Inter-eNode B handover procedure

Technical field [0002] The following description relates generally to wireless communication, and more particularly to mechanisms for transferring connections between eNode B (eNB).

II. Background Art [0003] Wireless communication systems are widely used to provide various types of communication; for example, voice and / or data may be provided through such wireless communication systems. A typical wireless communication system or network can provide multiple users with access to at least one shared resource. For example, these systems may be multi-access systems capable of handling communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmission power). Examples of such access systems include code-sharing access systems (CDMA), time-division access systems (TDMA), frequency-division access systems (FDMA), long-term evolution (LTE) systems of the third generation partner project (3GPP) and orthogonal access systems frequency division (OFDMA).

[0004] Generally, a multi-access wireless communication system may support simultaneous communication for multiple wireless terminals. Each terminal communicates with at least one base station by transmitting on forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink (DL)) refers to the communication link from base stations to the schedule, and the reverse link (or uplink (UL)) refers to the communication link from terminals to base stations. Such communication links can be set up through a system of one input-one output, multiple inputs-one output, or multiple inputs-multiple outputs (MIMO), [0005] The MIMO system uses many transmitters (Wr) and many (Λ) for data transmission / r) receiving antennas. The MIMO channel created by Nt transmitting antennas and No. of receiving antennas can be spread over N_s independent channels, which are also called spatial channels, where Λ / s £ min {A /_r, No.}. Each of the independent channels corresponds to the dimension. The MIMO system can provide better performance (e.g., higher throughput and / or greater reliability) if additional dimensions created by multiple transmit and receive antennas are used, the MIMO system can support duplex time division (TDD) and duplex frequency division (FDD) systems. In the TDD system, the forward and reverse link transmissions are in the same frequency range, so that the reciprocity principle makes it possible to distinguish the forward link channel from the reverse link channel. This allows the access point to extract the transmit beam forming gain on the forward link when multiple antennas are available at the access point.

[0006] In cellular wireless systems, the service area is divided into many coverage zones, generally called cells. Each cell can be referred to as a chiffon for many sectors served by many base stations. Although each sector is typically represented as a separate geographical area, sectors typically provide an overlapping signal range to ensure smooth communication switching as wireless terminals or user equipment (UE) move from one cell to an adjacent cell. For example, when a mobile user moves between cells, there must be effective transfer or switching of communication between base stations to provide the user with the experience of a smooth operation of the mobile Internet, Without an effective mechanism for switching mobile users between cells, the user would experience interruptions and delays of the service, loss of transmission or interrupted connections .

[0007] Connection switching or transfer (HO) is a process in which a UE (e.g. a cordless telephone) is moved from one cell to the next to maintain a radio connection to the network. Variables dictating the transfer of calls depend on the type of cellular system. For example, in ODMA systems, the limiting factor for connection transfer is interference requirements. In FDMA and TDMA systems, such as the global mobile communication system (GSM), the main limiting factor is the signal quality available to the UE.

[0008] One form of switching or transferring calls is when an ongoing UE connection is redirected from its current cell (e.g., source cell) and channel to a new cell (e.g., target cell) and channel. In terrestrial networks, the source cell and destination cell can be served from two different cell locations or from two different sectors in the same cell location. The first case is called transferring calls between cells, and the second case refers to transferring calls in one sector or between different sectors of the same cell (e.g. transferring calls within a cell). Generally, the purpose of transferring calls between cells is to maintain the connection as the subscriber leaves the area served by the source cell and enters the area of ​​the target cell.

[0009] For example, during a connection, at least one signal parameter in the channel in the source cell is monitored and evaluated to decide when switching may be necessary (e.g. DL and / or UL can be monitored). Typically, handover may be requested by the UE or by the base station of its source cell and, on some systems, by the neighbor cell base station. The telephone and base stations of the neighboring cell monitor each other's signals and the best target candidates are selected among the neighboring cells.

[0010] For example, a universal mobile communication system (UMTS) network with terrestrial segment radio access (UTRAN) includes base stations (e.g., Node B) and radio network controllers (RNC). RNCs provide control functions for at least one Node B and perform radio resource management (RRM), some motion management functions, and are the point where encryption takes place before user data is sent to and from the mobile unit. Node B and RNC may be the same device, although typical implementations have a separate RNC located in a central office supporting multiple Node B. RNC and the corresponding Node B are called the radio network subsystem (RNS). There may be more than one RNS in UTRAN. The UE requires a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection to access UMTS network services, which is a two-way point-to-point connection between RRC units in UE and UTRAN (e.g. RRC is set in UTRAN). Usually, the UMTS call transfer mechanism (e.g. measurement, decision and execution) is centrally controlled, with RNC responsible for call transfer decisions requiring signaling to the EU, and requiring complex coordination through 3-way handshaking {measurement reporting, call transfer order (HO command) and HO completion) between network components.

[0011] One problem with such a mechanism is that problems with interoperability when using UTRAN devices from different suppliers have essentially prevented the introduction of a network of many suppliers. In addition, interoperability problems with different versions of the RRC protocol limit the capabilities of mobile operators to introduce protocol updates [0012] In the developed universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), RRM is more distributed than in the case of UTRAN due to the implementation of the RRM function at the advanced Node B level (eNode B). As a result, there is a greater likelihood that due to protocol discrepancies, new radio configurations will not be used in the target eNode B due to the lack of support from the source eNode B. The current assumption for LTE signaling is to have the same 3- directional reconciliation (e.g., measurement reporting, HO command, and HO completion) as in UTMS, along with the foreseeable difficulties above. In addition to solving these problems, further improvements are desirable related to the procedure for transferring connections between eNode B (eNB) to allow mobile operators to benefit from frequent protocol updates, including physical layer updates, allowing operators to aggressively introduce multiple vendor networks and allowing new configurations radio in the target eNode B, despite the lack of protocol support from the source eNode B. 3GPP TR25.813 V 7.1.0 discloses a method and system for performing call transfer in an LTE system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0013] The invention is defined by the independent claims.

[0014] The following is a simplified summary of at least one embodiment to provide a basic understanding of these embodiments. This summary is not an extended overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is not intended to identify key or critical elements of all embodiments, or to demonstrate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present certain concepts of at least one embodiment in a simplified form, as an introduction to a more detailed description, which is presented below.

[0015] According to at least one embodiment and the corresponding disclosure, various objects are described related to improving the transfer of calls between eNode B. As described above, EUTRAN implements many radio resource management functions at the eNode B. The current assumption for signaling call transfer is to use a 3-way handshake, such as in UMTS, with the difficulties described above, whereby the UMTS call transfer mechanism (e.g. measurement, decision making and execution) is controlled centrainie. However, there are significant architectural differences, so that protocol optimizations can be implemented to enable mobile operators to benefit from frequent protocol updates (including physical layer updates), allow mobile operators to aggressively deploy multiple vendor networks, and allow new radio configurations to be used in target eNode B despite no protocol support from the source eNode B.

[0016] According to various non-limiting embodiments, the invention provides architectural and protocol changes for a node transfer procedure. According to various objects of the invention, for signaling HO between eNBs, logical protocol setting may be implemented between the UE and target eNB. Preferably, setting the protocol between the UE and the target eNB allows eliminating the UMTS LT completion message for the LTE, which allows for a relatively simpler implementation of the protocol. According to further objects of the invention, the measurement report message and HO command message may be sent to the destination node and DE, respectively, through the source node.

[0017] According to further non-limiting embodiments, the HO command message may be encapsulated by the source eNB in ​​the corresponding RRC message (e.g., an RRC direct message). Preferably, the source eNB does not require the ability to understand the entire contents of the HO command message. In this way, the source eNB, as a minimum, may only require the ability to identify the HO command message as the HO command message according to various embodiments. In further embodiments, the source eNB may include the ability to recognize the destination of the HO command message. Preferably, the transfer mechanism of the present invention does not require a relatively more complex coordination mechanism between the source BS and target BS in UMTS, which can be a challenge in a multi-provider network. What will be appreciated, the provided mechanisms of transferring connections and encapsulation allow for better cooperation between eNode B implementing different versions of the protocol or from different suppliers, which in turn allows for frequent updates of the protocol. In addition, the invention allows the target eNode B to implement new radio configurations, even if this configuration is not supported by the source eNode B.

