This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to an application entitled “Apparatus and Method for Performing Handover For Multi-Hop in a Broadband Wireless Access Communication Network” filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Nov. 10, 2005 and assigned Serial No. 2005-107644, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to handover, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for performing handover for a multi-hop system in a Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the increasing demands for services requiring high data rates, there is a pressing need for communication systems offering higher data rates than 3rd Generation (3G) mobile communication systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). A multi-hop relay scheme is a requisite for designing a higher-rate system and increasing service coverage.
The multi-hop relay scheme increases data rate and expands service coverage by use of a Multi-Hop Base Transceiver Station (MH-BTS) between a BTS or Base Station (BS) and a Mobile Station (MS). The term MH-BTS is herein interchangeable with Relay Station (RS).
Referring to
MS 150 may use the neighbor BTS information acquired from the MOB_NBR-ADV message or neighboring BTS information acquired by autonomous scanning in sending the MOB_MSHO-REQ message. In the latter case, the Identifiers (IDs) of the neighboring BTSs are used.
In step 103, BTS 160 notifies MS 150 whether the candidate BTSs can accept the handover request by a Mobile BS Handover Response (MOB_BSHO-RSP) message.
MS 150 notifies BTS 160 of a target BTS by a Mobile Handover Indication (MOB_HO-IND) message in step 105. The handover is performed using the ID (CID) of a Connection between MS 150 and BTS 160.
Since the above conventional handover procedure involves no MH-BTSs, a novel handover procedure and signaling method need to be defined to facilitate the implementation of MH-BTSs for relaying.
An object of the present invention is to substantially solve at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages below. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for performing handover for a multi-hop system in a BWA communication network.
The above object is achieved by providing a handover apparatus and method for a multi-hop system in a BWA communication network.
According to one aspect of the present invention, in a handover system supporting multi-hop system in a BWA communication network, a BS periodically broadcasts a message including information about neighboring BSs and neighboring RSs. Upon receipt of the message, the BS identifies the sending node of the message by an ID encapsulated in the message and sends a message having the encapsulated ID to the node. The BS also performs a handover operation. An RS receives the broadcast message from the BS. When a new BS or RS needs to be added, the RS includes information about the new BS or RS in the broadcast message and periodically broadcasts it. Upon receipt of the message from the node, the RS sends the message with the ID of the node to the BS. Upon receipt of the message including the ID of the node from the BS, the RS sends the received message to the node. An MS receives the broadcast message from the RS and requests information about BSs or RSs to which the MS can perform a handover by notifying candidate BSs or RSs for the handover. The candidate BSs or RSs may include a BS or RS not included in the broadcast message, if the MS detects the BS or RS by scanning. The MS selects a target BS or RS based on the information about the BSs or RSs to which the node can perform the handover, received from the BS, and performs the handover to the target BS or RS.
According to another aspect of the present invention, in a handover method in a BWA communication network supporting a multi-hop system, the RS receives a handover request message from an MS. The RS determines whether candidate BSs or RSs for an MS handover set in the handover request message are BSs or RSs set by a BS, BSs or RSs set by the RS, or BSs or RSs detected by the MS. If the candidate BSs or RSs are the BSs or RSs set by the RS, the RS reconfigures information about the candidate BSs or RSs, including the reconfigured information and an ID of the MS in the handover request message, and sends the handover request message with the reconfigured information and the ID of the MS to the BS. Upon receipt of a response message with the ID of the MS for the handover request message from the BS, the RS eliminates the ID of the MS and sends the response message without the ID of the MS to the MS. Upon receipt of a handover message from the MS, the RS eliminates the ID of the MS in the handover message and sends the handover message with the ID of the MS to the BS and without the ID of the MS to the MS.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for performing handover in a multi-hop BWA network communication system.
