RU2481735C2 - Using identifiers to establish communication - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: radio engineering, communication.

SUBSTANCE: said conflict is resolved by using conflict detection techniques and unique identifiers for said nodes. In some aspects an access point and/or an access terminal may perform operations relating to conflict detection and/or providing a unique identifier to resolve the conflict.

EFFECT: resolving a conflict resulting from assigning the same identifiers to multiple nodes.

37 cl, 25 dwg

Description

This application claims priority on the basis of the following applications of the present applicant: provisional application for US patent No. 60/988,646, filed November 16, 2007 with registration number 072326P1; provisional application for US patent No. 61/059,654, filed June 6, 2008 with registration number 081769P1; provisional application for US patent No. 61/074,114, filed June 19, 2008 With registration number 081869P1; provisional application for US patent No. 61/074,935, filed June 23, 2008 with registration number 081893P1. The listed applications are incorporated herein by reference.

Cross reference to related applications

This application is related to the simultaneously filed provisional application for US patent No. 12/269,666 "Resolution of the conflict of node identifiers" with registration number 072326, which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application relates to communications and, in particular, to the resolution of a conflict related to communication nodes.

Introduction

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication (for example, voice data transmission, data transmission, multimedia services, etc.) to many users. Due to the rapidly growing demand for high-speed multimedia data services, efficient and reliable communication systems with increased productivity are required.

In addition to conventional base stations of mobile telephone networks (for example, macro-cells), base stations with a small coverage area (for example, installed in the user's home) can be introduced to provide more reliable wireless coverage for mobile nodes at home. These base stations with a small coverage area are also known as access point base stations, Home NodeBs, or femto cells. Typically, such base stations with a small coverage area are connected to the Internet and the mobile operator’s network via a DSL router or cable modem.

In practice, a relatively large number of base stations (e.g., femto cells) may be present in a given area (for example, in the coverage area of a given macro cell). In such cases, there is a need for effective methods of identifying these base stations so that other nodes in the network can communicate with these base stations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following is an overview of some aspects of the present disclosure. It should be understood that any reference to the term "aspects" may refer to one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

In an aspect, the present disclosure relates to resolving a conflict related to node identifiers. For example, a limited number of node identifiers can be defined in a network so that one identifier can be assigned to more than one node (for example, an access point) in a network. Accordingly, when the access terminal switches from one node to the target node, a conflict may arise regarding identification of the target node. Various methods for resolving such a conflict are described herein.

In some aspects, the access terminal, which should switch to the target node, can resolve the conflict with the target node by obtaining a unique identifier associated with the target node. In some implementations, the access terminal transmits this unique identifier to the source node, which initiates handoff operations. In other implementations, the access terminal uses this unique identifier to initiate handoff operations.

The access terminal may be configured to detect a conflict. In some cases, the access terminal autonomously detects a conflict. For example, an access terminal may monitor identifiers associated with received signals and generate measurement reports indicating that multiple nodes use the same identifier.

In yet another example, a certain set of identifiers that have been identified as potentially conflict-prone is assigned a threshold signal value. This threshold value can be used to start the process of obtaining a more unique identifier or to start the conflict determination operation in the source node.

In some cases, the access terminal detects a conflict in response to a request. For example, the source node may periodically send a message to the access terminal requesting the transmission of information regarding the conflict through a measurement report.

The access point may be configured to detect a conflict. For example, an access point may detect a conflict based on detection of a neighbor, a target node identified in a handoff request, or received configuration information. When a conflict is detected, the access point can send a message requesting the access terminal to the access terminal to obtain a unique identifier to resolve this conflict. In some cases, this message may instruct the access terminal to use a unique identifier to initiate handover operations.

Conflict resolution can also be used when the access terminal directly accesses the target node. For example, in the event that the access terminal establishes communication with the target node before the target node receives resources for this access terminal, said terminal may transmit a unique identifier for the source node to the target node. Thus, the target node can obtain suitable resources from the source node, even if the node identifier used by the source node is potentially subject to conflict.

Brief Description of the Drawings

These and other aspects of the present disclosure are described in detail below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a simplified block diagram of several illustrative aspects of a communication system configured to resolve a conflict;

Figure 2 is a simplified diagram illustrating wireless coverage areas;

Figure 3 is a simplified block diagram of some illustrative aspects of the components that can be applied in communication nodes;

4 is a sequence diagram of some illustrative aspects of operations that can be performed to specify a second type of identifier;

5 is a sequence diagram of some illustrative aspects of the operations that can be performed to determine whether it is necessary to use a second type of identifier to communicate with a node;

6 is a sequence diagram of some illustrative aspects of the operations that can be performed to determine whether it is necessary to use a second type of identifier to communicate with a node based on a list of identifiers;

7 is a sequence diagram of some illustrative aspects of the operations that can be performed in order to resolve the conflict for the source node;

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram of some illustrative aspects of operations that can be performed to determine if a request is needed to obtain a second type of identifier; FIG.

9A and 9B are sequence diagrams of some illustrative aspects of operations that may be performed to trigger receipt of a second type of identifier by an access terminal;

10A and 10B are sequence diagrams of some illustrative aspects of operations that may be performed to initiate receipt of a second type of identifier by an access terminal;

11 is a sequence diagram of some illustrative aspects of operations that may be performed in connection with an access terminal detecting a conflict;

12 is a sequence diagram of some illustrative aspects of operations that may be performed in connection with an access terminal detecting a conflict;

13 is a sequence diagram of some illustrative aspects of operations that may be performed in connection with an access terminal providing, upon request, a conflict report;

14 is a simplified diagram of a wireless communication system;

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

FIG. 16 is a simplified block diagram of some illustrative aspects of communication components; FIG. and

17-21 are simplified block diagrams of some aspects of devices configured to resolve a conflict according to the present invention.

According to common practice, various elements in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Accordingly, the dimensions of such elements can be arbitrarily increased or decreased for clarity. In addition, some of the drawings may be simplified for clarity. Accordingly, the above drawings may not illustrate all components of a given device (eg, terminal) or method. In conclusion, like reference numbers may be used to refer to like elements throughout the drawings and description.

Detailed description

Various aspects of the present disclosure are described below. It should be understood that the ideas described herein can be implemented in many different forms, and the specific structure and / or function disclosed herein is only illustrative. Based on the teachings of the present invention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the aspect disclosed herein can be implemented independently of other aspects and that two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, a device and / or method may be implemented using any number of aspects disclosed herein. In addition, the device and / or method may be implemented using other structures and / or functions in addition to or instead of one or more aspects disclosed herein. Additionally, any of the described aspects may contain at least one element of the claims.

Figure 1 is an illustration of several nodes in the communication system 100 (for example, in part of a communication network). For purposes of illustration, various aspects of the present disclosure are 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 methods of the present invention can be applied to other types of devices or other similar devices, which are indicated by other terms (for example, base stations, user equipment, etc.).

Access points in the system 100 provide one or more services (eg, network connection) for one or more wireless terminals (eg, access terminal 102) that can be stationary or that can travel across a geographic area. For example, at different times, the access terminal 102 may be connected to an access point 104, any of access points 1 through N (in this illustration, access points 106 and 108) or to an access point 110. Each of the access points 102-110 may communicate with one or more network nodes (in this illustration, for convenience, a network node 112 is shown) to facilitate the connection of the global network. Such network nodes can take various forms, such as, for example, one or more radio network and / or core network objects (e.g., a configuration manager, mobility management entity, or other suitable network entity).

Each access point in system 100 is assigned a first type of identifier, which is referred to herein as a “node identifier” terminal. In various implementations, such an identifier may include, for example, a Physical Cell Identifier (PCID), a Pseudorandom Number (PN) offset, or a acquisition pilot. As a rule, in a given system a fixed number (for example, 504) of node identifiers is determined. So, when the number of access points exceeds the number of node identifiers, a conflict may arise. Figure 1 illustrates one example of this situation where the access point 106 and the access point 110 are assigned the same "identifier 1".

When the access terminal 102 moves through system 100, it can switch from one access point (e.g., from access point 104) to another access point (e.g., access point 110). The decision to handoff the access terminal 102 to the access point 110 may be based on the fact that the access terminal 102 receives more powerful signals from the access point 110. So, the access terminal 102 identifies the signals from the access point 110 through the identifier of the node associated (for example, embedded in) with these signals. To perform handoff, various information is transmitted to the target access point 110 supported by the source access point 104 (the access point to which the access terminal is currently connected). In the absence of conflict, this can be accomplished by using an identifier (“identifier 1”) associated with access point 110. When there is a conflict, as in the example of FIG. 1, the access point 104 may not be able to determine to which access point the information should be transmitted — to the access point 106 or to the access point 110.

To resolve such a conflict, the access terminal 102 and / or the access point 104 are configured to detect a conflict and determine a second type of identifier associated with the access point 110. In some aspects, said second type of identifier comprises a unique identifier. For example, the second type of identifier may be unique in a larger area than the first type of identifier. In some implementations, the second type of identifier may be unique throughout the operator’s network. In various implementations, such a unique identifier may include, for example, a Global Cell Identifier (GCI), Access Node Identifier (ANID), sector identifier, IP address, or some other identifier that uniquely identifies point 110 network access.

In some implementations, the access terminal 102 includes a conflict detector 114, which detects an actual or potential conflict between nodes in the system 100. When a conflict is detected, the access terminal 102 (for example, a unique identifier controller 116) may receive a unique identifier. For example, access terminal 102 may monitor a signal including a unique identifier that is sent by access point 110. When a conflict is detected, the access terminal 102 may also inform the access point 104 of the conflict and / or a unique identifier.

In some implementations, the access point 104 includes a conflict controller 118 that can detect an actual or potential conflict between nodes in the system 100. For example, the conflict controller 118 can autonomously detect a conflict, or when a conflict indication is received from the access terminal 102, the conflict controller 118 may take additional steps to determine if there is a conflict. When a conflict is detected, access point 104 may request access terminal 102 to obtain a unique identifier.

