Measurement reporting in a telecommunication system

• US 7,003,290 B1
• Filed: 02/09/1999
• Issued: 02/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Salonaho, Oscar, Sipila, Kari
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Lester G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bhattacharya, Sam
• Application Number:
  US09/622,468
• Time in Patent Office: 2,569 Days
• Field of Search: 455/436, 455/437, 455/442, 455/67.11, 370/331, 370/332, 370/342
• US Class Current: 455/423
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0023 characterised by the signalling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0026 Transmission of channel quality indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0028 Formatting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0058 Transmission of hand-off measurement information, e.g. measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/18 for allowing seamless reselection, e.g. soft reselection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/302 due to low signal strength

Abstract

The invention specifies at least two different triggers for sending a measurement report from the mobile station to the network. According to the invention, the network specifies the triggers to be used in different measurement report types. The triggers are preferably upper or lower threshold values for parameters of the radio signal. In response to having detected that the measured value has exceeded its upper threshold value or has gone under its lower threshold, the mobile station sends the network a measurement report.

Claims

1. A method of measurement reporting in a telecommunication system comprising mobile stations and a network comprising base stations, wherein handover decisions on establishing or cancelling a link between a mobile station and a base station are made in the network on the basis of measurement reports sent from the mobile station to the network, the method comprising:

defining by the network a plurality of parameters for the mobile station,

sending the parameters to the mobile station,

determining by the mobile station a plurality of independent measurement report triggering conditions using the network defined parameters,

monitoring at the mobile station properties of a plurality of radio signals received from respective base stations,

verifying by the mobile station whether a measurement report triggering condition has been met,

generating a measurement report comprising information about the monitored radio signals at the mobile station when one of the triggering conditions has been met, and

transmitting the generated measurement report to the network.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein

the method further comprises a step of resetting a timer in connection with the step of transmitting a measurement report, and

one of the triggering conditions comprises a condition for the value of the timer.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein one of the triggering conditions is a threshold for a radio signal parameter or a function thereof.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the radio signal parameter is the received power level of the signal or a function thereof.

6. A method according to claim 4, wherein in the radio signal parameter is the interference in the received radio signal or a function thereof.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the network uses CDMA air interface in which the connections are separated using different spreading codes, and

the value for the interference is an estimate for the interference power.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

defining by the network the activeness of the measurement report triggering conditions so that at least one triggering condition is active and the remaining triggering conditions if any are inactive,

not performing the transmitting the generated measurement report in response to meeting an inactive triggering condition, and

performing the transmitting the generated measurement report if one active triggering condition has been met.

9. A method according to claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

the mobile station receiving corresponding base station specific offset values from the base stations it monitors; and

using the base station specific offset values in the step of verifying by the mobile station whether a measurement report triggering condition has been met.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the offset value is dynamically defined by the network.

11. A method according to claim 4, wherein the one triggering condition comprises a threshold for the change of a radio parameter or a function thereof.

12. A method according to claim 4, wherein

a first set of triggering conditions is defined for the radio signals in the uplink direction and a second set of triggering conditions is defined for the radio signals in the downlink direction,

a logical function is defined for combining the first and the second set of triggering conditions, and

at the mobile station, the state of each triggering condition is determined, the states combined using the logical function, and the measurement report is sent in dependence on the condition of the logical function.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the first and second set of triggering conditions are dynamically defined by the network.

14. A method according to claim 12, wherein the logical function is defined by the network.

15. A method according to claim 12, wherein a first combination of the first and second sets of triggering conditions and the logical functions are defined to be used for radio signals from or to active base stations having an active link with the mobile station,

a second combination of the first and second sets of triggering conditions and the logical functions are defined to be used for radio signals from or to candidate base stations not having an active link with the mobile station,

and at the mobile station, the first combination is used for radio signals from or to active base stations and the second combination is used for radio signals from or to candidate base stations.

16. A method according to claim 15, further comprising creating an active link between the mobile station and a candidate base station not having an active link with the mobile station when the network receives from the mobile station a measurement report triggered by that candidate base station.

17. A method according to claim 15, further comprising deleting an active link between the mobile station and a base station when the network receives from the mobile station a measurement report triggered by that active base station.

18. A method according to claim 15, wherein said two different logical functions are such that when a base station is in the active set, a measurement report is not triggered by a radio signal of that base station for the same set of radio properties as would trigger the transmission of a measurement report when the base station is in the candidate set.

19. A method according to claim 12, further comprising defining a logical function for use when the number of base stations in the active set is equal to a predefined maximum number, and defining the first and second sets of triggering conditions on the basis of the radio signal properties of the active base station having the worst signal conditions, and wherein a measurement report is triggered by a radio signal of a candidate base station causes that worst base station to be replaced by the candidate base station.

20. A method according to claim 19, wherein the maximum number is dynamically defined by the network.

21. A method according to claim 1, wherein the network informs the mobile station what information to include in the measurement report, and the mobile station includes this information in the measurement report.

22. A method according to claim 21, wherein the radio signals are ordered using a predefined condition, and in the measurement report sent from the mobile station, information about the properties of a predefined number of the best radio signals according to the condition are reported.

23. A method according to claim 21, wherein the number of radio signals to be reported is given by the network.

24. A method according to claim 21, wherein the measurement report comprises a value for the path loss for a reported signal or a function thereof.

25. A method according to claim 21, wherein the measurement report comprises a value for the carrier to interference ratio of a reported signal or a function thereof.

31. A method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement report is generated when any one of the triggering conditions has been met.

2. A method of measurement reporting in a telecommunication system comprising mobile stations and a network comprising base stations, wherein handover decisions on establishing or cancelling a link between a mobile station and a base station are made in the network on the basis of measurement reports sent from the mobile station to the network, the method comprising:

sending by the network a plurality of independent measurement report triggering conditions for the mobile station,

monitoring at the mobile station properties of a plurality of radio signals received from respective base stations,

responsive to both the monitored radio signals and the triggering conditions, generating a measurement report comprising information about the monitored radio signals at the mobile station, and

transmitting the generated measurement report to the network.

26. A telecommunication network for a telecommunication system comprising mobile stations and the network comprising base stations, in which system the mobile stations monitor radio signals sent by the base stations and handover decisions on establishing or cancelling a link between a mobile station and a base station are made in the network on the basis of measurement reports sent from the mobile station to the network, the network further comprising:

a determining means for determining a plurality of parameters for a mobile station for use by the mobile station to determine a plurality of independent measurement report triggering conditions, and

a sending means responsive to the determining means for sending the determined parameters to the mobile station.

32. A telecommunications network according to claim 26, wherein the determining means has been further arranged to define the activeness of respective triggering conditions, and the sending means has been arranged to send information about the activity state to the mobile station.

27. A telecommunications network for a telecommunication system comprising mobile stations and the network comprising base stations, in which system the mobile stations monitor radio signals sent by the base stations and handover decisions on establishing or cancelling a link between a mobile station and a base station are made in the network on the basis of measurement reports sent from the mobile station to the network, wherein the network comprises:

determining means for determining a plurality of independent measurement report triggering conditions for use by a mobile station together with monitored radio signals of a plurality of base stations to trigger the transmission of a measurement report from a mobile station, and

sending means responsive to the determining means for sending the determined triggering conditions to the mobile station.

28. A network element for a telecommunication network for a telecommunication system comprising mobile stations and the network comprising base stations, in which system the mobile stations monitor the radio signals sent by base stations and handover decisions on establishing or cancelling a link between a mobile station and a base station are made in the network on the basis of measurement reports sent from the mobile station to the network, wherein the network element comprises:

a determining means for determining a plurality of parameters for a mobile station for use by the mobile station to determine a plurality of independent measurement report triggering conditions, and

sending means responsive to the determining means for sending the determined parameters to the mobile station.

29. A mobile station for a telecommunication system comprising mobile stations and a network comprising base stations, in which system handover decisions on establishing or cancelling a link between a mobile station and a base station are made in the network on the basis of measurement reports sent from the mobile station to the network, wherein the mobile station comprises:

a receiving means configured to receive a plurality of parameters from the network,

means for determining a plurality of independent measurement report triggering conditions using the received parameters,

a monitoring means for monitoring properties of a plurality of radio signals received from respective base stations,

a plurality of verifying means for verifying whether a measurement report triggering condition has been met,

a plurality of report means responsive to the verifying means for establishing a measurement report comprising information about the monitored radio signals when one of the triggering conditions has been met, and

a sending means for sending the measurement report to the network.

30. A mobile station according to claim 29, wherein the receiving means has been configured to receive at least a first and second different set of triggering conditions for uplink and downlink signals, and a logical function for combining these sets of triggers,

the verifying means have been arranged to determine the states of each triggering condition and to combine the states according to the logical function, and

the report means have been arranged to establish a measurement report to be sent by the sending means in dependence upon the condition of the logical function.

35. A mobile station according to claim 29, wherein

the receiving means receives from the network information indicating at least one triggering condition as active, the remaining report triggering conditions being inactive, and

the sending means transmits the generated measurement report if at least one active triggering condition has been met.

36. A mobile station according to claim 29, wherein

the receiving means has been configured to receive base station specific offset values, and

the verifying means have been arranged to use the base station specific offset values in verifying whether a triggering condition has been met.

33. A network element for a telecommunication network for a telecommunication system comprising mobile stations and a network comprising base stations, in which system the mobile stations monitor the radio signals sent by base stations and handover decisions on establishing or cancelling a link between a mobile station and a base station are made in the network on the basis of measurement reports sent from the mobile station to the network, wherein the network element comprises:

determining means for determining a plurality of independent measurement report triggering conditions for a mobile station the triggering conditions being determined to be used together with monitored properties of radio signals corresponding to different base stations, and

sending means responsive to the determining means for sending the determined trigger conditions to the mobile station.

34. A mobile station for a telecommunication system comprising mobile stations and a network comprising base stations, in which system decisions on establishing or cancelling a link between a mobile station and a base station are made in the network on the basis of measurement reports sent from the mobile station to the network, wherein the mobile station comprises:

receiving means configured to receive from the network a plurality of independent measurement report triggering conditions and to receive radio signals from a plurality of base stations,

monitoring means for monitoring the radio signals received from respective base stations,

a plurality of verifying means responsive to the receiving means and to the monitoring means and which have the functionality of verifying whether one of the measurement report triggering conditions has been met,

a plurality of report means for establishing a measurement report comprising information about the monitored radio signals, and

sending means for sending the measurement report to the network.

37. A mobile station for a telecommunication system that includes mobile stations and a network comprising base stations, in which system decisions on establishing or cancelling a link between a mobile station and a base station are made in the network on the basis of measurement reports sent from the mobile station to the network, wherein the mobile station has

receiving means for receiving parameters from the network for triggering the transmission of a measurement report and for receiving radio signals from a plurality of base stations,

monitoring means for monitoring properties of a plurality of radio signals received from respective base stations,

verifying means for calculating link quality measures for the base stations with an equation using the monitored properties of the radio signals and the received parameters, and

the verifying means being configured to determine using the calculated link quality measures whether a trigger condition for sending a measurement report is met.