Wireless telecommunications network nodes and methods

• US 10,009,812 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2014
• Issued: 06/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Puddle, Nicola, Wong, Shin Horng, Brend, Graham R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Agosta, Steve D
• Application Number:
  US15/023,486
• Publication Number:
  US 20160234739A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,406 Days
• Field of Search: 455421, 455423-425, 4554321, 455436-444, 3703102, 370328, 370331-334, 370338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0069 in case of dual connectivity, e.g. decoupled uplink/downlink
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/04 Reselecting a cell layer in multi-layered cells
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/24 Reselection being triggered by specific parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/305 Handover due to radio link failure control signalling for hand-off failure H04W36/0079
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/19 Connection re-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

Wireless telecommunications network nodes, methods and computer program products are disclosed. A wireless telecommunications network node method, comprises determining a cause of a radio link failure which occurred when a user equipment is in proximity to an uplink-downlink imbalance region; and in response to the cause of the radio link failure, initiating action to optimize control of user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling when in proximity to the uplink-downlink imbalance region. In this way, by establishing the cause of the radio link failure, it is possible to take action to alter the user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling procedure in order to help prevent such radio link failures occurring in the future.

Claims

1. A method, performed by a wireless telecommunications network node, comprising:

determining a cause of a radio link failure in at least one of uplink and downlink which occurred when a user equipment is in proximity to an uplink-downlink imbalance region, which is a region between a downlink boundary of a small cell and a macro cell, said downlink boundary being where received pilot power from said macro cell and received pilot power from said small cell are the same and an uplink boundary of said small cell and said macro cell, said uplink boundary being where uplink path loss to said macro cell and to said small cell are the same, comprising determining that said radio link failure occurred due to one of uplink-downlink decoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by different cells, and uplink-downlink recoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by a same cell, occurring one of too early and too late; and

in response to said cause of said radio link failure, initiating action to optimize control of user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling when in proximity to said uplink-downlink imbalance region by adjusting control of user equipment to perform a corresponding one of uplink-downlink decoupling and uplink-downlink recoupling a corresponding one of later and earlier than previously;

wherein said determining comprises determining that said radio link failure occurred in uplink due to at least one of;

uplink-downlink decoupling occurring too late when higher than a threshold amount of interference is received on said uplink by said network node, followed by a handover of user equipment to said network node coinciding with a reduction in said interference and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink decoupling earlier than previously;

uplink-downlink recoupling occurring too early when higher than a threshold amount of interference is received on said uplink by said network node following an uplink-downlink recoupling of user equipment, followed by a handover of user equipment to said network node coinciding with a reduction in said interference and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink recoupling later than previously;

uplink-downlink recoupling occurring too late when said radio link failure in uplink occurred following an uplink-downlink recoupling of user equipment following an uplink-downlink decoupling of said user equipment for greater than a threshold amount of time and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink recoupling earlier than previously; and

uplink-downlink decoupling occurring too early when said radio link failure in uplink occurred within a threshold amount of time following an uplink-downlink decoupling of user equipment and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink decoupling later than previously.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining comprises determining that said radio link failure occurred in said uplink.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining comprises determining that said radio link failure occurred in said downlink in response to a radio link failure message received from said user equipment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said initiating action comprises providing an indication of at least one of said cause of said radio link failure and said action to that network node responsible for control of user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling when in proximity to said uplink-downlink imbalance region.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining comprises determining that said radio link failure occurred in uplink in response to at least one of said indication of said cause of said radio link failure and said action received from another network node.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said initiating action comprises initiating action to optimize control of user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling when in proximity to said uplink-downlink imbalance region when greater than a threshold amount of radio link failures are determined.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said initiating action comprises adjusting at least one of:

an uplink boundary and a downlink boundary defining said uplink-downlink imbalance region; and

parameters triggering said user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling.

