Method and device for maintaining neighbor information of mobile relay

• US 9,674,738 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2013
• Issued: 06/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ZTE Corporation
• Original Assignee: ZTE Corporation
• Inventors: Gao, Yin, Xie, Feng
• Primary Examiner(s): GESESSE, TILAHUN
• Application Number:
  US14/647,917
• Publication Number:
  US 20150304905A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• Field of Search: 455 111, 455 16, 455 9, 455 7
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0061 of neighbour cell information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00835 Determination of neighbour cell lists
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/32 by location or mobility data, e.g. speed data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/047 using dedicated repeater stations

Abstract

A maintenance method and device for neighbor information of a mobile relay are provided. The above-mentioned method includes: neighbor relation information is acquired when the MR resides in a designated station, wherein the neighbor relation information includes: information about a cell to which one or more user equipment (UE) dominated by the MR can be migrated; and a neighbor list of the MR is maintained according to the neighbor relation information. By using the above-mentioned technical solution provided in the disclosure, the technical problems that, in the related art, there is not yet a solution for the MR to achieve the automatic generation and optimization of neighbor cells in a mobile environment (such as high-speed rail environment) etc. are solved, thereby enabling the UE of the MR to be quickly migrated to an appropriate neighbor cell, optimizing the MR switching process and the network performance.

Claims

1. A method for maintaining neighbor information of a mobile relay, MR, which is applied to the MR and comprising:

acquiring, by the MR, neighbor relation information when the MR resides in a designated station, wherein the neighbor relation information comprises;

information about a cell to which one or more user equipment, UEs, dominated by the MR can be migrated; and

maintaining, by the MR, a neighbor list of the MR according to the neighbor relation information, wherein acquiring, by the MR, the neighbor relation information when the MR resides in the designated station comprises;

receiving, by the MR, first neighbor relation information which is sent from a DeNB associated with the designated station;

accessing, by the MR, the DeNB associated with the designated station;

informing, by the MR, the one or more UEs to start an ANR measurement process; and

acquiring, by the MR, the neighbor information through the ANR measurement process, and determining, by the MR, second neighbor relation information according to the neighbor information; and

maintaining, by the MR, the neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information comprises;

establishing, by the MR, an initial neighbor list according to the first neighbor relation information; and

improving or updating, by the MR, the initial neighbor list according to the second neighbor relation information.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein acquiring, by the MR, neighbor relation information when the MR resides in the designated station comprises:

receiving, by the MR, the neighbor relation information sent from a donor eNodeB, DeNB, associated with the designated station.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the neighbor relation information sent from the DeNB associated with the designated station is received by the following way:

receiving, by the MR, the neighbor relation information via an X2 interface message between the MR and the DeNB or via an S1 interface message.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein maintaining, by the MR, the neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information comprises one of the following:

establishing, by the MR, the neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information;

or

updating, by the MR, an existing neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the neighbor list comprises one of the following:

intra-LTE/intra-frequency neighbor relation information, or inter-LTE/inter-frequency neighbor relation information.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein the neighbor list comprises one of the following:

intra-LTE/intra-frequency neighbor relation information, or inter-LTE/inter-frequency neighbor relation information.

7. The method according to claim 2, wherein maintaining, by the MR, the neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information comprises one of the following:

establishing, by the MR, the neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information;

or

updating, by the MR, an existing neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

when the MR moves to a next station of the designated station, stopping, by the MR, acquiring the neighbor relation information.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein acquiring, by the MR, the neighbor relation information when the MR resides in the designated station comprises:

accessing, by the MR, the DeNB associated with the designated station;

informing, by the MR, the one or more UEs to start an automatic neighbor relation, ANR measurement process; and

acquiring, by the MR, neighbor information through the ANR measurement process, and determining the neighbor relation information according to the neighbor information.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein informing, by the MR, the one or more UEs to start the ANR measurement process comprises:

informing, by the MR, the one or more UEs to start the ANR measurement process by a downlink dedicated message, wherein the downlink dedicated message carries instruction information for instructing the one or more UEs to start the ANR measurement process.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein,

when the neighbor list is inter-LTE or inter-frequency neighbor relation information, the downlink dedicated message further carries target LTE system or frequency band information which needs to be measured.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein maintaining, by the MR, the neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information comprises one of the following:

establishing, by the MR, the neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information;

or

updating, by the MR, an existing neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the neighbor list comprises one of the following:

intra-LTE/intra-frequency neighbor relation information, or inter-LTE/inter-frequency neighbor relation information.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

when the MR moves to a next station of the designated station, stopping, by the MR, acquiring the neighbor relation information.

15. A device for maintaining neighbor information of a mobile relay, MR, which is applied to the MR and comprising:

a hardware processor, configured to perform programming components stored in a memory, wherein the programming components comprise;

an acquisition component configured to acquire neighbor relation information when the MR resides in a designated station, wherein the neighbor relation information is information about a cell to which one or more user equipment, UEs dominated by the MR can be migrated; and

a maintenance component configured to maintain a neighbor list of the MR according to the neighbor relation information, wherein the acquisition component comprises;

a second receiving unit configured to receive first neighbor relation information which is sent from a donor eNodeB, DeNB, associated with the designated station;

a second access unit configured to access the DeNB associated with the designated station;

a second informing unit configured to inform the one or more UEs to start an ANR measurement process; and

a second acquisition unit configured to acquire neighbor information through the ANR measurement process, and determining second neighbor relation information according to the neighbor information; and

the maintenance component comprises;

an establishment unit configured to establish an initial neighbor list according to the first neighbor relation information; and

a second maintenance unit configured to improve or update the initial neighbor list according to the second neighbor relation information.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein the acquisition component comprises:

a first receiving unit configured to receive the neighbor relation information which is sent from a donor eNodeB, DeNB, associated with the designated station.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the maintenance component comprises:

a first maintenance unit configured to establish the neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information;

or update an existing neighbor list of the MR according to the acquired neighbor relation information.

18. The device according to claim 15, wherein the acquisition component comprises:

a first access unit configured to access the DeNB associated with the designated station;

a first informing unit configured to inform the one or more UEs to start an automatic neighbor relation, ANR, measurement process; and

a first acquisition unit configured to acquire neighbor information through the ANR measurement process, and determining the neighbor relation information according to the neighbor information.