RU2491791C2 - Hub to multiplex connections of access point with wireless network - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: radio engineering, communication.

SUBSTANCE: systems and methods are described, which assist multiplexing of communication from multiple below access points to one or more objects of mobility management (MME). A concentration component is provided, which is capable of establishment of a single connection at a transport level with MME together with several connections at the application level by means of a single connection at the transport level for each of multiple below access point and/or related mobile devices. Below access points and/or mobile devices may provide identifiers to a concentration component, which may use identifiers to track connection with MME. In this respect MME may additionally introduce identifiers received from the concentration component into subsequent transfers in order to assist identification of the appropriate below point of access and/or the mobile device.

EFFECT: increased throughput capacity.

56 cl, 21 dwg

Description

Priority Claim

This patent application claims priority under provisional application No. 61/074978 entitled "Systems and methods for reducing the associations and / or ports required in a mobility management entity (MME) to support multiple eNB / HeNBs in wireless networks "filed June 23, 2008 and owned by the copyright holder of this application, and thereby expressly incorporated herein by reference, to provisional application No. 61/079393, entitled" Systems and methods for reducing associations / ports and multiplexing connections communications between eNB / HeNB / repeaters in wireless communication systems ", filed July 9, 2008 and owned by the copyright holder of this application, and thereby expressly incorporated herein by reference, and to provisional application No. 61/087145, entitled" Concentrator / distributor for control plane for home base stations, "filed August 7, 2008 and owned by the copyright holder of this application, and thereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The following description generally relates to wireless communications, and more specifically, to communications between the control plane and higher-level network components and communications between access points.

State of the art

Wireless communication systems are widely used to provide a variety of communication content, such as, for example, voice, data, and so on. Typical wireless communication systems may be multiple access systems capable of communicating with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, ...). Examples of such multi-access systems can include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, and frequency division multiple access systems ( FDMA - Frequency Division Multiple Access), orthogonal frequency division multiple access systems (OFDMA) and the like. Additionally, systems can meet specifications such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), and / or technical specifications for multi-carrier wireless communications, such as evolved data optimization (EV-DO), one or more revisions thereof, etc.

Typically, a multiple access wireless communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Each mobile device can communicate with one or more access points (for example, base stations) through transmissions on the forward and reverse links. A forward link (or downlink) refers to a communication channel from access points to mobile devices, and a reverse link (or uplink) refers to a communication channel from mobile devices to access points. Additionally, communication between mobile devices and access points can be established using systems with one input and one output (SISO - Single-Input Single-Output), systems with many inputs and one output (MISO - Multiple-Input Single-Output), systems with many inputs and many outputs (MIMO - Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) and so on. In addition, mobile devices can communicate with other mobile devices in peer-to-peer wireless network configurations.

Access points can communicate with additional upstream wireless network components to help provide wireless access to mobile devices. In some configurations, access points may establish a connection with a mobility management entity (MME) to provide a communication session and mobility management in a wireless network. MMEs can then communicate with additional upstream network components to authenticate / authorize mobile devices to communicate over the network, and / or to facilitate the transmission / reception of data over the network.

Small-scale access points, such as femtocell access points, picocell access points, relay nodes, etc., were introduced into traditional wireless networks, which made possible the heterogeneous unregulated deployment of new access points. These small-scale access points, in the same way, establish a connection with the MME to provide communication and mobility management in wireless networks. MMEs, however, can be limited by the number of supported connections, both at the transport and application levels. Similarly, some access points may support other small-scale access points, providing them access to the MME, and likewise may have limitations on the number of simultaneously supported connections, especially when, for example, the reference access point is a picocell or femtocell access point.

Disclosure of invention

The following is a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide an overview of such aspects. The present disclosure is not a detailed overview of all alleged aspects, and is not intended to identify key or critical elements of all aspects, nor to determine the boundaries of the scope of some or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some ideas of one or more aspects in a simplified form as an introduction to the more detailed description that is presented below.

In accordance with one or more aspects and their corresponding disclosure, various aspects are described with respect to facilitating multiplexing an access point connection with a mobility management entity (MME) or other access points using a concentration component. The concentration component may connect to downstream access points and to one or more MMEs or upstream access points. In this regard, the concentration component can support many downstream access point connections through a single MME connection or upstream access point. In one example, the concentration component may associate the downstream access points with the MME or upstream access point (or many thereof), and forward data received from downstream access points to the MME or upstream access points.

In another example, to send messages to specific mobile devices, the concentration component can, for example, create an identifier for a mobile device that is locally unique within it (for example, based on its own identifier and the identifier of the associated downstream access point). The concentration component may replace the identifier of the mobile device in the associated packets with a new identifier before forwarding the packets to the MME or a higher access point. Thus, when the concentration component receives a response from the MME or the upstream access point, the concentration component can determine the appropriate downstream access point, thanks to the identifier, replace the identifier in the response with the originally received identifier of the mobile device, and forward the response to the downstream access point for promotion to the appropriate mobile device. In yet another example, the concentration component may associate downstream access points with a tracking area, which may be a combination of access points adjacent to each other. In this regard, the concentration component can transmit message transmissions received from the MME to the tracking area to help maintain complex routing on the MME.

According to related aspects, a method is provided that includes receiving a downstream packet from an MME and determining an access point associated with a downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet. The method also includes the step of transmitting a downstream packet to the access point.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communication device. A wireless communications device may include at least one processing device configured to receive a downstream packet from an MME and recognize at least one access point associated with this downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet. This at least one processing device is configured to further transmit a downstream packet to at least one access point. The wireless communication device also includes a storage device associated with this at least one processing device.

Another aspect relates to a device, which includes means for receiving a downstream packet from the MME and means for determining an access point associated with this downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet. The device further includes means for transmitting a downstream packet to the access point.

A further aspect relates to a computer program product, which may have a computer-readable medium including code in order to cause at least one computer to receive a downstream packet from the MME. The computer-readable medium may also contain code to cause at least one computer to determine an access point associated with a downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet. In addition, computer-readable media may include code to cause at least one computer to transmit a downstream packet to an access point.

In addition, an additional aspect relates to the device. The device may include a connecting component for the upstream information stream, which receives the downstream packet from the MME. The device further includes an access point routing component that determines an access point associated with the downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet and a connection component for the downstream information stream that transmits the downstream packet to access point.

According to other aspects, a method is provided that includes receiving a unique identifier in an uplink message associated with an access point. The method further includes inserting a unique identifier in the downstream message at the application level to help determine the access point associated with the upstream message, and transmitting the downstream message at the application level to the network component.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communication device. A wireless communication device may include at least one processing device configured to search for a unique identifier in an upstream message associated with an access point and insert this unique identifier in a downstream message at the application level to facilitate determination of an access point associated with this upstream message. This at least one processing device is configured to further transmit the downstream message at the application level to the network component. The wireless communication device also includes a storage device associated with this at least one processing device.

Another aspect relates to an apparatus that includes means for receiving a unique identifier in an uplink message associated with an access point, and means for inserting a unique identifier in a downstream message at an application level to facilitate determining an access point associated with an uplink message and transmitting downstream messages at the application level to the network component.

An additional aspect relates to a computer program product, which may have a computer-readable medium including code in order to force at least one computer to receive a unique identifier in an uplink message associated with an access point. Computer-readable media may also contain code to cause at least one computer to insert a unique identifier in the downstream message at the application level to help determine the access point associated with the upstream message. In addition, computer-readable media may contain code to cause at least one computer to send a downstream message at the application level to a network component.

In addition, an additional aspect relates to the device. The device may include an access point identification component that receives a unique identifier in an uplink message associated with the access point. The device further includes a downlink transmission component that inserts a unique identifier in the downstream message at the application level to help determine the access point associated with the upstream message and transmits the downstream message at the application level to the network component.

In conclusion of the foregoing and related results, one or more aspects comprise features described in more detail below and specifically indicated in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings in detail reflect some illustrative features of these one or more aspects. These features, however, indicate only some of the various ways of applying the principles of various aspects, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a depiction of an exemplary wireless communication system that facilitates multiplexing communications in a wireless network.

Figure 2 is a depiction of an exemplary wireless communication system that facilitates communication of multiple access points with an upstream network component.

Figure 3 is a depiction of an exemplary wireless communication system that facilitates identification of access points associated with interaction with an upstream network component.

4 is a depiction of an exemplary wireless communication system that facilitates identification of an access point.

5 is a depiction of an illustrative wireless network for providing multiplexed communication between access points and a mobility management entity (MME).

6 is a depiction of an illustrative wireless network for providing multiplexed communication of access points with a higher access point.

7 is a depiction of an illustrative sequence of steps that transmits packets to an access point based on the identifier in these packets.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an illustrative flow of steps that replaces identifiers in packets with identifiers of mobile devices and forwards packets to associated access points.

9 is a depiction of an illustrative sequence of steps that transmits upstream packets to corresponding upstream network components.

Figure 10 is a depiction of an illustrative sequence of steps that replaces identifiers in packets with identifiers of mobile devices and forwards packets to the corresponding upstream network components.

11 is a depiction of an illustrative sequence of steps that implements paging in a multiplexed environment for communicating with an access point.

12 is a depiction of an illustrative sequence of steps that receives and inserts identifiers associated with access points when interacting with a concentration component.

13 is a depiction of an illustrative sequence of steps that transmits unique identifiers in messages to upstream network components.

14 is a depiction of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects reflected herein.

Fig is a depiction of a wireless communication network in accordance with the aspects described herein.

Fig is a depiction of an illustrative wireless network environment that can be used in conjunction with various systems and methods described herein.

17 is a depiction of an illustrative system that facilitates multiplexing communication of access points with an MME.

FIG. 18 is a depiction of an illustrative system that facilitates multiplexing communication of access points with a higher access point.

FIG. 19 is a depiction of an illustrative system that provides paging functionality for multiplexed communication of access points.

FIG. 20 is a depiction of an illustrative system that receives and utilizes access point identifiers when interacting with associated access points.

