FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The disclosure generally relates to a communication technical field, in particular to a
communication apparatus and a communication method. More specifically, the disclosure
relates to a communication apparatus and a communication method for changing the
communication between base stations and a communication terminal.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In communication techniques such as a Long-Term Evolution (-Advanced)
technique, there is a method for changing a base station which communicates with a
communication terminal. Generally, in base station handover, it needs to disconnect the
connection between a communication terminal and the original base station (i.e., the source
base station) and to establish a connection with a new base station (i.e., destination base
station). Of course, there is also a technique of soft handing over the communication terminal
in the prior art, wherein the communication terminal temporarily connects with two base
stations in the handover, and disconnects the connection with the source base station after
establishing a stable communication with the destination base station, thereby achieving a
seamless handover technique.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] In one embodiment an electronic device is described that includes processing
circuitry configured to establish a first wireless communication channel with a user equipment
(UE). The device also determines whether a second communication channel of at least a
predetermined quality exists between the UE and a non co-baseband basestation (BS) while
the first communication channel between the UE and the electronics device is maintained.
The first communication channel and the second communication channel use different carrier
resources.
[0004] In another embodiment, a communications method is described that establishes a
first wireless communication channel between a first basestation and a user equipment (UE);
determining with processing circuitry whether a second communication channel of at least
predetermined quality exists between the UE and a non co-baseband BS while the first
communication channel between the UE and the electronics device is maintained, wherein the
first communication channel and the second communication channel use different carrier
resources.
[0005] In a non-transitory computer readable storage device embodiment, the device has
instructions stored therein that when executed by processing circuitry perform a
communications method, the method comprising: establishing a first wireless communication
channel between a first basestation and a user equipment (UE); determining with the
processing circuitry whether a second communication channel of at least predetermined
quality exists between the UE and a non co-baseband BS while the first communication
channel between the UE and the electronics device is maintained, wherein the first
communication channel and the second communication channel use different carrier resources.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the disclosure may be
obvious by referring to the subject matter of the invention and the description of the
embodiments thereof in conjunction with the Drawings. In the Drawings:
[0007] Figure 1 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to a first
embodiment of the disclosure;
[0008] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the signaling interaction in the
communication method according to the first embodiment of the disclosure;
[0009] Figures 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams illustrating existing base station
handover with respect to uplink data for contrast;
[0010] Figures 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams illustrating a communication method
with respect to the uplink data according to a second embodiment of the disclosure;
[0011] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating existing base station handover with
respect to downlink data for contrast;
[0012] Figures 6A and 6B are schematic diagrams illustrating a communication method
with data forwarding with respect to the downlink data according to a third embodiment of
the disclosure;
[0013] Figures 7 is a schematic diagrams illustrating a communication method without data
forwarding with respect to the downlink data according to a fourth embodiment of the
disclosure;
[0014] Figures 8A, 8B, 8C, and 8D are block diagrams illustrating a communication
apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the disclosure;
[0015] Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration according to a sixth
embodiment of the disclosure; and
[0016] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a situation related to a communication
method for changing a base station which is communicating with a communication terminal.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] Embodiments of the disclosure will be described below in conjunction with the
Figures.
[0018] The description will be made in the following order.
[0019] 1. First embodiment of the disclosure
[0020] 2. Second embodiment of the disclosure
[0021] 3. Third embodiment of the disclosure
[0022] 4. Fourth embodiment of the disclosure
[0023] 5. Fifth embodiment of the disclosure
[0024] 6. Sixth embodiment of the disclosure
1. First embodiment of the disclosure
[0025] Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the disclosure will be described in conjunction
with Figures 1, 2, and 10.
[0026] Firstly, Figure 10 illustrates a situation related to a communication method for
changing a base station communicating with a communication terminal.
[0027] In the system shown in Figure 10, a communication terminal 100 may connect to a
core network 400 through not only a first base station 200 but also a second station 300, and
may also connect to the core network 400 through both of the first base station 200 and the
second station 300 simultaneously.
[0028] It should be noted that the first base station 200 and the second station 300 may
connect to the core network 400 through the same gateway or different gateways. Herein, the
core network 400 may be Internet, an intranet, or other suitable network.
[0029] It should be noted that the first base station 200 shown in Figure 10 may be a macro
base station, and the second base station 300 may be a micro base station. However, the first
base station 200 and the second station 300 may be base stations of other suitable type. As for
the embodiment of the invention, the coverage of the first base station 200 and the coverage
the second station 300 overlap. Preferably, the coverage the second station 300 is contained in
the coverage of the first base station 200.
[0030] The first base station 200 and the second station 300 may operate according to the
same protocol or different protocols. The protocols of the first base station 200 and the second
station 300 may be appropriately selected from the following: LTE(-A) FDD (Frequency
Division Duplex), LTE(-A) TDD (Time Division Duplex), WiFi (Wireless Fidelity),
WCDMA/TD-SCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+ (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access/ Time
Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access/ High Speed Package Access/ High
Speed Package Access+), CDMA/EV-DO (Code Division Multiple Access/ Evolution-Data
Only), WiMAX (World Interoperability for Microwave Access).
[0031] Figure 1 illustrates a communication method according to a first embodiment of the
disclosure, which is used for changing a base station communicating with a communication
terminal. The communication method begins at step S101, and proceeds to step SI 03.
[0032] At step SI 03, when a communication terminal 100 is communicating with a first
base station 200, the manner of changing the communication between the first base station
200 and the communication terminal 100 and the communication between a second base
station 300 and the communication terminal 100 is determined, at least based on a measuring
result of signals of the second base station 300 from the communication terminal 100. Then
the process proceeds to Step SI 05.
[0033] It should be noted that the frequency bands of the first base station 200 and the
second base station 300 are different. Therefore, when the communication terminal 100
communicates with both of the first base station 200 and the second base station 300, a more
frequency band can be obtained.
[0034] At step SI05, in the case that the measuring result meets a predetermined condition,
the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 both perform data transmission
connection with the communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources.
[0035] The predetermined condition may be set according to the practical situation. For
example, when the communication terminal 100 can not obtain a required frequency band
through only connecting with the first base station 200 or only connecting with the second
base station 300, it needs the communication terminal 100 to connect with both of the first
base station 200 and the second base station 300. Or, when a part of traffic of the
communication terminal 100 is adapted to communicate through the first base station 200 and
another part of traffic of the communication terminal 100 is adapted to communicate through
the second base station 300, it also needs the communication terminal 100 to connect with
both of the first base station 200 and the second base station 300.
[0036] Then the process proceeds to step SI07 and ends the process at step SI 07.
[0037] Hereinafter, the signaling interaction performed on a control plane by the
communication method according to the first embodiment of the disclosure will be described
in conjunction with Figure 2. It should be noted that the communication method according to
the first embodiment of the disclosure may be performed by a manner other than the manner
shown in Figure 2, and the manner shown in Figure 2 is only illustrative.
[0038] In Figure 2, the signaling interaction between the communication terminal 100, the
first base station 200, the second base station 300 and the core network 400 is schematically
illustrated.
[0039] Firstly, the first base station 200 sends control information for measuring a signal of
the second base station 300 to the communication terminal 100 (201). It should be noted that
at this time the uplink and downlink data packets are only transmitted between the
communication terminal 100 and the first base station 200 and between the first base station
200 and the core network 400. The data packet herein may be an IP (Internet protocol) data
packet.
[0040] In response to the control information sent by the first base station 200, the
communication terminal 100 sends a measuring result to the first base station 200 (202).
[0041] After receiving the measuring result fed back by the communication terminal 100,
the first base station 200 determines whether the first base station 200 and the second base
station 300 both perform data transmission connection with the communication terminal 100
on different carrier resources.
