Cell State-Based Measurement Reporting in Small-Cell Networks

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current mobile communication devices face inefficiencies in measuring and reporting cell attributes, particularly when dealing with multistate cells, leading to unnecessary measurement reports and energy consumption issues due to the lack of differentiation in trigger conditions between dormant and active cell states.

Innovation Solution

The system adapts measurement triggers based on the state of neighboring cells, requiring different threshold values for reporting when cells are in dormant or active states, and includes mechanisms for the user device to indicate cell state in measurement reports, optimizing energy usage and handover decisions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If the device monitors all neighboring cells regardless of their state, then measurement coverage is improved, but energy consumption increases and unnecessary signaling occurs

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemeasurement coverageVSAvoidenergy consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by differentiating measurement and reporting behavior based on the specific state of each neighboring cell. Active cells trigger measurements under standard conditions, while dormant cells require additional state indication in measurement reports. This allows the device to optimize energy consumption by adapting measurement activities to the local quality (state) of each cell rather than applying uniform monitoring to all cells.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Loss of information

If the device reports measurements for all neighboring cells, then network awareness is improved, but signaling overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenetwork awarenessVSAvoidsignaling overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements dynamics by making the measurement reporting behavior adaptive based on cell state. The reporting mechanism dynamically adjusts its characteristics - including whether to indicate cell state in the measurement report - based on whether the neighboring cell is active or dormant. This dynamic adaptation reduces signaling overhead by providing network-awareness information only when necessary, rather than uniformly reporting all measurements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Ease of operation

If the device uses uniform trigger conditions for all neighboring cells, then implementation simplicity is maintained, but handover efficiency decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimplementation simplicityVSAvoidhandover efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the trigger conditions for measurement reporting based on the state of neighboring cells. Different threshold values and reporting requirements are applied depending on whether a cell is active or dormant. This parameter differentiation improves handover efficiency by ensuring that measurements are triggered and reported under appropriate conditions for each cell state, rather than using uniform thresholds that may not be optimal for all scenarios.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP3063978B1Measurement management in small-cell systems
Publication Date: 2019.07.31 GOOGLE TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS LLC
  • EP3063978B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3063978B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3063978B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A system and method for neighbor-cell measurement reporting in a cellular environment supporting multistate cells limits measurement reporting by requiring that state-specific trigger conditions are met. Thus for example, a dormant cell may need to meet more stringent measurement conditions before a report is generated by the user device, since a current primary cell may prefer to hand off to an active cell. In particular, state-specific thresholds, offsets, and hysteresis values may be used to enforce a preference for active cells, for example.