Placement of idle periods

Abstract

A telecommunications system comprising: a plurality of transmitters capable of transmitting data in superframes, each superframe comprising a plurality of frames, and each frame comprising a plurality of slots; the transmitters being arranged in groups, each group comprising a number of base stations, each group of base stations being assigned one or more slot numbers which are different from those of other groups and each of the transmitters of each group being assigned a different frame number, each transmitter being arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for a period commencing in the allocated slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it.

1. A telecommunications system comprising:
 a plurality of transmitters capable of transmitting data in superframes, each superframe comprising a plurality of frames, and each frame comprising a plurality of slots;  
 the transmitters being arranged in groups, each group comprising a number of base stations, each group of base stations being assigned one or more slot numbers which are different from those of other groups and each of the transmitters of each group being assigned a different frame number, each transmitter being arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for a period commencing in the allocated slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it.  
 
     
     
       2. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , wherein each group comprises a set of nearby transmitters. 
     
     
       3. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , wherein adjacent base stations within a group are assigned different frame numbers. 
     
     
       4. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , wherein adjacent base stations belonging to different groups are assigned different frame numbers. 
     
     
       5. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , wherein all the base stations within one group are assigned the same slot number or numbers. 
     
     
       6. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , wherein each frame comprises 15 slots and geographically adjacent groups are assigned slots which are spaced apart by at least one slot period. 
     
     
       7. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , each of the transmitters of each group being assigned more than one frame number. 
     
     
       8. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , in which each superframe comprises 72 frames. 
     
     
       9. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , wherein the transmitters operate asynchronously. 
     
     
       10. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , wherein in order to operate at reduced transmission power during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it, each transmitter is arranged to undergo an idle period. 
     
     
       11. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , wherein each transmitter is arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for 0.667 ms during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it. 
     
     
       12. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       13. A telecommunications system according to  claim 1 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       14. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , wherein adjacent base stations within a group are assigned different frame numbers. 
     
     
       15. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , wherein adjacent base stations belonging to different groups are assigned different frame members. 
     
     
       16. A telecommunications system according to  claim 3 , wherein adjacent base stations belonging to different groups are assigned different frame numbers. 
     
     
       17. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , wherein all the base stations within one group are assigned the same slot number or numbers. 
     
     
       18. A telecommunications system according to  claim 3 , wherein all the base stations within one group are assigned the same slot number of numbers. 
     
     
       19. A telecommunications system according to  claim 4 , wherein all the base stations within one group are assigned the same slot number of numbers. 
     
     
       20. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , wherein each frame comprises 15 slots and geographically adjacent groups are assigned slots which are spaced apart by at least one slot period. 
     
     
       21. A telecommunications system according to  claim 3 , wherein each frame comprises 15 slots and geographically adjacent groups are assigned slots which are spaced apart by at least one slot period. 
     
     
       22. A telecommunications system according to  claim 4 , wherein each frame comprises 15 slots and geographically adjacent groups are assigned slots which are spaced apart by at least one slot period. 
     
     
       23. A telecommunications system according to  claim 5 , wherein each frame comprises 15 slots and geographically adjacent groups are assigned slots which are spaced apart by at least one slot period. 
     
     
       24. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , each of the transmitters of each group being assigned more than one frame number. 
     
     
       25. A telecommunications system according to  claim 3 , each of the transmitters of each group being assigned more than one frame number. 
     
     
       26. A telecommunications system according to  claim 4 , each of the transmitters of each group being assigned more than one frame number. 
     
     
       27. A telecommunications system according to  claim 5 , each of the transmitters of each group being assigned more than one frame number. 
     
     
       28. A telecommunications system according to  claim 6 , each of the transmitters of each group being assigned more than one frame member. 
     
     
       29. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , in which each superframe comprises 72 frames. 
     
     
       30. A telecommunications system according to  claim 3 , in which each superframe comprises 72 frames. 
     
     
       31. A telecommunications system according to  claim 4 , in which each superframe comprises 72 frames. 
     
     
       32. A telecommunications system according to  claim 5 , in which each superframe comprises 72 frames. 
     
     
       33. A telecommunications system according to  claim 6 , in which each superframe comprises 72 frames. 
     
     
       34. A telecommunications system according to  claim 7 , in which each superframe comprises 72 frames. 
     
     
       35. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , wherein the transmitters operate asynchronously. 
     
     
       36. A telecommunications system according to  claim 3 , wherein the transmitters operate asynchronously. 
     
     
       37. A telecommunications system according to  claim 4 , wherein the transmitters operate asynchronously. 
     
     
       38. A telecommunications system according to  claim 5 , wherein the transmitters operate asynchronously. 
     
     
       39. A telecommunications system according to  claim 6 , wherein the transmitters operate asynchronously. 
     
     
       40. A telecommunications system according to  claim 7 , wherein the transmitters operate asynchronously. 
     
     
       41. A telecommunications system according to  claim 8 , wherein the transmitters operate asynchronously. 
     
     
       42. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , wherein in order to operate at reduced transmission power during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it, each transmitter is arranged to undergo an idle period. 
     
     
       43. A telecommunications system according to  claim 3 , wherein in order to operate at reduced transmission power during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it, each transmitter is arranged to undergo an idle period. 
     
     
       44. A telecommunications system according to  claim 4 , wherein in order to operate at reduced transmission power during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it, each transmitter is arranged to undergo an idle period. 
     
     
       45. A telecommunications system according to  claim 5 , wherein in order to operate at reduced transmission power during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it, each transmitter is arranged to undergo an idle period. 
     
