Apparatus and method for improving connectivity for items of user equipment in a wireless network
An apparatus and method are provided for improving connectivity for items of user equipment in a wireless network. The apparatus has a first antenna system for providing a first sector of a network, and a second antenna system for providing a second sector of the network. Further, the apparatus has a third antenna system for communicating with a base station of the network to provide a common wireless backhaul link for the first sector and the second sector. In addition, an interface is provided to an internet connection of a building in which the apparatus is deployed, and backhaul management circuitry is then arranged, in at least one mode of operation, to control utilisation of both the internet connection and the common wireless backhaul link to provide backhaul connectivity to the network for items of user equipment connected to the apparatus via the first and second antenna systems. Through the use of such an apparatus, it has been found that significant improvements in network coverage can be readily obtained, and further the overall spectral efficiency of the network can be enhanced to improve network capacity, with the backhaul management circuitry maintaining an efficient backhaul connection through the combined use of the common wireless backhaul link and the internet connection.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a first antenna system to provide a first sector of a network;
a second antenna system to provide a second sector of the network;
a third antenna system to communicate with a base station of the network to provide a common wireless backhaul connection between said base station and said apparatus;
an interface providing an additional backhaul connection between said base station and said apparatus via an internet connection of a building in which the apparatus is deployed; and
backhaul management circuitry operable, in at least one mode of operation, to control utilisation of both the additional backhaul link connection and the common wireless backhaul connection to provide, in combination, backhaul connectivity between said base station and items of user equipment connected to the apparatus via the first and second antenna systems.
2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the interface is a WiFi interface.
3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the backhaul management circuitry comprises traffic type analysis circuitry to determine, for each block of backhaul traffic, a type of that traffic, and to select which one of the additional backhaul connection and the common wireless backhaul connection is used for propagation of that block of backhaul traffic dependent on the determined type of that traffic.
4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein each block comprises a packet, such that the determination as to which of the additional backhaul connection and the common wireless backhaul connection to use is made on a packet-by-packet basis.
5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the backhaul management circuitry determines from the type of traffic whether the associated block of backhaul traffic is considered to be low importance or high importance, and is arranged to route backhaul traffic of low importance via the additional backhaul connection, and to route backhaul traffic of high importance via the common wireless backhaul connection.
6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein backhaul traffic is considered to be of high importance if timing of delivery of that backhaul traffic is important.
7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein:
the backhaul traffic comprises control traffic pertaining to control of the apparatus and user traffic pertaining to communications between the apparatus and connected items of user equipment; and
the backhaul management circuitry is arranged to treat control traffic as of high importance, and to selectively treat each block of user traffic as of high importance or low importance dependent on a type of that user traffic.
8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the backhaul management circuitry comprises traffic disassembly circuitry configured, in dependence on the type of traffic determined by the traffic type analysis circuitry, to disassemble a stream of backhaul traffic to be sent from the apparatus in order to form a first sub-stream to be sent via the common wireless backhaul connection and a second sub-stream to be sent via the additional backhaul connection.
9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 , further comprising:
downlink traffic reassembly circuitry, responsive to a first downlink sub-stream received via the third antenna system and a second downlink sub-stream received via said interface to the additional backhaul connection, to aggregate together the first and second downlink sub-streams in order to form a stream of downlink backhaul traffic.
10. A network component for deploying in a network comprising at least one instance of an apparatus as claimed in claim 8 , the network component comprising:
a first interface to receive the first sub-stream via a macro base station of the network;
a second interface to receive the second sub-stream via an internet connection; and
traffic reassembly circuitry configured to aggregate together the first and second sub-streams in order to form a stream of backhaul traffic for onward propagation within the network.
11. A network component as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising downlink traffic disassembly circuitry to disassemble a stream of downlink backhaul traffic to be sent to the apparatus, in order to form a first downlink sub-stream to be sent to the apparatus via the common wireless backhaul connection and a second downlink sub-stream to be sent to the apparatus via the additional backhaul connection.
12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the third antenna system operates with a signal frequency different to the signal frequency employed by the first and second antenna systems.
13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first and the second antenna systems are configured such that when the apparatus is deployed at a periphery of a building, the first sector extends into the building to provide enhanced availability of the network to items of user equipment within the building, and the second sector extends externally to the building to provide an additional source of network coverage to items of user equipment external to the building.
14. A method of operating an apparatus having first, second and third antenna systems to provide network coverage in a wireless network, comprising:
employing the first antenna system to provide a first sector of a network;
employing the second antenna system to provide a second sector of the network;
employing the third antenna system to communicate with a base station of the network to provide a common wireless backhaul connection between said base station and said apparatus;
providing an additional backhaul connection between said base station and said apparatus by connecting the apparatus to an internet connection of a building in which the apparatus is deployed; and
in at least one mode of operation, controlling combined utilisation of both the additional backhaul connection and the common wireless backhaul connection to provide backhaul connectivity between said base station and items of user equipment connected to the apparatus via the first and second antenna systems.
15. An apparatus comprising:
first antenna means for providing a first sector of a network;
second antenna means for providing a second sector of the network;
third antenna means for communicating with a base station of the network to provide a common wireless backhaul connection between said base station and said apparatus;
interface means for providing an additional backhaul connection between said base station and said apparatus via an internet connection of a building in which the apparatus is deployed; and
backhaul management means for controlling, in at least one mode of operation, combined utilisation of both the additional backhaul connection and the common wireless backhaul connection to provide backhaul connectivity between said base station and items of user equipment connected to the apparatus via the first and second antenna means.