After resolving the conflict, as described above, the access point 104 (e.g., handoff controller 120) may initiate handoff operations based on said unique identifier. Thus, the access terminal 102 can efficiently perform a handoff to the desired target access point. As described below, in some implementations, the access terminal 102 (for example, via a handoff controller, which is not shown) may initiate handoff operations based on a unique identifier (for example, after it resolves the conflict).

The conflict described above can occur in network 200, such as the network shown in FIG. 2, where some access points provide macro coverage and other access points provide coverage of smaller areas. Thus, macro coverage areas 204 may be provided, for example, by macro access points of a large cellular network, such as a 3G network, which is generally referred to as a macro cell network or Wide Area Network (WAN). In addition, smaller coverage areas 206 may be provided, for example, by access points of a networked environment based on residences or buildings, which is generally referred to as a Local Area Network (LAN). When an access terminal moves through such a network, in some places it can be served by access points that provide macro coverage, while in other places, the access terminal can be served by access points that provide smaller coverage areas. In some aspects, access points with a smaller coverage area can be used to increase throughput, indoor coverage, and other services, resulting in more reliable service.

In the present description, a node (eg, an access point) that provides coverage for a relatively large area can be called a macro node, and a node that provides coverage for a relatively small area (eg, home) can be called a femto node. It should be understood that the present methods can be applied to nodes associated with other types of coverage areas. For example, a pico node may provide coverage for an area that is smaller than the macro area and larger than the femto area (for example, coverage in a commercial building). Different terminology may be used in various applications for a macro node, a femto node, and nodes of a different type. For example, a macro node may be referred to as an access node, base station, access point, eNodeB, macro cell, and the like. In addition, a femto node can be designated as Home NodeB, Home eNodeB, access point base station, femto cell, etc. In some implementations, a node may be associated (eg, divided into) with 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.

In the example of FIG. 2, several tracking areas 202 (or routing areas or location areas) are defined, each of which includes several macro coverage areas 204. Thus, coverage areas associated with tracking areas 202A, 202B and 202C are highlighted by wide lines, with macro coverage areas 204 indicated by hexagons. As mentioned above, the tracking areas 202 may also include femto coverage areas 206. In this example, each of the femto coating regions 206 (e.g., the femto coating region 206C) is shown within one or more macro coverage regions 204 (e.g., in the macro coating region 204B). However, it should be understood that the femto coating region 206 may not be in the entire macro coating region 204. In addition, one or more pico or femto coating regions (not shown) may be defined in a predetermined tracking area 202 or macro coverage area 204.

In an implementation (for example, in an implementation in a densely populated urban area), where a large number of access points, such as femto nodes and pico nodes, are located in a given area, the same node identifier can be assigned to two or more access points. For example, in the macro coverage area 204A, the same identifier may be assigned to the femto coverage areas 206A and 206D. In such cases, a host identifier conflict (for example, a PCID conflict) may occur, since a plurality of neighboring nodes that are near a serving access point for a given access terminal advertise the same host identifier. For example, in FIG. 1, access points 106 and 110 may comprise femto nodes or pico nodes that advertise “Identifier 1” through respective broadcast pilot signals. Moreover, both of these access points can be located near the access point 104 (for example, a macro access point), which currently serves the access terminal 102. In such cases, the access point 104 may be aware of both access points 106 and 110, and therefore, a conflict may occur when a handoff is made to the access point identified by “identifier 1”.

In general, the conflict resolution methods described herein can be applied to any type of node. However, in many implementations, macro access points are planned in a given area, so there will be no conflict when relaying to a macro access point. In such cases, the described conflict resolution methods can be applied to any nodes in the network that are not macro nodes. Such nodes may include, for example, nodes that are implemented without scheduling. As described above, such nodes can include femto nodes (for example, installed by individuals), as well as low power pico nodes embedded by the operator. In addition, as described in more detail below, the node may be limited in some way (for example, there may be an access restriction). Therefore, the conflict resolution methods of the present invention can be applied to limited nodes (for example, nodes associated with a closed dial plan).

Below, with reference to Fig.3-13, a description of various methods that can be applied to resolve the conflict according to the ideas of the present invention. In short, FIG. 3 is an illustration of some components that can be used at an access point or access terminal, and the flow diagrams of FIGS. 4-13 relate to various methods for resolving a conflict.

For convenience, the operations of FIGS. 4-13 (or any other operations described herein) may be described as being performed by specific components (eg, components of the system 100 and / or components of FIG. 3). However, it should be understood that these operations can be performed by other types of components and / or another number of components. It should also be understood that one or more of the described operations may not be used in a given implementation.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of some components that can be integrated into nodes, such as an access terminal 102 and an access point 104, to perform conflict resolution operations according to the present invention. The described components can also be integrated into other nodes in the communication system. For example, other nodes in the system may include components similar to those described for access terminal 102 and access points 104 to provide similar functionality. A given node may contain one or more of the described components. For example, an access terminal may comprise a plurality of transceiver components that enable the access terminal to operate on a plurality of frequencies and / or communicate via various technologies.

As shown in FIG. 3, access terminal 102 and access point 104 may include transceivers 302 and 304, respectively, for communicating with other nodes. The transceiver 302 includes a transmitter 306 for transmitting signals (e.g., messages) and a receiver 308 for receiving signals (e.g., pilot signals). The transceiver 304 includes a transmitter 310 for transmitting signals and a receiver 312 for receiving signals.

Access terminal 102 and access point 104 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with conflict resolution operations of the present invention. For example, access terminal 102 and access point 104 may include communication controllers 314 and 316, respectively, for controlling communication with other nodes (eg, for transmitting and receiving messages / indications) and for providing other functions according to the present invention. Access terminal 102 and / or access point 104 may include conflict detectors 318 and 320, respectively, for detecting conflict and for providing other functions according to the present invention. Access terminal 102 and / or access point 104 may include identifier controllers 322 and 324, respectively, for controlling (e.g., selecting, receiving, querying, etc.) node identifiers and for providing other functions according to the present invention. Examples of operations of other components of FIG. 3 are described below.

For convenience, the access point 102 and the access terminal 104 are shown in FIG. 3 as including components that can be used in various examples described below with reference to FIGS. 4-13. In practice, one or more of the illustrated components may not be used in a given example. For example, in some implementations, the access terminal 102 may not contain a conflict detector 318, and in some implementations, the access point 104 may not include a conflict detector 320.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, in some aspects, the conflict associated with the first type of identifier (e.g., PN offset, PCID, etc.) can be resolved by specifying the use of the second type of identifier (e.g. ANID, GCI, etc.). n.) in connection with a relay switch or other operation.

This scheme can be applied, for example, when an access terminal that is connected to a macro access point activates a search for nearby femto nodes (for example, a home femto node). When the access terminal detects a signal from the femto node, the access terminal can obtain a first type identifier (e.g., Pilot ID, Sector ID, PCID, etc.) from this signal. If the received signal power is higher than the threshold value and / or if the access terminal is authorized to access the detected femto node (for example, if this access point is in the list of preferred access points of this access terminal), then the access terminal can add this access point to the active set for this access terminal.

First, the access terminal to open the route for this femto node from the macro access point will establish a mapping between the identifier of the first type and the identifier of the second type (for example, ANID, GCI, etc.) in the macro access point. So, when receiving the second type of identifier from the access terminal, the macro access point can perform the discovery of neighbors with this femto node.

If there are other femto nodes with the same identifier of the first type in the macro area, the macro access point will determine that there are many access points using a common identifier of the first type (that is, a conflict is detected with respect to this identifier). Further, a macro access point can detect the presence of these other femto nodes as a result of, for example, detecting neighbors or by receiving a message from an access terminal that has detected a conflict. Further, the macro access point may request a second type of identifier when it receives a message (for example, a route discovery message) including an identifier subject to conflict. Upon receipt of the second type of identifier from the access terminal, the macro access point can perform neighbor discovery with this femto node.

In addition, as an optimization in some implementations, an access terminal may by default transmit messages with a second type of identifier. For example, an access terminal can always use the second type of identifier when transmitting a route discovery message or other messages from its home femto node.

Referring to FIG. 4, at step 402, an access point (eg, access point 104) receives a message from an access terminal, which message is routed to a node (eg, a target node, such as access point 110) identified by a first node identifier. For example, as described above, the access terminal may receive a route discovery request including a PN offset, or some other type of message including another type of identifier. It should be understood that such a message can take various forms. For example, in various implementations, this message may be a message for establishing resources for a handoff, a request for a handoff, an add request to the active set, an interference control signaling, a report on signal strength measurements, or another message for reserving at least one resource.

At step 404, the access point determines whether any other node is identified by the first node identifier. An access point can detect such a conflict in many ways. For example, as described above, an access point may receive messages from one or more access terminals indicating identifiers that are used by neighboring nodes. In some cases, the access point may perform neighbor discovery and determine that two or more neighboring nodes are using the same identifier. In some cases, the access point may receive configuration information (for example, from a configuration manager, as shown by the node 112 in FIG. 1), which indicates the identifiers used by the access points of the neighbors. In some cases, the action of step 404 may include determining whether this identifier is included in the list of identifiers supported by the access point. This list of identifiers may include, for example, identifiers for which no conflict is guaranteed, identifiers that are potentially susceptible to conflict, or identifiers that have been identified as subject to conflict. In some aspects, this list of identifiers may contain a certain range of identifier values.

If a conflict is not detected, then at steps 406 and 408, the access point can perform the corresponding operation (e.g., handoff) based on the first node identifier.

If a conflict is detected, then at step 410, the access point transmits a message to the access terminal that specifies that this access terminal must use a second node identifier (eg, ANID) to establish communication with the node. A similar message can take many forms. For example, this message may contain a reject message (for example, a route opening reject) that instructs the access terminal to use a different identifier.

