Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the field of telecommunications.

Background of the Invention

The following description of background art may include insights, discoveries, understandings or disclosures, or associations together with disclosures not known to the relevant art prior to the present invention but provided by the invention. Some such contributions of the invention may be specifically pointed out below, whereas other such contributions of the invention will be apparent from their context.

The evolvement of wireless cellular communications technologies and different services increase user needs to obtain over a wireless connection same broadband services that are obtained via a fixed connection. To fulfill both mobility requirements and increasing speed requirements, a solution called long term evolution (LTE), has been specified in 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project). LTE is a packet-only wideband radio access with flat architecture that provides higher data speeds and reduced packet latency and supports various services, such as high-speed data, multimedia unicast and multimedia broadcast services. One step in the evolution path towards fourth generation (4 G) cellular systems is a further development of LTE, called LTE- Advanced (LTE-A).

Relay nodes (RN) have been introduced to LTE-A to enhance coverage of high data rates, group mobility, temporary network deployment, a cell- edge throughput and/or to provide coverage in new areas. A relay node is an intermediate node between a donor base station (such as an enhanced node B, or advanced enhanced node B, i.e. DeNB) and user equipment. Thus, there may be user equipments connected to the base station directly, and user equipments connected to the base station via the relay node. User equipments directly connected to the base station, so called macro user equipments, and the relay nodes are similar to the base station in many ways. In a mobile communication system employing the LTE (Long Term Evolution)-Advanced scheme which is the next generation of the LTE scheme, a "relay node RN" having the same function as that of a radio base station DeNB (Donor eNB) may be connected between a mobile station UE and the radio base station DeNB.

In relaying, a user equipment or terminal (UE) is not directly connected with an access node such as a radio base station (e.g. denoted as eNodeB or eNB) of a radio access network (RAN), but via a relay node (RN). Relaying by way of RNs has been proposed as a concept for coverage extension in cellular systems. Apart from this main goal of coverage extension, introducing relay concepts can also help in providing high-bit-rate coverage in high shadowing environments, reducing the average radio-transmission power at the a user equipment (thereby leading to long battery life), enhancing cell capacity and effective throughput, (e.g. increasing cell- edge capacity and balancing cell load), and enhancing overall performance and deployment cost of radio access networks.

At present, service data transmission from the UE to the eNodeB may use a user-specific based data transmission mode, or may also use a tunnel-based data transmission mode.

Using the user-specific based data transmission mode to implement the service data transmission from the UE to the eNodeB means establishing a dedicated data bearer for a service of a specific UE in the relay link and the access link respectively so as to complete multi-hop transmission of user service data of the UE. In addition, as a dedicated bearer is established for the UE at each hop in UE-specific based data transmission, the relay node needs to schedule these bearers of the UE at each hop to implement data transmission of these bearers.

Today, devices such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and the like and the use thereof have become increasingly popular as communication mediums in a home, office, and/or school environment. Typically, such devices use wireless communication systems to access data and content. For example, current wireless communication systems include evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs or eNBs) connected to the core network of the wireless communication system. The eNBs communicate directly with the devices to provide access to the core network and, thus, communication functionality including data and content access between the core network and devices. Unfortunately, the cost of such eNBs tends to be expensive and as the demand for wireless communication systems continues to increase and expand, the number of eNBs also increases thereby further driving up cost. In current mobile relay architectures, all UE is visible/distinguished at core network (EPC) and services are provisioned per UE. Even though a mobile relay node serves the UE, each UE has to make separate request via Relay Node to core network for connection establishment, service provisioning, handover, release etc. For per UE transaction lot of bandwidth is wasted.

Although wireless communication technology has been developed to LTE technology on the basis of WCDMA technology, the number of requests and expectations of users and enterprises is rapidly increasing. In addition, other wireless access technologies are being developed, such that there is needed a new or improved wireless access technology in order to remain competitive in the long run. For example, reduction in cost per bit, increase of service availability, adaptive frequency band utilization, a simple structure, an open-type interface, and appropriate power consumption of user equipment (UE) are needed for the new or improved wireless access technology.

