System and method for providing collaborative neighbor management in a network environment

• US 9,629,042 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2015
• Issued: 04/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Warburton, Nigel Edward, Sharma, Lokendra, Grech, Sandro
• Primary Examiner(s): Thompson, Jr., Otis L
• Application Number:
  US14/612,794
• Publication Number:
  US 20160165494A1
• Time in Patent Office: 805 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1072 Discovery involving ranked list compilation of candidate peers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00835 Determination of neighbour cell lists
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include populating a neighbor list including one or more neighbors for a cell radio using neighbor information gathered for the cell radio; receiving a detected set measurement report from a user equipment (UE), wherein the measurement report includes, at least in part, one or more primary scrambling codes (PSCs) for one or more other neighbors detected by the UE; and updating the neighbor list to include one or more of the other neighbors based, at least in part, on whether any of the one or more PSCs received in the measurement report are included in the previously gathered neighbor information.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

populating a neighbor list including one or more neighbors for a cell radio using neighbor information gathered for the cell radio, wherein the neighbor information comprises a plurality of neighbor information tables including, at least in part, a peer access points (APs) table including neighbor cell radios discovered by the cell radio in a grid for the cell radio using an Internet Protocol (IP) grid discovery process that comprises exchanging primary scrambling codes (PSC) information and cell identification information for the neighbor cell radios via IP communications;

receiving a plurality of detected set measurement reports from a user equipment (UE), wherein each detected set measurement report includes, at least in part, one or more PSCs and corresponding signal strength information for each of one or more other neighbor cell radios detected by the UE;

for each detected set measurement report received from the UE, performing a lookup against the neighbor information tables associated with the previously gathered neighbor information using one or more PSCs received in each detected set measurement report for each of the one or more other neighbor cell radios detected by the UE;

for each of a corresponding PSC located in a given neighbor information table, comparing signal strength information for the corresponding PSC against a signal strength threshold; and

updating the neighbor list to include one or more of the other neighbor cell radios based, at least in part, on whether any of the one or more PSCs received in any detected set measurement report are included in any neighbor information table associated with the previously gathered neighbor information and have a signal strength that is greater than or equal to the signal strength threshold, wherein the updating further comprises;

removing any redundant neighbor cell radios from the neighbor list; and

removing any neighbor cell radios from the neighbor list that are persistently not included in the plurality of detected set measurement reports received from the UE.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the neighbor information tables further comprises:

a peer neighbors table including other neighbor cell radios discovered by the neighbor cell radios that were discovered using the IP grid discovery process and that are outside the grid for the cell radio; and

a network listen table including neighbor cell radios detected over-the-air by the cell radio.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the updating further comprises ranking the neighbor cell radios in the neighbor list.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the ranking includes providing top priority to the one or more other neighbor cell radios for which PSCs were received from the UE in a particular detected set measurement report.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal strength information is associated with a measurement of at least one of:

received chip energy to noise (Ec/No) ratio received by the UE associated with the corresponding PSC; and

received signal code power (RSCP) associated with the corresponding PSC.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling detected set measurement reporting for the UE.

7. One or more non-transitory tangible media encoding logic that includes instructions for execution by a processor, wherein the execution causes the processor to perform operations, comprising:

populating a neighbor list including one or more neighbors for a cell radio using neighbor information gathered for the cell radio, wherein the neighbor information comprises a plurality of neighbor information tables including, at least in part, a peer access points (APs) table including neighbor cell radios discovered by the cell radio in a grid for the cell radio using an Internet Protocol (IP) grid discovery process that comprises exchanging primary scrambling codes (PSC) information and cell identification information for the neighbor cell radios via IP communications;

receiving a plurality of detected set measurement reports from a user equipment (UE), wherein each detected set measurement report includes, at least in part, one or more PSCs and corresponding signal strength information for each of one or more other neighbor cell radios detected by the UE;