[0042] If the measuring result meets a predetermined condition, the first base station 200
and the second base station 300 both perform data transmission connection with the
communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources.
[0043] Wherein, if the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 share baseband,
the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 directly connect to each other
through optical fiber and the signal communication there between hardly has a delay.
Therefore the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 both may connect with the
communication terminal 100 in a manner of carrier aggregation in the same base station. That
is, other secondary carriers is dispatched through one primary carrier, and the communication
between the first base station 200 and the communication terminal 100 and the
communication between the second base station 300 and the communication terminal 100 has
a common control plane configuration, such as a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol
configuration of the LTE. For example, one communication carrier between the first base
station 200 and the communication terminal 100 may serve as the primary carrier, and
communication carriers between the second base station 300 and the communication terminal
100 may server as the secondary carriers (the secondary carriers may also include other
communication carriers between the first base station 200 and the communication terminal
100), and respective secondary carriers may be dispatched through the primary carrier.
[0044] In addition, in the case that the first base station 200 and the second base station 300
do not share baseband, the communication between the first base station 200 and the second
base station 300 needs to be performed through a bone network other than an optical fiber
direct connection and has a larger delay. It is difficult for the communication carriers between
the first base station 200 and the communication terminal 100 to dispatch the communication
carriers between the second base station 300 and the communication terminal 100. Therefore
the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 both may connect with the
communication terminal 100 in a manner other that the manner of carrier aggregation in the
same base station.
[0045] In the case that the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 do not
share baseband, the communication between the communication terminal 100 and the first
base station 200 and the communication between the communication terminal 100 and the
second base station 300 may respectively have independent control plane protocol
configuration, and there are independent primary carriers respectively in the communication
between the communication terminal 100 and the first base station 200 and the
communication between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300.
The control managements to the secondary carriers of the first base station 200 and the second
base station 300 and the adjustments to the primary carriers of the first base station 200 and
the second base station 300 may be performed through a method of intra-site carrier
aggregation respectively.
[0046] In addition, when the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 both
connect with the communication terminal 100, at least one of the following operations may be
performed on the respective primary carriers of the first base station 200 and the second base
station 300: data transmission of respective control plane protocol configurations,
transmission of uplink control channel, measurements of mobility and wireless link failure.
[0047] Above determination performed on the first base station 200 side is denoted by 203
in Figure 2. Specifically, the process may be performed by the first base station 200 per se, or
by a communication apparatus or a function unit thereof for changing a base station
communicating with a communication terminal on the first base station 200 side, such as a
Base Band Unit (BBU) which the first base station 200 connects to, or by other suitable
function unit.
[0048] Thereafter, the first base station 200 sends a request regarding the first base station
200 and the second base station 300 both connecting with the communication terminal 100
(204). It shows in the request that after the communication between the communication
terminal 100 and the second base station 300 is established, the communication between the
communication terminal 100 and the first base station 200 is still kept. For example, internode
interaction information in the 3GPP TS36.331 may be improved, such that said signaling
may be included in the inter-node interaction information. In other situations such as WiFi,
other inter-node interaction information may also be improved. It should be understood by
those skilled in the art that the process may be performed by the first base station 200 per se,
or by a communication apparatus or a function unit thereof for changing a base station
communicating with a communication terminal, or by other suitable function unit. In other
words, the function unit performing the above process may be a part of the first base station
200 or a function unit independent of the first base station 200.
[0049] On the second base station 300 side, it is determined that whether the first base
station 200 and the second base station 300 both perform data transmission connection with
the communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources and with respect to which part
of traffic of the communication terminal 100 the second base station 300 is able to
communicate. In addition, other suitable process may also be performed on the second base
station 300 side. The above process is denoted by 205 in Figure 2. Specifically, the process
may be performed by the second base station 300 per se, or by a communication apparatus or
a function unit thereof for changing a base station communicating with a communication
terminal, or by other suitable function unit. In other words, the function unit performing the
above process may be a part of the second base station 300 or a function unit independent of
the second base station 300.
[0050] Thereafter, in the case that determining that the second base station 300 can perform
data transmission connection with the communication terminal 100 on different carrier
resources while the communication terminal 100 keeps communication with the first base
station 200, the second base station 300 sends to the first base station 200 acknowledge
information comprising at least one of: with respect to which part of traffic of the
communication terminal 100 the second base station 300 is able to communicate, a specific
preamble for random access, system information of a new carrier on which the
communication terminal 100 communicates with the second base station, and configuration
information of control plane protocol for establishing the communication between the
communication terminal and the second base station (206). For example, inter-node
interaction information in the 3GPP TS36.331 may be improved to include such signaling. In
a more specific example, the signaling is achieved by adding AS-Config IE to the interaction
information send by the second base station 300 (the destination base station) to the first base
station 200 (the source base station). The AS-Config IE contains R C configuration
information of the second base station 300 (the destination base station). In a situation such as
WiFi, other suitable inter-node interaction information may be improved. It should be
understood by those skilled in the art that the second base station 300 may also send other
information for establishing communication with the communication terminal 100 to the first
base station 200. In addition, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that such
process may be performed by the second base station 300 per se, or by a communication
apparatus or a function unit thereof for changing a base station communicating with a
communication terminal on the second base station 300 side, or by other suitable function unit.
In other words, the function unit performing the above process may be a part of the second
base station 300 or a function unit independent of the second base station 300.
[0051] Thereafter, the first base station 200 sends to the second base station 300 the
acknowledge information regarding the first base station 200 and the second base station 300
both performing data transmission connection with the communication terminal 100 on
different carrier resources (207). It should be noted that the acknowledge information
comprising at least one of: with respect to which part of traffic of the communication terminal
100 the second base station is able to communicate, a specific preamble for random access,
system information of a new carrier on which the communication terminal 100 communicates
with the second base station 300, and configuration information of control plane protocol for
establishing the communication between the communication terminal 100 and the second
base station 300. RRC connection reconfiguration (RRCConnectionReconfiguratiori)
information sent to the communication terminal 100 by the first base station 200 (the source
base station) in the 3GPP TS36.331 may be improved, such that the RRC connection
reconfiguration information contains the above acknowledge information. In a situation such
as WiFi, other suitable inter-node interaction information may be improved. It should be
understood by those skilled in the art that the acknowledge information may also include
other information for establishing communication with the communication terminal 100. In
addition, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that such process may be
performed by the first base station 200 per se, or by a communication apparatus or a function
unit thereof for changing a base station communicating with a communication terminal on the
first base station 200 side, or by other suitable function unit. In other words, the function unit
performing the above process may be a part of the first base station 200 or a function unit
independent of the first base station 200.
[0052] After receiving the above acknowledge information, the communication terminal
100 performs a suitable process (208) in order to establish communication with the second
base station 300. In addition, for example, the communication terminal 100 may also not send
new data packets with respect to the uplink data in the data determined to be transmitted
through the second base station 300 to the first base station 200 after receiving the
acknowledge information. Such process will be described in detail in the subsequent
embodiments.
[0053] In process 209, communication between the communication terminal 100 and the
second base station 300 is established. It should be noted that such process for establishing the
communication between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300
may be the same to the process for establishing communication between a communication
terminal and a destination base station at base station handover in the prior art only except for
that the destination base station needs to determine whether the access preamble is used for
initial access and handover when transferring from an idle status to an activated status, for
initial access for intra-site carrier aggregation, or for keeping connections with both of the
base stations through inter-site carrier aggregation.
