Techniques for Uplink Cooperation of Access Nodes

Abstract

For uplink cooperation of a serving access node ( 100 - 1 ) and a supporting access node ( 100 - 2 ) with respect to a terminal ( 200 ), the serving access node ( 100 - 1 ) requests information relating to an Rx signal ( 10 - 2 ) received from the terminal ( 200 ) at the supporting access node ( 100 - 2 ). The requested information may include a baseband representation of the Rx signal ( 10 - 2 ), demodulated bits of the Rx signal ( 10 - 2 ), or decoded bits of the Rx signal ( 10 - 2 ). The supporting access node ( 100 - 2 ) obtains the requested information from the Rx signal ( 10 - 2 ) and sends a response including the information to the serving access node ( 100 - 1 ). The serving base station determines an optimized signal on the basis of the information received from the supporting access node ( 100 - 2 ) and on the basis of corresponding information relating to a signal ( 10 - 1 ) received from the terminal ( 200 ) at the serving access node ( 100 - 1 ).

1 - 28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . A method for optimizing a first signal received from a terminal of a communication network comprising a plurality of access nodes, wherein the terminal is associated with a first access node of said plurality of access nodes, wherein the method is implemented by the first access node and comprises:
 receiving the first signal from the terminal,   sending a request to a second access node of said plurality of access nodes for information relating to a second signal received from the terminal at the second access node,   receiving the requested information, and   determining an optimized signal based on the received information and information relating to the first signal.   
     
     
         30 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein said determining comprises combining the information relating to the first signal with the information relating to the second signal to create the optimized signal. 
     
     
         31 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein said determining comprises selecting the information relating to the first signal or the information relating to the second signal as the optimized signal. 
     
     
         32 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the request comprises information identifying a type of requested information. 
     
     
         33 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the request comprises one or more parameters for specifying dedicated information relating to the second signal. 
     
     
         34 . The method according to  claim 29 , further comprising receiving from the second access node information relating to a signal from a further terminal, and wherein said determining the optimized signal is further based on the received information relating to the signal from the further terminal. 
     
     
         35 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the request comprises information for triggering the second access node to send information relating to at least one further second signal received from the terminal at the second access node subsequent to the second signal and wherein the method further comprises determining at least one further optimized signal based on the information relating to the at least one further second signal and information relating to at least one further first signal received from the terminal at the first access node subsequent to the first signal. 
     
     
         36 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the request is sent before the reception of the first signal at the first access node. 
     
     
         37 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the request is sent after the reception of the first signal at the first access node. 
     
     
         38 . The method according to  claim 29 , further comprising determining a set of one or more access nodes potentially suited for obtaining and sending information to the first access node for optimizing the first signal at the first access node, the set comprising at least the second access node. 
     
     
         39 . The method according to  claim 38 , wherein the set is determined based on at least one of the following selection criteria:
 a characteristic of a link from the terminal to the first access node compared to a characteristic of a link from the terminal to at least one further access node,   a characteristic of a link between the first access node and at least one further access node,   a capacity of the first access node,   a relation of at least one further access node to the terminal and to at least one further terminal,   a load of at least one further access node,   location information of at least one further access node in relation to location information of the first access node,   operation and maintenance information related to at least one further access node, and   pre-configuration information related to at least one further access node.   
     
     
         40 . The method according to  claim 29 , further comprising:
 obtaining conditional information for specifying one or more conditions regarding at least one of the second access node's obtaining and sending of the information relating to the second signal, and   sending the conditional information to the second access node.   
     
     
         41 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the first and second signals comprise the same signal as received over different communication paths by the first and second access nodes, respectively. 
     
     
         42 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the requested information comprises data demodulated from the second signal. 
     
     
         43 . A method for optimizing a first signal received from a terminal of a communication network comprising a plurality of access nodes, wherein the terminal is associated with a first access node of said plurality of access nodes, wherein the method is implemented by a second access node of said plurality of access nodes and comprises:
 receiving a request from the first access node, the request requesting information relating to a second signal received from the terminal at the second access node,   receiving the second signal from the terminal,   obtaining the requested information from the second signal, and   sending the requested information to the first access node.   
     
     
         44 . The method according to  claim 43 , wherein the request comprises information identifying a type of requested information and wherein the requested information is obtained in accordance with that type. 
     
     
         45 . The method according to  claim 43 , wherein the request comprises one or more parameters for specifying dedicated information relating to the second signal and wherein the requested information is obtained in accordance with the specified dedicated information. 
     
     
         46 . The method according to  claim 43 , wherein the request comprises information for triggering the second access node to send information relating to at least one further signal received from the terminal at the second access node subsequent to the second signal and wherein the method further comprises receiving the at least one further signal from the terminal, obtaining the requested information from the at least one further signal, and sending the requested information relating to the at least one further signal to the first access node. 
     
     
         47 . The method according to  claim 43 , further comprising:
 determining information relating to a signal received from a further terminal, and   sending the determined information to the first access node.   
     
     
         48 . The method according to  claim 43 , wherein the request is received before the reception of the second signal at the second access node. 
     
     
         49 . The method according to  claim 43 , wherein the request is received after the reception of the second signal at the second access node, and wherein the method further comprises storing the second signal. 
     
     
         50 . The method according to  claim 43 , further comprising sending from the second access node to the first access node information suited for enabling the first access node to determine if the second access node is potentially suited for obtaining and sending information to the first access node for optimizing the first signal at the first access node. 
     
     
         51 . The method according to  claim 50 , wherein the information suited for enabling the first access node indicates at least one of:
 a characteristic of a link from the terminal to the second access node,   a characteristic of a link between the first access node and the second access node,   a relation of the second access node to the terminal and at least one further terminal,   a load of the second access node,   location information of the second access node,   operation and maintenance information related to the second access node, and   pre-configuration information related to the second access node.   
     
     
         52 . The method according to  claim 43 , further comprising:
 obtaining conditional information for specifying one or more conditions regarding at least one of the second access node's obtaining and sending of the information relating to the second signal,   executing at least one of said obtaining and said sending in conformity with the specified one or more conditions.   
     
     
         53 . A first access node configured to optimize a first signal received from a terminal of a communication network comprising a plurality of access nodes, wherein the terminal is associated with the first access node, and wherein the first access node comprises:
 a first receiving unit configured to receive the first signal from the terminal,   a transmission unit configured to send a request to a second access node of said plurality of access nodes for information relating to a second signal received from the terminal at the second access node,   a second receiving unit configured to receive the requested information, and   a processing unit configured to determine an optimized signal based on the received information and information relating to the first signal.   
     
     
         54 . The first access node according to  claim 53 , wherein the first and second signals comprise the same signal as received over different communication paths by the first and second access nodes, respectively. 
     
     
         55 . The first access node according to  claim 53 , wherein the requested information comprises data demodulated from the second signal. 
     
     
         56 . A second access node configured to facilitate optimization of a first signal received from a terminal at a first access node in a communication network comprising a plurality of access nodes, wherein the terminal is associated with a first access node of said plurality of access nodes, and wherein the second access node comprises:
 a first receiving unit configured to receive a request from the first access node, the request requesting information relating to a second signal received from the terminal at the second access node,   a second receiving unit configured to receive the second signal from the terminal,   a processing unit configured to obtain the requested information from the second signal, and   a transmission unit configured to send the requested information to the first access node.