21 is a depiction of an illustrative system that provides identifiers in messages for upstream network components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Various aspects are described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects. However, it can be clearly seen that such aspect (s) can be practiced without these specific details.

As used in this application, the terms "component", "module", "system", and the like, imply the inclusion of an object associated with the use of a computer, such, but not limited to, hardware, firmware, combination hardware and software, software, or software execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processing device, a processing device, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application executed on a computing device and a computing device may be a component. One or more components may belong to a process and / or thread of execution, and the component may be limited by location to one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media on which various data structures are stored. Components can communicate via local and / or remote processes, for example, in accordance with a signal containing one or more data packets, such as data from one component interacting by signal with another component in a local system, distributed system, and / or over a network, such as the Internet, with other systems.

In addition, various aspects are described herein with reference to a terminal, which may be a wired terminal or a wireless terminal. A terminal may also be called a system, device, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile unit, mobile device, remote station, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, terminal, communication device, user intermediary, user device or user equipment (software ) A wireless terminal can be a telephone for cellular communications, a telephone for satellite communications, a cordless telephone, a telephone supporting Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable device with wireless connectivity, a computing device, or another processing device connected to a wireless modem. In addition, various aspects are described herein with reference to a base station. The base station may be used to interact with the wireless terminal (s) and may also be referred to as an access point, node B, or using any other terminology.

In addition, the term “or” is intended to include “or” rather than exclusive “or”. That is, unless otherwise indicated, or is not clear from the context, the phrase “X applies A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, the phrase "X applies A or B" corresponds to any of the following options: X applies A; X applies B; or X applies both A and B. In addition, the singular reference, as used in this application and the appended claims, should generally be read “one or more” unless otherwise indicated or the context does not make clear the reference to singular form.

The methods described herein can be used for various wireless communication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and other systems. The terms “system” and “network” are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system can implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma 2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA - Wideband-CDMA) technology and other CDMA options. Additionally, cdma 2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system can implement a radio technology such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA system can implement such radio technologies as advanced UTRA (E-UTRA - Evolved UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB - IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash- OFDM etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) project is a version of UMTS using E-UTRA that uses OFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, and GSM are described in documents from an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Additionally, cdma 2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named “Second Generation Technology Partnership Project 3” (3GPP2). In addition, such wireless communication systems can additionally include peer-to-peer (for example, from a mobile site to a mobile site) organized for this case, network systems, often using unpaired unlicensed ranges, wireless LAN 802.xx, BLUETOOTH and any other methods Wireless, short or long range.

Various aspects or features will be presented in relation to systems, which may include a number of devices, components, modules, and the like. It should be understood and taken into account that various systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc. and / or may not include all devices, components, modules, etc., discussed in relation to the drawings. A combination of these approaches can also be used.

Referring to FIG. 1, a wireless communication system 100 is depicted that facilitates multiplexing multiple access point connections in a single connection of a mobility management entity (MME) or upstream access point. A concentration component 102 is provided that connects to the MME or access point 104, as well as various downstream access points 106, 108, and 110, to facilitate interaction between them. An MME or access point 104 may be an MME or an access point that communicates with an MME. In addition, although not shown, the concentration component 102 can connect to multiple MMEs or upstream access points, giving access points 106, 108 and 110 (or other downstream access points) the ability to communicate with one or more MMEs or upstream access points. In addition, as described later in this document, the concentration component 102 may be transparent to the MME or access point 104, as well as for access points 106, 108 and 110.

According to one example, the concentration component 102 can establish a connection at the transport level (for example, via a Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP)) along with several connected connections at the application level (for example, according to the application layer protocol S1 (S1 -AP, X2, etc.)) for each access point 106, 108, and 110 with an MME or access point 104. In addition, each of the access points 106, 108 and 110 can establish a connection at the transport level and corresponding connections at the application level with the concentration component 102. The concentration component 102 can receive packets from access points 106, 108 and 110, at the transport and application level, and forward these packets to the MME or access point 104, together with the identifier of the access point 106, 108, or 110, through a corresponding connection at the application level established through a single connection at the transport level. In addition, the MME or access point 104 may indicate the identifiers of access points in packets transmitted to the concentration component 102, and the concentration component may forward these packets to the appropriate access point 106, 108 or 110.

In another example, the concentration component 102 may communicate with several upstream MMEs or access points (e.g., MME or access point 104 and others). In this example, the concentration component 102 may provide routing information such as a routing table regarding access points 106, 108, 110, as well as several upstream MMEs or access points. Moreover, in this example, access points 106, 108 and 110 may connect to multiple MMEs, and the concentration component 102 may provide routing information for each MME and forward packets from access points 106, 108 or 110 using routing information, on proper MME.

In addition, the concentration component 102 may in some cases serve as an MME by processing messages from the access point to the access point, such as handover commands, a reset message, and / or the like. For example, a handover command associated with access points 106 and 108 may be received. When access points 106 and 108 are associated with the same upstream MME or access point (eg, MME or access point 104), this upstream MME or access point does not need to be notified of a handover, in some cases. In this example, the concentration component 102 may facilitate handover from the access point 106 to the access point 108 (or vice versa) that is indicated in the handover command. In another example, however, the concentration component 102 may change the identifiers of the access points in the handover command to its own identifier set for the MME or access point 104, forcing the MME or access point 104 to act as if the access point was transmitting itself. If, however, the access points involved in the handover command communicate with different MMEs, the concentration component 102 may forward the command to a superior MME or access point associated with the appropriate access points to facilitate handover.

Similarly, the concentration component 102 may serve as an MME in processing initial state recovery messages sent from access points 106, 108, or 110. In this example, the concentration component 102 may transmit a reset message to the MME or access point 104 serving the access point 106, 108 or 110, as well as to substantially all access points served by this MME or access point 104. In addition, or alternatively, the concentration component 102 may transmit an initial state recovery message to substantially all mobile devices served by the access point 106, 108 or 110 returning to its original state, which is described later in this document. Moreover, the concentration component 102 may transmit the initial recovery message to the MME or access point 104, separately for all mobile devices served by one or more of the access points 106, 108 or 110 returning to the initial state, which is described later in this document.

In addition, or alternatively, in one example, the concentration component 102 may establish an application level connection with an MME or access point 104 for each mobile device (not shown) connected to that access point 106, 108, or 110. In this example, the concentration component 102 may receive upstream packets from access points 106, 108 or 110 associated with the connected mobile device, and may generate an identifier for the mobile device that is unique within the concentration component 102. For example, the identifier may include the identifier of the mobile device determined from the packet (or, for example, from a previous registration), together with the identifier of the associated access point 106, 108 or 110. The concentration component 102 may replace the identifier of the mobile device in the received packets with a locally unique identifier, and transmit the packets to the MME or access point 104.

Downstream packets received from the MME or access point 104 may include a unique identifier used in upstream packets, which allows the concentration component 102 to identify the associated mobile device and the serving access point. In one example, the concentration component 102 may determine the access point serving the mobile device from the stored state information related to the unique identifier. In another example, the concentration component 102 may determine a serving access point based on or indicated by the information stored in the unique identifier. In any case, the concentration component may replace the unique identifier in the downstream packet with the identifier of the mobile device previously received from the serving access point, and may forward the packet to the serving access point for promotion to the appropriate mobile device. In another example, the concentration component 102 may determine information about the serving access point in the downstream packet and forward the packet to the serving access point without changing / changing identifiers in the packet to advance to the proper mobile device.

In addition, the concentration component 102 may implement paging for tracking areas defined by access points 106, 108, and 110. For example, access points 106, 108, and 110 may indicate tracking areas when connected to the concentration component 102 (and / or the concentration component 102 may otherwise receive or determine associated tracking areas). When the concentration component 102 encounters a new tracking area from a connecting access point, it can forward the tracking area information to the MME or access point 104 in a configuration update message. The MME or access point 104 may engage paging by transmitting paging calls to the concentration component 102 containing a tracking identifier. Concentration component 102 may then transmit the paging call to substantially all access points associated with the tracking area, which allows the access points to conduct a personal search for the appropriate mobile devices identified in the paging call, in one example.

Turning now to FIG. 2, an exemplary wireless communications system 200 is depicted that facilitates maintaining multiple access point connections to a given MME or upstream access point. A concentration component 102 is provided which, as described, can be connected to several access points 106, 108 and 110, facilitating communication with one or more MME 202 or upstream access points 204. The upstream access points 204 may connect to the MME 202 or other upstream network components, for example, facilitating communication with them for access points 106, 108 and 110 through the concentration component 102. In addition, mobile devices 206 and 208 can communicate with the access point 106 to access the wireless network. It should be noted that more mobile devices can thus communicate with an access point 106 and / or with one or more of the higher access points 108 or 110, for example.

Concentration component 102 may include a connection component 210 for the upstream information flow that controls one or more connections at the transport level and a plurality of connections at the application level with an MME or an upstream access point, connection component 212 for a downstream information flow that controls connections on the transport and an application level with multiple access points, an access point routing component 214 that maintains state information for m a plurality of access points associated with an MME or another superior access point, a mobile device routing component 216 that maintains state information for a plurality of mobile devices connected to one or more of the multiple access points, a message component 218 between access points that can process a message or packets transmitted between access points connected to the concentration component 102 and the paging component 220, which sends paging calls to the mobile s devices serving the access point based on the related tracking area.

According to one example, the uplink connector component 210 may establish a connection with the MME 202 and / or access point 204. For example, the connecting component 210 for the upstream information flow, in one example, can establish SCTP association with the MME and / or access point 204, allowing multiple connections or flows at the application level (for example, S1-AP, X2, etc.). During connection establishment, for example, the uplink connector 210 may receive a unique identifier MME 202 (e.g., a global unique identifier MME (GUMMEI)) or access points 204 (e.g., a global eNB (EGI)) for later use in identification packets sent from them. It should be noted that the use of such identifiers may be useful when the connecting component 210 for the upstream information flow provides support for multiple connections for the upstream information flow with different MME or access points.