[0018] In the above and related scope, various methods are described herein to facilitate transferring a connection between eNode B. One method may include receiving and encapsulating, by a source node, a transfer transfer command message created by the destination node into a radio resource control message. In addition, the method may include encrypting the encapsulated connection transfer message based on a pre-existing security relationship between the UE associated with the connection transfer message and the source node. Preferably, the method does not require a new security relationship between the UE and the destination node. For example, an existing security relationship can be provided by at least one of: layers, sublayers, protocols and / or similar radio interface, or any combination thereof (e.g., radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and the like). The method may also include sending the encapsulated transferring command message to the wireless terminal. In addition, the method may include applying on the encapsulated message the transfer command of integrity protection connection through the source node (e.g., by radio link control (RRC) of the source node).

[0019] In a related embodiment of the invention, the method may include receiving and processing by the target base station of measurement report information. In addition, the method may include determining, by the target base station, the decision to transfer the connection regarding the mobile device associated with the measurement report information, and transmitting the connection transfer command to the mobile device, the connection transfer command including additional information to facilitate generation of the transfer completion indicator. in a wireless communication system.

[0020] In yet another embodiment, a method is provided for transferring between nodes in a wireless communication system that includes sending, by a mobile device, a measurement report message to a source node for encapsulation at the source node to a message between nodes (e.g., an eNode message B) and sending it to the target node, and receiving, by the mobile device, the encapsulation transfer command message at the source node, sent from the destination node.

[0021] Another embodiment of the invention relates to a communication device. The communication device may contain memory that retains instructions for receiving and encapsulating HO commands from destination nodes. In addition, the memory may also store encryption instructions and forwarding the transfer transfer command to the UE. In addition, the communication device may include a processor, connected to the memory, configured to execute instructions stored in the memory.

[0022] In a related embodiment, the communication device may include a memory that retains instructions for receiving and processing, by the destination node, a measurement report message. The memory may also store instructions for determining, by the destination node, the transfer transfer decision regarding the wireless terminal associated with the measurement report message. In addition, the communication device may include a processor, connected to the memory, configured to execute instructions stored in the memory.

[0023] Still other embodiments are associated with a machine readable carrier with machine-executable instructions written therein for carrying out the various embodiments of the invention described in this document. In other embodiments of the invention, the device in the wireless communication system may include a processor, the processor may be configured to implement various embodiments of the invention as described herein.

[0024] To achieve the above and related scope, at least one embodiment includes features that are hereinafter fully described, in particular those listed in the claims. The following description and attached drawings explain in detail the specific illustrative objects according to at least one embodiment. These objects, however, indicate only a few of the different ways in which the principles of the various embodiments can be implemented, and the described embodiments are envisaged to include all such objects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [0025]

Fig. 1 shows a wireless communication system with access according to various aspects given in this document.

Fig. 2 shows a wireless communication system according to further aspects of the invention.

Fig. 3A shows a non-limiting block diagram of a high level system that facilitates the transfer of connections in eNode B, in which the transmission of a HO command message is outlined.

Fig. 3B is an example of a non-limiting block diagram of a high level system that facilitates the transfer of connections between eNode B, in which the transmission of HO command message is outlined, and to which various aspects of the invention apply.

Fig. 4A illustrates an example non-limiting block diagram of a high level system for facilitating the transfer of connections between eNode B, according to various aspects of the invention.

Fig. 4B illustrates an example non-limiting structure of a HO command message for transferring connections between eNode B, according to various aspects of the invention.

Fig. 4C illustrates an exemplary non-limiting signaling flow for transferring connections between eNBs, according to various aspects of the invention.

Fig. 5 shows a communication device for use in a multi-access wireless communication environment according to various aspects of the invention.

Fig. 6 shows non-limiting high level methodologies for transferring connections between eNode B according to various embodiments described in this document.

Fig. 7 shows a further exemplary high level methodology for transferring connections between eNode B according to various embodiments described in this document.

Fig. 8 shows an exemplary communication system implemented according to various aspects involving a plurality of cells.

Fig. 9 shows a system that can be used in conjunction with connection transfer mechanisms between eNode B according to various embodiments.

Fig. 10 shows an exemplary non-limiting block diagram of a base station according to various aspects of the invention.

Fig. 11 shows a system that can be used in conjunction with connection transfer mechanisms between eNode B according to various embodiments.

Fig. 12 shows an exemplary wireless terminal (e.g., wireless terminal, mobile device, end node, ...) implemented in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 13 shows an exemplary non-limiting block diagram of a communication system employing mechanisms for transferring connections between eNode B according to various aspects of the invention.

Fig. 14 shows an exemplary non-limiting device that allows transfer of connections between eNode B according to various embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 15 shows an exemplary non-limiting device that facilitates the transfer of connections between eNode B according to various embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS [0026] Different embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings, wherever the same numbers are used to refer to the same elements. In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, many specific details are described to provide a good understanding of at least one embodiment. However, it may be obvious that such embodiments can be practiced without these specific details. In other cases, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagrams to facilitate the description of at least one embodiment.

[0027] Furthermore, various objects of the invention are described below. It should be obvious that the teachings contained in this document can be applied in a wide range of forms, and that the specific structure and / or function disclosed in this document is purely representative. Based on the teachings in this document, one of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that the subject disclosed in this document may be implemented independently of any other subject, and that at least two subjects may be combined in various ways. For example, the device may be implemented and / or the method may be practiced using any number of items explained in this document. In addition, the device may be implemented and / or practiced using a different structure and / or functionality in addition, instead of at least one aspect explained in this document. For example, many of the methods, devices, systems and units described in this document are described in the context of transferring connections between eNode B in E-UTRAN communication systems. The skilled artisan will appreciate that similar techniques can be applied to other communication environments.

[0028] As used in this patent application, the terms "component", "module", "system" and the like are intended as a reference to a computer-related or hardware-related unit, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software being executed software, firmware, middleware, microcode and / or any combination thereof. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, processor, object, executable file, execution thread, program and / or computer. As an example, not a limitation, both an application running on a computing device and a computing device may be a component, At least one component may be contained in a process and / or thread of execution, and the component may be located on one computer and / or be distributed between at least two computers. In addition, these components can make from different computer readable media different data structures recorded on them. Components can communicate using local and / or remote processes, such as signal-based, with at least one data packet {for example, data from one component communicating with another component on a local system, distributed system, and / or on a network such as Internet or other systems via signal). In addition, the system components described in this document may be re-arranged and / or supplemented with additional components to facilitate the achievement of various aspects, goals, benefits and the like, described in relation to them, but not limited to the strict configurations explained in the drawing, which they will appreciate experts.

[0029] Furthermore, various embodiments are described herein in connection with a wireless terminal or user equipment (UE). A wireless or UE terminal may also be called a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile unit, mobile device, remote station, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. A wireless terminal or UE may be a cell phone, cordless telephone, session initiation protocol (SiP) telephone, wireless local loop station (WLL), personal digital assistant (PDA), portable device with wireless connection capability, computing device or other processing device connected to wireless modem. In addition, various embodiments are described herein in connection with a base station. The base station can be used to communicate with wireless terminals and can also be called an access point, Node B, eNode B, source or destination node, or other terminology.

[0030] In addition, the various aspects or properties described in this document may be implemented as a method, device or manufactured article using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "manufactured article" used in this document is intended to include a computer program accessible from any computer readable device, medium or medium. For example, computer-readable medium may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (for example, a hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic tape, and the like), optical discs (e.g., a compact disc (CD), a versatile digital disc (DVD), and the like ), smart cards and Flash memory devices (e.g. EPROM, cards, memory cards, portable drives and the like). In addition, the various storage media described in this document may represent one or more computer-readable devices and / or a medium for carrying computer-readable electronic data or instructions such as those used to send and receive voicemail, accessing a network such as a cellular network , or to instruct the device to perform a specific function. Of course, those skilled in the art recognize many modifications that can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as described and claimed in this document.

[0031] Furthermore, the term "exemplary" is used in this document to refer to an agent serving as an example, for example, for illustration. Any aspect or embodiment described in this document as "exemplary" is not necessarily constructed as preferred or preferred over other objects or method of performance. Instead, the use of the word "exemplary" is intended for current concepts in a particular shape. As used in this application, the term "or" is intended to mean the combined "or" rather than disconnected "or". That is, unless otherwise specified or clear from the context, "X uses A or B" means any naturally connecting permutation. That is, if X uses A; X uses B; or X uses both A and B, then "X uses A or B" is met in each of the following occurrences. In addition, the articles used in this application and the appended claims essentially mean "one or more", unless otherwise specified or clear from a single-form context.