     
       46. A telecommunications system according to  claim 6 , wherein in order to operate at reduced transmission power during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it, each transmitter is arranged to undergo an idle period. 
     
     
       47. A telecommunications system according to  claim 7 , wherein in order to operate at reduced transmission power during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it, each transmitter is arranged to undergo an idle period. 
     
     
       48. A telecommunications system according to  claim 8 , wherein in order to operate at reduced transmission power during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it, each transmitter is arranged to undergo an idle period. 
     
     
       49. A telecommunications system according to  claim 9 , wherein in order to operate at reduced transmission power during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it, each transmitter is arranged to undergo an idle period. 
     
     
       50. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , wherein each transmitter is arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for 0.667 ms during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it. 
     
     
       51. A telecommunications system according to  claim 3 , wherein each transmitter is arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for 0.667 ms during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it. 
     
     
       52. A telecommunications system according to  claim 4 , wherein each transmitter is arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for 0.667 ms during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it. 
     
     
       53. A telecommunications system according to  claim 5 , wherein each transmitter is arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for 0.667 ms during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it. 
     
     
       54. A telecommunications system according to  claim 6 , wherein each transmitter is arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for 0.667 ms during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it. 
     
     
       55. A telecommunications system according to  claim 7 , wherein each transmitter is arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for 0.667 ms during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it. 
     
     
       56. A telecommunications system according to  claim 8 , wherein each transmitter is arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for 0.667 ms during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it. 
     
     
       57. A telecommunications system according to  claim 9 , wherein each transmitter is arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for 0.667 ms during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it. 
     
     
       58. A telecommunications system according to  claim 10 , wherein each transmitter is arranged to operate at reduced transmission power for 0.667 ms during the slot or slots assigned to its group in the frame assigned to it. 
     
     
       59. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       60. A telecommunications system according to  claim 3 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       61. A telecommunications system according to  claim 4 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       62. A telecommunications system according to  claim 5 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       63. A telecommunications system according to  claim 6 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       64. A telecommunications system according to  claim 7 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       65. A telecommunications system according to  claim 8 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       66. A telecommunications system according to  claim 9 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       67. A telecommunications system according to  claim 10 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       68. A telecommunications system according to  claim 11 , which is operable according to a W-CDMA system. 
     
     
       69. A telecommunications system according to  claim 2 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       70. A telecommunications system according to  claim 3 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       71. A telecommunications system according to  claim 4 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       72. A telecommunications system according to  claim 5 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       73. A telecommunications system according to  claim 6 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       74. A telecommunications system according to  claim 7 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       75. A telecommunications system according to  claim 8 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       76. A telecommunications system according to  claim 9 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       77. A telecommunications system according to  claim 10 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       78. A telecommunications system according to  claim 11 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       79. A telecommunications system according to  claim 12 , wherein the said period is longer than one slot. 
     
     
       80. A method of coordinating transmission in a telecommunications system, the method comprising:
   identifying a plurality of groups of base stations wherein each group of the plurality of groups includes a plurality of transmitters, the plurality of transmitters capable of transmitting data in superframes, each superframe comprising a plurality of frames, and each frame comprising a plurality of slots;        allocating each group of the plurality of groups one or more slot numbers which are different from the one or more slot numbers allocated to the other groups of the plurality of groups; and        allocating each transmitter of the plurality of transmitters of a group of the plurality of groups a different frame number, wherein each transmitter is configured to operate at a reduced transmission power for a period commencing in the allocated slot assigned to the group in the frame allocated to the transmitter.      
     
     
       81. The method of  claim 80 , wherein the reduced transmission power is no power.  
     
     
       82. The method of  claim 80 , further comprising allocating more than two slot numbers to some base stations and none to other base stations depending on requirements.  
     
     
       83. The method of  claim 80 , wherein geographically adjacent groups of base stations are assigned slot numbers which are spaced apart by at least one slot period.  
     
     
       84. The method of  claim 83 , wherein each frame comprises  15  slots.  
     
     
       85. The method of  claim 80 , wherein all base stations within one group are assigned the same slot numbers.  
     
     
       86. A radio network controller that assigns periods of reduced power transmission to base stations, the controller comprising:
   a communication interface configured to send communications to a number of base stations in a coverage area; and        a processor configured to:      identify a plurality of groups of base stations wherein each group of the plurality of groups includes a plurality of transmitters, the plurality of transmitters capable of transmitting data in superframes, each superframe comprising a plurality of frames, and each frame comprising a plurality of slots;        allocate each group of the plurality of groups one or more slot numbers which are different from the one or more slot numbers allocated to the other groups of the plurality of groups; and        allocate each transmitter of the plurality of transmitters of a group of the plurality of groups a different frame number, wherein each transmitter is configured to operate at a reduced transmission power for a period commencing in the allocated slot assigned to the group in the frame allocated to the transmitter.        
     
     
       87. The controller of  claim 86 , wherein geographically adjacent groups are assigned slot numbers which are spaced apart by at least one slot period.  
     
     
       88. The controller of  claim 86 , wherein the processor is further configured to vary a duration of reduced transmission power by allocating other multiples of slots to a base station.  
     
     
       89. The controller of  claim 86 , wherein the processor is further configured to allocate more than two slot numbers to some base stations and none to other base stations depending on requirements.  
     
     
       90. The controller of  claim 86 , wherein all base stations within one group are assigned the same slot numbers.  
     
     
       91. The controller of  claim 90 , wherein each superframe comprises  72  frames.