DYNAMIC CONTROL OF CELL RESELECTION PARAMETERS

• US 20150264630A1
• Filed: 05/27/2015
• Published: 09/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Saska, David, Ficarra, Louis, Gohel, Kaushik, Ohana, Alain
• Granted Patent: US 9,374,766 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0066 of control information between different types of networks in order to establish a new radio link in the target network
• 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 36/302 due to low signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/02 Access restriction performed under specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/06 based on traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point

Abstract

Dynamic cell resource management in wireless networking. By way of example, user terminal access parameters can be dynamically modified based on changing load conditions at one or more cells of a wireless network. For instance, resource capacity of a wireless network cell can be monitored over time to identify a potential resource overload condition. If such a condition occurs, a load management algorithm can be executed that progressively restricts or de-restricts user terminal access parameters based on changing load conditions. In particular aspects, the load management algorithm can analyze relative cell load of neighboring cells to implement coordinated load sharing. By dynamically modifying user access parameters, traffic can be directed toward or away from cells operating at low or high capacity, respectively.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

comparing a level of resource consumption of a cell device of a wireless network to a threshold of resource consumption;

determining that an overload condition exists with respect to resource consumption of the cell device in response to a result of the comparing indicating that the level of resource consumption exceeds the threshold; and

in response to the determining that the overload condition exists,

determining a level of overloading associated with the level of resource consumption;

generating a first cell access parameter for the cell device based on the level of overloading, wherein the first cell access parameter restricts user terminal access to the cell device resulting in a first access restriction;

sending a first instruction to a user terminal associated with the cell device to update a user terminal access parameter according to the first cell access parameter resulting in a first updated user terminal access parameter, wherein the first instruction causes the user terminal to attempt cell selection of the cell device according to the first cell access parameter;

monitoring the level of overloading; and

in response to an increase in the level of overloading being determined in response to the monitoring,

generating a second cell access parameter for the cell device based on an increment in the level of overloading, wherein the second cell access parameter restricts the user terminal access to the cell device resulting in a second access restriction greater than the first access restriction; and

sending a second instruction to the user terminal to update the first updated user terminal access parameter according to the second cell access parameter resulting in a second updated user terminal access parameter, wherein the first instruction causes the user terminal to attempt the cell selection of the cell device according to the first cell access parameter.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to a decrease in the level of overloading being determined in response to the monitoring,

generating a third cell access parameter for the cell device based on a decrement in the level of overloading, wherein the third cell access parameter aids terminal access to the cell device; and

sending a third instruction to the user terminal to update the second updated user terminal access parameter according to the third cell access parameter, wherein the first instruction cause the user terminal to attempt the cell selection of the cell device according to the first cell access parameter.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise initiating dynamic access control for the cell device in response to the determining that the overload condition exists, prior to determining the level of overloading, and wherein the dynamic access control comprises progressive restriction of cell access parameters associated with the user terminal.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the operations further comprise terminating the dynamic access control for the cell device in response to an outcome of the monitoring the level of overloading being that a current level of overloading is below a second threshold of resource consumption.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring the level of overloading comprises determining a metric representative of a current load of the cell device based on first data representative of a number of user terminals served by the cell device, second data representative of an interference level associated with the cell device, or third data representative of a signal resource associated with the cell device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

distributing the first cell access parameter or the second cell access parameter to a resource management function device of the wireless network.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first cell access parameter or the second cell access parameter comprises:

a minimum quality parameter that establishes a minimum signal quality below which the user terminal refrains from attempting the access to the cell device;

a minimum signal strength parameter that establishes a minimum signal strength below which the user terminal refrains from attempting the access to the cell device;

an offset parameter that biases the user terminal with respect to attempting the access to the cell device;

or

an inter radio access technology offset parameter that biases the user terminal with respect to attempting the access to the cell device based on a wireless technology utilized by the cell device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations are performed by:

a radio network control point device of a radio access network,

a base station device of the radio access network, or

a network device communicatively coupled with and physically separate from the radio network control point device or the base station device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the operation further comprise:

synchronizing resource consumption among cell devices of the wireless network; and

implementing incremental restriction of user terminal access attempts according to a configuration that balances loading among the cell devices.