[0032] The techniques described in this document can be used with various wireless communication networks, such as Code Division Multiple Access Networks (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access Networks (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access Networks (FDMA), Multiple Access Systems orthogonal frequency division (OFDMA), single carrier frequency multiple access (SC-FDMA) and the like. The terms "networks" and "systems" are often used interchangeably. The CDMA network may implement radio technology such as UMTS with terrestrial segment radio access (UTRĄ), cdma2000 and the like. UTRĄ includes broadband CDMA (WCDMA) and reduced bit rate (LCR). cdma2000 includes IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. The TDMA network can implement radio technology such as the global mobile communication system (GSM). The OFDMA network can implement radio technology such as extended UTRRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM® and the like. UTRĄ, E-UTRA and GSM are part of the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS). Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the upcoming release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRĄ, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in the documents of the organization called "Third Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 is described in the organization's documents called "Third Generation Partner Project 2" (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are known in the art. For clarity, certain subjects of the above techniques may be described below in the context of procedures for transferring connections between eNode B (eNB) because they apply to LTE and E-UTRAN, and therefore 3GPP terminology may be used in large part of the description below, where this is right.

[0033] Referring to Fig. 1, a multi-access wireless communication system according to one embodiment is shown. Access point 100 (AP) includes multiple antenna groups, one including 104 and 106, another including 108 and 110, and an additional including 112 and 114. In Figure 1, only two antennas are shown for each antenna group, however more or fewer antennas can be used for each antenna group. Access terminal 116 (AT) communicates with antennas 112 and 114, with antennas 112 and 114 transmitting information to access terminal 116 via forward link 120 and receiving information from access terminal 116 via reverse link 118. Access terminal 122 communicates with antennas 106 and 108, wherein antennas 106 and 108 send information to access schedule 122 via forward link 126 and receive information from access schedule 122 via reverse link 124. In the FDD system, communication links 118, 120, 124 and 126 may use different frequencies for communication. For example, forward link 120 may use a different frequency from that used for reverse link 118.

[0034] Each group of antennas and / or area in which they are to communicate is often called an access point sector. In an embodiment, the antenna groups are provided to communicate with the access terminals in sectors of the areas covered by the access point 100.

[0035] In communication on forward links 120 and 126, the access antennas of the access point 100 use beamforming to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the forward links for various access terminals 116 and 124. In addition, an access point that uses beam forming to send to access terminals randomly scattered over its coverage area causes less interference to access terminals in neighboring cells than an access point that transmits through a single antenna to all of its access terminals.

[0036] Fig. 2 shows a wireless communication system 200 with a plurality of base stations 210 and a plurality of terminals 220 that can be used in connection with at least one aspect of the invention. The base station is essentially a fixed station that communicates with terminals and can also be called an access point, Node B, eNode B or some other terminology. Each base station 210 provides communication coverage for a specific geographical area, represented as three geographical areas, designated 202a, 202b and 202c. The term "cell" may refer to the base station and / or its coverage area depending on the context in which the term was used. To improve system performance, the coverage of the base station area can be divided into several smaller areas (e.g., three smaller areas according to with cell 202a of Fig. 2), 204a, 204b and 204c. Any smaller area can be served by the appropriate base station receiver / transmission subsystem (BTS). The term "sector" may refer to BTS and / or its coverage area depending on the context in which the term was used. In the case of a cell divided into sectors, BTS for all sectors of this cell are usually located together in the same base station for a given cell. The transmission techniques described in this document can be used for a system with cells divided into sectors, as well as for a system with cells not divided into sectors. For simplicity, in the following description, the term "base station" is used generally for a fixed station that serves a sector and a fixed station that serves a cell.

[0037] Terminals 220 are typically distributed throughout the system, and each terminal may be fixed or mobile. The terminal may also be referred to as an access terminal, user equipment (UE), wireless communication device, mobile station, user device or other terminology. The terminal can be a wireless device, mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless modem card and so on. Each terminal 220 may at any time communicate with any, one or more base stations on the downlink and the uplink. A downlink (or forward link) refers to a communication link from base stations to terminals, and an uplink (or reverse link) refers to a communication link from terminals to base stations.

[0038] For centralized architecture, the system controller 230 connects to base stations 210 and provides coordination and control over base stations 210, In the case of distributed architecture, base stations 210 can communicate with each other as needed. Data transmission on the forward link occurs from one access point to one access terminal with a maximum or near maximum data rate that is supported by the forward link and / or the communication system. Additional downlink channels (e.g., control channel) can be transmitted from multiple access points to one access terminal. Reverse link data communication may occur from one access terminal to at least one access point via at least one terminal 220 and / or base station antenna 210 as described above with reference to Fig. 1.

[0039] As described above, E-UTRAN implements many radio resource management functions at eNode B. The current assumption for call transfer signaling is to use 3-way handshaking, as in UMTS, with the above / identified difficulties, with the call transfer mechanism UMTS (e.g. measurement, decision and performance) is centrally controlled. However, there are significant architectural differences, so that protocol optimizations can be implemented to allow mobile operators to benefit from frequent protocol updates (including physical layer updates), allow mobile operators to aggressively deploy multiple vendor networks, and enable new radio configurations in eNode B despite the lack of protocol support from the eNode B source page.

[0040] Fig. 3A shows a non-limiting block diagram of a high level system that facilitates the transfer of connections in eNode B, in which the transmission of a HO command message is outlined. System 300A includes user equipment 302 that is communicatively connected in a wireless manner to base station 304 (called the source eNode B). With reference to fig. 3 and 4, Uu (316, 416) is the external interface connecting eNode B to the UE, and X2 (318, 418) is the interface between eNode B, taking into account both the control plane and the user. User equipment 302 may be mobile by nature, so that the quality associated with signals received from base station 304 may change as the UE 302 moves within a sector or to another sector in the same cell, which requires carrying calls within eNode B. It is generally understood that the HO 314 command is an RRC signaling message, wherein the message is physically sent by the source cell or eNode B 304 in regular transfer of a call. In addition, the HO command protocol setting for specific physical network units can be described as being created by RRC 310 in the source eNB 304 when moving connections within the eNB.

[0041] Fig. 3B is an example of a non-limiting high-level block diagram of a system facilitating the transfer of connections between eNode B, in which the transmission of a HO command message is outlined, and to which various objects of the invention apply. The 300B system includes user equipment 302 which is wirelessly connected to a base station 304 (called a source eNode B). User equipment 302 may be mobile by nature, so that the quality associated with signals received from base station 304 may change as the UE 302 moves in the geographical area requiring the transfer of the connection between eNode B to the target eNode B 306. As described above, in the case of transferring connections between eNB, RRC is set in eNB (304, 306) as opposed to RNC in UMTS. In this way, it is possible that the target eNB 306 supports the newer version of the RRC protocol relative to that of the source eNB 304. As a result, without modification in the UMTS procedure of transferring connections between Node B, you can prevent the target eNB 306 from configuring radio parameters that are only implemented by the RRC 312 protocol of the target eNB, because such configuration may not be understood by the source eNB 304, [0042] The following discussion provides additional basic information regarding signaling between a network (e.g., base station 304 or system controller 230) and a wireless terminal (e.g., UE 302 or access terminal 220) in the context of UMTS. In the subject, logical canisters are divided into control and traffic channels. Logical control channels include a broadcast control channel (BCCH) which is a DL channel for broadcasting system control information, a call control channel (PCCH) which is a DL channel carrying call information, and a group transmission control channel which is a DL channel used for transmitting information planning and control for multimedia broadcasting and group transmission services (MBMS) for at least one group traffic channel (MTCH). Generally, after establishing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection, this channel is only used by UE 302 that receives MBMS. The dedicated control channel (DCCH) is a two-way point-to-point channel that transmits dedicated control information and is used by UE 302 with an RRC connection. In another aspect, logical traffic channels include a dedicated traffic channel (DTCH), which is a two-way point-to-point channel dedicated to one UE for transmitting user information, and also MTCH for a point-to-many DL channel for transmitting traffic data.

[0043] In a further aspect, the transport channels are divided into DL and UL. DL transport channels include broadcast channel (BCH), downlink shared data channel (DL-SDCH) and call channel (PCH), PGH for saving support energy by the UE (the discontinuous reception cycle (DRX) is indicated by the network to the UE), it is broadcast to the entire cell and mapped to PHY resources that can be used for other control / motion channels. UL transport canisters include a random access channel (RACH), a request channel (REQCH), a shared uplink channel (ULSDCH) and multiple PHY channels. PHY channels include a set or DL ​​channels and UL channels.

