Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W68/00—User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
  • H04W68/02—Arrangements for increasing efficiency of notification or paging channel
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W68/00—User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
  • H04W88/08—Access point devices
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W92/00—Interfaces specially adapted for wireless communication networks
  • H04W92/02—Inter-networking arrangements
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W84/00—Network topologies
  • H04W84/02—Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
  • H04W84/04—Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks
  • H04W84/042—Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
  • H04W84/045—Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to femtocells and in particular to a method in a femtocell for managing user equipments
• a macrocell is a cell in a mobile phone network that provides radio coverage served by a cellular base station, namely a NodeB in a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) network It is adapted to connect cellular handsets to a mobile network
• the area covered by a base station is called a cell
• a location area is a set of base stations that are grouped to optimize signaling Each location area comprises one or more network cells
• a femtocell also called an access point base station or a Home Node B, is a cellular base station From a mobile handset, it is functionally similar to a macrocell cellular base station
• a femtocell is adapted to cover a much lower cell range than a macrocell
• the cell size covered by a femtocell is called a pico cell hereinafter
• the pico cell may also be called a femtocell hereinafter
• a typical use of a femtocell is inside a building to cover areas that are not reached by a macrocell
• a cellular service operator provides a plurality of macrocells and femtocells
• the femtocell is usually connected to the service provider network through a broadband connection
• the broadband connection is used as the backhaul link to the mobile operator s network Therefore, the availability of this broadband connection determines alternative use of the 3G radio connection between the femtocell and a User Equipment (UE).
• the present invention attempts to remedy at least some of the concerns connected with the femtocell in the prior art. It enables to use an UE as a control device in the home network; and in particular when the broadband connection is disabled.
• the invention relates to a method at a femtocell comprising a mobile networking interface for communicating to a macrocell and a second interface for communicating to a broadband network, the method comprising the steps, when communication to the broadband network is inactive, of receiving a paging message from the macrocell destined to a mobile device connected to the femtocell, and notifying the mobile device to redirect to the macrocell.
• an UE connected to the femtocell remains reachable from the mobile network. This permits to use the UE as a control device in the home network, while providing connectivity to the mobile network.
• the invention also relates to a method at a femtocell comprising a first interface for communicating to a macrocell and a second interface for communicating to a broadband network, the method comprising the steps, when communication to the broadband network is inactive, of receiving a mobile network call setup from a mobile device connected to the femtocell, rejecting the call setup, and notifying the device to redirect to the macrocell.
• an UE connected to the femtocell can still reach the mobile network when necessary.
• the method comprises the step of indicating in the notification the reason for redirection.
• the method comprises the step of notifying the device when the broadband network is inactive. According to an embodiment the method comprises the step of notifying the device when the broadband network is active.
• Another object of the invention is a femtocell device comprising a first interface for communicating to a macrocell, a second interface for communicating to a broadband network, a paging module for identifying paging messages destined to a device connected to the femtocell, and a redirecting module for, on reception of a paging message from the macrocell destined to a device connected to the femtocell, and when the communication to the broadband network is inactive, notifying the device to redirect to the macrocell.
• - Figure 2 is a block diagram of an object compliant with the embodiment
• - Figure 3 is a first flow chart of a method according to the embodiment
• FIG. 4 is a second flow chart of a method according to the embodiment.
• FIG. 5 is a third flow chart of a method according to the embodiment.
• FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the redirection method.
• the present embodiment concerns a femtocell in a system as illustrated in figure 1.
• the femtocell 1 is connected to the service provider network, also called the mobile network operator network 5, through a broadband connection.
• the broadband connection is a digital subscriber line connection that provides connection to the Internet 2.
• the femtocell 1 located in the home environment is connected to the Internet 2 through a digital subscriber line gateway not represented.
• the femtocell device is a standalone device. Of course the femtocell might also be embedded in such a gateway.
• the femtocell enables to connect a UMTS compatible user equipment 3, noted UE hereinafter.
• the UE accesses the MNO network through the Internet.
• the UE 3 may also be connected to the MNO network through a macrocell 4 in a manner well known per se.
• the femtocell device is represented in figure 2. It comprises a first communicating module 23 for emitting and receiving in the UMTS network.
• the first communicating module is a 3G radio emitter-receiver. More generally, this is a mobile networking interface.
• a first communicating management module 24 is adapted to perform the management and control functions of the first communicating module.
• the femtocell device also comprises a second communicating module 25 for emitting and receiving in the broadband network.
• a second communicating management module 26 is adapted to perform the management and control functions of the second communicating module.
• the broadband network is of digital subscriber line technology. Of course it could also be any other type of broadband connection, such as a cable, fiber optics or satellite.
• the femtocell device also comprises storing module 22 such as a memory for storing among others the list of UE identifiers as indicated hereinafter.