[0054] After the connection between the communication terminal 100 and the second base
station 300 is established, the second base station 300 sends to the core network 400
notification information regarding the first base station 200 and the second base station 300
both performing data transmission connection with the communication terminal 100 on
different carrier resources (210). Thereafter, with respect to the downlink data in the data
determined to be transmitted through the second base station 300, the core network 400 sends
the new packets to the second base station 300 instead of the first base station 200. The core
network 400 may also always send the downlink data to the first base station 200, and the first
base station 200 may forwards it to the second base station 300.
[0055] Thereafter, as shown in Figure 2, a part of uplink and downlink data packets may
transmitted between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300 and
between the second base station 300 and the core network 400. In addition, it may also be
prescribed that the second base station 300 is only responsible for receiving the uplink data
from the communication terminal 100 and sending it to the core network 400, or the second
base station 300 is only responsible for receiving the downlink data from the core network
400 and sending it to the communication terminal 100.
[0056] It should be noted that after the connection between the second base station 300 and
the communication terminal 100 is established, since the communication terminal 100 still
keeps the connection with the first base station 200, the second base station 300 or the core
network 400 does not need to send to the first base station 200 information indicating end of
the communication between the first base station 200 and the communication terminal 100.
[0057] With the above manner, the communication terminal 100 originally communicating
only with the first base station 200 may communicates with both of the first base station 200
and the second base station 300 on different carrier resources.
[0058] In addition, addition, modification and deletion of the carrier resources used by the
communication terminal 100 may be managed by the first base station 200 or the second base
station 300. Traffic carried by connecting the communication terminal 100 to a plurality of
base stations such as distribution, variation and the like of the traffic may also be managed by
the first base station 200 or the second base station 300. In addition, as described above, when
it is mentioned that a certain process or a certain management is performed by the first base
station 200 or the second base station 300, it may by performed by the first base station 200 or
the second base station 300, or by a communication apparatus or a function unit thereof for
changing a base station communicating with a communication terminal on the first base
station 200 side or on the second base station 300 side, or by other suitable function unit. In
other words, the function unit performing the above process may be a part of the first base
station 200 or the second base station 300 or a function unit independent of the first base
station 200 and the second base station 300.
[0059] When the first base station 200 is a macro base station and the second base station
300 is a micro base station, the second base station 300 is more sensitive to power
consumption than the first base station 200. The power consumption of a base station is
always related to the traffic amount of downlink data sent to user by the base station.
Therefore, when the communication terminal 100 performs data transmission on different
carrier resources through both of the first base station 200 as the macro base station and the
second base station 300 as the micro base station, the downlink traffic from the base station to
the communication terminal 100 may be mostly performed by the first base station 200 which
is not much sensitive to the power consumption, and the uplink traffic from the
communication terminal 100 to the base station may be mostly performed by the second base
station 300 which is sensitive to the power consumption. This is because that the influence
caused by the uplink traffic from the communication terminal 100 to the base station to the
power consumption of the base station is small. In other words, when it is determined which
part of traffic of the communication terminal 100 is performed by the second base station 300,
the uplink data has a priority over the downlink data to be performed by the second base
station 300.
[0060] With the above manner, communication performance may be improved during
changing the base station communicating with the communication terminal 100, thereby
better performing the inter-site carrier aggregation.
2. Second embodiment of the disclosure
[0061] Hereinafter, the communication method according to the second embodiment of the
disclosure will be described in conjunction with Figures 3A, 3B and 4A, 4B.
[0062] It should be noted that as for the second to the fourth embodiments of the disclosure,
it is mainly described the process of data plane, whereas as for the communication method
according to the first embodiment of the disclosure, it is mainly described the signaling
interaction of control plane.
[0063] Figures 3A and 3B illustrate schematic diagrams of uplink data forwarding in
existing base station handover, to contrast against the process regarding uplink data in the
communication method according to the second embodiment of the disclosure shown in
Figure 4.
[0064] Firstly, in existing base station handover, it may be classified into two types
seamless handover and lossless handover according to the characteristics of carried traffic. In
the seamless handover, there is a strict requirement regarding the time delay of data packet,
and a certain degree of data packet loss (error) may be accepted. In the lossless handover,
there is a strict requirement regarding the packet loss rate (packet error rate), and a certain
degree of data packet time delay may be accepted.
[0065] As shown in Figures 3A, 3B, the communication terminal needs to upload data
packets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,... to the core network. At base station handover, the communication
terminal 100 has sent to the first base station 200 data packets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, wherein the first
base station 200 receives data packets 1, 2, 4 successfully and sends acknowledge information
that data packets 1, 2, 4 have been received.
[0066] As for the lossless handover, as shown in Figure 3A, after base station handover,
since the communication terminal 100 disconnects the communication with the first base
station 200, the communication terminal sends data packets to the second base station 300
other than the first base station 200. Since the last data packet which has been received
sequentially and successfully by the first base station 200 is 2, in other words, the first data
packet which is not sent to the first base station 200 by the communication terminal 100
successfully is 3, the communication terminal 100 begins to send to the second base station
300 the data packets from data packet 3.
[0067] The first base station 200 sends to the core network 400 the sequential data packets
1, 2 received successfully, and performs data forwarding of data packet 4 to the second base
station 300. The second base station 300 sends to the core network 400 the sequential data
packets 3, 4, 5, 6 received successfully. Thereby, it is guaranteed that the data packet sequence
sent to the core network 400 from the communication terminal 100 is complete, thereby a
lossless handover is achieved. It should be noted that as for data packets, since the first base
station 200 receives data packet 4 successfully and forwards it to the second base station 300,
the communication terminal 100 may resend data packet 4 to the second base station 300 (as
shown in Figure 3A), or not resend data packet 4 to the second base station 300 but send data
packets 3, 5, 6 to the second base station 300.
[0068] As for seamless handover, the communication terminal 100 does not resend the data
packets which have been sent successfully in order to guarantee real-time of the data packets,
therefore as shown in Figure 3B, the communication terminal 100 sends to the second base
station 300 data packets 6, 7, 8, 9.
[0069] The first base station 200 sends the sequential data packets 1, 2 received
successfully to the core network 400.
[0070] The second base station 300 receives data packets 6, 7, 8, 9 from the communication
terminal 100 successfully and sends data packets 6, 7, 8, 9 to the core network 400. Thereby,
real-time of the data packets sent to the core network 400 from the communication terminal
100 is guaranteed, thereby a seamless handover is achieved.
[0071] It should be noted that the data forwarding between base stations of LTE protocol is
generally achieved through an X2 interface, and the communication between the base station
and the core network, more accurately, the communication between the base station of LTE
protocol and network units of Evolved Packet Core (EPC) core network is achieved through
an S2 interface.
[0072] In addition, it should be noted that the data packet resent between the base station
and the core network and between the second base station 300 and the communication
terminal 100 is not discussed in the disclosure. In other words, in the disclosure, it supposes
that the data communication between the base station and the core network and between the
second base station 300 and the communication terminal 100 is reliable and accurate. Under
teaching of the disclosure, those skilled in the art may apply the features of the embodiments
of the disclosure to the situation that a data packet resending problem occurs in the data
communication between the base station and the core network and between the second base
station 300 and the communication terminal 100.
[0073] In an example of the communication method according to the embodiments of the
disclosure, after the communication terminal 100 receives acknowledge information regarding
the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 both performing data transmission
connection with the communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources or after the
connection between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300 is
established, with respect to the uplink data of the traffic which is determined to be
communicated between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300, the
communication terminal 100 may continue data packets which are being sent to the first base
station 200, and after the connection between the communication terminal 100 and the second
base station 300 is established, the communication terminal 100 may send to the second base
station 300 the new data packets.