[0044] PHY DL channels include:

Common Pilot Signal Channel (CPICH)

Sync Channel (SCH)

Common Control Channel (CCCH)

Shared DL control channel (SDCCH)

Group transmission control channel (MCCH)

Shared UL assignment channel (SUACH)

Approval Channel (ACKCH)

DL shared physical channel (DL-PSDCH)

UL power control channel (UPCCH)

Call Indicator Channel (PICH)

Load Indicator Channel (LICH) [0045] PHY UL channels include:

Physical random access channel (PRACH)

Channel Quality Indicator Channel (CQICH)

Approval Channel (ACKCH)

Antenna subset indicator channel (ASICH)

Shared Request Channel (SREQCH)

Shared Physical UL (UL-PSDCH) channel

Broadband Pilot Channel (BPICH) [0046] According to various non-limiting embodiments, the invention provides architecture and protocol changes for a node transfer procedure. According to various aspects of the invention, the logical protocol setting may be implemented between UE 302 and target eNB 306 for HO signaling between the eNB. Preferably, the protocol setting between the UE and the target eNB allows the LTE UMTS message to be completed in LTE, which allows for relatively simple protocol implementation. According to further aspects of the invention, the measurement report message and the HO 314 instruction message may be sent through source BS 304 to target BS 306 and UE 302, respectively.

[0047] In further non-limiting embodiments, the HO 314 command message may be encapsulated into the corresponding RRC message (e.g., direct RRC transfer) by the source eNB 304. Preferably, the source eNB 304 does not require the ability to understand all content in the HO 314 command message. In this way, the source eNB 304 may as a minimum require only the ability to identify the HO command message 314 as the HO command message, according to various embodiments. In further embodiments, the source eNB 404 may include the ability to recognize the HO command destination. Advantageously, when the forwarding mechanism of the invention does not require a relatively more complicated coordination mechanism between the source BS and the destination BS in UMTS, which can be a challenge in multi-provider networks. It will be appreciated that the disclosed changes allow for improved interoperability between eNBs implementing different versions of the protocol or between eNBs from different providers, which in turn enables frequent protocol updates. Furthermore, according to further non-limiting embodiments, the invention allows the target BS to configure new radio configurations that are not supported by the source BS.

[0048] For the purpose of describing certain non-limiting embodiments of the invention, the following additional UMTS nomenclature is used; Radio Link Control (RLC) is a radio interface sublayer that provides reliability; transparent mode (RLC-TM) is a transparent service in RLC whose functions include, but is not limited to, the transfer of user data, segmentation and reassembly; Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) is used at UMTS to format data into appropriate structures before sending them through the air interface; the radio network subsystem (SRNS) refers to the fact that there is one SRNS for each UE that has a connection to the UTRAN and which controls the RRC connection between the UE and the UTRAN; and COUNT-C is the encryption sequence number in the UMTS encryption algorithm, which is updated sequentially for each block of plain text. Although various embodiments are described with reference to UMTS, UTRAN or E-UTRAN, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the disclosed invention. In this way, it should be understood that the description herein is only one of many possible embodiments, while not exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

[0049] Fig. 4A is an exemplary non-limiting block diagram of a high level system for facilitating the transfer of connections between eNode B, according to various aspects of the invention. The 400A system includes user equipment 402, which is wirelessly connected to the 404 base station (called the source eNode B). User equipment 402 can be mobile by nature, so that the quality associated with signals received from base station 404 can change as the UE 402 moves in a geographical area requiring the transfer of a connection between eNode B to the target eNode B 406. According to various non-limiting examples In an embodiment of the invention, the HO 414 command message may be created by the target eNB 406 and may be forwarded by the RRC in the source eNB 404. According to further non-limiting embodiments, the HO 414 message may be encapsulated by the source eNB 404 into the corresponding RRC message (e.g., a direct RRC message). Preferably, the source eNB 404 does not require the ability to understand the entire content of the HO 414 message. In this way, the source eNB 404 may as a minimum require only the ability to identify the HO command message 414 as the HO command message, according to various embodiments. In further embodiments, the source eNB 404 may include the ability to recognize the HO command destination. Furthermore, according to further non-limiting embodiments, the invention allows the target eNB 406 to configure a new radio configuration that is not supported by the source eNB 404.

[0050] Fig. 4B illustrates an example non-limiting structure of a HO command message for transferring connections between eNode B, according to various aspects of the invention. As briefly described, the HO (414) command message can be encapsulated by the source eNB 404 to the corresponding RRC 400B message (e.g., direct RRC forwarding) and forwarded to UE 402. For example, the HO 426 command message from the target eNB 406 may be encapsulated into the RRC 420 source eNB message, the HO 412 command message self-decoding according to various aspects of the invention. According to further aspects of the invention, integrity protection 422 and encryption 428 can be performed using the source eNB 404 based on pre-existing security dependencies between the source eNB 404 and the mobile device associated with the HO command message. Preferably, the method does not require a new security relationship between the UE and the destination node. For example, an existing security relationship may be provided by at least one of: a radio interface layer, sublayer, protocols and / or similar, or any combination thereof (e.g., radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and the like). As an additional example, the source eNB 404 may add an RRC header 424 containing information (e.g., message distinguishing element, transaction identifier, and the like). According to various embodiments of the invention, the provided message structure 400B advantageously allows the use of the new version of the radio configuration of the target eNode B 406, even if the source eNB 404 does not support the corresponding version of the protocol. As a result, the mobile operator may benefit from frequent protocol updates, including physical layer updates. [0051] Fig. 4C illustrates an exemplary non-limiting signaling flow for transferring calls between eNBs, according to various objects of the invention. As described, the HO 414 command message can be encapsulated 434 by the source eNB 404 on the corresponding RRC 400B message (e.g., direct RRC forwarding) and forwarded to UE 402. Furthermore, according to further non-limiting embodiments of the invention, the measurement report message may be encapsulated 432 to the inter-node message (e.g., a message between eNode B) and sent to the target eNB 406 by the source eNB 404, with the square brackets "[]" indicating the encapsulation of the respective messages (432, 434). Because RRM E-UTRAN is more diffuse than in UTRAN, the source eNB 404 may not have adequate knowledge of the RRM situation of the target eNB 406. In this way, the disclosed mechanisms provide even more optimized mobility between eNBs by enabling target eNB 406 to process reports from measurements 430 from UE 402 instead of processing by the source eNB (for example, when the source eNB 404 looks only at the best cell indicated by UE 402). Preferably, for a given full content of a target eNB 406 measurement report, the provided mechanism allows the target eNB 406 to make the best transfer decision based on the most accurate RRM information. As a result, a typical message exchange in transferring a connection between an eNB can be logically described as occurring between UE 402 and the target eNB 406. According to various non-limiting embodiments, the forward forward mechanism provided advantageously eliminates the need for complicated coordination between source eNB 404 and target eNB 406, as well as the resulting interoperability problems between providers and protocol versions.

[0052] Another advantage is that setting the protocol between the UE 402 and the target eNB 406 may allow the LTE UMTS message to complete the HO, which allows for a relatively simpler implementation of the protocol. Experience shows that relying on HO completion messages sometimes leads to unstable protocol behavior. In fact, some procedures in UMTS rely on L2-ACK for a completion message. According to further aspects of the invention, this can be avoided for LTE by placing additional or supporting information (e.g., UTRAN XX_complete message information such as RRC transaction identifier, activation time for UL integrity protection, activation time for encryption for radio bearer (RN) using RLC -TM, PDCP sequence information for lossless relocation SRNS, START values ​​for COUNT-C initialization (SRNS relocation)) in the HO command message or in the measurement report message as described below. As such, UE 402 completing the physical transfer portion may be obtained by L1 / L2 signaling (e.g., as random access portion in the target cell).

