Patent ID: 9668195
Date: 2017-05-30
CPC Classifications: H04B,H04J,H04L,H04W

Claim:
1. An Internet Protocol (IP)-based cellular communication system operative in conjunction with a moving relay, the system comprising: an IP connectivity gateway coupled to a network router and to a mobility management entity; and a router configured to: route, to the gateway, at least one packet designated to an IP address of at least one first moving relay, wherein the router is configured to: (i) use a tunneling protocol other than a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) tunneling protocol, and (ii) bounce packets back and forth between itself and the gateway, to allow creation of at least one multi-level tunnel that can support multi-level relay deployment on a standard network, the first moving relay comprises base station functionality, a radio manager and mobile station functionality, all co-located, the base station functionality is operative to communicate via antennae with at least one mobile station thereby defining a first radio link there between, and said base station functionality having a physical connection to the co-located radio manager, the mobile station functionality communicates via antennae with a unit which has base station functionality thereby to define a second radio link, the radio manager comprises: a radio resource manager; and functionality for exchanging information with radio managers included in moving relays other than the first moving relay, the radio manager is configured to use the exchanged information to select, for at least one individual mobile station which seeks to be served by establishing a standard connection, one of: a static base station; and a base station functionality, to which to connect the individual mobile station in order to provide cellular communication services thereto, the system is configured to support multiple relay scenarios with dynamic topology, in which relay connections vary over time, in that at least one mobile station functionality, UE, with plural potential connections to plural nodes respectively, is provided in at least one relay, with IP level relayed information regarding various of said plural potential connections via at least one relay that said UE is currently connected to, the plural nodes including at least one of (a) base stations and (b) relay nodes' base station functionalities; and decision making functionality is provided to: dynamically derive from said information, a correct IP routing over multiple relays, from among multiple alternative routes available for a one to one entity connection, which will connect said UE to a given final destination via a suitable number of available relay nodes, given a current topology of said available relay nodes, and dynamically select a relay for the UE to be served by, from among said plural potential connections, accordingly.