Identification of relay nodes in a communication network
AssigneeTelefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)
InventorsGunnar Mildh, Peter Moberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A relay node identified by a unique relay node identifier relays communications between a donor base station and one or more user terminals. The donor base station acquires the relay node identifier during a relay node attach procedure from where the relay node or another node in the core network (e.g., mobile management entity). The donor base station may use the relay node identifier to retrieve configuration information for the relay node. The configuration information may be used to configure the relay node, to perform radio resource management functions, and/or to monitor the performance of the relay node.
Claims12
A method implemented by a mobility management entity for providing a unique relay node identifier to a donor base station, said method comprising:
- receiving an attach request message from a relay node;
- retrieving a unique relay node identifier for the relay node from the relay node;
- and
- transmitting the unique relay node identifier to the donor base station.
A mobility management entity comprising:
- a network interface;
- and
- a control circuit coupled to the network interface and configured to:
- retrieve a unique relay node identifier for a relay node from the relay node;
- and
- transmit the unique relay node identifier to a donor base station serving the relay node.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.