• the femtocell device also comprises a processor 21 that is adapted to execute the algorithm of the embodiment.
• the femtocell comprises a redirecting module 27 for redirecting the UE as indicated hereinafter.
• the femtocell also comprises a paging module 28 for identifying paging message coming from the macrocell.
• the paging module is adapted to set up the redirecting module, as indicated hereinafter.
• the second communicating management module is adapted to detect when the DSL link is up or down. When the DSL link goes up or down, the second communicating management module informs the first communicating management module on the DSL link status. The first communicating management module then takes the appropriate actions as described hereinafter.
• the femtocell maintains the 3G radio on, instead of turning it off. It keeps the 3G radio connection to the UE in its coverage area. This allows the UE to keep using the 3G radio connection to the femtocell in order to control the home network environment within the home. However, due to the fact that the DSL link is down, any 3G cellular service through the femtocell is not available because there is no connection to the Mobile Network.
• the femtocell may be deactivated, or be put in a power save mode in order to detect the presence of an UE, in a manner that is out of the scope of the present invention.
• the paging module is also activated. This permits the femtocell device to listen to the nearby available macrocell for the paging traffic.
• the paging module maintains a paging list of UEs for which it listens to paging messages. This paging list comprises the UE that are registered to the femtocell. When a UE leaves the femtocell, it is removed from the list. When a UE enters the femtocell, it is added to the paging list.
• the macrocell sends a paging message in order to set up a call from the Mobile Network to the UE, step S1.
• the femtocell detects the paging message, step S2. It further detects that the paging message is destined to the UE 3 that is currently under the femtocell, and which is in the paging list, step S3. The femtocell notifies the UE, step S4, to redirect to the macrocell.
• the UE steers the UE to reselect the macrocell. Then the UE can receive the paging message from the macrocell. This allows the UE to receive the incoming calls from the MN, step S6. In the meantime, the femtocell does no longer listen to paging message issued for that UE; it releases that UE from the paging list, step S5.
• Redirecting is performed as follows.
• the femtocell forwards the paging message toward the UE that is currently under this femto. Then the following sequence takes place, as illustrated in figure 6, in a general manner compliant to the 3GPP specifications:
• Step S'1 the UE receives the paging message forwarded by the femto
• Step S'2 when the femto receives the paging response from the
• Step S'4 upon receiving this reject message, the UE changes the cell to the one indicated by the previous step (macrocell),
• Step S'5 after reselection to the macrocell, the UE sends the paging response message, and, the normal call establishment occurs using the macrocell.
• the handset releases the radio resource with this macrocell and goes back to idle mode, step S7.
• the handset re-select the femtocell, step 8.
• the handset stays with this macrocell with which the call was last made. If the UE reselects to the femtocell, the femtocell adds that UE to the paging list.
• the signaling is sent to the femtocell, step S10.
• the femtocell rejects the call origination request, step S11 , and redirects the call to the nearby macrocell, step S12. This triggers the UE to reselect the macrocell. Then the call origination proceeds with the macrocell. In the meantime, the femtocell does no longer listen to paging message issued for that UE; it releases that UE from the paging list, step S13.
• the femtocell when redirecting the UE, the femtocell also informs the UE on the reason for redirection in the RRC connection reject message where fields such as rejection cause or redirection info are added. This permits the end user of the UE to be aware of the redirection, and in particular to be aware of the switch to a different charging practice.
• the femtocell when detecting that the DSL link is down, the femtocell informs the UE that the DSL link is inactive. This permits the end user to anticipate that an outgoing call will not use the DSL link, but the macrocell with a different charging practice.
• 3GPP specification defines a string of text that a femtocell broadcasts so that user's handset can display this information. It is defined in 3GPP TS 25.331 V8.6.0 (2009-03), '3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol Specification (Release 8)', noted TS 25.331 ; in particular in section 8.1.1 on Broadcast of system information. This way, user can be aware of whether the handset is connected to the femtocell or not (or which femtocell). However, this is not a mandatory functionality.
• a particular femtocell implementation can choose not to support this functionality.
• the paging module is deactivated, and the paging list is cleared.
• the femtocell does no longer listen to the nearby available macrocell for the paging traffic.
• the femtocell informs the UE on the fact that the DSL link is active again. This permits the end user of that UE to know that an outgoing call will not be redirected to the macrocell.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

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• 2009
  • 2009-05-28 EP EP09447025A patent/EP2257117A1/en not_active Withdrawn
• 2010
  • 2010-05-25 BR BRPI1010560A patent/BRPI1010560A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2010-05-25 JP JP2012512333A patent/JP5495280B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2010-05-25 WO PCT/EP2010/057120 patent/WO2010136430A1/en not_active Ceased
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• 2017
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