[0074] Specifically, as shown in Figures 4A, 4B, the uplink data of the traffic which is
determined to be communicated between the communication terminal 100 and the second
base station 300 includes data packets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,..., wherein before the communication
terminal 100 receives the acknowledge information, the communication terminal 100 sends to
the first base station 200 data packets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 successfully. Only data packets 1, 2, 4 have
been received by the first base station 200 successfully, therefore the first base station 200
sends to the communication terminal 100 acknowledge information that data packets 1, 2, 4
have been received.
[0075] In the lossless handover (that is, in the case that the traffic requiring high data
integrality is being transmitting), as shown in Figure 4A, the communication terminal 100
continues data packets which are being sent to the first base station 200 and data packets
which have been sent to the first base station 200, that is, the communication terminal 100
resends data packets 3 and 5 based on the acknowledge information received from the first
base station 200 until the first base station 200 receives data packets 3, 5 successfully. It
should be noted that the communication terminal 100 does not send data packet 6 (a new data
packet after determining that the inter-site carrier aggregation is performed) to the first base
station 200.
[0076] After establishing the communication with the second base station 300, the
communication terminal 100 send data packet 6 and the data packets thereafter to the second
base station 300.
[0077] The first base station 200 may directly send data packets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 received from
the communication terminal 100 to the core network 400.
[0078] In the seamless handover (that is, in the case that the traffic requiring high real-time
of data packets is being transmitting), the manner shown in Figure 4A may be adopted to
reduce packet loss rate, or as shown in Figure 4B, the communication terminal 100 does not
resend data packets 3 and 5 to the first base station 200, but send data packet 6 to the second
base station after establishing the communication with the second base station 300. It should
be understood that if the time that communication terminal 100 receives the information
determining that the inter-site carrier aggregation is performed is far away from the time that
the communication terminal 100 establishes the communication with the second base station
300, it is possible that the communication terminal 100 begins to send data to the second base
station 300 from data packet 7 or 8 or sequent data packets thereafter, to satisfy the
requirement to real-time of the carried traffic.
[0079] The first base station 200 may send data packets 1, 2, 4 received from the
communication terminal 100 to the core network 400, and the second base station 300 may
send data packets 6, 7, 8, 9 received from the communication terminal 100 to the core
network 400.
[0080] In addition, in another example of the communication method according to the
second embodiment of the disclosure, after the communication between the communication
terminal 100 and the second base station 300 is established (instead of after the
communication terminal 100 receives acknowledge information regarding the first base
station 200 and the second base station 300 both performing data transmission connection
with the communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources), with respect to the
uplink data of the traffic which is determined to be communicated between the
communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300, the communication terminal
100 may continue data packets which are being sent to the first base station 200, and send to
the second base station 300 the new data packets.
[0081] In such case, the specific processes of the lossless handover and the seamless
handover are similar to those described with respect to Figures 4A, 4B, and the description
thereof will be omitted.
[0082] It should be noted that in the two examples as described above, although data
packets 3, 5 sent to the first base station 200 from the communication terminal 100 are not
received by the first base station 200 successfully when being sent first time, in either the
lossless handover or the seamless handover, the communication terminal 100 may not resend
data packets 3, 5 to the second base station 300. In addition, there is no need for data
forwarding between the first base station 200 and the second base station 300.
[0083] In particular, in the case that the communication terminal 100 stops sending new
data packets to the first base station 200 after establishing connection with the second base
station 300, comparison with the case that the communication terminal 100 stops sending new
data packets to the first base station 200 after receiving acknowledge information regarding
the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 both performing data transmission
connection with the communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources, the amount of
data packets to be transmitted at the first base station 200 is large. This is because that the
time that the communication terminal 100 receives the above acknowledge information is
earlier than the time that the communication terminal 100 establishes the connection with the
second base station 300.
[0084] With the above manner, during changing the communication between the
communication terminal 100 and base stations, communication performance is improved. For
example, the communication terminal 100 needs not to resend to the second base station 300
the data packet which has been sent to the first base station 200.
3. Third embodiment of the disclosure
[0085] Hereinafter, the communication method according to the third embodiment of the
disclosure will be described in conjunction with Figures 5, 6A, 6B.
[0086] It should be noted that the second embodiment of the disclosure is used for uplink
data and the third embodiment of the disclosure is used for downlink data.
[0087] Figures 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of downlink data in existing base station
handover, to contrast against the process regarding downlink data in the communication
method according to the third embodiment of the disclosure shown in Figures 6A, 6B.
[0088] It should be noted that Figure 5 illustrates downlink data forwarding in the lossless
handover, and downlink data forwarding in the seamless handover will be described with
reference to Figure 5.
[0089] As shown in Figure 5, before base station handover, the core network 400 sends to
the first base station 200 data packets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and the first base station 200 sends to the
communication terminal 100 data packets 1, 2, 3, 4. Data packets 1, 2, 4 are received by the
communication terminal 100 successfully, and the communication terminal 100 sends to the
first base station 200 acknowledge information that data packets 1, 2, 4 are received. After
base station handover, the core network 400 sends to the first base station 200 a data end
symbol LP immediately after data packet 5. Therefore, from data packet 3, the first base
station 200 forwards data packets 3, 4, 5 and the data end symbol LP immediately after data
packet 5 to the second base station 300 based on the above acknowledge information.
[0090] In addition, after base station handover, the core network 400 sends to the second
base station 300 new data packets 6, 7, 8. The second base station 300 connects the new data
packets 6, 7, 8 to data packets 3, 4, 5 based on the data end symbol LP, thereby data packets 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8 are sent to the communication terminal 100. Then, the lossless handover is
completed.
[0091] As for the seamless handover, the first base station 200 begins to perform data
forwarding to the second base station 300 from data packet 5. In other words, the first base
station 200 forwards data packet 5 and the data end symbol LP immediately after data packet
5 to the second base station 300. The second base station 300 connects the new data packets 6,
7, 8 received from the core network 400 to data packets 5 based on the data end symbol LP,
thereby data packets 5, 6, 7, 8 are sent to the communication terminal 100. Then, the seamless
handover is completed.
[0092] In an example of the communication method according to the third embodiment of
the disclosure, after the communication terminal 100 receives acknowledge information
regarding the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 both performing data
transmission connection with the communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources
or after the second base station 300 establishes connection with the communication terminal
100 and notifies the first base station 200 of this, with respect to the downlink data of the
traffic which is determined to be communicated between the communication terminal 100 and
the second base station 300, the communication terminal 100 may continue data packets
which are being receiving from the first base station 200, and the first base station 200
performs data forwarding to the second base station 300 with respect to data packets not been
sent to the communication terminal 100 yet and newly received from the core network 400. It
should be noted that the notification information that the second base station 300 establishes
connection with the communication terminal 100 may be sent to the first base station 200 by
the second base station 300 or be sent to the first base station 200 by the communication
terminal 100.
[0093] Specifically, with reference to Figure 6A, before the communication terminal 100
receives acknowledge information regarding the first base station 200 and the second base
station 300 both connecting to the communication terminal 100, the core network 400 sends
to the first base station 200 data packets 1, 2, 3, 4, and the first base station 200 sends to the
communication terminal 100 data packets 1, 2, 3, 4. Data packets 1, 2, 4 are received by the
communication terminal 100 successfully, and therefore the communication terminal 100
sends to the first base station 200 acknowledge information that data packets 1, 2, 4 are
received. After the communication terminal 100 receives acknowledge information regarding
the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 both connecting to the
communication terminal 100, the communication terminal 100 may continue data packets
which are being receiving from the first base station 200, and not receive new data packets
from the first base station 200. In other words, after the first base station 200 sends to the
communication terminal 100 acknowledge information regarding the first base station 200
and the second base station 300 both connecting to the communication terminal 100, the first
base station 200 does not send new data packets to the communication terminal 100.
