US9271298B1 - Systems and methods for dynamically configuring femtocell pilot beacon based on macro-network loading - Google Patents
Systems and methods for dynamically configuring femtocell pilot beacon based on macro-network loading Download PDFInfo
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- H04W72/0486—
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W72/00—Local resource management
- H04W72/50—Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources
- H04W72/52—Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources based on load
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04B—TRANSMISSION
- H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
- H04B1/69—Spread spectrum techniques
- H04B1/713—Spread spectrum techniques using frequency hopping
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W72/00—Local resource management
- H04W72/02—Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W84/00—Network topologies
- H04W84/02—Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
- H04W84/04—Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks
- H04W84/042—Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
- H04W84/045—Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04B—TRANSMISSION
- H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W48/00—Access restriction; Network selection; Access point selection
Definitions
- SPNs Service Provider Networks
- SPNs service provider networks
- client-side devices are generally referred to in this disclosure as mobile devices, though this term is intended to broadly encompass various devices known by terms such as mobile stations, access terminals, user equipment, cellphones, smartphones, wireless-communication devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablets, laptops, air cards, Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices, and/or any other device(s) capable of functioning as a mobile device according to this disclosure.
- PDAs personal digital assistants
- USB Universal Serial Bus
- mobile devices Via the SPN, mobile devices generally engage in communications such as voice calls, packet-data sessions, text messaging (e.g., Short Message Service (SMS) messaging), and the like.
- SMS Short Message Service
- the wireless communication between the SPN and a given mobile device is typically bidirectional in nature.
- the component of that communication that is sent from the SPN to the mobile device is described as being sent on what is known as the forward link, while the component that is sent from the mobile device to the SPN is described as being sent on what is known as the reverse link.
- the wireless communications are typically formatted in accordance with a wireless-communication protocol, one example type of which is code division multiple access (CDMA), where CDMA networks that operate according to industry specifications (IS) such as IS 95 and IS 2000 are often referred to as 1xRTT (or “1x”) networks, where 1xRTT stands for Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology.
- CDMA code division multiple access
- IS industry specifications
- 1xRTT or “1x”
- base station In typical SPNs, the entities with which mobile devices communicate over the air interface are known by terms such as base station and access node, terms that are used at different times in different ways to refer to different entities.
- base station is sometimes used to refer simply to a device also known as a base transceiver station (BTS), which contains the hardware, antennas, and other components that cooperate to actually conduct the over-the-air communication with the mobile devices on behalf of the SPN.
- BTS base transceiver station
- eNodeB which stands for Evolved Node B, named as being an evolved version of a Node B in a UMTS Terrestrial RAN (UTRAN).
- UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial RAN
- the base stations for these networks are typically not associated with any subscriber or small group of subscribers in particular; rather, they are placed in publicly-accessible locations and are used by the provider's customers generally. These base stations collectively blanket large geographic areas with coverage; as such, they are referred to generally and herein as “macro-network base stations” or “macro base stations” and the network they collectively form, or to which they collectively belong, is referred to generally and herein as the “macro network.”
- Mobile devices and macro base stations conduct communication sessions (e.g. voice calls and data sessions) over what are known as carrier frequencies. Furthermore, macro base stations may provide service in a given coverage area on one carrier frequency, or on more than one carrier frequency. Mobile devices in the coverage area are configured to wirelessly communicate with the macro base station—and thus with the SPN—by tuning to at least one of the carrier frequencies on which the SPN provides service in the coverage area.
- communication sessions e.g. voice calls and data sessions
- macro base stations may provide service in a given coverage area on one carrier frequency, or on more than one carrier frequency.
- Mobile devices in the coverage area are configured to wirelessly communicate with the macro base station—and thus with the SPN—by tuning to at least one of the carrier frequencies on which the SPN provides service in the coverage area.
- a femtocell may establish a virtual-private-network (VPN) connection over the Internet with an entity (e.g., a VPN terminator) on the macro-network provider's core network.