In addition, for example, the connecting component 212 for the downward flow of information can establish connections with access points 106, 108 and 110, after receiving a corresponding request for access to the concentration component 102, or to the MME 202 or superior access point 204 (for example, the concentration component 102 can be transparent to access points as described). For example, access points 106, 108, and 110 may define an SCTP association with the connection component 212 for the downstream information flow, for which purpose the concentration component 102 takes no action with respect to the MME 202 or the superior access point 204. The connection component 212 for the downward flow of information, in one example, can transmit the identifier MME 202 (e.g., GUMMEI) or upstream access point 204 (e.g., EGI) to access points 106, 108 and 110, as if the access points were connecting directly to MME 202 or parent access point 204. Subsequently, access points 106, 108, and 110 may send an application-level initialization message (eg, message S1-AP or X2) received by the connection component 212 for the downstream information flow to facilitate establishing a connection with the concentration component 102. The connection component 210 for the upstream information stream may forward the S1-AP / X2 message to the MME 202 and / or the upstream access point; in one example, this may be based on the information in the message, say, an MME or a higher access point identified in the message. An MME 202 or an upstream access point 204 can configure an application level connection through an SCTP connection with the connection component 210 for upstream traffic. So, for example, if the connection between the access points 106, 108 or 110 and the connection component 212 for the downstream information is interrupted (for example, at the application level or transport level), the connection component 212 for the downward information stream may close the associated connection at the application level with the MME 202 or a higher access point 204.

Moreover, as described, the concentration component 102 can be connected to multiple MMEs or upstream access points. In this example, the concentration component 102 can open access to various MMEs or upstream access points, which allows downstream access points, such as access points 106, 108 and 110, to select the desired MME or upstream access point. Information about the selected MME or upstream access points may be stored in the routing table in the routing component 214 of the access point, for example. In addition, one or more of the downstream access points can connect to multiple MMEs or upstream access points, in which case the downstream access point can negotiate the connection through the concentration component 102 using its IP or other address for each connection. The access point routing component 214 may store several associations, which is further described below based on an IP or other address and other information.

In addition, the access point routing component 214 may maintain an association between the access point 106, 108 or 110 and the appropriate MME or access point, such as an MME 202 or access point 204. The association may be maintained, for example, together with the GUMMEI for MME 202 or EGI for the superior access point 204 received by the uplink information connecting component 210 (and / or indicated in the access point initialization request) and the identifier associated with the appropriate point 106, 108 or 110 of the access, which can be received by the connecting component 212 for the downstream information flow in the request to configure the transport level and / or application level. This may be an EGI, as has been described, which locally identifies an access point 106, 108, or 110. In addition, the access point routing component 214 can map the access point identifier to the IP address of the access point. In one example, the downstream connector 212 may receive packets from access points 106, 108 and 110, which include an access point identifier in each packet, for example, and the access point routing component 214 can determine the destination address of the MME or the upstream access based on information in the packet and / or based on the association between the access point identifier or IP address and the MME identifier stored in the access point routing component 214. In any case, the access point routing component 214 may forward the packet to the uplink connector component 210 to advance to the proper MME or upstream access point, for example.

After receiving packets from the MME 202 or access point 204, the uplink connector 210 may request the access point routing component 214 to determine one or more suitable access points for receiving packets. In one example, the upstream connector component 210 may obtain an MME or upstream access point identifier associated with the packet and / or an access point identifier associated with a downstream access point (such as an EGI as described above) that locally identifies access point for receiving packets. In one example, the identifier of the downstream access point can be determined based on another identifier in the downstream packet received by the MME 202 or access point 204, and an entry in the routing table of the routing component 214 of the access point that associates this other identifier with the identifier of the access point received in setup time. The downstream connector component 212 may forward packets to the appropriate access point based on this identifier. If the downstream access point is associated with a plurality of MMEs or upstream access points, the downstream connector 212 may further forward packets to the downstream access point based on the MME or upstream access point identifier. So, for example, a downstream access point, such as access points 106, 108 or 110, can initialize multiple connections at the transport and / or application level with a connection component 212 for the downstream information flow, one or more for each MME connection or upstream access point. In this regard, the access point routing component 214 can determine which connection to forward packets to the downstream access point based on the MME or upstream access points and the downstream identifiers.

In another example, the access point 106 may provide network access for mobile devices 206 and 208. In this regard, the connection component 212 for the downstream information stream may receive packets inherent to a particular mobile device from the access point 106. After receiving the initial packet, the uplink connection component 210 may establish an application level connection through a transport layer connection with the MME 202 or a higher access point 204 for the mobile device 206 or 208. In addition, the mobile device routing component 216 can retrieve an identifier associated with the mobile device 206 or 208, and / or an identifier associated with the access point 106. In one example, a mobile device identifier may be assigned by an access point 106 defined in an upstream packet from a mobile device 206 or 208, and / or something like that. The routing component 216 of the mobile device can generate a unique identifier associated with the identifier of the access point 106 and the mobile device 206 or 208, in fact, the unique identifier can contain both identifiers, and replace the identifier in the received packet with this unique identifier. Then, the uplink connector component 210 may report the packet to the appropriate MME 202 or upstream access point 204 using the created application-level connection. Similarly, the desired MME or upstream access point may be indicated in a packet from the access point 106, in one example, and / or the uplink connector 210 may report the packet to the MME or upstream access point previously associated with the access point 106.

In addition, the connecting component 210 for the upstream data stream may receive downstream packets from the MME 202 or the higher access point 204 associated with mobile devices 206 and 208, or other mobile devices. The mobile device routing component 216 may determine the access point and the connected mobile device with which the downstream packets are associated based on the unique identifier of the mobile device in the packet. For example, when saved as an association (e.g., added or inserted into a routing table), the mobile device routing component 216 can verify that the unique identifier matches the identifier of the mobile device, say, for the mobile device 206 or 208, and the associated identifier of the access point, say, access points 106. In another example, when the unique identifier is composed of the identifiers of the mobile device and the access point, the routing component 216 of the mobile device can extract these identifiers from the unique identifier. In any case, the routing component 216 of the mobile device may further replace the unique identifier in the packet with a specific identifier of the mobile device, and the connecting component 212 for the downstream information flow may forward the packet to the appropriate access point based on the identifier of the access point.

In yet another example, the message component 218 between the access points may perform functions similar to the MME when transmitting messages between the access points served by the concentration component 102. For example, when two access points, such as access points 106 and 108, are associated with the same the same MME 202 or a superior access point 204, the message component 218 between the access points can facilitate communication between the access points 106 and 108. In one example, the access point 106 may transmit a handover or cell reselection command that is received by the downlink data connection component 212 to facilitate the handover of the communication from the mobile device 206. The downstream information connection component 212 can detect the service transfer command and determine the source access point 106 and the target access point 108. If the access points 106 and 108 are associated with the same MME or an upstream access point that can be determined by the access point routing component 214, as described, the message component 21 between the access points can send the handover command to the access point 108 through the connecting component 212 for the downward flow of information. Thus, an MME or a higher access point should not be involved in a handover; however, it should be understood that the concentration component 102 may notify the MME or a superior access point (eg, MME 202 or access point 204) of a handover, in one example.

In another example, however, the message component between access points may replace the identifiers of the source and target access points in the handover command with the identifier of the concentration component 102, and forward the command to the appropriate MME or upstream access point. In this regard, the MME (e.g., MME 202) or a superior access point (e.g., access point 204) can consider the concentration component 102 as if they were handing over to themselves, as a result of which the concentration component 102 sends information about the handover from \ to the appropriate access points 106 and 108. In another example, the message component 218 between the access points can properly process the initial recovery messages received from the access points 106, 108 or 110 through the connecting component 212 for the downstream information flow. For example, the downstream connection component 212 may receive a restore command from the access point 106, and the message component 218 between the access points, in one example, can forward this message to the associated MMEs and / or upstream access points indicated by the routing component 214 access points, utilizing the connecting component 210 for the upstream information flow. In addition, the message component 218 between the access points can relay the message of the restoration of the initial state to essentially all access points associated with the same MME or a higher access point determined by the routing component 214 of the access point. Moreover, the connecting component 212 for the downward flow of information, in one example, can send related messages to restore the initial state to the mobile devices served by this access point specified in the routing component 216 of the mobile device. Alternatively, for example, the connecting component 212 for the downward flow of information may receive a restore command from the access point 106, and the mobile device routing component 216, in one example, may send a reset message for each software served by the access point 106 to connected MME 202 and / or superior access points 204.

It should be noted that the MME 202 or the upstream access point 204 may also transmit an initial state recovery message, which may be received by the connecting component 210 for the upstream information flow. Accordingly, the access point routing component 214 can notify the associated access points by transmitting an initial state recovery message using the connecting component 212 for the downstream information stream, for example. In yet another example, paging component 220 may transmit paging messages associated with serviced mobile devices to access points 106, 108, or 110, based on their associated tracking area. In this example, when establishing a connection with the concentration component 102, access points 106, 108, and 110 may transmit tracking area information in connection requests. The paging component 220 may store information about a tracking area associated with access points 106, 108, and 110. If a new tracking area is specified (for example, which is not stored with the information in the paging component 220), the paging component 220 may send a configuration update message to associated MMEs, such as MME 202, or upstream access points, such as access point 204. In this regard, the MME 202 and / or the superior access point 204 can send paging messages to essentially all mobile devices in the tracking area, transmitting a message to the connecting component 210 for the upstream information stream. The paging component 220 may forward the message to access points based on the tracking area identified in the message and access points associated with the tracking area stored in the paging component 220, for example. It should be noted that the paging component 220 may additionally, or alternatively, also implement a stateless circuit when it forwards the received paging messages to substantially all access points connected to the concentration component 102, and the access points can determine whether to apply the message based on the tracking identifier stored in the message.

