U.S. patent application number 09/906677 was filed with the patent office on 2004-10-14 for communication system.
Invention is credited to Kusaki, Tsutomu, Murakami, Masaru, Sakamoto, Kenichi, Yokoyama, Takashi.
Application Number | 20040202125 09/906677 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33163064 |
Filed Date | 2004-10-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040202125 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sakamoto, Kenichi ; et
al. |
October 14, 2004 |
COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Abstract
A communication system includes a control unit, a switch and a
diversity hand-over processing unit connected to the control unit
and the switch for receiving, both a first communication signal
received from a radio base station which outputs the hand-over
instruction, and a second communication signal which receives it
from another radio base station to which the communication signal
will be hand-over to output one of the first and second
communication signals to the associated interface circuit, and for
transmitting the communication signal received through the radio
base station from the mobile station on the reception side for
communication to both the interface circuit associated with the
radio base station as a source of hand-over and the interface
circuit associated with the radio base station as a destination of
hand-over. Thus, during the hand-over, the diversity hand-over
processing unit transmits the communication signal from the mobile
station on the reception side for communication to both the radio
base station as a source of hand-over and the radio base station as
a destination of hand-over so that the communication is established
between the mobile station on the transmission side for
communication and the mobile station as a destination of hand-over
and on the reception side for communication.
Inventors: |
Sakamoto, Kenichi; (Tokyo,
JP) ; Kusaki, Tsutomu; (Yokohama-shi, JP) ;
Murakami, Masaru; (Yokohama-shi, JP) ; Yokoyama,
Takashi; (Yokohama-shi, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ANTONELLI, TERRY, STOUT & KRAUS, LLP
1300 NORTH SEVENTEENTH STREET
SUITE 1800
ARLINGTON
VA
22209-9889
US
|
Family ID: |
33163064 |
Appl. No.: |
09/906677 |
Filed: |
July 18, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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09906677 |
Jul 18, 2001 |
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09638028 |
Aug 15, 2000 |
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6289008 |
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09638028 |
Aug 15, 2000 |
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09411655 |
Oct 4, 1999 |
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6178165 |
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09411655 |
Oct 4, 1999 |
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08970159 |
Nov 13, 1997 |
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6049534 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
370/331 ;
370/395.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 36/18 20130101;
H04B 7/022 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
370/331 ;
370/395.1 |
International
Class: |
H04L 012/56 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 14, 1996 |
JP |
08-302696 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A communication system for carrying out hand-over from a radio
base station to another radio base station in accordance with a
request of hand-over outputted from the radio base station due to
movement of a mobile station, said communication system comprising:
a plurality of interface circuits through which communication
signals are transmitted between a mobile station and a plurality of
radio base stations via transmission paths; a switch for assigning
the communication signals to said interface circuits such that the
communication signals from said interface circuits are distributed
in accordance with header information which the respective
communication signals are transmitted from the radio base stations
to the mobile station via the transmission paths; a control unit
connected to both said interface circuits and said switch for
receiving a hand-over instruction outputted from the radio base
station in accordance with the movement of the mobile station, from
the associated interface circuit; and a diversity hand-over
processing unit connected to both said control unit and said
switch, for receiving both a first communication signal received
from the radio base station as a source of hand-over outputting a
hand-over instruction and a second communication signal received
from the radio base station as a destination of hand-over, in
accordance with the hand-over instruction to output one of the
first and second communication signals to the associated interface
circuit and for transmitting the communication signal received from
the mobile station on the reception side for communication via the
radio base station to both the interface circuit associated with
the radio base station as the source of hand-over and the interface
circuit associated with the radio base station as the destination
of hand-over.
2. A communication system according to claim 1, wherein said switch
includes an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) switch.
3. A communication system according to claim 2, wherein the
communication signal includes a cell signal.
4. A communication system according to claim 1, wherein said switch
includes a packet switch.
5. A communication system according to claim 4, wherein said
communication signal includes a packet signal.
6. A communication system according to claim 1, wherein said
diversity hand-over processing unit includes: an instruction
processing unit operated in accordance with an instruction
outputted from said control unit; a synchronous selection unit for
receiving, via said switch, when a service area is changed from the
radio base station as the source of hand-over to the radio base
station as the destination of hand-over, both the communication
signal from the interface circuit associated with the transmission
path extending to the radio base station as the source of hand-over
and the communication signal from another interface circuit
associated with the transmission path extending to the radio base
station as the destination of hand-over, in accordance with an
instruction outputted from said instruction processing unit, and
for synchronizing both the two communication signals with each
other, and for outputting one of the two communication signals
which is more excellent in quality to the interface circuit
associated with the radio base station which communicates with the
mobile station on the reception side for communication; and a
signal duplicating unit for receiving a communication signal from
the interface circuit associated with the transmission path
extending to the radio base station which communicates with the
mobile station on the reception side for communication via said
switch, and for transmitting the communication signal thus received
to both the interface circuit associated with the radio base
station as the source of hand-over and the interface circuit
associated with the radio base station as the destination of
hand-over, and also for transmitting the communication signal from
the interface circuit associated with the radio base station which
communicates with the mobile station on the reception side for
communication to the radio base station as the destination of
hand-over through that interface circuit.
