METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC POWER CONTROL FOR BASE STATIONS

• US 20130017854A1
• Filed: 07/13/2011
• Published: 01/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Khawer, Mohammad R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,357,482 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/522
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0206 in access points, e.g. base stations access point devices per se H04W88/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/143 Downlink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/267 taking into account the information rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/343 taking into account loading or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method and system for dynamic power control for next generation LTE base stations are described herein. More particularly, a dynamic power control management process may run, for example, in an OA&M module on the control plane core of the base station. The dynamic power control management process collaborates with various components, such as a call management processing module and a transport process module, to periodically obtain information regarding the number of active calls as well as the uplink and downlink data rates for a given interval for a particular cell. The dynamic power control management process polls the call management processing module and transport process module periodically according to a tunable parameter for the key values. Based on this information, the dynamic power control management process determines whether a particular cell on the base station is running below a threshold at which dynamic power control could be triggered.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented dynamic power control management (DPCM) method for a base station, the method comprising:

collaborating with a plurality of components operating on at least one core of a multi-core processor to periodically obtain information for a plurality of cells supported by a base station over a specified interval, wherein the information comprises at least a call load, an uplink data rate, and a downlink data rate for each cell;

using the information obtained from the components on the control plane core to determine whether each cell on the base station is running below a specified threshold; and

when the cell on the base station is operating below the specified threshold, triggering at least one state machine.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method resides in an Operations, Administration, and Management process module on a control plane core of the multi-core processor.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of components comprises at least a call management processing module and a transport processing module and at least one core of the multi-core processor comprises a control plane core.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining call load information for each cell from a call management processing module on a control plane core of the multi-core processor;

obtaining uplink and downlink data rates for each cell from a transport process module on a control plane core of the multi-core processor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one state machine governs dedicated cores of the multi-core processor and includes at least a normal state, a dynamic frequency scaling (DFS) state, a doze state, and a nap state.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the state machine for the dedicated cores operates in the following manner:

the state machine transitions to the DFS state when the system load is less than or equal to specified threshold P such as half the full system capacity for a number of consecutive polling cycles N;

the state machine transitions to the doze state when there is no system load for a particular cell while the cell is in the DFS state for a number of consecutive polling cycles D;

the state machine transitions to the nap state when there is no system activity for a consecutive number of polling cycles E while the cell is in the doze state;

the state machine transitions from the doze state to the DFS state when a call is received on the cell;

the state machine transitions from the nap state to the DFS state when a call is received on the cell;

when the state machine is in DFS state and the system load increases above the threshold P for a number of consecutive polling cycles M, the state machine reverts back to the normal state.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one state machine governs shared cores of the multi-core processor and includes at least a normal state and a dynamic frequency scaling (DFS) state.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the state machine operates in the following manner:

the state machine transitions to the DFS state when the system load is less than or equal to the specified threshold P for a number of consecutive polling cycles N, wherein the specified threshold P is half the full system capacity;

when the system load increases above the threshold P for a number of consecutive polling cycles M, the state machine reverts back to the normal state.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a first state machine governs dedicated cores of the multi-core processor and a second state machine governs shared cores of the multi-core processor.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first state machine includes at least a normal state, a dynamic frequency scaling (DFS) state, a doze state, and a nap state and the second state machine includes at least a normal state and a DFS state.

11. A non-transitory computer-usable data carrier storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a dynamic power control management (DPCM) method for a base station, the method comprising:

collaborating with a plurality of components operating on at least one core of a multi-core processor to periodically obtain information for a plurality of cells supported by a base station over a specified interval, wherein the information comprises at least a call load, an uplink data rate, and a downlink data rate for each cell;

using the information obtained from the components on the control plane core to determine whether each cell on the base station is running below a specified threshold; and

when the cell on the base station is operating below the specified threshold, triggering a state machine for the cell.

12. The non-transitory computer-usable data carrier of claim 11, wherein the method resides in an Operations, Administration, and Management process module on a control plane core of the multi-core processor.

13. The non-transitory computer-usable data carrier of claim 11, wherein the plurality of components comprises at least a call management processing module and a transport process module and at least one core of the multi-core processor comprises a control plane core.

14. The non-transitory computer-usable data carrier of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining call load information for each cell from a call management processing module on a control plane core of the multi-core processor;

obtaining uplink and downlink data rates for each cell from a transport process module on a control plane core of the multi-core processor.

15. The non-transitory computer-usable data carrier of claim 11, wherein a first state machine governs dedicated cores of the multi-core processor and a second state machine governs shared cores of the multi-core processor.

16. The non-transitory computer-usable data carrier of claim 15, wherein the first state machine includes at least a normal state, a dynamic frequency scaling (DFS) state, a doze state, and a nap state and the second state machine includes at least a normal state and a DFS state.

17. The non-transitory computer-usable data carrier of claim 11, wherein at least one state machine governs dedicated cores of the multi-core processor and includes at least a normal state, a dynamic frequency scaling (DFS) state, a doze state, and a nap state.

18. The non-transitory computer-usable data carrier of claim 17, wherein the state machine operates in the following manner:

the state machine transitions to the DFS state when the system load is less than or equal to a specified threshold such as half the full system capacity for a number of consecutive polling cycles N;

the state machine transitions to the doze state when there is no system load for a particular cell while the cell is in the DFS state for a number of consecutive polling cycles 0;

the state machine transitions to the nap state when there is no system activity for a consecutive number of polling cycles E while the cell is in the doze state;

the state machine transitions from the doze state to the DFS state when a call is received on the cell;

the state machine transitions from the nap state to the DFS state when a call is received on the cell;

when the state machine is in DFS state and the system load increases above the threshold P for a number of consecutive polling cycles M, the state machine reverts back to the normal state.

19. The non-transitory computer-usable data carrier of claim 11, wherein at least one state machine governs shared cores of the multi-core processor and includes at least a normal state and a dynamic frequency scaling (DFS) state.

20. The non-transitory computer-usable data carrier of claim 19, wherein the state machine operates in the following manner:

the state machine transitions to the DFS state when the system load is less than or equal to the specified threshold P for a number of consecutive polling cycles N, wherein the specified threshold P is half the full system capacity;

when the system load increases above the threshold P for a number of consecutive polling cycles M, the state machine reverts back to the normal state.