Wireless femtocell setup methods and apparatus
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsMaik Bienas, Hyung Nam Choi, Andreas Schmidt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus that enable a wireless femtocell to operate in its designated frequency so as to minimize interference between the wireless femtocell and neighboring base stations (and other femtocells or nomadic cells). In one exemplary embodiment, the femtocell cell comprises a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) femtocell which has the ability to scan the air interface in a manner similar to that associated with a UE in order to identify unallocated resources within the wireless network, and subsequently request access for the unallocated resources. Business methods useful in combination with the aforementioned methods and apparatus are also disclosed.
Claims20
A method of operating a cell of a cellular network, the cellular network comprising one or more base stations, the method comprising:
- scanning a first frequency range of the cellular network by a base station;
- determining a strongest base station transmission within the cellular network by the base station;
- decoding a signal from the strongest base station transmission by the base station, the signal indicative of a geographic location;
- scanning a second frequency range of the cellular network by the base station, the second frequency range correlated with the geographic location;
- and
- determining a signal power of at least one base station transmitting within the second frequency range of the cellular network by the base station.
A method of operating a first base station within a cellular network, the cellular network comprising a plurality of base stations, the method comprising:
- determining, by the first base station, one or more occupied frequency ranges within the cellular network;
- scanning, by the first base station, a first of the one or more occupied frequency ranges within the cellular network;
- based at least in part on the scanning, determining, by the first base station, a strongest base station transmission;
- decoding, by the first base station, a signal from the strongest base station transmission, the signal indicative of a geographic location;
- reading data by the first base station, the data correlating a default frequency range with the geographic location;
- and
- determining, by the first base station, a signal power from each of the one or more base stations operating within the default frequency range.
A non-transitory computer readable apparatus comprising a storage medium having at least one computer program, the at least one program comprising a plurality of instructions configured to administer a first wireless femtocell, the instructions further configured to, when executed by a computerized apparatus, cause the computerized apparatus to:
- scan a first frequency range of a cellular network;
- determine a strongest base station transmission within the cellular network;
- decode a signal of a strongest base station emitting the strongest base station transmission, the signal indicative of a geographic region;
- use the geographic region to reference a default frequency range for future scans within the geographic location;
- and
- determine a signal power from each of one or more base stations operating within the default frequency range.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.