US 8,913,590 B2Granted

Management of a hybrid communication network comprising a cellular network and a local network

AssigneeTelecom Italia S.p.A.

InventorsRoberto Fantini, Paolo Gallo, Alfredo Ruscitto

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a method of managing a hybrid network including a cellular network and a local network wherein a number of dual mode mobile terminals are connectable to a base station of the cellular network through a direct cellular link and are also connectable, one with respect to the other, through the local network by a radio access technique. The method includes the steps of computing a cost associated with a direct connection established along a path (A) extending from a selected mobile terminal to the base station through the cellular link only, computing a cost (Ccg) associated with at least one indirect connection established along a path (B) extending from the selected mobile terminal to the base station through the local network and the cellular network, and selecting for data transmission the path that minimizes the cost.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of managing a hybrid network including a cellular network and a local network, wherein a number of dual mode mobile terminals are connectable to a base station of the cellular network through direct cellular links and are also connectable to one another by a radio access technique to form the local network, the method comprising:

computing a first cost associated with a direct connection established along a first path extending from a selected mobile terminal to the base station through a cellular link of the cellular network only;
computing a second cost associated with at least one indirect connection established along a second path extending from the selected mobile terminal to the base station through at least one of the other dual mode mobile terminals and the cellular network, wherein computing the second cost comprises:
computing a quality of a second cellular link of the cellular network between the base station and the at least one of the other dual mode mobile terminals;
computing an amount of power that is available in the base station in a current load condition of a cell in the cellular network;
and
computing at least one of:
a quality of all links involved in the local network along the second path;
and
a number of hops in the local network along the second path,
wherein the second cost is computed based on a cost function where at least one settable weight is attributed to at least one of the quality of all links involved in the local network along the second path, the amount of power that is available in the base station in the current load condition of the cell in the cellular network, and the number of hops in the local network along the second path, and wherein computing the second cost comprises adjusting the at least one settable weight based on the current load condition of the cell in the cellular network;
and
selecting for data transmission one of the first and second paths based on the first and second computed costs.

9 more elements

A hybrid network comprising:

a cellular network;
a local network comprising a number of dual mode mobile terminals connectable to one another by a radio access technique, each one of the dual mode mobile terminals also being connectable to a base station of the cellular network through a respective direct cellular link;
and
a hybrid network manager configured for:
computing a first cost associated with a direct connection established along a first path extending from a selected mobile terminal to the base station through a cellular link of the cellular network only;
computing a second cost associated with at least one indirect connection established along a second path extending from the selected mobile terminal to the base station through at least one of the other dual mode mobile terminals and the cellular network, wherein computing the second cost comprises:
computing a quality of a second cellular link of the cellular network between the base station and the at least one of the other dual mode mobile terminals;
computing an amount of power that is available in the base station in a current load condition of a cell in the cellular network;
and
computing at least one of:
a quality of all links involved in the local network along the second path;
and
a number of hops in the local network along the second path,
wherein the second cost is computed based on a cost function where at least one settable weight is attributed to at least one of the quality of all links involved in the local network along the second path, the amount of power that is available in the base station in the current load condition of the cell in the cellular network, and the number of hops in the local network along the second path, and wherein computing the second cost comprises adjusting the at least one settable weight based on the current load condition of the cell in the cellular network;
and
selecting for data transmission one of the first and second paths based on the first and second computed costs.

13 more elements

A method comprising:

configuring a network manager to manage connections between a plurality of dual mode mobile terminals and a base station in a hybrid network having a cellular network and a local network;
determining a first cost to directly connect a mobile terminal of the plurality of mobile terminals to the base station using the cellular network and without using the other mobile terminals of the plurality of mobile terminals;
determining a second cost to indirectly connect the mobile terminal to the base station using at least one of the other mobile terminals and the cellular network, wherein determining the second cost comprises:
determining a quality of a cellular link of the cellular network between the base station and the at least one of the other dual mode mobile terminals;
determining an amount of power that is available in the base station in a current load condition of a cell in the cellular network;
and
determining at least one of:
a quality of the connection between the mobile terminal and the at least one of the other mobile terminals;
and
a number of hops between the mobile terminal and the base station for the indirect connection,
wherein the second cost is computed based on a cost function where at least one settable weight is attributed to at least one of the quality of the connection between the mobile terminal and the at least one of the other mobile terminals, the amount of power that is available in the base station in the current load condition of the cell in the cellular network, and the number of hops between the mobile terminal and the base station for the indirect connection, and wherein computing the second cost comprises adjusting the at least one settable weight based on the current load condition of the cell in the cellular network;
and
based on the first cost and the second cost, selecting one of the direct connection and the indirect connection for data transmissions between the mobile terminal and the base station.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/811,028Filed 28 Dec 2007
Published: US 2010/0284388 A111 Nov 2010
Granted: 16 Dec 2014
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

H04W 48/18
Access restriction ; Network selection; Access point selection: selecting a network or a communication service
H04W 40/08
Based on wireless node resources: based on transmission power
H04W 40/12
Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing: based on transmission quality or channel quality
H04L 5/006
Allocation criteria: quality of the received signal, e.g. BER, SNR, water filling