[0053] For illustrative purposes, various UTRAN XX_compiete message information has been described for optional and additional or supportive inclusion of a HO command or measurement report in the message to facilitate, create, generate, perform or similar actions of an event, indication, function, indicator or similar completion element transferring a connection in a wireless communication system. It should be appreciated, however, that such descriptions will not be created as necessary or limiting the scope of the appended claims. As a result, without departing from the scope of the invention, depending on the specific details of the implementation or design considerations, such information may or may not be included in the HO command message or measurement report, depending on one or more of the considerations below. For example, the RRC transaction identifier may be more useful when the reference message from the UE is XX_Failure, so that the network knows in which configuration the UE has failed. In successful cases, this information is irrelevant unless the network initiates complicated reconfigurations. As a further example, the activation time values ​​for UL and START integrity protection for COUNT-C initialization (SRNS relocation) can be determined by the network and included in the HO command message. In any case, this may be desirable to simplify the security procedure in LTE. Furthermore, the encryption activation time for the radio carrier (RB) using RLC-TM is probably no longer relevant in LTE due to the fact that the encryption for RLC-TM relies on the RLC sequence number not provided for LTE. In addition, UE PDCP sequence number information may not be required to support lossless SRNS relocation. As a result, the invention preferably allows eliminating the potentially redundant or unnecessary HO completion message allowed in LTE by the minimum protocol complexity.

[0054] Referring to Figure 5, there is shown a communication device 500 for use in a wireless communication environment. The device 500 may be a base station 304 or a part thereof, or user equipment 302 or a part thereof (such as a secure digital card (SD) connected to a processor). The device 500 may include a memory 502 that retains various instructions regarding signal processing, scheduling communication, requesting measuring matter and / or the like. For example, if the device 500 is user equipment described below with reference to Figs. 1112 and 15, memory 502 may include instructions for sending a measurement report message to the source node for encapsulation at the source node to a message between nodes (e.g., a message between eNode B ) and upload to the destination node. Memory 502 may also include instructions for receiving an encapsulated transferring command message transmitted from the destination node according to various aspects of the invention. In addition, memory 502 may include instructions for processing assistance information contained in the encapsulated connection transfer command message to facilitate generating an indication of the completion of the connection transfer. To this end, memory 502 may include instructions for attaching additional information to the measurement report message, to facilitate generating an indication of the completion of the connection transfer. The above sample instructions and other relevant instructions may be stored in memory 502, and the processor 504 may be used to execute the instructions (depending on, for example, comparison of the measurement report, results of the transfer transfer decision, receipt of the transfer transfer command and so on) .

[0055] Furthermore, as stated above, the device 500 may be a base station and / or a part thereof as described below with reference to Figs. 9-10 and 14. The base stations typically have a different source or destination node, depending on specific EU circumstances with respect to different node B. At the exemplary source node, the memory 502 may include instructions for receiving a transferring command created by the target base station, and encapsulating the transferring command to a radio resource control message according to various aspects described in this document. Memory 502 may further include instructions for encrypting the encapsulated transfer transfer command using pre-existing security relationships between the mobile device associated with the transfer transfer command and the radio resource control header, according to various objects of the invention. In addition, memory 502 may also contain instructions to facilitate sending the encapsulated transfer command to the mobile device. In the example of the destination node, memory 502 may include instructions for receiving and processing a measurement report message, according to various aspects described in this document. Memory 502 may further include instructions for processing additional information contained in the dfa measurement report message to create a call transfer completion indication, according to further aspects of the invention. In addition, memory 502 may also include instructions for determining, by the destination node, a transfer decision regarding the wireless terminal associated with the measurement report message. Furthermore, the memory 502 may include instructions for processing the transfer transfer command message to the wireless terminal by the destination node, the transfer transfer command message including assistance information to facilitate the creation of the transfer transfer indication. The 504 processor can be used to execute the instructions contained in memory 502. Although several examples are provided, it is understood that the instructions described in the form of methodology (e.g., Figures 6-7) may be contained in memory 502 and may be executed by processor 504.

[0056] With reference to Figs. 6 and 7, certain high level methodologies for transferring connections between eNode B according to various embodiments are shown. Although, for the sake of simplification, the methodologies are presented and described as a series of activities, it is understandable and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by a series of activities because some activities may occur in different sequences and / or simultaneously with other activities from those presented and described in this document. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that the methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interleaved states or events, as in a state diagram. In addition, not all of the steps outlined must be used to implement the methodology according to at least one embodiment.

[0057] Fig. 6 shows non-limiting high level methodologies for transferring connections between eNode B according to various embodiments described in this document. As described above, base stations can usually act as a source node or a destination node, depending on the specific circumstances of the UE in relation to different node B. As a result, methodologies are described in relation to transferring a connection between eNode B in the context of the source node and node destination. For example, one methodology 600 may include receiving at the source node a transfer order command message created by the destination node at 602. At 604, the transfer transfer command message may be encapsulated into a radio resource control message, which may also include integrity check information or RRC header information attached by source node in 606. At 608, the encapsulated connection switch message may be encrypted based on pre-existing security relationships between the UE associated with the connection transfer command message and the source node. Then, the encapsulated transfer transfer message may be sent at 610 to the wireless terminal associated with the transfer transfer command message. Further methodology 652 may include a destination node receiving and processing the 652 measurement report. At 654, the destination node may further process support information contained in the measurement report to facilitate generation of an indication of the completion of the transfer of a connection in a wireless communication system. At 656, the destination node determines the decision to transfer the connection regarding the mobile device associated with the measurement report and sends in 658 the command to transfer the connection to the mobile station. In addition, the destination may include assistance information to facilitate generation at 660 of indications of completion of connection transfer.

[0058] Fig. 7 shows a further exemplary high level methodology for transferring connections between eNode B, according to various embodiments described in this document. With regard to user equipment, one methodology may include sending a measurement report to the source node for encapsulation at the source node to a message between nodes (e.g., a message between eNode B) and sending at 702 to the destination node. In addition, at 704, the UE may attach additional information to the measurement report to facilitate the generation of a call transfer completion indication. At 706, an encapsulated transfer request command transmitted from the destination node in the source node may be received in the UE, which may process the assistance information contained in the encapsulated transfer request message to facilitate generation at 608 of indicating transfer completion.

[0059] Fig. 8 shows an exemplary communication system 800 implemented according to various aspects, comprising a plurality of cells: cell 1802, cell M 804. It should be noted that adjacent cells 802 and 804 slightly overlap as indicated by the border region 868 of the cell, forming thus, the possibility of signal interference between signals transmitted by base stations in neighboring cells. Each of the 802 and 804 cells of the 800 system comprises three sectors. Cells that are not divided into many sectors (N = 1), cells with two sectors (N = 2) and cells with more than three sectors (N> 3) are also possible by different subjects. Cell 802 includes the first sector, sector I 810., the second sector, sector II 812 and the third sector, sector Ili 814. Each of sectors 810, 812 and 814 has two sector border regions; each border region is shared between two adjacent sectors.

[0060] Sector border regions provide the possibility of signal interference between signals transmitted between base stations in neighboring sectors. Line 816 represents the sector boundary between sector 1810 and sector 11812; line 818 represents the sector boundary between sector 11812 and sector 111 814; route 820 represents the sector boundary between sector III 814 and sector 1 810. Similarly, cell M 804 includes the first sector, sector I 822., the second sector, sector li 824 and the third sector, sector III 826. Line 828 represents the sector border region between sector I 822 and sector II 824; line 830 represents the sector boundary between sector II 824 and sector 826; route 832 represents the sector boundary between sector III 826 and sector I 822. Cell I 802 includes base station (BS), base station I 806, and multiple end nodes (EN) (e.g., wireless terminals) in each of sectors 810, 812, 814. Sector I 810 includes EN (1) 836 and EN ( X) 838 connected to BS 806 via wireless links 840, 842, respectively; sector III 814 includes EN (1 ") 852 and EN (X") 854 connected to BS 806 via wireless links 856, 858, respectively. Similarly, the M 804 cell includes the M 808 base station, and multiple end nodes (EN) in each of the 822, 824, 826 sectors. The 822 sector includes EN (1) 836 'and EN (X) 838' connected to BS M 808 respectively via wireless links 840 ', 842'; sector II 824 includes EN (T) 844 'and EN (X') 846 '838' connected to BS M 808 via wireless links 848 ', 850' respectively; sector 3 826 includes ΕΝ (Γ ') 852' and EN (X ") 854 'connected to BS 808 via wireless links 856', 858 'respectively.