7. A communication system according to claim 6, wherein the
communication signal is a cell signal, and also said synchronous
selection unit manages the cell signal, and said signal duplicating
unit is a cell duplicating unit which manages the cell signal.
8. A communication system according to claim 6, wherein said
communication signal is a packet signal, and also said synchronous
selection unit manages the packet signal, and said signal
duplicating unit is a packet duplicating unit which manages the
packet signal.
9. A communication system according to claim 6, wherein said
synchronous selection unit has both an input port and an output
port through which the communication signal is transmitted/received
to/from said switch, and said signal duplicating unit has both an
input port and output port through which the communication signal
is transmitted/received to/from said switch.
10. A communication system according to claim 6, wherein said
diversity hand-over processing unit includes both a first selector
connected to an input port and a second selector connected to an
output port, and said input port of said first selector receives
the communication signal from said switch to supply it to both said
synchronous selection unit and said signal duplicating unit, and
said second selector receives the communication signals from said
synchronous selection unit and said signal duplicating unit to
output them to said switch through said output port of said second
selector.
11. A communication system according to claim 6, wherein the
plurality of diversity hand-over processing units are provided such
that the communication signals can be transmitted/received to/from
said switch, and said plurality of diversity hand-over processing
units are connected to said control unit.
12. A communication system according to claim 6, wherein said
synchronous selection unit includes: a first switch interface
circuit for receiving, through an input port, both the
communication signal from the radio base station as the source of
hand-over and the communication signal from the radio base station
as the destination of hand-over; a first selector for receiving the
communication signals to distribute, in response to the
communication signals, these communication signals in accordance
with the header information which the respective communication
signals have; a plurality of buffers for storing therein
temporarily both the communication signal from the radio base
station as the source of hand-over and the communication signal
from the radio base station as the destination of hand-over which
communication signals outputted from said first selector; a
synchronous circuit for synchronizing the communication signals
with each other stored temporarily in the plurality of buffers; a
selection circuit for ordering the respective communication signals
in accordance with a predetermined algorithm; a header conversion
circuit having a header conversion table for converting said header
conversion table, in accordance with the header information which
the communication signals have such that the communication signals
are directed from the switch to the mobile station on the reception
side for communication through said interface circuit; a second
selector for selecting among the communication signals from said
header conversion circuit; and a second switch interface circuit
for outputting the communication signal from said second selector
to said switch through an output port.
13. A communication system according to claim 12, wherein said
plurality of buffers, said synchronous circuit, said selection
circuit and said header conversion circuit are connected in series
with one another, and the plurality of buffers, the plurality of
synchronous circuits, the plurality of selection circuits, and the
plurality of header conversion circuits are provided which are
connected in series with one another, and said plurality of buffers
and said plurality of header conversion circuits are connected to
said first and second selector, respectively.
14. A communication system according to claim 6, wherein said
signal duplicating unit includes: a third switch interface circuit
for receiving through an output port the communication signal
outputted from the mobile station on the reception side for
communication from said switch; a first signal processing unit
having a header conversion table for changing said header
conversion table such that the communication signal of interest is
directed to the radio base station as the source of hand-over, a
second signal processing unit having a header conversion table for
changing said header conversion table such that the communication
signal of interest is directed to the radio base station as the
destination of hand-over; first and second buffers for storing
therein temporarily the respective communication signals from said
first and second signal processing units; a selector for selecting
among the communication signals from said first and second buffers;
and a fourth switch interface circuit for outputting through an
output port the communication signal from said selector to said
switch.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates in general to a communication
system for carrying out a hand-over which is requested from a radio
base station due to the movement of a mobile station, and more
particularly to a packet communication system for managing packet
signals and an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) system for managing
cell signals.
[0002] In recent years, high reliability has been required for a
public communication network for transmitting data relating to
voice and images. Nowadays having entered the multimedia era, data
is transmitted, for example, utilizing mobile communications. Hence
for mobile communications, high reliability has been required when
carrying out the hand-over of calls.
