Cell selection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9277496-B2
Application number	US-201113813132-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 12, 2011
Priority date	Aug 13, 2010
Publication date	Mar 1, 2016
Grant date	Mar 1, 2016

Abstract

A first base station for use in a communications network, the first base station having a first cell operating range, comprising: means for obtaining data relating to at least one characteristic of a signal transmitted by a second base station having a second cell operating range which is different from and overlaps with the first cell operating range of the first base station; means for determining a cell selection bias value for the first or second base station using the obtained data; and means for transmitting the determined cell selection bias value to a user device within the first cell operating range of the first base station.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A first base station for use in a communications network, the first base station including a first cell operating range, comprising:
a transceiver operable to obtain a reference signal received power value of a signal transmitted by a second base station having a second cell operating range which is different from and overlaps with the first cell operating range of the first base station; and
a controller operable to determine, using the obtained reference signal received power value, a reference signal received power bias value for applying, by a user device, to a reference signal received power measured for the second base station when selecting a cell for handover,
wherein the transceiver is further operable to transmit the determined reference signal received power bias value to a user device within the first cell operating range of the first base station.

2. The first base station of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is further operable to obtain the reference signal received power value by receiving signal measurement reports from user devices within the first cell operating range of the first base station, and
wherein the controller is configured to determine the cell selection bias value for the second base station using the received signal measurement reports.

3. The first base station of claim 2 , wherein the signal measurement reports comprise one or more of a physical cell identifier, the reference signal received power value, a geographical location of a user device, and a pathloss measurement.

4. The first base station of claim 2 , wherein the signal measurement reports relate to signals transmitted by a plurality of base stations.

5. The first base station of claim 4 , wherein the signal measurement reports relate to signals transmitted by the first base station and the second base station.

6. The first base station of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further operable to instruct the user devices within the first operating cell range of the first base station to generate the signal measurement reports.

7. The first base station of claim 6 , wherein the controller is further operable to instruct the user devices using one of an automatic neighbor relation management, and a minimization of drive testing mechanism.

8. The first base station of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is further operable to obtain the reference signal received power value by exchanging information between the first and second base stations.

9. The first base station of claim 8 , wherein the exchanged information comprises one or more of:
a transmitted signal power;
a physical cell identifier; and
a cell operating type.

10. The first base station of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further operable to determine the cell selection bias value by determining a pathloss value responsive to the reference signal received power value.

11. The first base station of claim 10 , wherein the pathloss value is determined using:

Pathloss
⁡

(
dB
)

=

10
⁢

log
10

⁡

(

Y
×
BW

X
Tot

)

where Y is the reference signal received power value, X Tot is the total transmit power of the transmitting base station, and BW is the bandwidth in twos of number of subcarriers of the base station transmitting the reference signal.

12. The first base station of claim 10 , wherein the pathloss value is determined using:

Pathloss
⁡

(
dB
)

=

10
⁢

log
10

⁡

(

Y

X
sc

⁢

)

where Y is the reference signal received power value, and X sc is the transmit power of the reference signal.

13. The first base station of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the cell selection bias value based on the pathloss value.

14. A method of controlling serving cell selection in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
obtaining a reference signal received power value relating to at least one characteristic of a signal transmitted by a second base station including a second cell operating range which is different from and overlaps with a first cell operating range of a first base station;
determining, using the obtained reference signal received power value, a reference signal received power bias value for applying, by a user device, to a reference signal received power measured for the second base station when selecting a cell for handover; and
transmitting the determined reference signal received power bias value to a user device within the first cell operating range of the first base station.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the obtaining the reference signal received power value further comprises receiving signal measurement reports from user devices within the first cell operating range of the first base station, and
wherein the determining a cell selection bias value further comprises determining the cell selection bias value for the second base station using the received signal measurement reports.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the received signal measurement reports comprise one or more of:
a physical cell identifier;
the reference signal received power value;
a geographical location of a user device; and
a pathloss measurement.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the received signal measurement reports relate to signals transmitted by a plurality of base stations.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the received signal measurement reports relate to signals transmitted by the first base station and the second base station.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising instructing the user devices within the first operating cell range of the first base station to generate the signal measurement reports.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the instructing the user devices comprises instructing the user devices using one of automatic neighbor relation management, and minimization of drive te

Assignees

• Awad Yassin Aden
• Sharma Vivek
• Noma Satoshi
• Nec Corp

Inventors

• Awad Yassin Aden
• Sharma Vivek
• Noma Satoshi

Classifications

• H04W36/0061

  of neighbour cell information · CPC title

• H04W84/045

  using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B · CPC title

• H04W36/30

  by measured or perceived connection quality data · CPC title

• H04W48/20 Primary

  Selecting an access point · CPC title

• H04W36/0058

  Transmission of hand-off measurement information, e.g. measurement reports · CPC title