[0061] System 800 also includes a network node 860 that is connected to BS I 806 and BS M 808 via network links 862, 864, respectively. The network node 860 is also connected to other network nodes, e.g., other base stations, AAA server nodes , intermediate nodes, routers and the like and to the Internet via a network link 866. Network links 862, 864, 866 can be, for example, fiber optic cables. Each of the end nodes, e.g. EN (1) 836, may be a wireless terminal including a transmitter as well as a receiver. Wireless terminals, for example EN {1) 836, can travel through the 800 system and can communicate via wireless links with the base station in the cell where the EN is currently located. Wireless terminals (WT), e.g. EN (1) 836, can communicate with peer nodes, e.g. other WTs in the 800 system or outside the 800 system via a base station, e.g. BS 806 and / or a 860 network node. WT, on example EN (1) 836 can be mobile communication devices such as cell phones, personal digital assistants with wireless modems and the like. The respective base stations or parts thereof may implement the various source node and destination node methodologies described in this document with respect to transferring the connection between eNode B and generating an indication of completion of the transfer: wireless terminals or parts thereof may use provided mechanisms to facilitate transfer of the connection between eNode B and generating an indication of the completion of the transfer of the connection according to the various measures provided in this document. [0062] Fig. 9 shows a system that can be used in conjunction with connection transfer mechanisms between eNode B according to various embodiments. System 900 includes a base station 902 with a receiver 910 that receives signals from at least one user equipment 904 using at least one receiving antenna 906, and transmits to at least one user equipment 904 through a plurality of transmit antennas 908. In one example, receive antennas 906 and transmit antennas 90 may be implemented using a single set of antennas. Receiver 910 can receive information from receiving antennas 906 and is operably connected to a demodulator 912 that demodulates the received information. The receiver 910 may be, for example, a Rake receiver (for example, a technique that individually processes multi-path signal components using multiple baseband correlators, ...), an MMSE-based receiver, or any other receiver suitable for separating user devices assigned to it , which will be appreciated by an expert. For example, multiple receivers may be used (e.g., one per receiving antenna) and such receivers may communicate with each other to provide better estimates of user data. The demodulated symbols are analyzed by a processor 914 similar to the processor 1106 described below with reference to Fig. 11, which is connected to the memory 916 storing instructions related to user device assignments, associated search tables and so on. The receiver output for each antenna can be jointly processed by the receiver 910 and / or processor 914. The modulator 918 can multiplex the signal to be transmitted by the transmitter 920 via transmit antennas 908 to devices 904.

[0063] Fig. 10 is an exemplary non-limiting block diagram of a base station 1000 according to various aspects of the invention. Base station 1000 or parts thereof implement various aspects of the invention. For example, base station 1000 may perform forwarding and encapsulation as well as issue call transfer commands, according to various aspects of the invention. Base station 1000 can be used as any of base stations 806, 808 of system 800 of Fig. 8. Base station 1000 includes receiver 1002, transmitter 1004, processor 1006, e.g. CPU, I / O interface 1008 and memory 1010, connected together via bus 1009 through which various elements 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008 and 1010 can exchange data and information .

[0064] The sector-divided antenna 1003 connected to the receiver 1002 is used to receive data and other signals, e.g., channel reports, from the transmission of wireless terminals from each sector in a base station cell and may contain one or more receiving antennas. The sector-divided antenna 1005 connected to the transmitter 1004 is used to transmit data and other signals, e.g., control signals, pilot signals, warning signals and the like, to wireless terminals 1200 (see Fig. 12) in each sector of the base station cell. In various aspects, base station 1000 may use multiple receivers 1002 and multiple transmitters 1004, e.g., one receiver 1002 for each sector and one transmitter 1004 for each sector. The processor 1006 may be, for example, a general purpose central processing unit (CPU). Processor 1006 controls the operation of base station 1000 under the direction of at least one procedure 1018 stored in memory 1010 and implements methods. The 1008 I / O interface provides connection to other network nodes by connecting BS 1000 with other base stations, access routers, AAA server nodes and the like, other networks and the Internet. Memory 1010 contains procedures 1018 data / information 1020. [0065] Data / information 1020 includes data 1036, tone subset allocation sequence information 1038 including downlink symbol band time information 1040 and downlink tone information 1042, and wireless terminal (WT) data / information 1044 including multiple sets of WT information: from information 1046 WT 1 to information 1060 WT N. Each WT information set, e.g., WT 1 information 1046 includes data 1048, terminal identifier 1050, sector identifier 1052, uplink channel information 1054, downlink channel information 1056 and mode information 1058.

[0066] Procedures 1018 include communication procedures 1022 and base station control procedures 1024. Base station control procedures 1024 include manager module 1026 and signaling procedures 1028 including procedure 1030 of the allocation of a subset of tones for symbol bar periods, another procedure 1032 of the allocation of downlink tone allocation for other symbol periods, for example periods other than symbol bars, and signal procedure 1034 warning.

[0067] Data 1036 includes data to be transmitted that will be sent to encoder 1014 of transmitter 1004 for coding before being sent to WT, and data received from WT that has been processed by decoder 1012 of receiver 1002 after receiving. The downlink symbol bar time information 1040 includes frame structure synchronization information, such as super-siot, beaconslot, ultra-slot structure information, and information determining whether a given symbol period is a symbol bar period and, if so, a symbol bar period index and whether the symbol bar is the reset point for trimming the subset of tone assignments used by the base station. Downlink tone 1042 information includes information including carrier frequency allocated to base station 1000, number and frequency of tones, and a set of tone subsets for allocation to symbol bar periods and other cell and sector specific values ​​such as slope, slope index and sector type.

[0068] Data 1048 may include data that WT 1 1200 has received data from the equivalent node that WT 1 1200 requests to be sent to the peer and downlink channel quality report feedback. The terminal identifier 1050 is assigned the base station identifier 1000, which identifies WT 1 1200. Sector identifier 1052 includes information identifying the sector in which WT 1 1200 operates. Sector identifier 1052 can be used, for example, to specify the type of sector. Uplink channel information 1054 includes information identifying channel segments that have been allocated by the management module 1026 for use by WT 1 1200, e.g., uplink traffic channel segments for data, dedicated uplink control channels for requests, power control, time control, numbers active streams and so on. Each uplink channel allocated to WT 1 1200 includes at least one logical tone, and each logical tone follows the uplink hopping sequence according to various aspects of the invention. Downlink channel information 1056 includes information identifying channel segments that have been allocated by the management module 1026 for transferring data and / or information to WT 1 1200, e.g., downlink data channel segments for user data. Each downlink channel allocated to WT 1 1200 includes at least one logical tone, each of which follows the downlink hopping sequence. Mode information 1058 includes information identifying the WT 1 1200 operating status, e.g., sleep, suspend.

[0069] Communication routines 1022 control the base station 1000 to perform various communications operations and implement various communications protocols. Base station control routines 1024 are used to control base station 1000 for performing basic base station functional tasks, such as signal generation and reception, planning, and for implementing method steps according to some aspects including sending signals to wireless terminals using tone subset allocation sequences during symbol bar periods.

[0070] Signaling procedure 1028 controls the operation of the receiver 1002 with its decoder 1012 and the transmitter 1004 with its encoder 1014. Signaling procedure 1028 is responsible for controlling the generation of transmitted data 1036 and control information. The subset of tone allocation procedure 1030 builds a subset of tones for use during the symbol bar period, using this method according to aspects and using data / information 1020 including downlink symbol bar time information 1040 and sector identifier 1052. The subset allocation sequence of the downlink tones will be different for each type of sector in the cell and different for neighboring cells. WT 1200 receive signals during symbol strip periods based on the allocation sequence of subsets of downlink tones; base station 1000 uses the same sequence of allocating subsets of downlink tones to generate transmitted signals. Another downlink tone allocation hopping procedure 1032 builds downlink tone hopping sequences using information including downlink tone 1042 information and downlink channel information 1056 for symbol periods other than symbol bar periods. Sequence of skipping tone of the downlink data is synchronized on cell sectors. Warning procedure 1034 controls the transmission of a warning signal, e.g., a signal with a relatively high signal strength focused on one or several tones, which can be used for synchronization purposes, e.g., to synchronize the time structure of the downlink signal frame and thus the tone subset allocation sequence in relation to ultra-slot border.

[0071] Fig. 11 shows a system 1100 that can be used in conjunction with connection transfer mechanisms between eNode B according to various embodiments. System 1100 includes a receiver 1102 that receives a signal from, for example, at least one receiving antenna, and performs typical actions on the received signal (e.g., filters, amplifies, lowers the frequency, ...) and converts the conditioned signal to digital for obtaining samples. Demodulator 1104 can demode and deliver received pilot symboos to the processor 1106 for channel estimation.