[0003] A discussion of the hand-over of call is provided, for
example, by the reference "Mobile Communication Network, the 12th
series of Information Network", by Mitsuo Yokoyama, Shokoudou.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] In the light of the foregoing, it is an object of the
present invention to provide a communication system which is
capable of realizing hand-over of calls in such a way that during
the hand-over resulting from the movement of a mobile station,
interruption of communication does not occur.
[0005] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
communication system which is capable of realizing hand-over in
such a way that interruption of communication can be prevented from
occurring only by adding a trunk function thereto without changing
the circuit configuration of the existing communication system.
[0006] It is still another object of the present invention to
provide a communication system which can be used as an Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM) exchange system for managing cell signals as
well as a packet exchange system for managing packet signals.
[0007] In order to attain the above-mentioned objects, the present
invention provides a communication system which includes a
plurality of interface circuits through which communication signals
are transmitted between a mobile station and a plurality of radio
base stations via transmission paths. A switch is provided for
assigning the communication signals to the interface circuits in
such a way that the communication signals from the interface
circuits are distributed in accordance with header information
included in each communication signal indicating how the
communication signal is to be transmitted from the radio base
stations to the mobile station via the transmission paths. A
control unit, connected to both the interface circuits and the
switch, receives a hand-over instruction, which has been issued
from the radio base station in accordance with the movement of the
mobile station, from the associated interface circuit. A diversity
hand-over processing unit, connected to both the control unit and
the switch, receives both a first communication signal received
from the radio base station, as a source of hand-over, which has
output a hand-over instruction, and a second communication signal
received from the radio base station as the destination of
hand-over, which will be handed-over, in accordance with the
hand-over instruction to output one of the first and second
communication signals to the associated interface circuit. The
diversity hand-over processing unit also transmits the
communication signal which has been received from the mobile
station on the reception side for communication via the radio base
station to both the interface circuit associated with the radio
base station as source of hand-over and the interface circuit
associated with the radio base station as destination of
hand-over.
[0008] The above-mentioned switch can be used in both an
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switch for managing cell signals
and a packet switch for managing packet signals.
[0009] The above-mentioned diversity hand-over processing unit
includes an instruction processing unit which operates in
accordance with an instruction outputted from the control unit, a
synchronous selection unit, and a signal duplicating unit.
[0010] The asynchronous selection unit receives, via the switch,
when a service area is changed from the radio-base station as
source of hand-over to the radio base station as destination of
hand-over, both the communication signal from the interface circuit
associated with the transmission path extending to the radio base
station as source of hand-over and the communication signal from
another interface circuit associated with the transmission path
extending to the radio base station as destination of hand-over, in
accordance with an instruction issued from the instruction
processing unit. The synchronous selection unit also synchronizes
both the two communication signals with each other, and outputs one
of the two communication signals which is more excellent in quality
to the interface circuit associated with the radio base station
which communicates with the mobile station on the reception side
for communication.
[0011] The signal duplicating unit receives a communication signal
from the interface circuit associated with the transmission path
extending to the radio base station which communicates with the
mobile station on the reception side for communication via the
switch, and transmits the communication signal thus received to
both the interface circuit associated with the radio base station
as a source of hand-over and the interface circuit associated with
the radio base station as destination of hand-over. The signal
duplicating unit also transmits the communication signal from the
interface circuit associated with the radio base station which
communicates with the mobile station on the reception-side for
communication to the radio base station as destination of hand-over
through that interface circuit.
[0012] The synchronous selection unit includes a first switch
interface circuit for receiving, through an input port, both the
communication signal from the radio base station as source of
hand-over and the communication signal from the radio base station
as destination of hand-over. A first selector is provided for
receiving the communication signals to distribute, and in response
to the communication signals, distributing these communication
signals in accordance with the header information which the
respective communication signals have, and a plurality of buffers
are provided for temporarily storing both the communication signal
from the radio base station as source of hand-over and the
communication signal from the radio base station as destination of
hand-over which communication signals have been outputted from the
first selector. A synchronous circuit synchronizes the
communication signals with each other which have been stored
temporarily in the plurality of buffers. A selection circuit orders
the respective communication signals in accordance with a
predetermined algorithm. A header conversion circuit, having a
header conversion table, converts the header conversion table, in
accordance with the header information which the communication
signals have, in such a way that the communication signals are
directed from the switch to the mobile station on the reception
side for communication through the interface circuit. A second
selector selects among the communication signals from the header
conversion circuit, and a second switch interface circuit outputs
the communication signal from the second selector to the switch
through an output port.
