Patent ID: 9398628
Filing Date: 2016-07-19
CPC Classification: H04L,H04W

Claim Text:
1. A method for selecting a physical layer identifier for use in a basestation in a mobile communications network, comprising: receiving a pool of identifiers available for use by basestations within the network, wherein the pool of identifiers comprises a subset of all temporary identifiers and a subset of all final identifiers available for use by basestations within the network; checking for network demand on at least one of the subsets of available identifiers, wherein checking for network demand comprises checking for network demand on the temporary identifier subset and checking for network demand on the final identifier subset, wherein checking for network demand on the temporary identifier subset comprises analyzing a delay period for availability of a temporary identifier on receipt of a report from a basestation, and wherein checking for network demand on the final identifier subset comprises analyzing a degree of freedom experienced by basestations in selecting a final identifier from the final identifier subset; adjusting the partition between the subsets according to the network demand; assigning a temporary identifier for the basestation and instructing the basestation to use the identifier for a lease period; receiving from connected UEs reports of identifiers from among the received pool that are in use by basestations detected by the connected UEs; and assigning a final identifier for the basestation selected from the received pool of identifiers, wherein the final identifier is different from the temporary identifier.