[0094] In the lossless handover, the first base station 200 guarantees that sending of data
packet 3 to the communication terminal 100 is completed. In the seamless handover, the
operation may be similar to that in the lossless handover to reduce packet loss rate, or data
packet 3 may be discarded. In other words, data packet 3 will not be resent.
[0095] The following description is suitable for both of the lossless handover and seamless
handover.
[0096] After the first base station 200 sends to the communication terminal 100
acknowledge information regarding the first base station 200 and the second base station 300
both performing data transmission connection with the communication terminal 100 on
different carrier resources, and until the core network 400 is notified that connection between
the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300 is established, the core
network 400 continues to send data to the first base station 200. For example, as shown in
Figure 6A, the core network 400 sends data packet 5 and the data end symbol LP immediately
after data packet 5 to the first base station 200. Since the first base station 200 does not send
new data packets to the communication terminal 100 after sending data packet 4 to the
communication terminal 100, the first base station 200 forwards data packet 5 and the data
end symbol LP immediately after data packet 5 to the second base station 300. It should be
noted that the notification information that the second base station 300 establishes connection
with the communication terminal 100 may be directly sent to the core network 400 by the
second base station 300. The second base station 300 may also send the notification
information to the first base station 200, and the first base station 200 sends the notification
information to the core network 400.
[0097] After the core network 400 is notified that connection between the communication
terminal 100 and the second base station 300 is established, the core network 400 sends to the
second base station 300 data packets 6, 7, 8, 9. The second base station 300 connects data
packets 6, 7, 8, 9 to data packets 5 based on the data end symbol LP, thereby data packets 5, 6,
7, 8, 9 are sent to the communication terminal 100.
[0098] In addition, in another example of the communication method according to the third
embodiment of the disclosure, after the connection between the communication terminal 100
and the second base station 300 is established (for example, after the first base station 200
receives notification information that the second base station 300 establishes connection with
the communication terminal 100 instead of after the communication terminal 100 receives
acknowledge information regarding the first base station 200 and the second base station 300
both performing data transmission connection with the communication terminal 100 on
different carrier resources), with respect to the downlink data of the traffic which is
determined to be communicated between the communication terminal 100 and the second
base station 300, the communication terminal 100 may continue data packets which are being
receiving from the first base station 200, and the first base station 200 performs data
forwarding to the second base station 300 with respect to new data packets received from the
core network 400. In such case, the specific processes of the lossless handover and the
seamless handover are similar to those described with respect to Figures 6A, and the
description thereof will be omitted.
[0099] The difference between the above two examples of the communication method
according to the third embodiment of the disclosure is only in that the first base station 200
does not send new data packets to the communication terminal 100, and the times of
beginning to perform data forwarding to the second base station 300 with respect to the new
data packets are different. In such two examples, the first base station 200 needs to forward
the new data packets sent to the first base station 200 by the core network 400 to the second
base station 300. In addition, in such two examples, the data packets which have been sent to
the communication terminal 100 by the first base station 200 needs not to be forwarded to the
communication terminal 100 through the second base station 300.
[00100] With the manners shown in the above two examples, during changing the
communication between the communication terminal 100 and base stations, communication
performance is improved. For example, the amount of data packets forwarded between base
stations is reduced, and/or resending of downlink data by base stations may be omitted.
[00101] In addition, with reference to Figure 6B, another example of the communication
method according to the third embodiment of the disclosure is illustrated. In such example,
after receiving notification information that connection between the second base station 300
and the communication terminal 100 is established, with respect to the downlink data of the
traffic which is determined to be communicated between the communication terminal 100 and
the second base station 300, the core network 400 continues to send new data packets to the
first base station 200, the first base station 200 performs data forwarding to the second base
station 300 with respect to the new data packets received from the core network 400, and the
second base station 300 send the new data packets received from the first base station 200 to
the communication terminal 100. In such process, data forwarding of downlink data between
the first base station 200 and the second station 300 is not performed.
[00102] Similar to Figure 6A, before the communication terminal 100 receives acknowledge
information regarding the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 both
performing data transmission connection with the communication terminal 100 on different
carrier resources, or before the second base station 300 establishes connection with the
communication terminal 100, the core network 400 sends to the first base station 200 data
packets 1, 2, 3, 4, and the first base station 200 sends to the communication terminal 100 data
packets 1, 2, 3, 4. Data packets 1, 2, 4 are received by the communication terminal 100
successfully, and therefore the communication terminal 100 sends to the first base station 200
acknowledge information that data packets 1, 2, 4 are received. After the communication
terminal 100 receives the acknowledge information regarding the first base station 200 and
the second base station 300 both performing data transmission connection with the
communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources, the communication terminal 100
may continue data packets which are being receiving from the first base station 200, not
receive new data packets from the first base station 200, and begin to receive new data
packets from the second base station 300.
[00103] In Figure 6B, it is different from Figure 6A in that even though the core network 400
is notified that connection between the communication terminal 100 and the second base
station 300 is established, the core network 400 continues to send new data packets to the first
base station 200 and not begin to send new data packets to the second base station 300. The
reason is that the quality of communication between the second base station 300 and the core
network 400 is poorer than the quality of communication between the first base station 200
and the core network 400. In addition, in Figure 6B, the core network 400 may not be notified
that connection between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300 is
established, and therefore the core network 400 continues to send data packets of downlink
data to the first base station 200. Likewise, the first base station 200 forwards the new data
packets received from the core network 400 to the second base station 300.
[00104] Therefore, in the solution corresponding to Figure 6B, the data packets sent to the
communication terminal 100 by the second base station 300 are forwarded by the first base
station 200. At this time, the second base station 300 needs not to receive information for
determining the core network number of the last data packet sent to the first base station 200
from the core network 400 or the core network number of the first data packet sent to the
second base station 300 from the core network 400.
[00105] In such case, information regarding connection between the communication terminal
100 and the second base station 300 being established is sent to the first base station 200 by
the communication terminal 100 or the second base station 300, and is notified to the core
network 400 by the first base station 200.
[00106] With the communication method according to this example, better communication
performance of communication between the first base station 200 and the core network 400 is
exploited, there the communication performance is improved.
4. Fourth embodiment of the disclosure
[00107] Hereinafter, the communication method according to the fourth embodiment of the
disclosure will be described in conjunction with Figure 7.
[00108] It should be noted that in the examples of the communication method according to
the third embodiment of the disclosure, downlink data needs to be forwarded. However, in the
communication method according to the fourth embodiment of the disclosure, the downlink
data needs not to be forwarded.
[00109] In the communication method according to the fourth embodiment of the disclosure,
as described above with respect to Figure 2, after connection between the communication
terminal 100 and the second base station 300 is established, information regarding connection
between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300 being established is
sent to the core network 400. After the core network 400 receives the information regarding
connection between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300 being
established, the core network 400 begins to send new data packets to the second base station
300, the first base station 200 continues data packets which are being sent to the
communication terminal 100 and data packets which have been received from the core
network 400, and the second base station 300 sends the new data packets received from the
core network 400 to the communication terminal 100.
