초록 ▼

In the present invention, the slave base station attains synchronization with the reference base station through messages transmitted from and received by a mobile station either in the soft handoff region between the reference base station and the slave base station or within a range which allows t

In the present invention, the slave base station attains synchronization with the reference base station through messages transmitted from and received by a mobile station either in the soft handoff region between the reference base station and the slave base station or within a range which allows the mobile station to communicate with the slave base station. When the mobile station is not in communication with both the reference base station and the slave base station, then the round trip delay between the mobile station and the reference base station is measured by the reference base station. The reference base station communicates the PN code used by the mobile station over the reverse link to the slave base station. The slave base station acquires the signal from the mobile station and determines when the signal from the mobile station arrives. The slave base station then makes an estimate as to the length of the delay between transmission of a signal from the mobile station to the slave base station. Based upon these measurements and estimates, the slave base station determines the error which is present in the slave base station system time.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method for time synchronizing a second base station with a first base station comprising: measuring a round trip delay interval of transmissions from the first base station to a mobile station in communication with the first base station and back from the mobile station to the first base statio

1. A method for time synchronizing a second base station with a first base station comprising: measuring a round trip delay interval of transmissions from the first base station to a mobile station in communication with the first base station and back from the mobile station to the first base station;receiving at the second base station communications transmitted by the mobile station and noting the time of reception;sending a message indicative of the identity of the mobile station from the first base station to the second base station, comprising: receiving at the first base station communications from a plurality of mobile stations;selecting a mobile station most likely to be able to communicate with the second base station furthest from the first base station; andsending the message indicative of the identity of the mobile station;determining an estimate of a delay which occurs between transmission by the mobile station and reception by the second base station; andcomputing a timing correction value in accordance with said estimate of the delay, said noted time of reception, and said measured round trip delay interval. 2. An apparatus for time synchronizing a second base station with a first base station comprising: a first base station configured to: measure a round trip delay interval of transmissions from said first base station to a mobile station in communication with said first base station and back from the mobile station to said first base station;receive communications from a plurality of mobile stations;select a mobile station most likely to be able to communicate with said second base station as a mobile station closest from said first base station; andsend a message indicative of the identity of the selected mobile station to said second base station;a second base station configured to: receive communications transmitted by the mobile station and noting the time of reception;determine an estimate of a delay which occurs between transmission by the mobile station and reception by said second base station; andcompute a timing correction value based upon the estimate of the delay, the time of reception, and the measured round trip delay interval. 3. A method for synchronizing a base station with a wireless communication system upon the base station's power up, comprising: disabling a transmission from the base station;obtaining initial timing at the base station;receiving at the base station signals transmitted from a mobile station;providing the mobile station with an identity of the base station;transmitting signals at successively increasing power levels from the base station in accordance with an adjusted timing until the mobile station detects the transmitted signals; andsynchronizing timing of the base station with another base station communicating with the mobile station, comprising: measuring a round trip delay interval of transmissions from the another base station to the mobile station and back from the mobile station to the another base station;receiving at the base station communications transmitted by the mobile station and noting the time of reception;determining an estimate of a delay which occurs between transmission by the mobile station and reception by the base station; andcomputing a timing correction value in accordance with the estimate of the delay, the noted time of reception, and the measured round trip delay interval. 4. The method of claim 3 wherein said obtaining initial timing at the base station comprises: obtaining initial timing at the base station in accordance with a timing signal provided from a base station controller. 5. The method of claim 3 wherein said obtaining initial timing at the base station comprises: obtaining initial timing at the base station in accordance with a timing signal provided from a WWW receiver. 6. The method of claim 3 wherein said obtaining initial timing at the base station comprises: obtaining initial timing at the base station in accordance with an intermittent timing signal. 7. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving at the base station signals transmitted from a mobile station further comprises: obtain information about identity of the mobile station;estimating at the base station distance to the mobile station; andreceiving at the base station signals transmitted from the mobile station in accordance with said provided information and said estimated distance. 8. The method of claim 7 wherein said estimating at the base station distance to the mobile station comprises: estimating at the base station time delay to the mobile station. 9. The method of claim 7 wherein said estimating at the base station distance to the mobile station comprises: assuming that the mobile station is located adjacent to the base station. 