Dynamic configuration of base station settings for controlling handover to preferred coverage frequency

摘要

A method to dynamically configure a base station based on evaluation of whether nearby and/or neighboring base stations operate on a preferred coverage frequency. For instance, the base station could be configured to broadcast as a start-scanning threshold value a relatively high value in response to determining that a base station operating on the preferred coverage frequency is located within a predefined threshold distance. Further, the base station could be configured to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold value an intermediate value in response to determining that no nearby base station operates on the preferred coverage frequency but at least one base station that is a handover neighbor operates on the preferred coverage frequency. And the base station could be configured to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold value a relatively low value in response to determining that no nearby base stations or handover neighbors operate on the preferred coverage frequency.

主权项

1. A computing system for dynamically configuring a particular base station to broadcast at least one setting for controlling handover to a preferred coverage frequency on which the particular base station does not operate, wherein the at least one setting includes a start-scanning threshold that defines downlink receive signal strength, from the particular base station, at which a device served by the particular base station will begin inter-frequency scanning, the computing system comprising:
a processing unit; data storage; and program instructions stored in the data storage and executable by the processing unit to determine a configuration state of the network, to select, based on the determined configuration state, a signal strength value for the particular base station to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold, and to configure the particular base station to broadcast the selected signal strength value as the start-scanning threshold, wherein determining the configuration state of the network comprises making a determination, based on network configuration data, of which of at least the following three mutually exclusive configurations exists in the network:
(A) there is at least one other base station that is located within a predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency,(B) there is no other base station that is located within the predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency, but there is at least one other base station that is a handover neighbor of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency, and(C) there is no other base station that is located within the predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency, and there no other base station that is a handover neighbor of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency, wherein selecting the signal strength value for the particular base station to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold comprises (i) if the determination is that configuration A exists in the network, then selecting as the start-scanning threshold a first signal strength value, (ii) if the determination is that configuration B exists in the network, then selecting as the start-scanning threshold a second signal strength value lower than the first signal strength value, and (iii) if the determination is that configuration C exists in the network, then selecting as the start-scanning threshold a third signal strength value lower than the second signal strength value.