[00110] Specifically, as shown in Figure 7, before the core network 400 receives the
information regarding connection between the communication terminal 100 and the second
base station 300 being established, the core network 400 sends to the first base station 200
data packets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and the first base station 200 sends to the communication terminal
100 data packets 1, 2, 3, 4. Data packets 1, 2, 4 are received by the communication terminal
100 successfully, and the communication terminal 100 sends to the first base station 200
acknowledge information that data packets 1, 2, 4 are received. After the core network 400
receives the information regarding connection between the communication terminal 100 and
the second base station 300 being established, the core network 400 sends to the first base
station a data end symbol LP immediately after data packet 5 and begins to send data packets
6, 7, 8, 9 to the second base station 300. The first base station 200 continues to send data
packet 5 (which has been received) before the data end symbol LP to the communication
terminal 100. In addition, the first base station 200 may send the data end symbol LP to the
second base station 300.
[00111] In the lossless handover, the first base station 200 guarantees that sending of data
packet 3 to the communication terminal 100 is completed. In the seamless handover, the
operation may be similar to that in the lossless handover to reduce packet loss rate, or data
packet 3 may be discarded. In other words, data packet 3 will not be resent.
[00112] The second base station 300 sends the data packets 6, 7, 8, 9 received from the core
network 400 to the communication terminal 100 base on the data end symbol LP.
[00113] Herein the data end symbol LP may indicate that the last data packet sent to the first
base station 200 by the core network 400 is data packet 5. The core network 400 may also
sends to the second base station 300 the data end symbol LP immediately before data packet 6.
At this time, the data end symbol LP may indicate that the first data packet sent to the first
base station 200 by the core network 400 is data packet 6. Therefore, the second base station
300 may determine which data packet the last data packet sent to the first base station 200
from the core network 400 is or which data packet the first data packet sent to the first base
station 200 from the core network 400 is.
[00114] In the above process, data forwarding may not be performed between the first base
station 200 and the second base station 300. It should be noted that since LP is only a symbol,
the process of sending the data end symbol LP to the second base station 300 by the first base
station 200 is not performing data forwarding between the first base station 200 and the
second base station 300.
[00115] Herein, the data end symbol is the number of data packet sent by the core network
400, and the number may be the wire transmission number of data packet.
[00116] The synchronization of core network numbers is guaranteed by means of the data
end symbol LP. In addition, if the first base station and the second base station have the same
protocol, the first base station may send to the second base station air interface number
information. Specifically, in LTE, the air interface number information is PDCP (Packet Data
Convergence Protocol) data number, the content of which may be PDCP number of data
packet 5 or 6 in Figure 7, in order to guarantee that air interface data is processed in order on
the terminal side. In other words, the first base station 200 may send to the second base
station 300 PDCP number of the last data packet transmitted at the first base station 200 or
PDCP number of the first data packet expected to be transmitted at the second base station
300.
[00117] With the above manner, during changing the base station communicating with the
communication terminal 100, communication performance is improved. For example, data
forwarding between base stations is not performed, and/or resending of downlink data by base
stations may be omitted.
5. Fifth embodiment of the disclosure
[00118] Hereinafter, the communication apparatuses according to the fifth embodiment of
the disclosure will be described in conjunction with Figures 8Ato 8D.
[00119] Figure 8A illustrates a communication apparatus 800 according to the fifth
embodiment of the disclosure. The communication apparatus 800 is on the first base station
200 side and used for changing the communication between base stations and the
communication terminal 100, and comprises: a request sending unit 801 configured to send,
in the case that a measuring result of signals of the second base station 300 from the
communication terminal 100 which is communicating with the first base station 200 meets a
predetermined condition, the second base station 300 a request regarding the first base station
200 and the second base station 300 both performing data transmission connection with the
communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources, such that the first base station 200
and the second base station 300 both perform data transmission connection with the
communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources; and an acknowledge transmission
unit 803 configured to receive acknowledge information from the second base station 300 and
send the acknowledge information to the communication terminal 100, wherein the
acknowledge information comprises at least one of: with respect to which part of traffic of the
communication terminal 100 the second base station 300 is able to communicate, a specific
preamble for random access, system information of a new carrier on which the
communication terminal 100 communicates with the second base station 300, and
configuration information of control plane protocol for establishing the communication
between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300.
[00120] In other words, the request sending unit 801 may be used for performing a process
corresponding to process 204 in Figure 2, and acknowledge transmission unit 803 may be
used for performing a process corresponding to processes 206, 207 in Figure 2.
[00121] In addition, the communication apparatus 800 may comprise other units for
performing processes corresponding to the other processes in the communication methods
according to the first to fourth embodiments of the disclosure.
[00122] For example, the communication apparatus 800 may also comprise a function unit
for sending to the communication terminal 100 control information for measuring signal of
the second base station 300 (see process 201 in Figure 2); and a function unit for receiving a
measuring result from the communication terminal 100 (see process 202 in Figure 2).
[00123] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 800 may be an independent
apparatus and operate in connection with the communication terminal 100, the first base
station 200, the second base station 300 and the core network 400. The communication
apparatus 800 may also be a part of the first base station 200.
[00124] Figure 8B illustrates a communication apparatus 810 according to the fifth
embodiment of the disclosure. The communication apparatus 810 is on the second base
station 300 side for changing the communication between base stations and the
communication terminal 100, and comprises: a request receiving unit 811 configured to
receive, from the first base station 200, a request regarding the first base station 200 and the
second base station 300 both performing data transmission connection with the
communication terminal 100 on different carrier resources (see process 204 in Figure 2); and
an acknowledge unit 812 configured to, after receiving the request from the first base station
200, generate an acknowledge information and send the acknowledge information to the first
base station 200 (see processes 205, 206 in Figure 2), wherein the acknowledge information
comprises at least one of: with respect to which part of traffic of the communication terminal
100 the second base station 300 is able to communicate, a specific preamble for random
access, system information of a new carrier on which the communication terminal 100
communicates with the second base station 300, and configuration information of control
plane protocol for establishing the communication between the communication terminal 100
and the second base station 300.
[00125] In addition, the communication apparatus 810 may comprise other units for
performing processes corresponding to the other processes in the communication methods
according to the first to fourth embodiments of the disclosure.
[00126] For example, the communication apparatus 810 may also comprise a function unit
for establishing connection with the communication terminal 100 (see process 209 in Figure
2); and a function unit for notifying the core network 400 of information regarding connection
between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300 being established
(see process 210 in Figure 2).
[00127] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 810 may be an independent
apparatus and operate in connection with the communication terminal 100, the first base
station 200, the second base station 300 and the core network 400. The communication
apparatus 810 may also be a part of the second base station 300.
[00128] Figure 8C illustrates a communication apparatus 820 according to the fifth
embodiment of the disclosure. The communication apparatus 820 is on the communication
terminal side for changing the communication between base stations and the communication
terminal, and comprises: an acknowledge receiving unit 821 configured to receive, in the
case that it is determined that the first base station 200 and the second base station 300 both
perform data transmission connection with the communication terminal 100 on different
carrier resources, acknowledge information from the first base station 200 (see process 207 in
Figure 2), wherein the acknowledge information comprises at least one of: with respect to
which part of traffic of the communication terminal 100 the second base station 300 is able to
communicate, a specific preamble for random access, system information of a new carrier on
which the communication terminal 100 communicates with the second base station 300, and
configuration information of control plane protocol for establishing the communication
between the communication terminal 100 and the second base station 300; and a connection
establishing unit 822 configured to, in the case of keeping the connection with the first base
station 200, establish the connection with the second base station 300 (see process 200 in
Figure 2).
[00129] In addition, the communication apparatus 820 may comprise other units for
performing processes corresponding to the other processes in the communication methods
according to the first to fourth embodiments of the disclosure.
[00130] For example, the communication apparatus 820 may also comprise a function unit
for receiving control information for measuring signal of the second base station 300 from the
first base station 200 (see process 201 in Figure 2); and a function unit for sending a
measuring result to the first base station 200 (see process 202 in Figure 2).