Referring to
Handover can be triggered depending on the location of the MS, for example where the MS moves from one MH-BTS to another within the same cell (indicated by a)), or the MS moves from a BTS to an MH-BTS within the same cell (indicated by b)), or the MS moves from an MH-BTS to a BTS within the same cell (indicated by c)), or the MS moves from an MH-BTS in one cell to a BTS in another cell (indicated by d)), or the MS moves from an MH-BTS in one cell to an MH-BTS in another cell.
When the MS moves to a neighboring cell by handover, it needs information about the MH-BTS through which it will communicate with the neighboring cell, as well as information about the neighboring cell.
Referring to
In step 301, the MH-BTS determines whether to add information about other MH-BTSs or BSs neighboring the MH-BTS to information about the neighboring BSs and/or the neighboring MH-BTSs received from the BS. If it is determined that information about new neighboring BTS is to be added in step 302, the MH-BTS reconfigures the MOB_NBR-ADV message by further including the information of the new neighbor (BTS) in the MOB_NBR-ADV message and sends it to the MS in step 303.
If it is determined that information about new neighbor MH-BTS is to be added in step 302, the MH-BTS reconfigures the MOB_NBR-ADV message by further including the information of the new neighbor (MH-BTS) in the MOB_NBR-ADV message and sends it to the MS in step 304.
On the other hand, if the information of the new neighbor (BTS or MH-BTS) is required in step 301, the MH-BTS simply broadcasts the received MOB_NBR-ADV message to the MS in step 305. Then the MH-BTS ends the process of the present invention.
The MOB_NBR-ADV message sent by the MH-BTS has the following configuration.
Because the information of the new neighbor (MH-BTS) is added in step 304, a 24-bit “Neighbor RSID” field is further included in the MOB_NBR-ADV message to provide that information.
In addition to the “Neighbor RSID”, a 24-bit “Preamble index/subchannel index” field and a “TLV neighbor information” field indicating DCD settings and UCD settings provide the neighbor MH-BTS information. The fifth bit Bit[4] of “Skip-optional-fields bitmap” in Table 1 is allocated in case no neighbor MH-BTSs are included.
This bit is associated with the “Neighbor RSID” field. When the fifth bit of Skip-optional-fields bitmap is set to 1, this implies the absence of the “Neighbor RSID” field (i.e. the absence of any neighboring MH-BTS). This bit is used to ensure backward compatibility. The “Neighbor RSID” field is included if the BTS sets information about its neighbor BSs and MH-BTSs as shown in
Referring to
In the presence of MH-BTSs, the serving BTS sets information about the neighbor BSs and the neighbor MH-BTSs in the MOB_NBR-ADV message as shown in Table 1 and broadcasts it in step 403. Conventionally “Operator id” and “Neighbor BSID” are set in the MOB_NBR-ADV message. According to the present invention, in the presence of neighbor MH-BTSs, a 24-bit “Neighbor RSID” field is added to thereby identify MH-BTSs under each BS. That is, “Operator id”, “Neighbor BSID” and “Neighbor RSID” are set in the MOB_NBR-ADV message.
In the absence of any MH-BTS, the serving BTS sends the neighbor BTS information by the MOB_NBR-ADV message as formatted conventionally in step 405. In this case, Bit[4]=1 in Skip-optional-fields bitmap to indicate the absence of any MH-BTS. Then the serving BTS ends the process of the present invention.
Upon receipt of the MOB_NBR-ADV message, the MS sends a MOB_MSHO-REQ message including information about candidate. BSs and/or MH-BTSs for the MS handover. When the MH-BTS receives the MOB_MSHO-REQ message from the MS, it operates as follows.
Referring to
If the N_new_BS-index field is included in step 503, the MH-BTS reads Neighbor_BS_index in step 505.
In step 509, the MH-BTS determines whether information about neighbor BSs and/or MH-BTSs listed in Neighbor_BS_index was created and included in the MOB_NBR-ADV message by the MH-BTS.