Referring to FIG. 3, an exemplary wireless communications system 300 is depicted that facilitates communication of multiple access points with an MME or a superior access point through a single connection at the transport level. A concentration component 102 is provided that establishes a connection at the transport layer with an MME or access point 104 to facilitate interaction between them, and establishes connections at a transport and application level with a plurality of access points 106, 108 and 110. Concentration component 102 has been described to establish application-level connections with an MME or an upstream access point 104 for access points 106, 108, and 110 to facilitate access to a wireless network. In addition, the concentration component 102 may support multiple MMEs or upstream access points, as described. The access point 106 may establish a connection with the concentration component 102 and provide an identifier for use in subsequent communication with the MME or access point 104, as described.

The MME or access point 104 may comprise an uplink receive component 302 that can receive requests from the concentration component 102 (for example, on behalf of the access point 106, 108 or 110, and / or the mobile device interacting with them), identification component 304 an access point that can identify an identifier associated with upstream packets from the concentration component 102, a communication component 306 with a core network that can transmit and receive data to / from a core wireless network, and a transmit component 308 and downlink, which may report to the concentration data component 102 for transmission to one or more access points.

According to one example, the concentration component 102 may configure a connection with the MME or access point 104, taking the identifier associated with them, in one example. One or more access points 106, 108, and 110 may establish a connection with the concentration component 102 to eventually access the MME or access point 104 as described, and the concentration component 102 may configure the application level connection with the MME or access point 104 for access points 106, 108 and 110. Subsequently, access points 106, 108, and 110 may transmit packets containing the identifier specified during setup to the concentration component 102. As described, this may be an identifier of an access point (eg, EGI), part of an identifier of a served mobile device, and / or the like. In addition, as described in one example, the concentration component 102, in one example, can replace this identifier with an identifier that is unique within the concentration component 102, say, the association of the identifier of the access point with the identifier of the mobile device, where both are present.

In any case, the concentration component 102 may send an upstream packet to the MME or access point 104, and the uplink receive component 302 may receive this uplink packet. The access point identification component 304 may, for example, determine an identifier associated with the packet, and the core network communication component 306 may transmit the request to a core wireless network (not shown). It should be noted that the identifier can be entered into the request or otherwise associated so that the communication component 306 with the core network can match the response packets with the identifier. It should be further noted that no request is required to receive packets on the communication component 306 with the core network (eg, from the core wireless network) for transmission to one or more access points 106, 108 or 110. For example, a core network can send paging message packets to a core network communication component 306 for forwarding to access points 106, 108 or 110, without first receiving a request.

After receiving the downstream packet from the core network, the communication component 306 with the core network can determine the access point associated with this downstream packet. This may be based on the identifier or context in the downstream packet, which may be the identifier or context sent in the associated upstream packet by the core network communications component 306, as described. The downlink transmission component 308 may match the appropriate access point identifier with the downstream packet, if different from the identifier specified in the downlink packet from the core network, for example, and may provide a response to the concentration component 102. For example, the downlink transmission component 308 communication can ensure that essentially all packets transmitted to the concentration component 102 have an associated access point identifier. As described, the concentration component 102 may also replace the identifier in the packet, for example, when the packet is associated with a mobile device served by an access point. Concentration component 102 may provide a downstream packet to an appropriate access point 106, 108 and / or 110 based on an identifier, as described previously.

An MME or access point 104 can support not only uninterrupted direct connections at the transport level from access points, but also connections at the transport level from the concentration component 102. It should be noted that the connection at the transport level from the concentration component 102 may differ from traditional direct connections with access points so that the connection of the concentration component 102 can serve multiple connections at the application level through a single connection or association on transport level as described.

Referring to FIG. 4, an exemplary wireless communications system 400 is depicted that multiplexes access point connections to an MME or an upstream access point through a single connection at the transport layer. System 400 includes a concentration component 102 that can provide an MME or a superior access point 104 with access to multiple access points, such as access point 106, as described. In particular, the access point 106 may associate an identifier during setup and for use in each subsequent transmission of the packet to the concentration component 102. As described, this allows the concentration component 102 to associate packets with the access point 106 when transmitted to an MME or access or reception point 104 from them. When the MME or access point 104 sends downstream packets to the concentration component 102, for example, the identifier can be used in this regard, as well as to associate downstream packets with access point 106.

Access point 106 may include an identifier specification component 402 that can generate or otherwise obtain an identifier that is involved in transmitting upstream packets to the concentration component 102, a connection request component 404 that can establish a connection with the concentration component 102, as described, component 406 uplink transmissions, which can transmit uplink packets to the concentration component 102, downlink reception component 408, which can receive downstream packets from the concentration component 102, and a communication component 410 with a mobile device that can provide wireless access to one or more mobile devices (not shown).

According to one example, the concentration component 102, as described, can establish a connection at the transport level with the MME or access point 104. As described, for example, the concentration component 102 may be transparent to the access point 106, so that the access point 106 functions as if it were connected directly to the MME or upstream access point 104. The identifier specification component 402 may generate or obtain an identifier associated with the access point 106, for example, and the connection request component 404 may formulate a request for access to the MME or the parent access point 104 by defining an identifier. The connection request component 404 may transmit an access request to the concentration component 102, which may store the identifier and / or association associated with the identifier, as described, and establish an application level connection with the MME or access point 104 associated with the access point 106 .

The uplink transmission component 406 may provide upstream packets to the concentration component 102 and may specify an access point identifier from the identifier specification component 402 in each packet. As described, this allows the concentration component 102 to identify the access point for subsequent transmission of the upstream packet to the corresponding MME or access point 104 and to identify any responses received from the MME or access points 104 associated with this upstream packet. In one example, such a response may be received by the concentration component 102 in a downstream packet. As described, the concentration component 102 may determine the associated access point 106 and send a downstream packet to the downlink receive component 408. The downlink receive component 408 can ensure that a packet is delivered properly based on a number of metrics, including the identifier involved, whether the contents of the packet are an acceptable or expected response to a previous request, and / or the like.

In addition, the mobile device communication component 410 may provide wireless access to one or more mobile devices via access point 106. In this example, the mobile device communication component 410 may receive upstream packets from the mobile device. The identifier specification component 402 may assign an identifier to a mobile device that, for example, is locally unique to access point 106. This assignment may occur during a connection with a mobile device, in one example. The uplink transmission component 406 may transmit upstream packets to the concentration component 102 together with the identifier assigned to the mobile device by the identifier specification component 402. In one example, an identifier for a mobile device may be received in an upstream packet from a mobile device instead of the identifier assigned by component 402 of the specification. In any case, the identifier can be used in subsequent communication between the mobile device and access point 106, as described.

In any case, the concentration component 102 may generate a locally unique identifier based on the identifier of the access point and the mobile device after receiving the packet and may use this unique identifier instead of the original identifier of the mobile device when interacting with the MME or access point 104, as described. Concentration component 102 can also receive downstream packets from an MME or access point 104 associated with a mobile device, and can forward these packets to access point 106 (for example, based on a locally unique identifier), replacing the locally unique identifier with the identifier of the mobile device originally presented the concentration component 102. It should be noted that the concentration component 102 can also use the access point identifier, if any, to forward these downstream links. yaschih packets to the appropriate access point. The downlink receive component 408 may determine the corresponding mobile device for the downstream packet based on the identifier, and the mobile device communication component 410 may forward the downstream packet to the mobile device, for example.

Turning now to FIG. 5, an illustrative wireless communications network 500 is depicted that utilizes a concentration component to provide multiplexing for access points accessing an MME. The network 500 may include a mobile device 502 accessing the network from an eNB / Home eNB (HeNB) node 504, which may refer to a small-scale access point, such as a femtocell access point, a pico-cell access point, a relay node, and etc., or to a macrocell hotspot, in one example. Network access can belong essentially to any specification, say, E-UTRA, UBM, WiMAX, etc. The HeNB 504, as has been described, may communicate with the concentration component 102 using the S1-MME interface on behalf of the mobile device 502 or otherwise, and may accordingly provide the identifiers of the access point and / or mobile device to enable the concentration component 102 monitor communications with the MME 104 using the S1-MME interface as described herein. MME 104, as described, can arrange communication with the core network.

The core network includes various other components. For example, the MME 104 may communicate with the service support node (SGSN - support node GPRS) of the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS - General Packet Radio Service) according to S3 specifications in order to access the UTRA network 508 and / or GSM / radio access network EDGE (GERAN - GSM EDGE Radio Access Network) 510. MME 104 can connect to a home subscriber server (HSS - Home Subscriber Server) 512 according to S6a specifications for receiving subscriber information, for example.

In another example, the eNB / HeNB 504 can communicate with the Serving Gateway 514 via the S1-U interface to gain access to the Internet 518 and / or the IP Multimedia Subsystem 520 and / or other IP systems. In another example, the eNB / HeNB 504 can so connect through a concentration component 102 that communicates with the MME or the eNB / HeNB 104, as described. MME 104 can connect to SGW 514 via S11, via SGSN 506 using S4, and / or through UTRA 508 via S12. In any case, the SGW facilitates network access by interacting with the Packet Data Network via the S5 / S8 interface and the PGW 516 can communicate directly with the Internet 518 or IMS 520, using the SGi interface, or through the function node 522 billing subscribers (PCRF - Policy Charging and Rules Function) on the Gx interface. In the final example, PCRF 522 can communicate with the IMS 520 via the Rx interface.

Turning now to FIG. 6, an illustrative wireless communications network 600 is depicted that utilizes a concentration component to provide multiplexing for access points accessing a peer access point. The network 600 may include a mobile device 502 accessing the network from an eNB / HeNB 504, which may refer to a small-scale access point, such as a femtocell access point, picocell access point, relay node, etc., or macrocell hotspot, in one example. Network access can belong essentially to any specification, say, E-UTRA, UBM, WiMAX, etc. The HeNB 504, as described, can communicate with the concentration component 102 using the X2 interface on behalf of the mobile device 502 or otherwise, and can, respectively, provide the identifiers of the access point and / or mobile device to allow the concentration component 102 to track the connection with an eNB / HeNB 602 node using the X2 interface as described herein. The eNB / HeNB 602, as described, can communicate with the MME 104 via the S1-MME interface, which can communicate with the core network.