At step 412, the access point may receive a message from the access terminal that includes a second node identifier. The access point may perform a corresponding operation (for example, a handover operation) based on this second node identifier. In some implementations, this may include tunneling the message, including the second node identifier, to the target node.

In some aspects, the operations of FIG. 4 relate to reserving resources through a transport network for a handoff operation (for example, in connection with an add to active set operation). In addition, since nodes subject to conflict may be restricted in some aspects (for example, restricted for association or in some other way), these operations may also relate to reserving resources for restricted nodes.

Figure 5 illustrates some aspects of specifying the use of a non-conflict identifier to establish communication with a node. Some aspects of these operations may complement some of the operations of FIG. 4.

At 502, an access terminal (eg, access terminal 102) transmits a message to a target node identified by a first node identifier. As indicated for step 402, this message can be transmitted through an associated access point (for example, access point 104).

At 504, the access point determines whether another node can be identified by the first node identifier. This determination can be made in various ways. As described above, the access terminal could send a message to the access point 104 using the first node identifier, and it could receive a message from the access point 104 that indicates the presence of a conflict (and which specifies the use of the second node identifier). In some cases, this determination may include attempting to communicate with the target node and receiving from the target node a message that indicates that the communication is not authorized. A similar reject message may be received since the context for the access terminal has been transmitted to a node other than the target node due to an identity conflict. In addition, the access terminal can identify the conflict based on the signals that it receives from neighboring access points and which indicate the identifiers used by these access points.

If no conflict is detected, then at steps 506 and 508, the access terminal may use the first node identifier to establish communication with the target node.

If a conflict is detected, then at step 510, the access terminal may use a second node identifier to establish communication with the target node.

Moreover, the access terminal may be configured to use a second node identifier in step 512 to establish communication with the target node. For example, the access terminal may be configured in a similar manner after the access terminal detects a conflict. Alternatively, the access terminal may transmit a second default node identifier.

FIG. 6 illustrates some aspects of reserving a subset of a node identifier space (eg, PCID space) for nodes that are not macro nodes in order to facilitate conflict resolution. Thus, a node that receives an identifier from a subset can quickly determine the possibility or probability of a conflict. In some implementations, said subset comprises a set of assigned values that is associated with access points that are designated non-conflict free. In some implementations, said subset comprises a set of assigned values that is associated with a closed group of subscribers (for example, as described below). In some implementations, said subset comprises a set of assigned values that is associated with access points of at least one assigned type (e.g., a node type). Such a designated type may relate, for example, to one or more elements from a group that includes transmit power, coverage area, and transmit capabilities.

At 602, the access terminal (eg, access terminal 102) receives a list of node identifiers. This list may contain, for example, a subset of node identifiers described above. In some implementations, this list may be received from a serving access point (eg, access point 104) that advertises this list. In some implementations, the target access point or some other access points (e.g., via neighbor list information) may advertise an indication that a second type of identifier (e.g., GCI) should be used when accessing the target access point. In some implementations, this list may be received from a configuration manager (eg, network node 112) that monitors a reserved set of nodes that are assigned an identifier from the list.

At 604, the access terminal determines a first identifier for communication with the target access point. For example, as described, a similar identifier may be received via a pilot or some other suitable signal.

At 606, the access terminal can determine (for example, in an autonomous manner) whether to use a second identifier (for example, GCI) to establish communication with this access point. In some aspects, this definition may be based on the first identifier (for example, by determining the type of the first identifier). For example, if the identifier obtained in step 604 is included in the list obtained in step 602, then the access terminal may receive a second identifier. So, obtaining a second identifier may include monitoring other signals (from the target access point) that contain the second identifier. For example, the target access point may broadcast the second identifier at intervals that are longer than the intervals at which the target access point broadcasts the first identifier.

At 608, the access terminal may transmit a message containing a second identifier to communicate with the target access point. In different scenarios, this message can take many forms. For example, this message may include a signal strength measurement message, a radio resource report, or a handoff request. In a typical implementation, an access terminal (eg, access terminal 102) includes associated PCID and GCI values in a measurement report that the access terminal transmits to its serving access point (eg, access point 104). In addition, as described below with reference to FIG. 7, in certain circumstances, the access terminal may transmit this information to the target access point.

After receiving this information, in step 610, the serving access point may initiate a handoff procedure using the GCI value. Accordingly, the serving access point will set the resources in the target cell and transmit the handoff command to the access terminal.

Figure 7 illustrates some aspects of the selection of the identifier to be provided to the target access point, this identifier being associated with the source access point. For example, an access terminal may use the GCI of the source access point in cases where the access terminal accesses the target access point directly, without first preparing a relay switch. In this case, the access terminal may use the GCI of the source access point when accessing the target access point. This allows the target access point to resolve any conflict regarding the identity of the source access point. Further, the target access points can obtain context for the access terminal from the corresponding source access point and complete the handoff. These operations are described with reference to steps 702-706 of FIG. 7.

At 702, the access terminal selects an identifier (e.g., GCI) from a set of identifiers (e.g., a first identifier, such as a PCID, and a second identifier, such as a GCI) associated with the target access point (e.g., access point 110). In some aspects, the selection of the second identifier may be based on whether the first identifier is in the received list of identifiers (for example, designated as non-conflict free, based on the type of access point, etc.). As mentioned above, in some aspects, the selection of the second identifier may be based on the loss of communication with the source access point (eg, access point 104).

At step 704, the access terminal transmits the selected identifier to the target access point when establishing communication with this target access point. For example, the access terminal may include the GCI of the source access point in the connection request message.

At 706, the source access point may use the selected identifier to establish communication and / or to obtain configuration information from the source access point. Thus, the source access point can obtain context information for the access terminal to complete the handoff.

FIG. 8 illustrates some aspects of the operations that an access point and / or access terminal can perform in connection with detecting and resolving a conflict of node identifiers. In some aspects, these operations complement the operations described above with reference to FIG. 5.

At 802, an access point (eg, access point 104) determines whether multiple nodes use the same first type identifier (eg, PCID). As indicated above, the access point can detect such a conflict based on measurement reports, neighbor detection, and received messages.

If the conflict is not detected, then at steps 804 and 806, the access point may continue operations in normal mode. For example, an access point may determine whether to perform a handoff based on a first type identifier received through a measurement report.

At 808, if a conflict is detected, the access point may issue a request to obtain a second type identifier that is associated with the first type identifier subject to conflict. For example, if a conflict-sensitive PCID was obtained from the access terminal (eg, access terminal 102) through a measurement report, this access point may send a request to the access terminal to obtain the GCI associated with this PCID. Further, the access terminal may receive GCI, for example, as described above.

At 810, the access point may receive a response from the access terminal that includes a GCI. Since the conflict will be resolved (for example, at the access point), at 812, a handover operation may be initiated (for example, via the access point) using the received GCI.

FIGS. 9A and 9B relate to some aspects of using a threshold to initiate a unique identifier (eg, GCI). In some cases, the access terminal may autonomously determine when to obtain a unique identifier. That is, this determination is performed without any instructions from another node (for example, an access point).

At 902, the access terminal may receive a specific set of identifiers of the first type (for example, the above list of node identifiers). In some implementations, this information may be determined and / or provided by a serving access point (eg, identifier controller 324) or some other node. For example, a serving access point may identify all PCIDs that are or may be in conflict and provide a list of these identifiers to the access terminal.

At 904, the access terminal may also receive a threshold value associated with said specific set of identifiers. For example, this threshold value may indicate a threshold power value for a received signal that starts the process of obtaining a GCI by an access terminal. In some implementations, this threshold value may be determined and / or provided by a serving access point (eg, threshold controller 334) or some other node. For example, this threshold value may be set less (for example, by several dB) than the threshold power value of the received signal, which initiates the relay switching operation. In some implementations, the threshold value may be specified as a relative shift from the signal strength of the target access point, or as an absolute threshold value for the Carrier-to-Interference (C / I) ratio from the target access point.

At 906, at some point in time, the access terminal receives a signal that is associated with an identifier of the first type. At 908, the access terminal (eg, comparator 330) may determine if the received identifier is included in the identifier list. In addition, an access terminal (e.g., a signal processor 332 that can be implemented in a receiver 308 or that can operate in conjunction with a receiver 308) determines whether or not the received signal power is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

In steps 910 and 912, if the criteria of step 908 are satisfied, then the access terminal may continue to monitor signals from neighboring access points.

At step 914, if the criteria of step 908 is not satisfied, the access terminal receives a second type identifier (eg, GCI) that is associated with the identifier received at step 906. As described above, this process may include monitoring a broadcast signal from a specific periodicity.

At step 916, the access terminal (eg, report generator 328) transmits to the access point a message including the identifier obtained in steps 906 and 910, as well as the power of the corresponding received signal (eg, the signal received in step 906). This message can be transmitted immediately after receiving a unique identifier at step 910 or at some other point in time. In some implementations, this information is conveyed in a measurement report. For example, this report may be transmitted when the strength of the received signal (for example, from the target access point) exceeds the threshold of the relay switch.

At step 918, since any conflict can already be resolved, the access point (eg, relay switch controller 326) determines whether to initiate a relay switch operation based on the identifier and received signal strength that are provided in this message. As described above, if there is an indication of a handoff operation, the access point will use a unique identifier to prepare the target access point and send a handoff command to the access terminal.

In some aspects, the circuit of FIG. 9 may have advantages for high mobility environments. For example, this circuitry can provide faster handoff since the GCI can be read before the signal strength of the target access point reaches the value needed for handoff.

10A and 10B relate to some aspects of a scheme where an access terminal transmits a signal reception report to an access point that exceeds a threshold value (eg, a threshold GCI value). In this case, the access point can determine if there is a probability of conflict, and if there is such a probability, it sends a command to the access terminal to obtain a unique identifier (for example, GCI). In general, the operations of steps 1002 to 1012 may be similar to the operations of steps 902 to 912, respectively.

