Load balancing for an air interface protocol architecture with a plurality of heterogeneous physical layer modes

Abstract

A system and method for dynamic traffic load balancing with a multiple physical layer modes of an air interface protocol architecture, the protocol architecture residing in a base station and/or an access network that includes a base station and access gateway that include distributed and centralized components of the air interface protocol architecture. The traffic load balancing supports various multiplexing scenarios for scheduling communication data under time division multiple access and frequency division multiple access techniques for use in the multi-carrier wireless network.

1 . An access network for a multi-carrier wireless communications network to simplify context transfer in a handoff of a mobile terminal, the access network comprising:
 an access gateway coupled to a wireless core network infrastructure, the access gateway comprising a centralized protocol structure;   a plurality of base stations anchored by the access gateway, each of the base stations providing a coverage area for the data communications with the mobile terminal, wherein each base station includes a distributed protocol structure; and   wherein the access gateway stores a centralized context of the mobile terminal to eliminate a context transfer for an intra-base station handoff between the base stations of the plurality of base stations.   
     
     
         2 . The access network of  claim 1  wherein the centralized context of the mobile terminal includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) state machine context. 
     
     
         3 . The access network of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a second access gateway coupled to a wireless core network infrastructure, the access gateway comprising a second centralized protocol structure; 
 a second plurality of base stations anchored by the second access gateway, each of the base stations providing a coverage area for data communications with the mobile terminal, wherein each base station of the second plurality of base stations includes the distributed protocol structure; 
 wherein a handoff from the plurality of base stations of the access gateway to a target base station of the second plurality of base stations facilitates a transfer of a distributed context and the centralized context to the target base station and second access gateway. 
 
     
     
         4 . The access network of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the centralized protocol structure is a centralized layer 2/3 protocol structure;   each distributed protocol structure is a distributed layer 2/3 protocol structure; and   the centralized context is a centralized layer 2/3 context.   
     
     
         5 . The access network of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the centralized protocol structure is a centralized layer 2/3 protocol structure;   each distributed protocol structure is a distributed layer 2/3 protocol structure;   the centralized context is a centralized layer 2/3 context; and   the distributed context is a distributed layer 2/3 context.   
     
     
         6 . A method of operating an access network for a multi-carrier wireless communications network to simplify context transfer in a handoff of a mobile terminal, the access network including an access gateway coupled to a wireless core network infrastructure and a plurality of base stations anchored by the access gateway, the access gateway including a centralized protocol structure and each base station including a distributed protocol structure, the method comprising:
 operating each of the base stations to provide a coverage area for data communications with the mobile terminal; and   operating the access gateway to store a centralized context of the mobile terminal such that a context transfer is not required for an intra-base station handoff between base stations of the plurality of base stations.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the each of the base stations further comprises a multi-mode physical layer that includes a plurality of heterogeneous physical layer modes, the method comprising operating each of the heterogeneous physical layer modes to support the intra-base station handoff when the mobile terminal supports dynamic switching between the heterogeneous physical layer modes. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , comprising, when the mobile terminal does not support dynamic switching between the heterogeneous physical layer modes, operating an explicit handoff mechanism to facilitate a handoff between the plurality of heterogeneous physical layer modes. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the centralized context of the mobile terminal includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) state machine context. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the access network further comprises a second access gateway coupled to the wireless core network infrastructure and a second plurality of base stations anchored by the second access gateway, the second access gateway including a second centralized protocol structure and each of the second plurality of base stations including the distributed protocol structure, the method comprising:
 operating each of the second plurality of base stations to provide a coverage area for data communications with the mobile terminal; and   when the mobile terminal is handed off from a serving base station anchored to the access gateway to a target base station anchored to the second access gateway:   operating the access gateway to transfer the centralized context to the second access gateway; and   operating the serving base station to transfer the distributed context to the target base station.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the centralized protocol structure is a centralized layer 2/3 protocol structure;   each distributed protocol structure is a distributed layer 2/3 protocol structure; and   the centralized context is a centralized layer 2/3 context.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the centralized protocol structure is a centralized layer 2/3 protocol structure;   each distributed protocol structure is a distributed layer 2/3 protocol structure;   the centralized context is a centralized layer 2/3 context; and   the distributed context is a distributed layer 2/3 context.