The core network includes various other components. For example, the MME 104 may communicate with a serving support node (SGSN) of a public packet radio communication system (GPRS) according to S3 specifications to gain access to a UTRA network 508 and / or a GSM / EDGE radio access network (GERAN) 510. MME 104 may connect to the home subscriber server (HSS) 512 according to the technical requirements of S6a to obtain subscriber information, for example.

In another example, the eNB / HeNB 504 may communicate with a Serving Gateway (SGW) 514 via an S1-U interface to access the Internet 518 and / or IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 520 and / or other IP systems. In another example, the eNB / HeNB 504 may be so connected through a concentration component 102 that communicates with the eNB / HeNB 602 as described. The eNB / HeNB 602 can be connected to an associated MME 104, which can connect to the SGW 514 via the S11 interface, via the SGSN 506 using the S4 interface, and / or through the UTRA network 508 via the S12 interface. In any case, the SGW facilitates network access by interacting with the packet data network (PDN) gateway 516 (PGW) via the S5 / S8 interface, and the PGW 516 can communicate directly with the Internet or IMS 520 518 using the SGi interface, or through a PCRF billing functional unit 522 via a Gx interface. In the final example, PCRF 522 can communicate with the IMS 520 via the Rx interface.

Turning to FIGS. 7-13, sequences of steps are shown that are related to facilitating the multiplexing of communication between access points and upstream access points or MMEs. Although, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, the sequence of steps is shown and described as a series of actions, it should be understood and taken into account that the sequence of steps is not limited to the order of actions, since some actions, in accordance with one or more aspects, can be performed in a different order and / or simultaneously with other actions that are shown and described in this document. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and consider that a sequence of steps could, alternatively, be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, say, in the form of a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a sequence of steps in accordance with one or more aspects.

Turning to FIG. 7, an illustrative sequence of 700 steps is shown that facilitates packet routing between access points and upstream network components. At 702, a downstream packet may be received from the upstream network component. In one example, the upstream network component may be an access point, MME, and / or the like. At step 704, the access point associated with the downstream packet can be determined based at least in part on the identifier. As described, the identifier can be locally unique, so that the identifier can be generated and provided to the parent network component for use in transmitting packets that will be received for the corresponding access point. In one example, a locally unique identifier may be stored in the matching scheme along with the received identifier so that the packet can be properly associated with the access point. In one example, an identifier may refer to one of several connections from the access point and may be generated to identify one of these connections. Although the generated identifier may be involved, as described, it should be borne in mind that the received identifier may be involved in another example. At 706, a downstream packet may be transmitted to the access point.

Turning to FIG. 8, an illustrative sequence of 800 steps is shown that facilitates the transmission of downstream packets to access points for reception by respective mobile devices. At 802, a downstream packet may be received from the upstream network component. The downstream packet, as described, may contain a locally unique identifier pre-generated to identify packets associated with the access point and the mobile device. At 804, an access point associated with the downstream packet can be determined based at least in part on the identifier. This may be a locally unique identifier, as described, which is associated with the access point based on the pattern of matching the locally unique identifier and the identifier received from the access point, the locally unique identifier containing the received identifier, and / or the like. Similarly, at 806, the mobile device associated with the downstream packet can be determined based at least in part on the identifier. Thus, for example, the correspondence scheme may establish the correspondence of the locally unique identifier and the corresponding identifiers of the access point and the mobile device, or may be determined based on the locally unique identifier as described. At 808, the identifier in the downstream packet can be replaced with a specific identifier of the mobile device, and the packet can be transmitted to the access point at 810. This, for example, allows the access point to provide the packet to the corresponding mobile device, ensuring harmonious multiplexing of packets associated with the mobile device from the access points to upstream network components.

Turning to FIG. 9, an illustrative sequence of 900 steps is depicted which facilitates packet routing between an upstream network component and one or more access points. At 902, an upstream packet is received from the access point. At step 904, a superior network component associated with the access point is determined. This can be determined, for example, based on the matching pattern of the access point and the upstream network component, which can be initialized based on a previous configuration request. In another example, the upstream packet may specify the upstream network component. At 906, an upstream packet may be transmitted to the upstream network component, as described.

Turning to FIG. 10, an illustrative sequence of 1000 steps is shown that facilitates the transmission of upstream packets in the presence of locally unique identifiers generated. At 1002, an upstream packet may be received from the access point. As described, this package may include a locally unique identifier. At 1004, a superior network component associated with the access point may be determined. This may be done based on a preceding indication, a correspondence scheme, or a routing table storing access point identifiers and the associated upstream network component, and / or the like, as described. At 1006, a mobile device associated with the upstream packet may be determined based at least in part on the identifier in the packet. A unique identifier associated with the access point and the mobile device can be generated at step 1008. As described, the unique identifier can contain the identifiers of the mobile device and the access point or its relationship can be set in a routing table or similar association. At step 1010, the identifier of the mobile device in the packet can be replaced with a unique identifier, and the upstream packet can be transmitted to the upstream network component in step 1012. As described for the previous drawings, consecutive packets can be received from the upstream network component along with the unique identifier, and associated points access and the mobile device can be identified based on a unique identifier.

Turning to FIG. 11, an illustrative sequence of steps 1100 is shown that facilitates paging for a plurality of connected access points. At 1102, a paging call may be received from the MME, where the paging contains the tracking area identifier. At 1104, one or more access points associated with the paging may be determined based on the identifier of the tracking area. As described, access points can be registered with one or more related tracking areas. Thus, this allows you to map the access point to the tracking area when transmitting search calls, access points from the tracking area can be determined and called. Accordingly, at 1106, the paging may be transmitted to one or more access points.

Referring to FIG. 12, an illustrative sequence of 1200 steps is shown that facilitates the identification of access point identifiers in downstream messages. At 1202, a unique identifier may be received in the uplink message associated with the access point. At 1204, a unique identifier can be inserted into substantially all related downstream messages to map messages to the access point. Thus, a network component receiving downstream messages can properly route the message to the access point. At step 1206, a downstream message may be transmitted to the network component. In this regard, the network component can multiplex messages according to various received identifiers.

Referring to FIG. 13, an illustrative sequence of steps 1300 is depicted which facilitates the transmission of messages to a network component in the presence of associated identifiers. At 1302, a unique identifier may be communicated to the network component in an application level setting message. A unique identifier may refer to an access point and may be provided to identify the access point in subsequent messages. Thus, in step 1304, a unique identifier can be inserted into substantially all subsequent messages. At 1306, subsequent messages may be transmitted to the network component. Accordingly, as described, a network component, which may be a concentration component, can identify an access point according to a unique identifier.

It will be appreciated that, in accordance with one or more aspects described herein, logical conclusions can be drawn regarding the generation and / or association of unique identifiers with packets transmitted through a concentration component. As used herein, the term “inferring” or “inference” generally refers to the process of reasoning or inferring a logical conclusion about the conditions of a system, environment, and / or user, based on a set of observations recorded through events and / or data. Inference can be used to identify a specific context or action, or it can generate a probability distribution by state, for example. The logical conclusion can be probabilistic, that is, the calculation of the probability distribution over the states of interest is based on the consideration of data and events. The logical conclusion may also be related to the methods used to compose events of a higher level, based on a set of events and / or data. Such a logical conclusion leads to the construction of new events or actions from a set of observable events and / or stored event data, regardless of how closely the events correlate in time, and whether events and data come from one or more sources of events and data.

Turning now to FIG. 14, a wireless communication system 1400 is depicted in accordance with various embodiments presented herein. System 1400 comprises a base station 1402, which may include several antenna groups. For example, one antenna group may include antennas 1404 and 1406, another group may include antennas 1408 and 1410, and an additional group may include antennas 1412 and 1414. Two antennas are shown for each antenna group; however, for each group, more or fewer antennas may be involved. Base station 1402 may further include a transmitting circuit and a receiving circuit, each of which may, in turn, comprise a plurality of components associated with transmitting and receiving signals (e.g., processing devices, modulation devices, multiplexing devices, demodulating devices, demultiplexing devices , antennas, etc.), which will be fully understood by a person skilled in the art.

Base station 1402 may communicate with one or more mobile devices, such as mobile device 1416 and mobile device 1422; however, it should be appreciated that base station 1402 can communicate with substantially any number of mobile devices, such as mobile devices 1416 and 1422. Mobile devices 1416 and 1422 can be, for example, cell phones, smart phones, compact computers, handheld communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite radio communication systems, global positioning systems, PDAs, and / or any other suitable device for communication via about 1400 wireless system. As shown, the mobile device 1416 is in communication with antennas 1412 and 1414, and the antennas 1412 and 1414 transmit information to the mobile device 1416 on the forward link 1418 and receive information from the mobile device 1416 on the reverse link 1420. While the mobile device 1422 is in communication with the antennas 1404 and 1406, the antennas 1404 and 1406 transmit information to the mobile device 1422 on the forward link 1424 and receive information from the mobile device 1422 on the reverse link 1426. For example, in a frequency division duplex (FDD) system, the forward link 1418 may use a frequency interval different from that used by the reverse link 1420, and the forward link 1424 may use a frequency interval other than which is applied by the reverse link 1426. Additionally, in a time division duplex (TDD) system, the forward link 1418 and the reverse link 1420 can use a common frequency span, and the forward link 1424 and reverse link 1426 can use a common frequency span.

Each group of antennas and / or the area for the organization of communication in which they are intended can be referred to as a sector of the base station 1402. For example, antenna groups can be used to communicate with mobile devices in the sector from among the areas covered by the base station 1402. When organizing communication along the straight lines 1418 and 1424, the transmitting antennas of the base station 1402 can use beamforming to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the straight lines 1418 and 1424 for mobile devices 1416 and 1422. Cr In addition, while the base station 1402 enables beamforming to transmit to mobile devices 1416 and 1422 randomly dispersed over the associated coverage area, mobile devices in neighboring cells may be less interference than when the base station transmits through a single antenna to all your mobile devices. Moreover, mobile devices 1416 and 1422 can communicate directly with each other using peer-to-peer technology or organized for this case communication (not shown).