However, if at step 1010 the criterion is satisfied, then at step 1014, the access terminal transmits a message to the access point that includes the identifier obtained in step 1006, as well as the power of the corresponding received signal. This message can be transmitted immediately after receiving the identifier at step 1006 or at some other point in time. In some implementations, this information is conveyed in a measurement report.

At 1016, the access point determines the likelihood of conflict based on this received information. For example, this definition may be based on whether multiple nodes use the same identifier. In addition, this definition, optionally, can be based on the power of any detected signals that include this identifier.

If the conflict is not detected, then at steps 1018 and 1020, the access point may continue operations in normal mode. For example, an access point may determine whether to perform a handoff based on a first type identifier received through a measurement report.

If a conflict is detected, then at step 1022, the access point transmits a message to the access terminal, which has requested a unique identifier (eg, CGI) associated with the identifier exposed to the conflict. At 1024, the access terminal may obtain an identifier and transmit that identifier to the access point (for example, by means of a measurement report).

At steps 1026 and 1028, the access point resolves the conflict and determines whether to initiate a handoff based on the unique identifier and strength of the received signal (for example, as described herein).

11 relates to some aspects of conflict detection (eg, autonomous detection) by an access terminal. In particular, this scheme relates to an access terminal that provides a measurement report with conflict information.

At 1102, the access terminal detects a conflict for a given identifier of the first type. For example, based on the monitored pilots or other suitable signals, the access terminal may determine that multiple access points use the same PCID.

At 1104, the access terminal may optionally obtain a second type identifier (eg, CGI) associated with the identifier for which a conflict indication has occurred. This operation can be performed as described above.

At 1106, the access terminal transmits a measurement report that includes a plurality of records for an identifier for which a conflict indication has occurred. For example, if two terminals use a PCID value of 12, then the measurement report may include two separate records corresponding to the PCID value 12. In addition, the measurement report may optionally include a unique identifier (for example, GCI), associated with each of these entries.

12 relates to some aspects of autonomous conflict detection by an access terminal. In particular, this scheme relates to an access terminal that transmits a measurement report if it detects a conflict.

At 1202, the access terminal detects a conflict for a given identifier of the first type. As described above, based on the monitored pilots or other suitable signals, the access terminal may determine that multiple access points use the same PCID.

In some aspects, conflict detection may be indicated based on whether at least two nodes use this same identifier at the same time, or whether they recently used this same identifier. For example, a conflict may be indicated if the access terminal is currently receiving synchronization signals or pilot signals from multiple access points that use the same PCID. In addition, a conflict can be determined if the access terminal has received synchronization signals or pilot signals from multiple access points over a certain period of time (for example, within the last 10 seconds). Under certain circumstances, this time period may be set to zero (for example, for a rapidly moving access terminal). In addition, a conflict can be determined if the access terminal has received synchronization signals or pilot signals from multiple access points over a period of time associated with a certain number of handoffs (for example, during the last four handoffs). The latter scheme may provide an advantage for slow moving access terminals that can transmit reports to cover the desired geographic area. In other words, this scheme allows you to detect duplicate node identifiers in a larger geographical area.

At step 1204, the access terminal may optionally obtain a second type identifier (eg, CGI) associated with the identifier for which a conflict indication has occurred. This operation can be performed as described above.

At step 1206, the access terminal transmits a measurement report if a conflict is detected at step 1202. In addition, the measurement report may optionally include a unique identifier (e.g., GCI) associated with each of these records.

FIG. 13 relates to some aspects of an access terminal that, upon request, provides a conflict report. At 1302, the access terminal receives a request for a conflict report. For example, the network may periodically request from the access terminal the transmission of a measurement report with conflict information. This request may specify one or more identifiers (eg, PCIDs) for which conflict information is requested. This identifier may be the identifier of the requesting node (e.g., a serving access point). Alternatively, this request may include a wildcard identifier, and the access terminal needs to report all detected conflicts. At step 1304, the access terminal monitors signals from neighboring access points and detects conflicts, if any (step 1306). At step 1308, the access terminal transmits a conflict report if, at step 1306, a conflict is detected. If the access terminal does not have any information about the conflict, then it may respond with the message “No Events” or not provide a response at all. It should be noted that one or more of the operations of FIGS. 11-13 can be combined in various ways in other implementations.

As indicated above, the ideas of the present invention can be implemented on a network that uses macro access points and femto nodes. Figures 14 and 15 are illustrations of how such access points can be arranged in such a network. FIG. 14 shows in simplified form how cells 1402 (e.g., macro cells 1402A-1402G) of wireless communication system 1400 can be served by corresponding access points 1404 (e.g., access points 1404A-1404G). Thus, macro cells 1402 may correspond to macro coverage areas 204 of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 14, access terminals 1406 (eg, access terminals 1406A-1406L) may be distributed at various locations throughout the system. At a given point in time, each access terminal 1406 may communicate with one or more access points 1404 on the forward link and / or reverse link, depending on whether the given access terminal 1406 is in active mode or in a smooth handoff mode, eg. By using this cellular scheme, the wireless communication system 1400 can provide service in a large geographic area. For example, each of the 1402A-1402G macro cells can cover several blocks in an urban area or several square miles in a rural area.

FIG. 15 is an illustration of how one or more femto nodes can be deployed in a network environment (eg, system 1400). In the system 1500 of FIG. 15, a plurality of femto nodes 1510 (e.g., femto nodes 1510A and 1510B) are installed in a networked environment with a relatively small coverage area (e.g., in one or more user dwellings 1530). Each femto node 1510 can be connected to a wide area network 1540 (eg, the Internet) and a core network 1550 of a mobile operator via a DSL router, cable modem, wireless line or other means of connection (not shown).

The owner of the femto node 1510 can subscribe to a mobile service, such as, for example, a 3G mobile service provided by a core network 1550 of a mobile operator. In addition, the access terminal 1520 may be able to function both in a macro environment and in network environments with a smaller coverage area (eg, in a network environment of a home). In other words, depending on the current location of the access terminal 1520, the access terminal 1520 may be served by a macro cell access point 1560 associated with a mobile operator’s core network 1550, or any of the femto nodes 1510 (e.g., femto nodes 1510A and 1510B, which located in the corresponding dwelling 1530 user). For example, when the subscriber is away from home, he can be served by a standard macro access point (for example, access point 1560), and when the subscriber is near and in the house, he can be served by a femto node (for example, node 1510A). So, the femto node 1510 may be backward compatible with legacy access terminals 1520.

The femto node 1510 may operate on a single frequency or, alternatively, on multiple frequencies. Depending on the particular configuration, one or more frequencies may overlap one or more frequencies used by the macro access point (eg, access point 1560).

In some aspects, the access terminal 1520 may be configured to connect to a preferred femto node (eg, the home node of the access terminal 1520), if possible. For example, when the access terminal 1520A is located in the user's home 1530, it is desirable that he only communicate with the home femto node 1510A or 1510B.

In some aspects, if the access terminal 1520 operates on a macro cellular network 1550 but is not in the most preferred network (e.g., according to the list of preferred networks when roaming), then the access terminal 1520 may continue to search for the most preferred network (e.g., the preferred femto node 1510) using the Better System Reselection (BSR) scheme, which may include periodic scanning of available systems to determine the availability of the best systems, as well as subsequent attempts to install discloses compounds of these preferred systems. Access terminal 1520 may limit this search to a specific band and channel. For example, a search for the most preferred system may be repeated periodically. Upon detection of a preferred femto node 1510, the access terminal 1520 selects this femto node 1510.

A femto node may be limited in some aspects. For example, a given femto node may provide only certain services to certain access terminals. In implementations with the so-called limited (or closed) association, a given access terminal can only be served by a macro cellular network and a specific set of femto nodes (for example, femto nodes 1510, which are located in the corresponding user's home 1530). In some implementations, a node may be limited, and it may not provide at least one node with at least one of the following services: signaling, data access, registration, paging, and services.

In some aspects, the limited femto node (which may also be referred to as the Home NodeB of the Closed Subscriber Group) provides services to a limited set of access terminals. If necessary, this set can be temporarily or permanently expanded. In some aspects, a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) can be defined as a set of access points (eg, femto nodes) that share a common access control list for access terminals. A channel on which all femto nodes (or all restricted femto nodes) in an area operate can be designated as a femto channel.

Thus, between a given femto node and a given access terminal, various relationships may occur. For example, from the point of view of the access terminal, an open femto node may denote a femto node without limited association (for example, a femto node that allows access to any access terminal). A restricted femto node may denote a femto node that is limited in some way (for example, restricted for association and / or registration). A home femto node may denote a femto node on which the access terminal is authorized for access and operation (for example, for a given set of one or more access terminals, constant access is provided). A guest femto node may indicate a femto node where the access terminal is temporarily authorized to access or operate. A foreign femto node may indicate a femto node on which the access terminal is not authorized to access and operate, except in emergency situations (for example, for 911 calls).

From the point of view of a limited femto node, a home access terminal may refer to an access terminal that is authorized to access that limited femto node (for example, an access terminal has permanent access to a femto node). A guest access terminal may designate an access terminal with temporary access to a limited femto node (for example, with a limitation in terms of time, duration of use, data volume, number of connections, or some other criterion). Another access terminal may indicate an access terminal that does not have permanent permission to access a limited femto node, except in emergency situations, for example, for 911 calls (for example, an access terminal does not have a credential or permission to register with a limited femto node).

For convenience, the present disclosure describes various functions in the context of a femto node. However, it should be understood that the pico node may provide similar or identical functions for a larger coverage area. For example, a pico node may be limited, a home pico node may be defined for a given access terminal, and the like.