[0072] Processor 1106 may be a dedicated processor for analyzing information received by receiver component 1102 and / or generating information for transmission by transmitter 1114. Processor 1106 may be a processor that controls at least one portion of system 1100 and / or a processor that analyzes information received by receiver 1102, generates information to be transmitted by transmitter 1114, and controls at least one part of the system 1100. System 1100 may include an optimization component 1108 that can optimize the performance of user equipment before, during and / or after measurements with respect to at least one technology and / or frequency. Optimization component 1108 may be included in processor 1106. It will be appreciated that optimization component 1108 may include an optimization code that performs an entity-based analysis in conjunction with a request for measurement slots. The optimization code may use artificial intelligence-based methods in combination with performing interference determination and / or probability determination and / or statistic-based determination in combination with coding and decoding schemes.

[0073] System (user equipment) 1100 may further include a memory 1110 that is operatively connected to processor 1106 and which stores information such as measurement slot information, planning information and the like, which information can be used in in connection with the assignment of the measuring slots request and carrying out measurements during the measuring slit. Memory 1110 may additionally store protocols associated with the generation of lookup tables, and the like, so that the 1100 system may use stored protocols and / or algorithms to increase system performance. It will be appreciated that the data storage components (e.g., memories) described herein may be either volatile memory or non-volatile memory, and may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. To illustrate, and not to limit, non-volatile memory may include read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erase ROM (EEPROM), or Flash memory. Volatile memory may include random access memory (RAM), which acts as an external cache. To illustrate and not to limit, RAM is available in many forms, such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double speed SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), extended SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM) and Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). Memory 1110 is connected to the symbol modulator 1112 and the transmitter 1114 transmitting the modulated signal.

[0074] Fig. 12 shows an exemplary wireless terminal (e.g., wireless terminal, mobile device, end node, ...) 1200 implemented in accordance with various embodiments (e.g., EN (1) 836, system 800 shown in Fig. 8). Terminai Wireless 1200 includes a receiver 1202 including a decoder 1212, a transmitter 1204 including an encoder 1214, a processor 1206 and a memory 1208 that are connected to each other via bus 1210 through which various elements 1202, 1204, 1206, 1208 can exchange data and information. Antenna 1203 used to receive signals from the base station is connected to the receiver 1202. Antenna 1205 used to send signals, for example, to the base station is connected to the transmitter 1204. As described above, it should be appreciated that various modifications are possible. The processor 1206, for example, the CPU controls the operation of the wireless terminal 1200 and implements methods by performing procedures 1220 and data / information 1222 in memory 1208.

[0075] Data / information 1222 includes user data 1234, user information 1236 and subset tone allocation information 1250, in the example case of an OFDMA communication system. User data 1234 may include peer-node data that may be routed to encoder 1214 for coding before being transmitted by transmitter 1204 to base station 1000, and data received from base station 1000, which may be processed by decoder 1212 at receiver 1202 . User information 1236 includes uplink channel information 1238, downlink channel information 1240, terminal identifier information 1242, base station identifier information 1244, sector identifier information 1246 and mode information 1248. Uplink channel information 1238 includes information identifying uplink channel segments that have been allocated by base station 1000. Uplink channels may include uplink traffic channels, dedicated uplink control channels, e.g., request channels, power control channels, and time synchronization control channels. In the exemplary case of an OFDMA communication system, each uplink channel includes at least one logical tone, where each logical tone follows the uplink tone hopping sequence. In some embodiments, the uplink hopping sequences differ between each type of cell sector and between adjacent cells.

[0076] Downlink channel information 1240 includes information identifying downlink channel segments that have been allocated by the base station to WT 1200 for use when the base station transmits data / information to WT 1200. Downlink traffic channels may include downlink traffic channels and assignment channels, where each downlink channel includes at least one logical tone, where each logical tone follows the downlink hopping sequence that is synchronized between all cell sectors.

[0077] User information 1236 also includes terminal identifier information 1242, which is the identification assigned by base station 1000, base station identifier information 1244 that identifies a specific base station 1000 with which WT has communicated, sector identifier information 1246 that identifies a specific sector the cell in which WT 1200 is currently located. In the example OFDMA communication system, base station ID 1244 provides a cell edge value, and sector identifier information 1246 provides a sector index type; cell slope value and sector index type can be used to obtain tone hopping sequences. Mode information 1248 also included in user information 1236 identifies whether the WT 1200 is in sleep mode, suspend mode, or on mode.

[0078] In some OFDMA embodiments, the tone subset sequence allocation information 1250 includes downlink symbol bar time information 1252 and downlink tone information 1254. Downlink tone 1254 information includes information including the carrier frequency allocated to base station 1000, the number and frequency of tones and a set of tone subsets to allocate to symbol bar periods, and other cell and sector specific values ​​such as slope, slope index, and sector type.

[0079] Procedures 1220 include communication procedures 1224 and wireless terminal control procedures 1226. Communication procedures 1224 control the various communication protocols used by WT 1200. Wireless terminal control procedures 1226 control the basic functionalities of wireless terminal 1200 including controlling receiver 1202 and transmitter 1204. Wireless terminal control procedures 1226 include signaling procedure 1228. In some OFDMA embodiments, the tone subset allocation procedure 1230 uses user data / information 1222 including downlink channel information 1240, base station identifier information 1244, e.g., slope index and sector type, and downlink tone information 1254 to generate link tone subset allocation sequence. descending according to some embodiments and processing the received data transmitted from base station 1000.

[0080] Fig. 13 is an exemplary non-limiting block diagram of a communication system employing mechanisms for transferring connections between eNode B according to various aspects of the invention in which the transmitter system 1310 (e.g., base station, access point and so on) and the receiver system 1350 (access terminal, user equipment, mobile node and so on) are in wireless communication in the MIMO 1300 system. In the transmitter system 1310, traffic data for multiple data streams is provided from data source 1312 to a transmission data processor (TX) 1314. In an embodiment, each data stream is transmitted via a corresponding transmit antenna. TX data processor 1314 formats, encodes and interleaves traffic data for each data stream based on a specific coding scheme for that data stream to provide coded data. In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the transmitter system 1310 facilitates the transfer of calls between eNode B by sending encapsulated transfer orders to the receiver system 1350.

[0081] Data encoded for each data stream may be multiplexed with pilot data using OFDM techniques. Pilot data is usually a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner that can be used in a receiver system to evaluate a channel response. The multiplexed pilot and coded data for each data stream are then modulated (i.e., mapped to symbols) based on a specific modulation scheme (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, M-PSK and or M-QAM) selected for a given data stream to provide modulation symbols. Data rate, coding and modulation for each data stream can be determined by the instructions executed by the 1330 processor.

[0082] Modulation symbols for all data streams are then provided to the 1320 TX MIMO processor, which can further process modulation symbols (for example for OFDM). The TX MIMO processor 1320 then provides the No. of modulation symbol streams to Wr transmitters (TMTR) 1322a through 1322t. In certain embodiments, the TX MIMO 1320 processor applies the beam forming weights to the data stream symbols and to the antenna from which the symbol is transmitted.

[0083] Each transmitter 1322 receives and processes the corresponding symbol stream to provide at least one analog signal, and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, increases the frequency) analog signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission on the MIMO channel. Λ / τ of modulated signals from transmitters 1322a to 1322t are then transmitted from anten- antennas 1324a to 1324t, respectively.

[0084] In the receiver system 1350, transmitted modulated signals are received by Antenna No. 1352a to 1352r, and the signal received from each antenna 1352 is delivered to the corresponding receiver (RCVR) 1354a to 1354r. Each receiver 1354 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies and lowers the frequency) of a corresponding received signal, converts the conditioned signal to digital to provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide a corresponding "received" symbol stream.

[0085] The RX data processor 1360 then receives and processes the No. of received symbol streams from Receivers No. 1354 based on a specific receiver processing technique for providing N_T"Detected" symbol streams. The RX data processor 1360 then demodulates, deinterleaves and decodes each detected symbol stream for recovering traffic data for the data stream. The processing of RX data by processor 1360 is a supplement to that which is performed by processor 1320 TX MIMO and processor 1314 of TX data in the transmitter system 1310.

[0086] Processor 1370 periodically determines which precoding matrix to use. Processor 1370 formulates a uplink message containing part of the matrix index and part of the ranking value. The reverse link message may contain various types of information regarding the communication link and / or the received data stream. The reverse link message is then processed by data processor 1338, which also receives traffic data for multiple data streams from the data source 1336, modulated by the modulator 1380, conditioned by transmitters 1354a to 1354r and sent back to the transmitter system 1310.

