METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADAPTIVE MODIFICATION OF CELL BOUNDARY

• US 20070109999A1
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xylon LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Durham Logistics LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Brunner, Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 7,822,413 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/331
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/06 Hybrid resource partitioning, e.g. channel borrowing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/08 Load shedding arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/20 for optimising the interference level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 for handling the traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/143 Downlink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/241 taking into account channel quality metrics, e.g. SIR, SNR, CIR, Eb/lo
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/243 taking into account interferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/283 Power depending on the position of the mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/325 Power control of control or pilot channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/343 taking into account loading or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/40 during macro-diversity or soft handoff

Abstract

A method and system for reducing interference in a cellular radio communications network. At least one parameter affecting user terminals within a cell is adjusted such that the cell boundary is modified, such that interference in the network is reduced. In alternative embodiments the at least one parameter is adjusted adaptively.

Claims

1-5. -5. (canceled)

6. A method comprising:

adjusting at least one parameter of one or more cells of a cellular radio communications network to modify a cell boundary of at least one cell such that an interference in the network is reduced.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one parameter is adjusted adaptively.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein adaptively adjusting at least one parameter of one or more cells includes:

a) determining that one or more user terminals are being served by more than two cells of a cellular radio communications network;

b) determining which of the more than two cells is providing the least resources;

c) adaptively adjusting the at least one parameter of the cell providing the least resources, thereby modifying the cell boundary of the cell providing the least resources, such that the one or more user terminals are no longer served by the cell providing the least resources; and

d) repeating operations b) and c) until the one or more user terminals are being served by two cells.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

adaptively adjusting the at least one parameter of one of the two cells, thereby modifying the cell boundary of the two cells, such that the one or more user terminals are no longer served by the one of the two cells.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one parameter includes pilot power, and the modified cell boundaries allow total transmitted pilot power of the more than two cells to be reduced.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein adaptively adjusting at least one parameter of one or more cells includes:

determining that one or more user terminals are being served by two cells of a cellular radio communications network, each of the two cells providing equal resources;

adaptively adjusting at least one parameter of a randomly selected cell of the two cells, thereby modifying the cell boundary of the two cells, such that the one or more user terminals are served by the randomly selected cell.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one parameter includes pilot power, and the modified cell boundaries allow total transmitted pilot power of the two cells to be reduced.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one parameter is an antenna parameter.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the antenna parameter is selected from the group consisting of an antenna downtilt, an antenna azimuth, an antenna pattern, an antenna height, and an antenna location.

7-10. -10. (canceled)

19-21. -21. (canceled)

22. A method comprising:

adaptively adjusting at least one antenna parameter of one or more cells of a cellular radio communications network having a plurality of cells, to modify a cell boundary such that network capacity is increased.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one antenna parameter is selected from the group consisting of an antenna downtilt, an antenna direction, an antenna pattern, an antenna height, and an antenna location.

23-24. -24. (canceled)

26-31. -31. (canceled)

32. A cellular radio communications network comprising:

a mobile switching center;

at least one base station controller, coupled to the mobile switching center;

a plurality of base stations coupled to the at least one base station controller, each base station providing one or more cells, wherein at least one parameter of one or more cells of a cellular radio communications network is adjusted to modify a cell boundary, of at least one cell such that an interference in the network is reduced.

33. The cellular radio communications network of claim 32, wherein modifying the cell boundary redistribute a cell load to reduce the interference.

34. The cellular radio communications network of claim 32, wherein two or more user terminals exhibiting mutual interference are served by two or more cells, the two or more cells provided by one or more base stations, the one or more base stations coupled to a common base station controller, and wherein the parameter of the one or more cells is adjusted at the common base station controller.

35. The cellular radio communications network of claim 32, wherein two or more user terminals exhibiting mutual interference are served by two or more cells, the two or more cells provided by one or more base stations, the one or more base stations coupled to different base station controllers, and wherein the at least one parameter of the one or more cells is adjusted at the mobile switching center.