The ideas of the present invention can be implemented in various types of communication devices. In some aspects, the ideas of the present invention can be implemented in wireless devices that can be installed in a multiple access communication system that can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless access terminals. So, each terminal can communicate with one or more access points through transmissions on the forward link and the reverse link. The term straight line (or downlink) refers to a communication line from access points to terminals, and the term reverse link (or uplink) refers to a communication line from terminals to access points. This link can be established through a Single-In-Single-Out (SISO) system, a Multiple-In and Multiple-Out (MIMO) system, or another system.

FIG. 16 is an illustration of communication components that can be applied to a wireless device in the context of a MIMO system 800. The system 1600 utilizes a variety of(N _T )transmitting antennas and many(N _R )receiving antennas for data transmission. MIMO channel formedN _T transmit antennas andN _R receiving antennas can be decomposed intoNsindependent channels, also called spatial channels, whereN _s ≤min{N _T , N _R }. Each ofN _Sspatial channels corresponds to one dimension. A MIMO system can provide increased performance (for example, higher throughput and / or higher reliability) if additional dimensions created by multiple transmit and receive antennas are used.

System 1600 can support Time Division Duplex (TDD) and Frequency Division Duplex (FDD). In the TDD system, the forward and reverse links are transmitted over the same frequency domain, so that the reciprocity principle allows the forward link channel to be estimated based on the reverse link channel. This allows the access point to output a beamforming gain in a forward link when multiple antennas are available at the access point.

System 1600 includes a wireless device 1610 (e.g., an access point) and a wireless device 1650 (e.g., an access terminal). At device 1610, traffic flow data for a number of data streams is provided from a data source 1612 to a transmission data processor 1614.

In some aspects, each data stream is transmitted through a respective transmit antenna. In order to provide encoded data, the transmission data processor 1614 formats, encodes, and interleaves the data of the exchange stream for each data stream based on a specific coding scheme selected for this data stream.

The encoded data for each data stream may be multiplexed with pilot data by OFDM. The pilot data is typically a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner and which can be used at the receiver to estimate channel performance. Further, to provide modulated symbols, the multiplexed pilot data and encoded data for each data stream are modulated (e.g., symbol matching is performed) based on a specific modulation scheme (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, M-PSK and M-QAM) selected for this data stream. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream may be determined by instructions executed by processor 1630. Memory 1632 may store program code, data, and other information that is used by processor 1630 or other components of device 1610.

Further, modulation symbols for all data streams are provided to a MIMO transmission processor 1620, which can further process modulation symbols (e.g., for OFDM). A 1620 MIMO processor providesN _T modulation symbol streams inN _T 1622A-1622T transceivers. In some aspects, the MIMO transmission processor 1620 applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which this symbol is transmitted.

Each transceiver 1222 receives and processes a corresponding symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further processes (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel. Further,N _T modulated signals from 1622A-1622T transceivers are transmitted withN _T antennas 1624A-1624T, respectively.

At device 1650, the transmitted modulated signals are received by N _R antennas 1652A-1652R, and the received signal from each antenna 1652 is provided to a corresponding transceiver 1654A-1654R. Each transceiver 1654 processes (eg, filters, amplifies, and downconverts) the corresponding received signal, digitizes the processed signal to provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide a corresponding stream of “received” symbols.

A receive data processor 1660 further receives and processesN _R streams of received characters fromN _R transceivers 1654 based on a specific processing method to provideN _T streams of "detected" characters. Further, the reception data processor 1660 demodulates, performs deinterleaving, and decodes each detected symbol stream to recover the exchange data for this data stream. The processing performed by the reception data processor 1660 complements the processing performed by the MIMO transmission processor 1620 and the transmission data processor 1614 in the device 1610.

The processor 1670 periodically determines which precoding matrix to use (as described below). The processor 1670 generates a return line message containing a portion of the matrix index and a portion of the rank value. Memory 1672 may store program code, data, and other information that is used by processor 1670 or other components of device 1650.

The reverse link message may contain various types of information regarding the communication link and / or the received data stream. The reverse link message is further processed by a transmit data processor 1638, which also receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a data source 1636, is modulated by a modulator 1680, processed by transceivers 1654A-1654R, and transmitted back to device 1610.

At device 1610, modulated signals from device 1650 are received by antennas 1624, processed by transceivers 1622, demodulated by demodulator 1640, and processed by receive data processor 1642 to extract the reverse link message sent by device 1650. Processor 1630 further determines which precoding matrix to use for determining the weighting factors of the beam formation and, further, processes the extracted message.

16 also illustrates communication components, which may include one or more components that perform conflict management operations described herein. For example, the conflict management component 1690 may interact with the processor 1630 and / or other components of the device 1610 to transmit / receive signals from another device (eg, device 1650), as described above. Similarly, a conflict management component 1692 may interact with a processor 1670 and / or other components of a device 1650 to transmit / receive signals from another device (eg, device 1610). It should be understood that for each of the devices 1610 and 1650, the functionality of one or more of the described components can be provided by one component. For example, one processing component may provide the functionality of a conflict management component 1690 and a processor 1630, and one processing component may provide the functionality of a conflict management component 1692 of a processor 1670.

The ideas of the present invention can be implemented in various types of communication systems and / or system components. In some aspects, the ideas of the present invention can be implemented in a multiple access system that is capable of communicating with multiple users by sharing available system resources (for example, by specifying one or more of bandwidth, transmit power, encoding, interleaving, etc. .). For example, the ideas of the present invention can be applied to one or a combination of the following technologies: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), CDMA with Multiple Carriers (Multiple-Carrier CDMA, MCCDMA "), Broadband CDMA (Wideband CDMA, W-CDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA / HSPA +), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), FDMA with Single Carrier (Single-Carrier FDMA, SC-FDMA), Multiple Access with Orthogonal Frequency Separation (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) or other multiple access technology A wireless communication system that utilizes the teachings of the present invention may be configured to support one or more standards, such as IS-95, cdma2000, IS-856, W- CDMA, TDSCDMA, and other standards: A CDMA network can implement radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes the W-CDMA standard) and the Low Chip Rate (LCR) standard. The cdma2000 standard covers the IS-2000, IS-856 and IS-95 standards. A TDMA network can implement a radio technology such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement such radio technology as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA and GSM are part of the standard of the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). The ideas of the present invention can be implemented in the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, the Ultra-Mobile Broadband ("UMB") system and other types of systems. LTE is a UMTS release that uses E-UTRA. Although some aspects of the present invention are described using 3GPP terminology, it should be understood that the ideas of the present invention can be applied in 3GPP technology (Re199, Rel5, Rel6, Rel7), as well as 3GPP2 technology (IxRTT, 1xEV-DO RevO, RevA, RevB) and other technologies.

The ideas of the present invention can be implemented in (for example, implemented in or implemented through) various devices (for example, nodes). In some aspects, a node (eg, a wireless node) implemented in accordance with the teachings of the present invention may comprise an access point or access terminal).

For example, an access terminal may also be referred to as user equipment, a subscriber station, a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a mobile device, a mobile node, a remote station, a remote terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, a user device, and the like. In some implementations, the access terminal may be a cell phone, cordless telephone, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) telephone, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), pocket a wireless device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. Accordingly, one or more aspects of the present invention can be implemented in a telephone (eg, cell phone or smartphone), computer (eg, laptop), portable communication device, portable computing device (eg, personal digital assistant), entertainment device (eg music or a video device or satellite radio), a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wireless mo dem.

An access point can also be referred to as NodeB, eNodeB, Radio Network Controller (RNC), Base Station (BS), Radio Base Station (RBS), Base Station Controller, BSC ), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), Transceiver Function (TF), Radio Transceiver, Radio Router, Basic Service Set (BSS), Advanced Service Set (Extended Service Set, ESS), etc.

In some aspects, a node (eg, an access point) may comprise an access node for a communication system. Such an access point may provide, for example, a connection to a network (for example, a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication line. Accordingly, the access node may allow another node (eg, an access terminal) to access the network and use some other function. In addition, it should be understood that one or both of these nodes can be portable or relatively stationary.

It should also be noted that a wireless node may be able to transmit and / or receive information without wireless technology (for example, via a wired connection). Thus, the receiver and transmitter may include suitable components of a communication interface (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 or otherwise support any suitable wireless technology. For example, in some aspects, a wireless node may communicate 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 different wireless communication technologies, protocols, or standards, such as those described above (e.g., CDMA, TDMA, OFDM, OFDMA, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, etc.). Similarly, a wireless node may support or otherwise use one or more different modulation or multiplexing schemes. Thus, a wireless node may include suitable components (eg, radio interfaces) for establishing and communicating on one or more wireless communication lines using the above 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 described components can be implemented in various ways. Referring to Fig.17-21, devices 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000 and 2100 are presented as a series of interconnected functional blocks. In some aspects, the functions of these units may be implemented as a processing system including one or more processor components. In some aspects, the functions of these units may be implemented through at least a portion of one or more integrated circuits (e.g., specialized integrated circuits). The integrated circuit may include a processor, software, other related components, or some combination of the above. The functions of these blocks can also be implemented in another way. In some aspects, one or more of the dashed blocks of FIGS. 17-21 may be optional.

Devices 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, and 2100 may include one or more modules that may perform one or more of the functions described above with reference to various figures. For example, receiving means 1702, message receiving means 1806, request receiving means 1906, signal receiving means 2012 or receiving means 2108 may correspond, for example, to a receiver and / or communication controller. An identification determining means 1704 and / or an identical identifying means 1902 may correspond, for example, to a conflict detector. Message transfer means 1706, identifier transfer means 1802, identifier determination means 1808, identifier determination means 1908, type determination means 2004, second identifier determination means 2006 or identifier selection means 2104 may correspond, for example, to an identifier controller. The transmission means 1706 or the transmission means 2008 may correspond, for example, to a transmitter and / or a communication controller. A threshold value transmitting means 1804 or a threshold value determining means 1810 may correspond, for example, to a threshold value controller. The report transfer means 1904 may correspond, for example, to a report generator. The first identifier determination means 2002, the identifier utilization means 2010, the communication means 2102 or the transmission means 2106 may correspond, for example, to a communication controller. The signal power determining means 2014 may correspond, for example, to a signal processor and / or receiver.

