US 9,426,712 B2 · Advanced handover for adaptive antennas

Abstract

Handover is a main function that is used to support mobility in the network. In a cellular communication network having adaptive antennas for enabling narrow beam operation, it is assumed that a mobile unit is served by an active cell set (S1). A basic idea according to the present invention is to select, prior to establishment of a new serving radio link for a mobile unit, a narrow target beam within a neighbor area of the current active cell set of the mobile unit based on pre-established information of narrow beams within the neighbor area (S2), and to initiate establishment of the new serving radio link directly with the selected narrow target beam (S3). In this way, the narrow target beam can be selected at handover initiation and the new radio link can be established directly with a target narrow beam without first establishing the radio link with a cell-wide beam and then, after uplink measurements, reconfiguring the radio link onto a narrow beam.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A method for supporting inter-cell handover in a cellular radio communication system having a plurality of cells with adaptive antennas for enabling narrow beam operation, wherein a mobile unit is served by an active cell set of at least one cell from said plurality of cells in said cellular communication system, wherein said method comprises the steps of:

prior to establishment of a new serving radio link in a neighbor cell of the current active cell set to facilitate said handover from the current active cell set, selecting a narrow target beam within the neighbor cell, wherein the narrow target beam is selected from a database containing pre-established information of all narrow beams within said neighbor cell;
initiating establishment of said new serving radio link directly with said selected narrow target beam without reconfiguration through a cell-wide beam in the neighbor cell;
and
wherein said step of selecting a narrow target beam prior to establishment of a new serving radio link for said mobile unit is performed directly at handover initiation based on said pre-established information.

1 more element

An arrangement for supporting inter-cell handover in a cellular radio communication system, said cellular communication system having a plurality of cells with adaptive antennas for enabling narrow beam operation, wherein a mobile unit is served by an active cell set of at least one cell from said plurality of cells in said cellular communication system, wherein said arrangement comprises:

means for selecting, prior to establishment of a new serving radio link in a neighbor cell of the current active cell set to facilitate said handover from the current active cell set, a narrow target beam within the neighbor cell, wherein the narrow target beam is selected from a database containing pre-established information of narrow beams within said neighbor cell;
means for initiating establishment of said new serving radio link directly with said selected narrow target beam without reconfiguration through a cell-wide beam in the neighbor cell;
and
wherein said selecting means is operable for selecting a narrow target beam directly at handover initiation based on said pre-established information.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Advanced handover for adaptive antennas

Life of this patent

Advanced handover for adaptive antennas

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims29