Out-of band radio for supporting compressed mode in a femto deployment

User equipment comprising:

• an in-band communications subsystem configured to communicatively couple with a femtocell over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel and to communicate with at least one macrocell over the WWAN link on a second WWAN channel;
• an out-of-band (OOB) communications subsystem configured to communicatively couple with an OOB femto-proxy over an OOB link;
• and
• a communications management subsystem, communicatively coupled with the in-band communications subsystem and the OOB communications subsystem, and configured to:
• detect a measurement trigger condition while communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel according to a first communications mode at a data rate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of a quality target;
• and
• direct the in-band communications subsystem and the OOB communications subsystem to communicate according to a second communications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger, communicating according to the second communications mode comprising:
• interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such that communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel occur during the data frames and measurements are performed on at least the second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;
• compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality;
• and
• communicating supplemental data with the OOB femto-proxy over the OOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplemental data at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality.

A processor comprising:

• an in-band communications controller configured to communicatively couple with a femtocell over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel and to communicate with at least one macrocell over the WWAN link on a second WWAN channel;
• an out-of-band (OOB) communications controller configured to communicatively couple with an OOB femto-proxy over an OOB link;
• and
• a communications management controller, communicatively coupled with the in-band communications subsystem and the OOB communications subsystem, and configured to:
• detect a measurement trigger condition while communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel according to a first communications mode at a data rate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of a quality target;
• and
• direct the in-band communications controller and the OOB communications controller to communicate according to a second communications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger, communicating according to the second communications mode comprising:
• interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such that communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel occur during the data frames and measurements are performed on at least the second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;
• compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality;
• and
• communicating supplemental data with the OOB femto-proxy over the OOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplemental data at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality.

A computer program product residing on a non-transitory processor-readable medium and comprising processor-readable instructions, which, when executed, cause a processor to perform steps comprising:

• detecting a measurement trigger condition with user equipment while the user equipment is communicating with a femtocell over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel according to a first communications mode at a data rate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of a quality target;
• and
• switching the user equipment to communicate according to a second communications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger, communicating according to the second communications mode comprising:
• interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such that the user equipment communicates with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel during the data frames and performs measurements on at least a second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;
• compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality;
• and
• communicating supplemental data between the user equipment and an out-of-band (OOB) femto-proxy over an OOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplemental data at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality.

A system comprising:

• means for communicating with a femtocell over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel according to a first communications mode at a data rate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of a quality target;
• means for detecting a measurement trigger condition while the means for communicating is communicating according to the first communications mode;
• and
• means for directing the means for communicating to communicate according to a second communications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger, the means for communicating configured to communicate according to the second communications mode by:
• interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such that the user equipment communicates with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel during the data frames and performs measurements on at least a second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;
• compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality;
• and
• communicating supplemental data with an out-of-band (OOB) femto-proxy over an OOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplemental data at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality.

A femto-proxy system comprising:

• a femtocell, configured to provide macro network access to a plurality of user equipment authorized to attach to the femtocell according to an access control list over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel;
• an out-of-band (OOB) communications subsystem, integrated with the femtocell and configured to communicatively couple with the plurality of user equipment over an OOB link;
• and
• a communications management subsystem, communicatively coupled with the femtocell and the OOB communications subsystem, and configured to:
• detect a measurement trigger condition for one of the user equipment that is in communication with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel according to a first communications mode at a data rate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of a quality target;
• and
• direct the one of the user equipment to communicate according to a second communications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger, communicating according to the second communications mode comprising:
• interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such that communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel occur during the data frames and measurements are performed on at least the second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;
• compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality;
• and
• communicating supplemental data with the OOB communications subsystem over the OOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplemental data at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality.

A processor comprising:

• a femtocell controller, configured to direct a femtocell to provide macro network access to a plurality of user equipment authorized to attach to the femtocell according to an access control list over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel;
• an out-of-band (OOB) communications controller, configured to direct an OOB radio integrated with the femtocell to communicatively couple with the plurality of user equipment over an OOB link;
• and
• a communications management controller, communicatively coupled with the femtocell controller and the OOB communications controller, and configured to:
• detect a measurement trigger condition for one of the user equipment that is in communication with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel according to a first communications mode at a data rate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of a quality target;
• and
• direct the one of the user equipment to communicate according to a second communications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger, communicating according to the second communications mode comprising:
• interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such that communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel occur during the data frames and measurements are performed on at least the second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;
• compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality;
• and
• communicating supplemental data with the OOB radio over the OOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplemental data at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality.

A computer program product residing on a non-transitory processor-readable medium and comprising processor-readable instructions, which, when executed, cause a processor to perform steps comprising:

• detecting a measurement trigger condition corresponding to a user equipment while the user equipment is communicating with a femtocell over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel according to a first communications mode at a data rate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of a quality target;
• and
• directing the user equipment to communicate according to a second communications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger, communicating according to the second communications mode comprising:
• interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such that the user equipment communicates with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel during the data frames and performs measurements on at least a second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;
• compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality;
• and
• communicating supplemental data between the user equipment and an out-of-band (OOB) femto-proxy over an OOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplemental data at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality.

A system comprising:

• means for detecting a measurement trigger condition corresponding to a user equipment while the user equipment is communicating with a femtocell over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel according to a first communications mode at a data rate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of a quality target;
• and
• means for directing the user equipment to communicate according to a second communications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger, communicating according to the second communications mode comprising:
• interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such that the user equipment communicates with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel during the data frames and performs measurements on at least a second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;
• compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality;
• and
• communicating supplemental data between the user equipment and an out-of-band (OOB) femto-proxy over an OOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplemental data at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality.