System and method for managing femto base stations and a femto zone in a wireless communication network

A method for managing a femto zone in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

• determining a backhaul link capacity of a first femto base station in consideration of the maximum allowable backhaul link capacity of the femto zone and subscription information of the first femto base station, by the first femto base station that is designated as a master base station;
• and
• if the first femto base station receives a registration request message from a second femto base station that is designated as a candidate base station, determining the backhaul link capacity of the second femto base station in consideration of the maximum allowable backhaul link capacity of the femto zone and subscription information of the second femto base station, and transmitting the backhaul link capacity of the second femto base station to the second femto base station, by the first femto base station,
• wherein the master base station and the candidate base station are determined by a femto zone management system that manages femto base stations in each femto zone, and the femto base stations in each femto zone share a backhaul link.

A femto base station in a wireless communication network, the femto base station comprising:

• a network interfacing part for communicating with a femto zone management system and at least one femto base station in a femto zone that share a backhaul link;
• a transmission/reception part for communicating with a mobile station;
• a wireless processor for controlling the transmission/reception part;
• a network processor for controlling the network interfacing part;
• a setting part for setting as a master base station or a candidate base station in accordance with a message that the network interfacing part receives;
• a storing part for storing list information and subscription information for the femto base stations in the femto zone and base station information indicating that each femto base station is set as the master base station or the candidate base station, if being set as the master base station;
• and
• a determining part for determining backhaul link capacities of the femto base stations registered in the femto zone.

A femto zone management system in a wireless communication network, the femto zone management system comprising:

• a network interfacing part for communicating with femto base stations in at least one femto zone that share a backhaul link;
• a determining part for determining each femto base station requesting a registration as a master base station or a candidate base station;
• and
• a storing part for storing list information and subscription information for the femto base stations in the femto zone and storing base station information indicating that each femto base station is set as the master base station or the candidate base station,
• wherein the network interfacing part transmits a registration acknowledgement message to the femto base station requesting the registration, and wherein the registration acknowledgement message includes the maximum allowable backhaul link capacity of the femto zone, base station information, list information and subscription information of the femto base stations if the femto base station requesting the registration is determined as the master base station, and includes the base station information if the femto base station requesting the registration is determined as the candidate base station.