Patent ID: 8688133

Claim:
A method for transiting a femtocell base station between at least two operation modes in a system including one or more mobile stations being capable of connecting to the femtocell base station, wherein each of the one or more mobile stations switches between i) a connected state with the mobile station connecting to the femtocell base station, and ii) an idle state with the mobile station not establishing a connection with the femtocell base station, said two operation modes of the femtocell base station including a normal operation mode and a low-duty operation mode with reduced radio interface activity, the method comprising: when operating said femtocell base station in the normal operation mode, detecting the one or more mobile stations switching from the connected state with the one or more mobile stations connecting to said femtocell base station to the idle state with the one or more mobile stations not establishing the connection with the femtocell base station, and based on detecting that all of the one or more mobile stations has switched from the connected state to the idle state, transiting said femtocell base station from said normal operation mode to said low-duty operation mode with reduced radio interface activity in order to reduce interference to neighbor cells.