8. A method, performed by a wireless telecommunications network node, comprising:

determining a cause of a radio link failure in at least one of uplink and downlink which occurred when a user equipment is in proximity to an uplink-downlink imbalance region, which is a region between a downlink boundary of a small cell and a macro cell, said downlink boundary being where received pilot power from said macro cell and received pilot power from said small cell are the same and an uplink boundary of said small cell and said macro cell, said uplink boundary being where uplink path loss to said macro cell and to said small cell are the same, comprising determining that said radio link failure occurred due to one of uplink-downlink decoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by different cells, and uplink-downlink recoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by a same cell, occurring one of too early and too late; and

in response to said cause of said radio link failure, initiating action to optimize control of user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling when in proximity to said uplink-downlink imbalance region by adjusting control of user equipment to perform a corresponding one of uplink-downlink decoupling and uplink-downlink recoupling a corresponding one of later and earlier than previously;

wherein said determining comprises determining that said radio link failure occurred in said downlink in response to a radio link failure message received from said user equipment;

wherein said radio link failure message indicates that one of said uplink-downlink decoupling and uplink-downlink recoupling occurred one of too early and too late and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform a corresponding one of uplink-downlink decoupling and uplink-downlink recoupling a corresponding one of later and earlier than previously in response to said radio link failure message.

9. A method, performed by a wireless telecommunications network node, comprising:

determining a cause of a radio link failure in at least one of uplink and downlink which occurred when a user equipment is in proximity to an uplink-downlink imbalance region, which is a region between a downlink boundary of a small cell and a macro cell, said downlink boundary being where received pilot power from said macro cell and received pilot power from said small cell are the same and an uplink boundary of said small cell and said macro cell, said uplink boundary being where uplink path loss to said macro cell and to said small cell are the same, comprising determining that said radio link failure occurred due to one of uplink-downlink decoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by different cells, and uplink-downlink recoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by a same cell, occurring one of too early and too late; and

in response to said cause of said radio link failure, initiating action to optimize control of user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling when in proximity to said uplink-downlink imbalance region by adjusting control of user equipment to perform a corresponding one of uplink-downlink decoupling and uplink-downlink recoupling a corresponding one of later and earlier than previously;

wherein said determining comprises determining that said radio link failure occurred in said downlink in response to a radio link failure message received from said user equipment;

wherein said radio link failure message comprises at least one of an indication of a downlink serving cell and an uplink serving cell when said radio link failure occurred.

10. A wireless telecommunications network node, comprising:

determining logic operable to determine a cause of a radio link failure in at least one of uplink and downlink which occurred when a user equipment is in proximity to an uplink-downlink imbalance region which is a region between a downlink boundary of a small cell and a macro cell, said downlink boundary being where received pilot power from said macro cell and received pilot power from said small cell are the same and an uplink boundary of said small cell and said macro cell, said uplink boundary being where uplink path loss to said macro cell and to said small cell are the same, and operable to determine that said radio link failure occurred due to one of uplink-downlink decoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by different cells, and uplink-downlink recoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by a same cell, occurring one of too early and too late and,

in response to said cause of said radio link failure, to initiate action to optimize control of user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling when in proximity to said uplink-downlink imbalance region by adjusting control of user equipment to perform a corresponding one of uplink-downlink decoupling and uplink-downlink recoupling a corresponding one of later and earlier than previously;

wherein said determining logic is further operable to determine that said radio link failure occurred in uplink due to at least one of;

uplink-downlink decoupling occurring too late when higher than a threshold amount of interference is received on said uplink by said network node, followed by a handover of user equipment to said network node coinciding with a reduction in said interference and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink decoupling earlier than previously;

uplink-downlink recoupling occurring too early when higher than a threshold amount of interference is received on said uplink by said network node following an uplink-downlink recoupling of user equipment, followed by a handover of user equipment to said network node coinciding with a reduction in said interference and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink recoupling later than previously;

uplink-downlink recoupling occurring too late when said radio link failure in uplink occurred following an uplink-downlink recoupling of user equipment following an uplink-downlink decoupling of said user equipment for greater than a threshold amount of time and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink recoupling earlier than previously; and

uplink-downlink decoupling occurring too early when said radio link failure in uplink occurred within a threshold amount of time following an uplink-downlink decoupling of user equipment and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink decoupling later than previously.