- VPN virtual-private-network
- the femtocell can then securely communicate with the VPN terminator and thereby communicate with other entities of the macro network.
- a femtocell will transmit either what is known as and referred to herein as a “fixed” pilot beacon, or what is known as and referred to herein as a “frequency-hopping” pilot beacon. If the one or more macro base stations in the surrounding area all provide service on the same macro-network carrier frequency, the femtocell will transmit its pilot beacon on only that macro-network carrier frequency (i.e., a fixed pilot beacon).
- the femtocell will cycle through those carrier frequencies, transmitting its pilot beacon on each macro-network carrier frequency for (typically) a fixed period of time (i.e., a frequency-hopping pilot beacon), such as a few hundred milliseconds or one or two seconds.
- a frequency-hopping pilot beacon such as a few hundred milliseconds or one or two seconds.
- the femtocell will typically transmit its pilot-beacon information on each macro-network carrier frequency in a set of macro-network carrier frequencies for a fixed amount of time, and then repeat.
- the overall cycle takes a finite amount of time, and the femtocell typically needs to spend some minimum amount of time on each carrier frequency.
- the total number of macro-network carrier frequencies on which service is provided by the surrounding macro network may exceed this upper bound.
- a femtocell prioritizes certain macro-network carrier frequencies in its frequency-hopping pilot beacon.
- the femtocell prioritizes macro-network carrier frequencies based on macro-network loading.
- the femtocell and/or femtocell-control elements in the macro-network may additionally or alternatively select a pilot-beacon-transmission pattern that prioritizes transmission on the macro-network carriers according to the determined loading of the macro-network carriers relative to one another, and then causes the femtocell to transmit the frequency-hopping pilot beacon according to the selected pilot-beacon-transmission pattern.
- FIG. 1 depicts an example communication system.
- FIG. 3 depicts an example femtocell base station.
- FIG. 4A depicts functions carried out in accordance with at least one embodiment.
- FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an example cellular wireless communication system 100 .
- the wireless communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 is generally arranged and described according to CDMA system architecture. It should be understood, however, that an LTE system architecture could be used instead or in addition, as could an architecture according to one or more other protocols mentioned herein and/or any others now known or later developed.
- a communication system 100 includes a mobile device (MD) 102 , a macro BTS 104 , a BSC 106 , a mobile switching center (MSC) 108 , an SPN 110 , a gateway 112 , a packet-data network (PDN) 114 , femtocell (or femto base station (FBS)) 116 , a media gateway 118 , a VPN terminator (VPN-T) 120 , a femtocell controller 122 , a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 124 , and a femtocell switch 126 .
- MD mobile device
- MSC mobile switching center
- SPN packet-data network
- FBS femto base station
- FBS femto base station
- VPN-T VPN terminator
- PSTN public switched telephone network
- PSTN public switched telephone network
- Additional entities could be present as well, such as additional mobile devices in communication with BTS 104 , additional entities in communication with PDN 114 and/or PSTN 124 , etc.
- Mobile station 102 is described more fully in connection with FIG. 2
- FBS 116 is described more fully in connection with FIG. 3 .
- Service-provider network 110 may encompass all of the network elements depicted in FIG. 1 as being included in its dashed-cloud shape. In general, there may be more and/or different communication links among entities within SPN 110 , and there may be more and/or different connections between SPN 110 and outside entities. Furthermore, there may be a core packet network (not depicted) making up part of SPN 110 , which may enable devices therein to communicate with each other. There may also be one or more other packet-data networks and/or elements, one or more circuit-switched networks and/or elements, one or more signaling networks and/or elements, and/or one or more of any other suitable network(s) and/or element(s).
- Gateway 112 may act as a network access server between (a) PDN 114 and (b)(i) BSCs such as BSC 106 and (ii) VPN terminators such as VPN terminator 120 , facilitating packet-data communication by mobile stations on PDN 114 , which may be the well-known global packet-data network generally referred to as the Internet, but could also be or include one or more other packet-data networks.
