Active hand-in for multi-femto deployments

Abstract

A method for enabling an active hand-in from a macro base station network to a femtocell network includes servicing an active hand-in of a mobile entity from a macro base station to a femtocell network, using a first femtocell of the femtocell network. The active hand-in includes a hard handoff of the mobile entity from the macro base station with soft handoff of the mobile entity enabled between the first femtocell and one or more neighboring femtocells in the femtocell network. The hard handoff with soft handoff enabled may be implemented using novel procedures implemented by one or more entities of a wireless communications network including the femtocells and macro base station.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for performing an active hand-in from a macro base station network to a femtocell network, comprising:
 receiving from a serving macro base station information identifying traffic channel resources for a plurality of femtocells; and   performing active hand-in from the macro base station network to the femtocell network, wherein soft handoff is enabled with the plurality of femtocells from a first data bit received after active hand-in.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information identifying traffic channel resources comprises pseudo-noise (PN) offsets, traffic channel assignments, and forward link frequencies. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 searching for the PN offsets on the forward link frequencies; and   decoding traffic channel data from the plurality of femtocells.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein soft handoff is enabled with the plurality of femtocells prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately upon completion of a hard handoff from the serving macro base station to a femtocell of the plurality of femtocells. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 reporting a PN offset and signal strength of a femtocell pilot to the serving macro base station.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 measuring frequency hopping beacons from the plurality of femtocells; and   reporting the measurements.   
     
     
         7 . An apparatus for performing an active hand-in from a macro base station network to a femtocell network, comprising:
 means for receiving from a serving macro base station information identifying traffic channel resources for a plurality of femtocells; and   means for performing active hand-in from the macro base station network to the femtocell network, wherein soft handoff is enabled with the plurality of femtocells from a first data bit received after active hand-in.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the information identifying traffic channel resources comprises pseudo-noise (PN) offsets, traffic channel assignments, and forward link frequencies. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 means for searching for the PN offsets on the forward link frequencies; and   means for decoding traffic channel data from the plurality of femtocells.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein soft handoff is enabled with the plurality of femtocells prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately upon completion of a hard handoff from the serving macro base station to a femtocell of the plurality of femtocells. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 means for reporting a PN offset and signal strength of a femtocell pilot to the serving macro base station.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 means for measuring frequency hopping beacons from the plurality of femtocells; and   means for reporting the measurements.   
     
     
         13 . An apparatus for performing an active hand-in from a macro base station network to a femtocell network, comprising:
 at least one processor configured to:   receive from a serving macro base station information identifying traffic channel resources for a plurality of femtocells; and   perform active hand-in from the macro base station network to the femtocell network, wherein soft handoff is enabled with the plurality of femtocells from a first data bit received after active hand-in.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the information identifying traffic channel resources comprises pseudo-noise (PN) offsets, traffic channel assignments, and forward link frequencies. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 search for the PN offsets on the forward link frequencies; and   decode traffic channel data from the plurality of femtocells.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein soft handoff is enabled with the plurality of femtocells prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately upon completion of a hard handoff from the serving macro base station to a femtocell of the plurality of femtocells. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 report a PN offset and signal strength of a femtocell pilot to the serving macro base station.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 measure frequency hopping beacons from the plurality of femtocells; and   report the measurements.   
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code for:
 receiving from a serving macro base station information identifying traffic channel resources for a plurality of femtocells; and   performing active hand-in from a macro base station network to a femtocell network, wherein soft handoff is enabled with the plurality of femtocells from a first data bit received after active hand-in.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the information identifying traffic channel resources comprises pseudo-noise (PN) offsets, traffic channel assignments, and forward link frequencies. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 20 , further comprising code for:
 searching for the PN offsets on the forward link frequencies; and   decoding traffic channel data from the plurality of femtocells.   
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein soft handoff is enabled with the plurality of femtocells prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately upon completion of a hard handoff from the serving macro base station to a femtocell of the plurality of femtocells. 
     
     
         23 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , further comprising code for:
 reporting a PN offset and signal strength of a femtocell pilot to the serving macro base station.   
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , further comprising code for:
 measuring frequency hopping beacons from the plurality of femtocells; and   reporting the measurements.