Wireless access network node having an off state

#As the demand for wireless data communication using wireless user equipments (UEs) has increased, wireless access service providers are increasingly facing challenges in meeting capacity demands in regions where the density of users is relatively high. To address capacity issues, deployment of small cells has been proposed. A small cell (or multiple small cells) can operate within a coverage area of a larger cell, referred to as a macro cell. A small cell has a coverage area that is smaller than the coverage area of the macro cell.

#If small cells are deployed, then communications with UEs can be offloaded from the macro cell to the small cells. In this way, data communication capacity is increased to better meet data communication demands in regions of relatively high densities of UEs.

#In general, according to some implementations, a wireless access network node receives a information relating to a configuration of a discovery signal for transmission by the wireless access network when in an off state. The wireless access network node in the off state transmits the discovery signal according to the configuration for detection by a user equipment (UE).

#Some embodiments are described with respect to the following figures.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example network arrangement that includes macro cells and small cells, in accordance with some implementations.

#FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a process for transmitting a discovery signal by a sleeping small cell wireless access network node, according to some implementations.

#Small cells are provided by small cell wireless access network nodes. A wireless access network node is responsible for performing wireless transmissions and receptions with user equipments (UEs) within a coverage area of the cell provided by the wireless access network node. A coverage area can refer to a region where mobile services can be provided by a network node to a target level. Examples of UEs can include any of the following: smart phones, personal digital assistants, notebook computers, tablet computers, or any other devices that are capable of wireless communications.

#A wireless access network node for a small cell can be considered as a lower power wireless access network node. A lower power wireless access network node transmits signals at a power that is generally lower than a power of a macro wireless access network node. A macro cell provided by a macro wireless access network node has a coverage area that is generally larger than the coverage area of a small cell provided by a small cell wireless access network node.

#Examples of small cell wireless access network nodes include pico wireless access network nodes, femto wireless access network nodes, relay nodes, and so forth. A pico cell provided by a pico wireless access network node refers to a cell that has a relatively small coverage area, such as within a building, a train station, an airport, an aircraft, or other small area. A femto cell provided by a femto wireless access network node is a cell that is designed for use in a home or small business. A femto cell is associated with a closed subscriber group (CSG), which specifies that only users within a specified group are allowed to access the femto cell. A relay node is used for relaying data from one wireless entity to another wireless entity. There can be other examples of small cell wireless access network nodes.