- PDN 114 may include one or more wide area networks, one or more local area networks, one or more public networks, one or more private networks, one or more wired networks, one or more wireless networks, and/or one or more networks of any other type.
- Devices in communication with PDN 114 may exchange data using a packet-switched protocol such as the Internet Protocol (IP), and may be identified by an address such as an IP address.
- IP Internet Protocol
- MG 118 may be arranged to (a) receive packet-based communications from entities on SPN 110 , convert those to circuit-switched communications, and pass them to MSC 108 and/or PSTN 124 and (b) receive circuit-switched communications from MSC 108 and/or PSTN 124 , convert those to packet-based communications, and pass them to entities on SPN 110 .
- VPN terminator 120 may be arranged to establish secure VPN connections over PDN 114 with femtocells such as femtocell 116 , enabling the femtocells to securely communicate with devices on SPN 110 and beyond.
- Femtocell controller 122 may be arranged to communicate via VPN terminator 120 with femtocells such as femtocell 116 , perhaps to receive requests from various femtocells for configuration data, and to accordingly select various operational parameters for femtocells (e.g. carrier frequency, PN offset, whether to broadcast a pilot beacon, contents of any pilot beacon to be broadcast, transmission-power level), and to transmit those parameters to femtocells, perhaps along with other configuration data and messaging.
- carrier frequency PN offset
- Femtocell switch 126 may be arranged to act as a switch between MSC 108 and VPN terminator 120 , enabling mobile devices communicating via femtocells to engage in calls over PSTN 124 via MSC 108 . And certainly many other configurations are possible, as the described configuration is provided by way of example and not limitation.
- FIG. 2 depicts mobile device 102 as including a wireless-communication interface 130 , a user interface 132 , a processor 134 , and data storage 136 , all of which may be coupled together by a system bus, network, or other communication mechanism 138 .
- Wireless-communication interface 130 may comprise one or more antennae and one or more chipsets for communicating with one or more base stations over respective air interfaces.
- one such chip set could be suited for LTE communication.
- one such chipset could be suited for CDMA communication.
- Wireless-communication interface 130 may also or instead be arranged to communicate according to one or more other types of wireless communication (e.g., protocols) mentioned herein and/or any others now known or later developed.
- User interface 132 may include one or more input devices such as a touchscreen, one or more buttons, a microphone, and the like for receiving inputs from users, as well as one or more output devices such as a display, one or more indicator lights, a speaker, and the like for communicating outputs to users.
- Processor 134 may comprise one or more general-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors, and may be integrated in whole or in part with wireless-communication interface 130 .
- Data storage 136 may comprise one or more volatile and/or non-volatile storage components (such as magnetic, optical, flash, or other non-transitory storage), and may be integrated in whole or in part with processor 134 . And certainly other configurations are possible.
- Data storage 136 may contain program instructions executable by processor 134 for carrying out various mobile-device functions described herein.
- FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary diagram of femtocell (or femto base station (FBS)) 116 , which includes a wireless-communication interface 150 , a GPS receiver 152 , a PDN interface 154 , a processor 156 , and data storage 160 , all of which may be coupled together by a system bus, network, or other communication mechanism 158 .
- femtocell 116 could have additional and/or different components, and that this structure is provided by way of example.
- Wireless-communication interface 150 may include one or more antennas, one or more chip sets, a set of one or more channel elements, and/or one or more other components suitable for providing a wireless coverage according to a wireless-communication protocol such as CDMA or LTE (and/or one or more other technologies).
- GPS receiver 152 may be any known or hereafter-developed GPS receiver, suitable for receiving and decoding GPS signals for location and timing purposes, perhaps among other purposes.
- a femtocell may have a location module in addition to or instead of a GPS receiver.
