Systems and methods to improve network performance in wireless networks using user mobility patterns

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11297486-B2
Application number	US-202016992567-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 13, 2020
Priority date	Aug 13, 2020
Publication date	Apr 5, 2022
Grant date	Apr 5, 2022

Abstract

A device may include a processor configured to collect historical location data for a user equipment (UE) device associated with a user and determine a movement pattern for the user based on the collected historical location data. The processor may be further configured to obtain current location data for the UE device over a time period; determine a mobility score for the user for the time period based on the determined movement pattern and the obtained current location data, wherein the mobility score is associated with the user's movements during the time period with respect to the determined movement pattern for the user; and provide the determined mobility score for the user to another device configured to adjust one or more parameters of a radio access network (RAN) associated with the UE device based on the determined mobility score.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
collecting historical location data for a user equipment (UE) device associated with a user;
determining a movement pattern for the user based on the collected historical location data, wherein determining the movement pattern for the user includes determining at least one primary location for the user;
obtaining current location data for the UE device over a time period;
determining a mobility score for the user for the time period based on the determined movement pattern and the obtained current location data, wherein the mobility score is associated with the user's movements during the time period with respect to the determined movement pattern for the user, wherein determining the mobility score for the user for the time period includes determining an off-center distance based on a distance for the user from the at least one primary location during the time period; and
providing the determined mobility score for the user to another device configured to adjust one or more parameters of a radio access network (RAN) associated with the UE device based on the determined mobility score.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the determined mobility score for the user to another device configured to adjust one or more parameters of the RAN associated with the UE device based on the determined mobility score includes:
providing the mobility score to a self-organizing network (SON) device associated with the RAN; and
adjusting, by the SON device, at least one of an antenna tilt parameter, a power distribution parameter, a carrier aggregation parameter, a handover parameter, or a neighbor list parameter for a base station associated with the RAN based on the mobility score.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
aggregating a plurality of mobility scores for a plurality of users in a geographical area; and
adjusting a self-organizing network (SON) parameter for a base station in the geographical area based on the aggregated plurality of mobility scores.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein adjusting the SON parameter for the base station in the geographical area based on the aggregated plurality of mobility scores includes:
determining, based on the aggregated plurality of mobility scores, that UE devices associated with the base station have changed movement patterns from a first area to a second area; and
adjusting at least one of an antenna tilt parameter, a power distribution parameter, a carrier aggregation parameter, a handover parameter, or a neighbor list parameter for the base station to increase signal coverage in the second area, in response to determining that the UE devices associated with the base station have changed movement patterns from the first area to the second area.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein adjusting the SON parameter for the base station in the geographical area based on the aggregated plurality of mobility scores includes:
determining, based on the aggregated plurality of mobility scores, that UE devices associated with the base station are associated with lower mobility scores than mobility scores determined for the UE devices during a previous time period; and
adjusting at least one of an antenna tilt parameter, a power distribution parameter, a carrier aggregation parameter, a handover parameter, or a neighbor list parameter for the base station to increase signal capacity, based on determining that UE devices associated with the base station are associated with lower mobility scores than mobility scores determined for the UE devices during the previous time period.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the movement pattern for the user based on the collected historical location data includes:
dividing a daily movement pattern associated with the user into a plurality of geographical time bins, wherein each geographical time bin, of the plurality of geographical time bins, corresponds to a location range where the user spends time during a particular range of times each time period.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the mobility score for the user for the time period based on the determined movement pattern and the obtained current location data includes:
determining a geographical time bin missing rate for the user for the time period based on the obtained current location data and the plurality of geographical time bins, wherein the geographical time bin missing rate is based on a number of geographical time bins, of the plurality of geographical time bins, not visited by the user during the time period; and
determining the mobility score for the user for the time period based on the determined geographical time bin missing rate for the user for the time period.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the movement pattern for the user based on the collected historical location data further includes:
determining a plurality of primary locations for the user based on a number of most frequently visited geographical time bins of the plurality of geographical time bins; and
wherein determining the mobility score for the user for the time period based on the determined movement pattern and the obtained current location data includes:
determining the off-center distance for the user for the time period based on the obtained current location data and the plurality of primary locations, wherein the off-center distance corresponds to a distance of the user during the time period from a closest primary location of the plurality of primary locations.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the mobility score for the user for the time period based on the determined movement pattern and the obtained current location data includes:
determining an area of extent for the user for the time period based on the obtained current location data, wherein the area of extent for the user for the time period is based on maximum latitudinal and longitudinal differences between geographical time bins visited by the user during the time period; and
determining the mobility score for the user for the time period based on the area of extent for the user for the time period.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a mobility profile score for the user, wherein the mobility profile score for the user measures an extent to which a daily movement pattern of the user varies.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing the mobility score to a network management device configured to at least one of troubleshoot the RAN or perform load balancing on the RAN.

12. A device comprising:
a processor configured to:
collect historical location data for a user equipment (UE) device associated with a user;
determine a movement pattern for the user based on the collected historical location data, wherein, when determining the movement pattern for the user, the processor is further configured to determine at least one primary location for the user;
obtain current location data for the UE device over a time period;
determine a mobility score for the user for the time period based on the determined movement pattern and the obtained current location data, wherein the mobility score is associated with the user's movements during the time period with respect to the determined movement pattern for the user, wherein, when determining the mobility score for the user for the time period, the processor is further configured to determine an off-center distance based on a distance for the user from the at least one primary location during the time period; and
provide the determined mobility score for the user to another device configured to adjust

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Yin lun
• Su Le
• Wang Dandan
• Lu Wenyuan
• Iyer Krishna Pichumani
• Abbas Khurram
• Rice Steven F

Classifications

• H04W64/006

  with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination · CPC title

• H04W64/003

  locating network equipment · CPC title

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title

• H04W8/08 Primary

  Mobility data transfer · CPC title

• H04W24/10

  Scheduling measurement reports {; Arrangements for measurement reports} · CPC title