Radio communication system and communication control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9736750-B2
Application number	US-201414896976-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 1, 2014
Priority date	Jun 10, 2013
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

A radio communication system includes: a visit information storage unit that stores plural visit information elements each indicating information on a visit to a cell visited by a user equipment; a cell visit detector that detects that the user equipment that was visiting a first cell starts a visit to a second cell differing from the first cell; a ping-ponging state determiner that determines whether a ping-ponging state has occurred, in which state start and ending of a visit to the second cell is repeated, wherein the determination is made based on a visit information element on a visit to the second cell visited by the user equipment; and a calculator that calculates a visit time length of the visit to the second cell in accordance with the determination by the ping-ponging state determiner.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A radio communication system comprising:
a visit information storage unit configured to store plural visit information elements each indicating information on a visit to a cell visited by a user equipment;
a cell visit detector configured to detect that a user equipment that was visiting a first cell starts to visit a second cell differing from the first cell;

a ping-ponging state determiner configured to determine whether a ping-ponging state has occurred, in which state start and ending of a visit to the second cell is repeated, wherein the determination is made based on a visit information element on the visit to the second cell visited by the user equipment; and
a calculator configured to calculate a visit time length of the visit to the second cell in accordance with the determination by the ping-ponging state determiner,
wherein, when the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has occurred, the calculator calculates the visit time length of the visit to the second cell so that the visit time length is longer than a visit time length of when the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has not occurred.

2. The radio communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the cell visit detector supplies a current time as a provisional visit start time to the ping-ponging state determiner when the cell visit detector detects that the user equipment departs from the first cell and starts to visit the second cell,
wherein the ping-ponging state determiner supplies to the calculator, as a true visit start time, a visit start time indicated by a visit information element corresponding to the latest visit to the second cell from among the plural visit information elements stored in the visit information storage unit when the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has occurred, whereas the ping-ponging state determiner supplies to the calculator the provisional visit start time as a true visit start time when the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has not occurred,
wherein the calculator writes a new visit information element containing the true visit start time into the visit information storage unit when plural visit start times indicated by the plural visit information elements do not include the true visit start time, whereas the calculator does not write a new visit information element into the visit information storage unit when plural visit start times indicated by the plural visit information elements include the true visit start time,
wherein, when the cell visit detector subsequently detects that the user equipment departs from the second cell and starts visiting another cell, the cell visit detector acquires a current time as a visit ending time of the second cell, to supply the current time to the calculator, and
wherein the calculator acquires a visit start time indicated by a visit information element corresponding to the latest visit to the second cell from among the plural visit information elements and calculates a difference between the visit start time and the visit ending time as the visit time length of the visit to the second cell.

3. The radio communication system according to claim 2 ,
wherein the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has occurred when a difference between a visit ending time and the provisional visit start time is below a threshold, the visit ending time being indicated by the visit information element corresponding to the latest visit to the second cell from among the plural visit information elements stored in the visit information storage unit, whereas the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has not occurred when the difference is above the threshold or when the visit information storage unit does not store a visit information element on the visit to the second cell.

4. The radio communication system according to claim 3 ,
wherein, when the cell visit detector detects that the user equipment maintains the visit to the second cell, the cell visit detector acquires a current time as the visit ending time of the second cell, to supply the current time to the calculator, and
wherein the calculator acquires a visit start time indicated by the visit information element corresponding to the latest visit to the second cell from among the plural visit information elements stored in the visit information storage unit, to calculate a difference between the visit start time and the visit ending time as the visit time length of the visit to the second cell.

5. The radio communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the cell visit detector supplies a current time as a provisional visit start time to the ping-ponging state determiner when the cell visit detector detects that the user equipment leaves the first cell and starts to visit the second cell,
wherein the ping-ponging state determiner supplies to the calculator, as a true visit start time, a visit start time indicated by a visit information element corresponding to the latest visit to the second cell from among the plural visit information elements stored in the visit information storage unit when the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has occurred, whereas the ping-ponging state determiner supplies to the calculator the provisional visit start time as a true visit start time when the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has not occurred,
wherein the calculator writes a new visit information element containing the true visit start time supplied from the ping-ponging state determiner into the visit information storage unit,
wherein, when the cell visit detector subsequently detects that the user equipment departs from the second cell and starts visiting another cell, the cell visit detector acquires a current time as a visit ending time of the second cell, to supply the current time to the calculator,
wherein the calculator acquires a visit start time indicated by an incomplete visit information element corresponding to the visit to the second cell and not containing a visit ending time, from among the plural visit information elements stored in the visit information storage unit, to calculate, as the visit time length of the visit to the second cell, a difference between the visit start time and the visit ending time supplied from the cell visit detector.

6. The radio communication system according to claim 5 ,
wherein the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has occurred when a frequency of visits to the second cell indicated by the plural visit information elements stored in the visit information storage unit is above a threshold, whereas the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has not occurred when the frequency is below the threshold or when the visit information storage unit does not store a visit information element on the visit to the second cell.

7. The radio communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the cell visit detector supplies a current time as a provisional visit start time to the ping-ponging state determiner when the cell visit detector detects that the user equipment departs from the first cell and starts to visit the second cell,
wherein the ping-ponging state determiner determines that the ping-ponging state has occurred when a difference between a visit ending time and the provisional visit start time is below a threshold, the visit ending time being indicated by a visit information element corresponding to the latest visit to the second cell from among the plural visit information elements stored in the vi

Assignees

• Ntt Docomo Inc

Inventors

• Morioka Yasufumi
• Hayashi Kouki
• Morihiro Yoshifumi

Classifications

• H04W64/00

  Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management · CPC title

• H04W36/34 Primary

  Reselection control · CPC title

• H04W64/006

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

• H04M3/487

  Arrangements for providing information services, e.g. recorded voice services or time announcements · CPC title

• H04W36/32

  by location or mobility data, e.g. speed data · CPC title