- PDN interface 154 may provide a (e.g., wired) packet-data interface for communicating with a device such as a router or cable modem, and in general for communicating over one or more packet-data networks such as PDN 114 .
- Processor 156 may comprise multiple (e.g., parallel) processors, such as a general purpose microprocessor and/or a discrete digital signal processor.
- the data storage 160 may take various forms, in one or more parts, such as a non-volatile storage block and/or a removable storage medium, and may contain program instructions executable by processor 156 for carrying out the femtocell functions described herein, as well as any other operational, configuration, and/or other type of data deemed suitable in a given femtocell implementation.
- the femtocell 116 can be configured to identify carrier frequencies used in one or more coverage areas of the SPN 110 that are near the location of the femtocell 116 .
- the femtocell 116 may do so by using geographic location information derived from the GPS receiver 152 (or other location information, such as indicated by a Wi-Fi access point, router, cable modem, and/or the like) and then communicating with the femtocell controller 122 to identify frequencies used as macro-network carriers in coverage areas of the SPN 110 located near the femtocell 116 .
- the frequency-hopping pilot beacon can then be transmitted to hop on one or more of the identified frequencies.
- the femtocell 116 can be further configured to prioritize transmission of its frequency-hopping pilot beacon on particular ones of those macro-network carriers, relative to others. Prioritizing particular frequencies allows the femtocell 116 to more readily attract mobile devices operating on the prioritized frequencies.
- Example methods for identifying frequencies for prioritization according to macro-network loading conditions are described in connection with FIGS. 4A-4C .
- FIG. 4A is a flowchart of an example process 400 that can be carried out by a femtocell system, such as the femtocell system described in connection with the communication system 100 of FIG. 1 .
- FIG. 4A depicts a process 400 for a femtocell system to determine macro-network loading on each of a plurality of frequencies, determine that one of the frequencies is more heavily loaded than another, and prioritize transmissions of its frequency-hopping pilot beacon on the more heavily loaded frequency.
- the process 400 thereby causes the femtocell 116 to prioritize frequencies of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon according to the relative loading on the frequencies in the macro network.
- femtocell 116 begins transmitting a frequency-hopping pilot beacon among a plurality of frequencies.
- the frequency-hopping pilot beacon transmitted by the femtocell 116 repeatedly cycling through transmitting pilot-beacon information on each frequency in a group of frequencies.
- the femtocell system can cause the pilot beacon to cyclically hop among multiple macro-network carriers for coverage areas of the SPN 110 in the vicinity of the femtocell 116 .
- the frequency-hopping pilot beacon can be transmitted on macro-network carriers that are retrieved, for example, from a licensee database maintained by the FCC based on a current location of the femtocell 116 .
- a group of frequencies could be retrieved from a cell site database (not shown) accessible by the femtocell controller 122 within the SPN 110 .
- Other methods could also be used to identify a group of frequencies on which to transmit the frequency-hopping pilot beacon, including methods that are automatically undertaken upon startup of the femtocell 116 as part of an auto-configuration routine.
- Mobile devices 102 served by a macro-network carrier may detect the frequency-hopping pilot beacon and send a request to the femtocell 116 and/or SPN 110 to handoff from their current coverage area to the femtocell's coverage area.
- a request may be generated by the mobile device 102 for any number of reasons, including a reduction in signal strength of the mobile device's current serving signal, for example.
- the mobile device 102 may monitor signal conditions (e.g., carrier-to-interference (C/I) ratio and/or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR)) on a plurality of macro-network carriers to detect pilot signals and/or pilot beacons from a combination of macro-network coverage areas and/or femtocell coverage areas.
- the mobile device 102 may then select, request, and receive service in the coverage area with the best signal conditions (i.e., the “strongest” coverage area) and/or based on one or more other criteria deemed suitable in a given implementation.
- signal conditions e.g., carrier-to-interference (C/I) ratio and/or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR)
- SINR signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio
- the femtocell system determines macro-network loading on each of the frequencies used by the macro-network, or a subset of such frequencies used by coverage areas in the vicinity of the femtocell 116 .
