Neighbor cell notifying apparatus and neighbor cell notifying method

• US 20040166858A1
• Filed: 12/04/2003
• Published: 08/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Masuda, Masafumi, Fujimura, Kota, Ohto, Yutaka
• Granted Patent: US 7,092,711 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/436
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0061 of neighbour cell information

Abstract

There is provided a neighbor cell notifying apparatus capable of implementing more efficient notification to a mobile station within a range that can be notified of and monitored, when the mobile station in communication using a plurality of cells is notified of neighbor cell information. This neighbor cell notifying apparatus includes a cell information extracting part for extracting neighbor cell information items for specifying respective neighbor cells corresponding to each of the cells; a cell rank determining part for, based on the neighbor cell information items extracted, determining ranks of neighbor cell information items that the mobile station is to be notified of, in favor of neighbor cell information items about neighbor cells common to the cells; and a cell information notifying part for notifying the mobile station of a predetermined number of neighbor cell information items among the neighbor cell information items on the basis of the ranks determined.

Claims

1. A neighbor cell notifying apparatus for notifying a mobile station of predetermined information in a mobile communication network for implementing radio communication utilizing a plurality of cells between the mobile station and a base station, the neighbor cell notifying apparatus comprising:

cell information extracting means for extracting neighbor cell information items for specifying respective neighbor cells corresponding to each of said plurality of cells;

cell rank determining means for, based on the neighbor cell information items extracted, determining ranks of neighbor cell information items that the mobile station is to be notified of, in favor of neighbor cell information items about neighbor cells common to a first cell and a second cell out of the plurality of cells; and

cell information notifying means for notifying the mobile station of a predetermined number of neighbor cell information items among said neighbor cell information items on the basis of the ranks determined.

2. A neighbor cell notifying apparatus for notifying a mobile station of predetermined information in a mobile communication network for implementing radio communication utilizing a plurality of cells between the mobile station and a base station, the neighbor cell notifying apparatus comprising:

cell information extracting means for extracting neighbor cell information items for specifying respective neighbor cells corresponding to each of said plurality of cells;

cell rank determining means for determining ranks of neighbor cell information items that the mobile station is to be notified of, based on the neighbor cell information items extracted and on priority information items preliminarily determined for the respective neighbor cells; and

cell information notifying means for notifying the mobile station of a predetermined number of neighbor cell information items among said neighbor cell information items on the basis of the ranks determined.

3. The neighbor cell notifying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cell rank determining means is configured to:

delete a neighbor cell information items about one of neighbor cells common to a first cell and a second cell out of the plurality of cells, based on the neighbor cell information items extracted by the cell information extracting means; and

determine the ranks of the neighbor cell information items that the mobile station is to be notified of, based on the neighbor cell information items after the deletion, and on the priority information items preliminarily determined for the respective neighbor cells.

4. The neighbor cell notifying apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the priority information items are determined based on handover rates of the respective neighbor cells.

5. The neighbor cell notifying apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the priority information items are determined based on numbers of mounted channels in the respective neighbor cells.

6. A neighbor cell notifying method of notifying a mobile station of predetermined information in a mobile communication network for implementing radio communication utilizing a plurality of cells between the mobile station and a base station, the neighbor cell notifying method comprising:

an extracting step wherein cell information extracting means extracts neighbor cell information items for specifying respective neighbor cells corresponding to each of said plurality of cells;

a determining step wherein, based on the neighbor cell information items extracted, cell rank determining means determines ranks of neighbor cell information items that the mobile station is to be notified of, in favor of neighbor cell information items about neighbor cells common to a first cell and a second cell out of the plurality of cells; and

a notifying step wherein cell information notifying means notifies the mobile station of a predetermined number of neighbor cell information items among said neighbor cell information items on the basis of the ranks determined.

7. A neighbor cell notifying method of notifying a mobile station of predetermined information in a mobile communication network for implementing radio communication utilizing a plurality of cells between the mobile station and a base station, the neighbor cell notifying method comprising:

an extracting step wherein cell information extracting means extracts neighbor cell information items for specifying respective neighbor cells corresponding to each of said plurality of cells;

a determining step wherein cell rank determining means determines ranks of neighbor cell information items that the mobile station is to be notified of, based on the neighbor cell information items extracted and on priority information items preliminarily determined for the respective neighbor cells; and

a notifying step wherein cell information notifying means notifies the mobile station of a predetermined number of neighbor cell information items among said neighbor cell information items on the basis of the ranks determined.