for each detected set measurement report received from the UE, performing a lookup against the neighbor information tables associated with the previously gathered neighbor information using one or more PSCs received in each detected set measurement report for each of the one or more other neighbor cell radios detected by the UE;

for each of a corresponding PSC located in a given neighbor information table, comparing signal strength information for the corresponding PSC against a signal strength threshold; and

updating the neighbor list to include one or more of the other neighbor cell radios based, at least in part, on whether any of the one or more PSCs received in any detected set measurement report are included in any neighbor information table associated with the previously gathered neighbor information and have a signal strength that is greater than or equal to the signal strength threshold, wherein the updating further comprises;

removing any redundant neighbor cell radios from the neighbor list; and

removing any neighbor cell radios from the neighbor list that are persistently not included in the plurality of detected set measurement reports received from the UE.

8. The media of claim 7, wherein the neighbor information tables further comprise:

a peer neighbors table including other neighbor cell radios discovered by the neighbor cell radios that were discovered using the IP grid discovery process and that are outside the grid for the cell radio; and

a network listen table including neighbor cell radios detected over-the-air by the cell radio.

9. The media of claim 7, wherein the updating further comprises ranking the neighbor cell radios in the neighbor list.

10. The media of claim 9, wherein the ranking includes providing a top priority to the one or more other neighbor cell radios for which PSCs were received from the UE in a particular detected set measurement report.

11. The media of claim 7, wherein the signal strength information is associated with at least one of:

a received chip energy to noise (Ec/No) ratio received by the UE associated with the corresponding PSC; and

a received signal code power (RSCP) associated with the corresponding PSC.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory element for storing data; and

a processor for executing instructions associated with the data, wherein the executing causes the apparatus to perform operations, comprising;

populating a neighbor list including one or more neighbors for a cell radio using neighbor information gathered for the cell radio, wherein the neighbor information comprises a plurality of neighbor information tables including, at least in part, a peer access points (APs) table including neighbor cell radios discovered by the cell radio in a grid for the cell radio using an Internet Protocol (IP) grid discovery process that comprises exchanging primary scrambling codes (PSC) information and cell identification information for the neighbor cell radios via IP communications;

receiving a plurality of detected set measurement reports from a user equipment (UE), wherein each detected set measurement report includes, at least in part, one or more PSCs and corresponding signal strength information for each of one or more other neighbor cell radios detected by the UE;

for each detected set measurement report received from the UE, performing a lookup against the neighbor information tables associated with the previously gathered neighbor information using one or more PSCs received in each detected set measurement report for each of the one or more other neighbor cell radios detected by the UE;

for each of a corresponding PSC located in a given neighbor information table, comparing signal strength information for the corresponding PSC against a signal strength threshold; and

updating the neighbor list to include one or more of the other neighbor cell radios based, at least in part, on whether any of the one or more PSCs received in any detected set measurement report are included in any neighbor information table associated with the previously gathered neighbor information and have a signal strength that is greater than or equal to the signal strength threshold, wherein the updating further comprises;

removing any redundant neighbor cell radios from the neighbor list; and

removing any neighbor cell radios from the neighbor list that are persistently not included in the plurality of detected set measurement reports received from the UE.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the neighbor information tables comprise:

a peer neighbors table including other neighbor cell radios discovered by the neighbor cell radios that were discovered using the IP grid discovery process and that are outside the grid for the cell radio; and

a network listen table including neighbor cell radios detected over-the-air by the cell radio.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the updating includes further comprises ranking the neighbor cell radios in the neighbor list.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the ranking includes providing top priority to the one or more other neighbor cell radios for which PSCs were received from the UE in a particular detected set measurement report.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the signal strength information is associated with a measurement of at least one of:

received chip energy to noise (Ec/No) ratio received by the UE associated with the corresponding PSC; and

received signal code power (RSCP) associated with the corresponding PSC.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the executing causes the apparatus to perform further operations, comprising:

enabling detected set measurement reporting for the UE.