36. The cellular radio communications network of claim 32, wherein two or more user terminals exhibiting mutual interference are served by two or more cells, the two or more cells provided by one or more base stations, the one or more base stations coupled to different base station controllers, and wherein the at least one parameter of the one or more cells is adjusted at one or more of the different base station controllers in combination with the mobile switching center.

37. The cellular radio communications network of claim 32, wherein the at least one parameter is selected from the group consisting of a pilot power, an antenna elevation, an antenna azimuth, an antenna pattern, an antenna height and an antenna location.

38. A cellular radio communications network comprising:

a mobile switching center;

at least one base station controller, coupled to the mobile switching center;

a plurality of base stations coupled to the at least one base station controller, each base station providing one or more cells, each cell serving one or more user terminals wherein at least one antenna parameter of one or more cells are adaptively adjusted, to modify a cell boundary such that network capacity is increased.

41. The cellular radio communications network of claim 38, wherein the antenna parameter is selected from the group consisting of an antenna elevation, an antenna azimuth, an antenna pattern, and antenna height and at least one antenna location.

39-40. -40. (canceled)

42. A machine-readable medium having one or more executable instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a digital processing system caused the digital processing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

adjusting at least one parameter of one or more cells of a cellular radio communications network to modify a cell boundary of at least one cell such that an interference in the network is reduced.

47. The machine-readable medium of claim 42, wherein the at least one parameter is adjusted adaptively.

48. The machine-readable medium of claim 47, wherein adaptively adjusting the at least one parameter of one or more cells includes:

a) determining that one or more user terminals are being served by more than two cells of a cellular radio communications network;

b) determining which of the more than two cells is providing the least resources;

c) adaptively adjusting the at least one parameter of the cell providing the least resources, thereby modifying the cell boundary of the cell providing the least resources, such that the one or more user terminals are no longer served by the cell providing the least resources; and

d) repeating operations b) and c) until the one or more user terminals are being served by two cells.

49. The machine-readable medium of claim 48, further comprising:

adaptively adjusting the at least one parameter of one of the two cells, thereby modifying the cell boundary of the two cells, such that the one or more user terminals are no longer served by the one of the two cells.

50. The machine-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the at least one parameter includes pilot power, and the modified cell boundaries allow total transmitted pilot power of the more than two cells to be reduced.

51. The machine-readable medium of claim 47, wherein adaptively adjusting the at least one parameter of one or more cells includes:

determining that one or more user terminals are being served by two cells of a cellular radio communications network, each of the two cells providing equal resources;

adaptively adjusting at least one parameter of a randomly selected cell of the two cells, thereby modifying the cell boundary of the two cells, such that the one or more user terminals are served by the randomly selected cell.

52. The machine-readable medium of claim 51, wherein the at least one parameter includes pilot power, and the modified cell boundaries allow total transmitted pilot power of the two cells to be reduced.

53. The machine-readable medium of claim 47, wherein the at least one parameter is an antenna parameter.

54. The machine-readable medium of claim 53, wherein the antenna parameter is selected from the group consisting of an antenna elevation, an antenna azimuth, an antenna pattern, an antenna height, and an antenna location.

43-46. -46. (canceled)

55-57. -57. (canceled)

58. A machine-readable medium having one or more executable instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a digital processing system caused the digital processing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

adaptively adjusting at least one antenna parameter of one or more cells of a cellular radio communications network having a plurality of cells, to modify a cell boundary such that network capacity is increased;

60. The machine-readable medium of claim 58, wherein network capacity is increased due to a redistribution of a cell load.

61. The machine-readable medium of claim 58, wherein the at least one antenna parameter is selected from the group consisting of an antenna elevation, an antenna azimuth, an antenna pattern, an antenna height, and an antenna location.

59. (canceled)

62-64. -64. (canceled)