Femtocell UE Redirection During Broadband Outage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Femtocells currently cannot maintain connectivity with User Equipment (UE) when the broadband connection is disabled, preventing the UE from controlling the home network environment.
Innovation Solution
The femtocell maintains the 3G radio connection with the UE even when the broadband connection is down, allowing the UE to function as a control device within the home network, and redirects the UE to a macrocell for incoming and outgoing calls when the broadband link is unavailable, ensuring continuous connectivity to the mobile network.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the femtocell turns off the 3G radio connection when the broadband connection goes down, then the femtocell conserves energy and avoids unnecessary connections, but the UE cannot control the home network environment and loses connectivity
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the 3G radio connection state based on broadband availability. When broadband is available, the 3G radio connection is maintained for normal operations. When broadband fails, the system automatically redirects UEs to macrocells while maintaining the 3G radio connection state, enabling flexible adaptation to network conditions and ensuring continuous control capability through alternative paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The macrocell acts as an intermediary when the broadband connection fails. Instead of completely disconnecting the UE from the network, the system uses the macrocell as an intermediate pathway to maintain connectivity and control functionality. The femtocell redirects UEs to the macrocell, which then provides the necessary network access, ensuring the UE can still control the home network environment through an alternative routing path.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the femtocell maintains the 3G radio connection when broadband is down, then the UE remains reachable and can control the home network, but the system complexity increases and resources are consumed unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms to monitor broadband connection status and automatically adjust the 3G radio connection state accordingly. When broadband availability changes, the system receives feedback about this status change and responds by redirecting UEs to macrocells or maintaining connections as appropriate. This feedback-driven approach enables automatic adaptation without requiring complex manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring redirection parameters and maintaining readiness to redirect UEs to macrocells when broadband fails. The femtocell is pre-programmed with the capability to automatically detect broadband failures and initiate redirection procedures, eliminating the need for complex real-time decision-making and reducing operational complexity during failure events.
3Reliability
If the femtocell redirects UEs to macrocell when broadband is unavailable, then continuous connectivity to mobile network is maintained, but call management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service redirection where the femtocell automatically detects broadband unavailability and initiates UE redirection to macrocells without requiring external intervention. The redirection process is handled autonomously by the femtocell itself, which manages the call routing decisions and executes the redirection procedures, reducing the complexity of centralized management while ensuring continuous connectivity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention concerns a femtocell device (1) and method at a femtocell device (1) comprising a first interface (23) for communicating to a macrocell (4) and a second interface (25) for communicating to a broadband network (2), the method comprising the steps of, when communication to the broadband network (2) is inactive, receiving a paging message from the macrocell (4) destined to a mobile device (3) connected to the femtocell device (1), and notifying the mobile device (3) to redirect to the macrocell (4).