It should be understood that any reference to an element designated as "first", "second", etc., does not limit the number or order of these elements. Rather, these designations can be used as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements or instances of elements. Accordingly, reference to the first and second elements does not mean that only two elements are used or that the first element should precede the second element in some way. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, a set of elements may contain one or more elements. Thus, a wording of the type “at least one of: A, B and C” used in the description or claims means “A or B or C or any combination of these elements”.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that information and signals can be represented by any technology and method from a wide variety of such. For example, data, instructions, instructions, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may have been mentioned in the foregoing description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or through any combination of the above.

It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, tools, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware (e.g., digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination of the above, which can be developed by encoding the source or in some other way), various forms of a program or code that includes instructions (which for obstva may be designated by the terms "software" or "software module"), or a combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps above have been described in terms of their functionality. The way this function is implemented — such as hardware or software — depends on the particular application and the design constraints imposed on the system as a whole. Skilled artisans may implement the described functions in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as falling outside the scope of the present disclosure.

Various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosed aspects may be implemented in an integrated circuit, access terminal, or access point. The integrated circuit may include a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, a specialized integrated circuit, a programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, electrical components, optical components, mechanical components, and / or any combination of the above, arranged to implement the functions described here and execute codes and / or instructions that are stored integrally circuit is an integrated circuit or in an integrated circuit, and outside it. A general purpose 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 digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in combination with a digital signal processor as a core, or any other such configuration.

Obviously, any particular order or hierarchy of steps in any of the disclosed processes is an example of an illustrative approach. It is also obvious that based on preferences, the particular order or hierarchy of steps in the processes can be changed within the scope of the present disclosure. The appended claims defining the methods represent elements of the various steps in an illustrative manner and are not intended to be limited to the particular order or hierarchy presented.

The functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. When implemented in software, the functions may be stored on a computer-readable medium and transmitted from it in the form of one or more instructions or codes. A computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and transmission media including an environment that facilitates transferring a computer program from one place to another. A computer-readable medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, but not limited to, such computer-readable media may include ROMs, RAMs, EEPROMs, CD-ROMs or other optical disk stores, magnetic disk stores or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection is defined as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source through a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or via wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave communications, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave, are included in the definition of media. Disks and floppy disks, 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, and floppy disks typically play data magnetically , and the discs reproduce the data optically through lasers. Combinations of any of the above types are also included within the scope of the concept of computer-readable media. It should be understood that computer-readable media can be implemented in any suitable computer program product.

In view of the foregoing, in some aspects, the first communication method comprises the steps of: receiving a message from a node identified by the first node identifier; determining whether any other node is identified by said first identifier; and transmit, as a result of this determination, a message specifying the use of the second node identifier to establish communication with this node. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following may be applicable to the first communication method: when determining whether another node is identified by the first node identifier, it is determined whether the plurality of cells uses the specified cell identifier; the second node identifier uniquely identifies the node; the first node identifier is unique in the first region, and the second identifier is unique in the second region, which is larger than the first region; said message comprising a handover request, an interference control signaling, a signal strength measurement report or a message for reserving at least one resource; the method further comprises the steps of: receiving another message for the node, said further message containing a second node identifier, and tunneling this another message to the node; in the determination step, neighbors are detected or it is determined whether the first identifier is included in the identifier list; said list of identifiers contains a certain range; said message comprises an indication of a first node identifier and, at the determination stage, this indication is compared with a list of node identifier indications; the list of node identifier indications contains node identifiers that are common to more than one node in the region, and these node identifiers are received via another message or by detecting neighbors; the first node identifier contains a physical cell identifier, a pilot identifier, or a pseudo-random sequence, and the second node identifier contains a global cell identifier, an access network identifier, or a sector identifier; the node contains an access point; the node contains a femto cell or pico cell; the node is limited so as not to provide at least one other node with at least one of the following services: alarm, data access, registration, paging and service.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: a receiver configured to receive a message from a node identified by a first node identifier; a conflict detector configured to determine if any other node is identified by said first identifier; and an identifier controller configured to transmit, as a result of this determination, a message specifying the use of a second node identifier to establish communication with that node.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: means for receiving a message from a node identified by a first node identifier; means for determining whether any other node is identified by said first identifier; and means for transmitting, as a result of this determination, a message specifying the use of a second node identifier to establish communication with this node.

In some aspects, the computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for driving a computer to: receive a message from a node identified by a first node identifier; determining whether any other node is identified by said first identifier; and transmitting, as a result of this determination, a message specifying the use of a second node identifier to establish communication with that node.

In some aspects, the second communication method comprises the steps of: transmitting a message to a node identified by the first node identifier; determining whether any other node can be identified by said first node identifier; and using the second node identifier to establish communication with said node based on this definition. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following may be applicable to the second communication method: said second node identifier uniquely identifies the node; the first node identifier is unique in the first region, and the second node identifier is unique in the second region, which is larger than the first region; said message comprising a handoff request, interference control signaling, a signal strength measurement report or a message for reserving at least one resource; in the determination step, a message is received indicating whether any other node is identified by said first node identifier; the method further comprises transmitting a message containing an indication of the first node identifier to establish communication, and in the determination step, receiving a response to this message that specifies that a second node identifier should be used to establish communication; at the determination stage, an attempt is made to communicate with another node and receive a message from another node indicating that the communication is not authorized; the method further comprises the step of using a second node identifier for a subsequent attempt to establish communication with the node; the first node identifier contains a physical cell identifier, a pilot identifier, or a pseudo-random sequence, and the second node identifier contains a global cell identifier, an access network identifier, or a sector identifier; the node contains an access point; the node contains a femto cell and / or pico cell; the node is limited so as not to provide at least one other node with at least one of the following services: alarm, data access, registration, paging and service. In some aspects, the communication device comprises: a communication controller configured to transmit a message to a node identified by a first node identifier; and a conflict detector configured to determine whether any other node can be identified by said first node identifier; wherein the communication controller is further configured to use a second node identifier to establish communication with the node based on the above definition.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: means for transmitting a message to a node identified by a first node identifier; means for determining whether any other node can be identified by said first node identifier; and means for using the second node identifier to establish communication with said node based on this determination.

In some aspects, the computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for causing a computer to: transmit a message to a node identified by a first node identifier; determining whether any other node can be identified by said first node identifier; and using a second node identifier to establish communication with said node based on this definition.

In some aspects, the third communication method comprises the steps of: determining a first identifier for communicating with an access point; determine the type of the first identifier; and based on the first identifier, a second identifier is determined to establish communication with the access point. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following may be applicable to the third communication method: at the step of determining the type of the first identifier, a message is received indicating whether any other node is identified by said first identifier; the method further comprises the step of using a second identifier for a subsequent attempt to establish communication with the access point; in the step of determining the type of the first identifier, it is determined whether the plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers of the first type; the method further comprises the step of transmitting a measurement report that comprises a plurality of records for said identical cell identifiers; the first identifier contains a physical cell identifier associated with said access point, a pseudo-random number offset associated with said access point, or a pilot signal associated with said access point, and the second identifier contains a global cell identifier associated with said access point, IP the address associated with said access point, or an identifier that uniquely identifies this access point on the network; the definition of the second identifier is used to avoid a conflict that would otherwise occur due to the use of the first identifier in establishing communication with said access point; determining the second identifier is based on whether the value of the first identifier is equal to one of the determined values from the set; said set of determined values is associated with a closed subscriber group; said set of determined values associated with access points of at least one assigned type; said at least one assigned type refers to at least one element from the group consisting of: transmit power, coverage area and transmit capabilities; the method further comprises the step of: receiving a list of a set of certain values from another access point; at the stage of establishing a connection with said access point, a second indicator is transmitted in combination with a signal strength measurement message, a radio resource report, or a relay switching request; the second identifier is transmitted to another access point, which initiates a relay switch to said access point; the method further comprises transmitting a message to said access point using a second identifier; The access point contains a femto cell or pico cell; an access point serves a limited set of at least one access terminal.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: a communication controller configured to determine a first identifier for communicating with an access point; and an identifier controller configured to determine a second identifier based on the first identifier to establish communication with said access point.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: means for determining a first identifier for establishing communication with an access point; and means for determining, based on said first identifier, a second identifier for communicating with said access point.

In some aspects, the computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for bringing a computer to: determining a first identifier for communicating with an access point; and determining, based on said first identifier, a second identifier for communicating with said access point.

In some aspects, the fourth communication method comprises the steps of: communicating with a first access point; selecting an identifier from a set of identifiers associated with the first access point; and transmitting the selected identifier to the second access point when they establish communication with the second access point. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following may also apply to the fourth communication method: the selection of the identifier is based on the type of node associated with the first access point; said set of identifiers contains a first identifier and a second identifier, and the selected identifier contains a second identifier; the first identifier contains a physical cell identifier associated with said first access point, a pseudo-random number shift associated with said first access point, or a pilot signal associated with said first access point, and the second identifier contains a global cell identifier associated with said first point access, an IP address associated with said first access point, or an identifier that uniquely identifies said first access point in a network; a second identifier is selected in order to avoid a conflict that would otherwise occur due to the use of the first identifier in establishing communication with the second access point; the selection of the identifier is based on whether the value of the first identifier is equal to one of the determined values from the set; said set of defined values is associated with at least one element from the group consisting of: access points that are designated as non-conflict free, closed subscriber group and access points of at least one assigned type; said at least one assigned type refers to at least one element from the group consisting of: transmit power, coverage area and transmit capabilities; the method further comprises the step of receiving a list of a set of assigned values from the first access point; the selected identifier is transmitted in conjunction with a connection request; identifier selection starts as a result of loss of connection with the first access point; the selected identifier is used by the second access point to communicate with the first access point and / or to obtain configuration information from the first access point; the first access point contains a femto cell or pico cell; the first access point serves a limited set of at least one access terminal.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: a communication controller configured to communicate with a first access point; and an identifier controller configured to select an identifier from a set of identifiers associated with said first access point; moreover, the communication controller is further configured to transmit the selected identifier to the second access point when establishing communication with the second access point.

