Multi-Hop Load Balancing

Abstract

A base station in a wireless communications system defines a plurality of beams which each have an amount of resources for supporting communication links with terminals. A control entity determines if a direct communication link can be supported between a new terminal and a base station using a first beam. If a direct communication link cannot be supported, a relaying equipment is used to provide a multi-hop path between the base station and the terminal. The multi-hop path comprises a link between the base station and the relaying equipment using resources of a different beam. This helps to redistribute load within the cell. The direct communication link can be refused if there are insufficient resources in the first beam, or if accepting the new terminal would cause quality of communication links with existing terminals to deteriorate.

1 . A wireless communications system, comprising:
 at least one base station, each base station defining at least one beam, each beam having a respective amount of resources for supporting communication links with terminals located in the beam;   at least one relaying equipment; and   at least one control entity configured:   to determine a reduced amount of resources that would be allocated, as a result of adaptive modulation operation with equal throughput (EQT) scheduling, to terminals served by a first beam defined by a first base station if the first base station were to accept an additional terminal;   to determine a quality of communication for the terminals served by the first base station resulting from adaptive modulation operation in view of the reduced amount of resources, to determine if the first beam has sufficient resources to support a direct communication link between the additional terminal and the first base station if the direct communication were established by allocating to the additional terminal a portion of resources used by terminals served by the first base station without reducing the quality of communication for the terminals served by the first base station below a predetermined limit; and   when the first beam does not have sufficient resources, to initiate use of the relaying equipment to provide a communication link between a base station defining a second beam and additional terminal via the relaying equipment.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first beam and the second beam are defined by the first base station. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first base station defines a plurality of sectors and the beams have a width which is narrower than the width of the sectors. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , comprising a plurality of relaying equipments positioned within the beams and the control entity is configured to select a relaying equipment, from a plurality of candidate relaying equipments, to provide a communication link between a base station and the additional terminal. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the control entity is configured to select a relaying equipment based on a characteristic of a communication link that the relaying equipment can provide. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the relaying equipment uses resources of the first beam for communication with the additional terminal. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the relaying equipment uses resources of the second beam for communication with the additional terminal. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the relaying equipment uses resources which are separate from those allocated to each of the first and second beams for communication with the additional terminal. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control entity is part of one of a base station and a base station controller. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control entity is part of one of a terminal and a relaying equipment. 
     
     
         11 . In a wireless communications system, comprising at least one base station, each base station defining at least one beam, each beam having a respective amount of resources for supporting communication links with terminals located in the beam and at least one relaying equipment, a method of establishing a connection between an additional terminal and a base station, the method comprising:
 determining a reduced amount of resources that would be allocated, as a result of adaptive modulation operation with equal throughput (EQT) scheduling, to terminals served by a first beam defined by a first base station if the first base station were to accept an additional terminal;   determining a quality of communication for the terminals served by the first base station resulting from adaptive modulation operation in view of the reduced amount of resources, to determine if the first beam has sufficient resources to support a direct communication link between the additional terminal and the first base station if the direct communication were established by allocating to the additional terminal a portion of resources used by terminals served by the first base station without reducing the quality of communication for the terminals served by the first base station below a predetermined limit; and   when the first beam does not have sufficient resources, initiating use of the relaying equipment to provide a communication link between a base station defining a second beam and additional terminal via the relaying equipment.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first beam and the second beam are defined by the first base station. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first base station defines a plurality of sectors and the beams have a width which is narrower than the width of the sectors. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the system comprises a plurality of relaying equipments positioned within the beams, the method comprising selecting a relaying equipment, from a plurality of candidate relaying equipments, to provide a communication link between a base station and the additional terminal. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein selecting a relaying equipment comprises selecting a relaying equipment based on a characteristic of a communication link that the relaying equipment can provide. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein selecting a relaying equipment comprises selecting a relaying equipment based on a distance between the relaying equipment and the additional terminal. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein selecting a relaying equipment comprises selecting a relaying equipment based on a beam shape. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the relaying equipment uses resources of the first beam for communication with the additional terminal. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the relaying equipment uses resources of the second beam for communication with the additional terminal. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the relaying equipment uses resources which are separate from those allocated to each of the first and second beams for communication with the additional terminal.