Method of, and transceiver station and mobile terminal for, distributing system information in a cellular telecommunications network

A transceiver station for communicating with one or more mobile terminals in an access network of a cellular communications network, the transceiver station comprising:

• network equipment configured for providing a signaling cell serving a first coverage area, wherein the signaling cell is operative to exchange a signaling message with the one or more mobile terminals;
• wherein said network equipment is further configured for distributing system information for one or more further transceivers providing one or more data cells associated with said signaling cell, wherein each of the one or more data cells is operable for serving a respective partial coverage area covering at least a part of the first coverage area, and wherein the one or more data cells enable data communication with the one or more mobile terminals, wherein each of the one or more data cells is switched by an associated further transceiver of the one or more further transceivers in either an active communication mode or an inactive communication mode, wherein operating in the active communication mode is applied by said associated further transceiver when there is at least one mobile terminal of the one or more mobile terminals being present in said partial coverage area of a respective data cell of the one or more data cells and said at least one mobile terminal is operating in an active terminal mode and is not served by other data cells of the one or more data cells than the data cell associated with the respective further transceiver, or when a connection setup request has been received for the respective data cell associated with the respective further transceiver, and wherein otherwise operating in the inactive communication mode is applied by said associated further transceiver;
• wherein the network equipment is configured for enabling the transceiver station to:
• determine at least one of a number or identity of the data cells that are operated in the active communication mode or that will be switched into the active communication mode;
• and
• transmit a common indicator channel and one or more system information blocks, wherein the common indicator channel includes one or more pointers to said one or more system information blocks, wherein a size of the common indicator channel is based on the determined number or identity of the data cells that are operated in or will be switched into the active communication mode, and wherein each one of said system information blocks includes system information for at least one of the one or more data cells that operates in the active communication mode.

A computer program product for distributing system information to one or more mobile terminals in a cellular telecommunications network, the cellular telecommunications network comprising at least one first transceiver providing at least one signaling cell serving a first coverage area, wherein the signaling cell is operative to exchange a signaling message with the one or more mobile terminals, and the cellular telecommunications network further comprising one or more second transceivers each providing a data cell such as to provide one or more data cells associated with the at least one signaling cell, each one of the one or more data cells serving a respective partial coverage area covering at least a part of the first coverage area, and wherein the one or more data cells enable data communication with the one or more mobile terminals,

• wherein each of the one or more data cells is switched, by the second transceiver associated with the respective data cell, in either an active communication mode or an inactive communication mode, wherein operating in the active communication mode is applied by the second transceiver when there is at least one mobile terminal of the one or more mobile terminals being present in said partial coverage area of a respective data cell of the one or more data cells and said at least one mobile terminal is operating in an active terminal mode and is not served by other data cells of the one or more data cells than the data cell associated with the respective second transceiver, or when a connection setup request has been received for the respective data cell associated with the respective further transceiver, and wherein otherwise the data cell is operated by the second transceiver in the inactive communication mode;
• the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when loaded in a computer associated with the first transceiver, enable the first transceiver to perform a method comprising:
• determining at least one of a number or identity of the data cells that are operated in or will be switched into the active communication mode;
• and
• transmitting, within the at least one signaling cell, a common indicator channel and one or more system information blocks, the common indicator channel including one or more pointers to said one or more system information blocks, wherein a size of the common indicator channel is based on the determined number or identity of the data cells that are operated in or will be switched into the active communication mode, and wherein each one of said system information blocks including system information for at least one of the one or more data cells that is operated in the active communication mode.