[0013] The signal duplicating unit includes a third switch
interface circuit for receiving through an output port the
communication signal output from the mobile station on the
reception side for communication from the switch and a first signal
processing unit, having a header conversion table, for changing the
header conversion table in such a way that the communication signal
of interest is directed to the radio base station as source of
hand-over. A second signal processing unit, having a header
conversion table, is provided for changing the header conversion
table in such a way that the communication signal of interest is
directed to the radio base station as destination of hand-over and
first and second buffers are provided for temporarily storing the
respective communication signals from the first and second signal
processing units. A selector selects among the communication
signals from the first and second buffers, and a fourth switch
interface circuit outputs through an output port the communication
signal from the selector to the switch.
[0014] By adopting the above-mentioned circuit configuration,
during the hand-over, the diversity hand-over processing unit
receives both the communication signals from the radio base station
as source of handover and the radio base station as destination of
hand-over which radio base stations are associated with the mobile
station on the transmission side for communication, and then one of
the two communication signals which is more excellent in quality is
transmitted from the switch to the mobile station on the reception
side for communication. In addition, the diversity hand-over
processing unit transmits the communication signal from the mobile
station on the reception side for communication to both the radio
base station on the origin of hand-over and the radio base station
on the destination of hand-over, and in accordance with the
completion of the hand-over, the communication is established
between the mobile station on the transmission side for
communication and the mobile station which will receive the
hand-over instruction and which will receive the communication
signal. Therefore, during the hand-over, no interruption of the
communication occurs at all.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The above and other objects as well as advantages of the
present invention will become clear by the following description of
the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference
to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of
one embodiment of a communication system according to the present
invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a schematic view useful in explaining the relation
among mobile stations, base stations and a communication
system;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a block diagram useful in explaining configuration
of an interface;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a structure of header
information;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a schematic view useful in explaining the state
from the transmission side for communication to the reception side
for communication when carrying out the diversity hand-over of the
present invention;
[0021] FIG. 6 is a schematic view useful in explaining the state
from the reception side for communication to the transmission side
for communication when carrying out the diversity hand-over of the
present invention;
[0022] FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a
diversity hand-over processing unit of the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the sequence of the diversity
hand-over of the present invention; and
[0024] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of another
diversity hand-over processing unit of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0025] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will
hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
[0026] FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an ATM communication system
for use in realizing the diversity hand-over according to the
present invention.
[0027] An ATM communication system 1 includes a plurality of
interface circuits 11a to 11n through which the cells on
transmission paths 14a to 14n are transmitted, an ATM switch 10 and
a control unit 12, and also a diversity hand-over processing unit
15 is connected as a trunk to the ATM switch 10. This trunk is the
well known general unit and is installed in the I/O (Input/Output)
lines in order to carry out the monitor and control of the
transmission paths. The diversity hand-over processing unit 15
includes: a synchronous selection unit 16 for carrying out, in the
diversity hand-over, the selection between the cell coming from a
base station 2-1 or a base station 2-2 as a source of hand-over,
for example, from which the hand-over command has been outputted
and the cell coming from a base station 2-n as a destination of
hand-over which will receive the hand-over command, and also for
transmitting the cell thus selected to the reception side for
communication; and a cell duplicating unit 17 for distributing the
cell coming from the reception side for communication between the
base station 2-1 from which the hand-over command has been
outputted and the base station 2-2 which will receive the hand-over
command. An interface circuit 11m is connected to another ATM
communication system which is connected to a network 4 (FIG.
2).
[0028] Now, the description will hereinbelow be given with respect
to the general hand-over function with reference to FIG. 2.
Firstly, a mobile station 3-1 on the transmission side for
communication communicates with a mobile station 3-2 on the
reception side for communication. The mobile station 3-1 is located
within the service area of a base station 2-1, and hence the
communication signal is transmitted to the network 4 through the
base station 2-1. On the other hand, the mobile station 3-2 is
located within the service area of a base station 2-n, and hence
the communication signal is transmitted to the network 4 through
the base station 2-n. Thus, the mobile station 3-2 communicates
with the mobile station 3-1 through both the ATM communication
system 1 and the base station 2-1. The cells from the base stations
2-1, . . . , 2-n are transmitted to the ATM communication system 1
which carries out the routing therefor. In FIG. 2, the cell which
has reached the ATM communication system 1 from the mobile station
3-1 through the base station 2-1 is then transmitted so as to be
directed to the mobile station 3-2 through the base station 2-n by
the ATM communication system 1. In addition, conversely, the cell
which has reached the ATM communication system 1 from the mobile
station 3-2 through the base station 2-n is then transmitted so as
to be directed to the mobile station 3-1 through the base station
2-1 by the ATM communication system.