Summary of the Invention

The Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to any limitations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention is a method, implemented in a node of a Radio Access Network (RAN) which can connect to an LTE base station as a User Equipment (UE) and can serve multiple wireless User Equipments (UEs) in a network, the method comprising: receiving from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) request message to the network at the RAN node and multiplexing all UEs request message and control signaling at the RAN node and provisioning the same to the network as a single User Equipment, wherein the plurality of UEs connected to the RAN node are not visible at core network and the LTE base station to which RAN node is connected, thereby reducing the usage of bandwidth of per UE transaction with the core network.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention is a relay node for supporting communication in a wireless communication system, the system comprising: a plurality of User Equipments (UEs) in communication with the Relay Node, wherein the relay node including a processor communicatively coupled to at least one memory, wherein the processor is configured for receiving from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) request message to the network at the relay node and multiplexing all UEs request message and control signaling at the relay node and provisioning the same to the network as a single User Equipment, wherein the plurality of UEs connected to the relay node are not visible at core network and the LTE base station to which relay node is connected, thereby reducing the usage of bandwidth of per UE transaction with the core network.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention relates to a relay node that integrates the functions of a enode B, wherein the relay node establishes a wireless resource controlling connection with the wireless network controller, wherein, the control plane of the transmission network layer and the data plane of the transmission network layer is replaced by the wireless bearing on NAS/RRC/PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY and NAT/IP/PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

Brief description of the drawings

A more detailed understanding may be had from the Detailed Description below, given by way of example in conjunction with drawings appended hereto.

Figure 1A is a system diagram of an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented.

Figure 1B is a system diagram of an example wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in Fig. 1 A.

Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an example communications system including a relay.

Figure 3 shows a system including a node of a Radio Access Network (RAN) which can connect to an LTE base station as a User Equipment (UE) and can serve multiple wireless User Equipments (UEs) in a network, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a protocol stack of the mobile communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

Detail description of the Invention

Although the detailed description is illustrated and described herein with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the invention.

Systems and methods for implementing relay node (RN) mobility for mobile relays or RNs and/or user equipment (e.g. RN UEs) using various interfaces (e.g. Uu, Un, SI, X2, and the like), resource sharing, and/or radio access bearer modifications may be provided as described herein. For example, RN access information including the collection and/or transfer of access related information for a RN and/or donor eNode-B (DeNB), measurement control associated with a Un interface for a RN, a RN handover initiation and procedure or method, and/or a RN IDLE mode mobility procedure or method may be provided and/or used. Additionally, Un/Uu subframe re-alignment and/or offset handling or management during or after a RN handover, management or handling of RN cell configuration and/or Uu system information changes, management or handling of Uu after transitioning to an IDLE mode and/or a RN detach, and/or management or handling of a tracking area and/or TAU may be provided and/or used. In embodiments, management or handling of RN and/or RN UE context information including RN configurations between a target and/ source DeNB during a preparation for a RN handover and negotiations for enhanced call admission control during a RN handover, management or handling of UE MME changes during a RN handover, management or handling of E-CGI of RN and neighbor eNB information exchange, and/or management or handling a data plane during a RN handover may further be provided and/or used. According to additional embodiments, RN configurations for RAN sharing (e.g. using mobile relays), RN attach and/or authentication (e.g. to multiple PLMN operations) for RAN sharing, RAN sharing procedures or methods, and/or multiple Un support to multiple DeNBs (e.g. methods or procedures for providing multiple Un interfaces to multiple DeNBs) may be provided and/or used. RN MME interface disconnect detection, UE MME relocation, enhanced RN start up for an attach to a DeNB (e.g. a "correct" DeNB), management or handling of RN E-RAB modification during a RN handover and/or call admission, management or handling of RN UE E-RAB based on the RN E-RAB modification during a RN handover, and/or MME selection when a UE (e.g. a RN UE or RN UE E-RAB) may move away from a RN or mobile relay in a connected and/or IDLE mode may also be provided and/or used.

FIG. 1A is a diagram of an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDM A), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single- carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), and the like. As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a radio access network (RAN) 104, a core network 106, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and/or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and/or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals and may include user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, consumer electronics, and the like.

The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106, the Internet 110, and/or the networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and/or network elements.

The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104, which may also include other base stations and/or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and/or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In another embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and, therefore, may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. [0024] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and/or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and/or High- Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

In another embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or LTE- Advanced (LTE- A).

In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 IX, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

The base station 114b in FIG. 1A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular- based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not access the Internet 110 via the core network 106.

The RAN 104 may be in communication with the core network 106, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and/or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. For example, the core network 106 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and/or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 and/or the core network 106 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104, which may be utilizing an E-UTRA radio technology, the core network 106 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM radio technology.

The core network 106 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and/or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit- switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP/IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired or wireless communications networks owned and/or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another core network connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT.

Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities, i.e., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links. For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

FIG. IB is a system diagram of an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. IB, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit/receive element 122, a speaker/microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display/touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and other peripherals 138. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any subcombination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit/receive element 122. While FIG. IB depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

The transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and/or receive RF signals. In another embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an emitter/detector configured to transmit and/or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive any combination of wireless signals.

