Methods and devices related to effective measurements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9503216-B2
Application number	US-201314068159-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 31, 2013
Priority date	Nov 2, 2012
Publication date	Nov 22, 2016
Grant date	Nov 22, 2016

Abstract

Systems and methods related to effective measurements in a cellular communications network are disclosed. In one embodiment, a network node obtains a reference measurement performed by a measuring node, where the reference measurement contains one or more interference components. The reference measurement may be, for instance, a reference signal quality measurement or a reference signal power measurement. The network node then mitigates at least one of the interference components contained in the reference measurement to thereby provide an effective measurement for the measuring node. In one embodiment, the network node mitigates the at least one interference component by obtaining a compensation value for mitigating the at least one interference component and applying the compensation value to the reference measurement to thereby provide the effective measurement.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operation of a network node in a cellular communications network, comprising:
obtaining a reference measurement performed by a measuring node, the reference measurement comprising a first parameter and containing one or more interference components;
obtaining a compensation value for mitigating at least one interference component of the one or more interference components contained in the reference measurement; and
applying the compensation value to the reference measurement to thereby mitigate the at least one interference component of the one or more interference components contained in the reference measurement and provide an effective measurement of the first parameter for the measuring node, wherein the reference measurement is for a first time, and the effective measurement is for a second time that is subsequent to the first time.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the measuring node is a wireless device, the network node is a serving base station of the wireless device in the cellular communications network, and obtaining the reference measurement comprises receiving the reference measurement from the wireless device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the measuring node is a wireless device, and obtaining the reference measurement comprises receiving the reference measurement from a second network node.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the measuring node is a wireless device;
the wireless device is equipped with an enhanced receiver capable of mitigating interference at the wireless device such that the one or more interference components contained in the reference measurement performed by the wireless device are one or more residual interference components; and
the at least one interference component mitigated by applying the compensation value comprises at least one residual interference component of the one or more residual interference components contained in the reference measurement.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the reference measurement is on a first cell, and both the one or more residual interference components contained in the reference measurement and the at least one residual interference component mitigated to provide the effective measurement comprise one or more residual interference components received from at least one second cell.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the compensation value is based on a reference value that is indicative of an amount of residual interference that can be mitigated by the enhanced receiver of the wireless device.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the compensation value is based on one or more previous measurements performed by the wireless device.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the compensation value is based on at least one of a group consisting of: measurement statistics for a plurality of previous measurements performed by a plurality of wireless devices and historical data for a plurality of previous measurements performed by a plurality of wireless devices.

9. The method of claim 5 wherein the compensation value is based on at least one of a group consisting of: a reference measurement performed by a second wireless device and a reference value that is indicative of an amount of residual interference that can be mitigated by an enhanced receiver of the second wireless device.

10. The method of claim 5 wherein the compensation value is a predefined compensation value.

11. The method of claim 5 wherein the compensation value is selected from a predefined set of compensation values.

12. The method of claim 5 wherein obtaining the compensation value comprises obtaining the compensation value from a second network node.

13. The method of claim 5 wherein obtaining the compensation value comprises determining the compensation value at the network node.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein determining the compensation value comprises determining the compensation value based on a receiver type of a receiver of the wireless device.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein determining the compensation value comprises determining the compensation value based on a bandwidth of a signal measured at the wireless device to perform the reference measurement.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein determining the compensation value comprises determining the compensation value based on a bandwidth of signals used for interference estimation.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein determining the compensation value comprises determining the compensation value based on one or more interference conditions at the wireless device.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein determining the compensation value comprises determining the compensation value based on a number of aggressor cells at the wireless device.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained; and
in response to determining that an effective measurement is to be obtained, applying the compensation value to the reference measurement to thereby mitigate the at least one interference component and provide the effective measurement for the measuring node.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained comprises determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained based on a restricted measurement pattern utilized by the measuring node in association with the reference measurement.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained comprises determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained based on whether the measuring node performed the reference measurement using resources indicated in a restricted measurement pattern.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained comprises determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained based on a restricted measurement pattern utilized by the measuring node in association with the reference measurement.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained comprises determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained based on one or more high-interference conditions under which the measuring node performed the reference measurement.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained comprises determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained based on known capability information of the measuring node.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the known capability information is indicative of the reference measurement being a reference measurement rather than an effective measurement.

26. The method of claim 19 wherein:
obtaining the reference measurement comprises receiving the reference measurement from a second network node; and
determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained comprises determining whether an effective measurement is to be obtained based on known capability information for the second network node from which the reference measurement was received.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the known capability information is indicative of the reference measurement being a reference measurement rather than an effective measurement.

28. The method of claim 19 wherein:
obtaining the reference measurement comp

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Siomina Iana
• Kazmi Muhammad

Classifications

• H04B17/327

  Received signal code power [RSCP] · CPC title

• H04W84/045

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

• H04L1/0026

  Transmission of channel quality indication · CPC title

• H04L1/0036 Primary

  arrangements specific to the receiver · CPC title

• H04W52/244

  Interferences in heterogeneous networks, e.g. among macro and femto or pico cells or other sector / system interference [OSI] · CPC title