- the macro-network loading refers to the amount of network traffic on the SPN 110 that is conveyed over each frequency (i.e., each macro-network carrier). Determining the macro-network loading may include determining the amount of data traffic communicated on each of the frequencies and/or the available capacity (e.g., available bandwidth) of each frequency. Additionally or alternatively, determining the macro-network loading may include determining a number of mobile devices served by each of the frequencies. Such loading determinations may be made for particular coverage areas of the SPN 110 , such as coverage areas in the vicinity of the femtocell 116 .
- the macro-network loading may be determined according to the then-current indication(s) of loading on each frequency (e.g., according to the most recent update of such information).
- the loading may also be determined according to more than one indication(s) of loading on each frequency, including some that are not the most current, such as an example that estimates network loading according to a running median or average of the N most recent updates of loading information, where N is greater than one.
- the SPN 110 and/or femtocell 116 may estimate the network loading of the SPN 110 at the specific location of the femtocell 116 .
- location information based on the GPS receiver 152 in the femtocell 116 may be used to identify coverage areas in the vicinity of the femtocell 116 and the loading can be estimated for such coverage areas.
- the network loading on each frequency may be estimated at the femtocell 116 by measuring signal strengths of incident RF signals at each of the frequencies. The signal strengths can be due to network activity of the SPN 110 on each frequency.
- the measured signal strengths can then be associated with estimates of network loading, such as by a relationship that correlates received power from the RF signals with macro-network loading. And numerous other ways of determining loading may be used instead or in addition, as known to those of skill in the art.
- the femtocell system determines that a particular one of the frequencies is more heavily loaded than another one of the frequencies. For example, the macro-network loading of each of the frequencies determined in block 410 can be compared with one another. Based on the comparison, one of the frequencies that is more heavily loaded than another one can be identified. That is, a frequency that carries a relatively greater amount of network traffic than another one can be identified.
- Block 415 may therefore include determining the frequency that carries (or is currently carrying) the most network traffic.
- some embodiments of the present disclosure may include identifying a plurality of frequencies with relatively greater loading than others. Some embodiments may include identifying the top M most heavily loaded frequencies, where M is a number greater than one. For example, the frequencies can be sorted, in order, according to the macro-network loading of each frequency determined in block 410 , and identifying the top M frequencies on the sorted list.
- the femtocell system prioritizes transmission of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon on the particular one of the frequencies as compared to the other one. Once the femtocell system has determined the particular frequency (or frequencies) that are more heavily loaded than others, the femtocell 116 may use that information in subsequent cycles of its frequency-hopping pilot beacon to prioritize the particular frequency (or frequencies) as compared to others.
- the femtocell 116 may prioritize a particular frequency by transmitting the frequency-hopping pilot beacon on the particular frequency more often than others in at least one subsequent cycle of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon.
- the femtocell 116 may transmit (hop) on the particular frequency more than once during a given cycle in which the femtocell transmits (hops) on the other frequencies only once.
- the femtocell 116 may transmit on the particular frequency for a longer continuous duration as compared to shorter continuous durations in which the femtocell 116 transmits on another frequency.
- the femtocell 116 may transmit on the first carrier for a longer cumulative duration as compared to shorter cumulative durations in which the femtocell 116 transmits on another frequency. Additionally or alternatively, in a given cycle of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon, the femtocell 116 may transmit on the particular frequency with a relatively greater transmission power than a transmission power with which the femtocell 116 transmits on another frequency.
- the femtocell 116 may transmit its frequency-hopping pilot beacon on one or more of five different frequencies F 1 , F 2 , F 3 , F 4 , and F 5 .
- the femtocell 116 may cycle through frequencies F 1 -F 5 , transmitting its pilot beacon on each of those frequencies for a fixed period of time (i.e., a conventional frequency-hopping pilot beacon), such as for a few hundred milliseconds or one to four seconds, before cycling back to the beginning of the list.
