Almost blank subframe duty cycle adaptation in heterogeneous networks

• US 9,288,680 B2
• Filed: 03/22/2012
• Issued: 03/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Vasudevan, Subramanian, Pupala, Rahul N., Sivanesan, Kathiravetpillai
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo, Ricky
• Assistant Examiner(s): SAMUEL, DEWANDA A
• Application Number:
  US13/427,175
• Publication Number:
  US 20130250764A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,454 Days
• Field of Search: 370/236, 370/252, 370/332, 370/329, 370/230.1, 370/462, 370/546, 455/436, 455/418
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5678 Traffic aspects, e.g. arbitration, load balancing, smoothing, buffer management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/568 Load balancing, smoothing or shaping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/6225 Fixed service order, e.g. Round Robin
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/32 Hierarchical cell structures

Abstract

A method of setting an almost blank subframe (ABS) duty cycle in a heterogeneous network including a macro cell and one or more small cells, the one or more small cells being underlaid with respect to the macro cell includes obtaining, at a network element, loading information corresponding to each of the macro cell and the one or more small cells, the loading information including, for each of the macro cell and the one or more small cells, an indication of an amount of information buffered at the cell for each user attached to the cell; and determining the ABS duty cycle based on the obtained loading information.

Claims

1. A method of setting an almost blank subframe (ABS) duty cycle in a heterogeneous network including a macro cell and one or more small cells, the one or more small cells being underlaid with respect to the macro cell, the method comprising:

obtaining, at a network element, loading information corresponding to each of the macro cell and the one or more small cells, the loading information including, for each of the macro cell and the one or more small cells, an indication of an amount of information buffered at the cell for each user attached to the cell; and

determining the ABS duty cycle based on the obtained loading information,

wherein for each of the one or more small cells, users attached to the small cell are designated as being associated with one of an inner region of the small cell or an outer region of the small cell, and for each of the one or more small cells, the corresponding loading information includes inner loading information and outer loading information, the inner loading information including an indication of an amount of information buffered for each user designated as being associated with the inner region of the small cell, the outer loading information including an indication of an amount of information buffered for each user designated as being associated with the outer region of the small cell.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the determined ABS duty cycle from the network element towards base stations (BS)s of one or more cells from among the macro cell and the one or more small cells.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the network element is a BS of a cell from among the macro cell and the one or more small cells.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined ABS duty cycle is defined by the following expressions

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured such that the determined ABS duty cycle is defined by the following expressions

5. A network apparatus for setting an almost blank subframe (ABS) duty cycle in a heterogeneous network including a macro cell and one or more small cells, the one or more small cells being underlaid with respect to the macro cell, the apparatus comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive data;

a transmitting unit configured to transmit data;

a memory unit; and

a processing unit coupled to the transmitting unit, the receiving unit, and the memory unit and configured to control operations associated with determining the ABS duty cycle, the operations including,

obtaining, at a network element, loading information corresponding to each of the macro cell and the one or more small cells, the loading information including, for each of the macro cell and the one or more small cells, an indication of an amount of information buffered at the cell for each user attached to the cell; and

determining the ABS duty cycle based on the obtained loading information,

wherein for each of the one or more small cells, users attached to the small cell are designated as being associated with one of an inner region of the small cell or an outer region of the small cell, and for each of the one or more small cells, the corresponding loading information includes inner loading information and outer loading information, the inner loading information including an indication of an amount of information buffered for each user designated as being associated with the inner region of the small cell, the outer loading information including an indication of an amount of information buffered for each user designated as being associated with the outer region of the small cell.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

send the determined ABS duty cycle from the network element towards one or more base stations (BS)s of cells from among the macro cell and the one or more small cells.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the network element is a BS of a cell from among the macro cell and the one or more small cells.