If the MH-BTS created the neighbor BTS/MH-BTS information, referring to its database in step 511 it reconfigures the MOB_MSHO-REQ message to include the MS-requested neighbor BTS/MH-BTS information as shown in Table 2. Specifically, the MH-BTS encapsulates the Connection ID (CID) for the MS and the MH-BTS to indicate the MS's request, including a new N_new_BS_RS_index field and its associated fields in the MOB_MSHO-REQ message, and sends the reconfigured MOB_MSHO-REQ message to the BTS. In this case, the neighbor MH-BTS/BS information created by the MH-BTS is moved from N_new_BS_index to N_new_BS_RS index. If N_new_BS_Full is included in the MOB_MSHO-REQ message, this field just carries information received from the MS to the BTS without any change.
On the other hand, if the MH-BTS did not create the neighbor BS/MH-BTS information included in Neighbor_BS_index, that is, if the MH_BTS just forwarded the neighbor MH-BTS/BS information received from the BTS to the MS in step 509, it sends the MOB_MSHO-REQ message to the BTS in step 513 with the CID for the MS and the MH-BTS encapsulated therein. This message does not include the N_new_BS_RS_index field and its associated fields.
If N_new_BS_index is not included in step 503, this implies that the MS recommends MS-scanned BTSs and/or MH-BTSs as candidates for the MS handover. Therefore, the MH-BTS encapsulates the CID for the MS and the MH-BTS in the MOB_MSHO-REQ message with N_new_BS_Full to indicate the MS's request and sends the MOB_MSHO-REQ message to the BTS in step 507. Then the MH-BTS ends the process of the present invention.
The MOB_MSHO-REQ message configured by the MH-BTS is shown in Table 2 below.
The N_new_BS_index field indicates candidate BSs and/or MH-BTSs for the MS handover included in the neighbor list of the MOB_NBR-ADV message. The N_new_BS_index field includes an 8-bit Configuration change count for MOB_NBR-ADV field indicating the count of the configuration changes of the MOB_NBR-ADV message, an 8-bit Neighbor_BS_index field indicating the index of a candidate BTS or MH-BTS, a Preamble index/subchannel index field indicating a preamble/subchannel index of the physical layer, and a 3-bit Service level prediction field indicating a service level expected from the candidate BTS or MH-BTS. A plurality of each of Neighbor_BS_index, Preamble index/subchannel index, and Service level prediction fields may exist according to the number of the candidate BSs and/or MH-BTSs.
The N_new_BS_RS_index field indicates candidate BSs and/or MH-BTSs that the MS has chosen among from neighbor BSs and/or MH-BTSs which were included in the neighbor list of the MOB_NBR-ADV message and created by the MH-BTS. The N_new_BS_RS_index field is created based on the N_new_BS_index field by the MH-BTS, for transmission to the BS. The N_new_BS_RS_index field includes an 8-bit Configuration change count for MOB_NBR-ADV field indicating the count of configuration changes of the MOB_NBR-ADV message, a 48-bit Neighbor_BS_RS_ID field identifying a candidate BTS or MH-BTS, an 8-bit Preamble index/subchannel index indicating a preamble/subchannel index of the physical layer, and a 3-bit Service level prediction field indicating a service level expected from the candidate BTS or MH-BTS. A plurality of each of Neighbor_BS_RS_index, Preamble index/subchannel index, and Service level prediction fields may exist according to the number of the candidate BTSs and/or MH-BTSs.
The N_new_BS_Full field indicates candidate BTSs and/or MH-BTSs that the MS has chosen from among MS-scanned BSs/MH-BTSs not included in the MOB_NBR-ADV message. The N_new_BS_Full field includes a 48-bit Neighbor_BS_RS_ID field identifying a candidate BTS or MH-BTS, an 8-bit Preamble index/subchannel index indicating a predetermined preamble/subchannel index of the physical layer, and a 3-bit Service level prediction field indicating a service level expected from the candidate BTS or MH-BTS. A plurality of each of Neighbor_BS_RS_ID, Preamble index/subchannel index, and Service level prediction fields may exist according to the number of the candidate BTSs and/or MH-BTSs.