In one example, system 1400 may be a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) communication system. Additionally, system 1400 may employ essentially any of a duplex transmission technique for separating communication channels (e.g., forward link, reverse link, ...) such as FDD, FDM, TDD, TDM, CDM, and the like. In addition, the communication channels can be orthogonalized to allow simultaneous communication with multiple devices over the channels; in one example, OFDM may be involved in this regard. Thus, the channels can be divided into frequency segments over a period of time. In addition, frames can be defined as frequency segments over a set of time periods; thus, for example, a frame may contain multiple OFDM symbols. Base station 1402 can communicate with mobile devices 1416 and 1422 via channels that can be created for various types of data. For example, channels can be created to communicate various types of common communication data, control data (e.g., quality information for other channels, acknowledgment signs for data received on channels, interference information, reference signals, etc.) and / or the like.

Turning now to FIG. 15, a wireless communications system 1500 is depicted configured to support multiple mobile devices. System 1500 provides communications for multiple cells, such as, for example, macrocell 1502A-1502G, with each cell being served by a corresponding access point 1504A-1504G. As previously described, for example, access points 1504A-1504G associated with macrocells 1502A-1502G may be base stations. Mobile devices 1506A-1506I are shown dispersed in various places throughout the wireless communication system 1500. Each mobile device 1506A-1506I may communicate with one or more access points 1504A-1504G on the forward link and / or reverse link, as described. In addition, access points 1508A-1508D are shown. They can be small-scale access points, such as femtocell access points, picocell access points, relay nodes, mobile base stations, and / or the like, offering services associated with a particular location, as described. Mobile devices 1506A-1506I may additionally or alternatively communicate with these small-scale access points 1508A-1508D to receive services offered. A wireless communication system 1500 can provide services in a wide geographic region, in one example (e.g., macro cells 1502A-1502G may span several blocks in an area, and small-scale access points 1508A-1508D may be present in areas such as residential buildings, office buildings, and / or the like as described). In one example, mobile devices 1506A-1506I may connect to points 1504A-1504G and / or 1508A-1508D through the air and / or through the reverse connection.

In one example, mobile devices 1506A-1506I can navigate the entire wireless network and reselect the cells provided by various access points 1504A-1504G and 1508A-1508D. Cell re-selection or handover can be performed for various reasons, such as proximity to the target access point, services offered by the target access point, protocols or standards supported by the target access point, favorable payment for subscription services associated with the target access point, etc. . In one example, the mobile device 1506D may communicate with an access point 1504D and may initiate cell reselection or handover to a small-scale access point 1508C while being in a predetermined proximity to it or at a given measured signal strength. In order to facilitate re-selection of the small-scale access point 1508C, the source access point 1504D may transmit information about the mobile device 1506D, such as context or other information related to continuing to interact with it, to the target small-scale access point 1508C. Thus, the target small-scale access point 1508C may provide wireless access to the mobile device 1506D based on contextual information from the access point 1504D to facilitate smooth reselection. In this example, an MME or a superior access point (not shown) may facilitate handover if access points 1508C and 1504D are connected to them.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example wireless communication system 1600. In the wireless communication system 1600, one base station 1610 and one mobile device 1650 are depicted for brevity. However, it should be appreciated that the system 1600 may include more than one base station and / or more than one mobile device, while additional base stations and / or mobile devices may be substantially similar to the illustrative base station 1610 and mobile device 1650 described below, or differ from them. In addition, it must be understood that the base station 1610 and / or mobile device 1650 can use the systems (FIGS. 1-6 and 14-15) and / or methods (FIGS. 7-13) described herein to facilitate organization communication between them.

At base station 1610, data exchange information for a plurality of data streams is provided from a data source 1612 to a data transmission processing device 1614. According to one example, each data stream may be transmitted through a corresponding antenna. A data transfer processing device 1614 formats, codes, and interleaves an information exchange data stream based on a particular coding scheme selected for that data stream to provide encoded data.

The encoded data for each data stream can be multiplexed with pilot data using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). Additionally, or alternatively, the pilot symbols may be Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), Time Division Multiplexed (TDM), or Code Division Multiplexed (CDM). Pilot data is typically a known combination of data that is processed in a known manner and can be used on mobile device 1650 to estimate channel response. Multiplexed pilot and encoded data for each data stream can be modulated (e.g. associated with symbols) based on a specific modulation scheme (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK - Binary Phase Shift Keying), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK - Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) , M-phase manipulation (M-PSK - M-Phase-Shift Keying), or M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM - M-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), etc.) selected for each corresponding data stream to provide modulation characters. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream may be determined by instructions executed on or received from processing device 1630.

Modulation symbols for data streams may be provided to a MIMO transmission processing device 1620, which may further process modulation symbols (eg, for OFDM). Then, the MIMO transmission processing device 1620 provides N _T modulation symbol streams to N _T transmitting devices (PDUs) 1622a-1622t. In various aspects, the MIMO transmission processing device 1620 applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which the symbol is transmitted.

Each transmitter 1622 receives and processes a respective symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, and performs additional preliminary processing (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission over MIMO- channel. Additionally, N _T modulated signals from transmitters 1622a through 1622t are transmitted from N _T antennas 1624a through 1624t, respectively.

On the mobile device 1650, the transmitted modulated signals are received using the N _R antennas 1652a-1652r, and the received signal from each antenna 1652 is provided to the corresponding receiving device (PRNU) 1654a-1654r. Each receiving device 1654 preprocesses (eg, filters, amplifies, and down-converts) the corresponding signal, digitizes the pre-processed signal to provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide a corresponding “received” symbol stream.

A data reception processing device 1660 may receive and process N _R symbol streams received from N _R receiving devices 1654 based on a processing method of a particular receiver to provide N _T “detected” symbol streams. A data reception processing device 1660 can demodulate, deinterleave, and decode each detected symbol stream to recover information exchange data for the data stream. The processing by the data receiving processing apparatus 1660 is complementary to that performed by the MIMO transmission processing apparatus 1620 and the data transmission processing apparatus 1614 at the base station 1610.

Processing device 1670 may periodically determine which precoding matrix to use, as discussed above. Additionally, processing device 1670 may generate a reverse link message comprising a matrix index segment and an estimated value segment.

The message for transmission on the reverse link may contain various types of information regarding the communication channel and / or the received data stream. The reverse link message may be processed by data transmission processing device 1638, which also receives information exchange data for multiple data streams from data source 1636, modulated by modulation device 1680, pre-processed by transmitting devices 1654a-1654r, and transmitted back to base station 1610 .

At the base station 1610, modulated signals from the mobile device 1650 are received by the antenna 1624, pre-processed by the receiving devices 1622, demodulated by the demodulation device 1640, and processed by the data reception processing device 1642 to extract the reverse link message transmitted by the mobile device 1650. Additionally processing unit 1630 may process the extracted message to determine which precoding matrix to use to determine s beamforming.

Processing devices 1630 and 1670 can directly operate (e.g., manage, coordinate, organize, etc.) at base station 1610 and mobile device 1650, respectively. Corresponding processing devices 1630 and 1670 may be associated with memory devices 1632 and 1672 that store program codes and data. In addition, processing devices 1630 and 1670 can perform calculations to obtain frequency and impulse response estimates for the uplink and downlink, respectively.

It should be understood that the aspects described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In the case of hardware implementation, the processing modules can be implemented in one or more specialized integrated circuits (SIS), digital signal processors (DSP), devices for digital signal processing (DEC), programmable logic devices (PLU), programmable gate arrays (FDA) , processing devices, control devices, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic modules designed to perform the functions described in this document, or a combination thereof.

When aspects are implemented in software, firmware, middleware or firmware, program code or code segments, they can be stored in a machine-readable medium, for example, a storage component. A code segment can reflect a procedure, function, subprogram, program, standard program, standard subprogram, module, program package, class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or hardware circuitry by sending and / or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. can be forwarded, forwarded, or transmitted using any suitable means, including memory sharing, forwarding messages, token transfers, network transfers, etc.

In the case of a software implementation, the methods described in this document can be implemented by modules (eg, procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described in this document. Software codes can be stored in memory blocks and executed by processing devices. The memory unit can be implemented inside the processing device or be external to the processing device, in which case they can be communicatively interfaced using one or another means known in the art.

Referring to FIG. 17, a system 1700 is shown that facilitates multiplexing communication of access points with an MME. For example, system 1700 may be located at least partially within a base station, mobile device, etc. It should be noted that the system 1700 is presented as including functional blocks, which may be functional blocks representing functions implemented by a processing device, software, or a combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 1700 includes a logical combination of 1702 electrical components that can work in concert. For example, logical combination 1702 may include an electrical component 1704 for receiving a downstream packet from an MME. For example, as described, a downstream packet may have an associated identifier, and may be responsive to an upstream packet transmitted on behalf of the access point associated with this identifier, for example. In addition, the logical combination 1702 may include an electrical component 1706 for determining an access point associated with the downstream packet, based at least in part on the locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet.

Thus, as described, this can be based on the stored matching pattern of access point identifiers and locally unique identifiers, based on identification of an access point identifier within a locally unique identifier, and / or the like. In addition, logical association 1702 may include an electrical component 1708 for transmitting a downstream packet to an access point. In addition, the logical combination 1702 may include an electrical component 1710 for determining a mobile device associated with the downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier. Similarly, the identifier of a mobile device may be determined based on a matching scheme, an indication in a locally unique identifier, and / or the like. In addition, the logical association 1702 may include an electrical component 1712 for extracting the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point from the upstream packet and determining a locally unique identifier as associated with the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point. System 1700, although not shown, can also generate a locally unique identifier based on a received upstream packet; thus, system 1700 can determine the access point and / or mobile device associated with the identifier based on pre-generating the associated locally unique identifier. Additionally, system 1700 may include a storage device 1714 that accommodates instructions for performing functions associated with electrical components 1704, 1706, 1708, 1710, and 1712. Although shown as being external to storage device 1714, it should be understood that one or more of the electrical components 1704, 1706, 1708, 1710, and 1712 may exist within the storage device 1714.