[0029] If the mobile station 3-1 is moved, then the mobile station
3-1 leaves the service area of the base station 2-1 and then enters
into the service area of the base station 2-2. At this time, the
communication of the mobile station 3-1 is changed from the base
station 2-1 to the base station 2-2 and the communication thereof
continues through the base station 2-2. That is, in the ATM
communication system 1, the communication path for the mobile
station 3-1 is switched from the base station 2-1 to the base
station 2-2. In such a way, the so-called hand-over is carried
out.
[0030] Incidentally, by the source of hand-over is meant a
hand-over that is generated with the mobile station 3-1 as a source
when the mobile station 3-1 is moved to enter from the service area
of the base station 2-1 into the service area of the base station
2-2. On the other hand, by the destination of hand-over is meant a
hand-over that will be carried out from now on when the mobile
station 3-1 is moved to enter into the service area of the base
station 2-2.
[0031] Next, the description will hereinbelow be given with respect
to the interface circuit 11a with reference to FIG. 3.
Incidentally, each of other interface circuits 11b to 11n, 11m has
also the same configuration as that of the interface circuit 11a.
Cell coming over the transmission path 14a terminates in a physical
layer at a physical layer processing unit 20 to be transmitted to a
cell layer processing unit 21 which carries out the header
conversion of the cell, i.e., changes the contents of a header
conversion table 22 which the cell layer processing unit 21
has.
[0032] Now, the header conversion table 22 will hereinbelow be
described with reference to FIG. 4. The header conversion table 22
consists of a reception side header 30, a header 31 within the unit
and a transmission side header 32 which are set at every
communication path. At the time when the cell has reached the
interface circuit 11a shown in FIG. 3, the reception side header 30
which the coming cell has is duplicated in the reception side
header 30, and on the basis of the reception side header 30, both
the header 31 within the unit and the transmission side header 32
are produced to be applied to the coming cell.
[0033] The cell which has been subjected to the header conversion
in such a way is then transmitted to the ATM switch 10 through a
switch interface 23. On the other hand, the cell which has reached
the interface circuit 11a from the ATM switch 10 is then
transmitted to the cell layer processing unit 21 through the switch
interface 23 to be transmitted from the physical layer processing
unit 20 to the transmission path 14a. All the physical layer
processing unit 20, the cell layer processing unit 21, the switch
interface 23, a RAM 24 and a control unit interface 26 which are
provided within the interface circuit 11a are connected to one
another through an MPU bus 27, and also are controlled by an MPU 25
which is also connected to the MPU has 27. The RAM 24 is a
processing area of the MPU 25, and also the MPU 25 is connected to
a control system transfer path 13 through the control unit
interface 26 and is controlled by the control unit 12.
[0034] Next, the description will hereinbelow be given with respect
to the operation of the ATM communication system 1 for carrying out
the diversity hand-over with reference to FIG. 5. The description
will hereinbelow be given with respect to the operation of the
communication path extending from the mobile station 3-1 on the
transmission side for communication up to the mobile station 3-2 on
the reception side for communication through the base station 2-1,
the ATM communication system 1 and the base station 2-n, with
reference to FIG. 2. Incidentally, this communication path is
referred as the forward communication path X, when applicable. In
FIG. 5, an arrow indicated by a heavy line represents the flow of
the cell, and an arrow indicated by a dotted line represents that
the cell is in the state of being able to be transmitted.
[0035] A part (a) of FIG. 5 shows the state in which the mobile
station 3-1 communicates with the mobile station 3-2 through the
base station 2-1, the ATM communication system 1 and the base
station 2-n. That is, there is shown the state in which the ATM
switch 10 is switched in such a way that the cell from the base
station 2-1 as a source of hand-over is transmitted to the base
station 2-n through the interface circuit 11a, the ATM switch 10
and the interface circuit 11n.
[0036] In a part (b) of FIG. 5, when the mobile station 3-1 has
been moved from the service area of the base station 2-1 to enter
into the service area of the base station 2-2, if a request of the
hand-over from the mobile station 3-1 is received by the ATM
communication system 1 through the base station 2-1, then the
contents of the header conversion table 22 which the interface
circuit 11a connected to the base station 2-1 has are changed so
that the cell from the interface circuit 11a is transmitted to the
synchronous selection unit 16 (which will be described in detail
later). In the synchronous selection unit 16, the contents of the
header conversion table 22a which a header conversion circuit 50a
(which will be described later) of the synchronous selection unit
16 has are changed so that the cell which has been received from
the base station 2-1 as a source of hand-over can be transmitted to
the interface circuit 11n. At this time, the cell is continuously
transmitted from the interface circuit 11a connected to the base
station 2-1 as a source of hand-over to the interface circuit
11n.
