Apparatus and methods for hand-in to a femto node
Methods and apparatuses are provided for causing active hand-in of a device from a macrocell base station to a femto node, which can be an inter-frequency hand-in. The femto node can broadcast a beacon, which can be received and reported by a device to a source base station along with one or more parameters. The source base station can communicate a handover message to the femto node or a related femto gateway along with the one or more parameters. The femto node or femto gateway can disambiguate the intended target femto node based in part on the one or more parameters, which can include applying one or more filters. Applying the one or more filters may include applying an UL RSSI filter to the one or more femto nodes to determine whether presence of the device causes a rise in UL RSSI measured at the one or more femto nodes.
1. A method for wireless communications, comprising:
receiving a handover message for a device comprising one or more parameters including a primary scrambling code (PSC) related to a target femto node;
applying, to one or more femto nodes that utilize the PSC, one or more filters based in part on the one or more parameters to determine whether at least one femto node of the one or more femto nodes corresponds to the target femto node; and
preparing the at least one femto node to receive hand-in of the device,
wherein the applying the one or more filters further comprises applying an uplink (UL) received signal strength indicator (RSSI) filter to the one or more femto nodes that determines that a specific femto node is a possible target femto node in response to a rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node indicating presence of the device, wherein applying the UL RSSI filter comprises:
storing a received UL RSSI reported by the specific femto node according to a time schedule for use with the UL RSSI filter;
comparing an average over time of the received UL RSSI for the specific femto node to a current UL RSSI for the specific femto node to determine the rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node;
setting a threshold for each specific femto node based in part on a cell individual offset of each of the one or more femto nodes; and
determining that the rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node indicates presence of the device at the specific femto node in response to determining that a difference between the current UL RSSI for the specific femto node and the average over time of the received UL RSSI for the specific femto node satisfies the threshold for the specific femto node.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the applying the one or more filters results in determining at least two femto nodes of the one or more femto nodes correspond to the target femto node, and wherein the preparing comprises preparing the at least two femto nodes for hand-in of the device.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an indication of multiple femto node preparation from a femto gateway; and
establishing a selection of a set of common resources for hand-in of the device.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the preparing the at least one femto node comprises transmitting a relocation request message to the at least one femto node comprising the one or more parameters.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a relocation response message to one or more components of a core network comprising an indication of resources for hand-in of the device, wherein the preparing the at least one femto node comprises establishing the resources for hand-in of the device.
6. An apparatus for disambiguating a target femto node, comprising:
at least one processor configured to:
receive a handover message for a device comprising one or more parameters including a primary scrambling code (PSC) related to the target femto node;
apply, to one or more femto nodes that utilize the PSC, one or more filters based in part on the one or more parameters to determine whether at least one femto node of the one or more femto nodes corresponds to the target femto node; and
prepare the at least one femto node to receive hand-in of the device; and
a memory coupled to the at least one processor,
wherein to apply the one or more filters the at least one processor is further configured to apply an uplink (UL) received signal strength indicator (RSSI) filter to the one or more femto nodes that determines that a specific femto node is a possible target femto node in response to a rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node indicating presence of the device, wherein the at least one processor is configured to apply the UL RSSI filter by:
storing a received UL RSSI reported by the specific femto node according to a time schedule for use with the UL RSSI filter;
comparing an average over time of the received UL RSSI for the specific femto node to a current UL RSSI for the specific femto node to determine the rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node;
setting a threshold for each specific femto node based in part on a cell individual offset of each of the one or more femto nodes; and
determining that the rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node indicates presence of the device at the specific femto node in response to determining that a difference between the current UL RSSI for the specific femto node and the average over time of the received UL RSSI for the specific femto node satisfies the threshold for the specific femto node.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the applying the one or more filters results in determining at least two femto nodes of the one or more femto nodes correspond to the target femto node, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to prepare the at least two femto nodes for hand-in of the device.
8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
receive an indication of multiple femto node preparation from a femto gateway; and
establish a selection of a set of common resources for hand-in of the device.
9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to prepare the at least one femto node by transmitting a relocation request message to the at least one femto node comprising the one or more parameters.
10. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit a relocation response message to one or more components of a core network comprising an indication of resources for hand-in of the device, wherein the at least one processor is configured to prepare the at least one femto node by establishing the resources for hand-in of the device.
11. An apparatus for disambiguating a target femto node, comprising:
means for receiving a handover message for a device comprising one or more parameters including a primary scrambling code (PSC) related to the target femto node;
means for applying, to one or more femto nodes that utilize the PSC, one or more filters based in part on the one or more parameters to determine whether at least one femto node of the one or more femto nodes corresponds to the target femto node; and
means for preparing the at least one femto node to receive hand-in of the device,
wherein the means for applying is further configured to apply an uplink (UL) received signal strength indicator (RSSI) filter to the one or more femto nodes that determines that a specific femto node is a possible target femto node in response to a rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node indicating presence of the device, wherein the means for applying is configured to apply the UL RSSI filter by:
storing a received UL RSSI reported by the specific femto node according to a time schedule for use with the UL RSSI filter;
comparing an average over time of the received UL RSSI for the specific femto node to a current UL RSSI for the specific femto node to determine the rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node;
setting a threshold for each specific femto node based in part on a cell individual offset of each of the one or more femto nodes; and
determining that the rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node indicates presence of the device at the specific femto node in response to determining that a difference between the current UL RSSI for the specific femto node and the average over time of the received UL RSSI for the specific femto node satisfies the threshold for the specific femto node.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the applying the one or more filters results in determining at least two femto nodes of the one or more femto nodes correspond to the target femto node, and wherein the means for preparing is configured to prepare the at least two femto nodes for hand-in of the device.
13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the means for preparing is configured to prepare the at least one femto node by transmitting a relocation request message to the at least one femto node comprising the one or more parameters.
14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable code for disambiguating a target femto node, comprising:
code for causing at least one computer to receive a handover message for a device comprising one or more parameters including a primary scrambling code (PSC) related to the target femto node;
code for causing the at least one computer to apply, to one or more femto nodes that utilize the PSC, one or more filters based in part on the one or more parameters to determine whether at least one femto node of the one or more femto nodes corresponds to the target femto node; and
code for causing the at least one computer to prepare the at least one femto node to receive hand-in of the device,
wherein the code for causing the at least one computer to apply the one or more filters further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to apply an uplink (UL) received signal strength indicator (RSSI) filter to the one or more femto nodes that determines that a specific femto node is a possible target femto node in response to a rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node indicating presence of the device, wherein the code for applying the UL RSSI filter comprises:
code for storing a received UL RSSI reported by the specific femto node according to a time schedule for use with the UL RSSI filter;
code for comparing an average over time of the received UL RSSI for the specific femto node to a current UL RSSI for the specific femto node to determine the rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node;
code for setting a threshold for each specific femto node based in part on a cell individual offset of each of the one or more femto nodes; and
code for determining that the rise in UL RSSI measured at the specific femto node indicates presence of the device at the specific femto node in response to determining that a difference between the current UL RSSI for the specific femto node and the average over time of the received UL RSSI for the specific femto node satisfies the threshold for the specific femto node.