- the femtocell 116 and/or SPN 110 may cause the femtocell 116 to prioritize transmission of a particular one of the frequencies F 1 -F 5 based on the relative macro-network loading of the frequencies F 1 -F 5 .
- the femtocell system may determine, for example, that the frequency F 1 is more heavily loaded than at least one other frequency (e.g., in block 415 ).
- the femtocell 116 can then prioritize F 1 relative to the other frequencies F 2 -F 5 during subsequent transmissions of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon.
- the femtocell 116 may transmit its frequency-hopping pilot beacon on carrier F 1 more often than another frequency, during a given cycle. For example, the femtocell 116 may transmit its pilot beacon in the following order: F 1 ⁇ F 2 ⁇ F 3 ⁇ F 1 ⁇ F 4 , before repeating the cycle again. In the next cycle, the femtocell 116 may transmit on the same frequencies again, or may include other remaining carriers. For example, in the next cycle, the femtocell 116 may transmit its pilot beacon in the following order: F 1 ⁇ F 2 ⁇ F 3 ⁇ F 1 ⁇ F 5 .
- the femtocell 116 is more likely to be transmitting its pilot beacon to a mobile device 102 in the region during its respective slot cycle, in which the mobile device 102 scans for coverage areas to connect with.
- the order of frequencies may be switched in order to allow for mobile stations 102 having varying slot cycles an opportunity to receive the frequency-hopping pilot beacon.
- a subsequent cycle in which frequency F 1 is still prioritized may take the form of: F 2 ⁇ F 3 ⁇ F 1 ⁇ F 5 ⁇ F 1 , before repeating the cycle again.
- the femtocell 116 may not be limited to five frequencies, and more or less than five frequencies could be used in each cycle. Additionally or alternatively, the femtocell 116 may prioritize more than one frequency at a time. For example, the femtocell may prioritize both carriers F 1 and F 2 by transmitting its pilot beacon in the following manner: F 1 ⁇ F 2 ⁇ F 3 ⁇ F 1 ⁇ F 2 , before repeating the cycle again. Other orders could also be used.
- the femtocell 116 may prioritize the carrier F 1 by transmitting its frequency-hopping pilot beacon on carrier F 1 for a longer continuous duration as compared to a continuous duration in which the femtocell 116 transmits on one or more of the other frequencies F 2 -F 5 .
- the femtocell 116 may transmit its pilot beacon in the following order and for the following times: F 1 (3.84 s) ⁇ F 2 (2 s) ⁇ F 3 (2 s) ⁇ F 4 (2 s) ⁇ F 5 (2 s), before repeating the cycle. Similar to the above, in subsequent cycles of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon, the order of frequencies may be switched in order to allow for mobile devices having varying slot cycles an opportunity to receive the pilot beacon.
- a subsequent cycle in which carrier F 1 is still prioritized may take the form of: F 2 (2 s) ⁇ F 3 (2 s) ⁇ F 4 (2 s) ⁇ F 1 (3.84 s) ⁇ F 5 (2 s), before repeating the cycle again.
- the femtocell 116 may prioritize more than one carrier at a time.
- the femtocell 116 may prioritize both carriers F 1 and F 2 by broadcasting its pilot beacon in the following manner: F 1 (3.84 s) ⁇ F 2 (3.84 s) ⁇ F 3 (1.4 s) ⁇ F 4 (1.4 s) ⁇ F 5 (1.4 s).
- the femtocell 116 may prioritize the frequency F 1 by transmitting on the frequency F 1 for a greater cumulative duration as compared to a cumulative duration in which the femtocell 116 transmits on another one of the frequencies F 2 -F 5 .