With reference to FIG. 18, a system 1800 is depicted that facilitates multiplexing communications between access points and a higher access point. For example, system 1800 may be located at least partially within a base station, mobile device, etc. It should be noted that the system 1800 is presented as including functional blocks, which may be functional blocks representing functions implemented by a processing device, software, or a combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 1800 includes a logical combination of 1802 electrical components that can work in concert. For example, logical association 1802 may include an electrical component 1804 for retrieving a locally unique identifier from a downstream packet received from a superior access point. For example, as described, a downstream packet may have an associated identifier, and may be received in response to an upstream packet transmitted on behalf of the access point associated with this identifier, for example. In addition, the logical association 1802 may include an electrical component 1806 for determining a mobile device identifier associated with a locally unique identifier, and replacing the locally unique identifier in the downstream packet with a mobile device identifier.

In addition, logical combination 1802 may include an electrical component 1808 for determining a downstream access point identifier associated with a locally unique identifier. In addition, logical coupling 1802 may include an electrical component 1810 for transmitting a downstream packet to a downstream access point associated with an identifier of the downstream access point. Thus, as described, the downstream access point receives a packet with the identifier of the mobile device, which may be the same as the identifier used to transmit the associated upstream packet to the system 1802, as described herein. Additionally, system 1800 may include a storage device 1812 that contains instructions for performing functions associated with electrical components 1804, 1806, 1808, and 1810. Although shown as being external to storage device 1812, it should be understood that one or more of the electrical components 1804, 1806, 1808, and 1810 may exist within the storage device 1812.

As for FIG. 19, a system 1900 is shown that implements paging for multiple access points communicating with a hub to gain access to an MME. For example, system 1900 may be located at least partially within a base station, mobile device, etc. It should be noted that the system 1900 is presented as including functional blocks, which may be functional blocks representing functions implemented by a processing device, software, or a combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 1900 includes a logical combination of 1902 electrical components that can work in concert. For example, logical association 1902 may include an electrical component 1904 for receiving a paging call from an MME containing a tracking area identifier. In addition, logical association 1902 may include an electrical component 1906 for determining one or more access points associated with a tracking area identifier based at least in part on a stored mapping of access points and tracking area identifiers.

As described, access points can be registered in the system 1900 by specifying tracking area identifiers that can be stored in association with an access point in a mapping scheme or routing table. In addition, logical association 1902 may include an electrical component 1908 for transmitting a paging to one or more access points. Additionally, the system 1900 may include a storage device 1910 that contains instructions for performing functions associated with the electrical components 1904, 1906, and 1908. Although shown as being external to the storage device 1910, it should be understood that one or more of the electrical components 1904, 1906 and 1908 can exist within the storage device 1910.

With reference to FIG. 20, a system 2000 is shown that inserts access point identifiers into downstream messages to facilitate multiplexing of access point communications. For example, system 2000 may be located at least partially within a base station, mobile device, etc. It should be noted that the system 2000 is presented as including functional blocks, which may be functional blocks representing functions implemented by a processing device, software, or a combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 2000 includes a logical combination of 2002 electrical components that can work in concert. For example, logical association 2002 may include an electrical component 2004 for receiving a unique identifier in an uplink message associated with an access point. For example, as described, an identifier can be used to identify the source of a message, as well as to associate an access point with a corresponding downstream message. In addition, the logical association 2002 may include an electrical component 2006 for inserting a unique identifier in the downstream message at the application level, in order to assist in determining the access point associated with the upstream message, and transmitting the downstream message at the application level to the network component. The network component, as described, can determine the appropriate access point to forward the message based on the identifier. Additionally, the system 2000 may include a storage device 2008, which contains instructions for performing functions associated with the electrical components 2004 and 2006. Although shown as being external to the storage device 2008, it should be understood that one or more of the electrical components 2004 and 2006 may exist within storage device 2008.

As for FIG. 21, a system 2100 is shown which receives messages from upstream network components through a hub. For example, system 2100 may be located at least partially within a base station, MME, mobile device, etc. It should be noted that the system 2100 is presented as including functional blocks, which may be functional blocks representing functions implemented by a processing device, software, or a combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 2100 includes a logical association 2102 of electrical components that can work in concert. For example, logical association 2102 may include an electrical component 2104 for inserting a unique identifier in an application-level connection setup message and essentially all relevant upstream messages to facilitate determining an access point associated with these upstream messages. In addition, logical coupling 2102 may include an electrical component 2106 for transmitting upstream messages to a network component.

In this way, the network component can identify the access point transmitting messages as described. In addition, upstream messages may contain a mobile device identifier, if necessary. In addition, logical coupling 2102 may include an electrical component 2108 for receiving one or more downstream messages in response to uplink messages. As described, downstream messages may contain a mobile device identifier. In addition, the logical association 2102 may include an electrical component 2110 for sending downstream messages to one or more mobile devices based at least in part on a different identifier in the downstream messages. Additionally, system 2100 may include a memory 2112 that holds instructions for performing functions associated with electrical components 2104, 2106, 2108, and 2110. Although shown as being external to memory 2112, it should be understood that one or more of the electrical components 2104, 2106, 2108, and 2110 may exist within the storage device 2112.

A variety of illustrative logic circuits, logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or implemented using a universal processing device, a digital signal processor (DSP), a specialized integrated circuit (ASIC), programmable gate matrix (FDA) or other programmable logic device, logic element on discrete components or transistor logic circuits, individual applications ratnyh components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A universal processing device may be a microprocessor, and alternatively, the processing device may be any conventional processing device, control device, microprocessor control device, or state machine. In addition, the processing device may be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in combination with a DSP as a core, or any other such configuration. Additionally, at least one processing device may include one or more modules with the ability to perform one or more of the steps and / or actions described above.

Additionally, the steps and / or actions of a method or algorithm described in relation to the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processing device, or in a combination of these two components. The software module may reside in RAM memory, EEPROM memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, in registers, on a hard disk, a removable disk, a compact optical disk or any other type of storage medium known in the art . An exemplary storage medium may interface with a processing device so that the processing device can read information from and write to this data medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated into the processing device. In addition, in some aspects, the processing device and the storage medium may reside in the SIS. Additionally, the SIS can be hosted in a user terminal. Alternatively, the processing device and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as a separate component. Additionally, in some aspects, the steps and / or actions of a method or algorithm may be placed in the form of one or any combination or set of codes and / or instructions on a computer-readable medium and / or on a computer-readable medium that may be part of a computer program product .

In one or more aspects, the described functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, functions may be stored or transmitted in the form of one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that transfers a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available storage media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, but not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage device, magnetic disk storage device or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to transfer or store the necessary program code in the form of instructions or data structures, and which can be accessed by computer. Also, any connection may be referred to as computer readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, digital subscriber line (DSL - Digital Subscriber Line), or wireless technologies such as infrared radiation, radio and microwaves, then these coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared radiation, radio communications and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. A magnetic disk and a non-magnetic disk, as used herein, include a compact disk (CD), a laser disk, an optical disk, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a flexible magnetic disk, and a Blu-ray disk, with magnetic disks typically reproducing magnetic data, while non-magnetic discs reproduce optical data using laser sources. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure addresses illustrative aspects and / or embodiments, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made to this document without departing from the scope of the described aspects and / or embodiments as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, although elements of the described aspects and / or embodiments may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly declared. Additionally, all or part of any aspect and / or embodiment may be combined with all or part of any other aspect and / or embodiment, unless otherwise indicated. Additionally, in the sense in which the term “includes” is used either in the description of an embodiment of the invention or in the claims, this term is intended to include to some extent the same term “contains”, such as “contains” is interpreted when used as transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, although elements of the described aspects and / or aspects may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly declared. Additionally, all or part of any aspect and / or embodiment may be combined with all or part of any other aspect and / or embodiment, unless otherwise indicated.

Claims (56)