In some aspects, a communication device comprises: means for communicating with a first access point; means for selecting an identifier from a set of identifiers associated with the first access point; and means for transmitting the selected identifier to the second access point when communication is established with the second access point.

In some aspects, the computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for causing a computer to: communicate with a first access point; making an identifier selection from a set of identifiers associated with the first access point; and transmitting the selected identifier to the second access point when communication is established with the second access point.

In some aspects, the fifth communication method comprises the steps of: determining whether a plurality of cells uses an identical identifier of the first type; and based on this determination, a request is transmitted for a second type cell identifier associated with a first type cell identifier. In addition, in some aspects of the fifth communication method, at least one of the following may also be applicable: a cell type identifier of the first type contains a physical cell identifier, and a cell type identifier of the second type contains a global cell identifier; the method further comprises the step of receiving a measurement report that indicates that one of the cells uses a cell identifier that may cause a conflict; said definition based on neighbor detection, which indicates the cell identifiers used by these cells; said definition is based on a received message that indicates cell identifiers used by these cells; the method further comprises the steps of: receiving a response to said request, the response comprising a cell identifier of a second type, and initiating a handover by means of a cell identifier of a second type; cells contain femto cells and pico cells; the method is performed by the base station.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: a conflict detector configured to determine whether the first cell and second cell use the same cell identifier of the first type; and an identifier controller configured to, based on said determination, transmit a request for a second type cell identifier associated with a first type cell identifier.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: means for determining whether the first cell and the second cell use the same cell identifier of the first type; and means for transmitting a request for a second type cell identifier associated with a first type cell identifier based on the above definition.

In some aspects, the computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for driving a computer to: determine whether the first cell and second cell use the same cell identifier of the first type; and transmitting a request for a second type cell identifier associated with the first type cell identifier based on the above definition.

In some aspects, the sixth communication method comprises the steps of: receiving a signal associated with a cell identifier; determining whether this cell identifier is one of the identifiers from a particular set of cell identifiers of the first type; determining whether the power of said signal is equal to or greater than the threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers; obtaining a cell identifier of a second type associated with said identifier if the latter is one of the cell identifiers from a specific set and if the signal is equal to or greater than said threshold value; and transmitting a message containing the obtained cell identifier. In addition, in some aspects of the sixth communication method, at least one of the following may also apply: the identifiers of the cells of the first type contain identifiers of the physical cells, and the identifier of the second type contains the global identifier of the cell; said specific set comprising a subset of all cell identifiers of the first type, and said specific set identifying a cell identifier that can be assigned to a plurality of cells in the coverage area of another cell; in the step of obtaining a cell identifier, a cell identifier is received from the cell that transmitted the signal; the message contains a measurement report; the method further comprises a step of transmitting said message, a command is received to perform a handoff to a cell associated with the obtained cell identifier; the method further comprises a step of wirelessly receiving said specific set of cell identifiers of the first type and said threshold value; said cell identifiers of the first type identify femto cells or pico cells; the method is performed by the access terminal.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: a receiver configured to receive a signal associated with a cell identifier; a comparator configured to determine whether this cell identifier is one of the identifiers from a specific set of cell identifiers of the first type; a signal processor configured to determine if the power of said signal is equal to or greater than a threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers; an identifier controller configured to receive a cell identifier of a second type associated with said identifier if the latter is one of the cell identifiers from a specific set and if the signal is equal to or greater than said threshold value; and a transmitter configured to transmit a message containing the received cell identifier.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: means for receiving a signal associated with a cell identifier; means for determining whether this cell identifier is one of the identifiers from a particular set of cell identifiers of the first type; means for determining whether or not the power of said signal is equal to or greater than a threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers; means for obtaining a cell identifier of a second type associated with said identifier, if the latter is one of the cell identifiers from a particular set and if the signal is equal to or greater than said threshold value; and means for transmitting a message containing the obtained cell identifier.

In some aspects, the computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for driving a computer to: receive a signal associated with a cell identifier; determining whether this cell identifier is one of the identifiers from a particular set of cell identifiers of the first type; determining whether or not the power of said signal is equal to or greater than a threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers; obtaining a cell identifier of a second type associated with said identifier if the latter is one of the cell identifiers from a specific set and if the signal is equal to or greater than the threshold value; and transmitting a message containing the obtained cell identifier.

In some aspects, the seventh communication method comprises the steps of: transmitting to the node a specific set of cell identifiers of the first type; transmitting to said node a threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers, this threshold value being used to determine whether it is necessary to obtain cell identifiers of the second type; and receive from the node a message containing one of the identifiers of the cells of the second type. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following may also apply to the seventh communication method: cell identifiers of the first type contain identifiers of physical cells, and identifiers of cells of the second type contain global cell identifiers; said specific set comprising a subset of identifiers of the first type, and said specific set identifying a cell identifier that can be assigned to a plurality of cells in the coverage area of another cell; the method further comprises the step of determining a specific set of cell identifiers; at the step of determining said specific set of cell identifiers, a plurality of neighboring cells that use a common cell identifier of the first type are identified; the method further comprises the step of determining a threshold value; said message contains a measurement report; the method further comprises the step of instructing the node to perform a handoff to the cell associated with the received cell identifier of the second type; said cell identifiers of the first type identify femto cells or pico cells; the method is performed by the base station.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: an identifier controller configured to transmit to a node a specific set of identifiers of cells of the first type; a threshold controller configured to transmit to said node a threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers, this threshold value being used to determine whether it is necessary to obtain cell identifiers of the second type; and a receiver configured to receive from said node a message containing one of the identifiers of cells of the second type.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: means for transmitting to a node a specific set of identifiers of cells of the first type; means for transmitting to said node a threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers, this threshold value being used to determine whether it is necessary to obtain cell identifiers of the second type; and means for receiving from the node a message containing one of the identifiers of the cells of the second type.

In some aspects, a computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for bringing a computer to: transmitting to a node a specific set of identifiers of cells of the first type; transmitting to said node a threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers, this threshold value being used to determine whether it is necessary to obtain cell identifiers of the second type; and receiving from said node a message containing one of the identifiers of the cells of the second type.

In some aspects, the eighth communication method comprises the steps of: receiving a message comprising a specified cell identifier of a first type; determining whether a plurality of cells uses this specified cell identifier; and transmitting the request for a second type cell identifier associated with said specified cell identifier based on said definition. In addition, in some aspects of the eighth communication method, at least one of the following may also apply: a first type cell identifier contains a physical cell identifier, and a second type cell identifier contains a global cell identifier; said message further comprising a first indication of a power of a first received signal from a first cell that uses a specified cell identifier; the method further comprises the steps of determining whether a cell identifier conflict may arise based on the first indication of the received signal power and the second indication of the received second signal strength from the second cell, which uses the specified cell identifier, wherein the transmission of the request is further based on determining whether there is a conflict of cell identifiers; transmitting a certain set of identifiers of cells of the first type to the node that transmitted the message, transmitting a threshold value associated with this particular set of identifiers of cells to the node, said threshold value being used to determine whether it is necessary to obtain identifiers of cells of the second type; said specific set comprising a subset of cell identifiers of the first type, and said specific set identifying a cell identifier that can be assigned to a plurality of cells in the coverage area of another cell; said message contains a measurement report; the method further comprises the step of issuing a command to the node to perform a handoff to a cell associated with the received cell identifier of the second type; a cell identifier of the first type identifies a femto cell or a pico cell; the method is performed by the base station.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: a receiver configured to receive a message comprising a specified identifier of a first type; a conflict detector configured to determine whether the plurality of cells uses said specified cell identifier; and an identifier controller configured to transmit a request for a cell type identifier of a second type associated with said specified cell identifier based on said definition.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: means for receiving a message comprising a specified cell identifier of a first type; means for determining whether a plurality of cells uses this specified cell identifier; and means for transmitting a request for a cell type identifier of a second type associated with said specified cell identifier based on said definition.

In some aspects, the computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for causing a computer to: receive a message containing a specified cell identifier of the first type; determining whether a plurality of cells uses this specified cell identifier; and transmitting a request for a second type cell identifier associated with said specified cell identifier based on said definition.

In some aspects, the ninth communication method comprises the steps of: determining whether a plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers of the first type; and transmitting a measurement report that contains a plurality of records for identical cell identifiers. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following may also be applicable to the ninth communication method: the method further comprises determining second cell identifiers associated with said identical cell identifiers, and the measurement report further comprising identifiers cells of the second type; cell identifiers of the first type contain identifiers of physical cells, and identifiers of cells of the second type contain global cell identifiers; in the determination step, signals from a plurality of cells are received, and said signals contain identical cell identifiers; said cells comprise femto cells or pico cells; the method is performed by the access terminal.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: a conflict detector configured to determine whether the plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers; and a measurement report generator configured to transmit a measurement report that contains a plurality of records for identical cell identifiers.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: means for determining whether a plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers of the first type; and means for transmitting a measurement report that contains a plurality of records for identical cell identifiers.

In some aspects, the computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for causing a computer to: determine whether a plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers of the first type; and transmitting a measurement report that contains a plurality of records for identical cell identifiers.