[00131] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 820 may be an independent
apparatus and operate in connection with the communication terminal 100, the first base
station 200, the second base station 300 and the core network 400. The communication
apparatus 820 may also be a part of the communication terminal 100.
[00132] Figure 8D illustrates a communication apparatus 830 according to the fifth
embodiment of the disclosure. The communication apparatus 830 is on the core network 400
side for changing the communication between base stations and the communication terminal,
and comprises: a notification receiving unit (831) configured to, after the communication
terminal 100 which is communicating with a first base station 200 establishes the connection
with a second base station 300 on a carrier resource which is different from that of the first
base station 200, notification information regarding the first base station 200 and the second
base station 300 both performing data transmission connection with the communication
terminal 100 on different carrier resources from the first base station 200 or the second base
station 300 (see process 210 in Figure 2); a first communication unit 832 configured to, after
receiving the notification information, keep communicating with the communication terminal
100 via the first base station 200 (see the data packet communication between the first base
station 200 and the core network 400 and between the first base station 200 and the
communication terminal 100 shown in lower part of Figure 2); and a second communication
unit 833 configured to, after receiving the notification information, begin to communicate
with the communication terminal 100 via the second base station 300 (see the data packet
communication between the second base station 300 and the core network 400 and between
the second base station 300 and the communication terminal 100 shown in lower part of
Figure 2).
[00133] In addition, the communication apparatus 830 may comprise other units for
performing processes corresponding to the other processes in the communication methods
according to the first to fourth embodiments of the disclosure.
[00134] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 830 may be an independent
apparatus and operate in connection with the communication terminal 100, the first base
station 200, the second base station 300 and the core network 400. The communication
apparatus 830 may also be a part of the core network 400.
[00135] The communication apparatuses and the function units thereof according to the fifth
embodiment of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software or the combination
thereof (for example, FPGA). Those algorithms and procedures included as part of the
embodiments of the disclosure does not necessarily relate to any particular computer or other
device unless otherwise indicated. In particular, various universal computers may be used by
means of a program written according to the teaching herein, or a more dedicated equipment
(for example, integrated circuit) may be constructed conveniently to perform required method
steps or implement required function units. Therefore, the invention may be embodied with
one or more programs running on one or more programmable computer systems, in which
each of programmable computer systems includes at least one processor, at least one data
storage system (including volatile and nonvolatile memory and/or storage element), at least
one input device or port and at least one output device or port. Program code may be applied
to input data to perform the functions described herein and generate output information. The
output information may be applied to one or more output devices in a known manner.
6. Sixth embodiment of the disclosure
[00136] According to the sixth embodiment of the disclosure, the communication methods
according to the first to fourth embodiments of the disclosure and the communication
apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the disclosure may be configured by software,
firmware, hardware or the combination thereof. In case of implementing by software or
firmware, program constituting the software or firmware may be mounted to a machine
having a dedicated hardware structure from a storage medium or network (for example, the
universal computer 900 as illustrated in Fig. 9), when the computer is mounted with various
programs, the computer may execute various functions.
[00137] In Fig. 9, a central processing unit (CPU) 901 perform various processes according
to the program stored in the Read-Only Memory (ROM) 902 or programs load from the
storage unit 908 to the Random Access Memory (RAM) 903. In the RAM 903, store also data
required when the CPU 901 performs various processes. CPU 901, ROM 902 and RAM 903
are connected from one to another via bus 904. Input/output interface 905 is also connected to
the bus 904.
[00138] The following components are connected to the input/output interface 905: input
unit 906 (including keyboard, mouse, etc.); output unit 907 (including display, such as
cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and speakers and so on); storage
unit 908 (including hard disc, etc.); and communication part 909 (including network interface
cards such as LAN cards, modems and so on). The communication unit 909 performs
communication process via network like the internet. According to requirements, drive 910 is
also connected to the input/output interface 905. Detachable medium 911 such as disc, CD,
magneto-optical disc, semiconductor memory, and so on is installed on the drive 910 based on
requirements, such that the computer program read out therefrom is installed in the storage
unit 908 based on requirements.
[00139] In case of implementing the above processes by software, programs constituting the
software are installed from a network like the Internet or from a storage medium like the
detachable medium 911.
[00140] Those skilled in the art should be understood that such storage medium is not limited
to the detachable medium 911 which is stored with programs and distributes separate from the
method to provide a user with program as illustrated in Fig. 9. The example of the detachable
medium 911 includes disc (including floppy disc (registered marks)), CD (including CD read
only memory (CD-ROM) and digital versatile disc (DVD)), magneto-optical disc (including
mini-disc (MD) (registered marks)) and semiconductor memory. Alternatively, the storage
medium may be ROM 902, or hard disc included in the storage unit 908 in which a program
is stored and the program is distributed to a user with the method including the same.
[00141] The disclosure also provides a program product storing machine readable instruction
code. When read and executed by a machine, the instruction code may implement the
communication methods according to the embodiments of the disclosure. Correspondingly,
various storage medium for carrying the program product such as magnetic disk, optical disk,
magneto-optical disk, semiconductor memory, etc. is also included in the disclosure.
[00142] In addition, obviously, respective operations of the communication methods
according to the embodiments of the disclosure may also be implemented in a manner of
computer executable program stored in various machine readable storage mediums.
[00143] Although preferable embodiments of the disclosure have been described above, the
above description are only used to illustrate the disclosure, and do not limit the disclosure. For
those skilled in the art, various features of the embodiments of the disclosure may be changed,
substituted, combined and combine in part without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
Therefore, the scope of the disclosure is only defined by the attached claims.
[00144] Without limitation aspects of the invention may be implemented in a variety of
manners including the following.
[00145] In one embodiment an electronic device is described that includes processing
circuitry configured to establish a first wireless communication channel with a user equipment
(UE). The device also determines whether a second communication channel of at least a
predetermined quality exists between the UE and a non co-baseband basestation (BS) while
the first communication channel between the UE and the electronics device is maintained.
The first communication channel and the second communication channel use different carrier
resources.
[00146] According to one aspect, the processing circuitry is configured to inform the UE on
the first communication channel of a determination that the UE is to establish and maintain
the second communication channel with the non co-baseband BS while maintaining the first
communication channel.
[00147] According to another aspect the processing circuitry does not release data
communications with the UE on the first communication channel while the UE establishes
and maintains data communications with the non co-baseband BS on the second
communications channel.
[00148] According to another aspect the non co-baseband BS is not connected to the
electronic device via an optical connection.
[00149] According to another aspect the processing circuitry determines a manner of
changing communications with the UE to include establishing and maintaining the second
communication channel with the non co-baseband communication channel at least based on a
measuring result of signals from the non co-baseband communication channel and the UE.
[00150] According to another aspect after the second communication channel is established,
the processing circuitry and the non co-baseband BS perform at least one of data transmission
of respective control plane configurations, transmission on uplink control channel, and
measurements of mobility and wireless link failure.
[00151] According to another aspect the electronic device, UE and non co-baseband BS
share a common control plane.
[00152] According to another aspect the common control plane is a radio resource control
(RRC) protocol.
[00153] According to another aspect a frequency band used in the first communication
channel is different than a frequency band of the second communication channel.
[00154] According to another aspect the processing circuitry is configured to receive from
the non co-baseband BS at least one of an indication of which part of message traffic for the
UE the non co-baseband BS is able to communicate, a preamble for random access, system
information of a new carrier on which the UE communicates with the non co-baseband BS,
and configuration information of control plane protocol for establishing communication
between the communication terminal and the second base station.
[00155] According to another aspect the processing circuitry performs lossless handover
with the non co-baseband BS by forwarding to a core network sequential data packets and
performs data forwarding of a successfully received non-sequential data packet to the non cobaseband
BS for subsequent forwarding to the core network.