Table 3 shows the information encapsulated in the MOB_MSHO-REQ message, that is, the CID for the MS and the MH-BTS included to indicate the request was issued from the MS.
Referring to
The MON_HO-IND message indicates that the MS will perform a handover to a particular target BTS or MH-BTS, configured as shown in Table 4.
In Table 4, a Target_BS_ID field identifies a BTS or an MH-BTS to which the MS will perform a handover. A CID field indicates the encapsulated CID for the MS and the MH-BTS to notify that the MOB_HO-IND message is a request from the MS. If the received message is not destined for the BTS in step 601, the MH-BTS processes the message in step 605 and ends the algorithm of the present invention.
Referring to
The BTS acquires a CID from the message in step 701 and determines whether to send a response message for the received message to the MS via the MH-BTS in step 702.
If the received message requires a response message, the BTS encapsulates the CID of the MS in the response message and sends the response message to the MH-BTS in step 703.
For example, the response message is the MOB_BSHO-RSP message for the MOB_MSHO-REQ message. The MOB_BSHO-RSP message contains BTSs and/or MH-BTSs to which the MS can perform a handover, chosen from among candidate BTSs and/or MH-BTSs set in the MOB_MSHO-REQ message. The MOB_BSHO-RSP message has the following configuration.
Referring to Table 5, a CID field indicates that the MOB_BSHO-RSP message is a response for the MOB_MSHO-REQ message. The CID between the MS and the MH-BTS is encapsulated within the CID field.
If the received message does not require a response message in step 702, the BTS sends a corresponding message without the encapsulated CID in step 705 and ends the algorithm of the present invention.
Referring to
Upon receipt of the MOB_NBR-ADV message, a first MH-BTS 852 (MH-BTS1) simply forwards the MOB_NBR-ADV message to a first MS 851 (MS1), or reconfigures the MOB_NBR-ADV message by adding new neighbor BTS or MH-BTS information and sends the reconfigured MOB_NBR-ADV message to MS1 in step 803.
In step 805, MS1 requests initiation of a handover by a MOB_MSHO-REQ message. In the presence of candidate BSs or MH-BTSs among neighboring BSs or MH-BTSs set in the MOB_NBR-ADV message, the MOB_MSHO-REQ message contains the number of new recommended BSs and RSs which are included in MOB_NBR-ADV message (N_new_BS_index)
If BSs or MH-BTSs discovered through scanning by MS1 are candidates for the MS handover, the MOB_MSHO-REQ message contains the number of neighboring BSs and RSs to be scanned or associated, which are not included in MOB_NBR-ADV message (N_new_BS_Full).
If information about BSs or MH-BTSs listed in Neighbor_BS_index under N_new_BS_index was created by MH-BTS1, MH-BTS1 adds N_new_BS_RS_index and associated fields to the MOB_MSHO-REQ message based on Neighbor_BS_index, and sends the MOB_MSHO-REQ message to BTS1 in step 807. The MOB_MSHO-REQ message has the CID for MS1 and MH-BTS1 encapsulated therein.
BTS1 replies with a MOB_BSHO-RSP message for the MOB_MSHO-REQ message in step 809. The MOB_BSHO-RSP message includes the encapsulated CID for MS1 and MH-BTS1.
In step 811, MH_BTS1 forwards the MOB_BSHO-RSP message to MS 851.
Upon receipt of the MOB_BSHO-RSP message, MS1 determines a target BTS or a target MH-BTS and sends a MOB_HO-IND message to MH-BTS1 in step 813.
In step 815, MH-BTS1 encapsulates the CID in the MOB_HO-IND message and sends the resulting MOB_HO-IND message to BTS1.
As described above, the present invention provides a new handover procedure and new associated messages for an MS handover involving an MH-BTS in a BWA communication network supporting multi-hop system. Therefore, the handover can be performed without errors despite the involvement of the MH-BTS.
While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as further defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-0107644 | Nov 2005 | KR | national |