[0037] In a part (c) of FIG. 5, when the setting of the header
conversion table 22a has been completed, since the mobile station
3-1 starts already entering into the service area of the base
station 2-2, the contents of the header conversion table 22 of the
interface circuit 11b having the connection relation with the base
station 2-2 are changed, so that the cell from the interface
circuit 11b is transmitted to the synchronous selection unit 16. In
the synchronous selection unit 16, the contents of the header
conversion table 22a which the header conversion circuit 50a has
are changed so that the cell from the interface circuit 11b can be
transmitted to the interface circuit 11n. In such a way, both the
cell from the base station 2-1 as a source of hand-over and the
cell from the base station 2-2 as a destination of hand-over are
transmitted to the synchronous selection unit 16. In the
synchronous selection unit 16, after the cell from the base station
2-1 as a source of hand-over has been synchronized with the cell
from the base station 2-2 as a destination of hand-over, one of the
two cells which has the higher reception sensitivity is
selected.
[0038] In a part (d) of FIG. 5, the separation of the cell from the
base station 2-1 as a source of hand-over is carried out. For this
purpose, firstly, the communication path between the base station
2-1 as a source of hand-over and the ATM communication system 1 is
interrupted. Then, the setting of the contents of the header
conversion table 22 of the interface circuit 11b is changed so that
the cell from the base station 2-2 as a destination of hand-over is
transmitted to the base station 2-n on the reception side for
communication through the interface circuit 11n. At this time, the
setting of the contents of the header conversion table 22a of the
synchronous selection unit 16 is left as it is.
[0039] In a part (e) of FIG. 5, the control unit 12 cancels the
control by the diversity hand-over processing unit 15.
[0040] In such a way, in the forward communication path X, the
hand-over is carried out without interrupting the communication
established between the mobile station 3-1 on the transmission side
for communication and the mobile station 3-2 on the reception side
for communication.
[0041] Next, the description will hereinbelow be given with respect
to the operation, out of the execution of the diversity hand-over,
of the communication path extending from the mobile station 3-2 on
the reception side for communication to the mobile station 3-1
through the base station 2-n, the ATM communication system 1 and
the base station 2-2. This communication path is referred as the
backward communication path Y, when applicable. In FIG. 6, an arrow
indicated by a heavy line represents the flow of the cell, and an
arrow indicated by a dotted line represents that the cell is in the
state of being able to be transmitted.
[0042] A part (a) of FIG. 6 shows the state in which the mobile
station 3-2 communicates with the mobile station 3-1 through the
base station 2-n, the ATM communication system 1 and the base
station 2-1. That is, there is shown the state in which the ATM
switch 10 is switched so that the cell from the base station 2-n on
the reception side for communication is transmitted to the base
station 2-1 through the interface circuit 11n and the ATM switch
10.
[0043] In a part (b) of FIG. 6, when the mobile station 3-1 has
been moved from the service area of the base station 2-1 to enter
into the service area of the base station 2-2, if the request of
hand-over from the mobile station 3-1 is received by the ATM
communication system 1 through the base station 2-1, then, firstly,
in a cell duplicating unit 17 (which will be described in detail
later) which the diversity hand-over processing unit 15 has, the
contents of the header conversion table 22-1 which the cell
duplicating unit 17 has are set on the basis of the reception side
header 30 which the received cell has so that the cell which has
been received from the base station 2-n on the reception side for
communication can also be transmitted to the interface circuit 11b.
At this time, the cell is continuously transmitted from the
interface circuit 11n connected to the base station 2-n on the
reception side for communication to the interface circuit 11a.
[0044] In a part (c) of FIG. 6, at the time when the contents of
the header conversion table 22-1 of the cell duplicating unit 17
have been set, the cell is duplicated in the cell duplicating unit
17 and the resultant cells are respectively transmitted to the
interface circuit 11a and the interface circuit 11b. That is, the
so-called multicasting is carried out.
[0045] In a part (d) of FIG. 6, the contents of the header
conversion table 22 of the interface circuit 11n are changed, so
that the cell from the base station 2-n on the reception side for
communication can be transmitted to the interface circuit 11b. As a
result, the cell from the base station 2-n on the reception side
for communication has been transmitted to the base station 2-2 as a
destination of hand-over through the interface circuit 11b.
[0046] In a part (e) of FIG. 6, the control by the diversity
hand-over processing unit 15 is canceled.
[0047] In such a way, in the backward communication path Y as well,
the hand-over is carried out without interrupting the communication
established between the mobile station 3-1 on the transmission side
for communication and the mobile station 3-2 on the reception side
for communication.
