Facilitating load balancing in wireless heterogeneous networks

• US 10,251,088 B2
• Filed: 04/09/2015
• Issued: 04/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lei, Hongyan, Chen, Ye, Cui, Zhi, Liu, Cheng P., Stawiarski, Slawomir, Tong, Yonghui
• Primary Examiner(s): Cho, Un C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rahman, Shah M
• Application Number:
  US14/682,221
• Publication Number:
  US 20160302106A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,454 Days
• Field of Search: 370329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/32 Hierarchical cell structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0226 based on location or mobility handoff or reselection H04W36/00; mobile application services making use of the location of users or terminals H04W4/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/04 Reselecting a cell layer in multi-layered cells
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 for handling the traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/32 by location or mobility data, e.g. speed data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/322 by location data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/324 by mobility data, e.g. speed data

Abstract

Load balancing is facilitated utilizing geographical location and mobility speed. An example method includes receiving, by a first cell device including a processor and associated with a first cell, from a device of devices, information indicative of whether the device has detected cell type information from a second cell device associated with a second cell, wherein at least a portion of the second cell is located within a first boundary of the first cell. The method also includes: determining, by the first cell device, a mobility characteristic of the device, wherein the devices comprise respective mobility characteristics; and selecting, by the first cell device, the device of the devices to associate with the second cell based on the mobility characteristic of the device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a first cell device comprising a processor and associated with a first cell, from a device of devices, first information indicative of whether the device has detected cell type information from a second cell device associated with a second cell, wherein the first information was determined based on a result of determining whether an overlap exists between geofencing information of the second cell device and a first location of the device of the devices, wherein at least a portion of the second cell is located within a first boundary of the first cell, and wherein the first cell is of a first cell type and the second cell is of a second cell type;

determining, by the first cell device, a mobility characteristic of the device of the devices, wherein the devices comprise respective mobility characteristics;

selecting, by the first cell device, the device of the devices to associate with the second cell based on the mobility characteristic of the device of the devices, wherein the selecting comprises;

prioritizing, by the first cell device, as having a higher rank, ones of the devices having characteristics of the respective mobility characteristics indicative of a speed below a defined value;

transmitting, by the first cell device, second information identifying a size of a coverage area for the second cell device, wherein the first cell device does not comprise first knowledge of an identity of the second cell device, and wherein the first cell device comprises second knowledge of a geographical location of the second cell device; and

performing, by the first cell device, offloading based on a second location of the first cell device, a third location of the second cell device with regard to the first location of the device and the speed of the device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting is further based on a determination that the device of devices is located within a second boundary of the second cell.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the mobility characteristic of the device of devices comprises a movement of the device of devices being at the speed below the defined value.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first information indicative of whether the device of devices has detected cell type information comprises the first information indicative of whether the device of devices is located within the second boundary of the second cell.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting further comprises:

excluding, by the first cell device, for selection for association with the second cell, other ones of the devices having characteristics of the respective mobility characteristics indicative of a speed greater than the defined value.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first cell comprises a macro cell and the second cell comprises a femto cell.

7. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a device of devices and comprising a processor, cell type identification information from a first cell device associated with a first cell, wherein the device is configured to communicate via a second cell device associated with a second cell, wherein at least a portion of the first cell is located within a first boundary of the second cell, and wherein the device is associated with a first speed trackable by the second cell device;

transmitting, by the device, to the second cell device, first information indicative of detection of the first cell device;

transmitting, by the device, to the second cell device, a speed of movement of the device;

receiving, by the device, from the second cell device, an assignment for the device to communicate via the first cell device, wherein the assignment is based on the speed of movement of the device a first location of the first cell device and a second location of the second cell device; and

receiving, by the device, from the second cell device, notification information descriptive of a boundary and a size of a coverage area of the first cell device, wherein the second cell device does not know a specific identity of the first cell device, and wherein the second cell device knows second information indicating the size of the coverage area of the first cell device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising ceasing, by the device, communication with the second cell device and initiating, by the device, communication via the first cell device based on the receiving the assignment.

9. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a first cell device, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

determining, by the first cell device associated with a first area, a coverage area of a second cell device via a query of an operating support system, wherein the determining is based on first information received by the first cell device from the second cell device, wherein a boundary of the coverage area is based on a determination of a radius of the coverage area, and wherein the determination of the radius is based on a transmit power of the second cell device;

transmitting, by the first cell device, to a device of devices, first notification information descriptive of the boundary and a geographical location of the coverage area of the second cell device, wherein the first cell device does not obtain a specific identity of the second cell device, wherein the first cell device knows second information indicating the geographical location of the coverage area of the second cell device, and wherein the transmitting is performed based on determining that the device of the devices is located within the coverage area;

receiving, by the first cell device, from the device of the devices, second notification information that the device of the devices is outside of the coverage area of the second cell device; and

performing, by the first cell device, offloading based on a first location of the first cell device, a second location of the second cell device with regard to a third location of the device and a speed of the device.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, by the first cell device, a notification that the device of the devices is located within the coverage area of the second cell device.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining, by the first cell device, a subset of the devices is located within the coverage area of the second cell device.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the first information comprises geolocation information for the second cell device.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the first information comprises profile information for the second cell device.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the profile information comprises a transmit power for the second cell device.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the profile information comprises information indicative of a capacity of the second cell device.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the second notification information comprises a radio access network identifier.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the transmitting the first notification information is performed via a radio resource control reconfiguration message.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

prioritizing, by the first cell device, for re-assignment to the second cell device, the subset of the devices located within the coverage area of the second cell device.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

generating, by the first cell device, a notification of re-assignment of prioritized devices to the second cell device.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the prioritizing, by the first cell device, for the re-assignment to the second cell device, the subset of the devices located within the coverage area of the second cell device is further based on the subset of the devices being determined to have a speed of movement less than a defined value.