11. A method, performed by a wireless telecommunications user equipment, comprising:

determining a cause of a radio link failure which occurred in downlink when said user equipment is in proximity to an uplink-downlink imbalance region, which is a region between a downlink boundary of a small cell and a macro cell, said downlink boundary being where received pilot power from said macro cell and received pilot power from said small cell are the same and an uplink boundary of said small cell and said macro cell, said uplink boundary being where uplink path loss to said macro cell and to said small cell are the same, and determining that said radio link failure occurred due to one of uplink-downlink decoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by different cells, and uplink-downlink recoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by a same cell, occurring one of too early and too late; and

in response to said cause of said radio link failure, initiating action to optimize control of user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling when in proximity to said uplink-downlink imbalance region, said step of initiating action comprising transmitting a radio link failure message indicating that one of said uplink-downlink decoupling and uplink-downlink recoupling occurred one of too early and too late;

wherein said determining comprises determining that said radio link failure occurred in said downlink due to at least one of;

uplink-downlink recoupling occurring too late when said radio link failure in downlink occurred after a threshold amount of time following uplink-downlink decouplinq of user equipment and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink recoupling earlier than previously;

uplink-downlink recoupling occurring too early when said radio link failure in downlink occurred within a threshold amount of time following uplink-downlink recoupling to that cell previously receiving uplink and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink recoupling later than previously;

uplink-downlink decoupling occurring too late when said radio link failure in downlink occurred within a threshold amount of time following being configured for uplink-downlink decoupling, but prior to said uplink-downlink decoupling occurring and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink decoupling earlier than previously; and

uplink-downlink decoupling occurring too early when said radio link failure in downlink occurred within a threshold amount of time following initiation of uplink-downlink decoupling, and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink decoupling later than previously.

12. A wireless telecommunications user equipment, comprising:

determining logic operable to determine a cause of a radio link failure which occurred in downlink when said user equipment is in proximity to an uplink-downlink imbalance region which is a region between a downlink boundary of a small cell and a macro cell, said downlink boundary being where received pilot power from said macro cell and received pilot power from said small cell are the same and an uplink boundary of said small cell and said macro cell, said uplink boundary being where uplink path loss to said macro cell and to said small cell are the same, and operable to determine that said radio link failure occurred due to one of uplink-downlink decoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by different cells, and uplink-downlink recoupling in which uplink and downlink streams are served by a same cell, occurring one of too early and too late and,

in response to said cause of said radio link failure, to initiate action to optimize control of user equipment uplink-downlink decoupling-recoupling when in proximity to said uplink-downlink imbalance region by transmitting a radio link failure message indicating that one of said uplink-downlink decoupling and uplink-downlink recoupling occurred one of too early and too late;

wherein said determining logic is further operable to determine that said radio link failure occurred in said downlink due to at least one of;

uplink-downlink recoupling occurring too late when said radio link failure in downlink occurred after a threshold amount of time following uplink-downlink decoupling of user equipment and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink recoupling earlier than previously;

uplink-downlink recoupling occurring too early when said radio link failure in downlink occurred within a threshold amount of time following uplink-downlink recoupling to that cell previously receiving uplink and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink recoupling later than previously;

uplink-downlink decoupling occurring too late when said radio link failure in downlink occurred within a threshold amount of time following being configured for uplink-downlink decoupling, but prior to said uplink-downlink decoupling occurring and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink decoupling earlier than previously; and

uplink-downlink decoupling occurring too early when said radio link failure in downlink occurred within a threshold amount of time following initiation of uplink-downlink decoupling, and said initiating action comprises optimising control of user equipment to perform uplink-downlink decoupling later than previously.