[0048] FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the
above-mentioned diversity hand-over processing unit 15. In the
diversity hand-over processing unit 15, both the cell duplicating
unit 17 and the synchronous selection unit 16 are connected to an
MPU bus to which an MPU 53, a RAM 52 having the processing area of
the MPU 53, and a control unit interface circuit 54 for use in the
interface with the control unit 12 which the ATM communication
system 1 has are further connected, so that the MPU 53 controls
both the cell duplicating unit 17 and the synchronous selection
unit 16 in accordance with the instruction outputted from the
control unit 12.
[0049] The cell duplicating unit 17 has one input port and one
output port for input/output of the cell to/from the ATM switch 10
and when the cell which has been transmitted by the mobile station
3-2 on the reception side for communication through the ATM switch
10 is received by a switch interface circuit 40-1 through the base
station 2-n, distributes the cell thus received between a cell
processing unit 42-1 and a cell processing unit 42-2. Incidentally,
while in this example, the cell is distributed between the two cell
processing units, in order to improve the processing efficiency,
two or more cell processing units may be provided. In both the cell
processing units 42-1 and 42-2, the contents of each of header
conversion tables 43-1 and 43-2 are converted so that the state
shown in the part (c) of FIG. 6 can be obtained, i.e., the cell is
transmitted to both the interface circuits 11a and 11b. The
contents of each of the header conversion tables 43-1 and 43-2 are
the same as those shown in FIG. 4. The converted headers are given
to the cell which are transmitted to buffers 44-1 and 44-2,
respectively. A selector 45 reads out the cells from the buffers
44-1 and 44-2 and then transmits the cells thus read out to a
switch interface circuit 41-1 to output the cells to the ATM switch
10.
[0050] The synchronous selection unit 16 has similarly to the cell
duplicating unit 17, an input port and an output port for use in
input/output of the cell to/from the ATM switch 10. At the time
when the cell from the ATM switch 10 has been received by a switch
interface circuit 40-2, a selector 46 transmits both the cell
coming from the source of hand-over (the base station 2-1) and the
cell coming from the destination of hand-over (the base station
2-2) to paired buffers 47a-1 and 47a-2. A synchronous circuit 48a
compares the sequence numbers, which are shown in the respective
headers of the cell from the source of hand-over and the cell from
the destination of hand-over, with each other, and synchronizes
both the cells to send the cells to a selection circuit 49a. The
selection circuit 49a selects one of the cells in accordance with a
predetermined algorithm and transmits the selected cell to a header
conversion circuit 50a. the header conversion circuit 50a has a
header conversion table 22a, the format of which is the same as
that shown in FIG. 4. In the header conversion circuit 50a, the
contents of the header conversion table 22a are changed so that the
cell of interest can be directed to the interface circuit 11n
associated with the mobile station 3-2 on the reception side for
communication through the base station 2-n. In a selection 51, the
scheduling is carried out so that the one of the two cells which is
more excellent in quality is selected, and the selected cell is
transmitted to the ATM switch 10 through the switch interface
circuit 41-2. In such a way, if the instruction has been outputted
from the control unit 12 to an MPU 53, then the MPU 53 carries out
the above-mentioned control. Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 7, a
plurality of paired buffers 47a-1 and 47a-2, 47n-1 and 47n-2, a
plurality of synchronous circuits 48a, 48n, a plurality of
selection circuits 49a, 10-49n, and a plurality of header
conversion circuits 50a, . . . , 50n can be provided, which enables
the processing efficiency to be improved.
[0051] FIG. 8 shows the sequences of the diversity hand-over
processing which functions as a trunk. The sequences indicated by
reference symbols (a) to (e) in FIG. 8 correspond to the parts (a)
to (e) of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. Firstly, a request of hand-over from
the mobile station 3-1 is received by the control unit 12 of the
ATM communication system 1 (Step 60). Then, the control unit 12
instructs the diversity hand-over processing unit 15 to activate
the diversity hand-over (Step 61). The diversity hand-over
processing unit 15 synchronizes both the cell coming from the
source of hand-over and the cell coming from the destination of
hand-over with each other, and then selects one of the cells in the
synchronous selection unit 16 to carry out the header conversion
(Step 80). At the same time, the cell duplicating unit 17 receives
the cell from the reception side for communication through the base
station 2-n, and then sets the header so that the cell is
transmitted to both the interface circuits 11c having the
connection relation with the source of hand-over and the interface
circuit 11b having the connection relation with the destination of
hand-over (Step 81). After completion of the setting of the header,
the data relating to the setting completion is reported to the
control unit (Step 62).
