System and Method for Self-Optimized Inter-Cell Interference Coordination

• US 20120122503A1
• Filed: 11/16/2011
• Published: 05/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honor Device Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ma, Jianglei, Baligh, Mohammadhadi
• Granted Patent: US 9,031,591 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/501
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/10 Dynamic resource partitioning

Abstract

An embodiment method for operating a controller of a communications system includes determining inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) information for the communications system, automatically adjusting, by the controller without end-user input, ICIC parameters according to the ICIC information to improve an overall performance level of the communications system, and transmitting the ICIC operation parameters to network entities in the communications system.

Claims

1. A method for operating a controller of a communications system, the method comprising:

determining inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) information for the communications system;

automatically adjusting, by the controller without end-user input, ICIC parameters according to the ICIC information to improve an overall performance level of the communications system; and

transmitting the ICIC operation parameters to network entities in the communications system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically adjusting is performed by the controller in a centralized manner.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the ICIC parameters to the network entities comprises transmitting to a communications controller controlled by the controller, other controllers in the communications system, or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the ICIC information comprises performance information and operation information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the operation information comprises long term communications system load change information, long term user equipment distribution change information, communications system topology information, inter-cell interference relation change information, slow communications system load change information, slow user equipment distribution change information, fast communications system load change information, fast user equipment distribution change information, or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the performance information comprises communications controller coverage area throughput, communications controller coverage area edge throughput, connection drop rate, handoff success rate, handoff failure rate, or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically adjusting the ICIC parameters comprises automatically adjusting operating mode parameters according to the ICIC information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein automatically adjusting the operating mode parameters comprises selecting a non-ICIC mode, a static ICIC mode, or a dynamic ICIC mode.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically adjusting the ICIC parameters comprises automatically adjusting configuration parameters according to the ICIC information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein automatically adjusting the configuration parameters comprises updating a primary fractional frequency reuse pattern for each communications controller in a first subset of communications controllers in the communications system.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein automatically adjusting the configuration parameters further comprises updating a secondary fractional frequency reuse pattern for each communications controller in a second subset of communications controllers in the communications system.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically adjusting the ICIC parameters comprises automatically adjusting ICIC performance parameters with a slow adaptation rate according to the ICIC information.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein automatically adjusting the ICIC performance parameters comprises:

estimating a long term user equipment distribution for each communications controller in a third subset of communications controllers in the communications system;

assigning a primary fractional frequency reuse pattern for each communications controller in the third subset of communications controllers; and

assigning a second fractional frequency reuse pattern for each communications controller in a fourth subset of communications controllers having a number of user equipment operating on an outer edge of a coverage area of the respective communications controller exceeding a load threshold.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein automatically adjusting the performance parameters further comprises determining a high transmit power bandwidth for each communications controller in a fifth subset of communications controllers in the communications system.

15. A method for operating a controller, the method comprising:

determining inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) information for a communications system;

automatically adjusting, by the controller without end-user input, ICIC parameters with a fast adaptation rate according to the ICIC information to improve an overall performance of the communications system; and

transmitting the ICIC parameters to network entities in the communications system.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein automatically adjusting the ICIC parameters comprises:

categorizing a candidate user equipment according to its experience metric; and

setting a transmit power density for the candidate user equipment according to a category of the candidate user equipment.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising setting the transmit power density according to a ranking of a geometry of the candidate user equipment.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the category comprises either a communications controller edge candidate user equipment or a communications controller center candidate user equipment.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising automatically adjusting the ICIC parameters with the fast adaptation rate according to a high power bandwidth assigned in adjusting performance parameters with a slow adaptation rate.

20. A controller comprising:

a processor configured to determine inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) information for a communications system, and to automatically adjust ICIC parameters, without end-user input, according to the ICIC information to improve an overall performance level of the communications system; and

a transmitter coupled to the processor, the transmitter configured to transmit the ICIC parameters to network entities in the communications system.

21. The controller of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to automatically adjust the ICIC parameters in a centralized manner.

22. The controller of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to automatically adjust operating mode parameters according to the ICIC information, to automatically adjust configuration parameters according to the ICIC information, to automatically adjust ICIC performance parameters with a slow adaptation rate according to the ICIC information, or a combination thereof.

23. The controller of claim 20, wherein the controller is a global ICIC controller for the communications system.

24. The controller of claim 20, wherein the controller is a local ICIC controller for a portion of the communications system.

25. The controller of claim 20, wherein the controller is configured to automatically adjust the ICIC parameters in a centralized manner.

26. A controller comprising:

a processor configured to determine inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) information for a communications system, and to automatically adjust ICIC parameters, without end-user input, with a fast adaptation rate according to the ICIC information to improve an overall performance of the communications system; and

a transmitter coupled to the processor, the transmitter configured to transmit the ICIC parameters to network entities in the communications system.

27. The controller of claim 26, wherein the processor is configured to categorize a candidate user equipment according to its experience metric, and to set a transmit power density for the candidate user equipment according to a category of the candidate user equipment.

28. The controller of claim 26, wherein the processor is configured to set a transmit power density according to a ranking of a geometry of a candidate user equipment.

29. The controller of claim 26, wherein the processor is further configured to adjust the ICIC parameters with the fast adaptation rate according to a high power bandwidth assigned in adjusting performance parameters with a slow adaptation rate.

30. The controller of claim 26, wherein the controller is an individualized inter-cell interference coordination controller in the communications system.