- the femtocell 116 may transmit its pilot beacon in the following order and for the following times: F 1 (1.4 s) ⁇ F 2 (2 s) ⁇ F 1 (1.4 s) ⁇ F 3 (2 s) ⁇ F 1 (1.4 s) ⁇ F 4 (2 s) ⁇ F 1 (1.4 s) ⁇ F 5 (2 s), before repeating the cycle.
- the order of frequencies may be switched in order to allow for mobile devices having varying slot cycles an opportunity to receive the pilot beacon, and moreover the femtocell 116 may prioritize more than frequency at a time.
- the femtocell 116 may prioritize the frequency F 1 by transmitting on the frequency F 1 with a transmission power P high greater than a transmission power P low with which the femtocell 116 transmits on one or more of the other frequencies F 2 -F 5 .
- the femtocell 116 may transmit its pilot beacon in the following order and at the following transmission powers: F 1 (P high ) ⁇ F 2 (P low ) ⁇ F 3 (P low ) ⁇ F 4 (P low ) ⁇ F 5 (P low ), before repeating the cycle.
- the order of frequencies may be switched in order to allow for mobile devices having varying slot cycles an opportunity to receive the pilot beacon, and moreover the femtocell may prioritize more than frequency at a time.
- the femtocell may prioritize transmission by selecting a hopping pattern that prioritizes one or more frequencies by providing a combination of number of hops per cycle, cumulative and/or continuous transmission durations, and/or transmission power for one or more prioritized frequencies that results in the pilot beacon being more readily detectable at the one or more prioritized frequencies than at the other frequencies.
- Prioritizing the particular frequency allows mobile devices operating on the frequency in the SPN 110 to detect the femtocell 116 faster and/or from a greater range.
- the femtocell 116 can thus preferentially attract mobile devices operating on the frequency and thereby assist the SPN 110 in handling network traffic by preferentially absorbing (off-loading) network traffic from the most heavily loaded macro-network carriers.
- FIG. 4B is a flowchart of another example process 401 .
- the femtocell system e.g., the femtocell 116 and/or SPN 110
- the process 401 operates according to blocks 405 , 410 , and 415 , but before carrying out block 420 to prioritize the frequency identified in block 415 , the identified frequency is compared with a threshold level, at block 417 . If the macro-network loading of the frequency identified in block 415 does not exceed the threshold level, the process 401 returns to block 405 to continue transmitting without adjusting the prioritization of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon. If the loading does exceed the threshold level, the process 401 continues to block 420 to adjust the prioritization of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon so as to prioritize the frequency identified in block 415 .
- the threshold level the macro-network loading is compared to in block 417 can be specified as an absolute threshold level (e.g., an absolute macro-network loading requirement).
- the threshold in block 417 can be specified as a relative threshold level (e.g., a relative difference in macro-network loading between different ones of the frequencies).
- the threshold level in block 417 may be dynamically adjusted according to macro-network loading, such as according to total macro-network loading and/or macro-network loading of coverage areas in the vicinity of the femtocell 116 , for example.
- the threshold in block 417 may be set to specify that identified frequencies are only prioritized in block 420 if the macro-network loading on such frequencies is at least beyond a threshold capacity (e.g., exceeding a percentage of available bandwidth on the particular macro-network carrier).
- the threshold specified by block 417 may be adjusted or even turned off (i.e., set to zero) on a dynamic basis by the femtocell system according to, for example, overall traffic on the SPN 110 .
- the femtocell system may adjust its frequency-hopping pilot beacon according to the available capacity on the femtocell 116 .
- a threshold level e.g., based on number of calls, number of devices, and/or data carried
- the femtocell system may cause the femtocell 116 to decrease its frequency-hopping pilot beacon so as to attract fewer mobile devices to the femtocell 116 .
- the femtocell system may even turn off the frequency-hopping pilot beacon based on the available capacity of the femtocell 116 .
- the loading (or available capacity) of the macro-network and/or femtocell 116 may be used by the femtocell system to selectively activate one or more additional femtocells in the vicinity of the femtocell 116 .