In some aspects, the tenth communication method comprises the steps of: determining whether a plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers; and transmit a measurement report based on this definition. In addition, in some aspects, at least one of the following may also apply to the tenth communication method: the method further comprises receiving a request for conflict information; a measurement report is sent in response to this request and contains an indication of the definition; identical cell identifiers contain identifiers of physical cells; said cells comprise cells from which synchronization signals and / or pilot signals are currently being received; said cells comprise cells from which synchronization signals and pilot signals were received during a certain time period; said cells comprise cells from which synchronization signals and pilot signals were received during a time period associated with a certain number of handoffs; identical cell identifiers are first type cell identifiers, and the method further comprises determining second type cell identifiers that are associated with said identical cell identifiers, and the measurement report further comprises second type cell identifiers; cell identifiers of the first type contain identifiers of physical cells, and identifiers of cells of the second type contain global cell identifiers; at the determination stage, signals from a plurality of cells are received, and these signals contain identical cell identifiers; cells contain femto cells or pico cells; the method is performed by the access terminal.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: a conflict detector configured to determine whether the plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers; and a measurement report generator configured to transmit a measurement report based on said determination.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: means for determining whether a plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers; and means for transmitting a measurement report based on this determination.

In some aspects, a computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for driving a computer to: determine whether a plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers; and transmitting a measurement report based on this definition.

In view of the foregoing, in some aspects, the eleventh communication method comprises the steps of: receiving a request for conflict information; determining whether the plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers; and transmit in response to said request a message containing an indication of the definition. In addition, in some aspects of the eleventh communication method, at least one of the following may also be applicable: identical cell identifiers comprise identifiers of physical cells; a conflict information request refers to a specified cell identifier; the message is transmitted as a result of determining that a plurality of cells use identical cell identifiers; the request contains a measurement report request; the message contains a measurement report; cells contain femto cells or pico cells; the method is performed by the access terminal.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: a receiver configured to receive a request for conflict information; a conflict detector configured to determine whether the plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers; and a transmitter configured to transmit, in response to said request, a message containing a determination indication.

In some aspects, the communication device comprises: means for receiving a request for conflict information; means for determining whether a plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers; and means for transmitting a message containing a determination indication in response to said request.

In some aspects, the computer program product comprises: a computer-readable medium comprising code for bringing a computer to: receiving a conflict information request; determining whether a plurality of cells uses identical cell identifiers; and transmitting a message containing an indication of the determination in response to said request.

In some aspects, functionality corresponding to one or more of the above aspects related to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh communication methods can be implemented in the device through the structure according to the present invention. In addition, the computer program product may contain codes configured to cause the computer to provide functionality corresponding to one or more of the above aspects related to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh means of communication.

The foregoing description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enable those skilled in the art to implement or use the present disclosure. Various modifications of these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the key principles described herein may be applied to other aspects within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the aspects shown here, and it should compare the broadest scope in accordance with the principles described here and the new distinguishing features.

Claims (37)

1. A communication method, comprising the steps of: determining, using an access terminal, a first identifier for establishing communication with an access point; determining using the access terminal the type of the first identifier; and based on the type of said first identifier, a second identifier is determined by the access terminal to establish communication with said access point, the access terminal autonomously determining when to receive the second identifier without instructions from an external node. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein in the step of determining the type of the first identifier, a message is received indicating whether another node is identified by said first identifier. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting a message containing an indication of said first identifier for establishing communication after determining the type of the first identifier, and at the stage of determining said second identifier, a response is received to said message that specifies which second the identifier should be used to establish communication. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of using said second identifier to establish communication with said access point after determining the second identifier, 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving a signal associated with said first identifier; in the type determination step, it is determined whether said first identifier is one of the identifiers from a specific set of cell identifiers of the first type; comprising the step of determining whether the power of said signal is greater than or equal to the threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers; and in the step of determining said second identifier, a second type cell identifier associated with said first identifier is obtained if said first identifier is one of the cell identifiers from said specific set and if the signal power is greater than or equal to said threshold value. 6. The method according to claim 5, in which said specific set contains at least one of all identifiers of cells of the first type; and said specific set identifies a cell identifier that can be assigned to a plurality of cells in the coverage area of any other cell. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said first identifier comprises a physical cell identifier associated with said access point, a pseudo-random number shift associated with said access point, or a pilot signal associated with said access point; and said second identifier comprises a global cell identifier associated with said access point, an Internet Protocol address (IP address) associated with said access point, or an identifier that uniquely identifies said access point in the network. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determination of said second identifier is based on whether the value of said first identifier is equal to one of the set of assigned values. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said set of assigned values is associated with access points that are designated non-conflict free. 10. The method of claim 8, wherein said set of assigned values is associated with access points of at least one assigned type. 11. The method according to claim 10, in which said at least one assigned type refers to at least one element from the group consisting of transmission power, coverage area and transmission capabilities. 12. An access terminal device for communication, comprising: a communication controller configured to determine a first identifier for establishing communication with an access point; and an identifier controller configured to determine at the access terminal the type of said first identifier and further configured to determine at the access terminal, based on said type of the first identifier, a second identifier for establishing communication with the access point, the access terminal independently determining when receive the second identifier without instructions from the external node. 13. The device according to item 12, in which when determining the type of the first identifier, a message is received indicating whether any other node is identified by said first identifier. 14. The device according to item 12, further comprising a transmitter configured to transmit a message containing an indication of said first identifier for establishing communication, and when determining said second identifier, a response to said message is received, which specifies which second identifier should be used to establish communication. 15. The device according to item 12, in which said communication controller is further configured to use said second identifier to establish communication with said access point after determining the second identifier. 16. The device according to item 12, in which: the device further comprises a receiver configured to receive a signal associated with said first identifier; the type definition comprises determining whether said first identifier is one of the identifiers from a specific set of cell identifiers of the first type; the device further comprises a signal processor configured to determine whether the power of said signal is greater than or equal to the threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers; and determining said second identifier comprises obtaining a second type cell identifier associated with said first identifier if said first identifier is one of the cell identifiers from said specific set and if the signal power is greater than or equal to said threshold value. 17. The device according to clause 16, in which: said specific set contains at least one of all identifiers of cells of the first type; and said specific set identifies a cell identifier that can be assigned to a plurality of cells in the coverage area of another cell. 18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein: said first identifier comprises a physical cell identifier associated with said access point, a pseudo random number shift associated with said access point, or a pilot signal associated with said access point; and said second identifier comprises a global cell identifier associated with said access point, an Internet Protocol IP address (IP address) associated with said access point, or an identifier that uniquely identifies said access point on a network. 19. The device according to item 12, in which the definition of said second identifier is based on whether the value of said first identifier is equal to one of the values from the set of assigned values. 20. The device according to claim 19, wherein said set of assigned values is associated with access points that are designated as non-conflict free. 21. The device according to claim 19, wherein said set of assigned values is associated with access points of at least one assigned type. 22. The device according to item 21, in which the said at least one assigned type refers to at least one element from the group of transmission power, coverage area and transmission capabilities. 23. An access terminal device for communication, comprising: means for determining at the access terminal a first identifier for establishing communication with an access point; means for determining at the access terminal the type of said first identifier; and means for determining at the access terminal, based on the type of said first identifier, a second identifier for communicating with said access point, the access terminal independently determining when to receive the second identifier without instructions from an external node. 24. The device according to item 23, in which when determining the type of the first identifier, a message is received indicating whether another node is identified by said first identifier. 25. The device according to item 23, further containing a means for transmitting a message containing an indication of the said first identifier for establishing communication, and when determining the said second identifier, a response is received to the said message, which specifies which second identifier should be used to establish communication. 26. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising means for using said second identifier to establish communication with said access point after determining the second identifier. 27. The device according to item 23, further comprising means for receiving a signal associated with said first identifier; when determining the type, it is determined whether said first identifier is one of the identifiers from a specific set of identifiers of cells of the first type; further comprising means for determining whether the power of said signal is greater than or equal to a threshold value associated with said specific set of cell identifiers; and when determining said second identifier, a second type cell identifier is obtained associated with said first identifier if said first identifier is one of the cell identifiers from said specific set and if the signal power is greater than or equal to said threshold value. 28. The device according to p, 27, in which: said specific set contains at least one of all identifiers of cells of the first type; and said specific set identifies a cell identifier that can be assigned to a plurality of cells in the coverage area of any other cell. 29. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein: said first identifier comprises a physical cell identifier associated with said access point, a pseudo-random number shift associated with said access point, or a pilot signal associated with said access point; and said second identifier comprises a global cell identifier associated with said access point, an Internet Protocol address (IP address) associated with said access point, or an identifier that uniquely identifies said access point in the network. 30. The device according to item 23, in which the definition of said second identifier is based on whether the value of said first identifier is equal to one of the values from the set of assigned values. 31. The device according to claim 30, wherein said set of assigned values is associated with access points that are designated non-conflict free. 32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said set of assigned values is associated with access points of at least one assigned type. 33. The device according to p, in which the said at least one assigned type refers to at least one element from the group of transmission power, coverage area and transmission capabilities. 34. A machine-readable medium containing codes prompting a computer: to determine on the access terminal a first identifier for establishing communication with the access point; determine on the access terminal the type of said first identifier; and determining at the access terminal, based on the type of said first identifier, a second identifier for communicating with said access point, the access terminal independently determining when to receive the second identifier without instructions from an external node. 35. The computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein, when determining the type of the first identifier, a message is received indicating whether another node is identified by said first identifier. 36. The computer-readable medium according to clause 34, which further comprises codes for causing the computer to transmit a message containing an indication of the first identifier to establish communication, and when determining the second identifier, a response is received to this message, which specifies which second identifier should be used to establish communication. 37. The computer-readable medium of claim 34, further comprising codes for causing a computer to use said second identifier to establish communication with said access point after determining a second identifier.

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