Patent ID: 8792941
Filing Date: 2014-07-29
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A method in a base station having one or more physical sectors, comprising: receiving instructions from a network node which identify two or more cellular network operators that are parties to a sharing agreement, and which specify an amount of radio resources that are to be temporarily shared under the sharing agreement; activating a sharing state in a selected one or more of the physical sectors in response to the sharing instructions; and deactivating the sharing state when the sharing agreement expires or terminates, wherein activating the sharing state in each said physical sector comprises: configuring the physical sector to instantiate at least two concurrently running protocol stacks dedicated to respective cellular network operators that are parties to the sharing agreement, whereby respective virtualized sectors are defined; configuring at least one software-defined programmable radiofrequency front end (SDRFfe) of the physical sector for operation on spectrum that is allocated in response to the sharing agreement; and directing mobile terminals subscribing to two or more of the network operators and served by the physical sector to operate on radio resources allocated to their respective operators.