Cell Controller Handoff Threshold Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile communication networks face challenges in efficiently managing handoffs between different radio access technologies (RATs) due to uniform standards that fail to account for varying performance conditions across cells, leading to suboptimal service quality and resource inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
Implementing autonomous cell controllers that adjust handoff thresholds based on real-time performance monitoring, using multiple indicators to determine when to hand off devices from a primary RAT to a secondary RAT, and applying corrective actions such as increasing power or reversing threshold adjustments to maintain service quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If uniform handoff thresholds are used across all cells, then network management is simplified, but service quality and resource efficiency deteriorate due to varying performance conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by enabling each cell controller to adjust handoff thresholds based on local performance indicators specific to its cell. Instead of using a uniform threshold across the entire network, each cell determines its own optimal threshold based on local conditions such as signal strength, load, and interference levels, thereby optimizing service quality while maintaining manageable complexity through automated local decision-making
2Reliability
If handoff thresholds are adjusted for each cell individually, then service quality is optimized, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling each cell controller to autonomously adjust its own handoff threshold based on locally monitored performance indicators. The cell controller independently evaluates its cell's conditions and makes self-directed threshold adjustments without requiring centralized control or complex coordination with other cells, thereby optimizing service quality while keeping individual controller complexity manageable through self-contained decision-making logic
3Measurement precision
If multiple performance indicators are monitored for each cell, then handoff decisions are more precise, but monitoring and processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by having cell controllers monitor and process only the performance indicators most relevant to their specific cell conditions rather than comprehensively analyzing all possible metrics. Each controller selectively evaluates key indicators such as signal strength, load, and interference levels that are most pertinent to its operational context, thereby achieving sufficient precision for optimal handoff decisions while minimizing processing time and overhead by avoiding unnecessary analysis of less relevant metrics
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment a method includes adjusting a handoff threshold for a cell associated with a mobile communication cell controller, where the handoff threshold indicates a threshold according to which mobile communication devices using a primary radio access technology (RAT) in the cell are handed off by the cell controller to a secondary cell controller using a secondary RAT, monitoring at least one performance indicator associated with communication performance in the cell, if the performance indicator is below a lower performance threshold, reversing the adjusting, otherwise, if the performance indicator is below an upper performance threshold, performing corrective action for targeted mobile communication devices whose associated performance is between the upper and lower performance thresholds as per the monitoring, the corrective action including increasing power for connections associated with the targeted mobile communication devices, and handing off to the secondary RAT controller devices whose performance is below the handoff threshold.