile station communicate with the base station using the second radio access technology, a first communication path that passes through the first upstream network without passing through the second upstream network, for data transfer between the mobile station and the external network.

16. The base station according to claim 15 , wherein when an inter-radio access technology handover is performed to switch a connection with the mobile station from the first radio access technology to the second radio access technology, the communication path control unit continuously uses the first communication path, established before the handover, for a data transfer even after the handover.

17. The base station according to claim 16 , wherein during the handover, the communication path control unit sends, to at least one of the first and second upstream networks, a control message for notifying that switching of the first communication path is unnecessary.

18. The base station according to claim 15 , wherein the first communication path is a bearer established between the base station and a transfer node that is disposed in the first upstream network and operates as a gateway to an external network.

19. The base station according to any one of claim 15 , wherein the communication path control unit selects, based on a first condition, a communication path for a data transfer, from among a plurality of communication paths that pass through different routes in the plurality of upstream networks including the first and second upstream networks, the plurality of communication paths including the first communication path.

20. The base station according to claim 19 , wherein the first condition relates to a load of at least one of the plurality of upstream networks.

21. The base station according to claim 20 , wherein the communication path control unit preferentially selects, as the communication path for the data transfer, a communication path that passes through an upstream network having a first load rather than an upstream network having a second load higher than the first load.

22. The base station according to claim 19 , wherein the first condition relates to a radio access technology used in the vicinity of the base station.

23. The base station according to

Assignees

• Aminaka Hiroaki
• Mizukoshi Yasuhiro
• Akiyoshi Ippei
• Nec Corp

Inventors

• Aminaka Hiroaki
• Mizukoshi Yasuhiro
• Akiyoshi Ippei

Classifications

• H04W88/16

  Gateway arrangements · CPC title

• H04W88/10

  adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points · CPC title

• H04W88/06

  adapted for operation in multiple networks {or having at least two operational modes}, e.g. multi-mode terminals · CPC title

• H04W36/0016

  Hand-off preparation specially adapted for end-to-end data sessions · CPC title

• H04W36/14 Primary

  Reselecting a network or an air interface · CPC title