Communication control device, communication control method, and terminal device

• US 9,807,665 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2014
• Issued: 10/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yoshizawa, Atsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, MONG-THUY THI
• Application Number:
  US14/781,482
• Publication Number:
  US 20160183152A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,225 Days
• Field of Search: 455444, 370331
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/00 Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received correcting synchronisation H04L7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/32 Hierarchical cell structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/302 due to low signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/00 Access restriction access security to prevent unauthorised access H04W12/08; Network selection; Access point selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0206 in access points, e.g. base stations access point devices per se H04W88/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/27 Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

[Object] To make it possible to suppress deterioration in communication quality of radio communication in a small cell while power consumption of a base station of the small cell is reduced.

[Solution] Provided is a communication control device including: an acquisition unit configured to acquire a result of measurement performed by a terminal device with regard to one or more small cells which are partly or entirely overlapped by a macrocell; and a selection unit configured to select a base station which is not to be set in an idle state from base stations of the one or more small cells based on the result of the measurement.

Claims

1. A communication control device comprising:

circuitry configured to

control base stations of one or more small cells which are partly or entirely overlapped by a macrocell to transmit signals for measurement by a terminal device and decide a timing at which each of the signals is transmitted in accordance with a time taken for a corresponding one of the base stations to be activated from an idle state;

transmit small cell information to the terminal device, the small cell information comprising a list including the timing at which each of the signals is transmitted and information that indicates a frequency channel at which each of the signals is transmitted;

acquire a result of the measurement performed by the terminal device with regard to said one or more small cells; and

select a base station which is not to be set in the idle state from base stations of the one or more small cells based on the result of the measurement.

2. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more small cells are small cells selected based on position information which indicates a position of the terminal device.

3. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to

control the base stations of the one or more small cells;

and

refrain from causing the selected base station to be in the idle state, and cause a base station other than the selected base station among the base stations of the one or more small cells to be in the idle state.

4. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein each of the signals for the measurement is a reference signal.

5. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the result of the measurement includes information regarding reception power or quality of a signal for the measurement.

6. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the result of the measurement is information regarding part of the one or more small cells.

7. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein, when reception power or quality of a signal for the measurement with regard to all of the one or more small cells does not exceed a predetermined threshold value, the result of the measurement includes information which indicates that the reception power or the quality with regard to all of the small cells does not exceed the predetermined threshold value.

8. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to select the base station that is not to be set in the idle state when notification of a demand for performing radio communication in a small cell is given by the terminal device.

9. The communication control device according to claim 1,

wherein the terminal device is able to perform radio communication using one principal frequency band and one or more auxiliary frequency bands, and

wherein the circuitry is further configured to control the terminal device to use a frequency band for the macrocell as the one principal frequency band and to use a frequency band for the small cell of the selected base station as one of the one or more auxiliary frequency bands.

10. A communication control method comprising:

controlling base stations of one or more small cells which are partly or entirely overlapped by a macrocell to transmit signals for measurement by a terminal device and deciding a timing at which each of the signals is transmitted in accordance with a time taken for a corresponding one of the base stations to be activated from an idle state;

transmitting small cell information to the terminal device, the small cell information comprising a list including the timing at which each of the signals is transmitted and information that indicates a frequency channel at which each of the signals is transmitted;

acquiring a result of the measurement performed by the terminal device with regard to said one or more small cells; and

selecting, using a processor, a base station which is not to be set in the idle state from base stations of the one or more small cells based on the result of the measurement.

11. A communication control device comprising:

circuitry configured to

control transmission of a signal for measurement performed by a terminal device with regard to a small cell which is partly or entirely overlapped by a macrocell and decide a timing at which the signal is transmitted in accordance with a time taken for a base station of the small cell to be activated from an idle state;

transmit small cell information to the terminal device, the small cell information comprising a list including the timing of the signal and information that indicates a frequency channel at which the signal is transmitted; and

refrain from causing the base station of the small cell to be in an idle state when the base station of the small cell is selected as a base station that is not to be set in the idle state based on a result of the measurement.

12. A terminal device comprising:

circuitry configured to

receive signals from base stations of one or more small cells which are partly or entirely overlapped by a macrocell, each of the signals being received at a timing decided in accordance with a time taken for a corresponding one of the base stations to be activated from an idle state;

receive small cell information comprising a list including the timing at which each of the signals is received and information that indicates a frequency channel at which each of the signals is transmitted;

determine a result of measurement with regard to the one or more small cells; and

provide the result of the measurement to a communication control device which selects a base station which is not to be set in the idle state from the base stations of the one or more small cells based on the result of the measurement.