Sectorized base stations as multiple antenna systems

摘要

Methods and apparatus for improved utilization of air link resources are discussed in wireless communications systems employing multi-sector base stations and wireless terminals with multiple antennas. Timing synchronization is maintained across the base station sectors, and the same set of tones are used in adjacent sectors. In a sector boundary region, which is typically a high interference region, a wireless terminal is set to a sector pair state and operated in a MIMO mode of operation, communicating with two adjacent base station antenna faces of the same base station concurrently, the two different adjacent base station antenna faces corresponding to different adjacent sectors. Thus, typically high interference sector boundary regions, are converted into high capacity regions by having the sectors coordinated and utilizing MIMO techniques.

主权项

1. A method of operating a wireless terminal in a cell including a base station coupled to a multi-face base station antenna, said multi-face base station antenna including a first antenna face and a second antenna face, the method comprising:
transmitting path loss information corresponding to said first antenna face to said base station; transmitting path loss information corresponding to said second antenna face to said base station; maintaining information indicating whether said wireless terminal is in a sector state or a sector pair state; and communicating with said base station in one of a MIMO mode of operation and a non-MIMO mode of operation, the mode of operation used for communicating being a function of whether said maintained information indicates said wireless terminal is in the sector state or the sector pair state.