[0052] Next, the control unit 12 instructs the interface circuit
11a in the source of hand-over, the interface circuit 11b in the
destination of hand-over and the interface circuit 11n on the
reception side for communication. Then, in the interface circuits
11a and 11b, the setting of the contents of the header conversion
tables 22 is changed so that the cell over the forward
communication path X is transmitted to the diversity hand-over
processing unit 15 (Step 82 and 83), and in the interface circuit
11n on the reception side for communication, the contents of the
header conversion tables 22-1 and 22-2 are changed so that the cell
over the backward communication path Y is transmitted to the
diversity hand-over processing unit 15 (Step 84). The report of the
completion of these processings is received by the control unit 12
(Step 64).
[0053] The diversity hand-over processing unit 15 stairs receiving
the cell and carries out the synchronous processing with respect to
the cell over the backward communication path Y so that the
diversity reception of the cell is established (Step 85). When the
processing becomes the diversity reception state of the cell, this
is reported to the control unit 12 (Step 65).
[0054] When the report of establishment of the diversity reception
of the cell has been received by the mobile station 3-1 (Step 66),
firstly, the instruction of completion of the diversity reception
of the cell is outputted to the interface circuit 11a as a source
of hand-over (Step 67). Then, the interface circuit 11a cancels the
setting of the header conversion table 22 for the forward
communication path X (Step 86). Then, the canceling report is sent
to the control unit (Step 68).
[0055] Next, the instruction of completion of the diversity
reception is outputted to both the interface circuit 11b as a
destination of hand-over and the interface circuit 11n on the
reception side for communication (Step 69). The interface circuit
11b changes the contents of the header conversion table 22 for the
cell over the forward communication path X so that the cell of
interest is directed to the interface circuit 11n on the reception
side for communication (Step 87). On the other hand, the interface
circuit 11n changes the contents of the header conversion table 22
for the cell over the backward communication path Y so that the
cell of interest is directed to the interface circuit 11b as a
destination of hand-over (Step 88). As a result, the diversity
transmission/reception of the cell has been completed. Thereafter,
the completion report is sent to the control unit 12.
[0056] Finally, in order to release the diversity hand-over
processing unit 15, the instruction of completion of the diversity
hand-over is outputted to the 5 diversity hand-over processing unit
15 (Step 71). Then, the diversity hand-over processing unit 15
releases the header conversion table 22a for the forward
communication path X, and the header conversion tables 22-1 and
22-2 for the backward communication path Y (Step 89). Then, the
completion report is sent to the control unit 12 (Step 72). In such
a way, the diversity hand-over has been completed.
[0057] FIG. 9 shows an example of other ATM communication system 1
including a diversity hand-over processing circuit 15. The feature
of this diversity-hand-over processing circuit 15 is that the input
ports between the synchronous selection unit 16 and the cell
duplicating unit 17, and the ATM switch 10, and the output ports
between the synchronous selection unit 16 and the cell duplicating
unit 17, shown in FIG. 1, are arranged into one input port and one
output port, respectively. For this reason, selectors 15a and 15b
are respectively provided in the synchronous selection unit 16 and
the cell duplicating unit 17 so that the cell output from the ATM
switch 10 is supplied to the selector 15a from which the cell
output is in turn supplied to both the synchronous selection unit
16 and the cell duplicating unit 17. In addition, the cell outputs
from the synchronous selection unit 16 and the cell duplicating
unit 17 are supplied to the selector 15b from which the cell is in
turn supplied to the ATM switch 10. As a result, the number of
ports is reduced.
[0058] In the case where as for the ATM switch 10, one having the
multicasting function is employed, if the number of a plurality of
cell processing units 42-1 and 42-2 as shown in FIG. 7 is further
increased so as to match the number of channels of the multicasting
function, then the switch interface circuit 40-1 becomes
unnecessary, and hence the cell can be directly transmitted from
the ATM switch 10 to the cell processing units.
[0059] While in the above-mentioned embodiments, the specific case
where the ATM communication system 1 has only one diversity
hand-over processing unit 15, has been described, it is to be
understood that a plurality of diversity hand-over processing units
may be provided in correspondence to the scale of the ATM
communication system 1, and as a result the processing efficiency
is improved.
[0060] In addition, while in the above-mentioned embodiments, the
description has been given with respect to the specific case where
the ATM communication system relays the cell, it should be noted
that the ATM communication system 1 can be directly used as the
packet communication system. In this case, the term "cells" which
are given to the constituent elements in the description of the
embodiments as well as in the drawings can be expressed in
different term "packet".
[0061] While the present invention has been particularly shown and
described with reference to the preferred embodiments and the
specified modifications thereof, it will be understood that the
various changes and other modifications will occur to those skilled
in the art without departing from the scope and true spirit of the
invention. The scope of the invention is therefore to be determined
solely by the appended claims.
* * * * *