10. The method of claim 7 wherein said estimating at the base station distance to the mobile station comprises: estimating at the base station distance to the mobile station in accordance with a round trip delay interval of transmissions from a first base station to the mobile station in communication with the first base station and back from the mobile station to said first base station. 11. The method of claim 7 wherein said estimating at the base station distance to the mobile station comprises: estimating at the base station distance to the mobile station in accordance with:a first round trip delay interval of transmissions from a first base station to the mobile station in communication with the first base station and back from the mobile station to the first base station; anda second round trip delay interval of transmissions from a second base station to the mobile station in communication with the second base station and back from the mobile station to the second base station. 12. The method of claim 3, wherein adjusting timing of the base station in accordance with said received signals further comprises: adjusting timing of the base station in accordance with a time offset between an estimated PN offset of the mobile station and an actual PN offset of the mobile station. 13. The method of claim 3, wherein providing the mobile station with an identity of the base station further comprises: providing the mobile station with a pilot PN code offset. 14. The method of claim 3, wherein providing the mobile station with an identity of the base station further comprises: providing the mobile station with a pilot PN code. 15. The method of claim 3, wherein synchronizing timing of the base station with the another base station communicating with the mobile station further comprises: initiating a communication between the base station and the mobile station;measuring a first round trip delay interval of transmissions from the base station to the mobile station in communication with the base station and back from the mobile station to the base station;measuring a second round trip delay interval of transmissions from the another base station to the mobile station and back from the mobile station to the another base station;measuring at the mobile station a time difference between the time of receipt of a transmission from the another base station and the time of receipt of a transmission from the base station; andcomputing a timing correction value based upon the measured first round trip delay interval, the measured second round trip delay interval, and the measured time difference. 16. The method of claim 3, further comprising: repeating said synchronizing timing of the base station with at least one base station communicating with the mobile station for all mobile stations within the coverage area of the base station. 17. An apparatus for synchronizing a base station with a wireless communication system upon the base station's power up, comprising: a transmitter;a processor communicatively coupled to said transmitter;a receiver, communicatively coupled to the processor, configured to receive signals transmitted from a mobile station; anda storage medium coupled to said processor and containing a set of instructions executable by said processor to:disable said transmitter;obtain initial timing; andsynchronize timing of the base station with another base station communicating with the mobile station, comprising: initiating a communication between the base station and the mobile station;measuring a first round trip delay interval of transmissions from the base station to the mobile station in communication with the base station and back from the mobile station to the base station;measuring a second round trip delay interval of transmissions from the another base station communicating with the mobile station and back from the mobile station to the another base station communicating with the mobile station; andcomputing a timing correction value in accordance with the first round trip delay interval and the second round trip delay interval. 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said processor obtains initial timing by executing a set of instructions to: obtain initial timing in accordance with a timing signal provided from a base station controller. 19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said processor obtains initial timing by executing a set of instructions to: obtain initial timing in accordance with a timing signal provided from a WWW receiver. 20. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said processor obtains initial timing by executing a set of instructions to: obtain initial timing in accordance with an intermittent timing signal. 21. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said processor further executes a set of instructions to: obtain information about identity of the mobile station; andestimate a distance from the base station to the mobile station; and wherein the receiver is further configured to:receive signals transmitted from the mobile station in accordance with the provided information and the estimated distance. 22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said processor estimates a distance from the base station to the mobile station by executing a set of instructions to: estimate a time delay between the base station and the mobile station. 23. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said processor estimates a distance from the base station to the mobile station by executing a set of instructions in accordance with an assumption that the mobile station is located adjacent to the base station. 24. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said processor estimates a distance from the base station to the mobile station by executing a set of instructions to: estimate distance from the base station to the mobile station in accordance with a round trip delay interval of transmissions from a first base station to the mobile station in communication with said first base station and back from the mobile station to said first base station. 25. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said processor estimates a distance from the base station to the mobile station by executing a set of instructions to: estimate a first round trip delay interval of transmissions from a first base station to the mobile station in communication with said first base station and back from the mobile station to said first base station; andestimate a second round trip delay interval of transmissions from a second base station to the mobile station in communication with said second base station and back from the mobile station to the second base station. 26. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said processor adjusts timing of the base station in accordance with said received transmission by executing a set of instructions to: adjust timing of the base station in accordance with a time offset between an estimated PN offset of the mobile station and an actual PN offset of the mobile station. 27. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising: a mobile station configured to obtain information about identity of the base station; andsaid transmitter configured to transmit signals at successively increasing power levels from the base station in accordance with the adjusted timing until the mobile station detects the transmitted signals. 28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the mobile station is configured to obtain information about a pilot PN code offset of the base station. 29. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the mobile station is configured to obtain information about a pilot PN code of the base station. 30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said processor repeats said synchronizing timing of the base station with at least one base station communicating with the mobile station for all mobile stations within the coverage area of the base station. 31. The apparatus of claim 17 said processor further executes a set of instructions to synchronize timing of the base station with at least one base station communicating with said mobile. 32. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the mobile station is configured to measure a time difference between the time of receipt of a transmission from the another base station communicating with the mobile station and the time of receipt of a transmission from the base station; and the processor is further configured to compute the timing correction value in accordance with the time difference provided by the mobile station. 33. An apparatus for time synchronizing a second base station with a first base station comprising: means for measuring a round trip delay interval of transmissions from the first base station to a mobile station in communication with the first base station and back from the mobile station to the first base station;means for receiving at the second base station communications transmitted by the mobile station and noting the time of reception;means for sending a message indicative of the identity of the mobile station from the first base station to the second base station, comprising: means for receiving at the first base station communications from a plurality of mobile stations;means for selecting a mobile station most likely to be able to communicate with the second base station furthest from the first base station; andmeans for sending the message indicative of the identity of the mobile station;means for determining an estimate of a delay which occurs between transmission by the mobile station and reception by the second base station; andmeans for computing a timing correction value in accordance with said estimate of the delay, said noted time of reception, and said measured round trip delay interval. 34. A processor-readable non-transitory medium having one or more instructions which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to: measure a round trip delay interval of transmissions from a first base station to a mobile station in communication with the first base station and back from the mobile station to the first base station; receive at a second base station communications transmitted by the mobile station and noting the time of reception; send a message indicative of the identity of the mobile station from the first base station to the second base station, by: receiving at the first base station communications from a plurality of mobile stations; selecting a mobile station most likely to be able to communicate with the second base station furthest from the first base station; and sending the message indicative of the identity of the mobile station; determine an estimate of a delay which occurs between transmission by the mobile station and reception by the second base station; and compute a timing correction value in accordance with said estimate of the delay, said noted time of reception, and said measured round trip delay interval. 35. An apparatus for synchronizing a base station with a wireless communication system upon the base station's power up, comprising: means for disabling a transmission from the base station;means for obtaining initial timing at the base station;means for receiving at the base station signals transmitted from a mobile station;means for providing the mobile station with an identity of the base station;means for transmitting signals at successively increasing power levels from the base station in accordance with an adjusted timing until the mobile station detects the transmitted signals; andmeans for synchronizing timing of the base station with another base station communicating with the mobile station, comprising: means for measuring a round trip delay interval of transmissions from the another base station to the mobile station and back from the mobile station to the another base station;means for receiving at the base station communications transmitted by the mobile station and noting the time of reception;means for determining an estimate of a delay which occurs between transmission by the mobile station and reception by the base station; andmeans for computing a timing correction value in accordance with the estimate of the delay, the noted time of reception, and the measured round trip delay interval. 36. A processor-readable non-transitory medium having one or more instructions which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to: disable a transmission from the base station; obtain initial timing at the base station; receive at the base station signals transmitted from a mobile station; provide the mobile station with an identity of the base station; transmit signals at successively increasing power levels from the base station in accordance with an adjusted timing until the mobile station detects the transmitted signals; and synchronize timing of the base station with another base station communicating with the mobile station, by: measuring a round trip delay interval of transmissions from the another base station to the mobile station and back from the mobile station to the another base station; receiving at the base station communications transmitted by the mobile station and noting the time of reception; determining an estimate of a delay which occurs between transmission by the mobile station and reception by the base station; and computing a timing correction value in accordance with the estimate of the delay, the noted time of reception, and the measured round trip delay interval.