Method and apparatus for providing a pilot beacon on behalf of one or more base stations

A method of providing a pilot-beacon on behalf of a cellular base station, comprising:

• determining a location of a coverage area of the base station, wherein determining a location of a coverage area of the base station comprises determining an actual location of a coverage area of the base station, wherein determining an actual location of a coverage area of the base station comprises determining a location of the base station, determining a transmission power level of the base station, determining a base station radiation range based on the determined transmission power level, and determining that the location of the coverage area of the base station extends the determined range from the determined location of the base station;
• based at least in part on the determined location of the coverage area, dynamically configuring a pilot-beacon radiation pattern to encompass the determined location of the coverage area of the base station;
• and
• emitting a pilot beacon with the configured pilot-beacon radiation pattern,
• whereby the pilot-beacon with the pilot-beacon radiation pattern facilitates handoff of a mobile station to the base station.

A method of providing a pilot-beacon on behalf of a cellular base station, comprising:

• determining a location of a coverage area of the base station, wherein determining a location of a coverage area of the base station comprises determining a distance out to the base station, determining a transmission power level of the base station, determining a base station radiation range based on the determined transmission power level, and determining that the location of the coverage area of the base station extends a total of the distance plus the determined radiation range;
• based at least in part on the determined location, dynamically configuring a pilot-beacon radiation pattern to encompass the determined location of the coverage area of the base station;
• and
• emitting a pilot beacon with the configured pilot-beacon radiation pattern, whereby the pilot-beacon with the pilot-beacon radiation pattern facilitates handoff of a mobile station to the base station.

A method of providing a pilot-beacon on behalf of a cellular base station, comprising:

• determining a location of a coverage area of the base station;
• based at least in part on the determined location, dynamically configuring a pilot-beacon radiation pattern to encompass the determined location of the coverage area of the base station, wherein dynamically configuring a pilot-beacon radiation pattern to encompass the determined location of the coverage area of the base station comprises programmatically adjusting pilot beacon transmission power level to cause pilot beacon transmission range to extend far enough to reach a farthest edge of the determined location of the coverage area of the base station;
• and
• emitting a pilot beacon with the configured pilot-beacon radiation pattern,
• whereby the pilot-beacon with the pilot-beacon radiation pattern facilitates handoff of a mobile station to the base station.

A pilot-beacon transmitter for providing a pilot-beacon on behalf of a plurality of base stations, wherein the base stations are femtocells, the pilot-beacon transmitter comprising:

• a dynamically configurable antenna structure for emitting the pilot-beacon, wherein the antenna structure provides omni-directional pilot-beacon radiation;
• a processor;
• data storage;
• and
• machine language instructions stored in the data storage and executable by the processor to determine locations of coverage areas of the base stations, and, based at least in part on the determined locations, to dynamically configure the antenna structure so as to provide a pilot-beacon radiation pattern that encompasses the locations of the coverage areas of the base stations, wherein the machine language instructions are executable by the processor to configure a pilot-beacon transmission power level so as to cause the pilot-beacon to reach to a farthest edge of the determined locations of the coverage areas of the base stations,
• wherein the antenna structure then emits the pilot-beacon with the configured pilot-beacon radiation pattern,
• whereby the pilot-beacon with the pilot-beacon radiation pattern facilitates handoff of a mobile station to any of the base stations.