In addition, although the transmit/receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. IB as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit/receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit/receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit/receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit/receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as UTRA and IEEE 802.11, for example.

The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and/or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and/or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and/or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and/or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and/or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, and the like.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of a relay node (RN) such as the RN 205 that may be used in a wireless communication system such as a LTE or LTE-A system (e.g. wireless communication system 100 shown in FIGs. 1A-1B). As shown in FIG. 2, the RN (e.g. the RN 205) may be in communication with a UE such as a relay node or UE 210 via an over the air interface or link such as a first link 215. According to an example embodiment, the RN (e.g. the RN 205) may be a node compatible with a LTE system.

The RN (e.g. the RN 205) may further be in communication with a DeNB such as a DeNB 220 via another over the air interface or link such as a second link 225. According to an example embodiment, the over the air interface or links (e.g. the first link 215 and/or the second link 225) may be Uu and/or Un interfaces. In example embodiments, the Uu interface and/or RN Uu interface may be the interface between the RN (e.g. the RN 205) and a particular UE (e.g. the UE 210) that the RN may be serving. Including, for example, an RN access link. An Un Interface generally refers to an interface between the RN and its donor eNB (DeNB) (e.g., the backhaul interface or backhaul link).

As shown in FIG. 2, the DeNB (e.g. the DeNB 220) may further be in communication with a network such as a network 230 and/or one or more UEs such as a macro UE 235. In an example embodiment, the DeNB (e.g. the DeNB 220) may be in communication with the network (e.g. 230) via a wired interface or link (e.g. SI interface) such as an interface 240. The DeNB (e.g. the DeNB 220) may also be in communication with one or more additional or macro UEs (e.g. 245) via an over the air interface or link such as a third link 250 that may be a macro Uu and/or Un interface.

Referring to FIG. 2, the RN (e.g. the RN 205) may be various different types or RNs. For example, the RN may be a Type 1 RN that may use the same carrier frequencies on the Uu and Un interfaces and that may be unable to transmit on one interface and receive on the other at the same time due to self-interference (e.g. its transmission on one link may interfere with its reception on the other); a Type 1 a RN that may use different carrier frequencies on the Uu and the Un such that no subframe partitioning may be used; a Type 1 b RN that may use the same carrier frequencies on the Uu and Un interfaces and may have adequate antenna isolation such that there may be self-interference may be reduced or eliminated and subframe partitioning may not be used; and the like.

Figure 3 shows a system including a node of a Radio Access Network (RAN) which can connect to an LTE base station as a User Equipment (UE) and can serve multiple wireless User Equipments (UEs) in a network, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The node of (RAN) may also connect to LTE Relay node i.e. the RAN node can connect with any node to which a UE can connect. The system according to the present embodiment is an LTE-Advanced mobile communication system, and includes a plurality of mobile station UEs, a mobile node B, a base station DeNB, a gateway device SGW (Serving Gateway)/PGW (PDN Gateway) for the mobile Node B, a mobile switching center MME, and the like. In an example operation, a system can include a mobile Node B (Relay Node having functionality of a Base Station which may be fixed or mobile) in communication range of one or more user equipments (UEs) that is aboard a train. The user equipment s can be connected to a mobile relay node (MRN), which is also aboard the train. All the UEs which are travelling in the train, sends or transmits individual bearer request to enode B via mobile node B or mobile relay node. The reference here to mobile relay node is different from the context that LTE uses as will become apparent from the description. The individual bearer request may be or may include connection establishment, service provisioning, handover request, release request etc. The mobile node B receives a plurality of user equipments (UEs) request message. The mobile node B multiplexes all UEs requested data control signaling and communicates as a single UE to the enode B or the network. The mobile node B intelligently multiplexes different users data into one or more radio bearer i.e. multiple bearers of same/different to single bearer and vice versa. The mobile node B has extra functions like security and authentication of users, NAT, user trace etc. Since UEs connected to mobile node B are not visible at core network and enodeB to which mobile node B is connected, wireless bandwidth over enode B –mobile node B interface can be saved via digest multiplexed signaling. The mobile node B will act as a UE for enode B. Implementing the mobile node B which can connect to an LTE base station as a UE and can service multiple wireless users, where wireless users connected to mobile node B will not be identified/visible at network side (enode B and EPC). The network identifies only mobile node B not UEs.

