Virtualized Cell Architecture

Abstract

A method for combining two radio access network (RAN) cells into a virtual cell is disclosed, comprising: at a coordinating node, assigning a virtual cell identifier for a virtual cell, assigning a plurality of base stations to the virtual cell, and scheduling resources for a user equipment (UE) at each base station in the virtual cell; and at a base station of the plurality of base stations, constructing a signal containing two cell identifiers, the two cell identifiers being the virtual cell identifier and a physical cell identifier of the base station, and sending the signal to the UE, thereby improving performance for the UE at a cell edge of the first base station and of the second base station.

1 . A method for combining two radio access network (RAN) cells into a virtual cell, comprising:
 at a coordinating node,
 assigning a virtual cell identifier for a virtual cell, 
 assigning a plurality of base stations to the virtual cell, and 
 scheduling resources for a user equipment (UE) at each base station in the virtual cell; and 
   at a base station of the plurality of base stations, constructing a signal containing two cell identifiers, the two cell identifiers being the virtual cell identifier and a physical cell identifier of the base station, and sending the signal to the UE,   
       thereby improving performance for the UE at a cell edge of the first base station and of the second base station. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising at a second base station of the plurality of base stations, constructing a second signal containing two cell identifiers, the two cell identifiers being the virtual cell identifier and a physical cell identifier of the second base station, and sending the second signal to the UE. 
     
     
         3 . wherein the coordinating node is a mesh network base station or a gateway between the plurality of base stations and a core network. 
     
     
         4 . wherein the UE is a cell edge UE having a reduced signal quality below a cell edge threshold. 
     
     
         5 . wherein the plurality of base stations are LTE eNodeBs, and wherein the resources scheduled by the coordinating node include resource block allocations for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). 
     
     
         6 . wherein the signal includes a reference signal, a primary synchronization signal, and a secondary synchronization signal for the UE. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising dynamically adding or removing a base station to or from the virtual cell based on a measurement report from the UE. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising constructing the signal with up to 5 cell identifiers. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising reserving, at the coordinating node, a portion of a radio resource pool for cell edge users. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising scheduling, at the base station, resources for a cell center UE. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising constructing the virtual cell identifier not to overlap with the physical cell identifier of the base station, such that the reference signal maintains a mod-6 difference. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising assigning non-overlapping radio resources to different UEs. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising using multiple-in, multiple-out (MIMO), spatial diversity, or beamforming for spatial multiplexing between the plurality of base stations and the UE. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending data from more than one of the plurality of base stations in the virtual cell simultaneously to the UE. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising assigning a single set of radio resources to two different UEs that are being served by the virtual cell. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising using interference rejection combining (IRC) or maximum ratio combining (MRC) to construct or reconstruct the signal. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising using modulated symbol multiplexing at a transmitter or modulated symbol de-multiplexing at a receiver. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing management of member transmitters at different base stations as virtual MIMO antennas. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising assigning two physical base stations to the virtual cell, to communicate with a Cat. 4 UE, or assigning four physical base stations in the virtual cell, to communicate with a Cat. 6 or Cat 7 UE.