[00156] According to another aspect the processing circuitry performs seamless handover
with the non co-baseband BS by acknowledging packets that have been successfully received
from the UE so the UE can send dropped packets to the non co-baseband BS for forwarding
to a core network.
[00157] According to another aspect the processing circuitry performs lossless handover
with the non co-baseband BS by acknowledging packets that have been successfully received
from the UE so the UE can resend lost packets to the processing circuitry for forwarding to a
core network and the UE can also send different packets to the non co-baseband BS so the
non co-baseband BS can forward the different packets to the core network.
[00158] According to another aspect the processing circuitry performs seamless handover
with the non co-baseband BS by acknowledging packets that have been successfully received
from the UE for forwarding to a core network so the UE can also send different packets to the
non co-baseband BS and the non co-baseband BS can forward the different packets to the core
network.
[00159] According to another aspect the processing circuitry is configured to stop receiving
packets from the UE once the UE recognizes that the processing circuitry has failed to send an
acknowledgement for a packet that the UE sent to the processing circuitry.
[00160] According to another aspect the processing circuitry in a lossless handover in
response to sending a first set of data packets on the first communication channel to the UE
and receiving an acknowledge for only a subset of the first set, forwards dropped packets to
the non co-baseband BS for relaying to the UE.
[00161] According to another aspect the processing circuitry is configured to stop sending
packets to the UE once an acknowledge message indicates that a packet was dropped, and in
response the processing circuitry forwards at least one packet that was dropped and any newly
received packet to the non co-baseband BS for relaying to the UE.
[00162] According to another aspect the processing circuitry is configured to forward only
the newly received packets to the non co-baseband BS for relaying to the UE.
[00163] According to another aspect the processing circuitry is configured to send data
packets to the UE from a core network, and once a data end symbol is received, the
processing circuitry forwards the data end symbol to the non co-baseband BS for relaying to
the UE.
[00164] In another embodiment, a communications method is described that establishes a
first wireless communication channel between a first basestation and a user equipment (UE);
determining with processing circuitry whether a second communication channel of at least
predetermined quality exists between the UE and a non co-baseband BS while the first
communication channel between the UE and the electronics device is maintained, wherein the
first communication channel and the second communication channel use different carrier
resources.
[00165] In a non-transitory computer readable storage device embodiment, the device has
instructions stored therein that when executed by processing circuitry perform a
communications method, the method comprising: establishing a first wireless communication
channel between a first basestation and a user equipment (UE); determining with the
processing circuitry whether a second communication channel of at least predetermined
quality exists between the UE and a non co-baseband BS while the first communication
channel between the UE and the electronics device is maintained, wherein the first
communication channel and the second communication channel use different carrier resources.

CLAIMS
[Claim 1]
An electronic device comprising:
processing circuitry configured to
establish a first wireless communication channel with a user equipment (UE),
determine whether a second communication channel of at least a predetermined
quality exists between the UE and a non co-baseband basestation (BS) while the first
communication channel between the UE and the electronics device is maintained, wherein
the first communication channel and the second communication channel use different
carrier resources.
[Claim 2]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the processing circuitry is configured to inform the UE on the first communication
channel of a determination that the UE is to establish and maintain the second communication
channel with the non co-baseband BS while maintaining the first communication channel.
[Claim 3]
The electronic device of claim 2, wherein
the processing circuitry does not release data communications with the UE on the first
communication channel while the UE establishes and maintains data communications with
the non co-baseband BS on the second communications channel.
[Claim 4]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the non co-baseband BS is not connected to the electronic device via an optical
connection.
[Claim 5]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the processing circuitry determines a manner of changing communications with the UE
to include establishing and maintaining the second communication channel with the non cobaseband
communication channel at least based on a measuring result of signals from the non
co-baseband communication channel and the UE.
[Claim 6]
The electronic device of claim 5, wherein
after the second communication channel is established, the processing circuitry and the
non co-baseband BS perform at least one of data transmission of respective control plane
configurations, transmission on uplink control channel, and measurements of mobility and
wireless link failure.
[Claim 7]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the electronic device, UE and non co-baseband BS share a common control plane.
[Claim 8]
The electronic device of claim 7, wherein
the common control plane is a radio resource control (RRC) protocol.
[Claim 9]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
a frequency band used in the first communication channel is different than a frequency
band of the second communication channel.
[Claim 10]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the processing circuitry is configured to receive from the non co-baseband BS at least
one of an indication of which part of message traffic for the UE the non co-baseband BS is
able to communicate, a preamble for random access, system information of a new carrier on
which the UE communicates with the non co-baseband BS, and configuration information of
control plane protocol for establishing communication between the communication terminal
and the second base station.
[Claim 11]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the processing circuitry performs lossless handover with the non co-baseband BS by
forwarding to a core network sequential data packets and performs data forwarding of a
successfully received non-sequential data packet to the non co-baseband BS for subsequent
forwarding to the core network.
[Claim 12]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the processing circuitry performs seamless handover with the non co-baseband BS by
acknowledging packets that have been successfully received from the UE so the UE can send
dropped packets to the non co-baseband BS for forwarding to a core network.
[Claim 13]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the processing circuitry performs lossless handover with the non co-baseband BS by
acknowledging packets that have been successfully received from the UE so the UE can
resend lost packets to the processing circuitry for forwarding to a core network and the UE
can also send different packets to the non co-baseband BS so the non co-baseband BS can
forward the different packets to the core network.
[Claim 14]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the processing circuitry performs seamless handover with the non co-baseband BS by
acknowledging packets that have been successfully received from the UE for forwarding to a
core network so the UE can also send different packets to the non co-baseband BS and the
non co-baseband BS can forward the different packets to the core network.
[Claim 15]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the processing circuitry is configured to stop receiving packets from the UE once the
UE recognizes that the processing circuitry has failed to send an acknowledgement for a
packet that the UE sent to the processing circuitry.
[Claim 16]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the processing circuitry in a lossless handover in response to sending a first set of data
packets on the first communication channel to the UE and receiving an acknowledge for only
a subset of the first set, forwards dropped packets to the non co-baseband BS for relaying to
the UE.
[Claim 17]
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the processing circuitry is configured to stop sending packets to the UE once an
acknowledge message indicates that a packet was dropped, and in response the processing
circuitry forwards at least one packet that was dropped and any newly received packet to the
non co-baseband BS for relaying to the UE.
[Claim 18]
The electronic device of claim 17, wherein
the processing circuitry is configured to forward only the newly received packets to the
non co-baseband BS for relaying to the UE.
[Claim 19]
The electronic device of claim 17, wherein
the processing circuitry is configured to send data packets to the UE from a core
network, and once a data end symbol is received, the processing circuitry forwards the data
end symbol to the non co-baseband BS for relaying to the UE.
[Claim 20]
A communications method comprising:
establishing a first wireless communication channel between a first basestation and a
user equipment (UE);
determining with processing circuitry whether a second communication channel of at
least predetermined quality exists between the UE and a non co-baseband BS while the first
communication channel between the UE and the electronics device is maintained, wherein
the first communication channel and the second communication channel use different
carrier resources.
[Claim 21]
A non-transitory computer readable storage device having instructions stored therein
that when executed by processing circuitry perform a communications method, the method
comprising:
establishing a first wireless communication channel between a first basestation and a
user equipment (UE);
determining with the processing circuitry whether a second communication channel of
at least predetermined quality exists between the UE and a non co-baseband BS while the first
communication channel between the UE and the electronics device is maintained, wherein
the first communication channel and the second communication channel use different
carrier resources.