[0087] In the transmitter system 1310, signals modulated from the receiver system 1350 are received by the antennas 1324, conditioned by the receivers 1322, demodulated by the demodulator 1340 and processed by the RX data processor 1342 to extract the reverse link message sent by the receiver system 1350. Processor 1330 determines then which precoding matrix to use for determining the beam-forming weights and then processes the extracted message. According to various aspects of the invention, the transmitter system 1310 may, along with other aspects of the invention, receive, encapsulate and forward measurement reports from receiver systems 1350.

[0088] Referring to Fig. 14, a device 1400 is shown that facilitates the transfer of connections between eNode B according to various non-limiting embodiments of the invention. For example, device 1400 may be at least partially in the base station. You should appreciate that device

1400 is represented as including function blocks, which may be functional biocs representing functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). In addition, since base stations typically perform the task of a source or destination node depending on the specific UE circumstances with respect to different node B, the functionality of the base station may include the functionality required for both source and destination node operations. For example, device 1400 includes logical grouping 1402 of electrical components that can work together. For example, logical grouping 1402 of the source node may include an electrical component 1404 for receiving a transfer transfer command created by the destination node. In addition, logical grouping 1402 may include an electrical component 1406 to encapsulate the transfer command to the radio resource control message as described in more detail above in connection with Fig. 46. Logical grouping 1402 may also include electrical components for encrypting the encapsulated connection transfer command based on pre-existing security dependencies between the wireless terminal associated with the connection transfer command and the source node 1408, to include at least one of: integrity checking information and radio resource control header 1410, and for transmitting the encapsulated transfer transfer command to the wireless terminal associated with the transfer transfer command 1412. As another example, logical grouping 1414 of the destination node may include electrical component 1416 for receiving and processing measurement report information. In addition, logical grouping 1414 may include an electrical component 1418 for processing assistance information contained in the measurement report information to facilitate the completion of the call transfer function. Logical grouping 1414 may also include electrical components for determining the transfer transfer decision related to the wireless terminal associated with the measurement report information 1420, for transferring the transfer transfer command to the wireless terminal 1422, and for including additional information in the transfer transfer command to facilitate the function 1424 complete call transfer. In addition, device 1400 may include memory 1426 that stores instructions for performing functions associated with the electrical components of logical grouping 1402 and 1414. Although depicted as external to memory 1426, it should be understood that at least one electrical component of logical grouping 1402 and 1414 may exist in memory of 1426.

[0089] Referring to Fig. 15, an apparatus 1500 is shown enabling a connection transfer between eNode B, according to various non-limiting embodiments of the invention. The device 1500 may, for example, be located at least partly in the wireless terminal. It should be understood that the device 1500 is represented as comprising functional blocks, which may be functional blocks representing functions implemented by a processor, software or a combination thereof (e.g., firmware) . The device 1500 includes a logical grouping of 1502 electrical components that can work together. For example, logical grouping 1502 may include an electrical component for transmitting measurement report information to the source base station for encapsulation at the base station to a message between nodes (e.g., a message between eNode B) and sending to the target base station 1504. In addition, logical grouping 1502 may include an electrical component for receiving the encapsulation command transmitted from the base station 1506 encapsulated at the source base station, as described in more detail above with reference to Figs. 4, 5 and 7. In addition, logical grouping 1502 may include an electrical component for processing assistance information contained in the encapsulated connection transfer connection command to facilitate generation of indication 1508 of completing connection transfer. In addition, logical grouping 1502 may include an electrical component for attaching additional information to the measurement report information, to facilitate generation of indication 1510 of completing connection transfer. In addition, device 1500 may include memory 1512, which retains instructions for performing functions associated with electrical components 1504, 1506, 1508 and 1510. Although depicted as external to memory 1512, it should be understood that at least one electrical component 1504,1506, 1508 and 1510 may appear in memory 1512.

[0090] Various embodiments of the invention are directed to a device, e.g., a mobile node such as a mobile terminal, base station, or communication system that implements some embodiments. In some embodiments, access nodes are implemented as base stations that set up communication links with mobile nodes using OFDM and / or CDMA. In various embodiments, mobile nodes are implemented as notebooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or other portable devices, including receiver / transmitter circuits and logic and / or procedures, to implement methods of some embodiments.

[0091] Further embodiments are also directed to methods, e.g. a method of controlling and / or operating mobile nodes, base stations and / or communication systems, e.g. host computers, according to some embodiments. In various embodiments, the nodes described in this document are implemented using at least one module for performing steps corresponding to at least one method of certain embodiments, e.g., message generation and / or transmission, message reception and / or processing, message encapsulation, and so on. further. In this way, in certain embodiments, the various properties of certain embodiments are implemented using modules. Such modules can be implemented using software, hardware or a combination of software and hardware, as described below.

[0092] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the disclosed processes is an example of exemplary approaches. Based on design preferences, it is understandable that a particular order or hierarchy of stages in processes can be changed while remaining within the scope of disclosure. The method claims included in this document show the elements of the various stages in the sample order and are not intended to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0093] Still further embodiments are also directed to a machine readable medium, e.g. ROM, RAM, CD, hard disks and the like, which includes machine readable instructions for controlling the machine, e.g. a general purpose computer with or without additional equipment, for implement some or all of the above-described methods, for example, in one or more nodes. Accordingly, among others, some embodiments are directed to machine-executed machine-readable carrier instructions to cause a machine, e.g., a processor and associated hardware, to perform at least one step of the methods described above.

[0094] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using a variety of technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols and chips that may be referred to in the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, fields or optical particles or any of them combinations.

[0095] It will be appreciated that, according to at least one aspect described in this document, one can obtain conclusions regarding the transfer of connections between eNode B. As used in this document, the term "application" or "conclusion"¹ generally refers to the process of requesting or requesting states about a system, environment and / or user, mobile device, desired activities or events, and a base station from a set of observations captured by events and / or data. The conclusions can be used to identify a specific context or activity, or to generate a probability distribution, for example, on states. The conclusions may be probabilistic, i.e. calculating the probability distribution on the states of interest based on consideration of data or events. The conclusions may also relate to techniques used to assemble higher-level events from the set of events and / or data. Such conclusions result in the creation of new events or activities from a set of observed events and / or recorded data, regardless of whether the events are correlated in close proximity in time, and whether the events or data come from one or several event and data sources.

[0096] According to an example, at least one method outlined above may include inference regarding the comparison of measurement reports. According to another example, inference may be made in connection with the decision to transfer a call. It will be appreciated that the above examples are illustrative in nature and are not intended to limit the number of applications that can be achieved, or how the applications are achieved in connection with the various embodiments and / or methods described in this document.

[0097] Skilled artisans will also appreciate that various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described together with the embodiments disclosed in this document may be implemented as electronic equipment, computer software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or any combination thereof . To clearly illustrate this interchangeability, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps have been described generally above for their functionality. Whether such functionality will be implemented in hardware, software or otherwise depends on the given application and design restrictions imposed on the entire system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionalities in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as departing from the scope of the disclosed invention.

[0098] Various illustrative logic blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed in this document may be implemented or implemented using a general purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), specialized integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signal processing device ( DSPD), programmable logic devices (PLD), directly programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, discrete gates or logic transistors, discrete hardware components or other electronic units, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described in this document. In addition, the general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. In addition, the processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of DSP and microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, at least one microprocessor connected to the DSP core, or any other configuration of this type).

[0099] When the systems and / or methods described in this document are implemented as software, firmware, middleware or microcode, program code or code segments, they may be stored on a machine readable medium such as a storage component. The code segment may represent a procedure, function, subroutine, program, subroutine, module, software package, class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program instructions. The code segment may be connected to another code segment or hardware circuit by transmitting and / or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters or memory content. Information, arguments, parameters, data and the like may be transmitted, transmitted or transmitted by any suitable means, including memory sharing, message transmission, token transmission, network transmission and the like.

[0100] The steps of the method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed in this document may be embedded directly in the hardware, in the program module (e.g. procedures, functions and so on) performed by the processor, or in a combination of these two elements that implements functions described here. The software code can be saved in memory units and be executed by processors. The software modules may be in RAM, Flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of data carrier known in the art. The memory unit may be implemented inside the processor or outside the processor, in which case it may be communicatively connected to the processor by various means. For example, an exemplary data carrier may be connected to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the data carrier. Alternatively, the data carrier may be integrated with the processor. The processor and data carrier may be in an ASIC, which in turn may be in a user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may be in the user terminal as discrete components.