Method and apparatus for providing wireless communication system synchronization
US6590881B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 4, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jul 8, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 4, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04B7/2696
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
When insufficient traffic is present in the network to maintain synchronization in this manner, other methods must be used. One approach involves making direct measurements of the timing between base stations. This is accomplished in one of two ways. The base may interrupt its transmissions on all sectors for a short interval during which it determines the time of arrival of signals from other base stations. Given knowledge of the other base station locations, time errors relative to all other base stations may be derived. Alternatively, the base may send a short signal at high power in the mobile transmit band. This time-of-arrival of this signal is measured by the surrounding base stations and the time errors between pairs of base stations are computed. In some cases, a base station may be isolated sufficiently from all other base stations in the network such that direct base-to-base measurement is not viable. In this case, a fixed mobile is placed at a location in the handoff region between the isolated cell and another cell in the network. The fixed mobile either performs measurements of base station pilots on command of the base and reports the timing information, or sends a b…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.