10. A method, comprising:

comparing, by a system comprising a processor, a level of resource consumption of a cell device of a wireless network to a threshold of resource consumption;

determining, by the system, that an overload condition exists with respect to resource consumption of the cell device in response to a result of the comparing indicating that the level of consumption exceeds the threshold; and

in response to determining that the overload condition exists,

determining, by the system, a level of overloading associated with the level of resource consumption;

generating, by the system, a first cell access parameter for the cell device based on the level of overloading, wherein the first cell access parameter restricts user terminal access to the cell device resulting in a first access restriction;

sending, by the system, a first instruction to a user terminal associated with the cell device to update a user terminal access parameter according to the first cell access parameter resulting in a first updated user terminal access parameter, wherein the first instruction causes the user terminal to attempt cell selection of the cell device according to the first cell access parameter;

monitoring, by the system, the level of overloading; and

in response to an increase in the level of overloading being determined in response to the monitoring,

generating, by the system, a second cell access parameter for the cell device based on an increment in the level of overloading, wherein the second cell access parameter restricts user terminal access to the cell device resulting in a second access restriction greater than the first access restriction; and

sending, by the system, a second instruction to the user terminal to update the first updated user terminal access parameter according to the second cell access parameter resulting in a second updated user terminal access parameter, wherein the first instruction causes the user terminal to attempt the cell selection of the cell device according to the first cell access parameter.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

in response to a decrease in the level of overloading being determined in response to the monitoring, generating, by the system, a third cell access parameter for the cell device based on a decrement in the level of overloading, wherein the third cell access parameter aids terminal access to the cell device; and

sending, by the system, a third instruction to the user terminal to update the second updated user terminal access parameter according to the third cell access parameter, wherein the first instruction cause the user terminal to attempt the cell selection of the cell device according to the first cell access parameter.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

initiating, by the system, dynamic access control to the cell device in response to determining that the overload condition exists, prior to the determining the level of overloading.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

terminating, by the system, the dynamic access control to the cell device in response to an outcome of the monitoring the level of overloading determining that a current level of overloading is below a second threshold of resource consumption.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the monitoring the level of overloading comprises determining a metric representative of a current load of the cell device based on first data representative of a number of user terminals served by the cell device, second data representative of an interference level associated with the cell device, or third data representative of a signal resource associated with the cell device.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

synchronizing, by the system, resource consumption among cell devices of the wireless network; and

implementing, by the system, incremental restriction of user terminal access attempts according to a configuration that balances loading among the cell devices.

16. A computer-readable storage device comprising executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

determining that an overload condition exists with respect to resource consumption of a cell device of a wireless network; and

in response to determining that the overload condition exists,

initiating dynamic cell selection based on progressive adjustment of cell access parameters of a user terminal associated with the cell device;

determining a level of overloading associated with the overload condition;

generating a cell access parameter for the cell device based on the level of overloading, wherein the cell access parameter adjusts user terminal access to the cell device; and

sending an instruction to the user terminal to update a user terminal access parameter according to the cell access parameter, wherein the instruction causes the user terminal to attempt cell selection of the cell device according to the cell access parameter.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

monitoring the level of overloading; and

terminating the dynamic cell selection in response to an outcome of the monitoring the level of overloading determining that a current level of overloading is below a threshold of resource consumption.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17, wherein the monitoring the level of overloading comprises determining a metric representative of a current load of the cell device based on data representative of a combination of a number of user terminals served by the cell device and an interference level associated with the cell device.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

sending the cell access parameter to resource management function devices of the wireless network, to coordinate the dynamic cell selection based on progressive adjustment of cell access parameters among the resource management function devices.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

synchronizing resource consumption among cell devices of the wireless network; and

implementing the dynamic cell selection based on progressive adjustment of cell access parameters according to a configuration that balances loading among the cell devices.