In an example scenario, where a group of users which are on board on a bus or a train or any moving vehicle. Assuming, one or more users request for a bearer request in order to connect to the internet. Traditionally, each UE has to make a separate request to the relay node or enode B for the services, where all the UEs are attached or served. Due to same, there is lot of bandwidth wastage and secondly for each UE request will be charged separately by the network. By implementing the present method or the concept of mobile node B which has the functionality of enodeB, can multiplex all the user requirement under a given scenario (i.e. bus or train) and transmit a single request to enode B thereby saving cost per user and bandwidth of the network.

FIG. 4 illustrates a protocol stack of the mobile communication system according to the present embodiment where a relay node (Mobile Node B or mNB) integrates the functions of an enode B.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the mobile station UE includes a physical layer (L1) function, an MAC (Media Access Control) layer function, an RLC (Radio Link Control) layer function, a PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) layer function, an RRC (Radio Resource Control) layer function, IP layer function, NAT layer function and a NAS layer function.

Furthermore, the mobile node B, as illustrated in Fig 4a, as the function of a Un interface, includes the physical layer (L1) function, the MAC layer function, the RLC layer function, the PDCP layer function, the RRC layer function and a NAS layer function.

The mobile node B, as illustrated in Fig 4b, as the function of a Uu interface, includes the physical layer (L1) function, the MAC layer function, the RLC layer function, the PDCP layer function, the IP layer function and a NAT layer function.

The, radio base station DeNB, as the function of a Uu interface, includes the physical layer (L1) function, the MAC layer function, the RLC layer function, the PDCP layer function, and a RRC layer function.

Furthermore, the radio base station DeNB, as the function of the Un interface, includes the physical layer (L1) function, the MAC layer function, an IP (Internet Protocol) layer function, an SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) layer function, and an S1-AP layer function

Furthermore, the radio base station DeNB, as the function of the gateway device SGW/PGW-side for the Mobile Node B, includes the physical layer (L1) function, an L2 function, a UDP (User Datagram Protocol)/IP layer function, and a GTP-U (GPRS Tunneling Protocol-U plane) layer function.

The gateway device SGW/PGW for the Mobile Node B, as the function of the radio base station DeNB-side, includes the physical layer (L1) function, the L2 function, the UDP/IP layer function, the GTP-U layer function, and the IP layer function.

Examples of several embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, with reference to the attached illustrations of specific embodiments. As it is not possible, of course, to describe every conceivable combination of components or techniques, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in other ways than those specifically set forth herein, without departing from essential characteristics of the invention. Note that although terminology from 36PP LTE-Advanced has been used in this disclosure to exemplify the invention, this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the invention to only the aforementioned system. Other wireless systems including or adapted to include multi-layer transmission techniques may also benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure. Also note that terminology such as base station and UE should be considered non-limiting as applied to the principles of the invention. In particular, while detailed proposals applicable to the uplink in LTE-Advanced are described here, the described techniques may be applied to the downlink in other contexts.

When using the word "comprise" or "comprising" it shall be interpreted as non- limiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of.

The present invention is not limited to the above-describe preferred embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used. Therefore, the above embodiments should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appending claims.

We Claim:

1. A method, implemented in a node of a Radio Access Network (RAN) which can connect to an LTE base station as a User Equipment (UE) and can serve multiple wireless User Equipments (UEs) in a network, the method comprising:
receiving from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) request message to the network at the RAN node; and
multiplexing all UEs request message and control signaling at the RAN node and provisioning the same to the network as a single User Equipment, wherein the plurality of UEs connected to the RAN node are not visible at core network and the LTE base station to which RAN node is connected, thereby reducing the usage of bandwidth of per UE transaction with the core network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the RAN node multiplex different users data into one or more radio bearers, wherein the bearers of same or different users to single bearer and vice versa.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the RAN node is configured with functions include security and authentication of users, NAT, User Trace etc.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving request message from the plurality of user equipments (UEs) to the network at the RAN node includes connection establishment, service provisioning, handover, release etc.

5. A relay node for supporting communication in a wireless communication system, the system comprising:
a plurality of User Equipments (UEs) in communication with the Relay Node;
wherein the relay node including a processor communicatively coupled to at least one memory, wherein the processor is configured for receiving from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) request message to the network at the relay node and multiplexing all UEs request message and control signaling at the relay node and provisioning the same to the network as a single User Equipment, wherein the plurality of UEs connected to the relay node are not visible at core network and the LTE base station to which relay node is connected, thereby reducing the usage of bandwidth of per UE transaction with the core network.

6. A relay node that integrates the functions of a enode B, wherein the relay node establishes a wireless resource controlling connection with the wireless network controller, wherein, the control plane of the transmission network layer and the data plane of the transmission network layer is replaced by the wireless bearing on NAS/RRC/PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY and NAT/IP/PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY.