System and method to facilitate service hand-outs using user equipment groups in a network environment

• US 9,629,033 B2
• Filed: 06/16/2015
• Issued: 04/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kulal, Sushanth Chandappa
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Peaches, Randy
• Application Number:
  US14/741,266
• Publication Number:
  US 20160373970A1
• Time in Patent Office: 672 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0009 for a plurality of users or terminals, e.g. group communication or moving wireless networks user group management H04W4/08; processing of subscriber group data H04W8/186
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0016 Hand-off preparation specially adapted for end-to-end data sessions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0061 of neighbour cell information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0088 Scheduling hand-off measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

An example method is provided in one example embodiment and may include grouping a plurality of user equipment served by a serving cell radio into one or more groups based on an approximate location of each of the plurality of user equipment and a proximity of each of the plurality of user equipment in relation to each other; selecting a master user equipment for each group; receiving inter-frequency measurement information or inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) measurement information associated with one or more neighboring cell radios; receiving a first service request for a first user equipment of a particular group; and selecting a particular neighboring cell radio for a service hand-out of the first user equipment based, at least in part, on the first service request and inter-frequency measurement information or inter-RAT measurement information received from a particular master user equipment for the particular group.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

grouping a plurality of user equipment served by a serving cell radio into one or more groups based on an approximate location of each of the plurality of user equipment and a proximity of each of the plurality of user equipment in relation to each other, the serving cell radio providing a first service to the plurality of user equipment, wherein the grouping further comprises triangulating the approximate location of each of the plurality of user equipment based on intra-frequency measurement information received from each of the plurality of user equipment for at least two intra-frequency neighboring cell radios of each of the plurality of user equipment served by the serving cell radio and determining the proximity of each of the user equipment in relation to each other for grouping at least two user equipment in close proximity to each other into a group;

selecting a master user equipment for each group;

receiving, from the master user equipment for each group, inter-frequency measurement information or inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) measurement information associated with one or more neighboring cell radios;

receiving a first service request for a first user equipment of a particular group, wherein the first service request includes a request for a second service for the first user equipment and wherein the second service is not provided by the serving cell radio; and

selecting a particular neighboring cell radio for a service hand-out of the first user equipment based, at least in part, on the first service request and inter-frequency measurement information or inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) measurement information received from a particular master user equipment for the particular group.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein grouping the plurality of user equipment served by the serving cell radio into one or more groups further comprises:

enabling intra-frequency measurement reporting for each user equipment served by the serving cell radio.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting a size of a particular group of user equipment based on inter-frequency measurement information or inter-RAT measurement information received for a particular master user equipment for the particular group, wherein the adjusting includes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the adjusting includes:

increasing the size of the particular group if the inter-frequency measurement information or the inter-RAT measurement information indicates a strong neighboring cell radio; and

decreasing the size of the particular group if the inter-frequency measurement information or the inter-RAT measurement information indicates a weak neighboring cell radio.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a particular master user equipment for a particular group further comprises:

determining a data rate for each user equipment for the particular group based on at least one of;

evaluating a number of quality of service (QoS) class identifiers (QCIs) for each user equipment, wherein the number of QCIs for each user equipment is associated with the data rate for each user equipment; and

determining the data rate for each user equipment based on an assessment of one or more protocol layers of the serving cell radio.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting the particular master user equipment for the particular group further comprises:

comparing the data rate for each user equipment for the particular group to determine one or more candidate user equipment that can be selected as the particular master user equipment, wherein the one or more candidate user equipment have lower data rates in comparison to other user equipment of the particular group; and

selecting the particular master user equipment from the one or more candidate user equipment, which has the lowest data rate.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein selecting the particular master user equipment for the particular group further comprises:

selecting the master user equipment from the candidate user equipment, which has the lowest data rate and that is located at an approximate center of the particular group.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a particular master user equipment for a particular group further comprises:

evaluating a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) order for each user equipment for the particular group to determine one or more candidate user equipment that can be selected as the master user equipment, wherein the MCS is associated with a communication channel condition between the serving cell radio and each user equipment for the particular group; and

selecting the particular master user equipment from the one or more candidate user equipment, which has the highest order MCS.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein selecting the particular master user equipment for the particular group further comprises:

selecting the master user equipment from the one or more candidate user equipment, which has the highest order MCS and that is located at an approximate center of the particular group.

10. One or more non-transitory tangible media encoding logic that includes instructions for execution that when executed by a processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:

grouping a plurality of user equipment served by a serving cell radio into one or more groups based on an approximate location of each of the plurality of user equipment and a proximity of each of the plurality of user equipment in relation to each other, the serving cell radio providing a first service to the plurality of user equipment, wherein the grouping further comprises triangulating the approximate location of each of the plurality of user equipment based on intra-frequency measurement information received from each of the plurality of user equipment for at least two intra-frequency neighboring cell radios of each of the plurality of user equipment served by the serving cell radio and determining the proximity of each of the user equipment in relation to each other for grouping at least two user equipment in close proximity to each other into a group;

selecting a master user equipment for each group;

receiving, from the master user equipment for each group, inter-frequency measurement information or inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) measurement information associated with one or more neighboring cell radios;

receiving a first service request for a first user equipment of a particular group, wherein the first service request includes a request for a second service for the first user equipment and wherein the second service is not provided by the serving cell radio; and

selecting a particular neighboring cell radio for a service hand-out of the first user equipment based, at least in part, on the first service request and inter-frequency measurement information or inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) measurement information received from a particular master user equipment for the particular group.

11. The media of claim 10, wherein grouping the plurality of user equipment served by the serving cell radio into one or more groups further comprises:

enabling intra-frequency measurement reporting for each user equipment served by the serving cell radio.

12. The media of claim 10, the operations further comprising:

adjusting a size of a particular group of user equipment based on inter-frequency measurement information or inter-RAT measurement information received for a particular master user equipment for the particular group, wherein the adjusting includes.

13. The media of claim 12, wherein the adjusting includes:

increasing the size of the particular group if the inter-frequency measurement information or the inter-RAT measurement information indicates a strong neighboring cell radio; and

decreasing the size of the particular group if the inter-frequency measurement information or the inter-RAT measurement information indicates a weak neighboring cell radio.

14. The media of claim 10, wherein selecting a particular master user equipment for a particular group further comprises:

determining a data rate for each user equipment for the particular group based on at least one of;

evaluating a number of quality of service (QoS) class identifiers (QCIs) for each user equipment, wherein the number of QCIs for each user equipment is associated with the data rate for each user equipment; and

determining the data rate for each user equipment based on an assessment of one or more protocol layers of the serving cell radio.

15. The media of claim 14, wherein selecting the particular master user equipment for the particular group further comprises:

comparing the data rate for each user equipment for the particular group to determine one or more candidate user equipment that can be selected as the particular master user equipment, wherein the one or more candidate user equipment have lower data rates in comparison to other user equipment of the particular group; and

selecting the particular master user equipment from the one or more candidate user equipment, which has the lowest data rate.

16. The media of claim 15, wherein selecting the particular master user equipment for the particular group further comprises:

selecting the master user equipment from the candidate user equipment, which has the lowest data rate and that is located at an approximate center of the particular group.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory element for storing data; and

a processor that executes instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and the memory element cooperate such that the apparatus is configured for;

grouping a plurality of user equipment served by a serving cell radio into one or more groups based on an approximate location of each of the plurality of user equipment and a proximity of each of the plurality of user equipment in relation to each other, the serving cell radio providing a first service to the plurality of user equipment, wherein the grouping further comprises triangulating the approximate location of each of the plurality of user equipment based on intra-frequency measurement information received from each of the plurality of user equipment for at least two intra-frequency neighboring cell radios of each of the plurality of user equipment served by the serving cell radio and determining the proximity of each of the user equipment in relation to each other for grouping at least two user equipment in close proximity to each other into a group;

selecting a master user equipment for each group;

receiving, from the master user equipment for each group, inter-frequency measurement information or inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) measurement information associated with one or more neighboring cell radios;

receiving a first service request for a first user equipment of a particular group, wherein the first service request includes a request for a second service for the first user equipment and wherein the second service is not provided by the serving cell radio; and

selecting a particular neighboring cell radio for a service hand-out of the first user equipment based, at least in part, on the first service request and inter-frequency measurement information or inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) measurement information received from a particular master user equipment for the particular group.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein grouping the plurality of user equipment served by the serving cell radio into one or more groups further comprises:

enabling intra-frequency measurement reporting for each user equipment served by the serving cell radio.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein selecting a particular master user equipment for a particular group further comprises:

determining a data rate for each user equipment for the particular group based on at least one of;

evaluating a number of quality of service (QoS) class identifiers (QCIs) for each user equipment, wherein the number of QCIs for each user equipment is associated with the data rate for each user equipment; and

determining the data rate for each user equipment based on an assessment of one or more protocol layers of the serving cell radio.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein selecting the particular master user equipment for the particular group further comprises:

comparing the data rate for each user equipment for the particular group to determine one or more candidate user equipment that can be selected as the particular master user equipment, wherein the one or more candidate user equipment have lower data rates in comparison to other user equipment of the particular group; and

selecting the master user equipment from the candidate user equipment, which has the lowest data rate and that is located at an approximate center of the particular group.