- the femtocell system e.g., the femtocell controller 122
- the femtocell system can operate to activate an additional femtocell in the general geographic vicinity of the femtocell 116 , and thereby offload additional traffic from the macro network and/or femtocell 116 .
- FIG. 4C is a flowchart of another example process 402 .
- the femtocell system e.g., the femtocell 116 and/or SPN 110
- the femtocell system operates according to blocks 405 and 410 .
- the femtocell system selects, in block 425 , a pilot beacon transmission pattern that prioritizes transmission on the frequencies according to the determined loading of the frequencies relative to one another.
- the femtocell system then causes the femtocell 116 to transmit the frequency-hopping pilot beacon according to the pattern selected in block 425 .
- the selected frequency hopping transmission pattern may prioritize transmission by providing a combination of number of hops per cycle, cumulative and/or continuous transmission durations, and transmission power for one or more prioritized frequencies that results in the pilot beacon being more readily detectable at the one or more prioritized frequencies than at the other frequencies.
- the frequency hopping transmission pattern selected in block 425 may be dynamically generated by the femtocell system according to macro-network loading on the different frequencies relative to one another as determined in block 410 .
- the various transmission parameters specified by the transmission pattern e.g., power, duration, and the like
- the degree of prioritization may refer, in general, to the likelihood of a mobile device in range of the femtocell 116 detecting the frequency-hopping pilot beacon on a particular frequency, which likelihood of detection is greater for more highly prioritized frequencies (due to transmissions being more often, for greater durations, and/or at higher power).
- the transmission pattern selected in block 425 can be chosen from among a group of predetermined transmission patterns.
- the femtocell system can store a group of predetermined transmission patterns which provide varying degrees of prioritization of the different frequencies relative to one another. The femtocell system can then select one of the predetermined transmission patterns based on a desired amount of prioritization to assign to one or more of the frequencies, which can be determined on the basis of the macro-network loading on those frequencies relative to one another as determined in block 410 .
- the transmission pattern of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon can be chosen based in part on characteristics of mobile devices served by the femtocell 116 .
- a hopping pattern can be based in part on substantially unique identifiers associated with such particular mobile devices.
- a hopping pattern can be deduced in part from a hashing algorithm applied to mobile directory numbers (MDNs) of such registered mobile devices.
- MDNs mobile directory numbers
- Embodiments using such a hashing algorithm may advantageously align subsequent hopping cycles on particular frequencies with frequencies favored by registered mobile devices, which may determine scanning frequencies for their slot cycles according to a similar hashing algorithm.
- the femtocell 116 may continue transmitting in the manner set forth above for an indeterminate amount of time.
- the femtocell 116 can intermittently re-determine the prioritization, and modify the transmission of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon accordingly, which is indicated by the dashed line in FIGS. 4A-4C . Therefore, processes 400 - 402 disclosed herein may include updating the prioritization of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon according to updated network loading information after an initial prioritization.
- the femtocell 116 and/or SPN 110 may determine updated particular one(s) of the frequencies to prioritize in subsequent transmissions of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon based on the particular one(s) being more heavily loaded than others.
- Such updated prioritization can be determined according to updated network loading information.
- the femtocell 116 and/or SPN 110 may re-determine prioritization of the frequency-hopping pilot beacon before every pilot beacon transmission cycle. Other timings could also be used.
- the processes 400 - 402 disclosed herein may be used to allow the femtocell 116 to dynamically adjust its hopping pattern according to current loading on the macro-network.
- the processes 400 - 402 may allow the femtocell 116 to preferentially off-loading network traffic from the SPN 110 that is on the most-heavily loaded macro-network carriers.
- the femtocell 116 may thereby assist the SPN 110 in handling peak traffic conditions, for example.
- some embodiments of the present disclosure may include causing the femtocells to operate in accordance with the processes 400 - 402 disclosed herein during peak traffic conditions, and/or during times of the day when peak conditions are expected to occur.
Abstract
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