1. A method of facilitating multiplexing connections of an access point with mobility management entities, comprising the steps of:
receiving a downstream packet from a mobility management entity (MME);
determining an access point associated with the downstream packet based, at least in part, on the locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet, the locally unique identifier associated with the identifier received from the access point during connection establishment; and
transmit the downstream packet to the access point. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: determining a mobile device associated with the downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier; and replace the locally unique identifier with the identifier of the mobile device. 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising storing a locally unique identifier in the routing table with the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point. 4. The method according to claim 1, additionally containing stages, in which
receive an upstream packet from the access point;
determining an association between the upstream packet and the MME based at least in part on the identifier of the MME; and
transmit the upstream packet in the MME. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the uplink packet is associated with the MME based at least in part on the address at which the upstream packet is received from the access point. 6. The method according to claim 4, further comprising storing the routing table of the identifiers of the access point to the identifiers of the MMEs, the association between the upstream packet and the MMEs being determined based at least in part on the record of the routing table associated with the access point. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the access point identifiers are associated with small-scale access points. 8. The method of claim 6, further comprising adding an entry to the routing table based at least in part on the request received from the access point for association with the MME. 9. The method according to claim 4, further comprising stages, in which
extracting a mobile device identifier and an access point identifier from an upstream packet;
determining a locally unique identifier as associated with the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point; and
replace the identifier of the mobile device in the upstream packet with a locally unique identifier. 10. The method according to claim 9, in which the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point are identifiers of the application level. 11. The method according to claim 9, in which the step of determining the locally unique identifier as associated with the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point, includes determining the location of the locally unique identifier in the routing table that displays locally unique identifiers to the received identifiers of the mobile device and the identifiers of the serving access point. 12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of establishing a connection at the transport level with the MME. 13. The method according to item 12, further comprising establishing connections at the application level with the MME by connecting at the transport level for the access point or additional access points associated with the MME. 14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising stages, in which
receiving a handover request message associated with the target access point from the source access point;
determining that the source access point and the target access point are associated with the MMEs, based at least in part on one or more identifiers in the handover request message; and transmit a handover request message to the target access point. 15. A wireless communication device comprising
at least one processing device configured to:
receiving a downstream packet from a mobility management entity (MME);
recognizing at least one access point associated with the downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet, the locally unique identifier being associated with an identifier received from the access point during connection establishment; and
transmitting a downlink packet to at least one access point; and
a storage device connected to at least one processing device. 16. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processing device is further configured to recognize a mobile device associated with the downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier and replace the locally unique identifier to the identifier of the mobile device. 17. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processing device is further configured to
receiving an upstream packet from at least one access point;
recognition of the association between the upstream packet and the MME,
based, at least in part, on the identifier of the MME, and transmission of the upstream packet in the MME. 18. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one processing device is further configured to save a routing table of access point identifiers to MME identifiers, wherein the association between the upstream packet and the MME is recognized based at least in part on a routing table entry associated with at least one access point. 19. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processing device is further configured to insert an entry in a routing table based at least in part on a request received from at least one access point , for association with MME. 20. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one processing device is further configured to
recognition of the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point from the upstream packet;
generating a locally unique identifier as associated with the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point; and replacing the identifier of the mobile device in the upstream packet with a locally unique identifier. 21. An apparatus for facilitating multiplexing of access point connections with mobility management entities, comprising
means for receiving a downstream packet from a mobility management entity (MME);
means for determining an access point associated with the downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet, the locally unique identifier associated with an identifier received from the access point during connection establishment; and
means for transmitting the downstream packet to the access point. 22. The device according to item 21, further comprising means for determining a mobile device associated with the downstream packet, based at least in part on a locally unique identifier, wherein the means for transmitting the downstream packet replaces the locally unique identifier with the identifier of the mobile device. 23. The device according to item 22, in which the means for determining the mobile device associated with the downstream packet, stores a locally unique identifier in the routing table with the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point. 24. The device according to item 21, in which the means for transmitting a downstream packet further receives an upstream packet from the access point, and the means for receiving a downstream packet further transmits an upstream packet to the MME, while the means for determining the access point associated with the downstream packet, further determines the association between the upstream packet and the MME, based at least in part on the identifier of the MME. 25. The device according to paragraph 24, in which the upstream packet is associated with the MME, based, at least in part, on the address at which the upstream packet is received. 26. The device according to paragraph 24, in which the means for determining the access point associated with the downstream packet, further stores a routing table of identifiers of access points to the identifiers of the MMEs, while the association between the upstream packet and the MME is determined based at least in part on Routing table entries associated with the access point. 27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the means for determining an access point associated with the downstream packet adds an entry to the routing table based, at least in part, on a request received from the access point for association with the MME. 28. The device according to paragraph 24, further comprising means for retrieving the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point from the upstream packet and determining a locally unique identifier as associated with the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point, while the means for transmitting the uplink packet in the MME replaces the identifier mobile device in an upstream packet to a locally unique identifier. 29. Computer-readable media containing codes stored on it which, when executed by at least one computer, instruct at least one computer to perform a method of facilitating multiplexing of access point connections with mobility management entities; (MME), wherein said codes contain
code for receiving a downstream packet from a mobility management entity (MME);
code for determining an access point associated with the downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet, the locally unique identifier associated with an identifier received from the access point during connection establishment; and
code to send the downstream packet to the access point. 30. The computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein said codes further comprise a code for determining a mobile device associated with a downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier and replacing the locally unique identifier with the identifier of the mobile device. 31. The computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein said codes further comprise
code for receiving an upstream packet from an access point;
code for determining the association between the upstream packet and the MME,
based at least in part on the identifier of the MME; and
code for transmitting an upstream packet in the MME. 32. The computer-readable medium of claim 31,
wherein said codes further comprise a code for storing the routing table of access point identifiers to the MME identifiers, wherein the association between the upstream packet and the MME is determined based at least in part on the routing table entry associated with the access point. 33. The computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein said codes further comprise a code for inserting an entry into a routing table based at least in part on a request received from an access point for association with an MME. 34. The computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein said codes further comprise
code for determining the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point from the upstream packet;
code for selecting a locally unique identifier as associated with the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point; and
code to replace the identifier of the mobile device in the upstream packet with a locally unique identifier. 35. An apparatus for facilitating multiplexing of access point connections with mobility management entities, comprising
a connecting component for an upstream information stream that receives a downstream packet from a mobility management entity (MME);
an access point routing component that identifies an access point associated with a downstream packet based at least in part on a locally unique identifier contained in the downstream packet, the locally unique identifier associated with an identifier received from the access point during connection establishment; and
a connecting component for a downstream data stream that transmits a downstream packet to an access point. 36. The device according to clause 35, further containing a routing component of the mobile device, which determines the mobile device associated with the downstream packet, based at least in part on a locally unique identifier, while the connecting component for the downstream information flow replaces the locally unique identifier with Mobile device ID 37. The device according to clause 36, in which the routing component of the mobile device stores a locally unique identifier in the routing table with the identifier of the mobile device and the identifier of the access point. 38. The device according to clause 35 in which the connecting component for the downstream information stream receives the upstream packet from the access point, and the connecting component for the upward information stream transmits the upstream packet to the MME, and the routing component of the access point further determines the association between the upstream packet and the MME based at least partially on the identifier MME. 39. The device according to § 38, in which the upstream packet is associated with the MME, based, at least in part, on the address at which the upstream packet is received. 40. The device according to § 38, in which the routing component of the access point further stores a routing table of identifiers of access points to identifiers MME, and the association between the connecting packet and MME is determined based at least in part on the record of the routing table associated with the access point . 41. The device according to p, in which the routing component of the access point adds an entry to the routing table, based at least in part on a request received from the access point for association with the MME. 42. A method of facilitating the determination of an access point, comprising the steps of:
receive a unique identifier in the uplink message associated with the access point;
inserting a unique identifier in the downstream message at the application level to help determine the access point associated with the upstream message;
transmit a downstream message at the application level to the network component;
receiving a handover request message from a network component associated with the access point and the target access point;
inserting a unique identifier associated with the target access point into the handover request message; and
forward the handover request message to this network component or to one or more distinct network components. 43. The method of claim 42, wherein the unique identifier is globally unique with respect to the wireless communication network. 44. The method according to item 43, further comprising the step of including a unique identifier in subsequent downstream messages at the application level associated with the access point transmitted to the network component. 45. The method according to § 42, further comprising the step of multiplexing the downstream message at the application level with excellent downstream messages at the application level associated with the excellent access points through a single association at the transport level with the network component. 46. Object mobility management containing
at least one processing device configured to
search for a unique identifier in the uplink message associated with the access point;
inserting a unique identifier in the downstream message at the application level to help determine the access point associated with the upstream message;
transmitting a downstream message at the application level to the network component;
receiving a handover request message from this network component associated with the access point and the target access point;
inserting a unique identifier associated with the target access point into the handover request message; and
forwarding a handover request message to this network component or to one or more distinct network components;
a storage device connected to at least one processing device. 47. The mobility management entity of claim 46, wherein the at least one processing device is further configured to include a unique identifier in subsequent downstream application-level messages associated with the access point transmitted to the network component. 48. The mobility management entity of claim 46, wherein the at least one processing device is further configured to multiplex downstream messages at the application level with excellent downstream messages at the application level associated with excellent access points through a single association at the transport level with a network component. 49. Object mobility management to facilitate the definition of an access point containing
means for receiving a unique identifier in the uplink message associated with the access point;
means for receiving a handover request message from a network component associated with an access point and a target access point; and
means for inserting a unique identifier in the downstream message at the application level to help determine the access point associated with the upstream message, transmitting the downlink message at the application level to this network component, inserting a unique identifier associated with the target access point in the handover request associated with the target access point in the handover request message, and forwarding the handover request message to this network component or to one or more its excellent network components. 50. The mobility management entity of claim 49, wherein the unique identifier is globally unique with respect to the wireless communication network. 51. The mobility management entity of claim 49, wherein the means for inserting a unique identifier includes a unique identifier in subsequent downstream application-level messages associated with the access point transmitted to the network component. 52. Computer-readable media containing codes stored on it which, when executed by at least one computer, instruct at least one computer to perform a method for facilitating determining an access point, said codes comprising a code for receiving a unique identifier in the uplink message associated with the access point; code for inserting a unique identifier in the downstream message at the application level to help determine the access point associated with the upstream message; code for transmitting a downstream message at the application level to the network component; code for receiving a handover request message from this network component associated with the access point and the target access point; code for inserting a unique identifier associated with a target access point in a handover request message; and code for forwarding the handover request message to this network component or to one or more distinct network components. 53. The computer-readable medium of claim 52, wherein said codes further comprise a code for including a unique identifier in subsequent downstream application-level messages associated with an access point transmitted to a network component. 54. Object mobility management to facilitate the definition of an access point containing
an access point identification component that receives a unique identifier in an uplink message associated with that access point;
an uplink receive component that receives a handover request message from a network component associated with an access point and a target access point; and
a downlink transmission component that inserts a unique identifier in a downstream message at the application level to help determine the access point associated with the upstream message, transmits a downstream message at the application level to this network component, inserts a unique identifier associated with the target access point, to the handover request associated with the target access point in the handover request message, and forwards the handover request message in this session a component or one or more distinct network components. 55. The mobility management entity of claim 54, wherein the unique identifier is globally unique with respect to the wireless communication network. 56. The mobility management entity of claim 54, wherein the downlink transmission component includes a unique identifier in subsequent downstream application level messages associated with the access point transmitted to the network component.

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