Base Station Carrier Aggregation Band Combination Reporting
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In LTE systems, the conventional method of reporting carrier aggregation (CA) band combinations by user apparatuses to base stations results in a large amount of signaling data, which can be overwhelming, especially when multiple carriers are aggregated, and may not be interpretable by all base stations, leading to potential CA control issues.
Innovation Solution
A base station system that receives first band combination information from user apparatuses in a specific format, generates second band combination information using a different format, and transmits this information to other base stations or switching apparatuses, allowing all stations to be aware of compatible CA band combinations, even if they do not support the latest format specifications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the user apparatus reports all compatible CA band combinations using the conventional format, then the base station can have complete information about supported band combinations, but the signaling amount becomes excessively large
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the essential CA band combination information needed for handover and cell reselection from the complete capability report. Instead of transmitting all possible band combinations, the system extracts and transmits only those combinations that are relevant for the current handover or cell reselection scenario, thereby reducing signaling overhead while maintaining necessary information completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The CA band combination information is segmented into different parts: complete capability information reported by the user apparatus to the serving base station, and then selectively transmitted to target base stations or MME only when needed for handover or cell reselection. This segmentation allows the system to maintain complete information at the serving base station while reducing signaling on the X2 interface and S1 interface.
2Quantity of substance
If the base station uses the latest Rel. 13 format for CA band combination reporting, then the signaling amount is reduced, but compatibility with older base stations that do not support Rel. 13 is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The serving base station acts as an intermediary that receives complete CA band combination information from the user apparatus in Rel. 13 format, then selectively extracts and forwards only necessary information to target base stations or MME. This intermediary approach allows the system to use the efficient Rel. 13 format at the user apparatus while ensuring compatibility with older base stations that may not support the new format, as they only receive the essential extracted information.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the system use different formats appropriately: the user apparatus reports in the efficient Rel. 13 format to the serving base station, while the serving base station converts and forwards only necessary information in a format compatible with target base stations. This local quality approach allows each part of the system to operate in its optimal format while maintaining overall system compatibility.
3Reliability
If the base station transmits complete CA band combination information to all target base stations, then all stations can understand user apparatus capabilities, but the processing complexity and information overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The serving base station extracts only the necessary CA band combination information from the complete capability report and transmits only this extracted information to target base stations and MME. This extraction process reduces the information overhead while ensuring that target base stations receive sufficient information to perform CA control, thereby reducing processing complexity without compromising reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A base station of a radio communication system supporting carrier aggregation is provided. The base station includes a receiver configured to receive, from a user apparatus, first band combination information that indicates combinations of bands supported by the user apparatus through the carrier aggregation, the first band combination information being generated in a first format; a generator configured to generate, based on the combinations of bands indicated by the first band combination information, second band combination information using a second format; and a transmitter configured to transmit, to another base station or a switching apparatus, the second band combination information generated by the generation unit.