Central Coordinator for Virtualized Base Station Interference
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cellular network technologies, particularly in LTE Release 13, face limitations in centralized coordination of inter-cell interference, leading to high volumes of measurement information exceeding uplink capacity and inefficient resource allocation, which affects network performance and energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a Central Coordinator that interacts with virtual machines and base stations to optimize resource allocation, manage interference, and coordinate network operations, using a C1 interface for inter-node communication and resource management, allowing for efficient load balancing, handover, and energy-efficient radio node selection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If centralized coordination of inter-cell interference is implemented in LTE Release 13, then network performance is improved, but the volume of measurement information exceeds uplink capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates the coordination functions from the traditional distributed base station architecture, creating a dedicated Central Coordinator entity that handles interference coordination. This separation allows measurement information to be processed centrally rather than overwhelming individual base station uplink capacities, resolving the contradiction between improved network performance and manageable information volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The Central Coordinator acts as an intermediary between multiple base stations and the core network, mediating the flow of measurement information and coordination decisions. This intermediary role enables centralized processing of interference coordination data without exceeding individual uplink capacities, while still achieving improved network performance through coordinated interference management.
2Device complexity
If distributed operation of base stations is maintained, then device complexity is reduced, but resource allocation efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the base station functions into distributed radio access network elements and a centralized coordination function. This segmentation allows individual base stations to maintain simple distributed operation while a separate Central Coordinator handles complex resource allocation and interference coordination, thus preserving low device complexity while improving resource allocation efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the coordination functions of multiple distributed base stations into a single Central Coordinator entity. This merging enables efficient resource allocation across the entire network by consolidating decision-making, while the individual base stations remain simple and distributed, resolving the contradiction between device complexity and resource allocation efficiency.
3Ease of manufacture
If virtualization of base station functions is implemented, then deployment cost is reduced, but network coordination complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The Central Coordinator is designed as a universal platform that can coordinate multiple virtualized base station functions across different operators and technologies. This multi-functional design reduces deployment costs by sharing infrastructure while managing the coordination complexity through a standardized, centralized approach that handles diverse virtualized functions uniformly.
Data Source
AI summary
A base station is partitioned into a part executed on virtualization platform and a plurality of Radio Transceiver Points (R-TPs).It is established at least one CCord (Central Controller or Central Coordinator) of the base station, connected with the virtualized part of the base station and to the plurality of R-TPs by at least one control logical interface.Communications with the User Equipment (UE) implement a protocol split: on each R-TP, at least MAC (Medium Access Control) functions and a modulation function as part of PHY (Physical Layer) functions and on the virtualization platform at least PDCP (Packed Data Convergence Protocol) functions.CCord collects reports from each R-TP, with respect to usage status of belonging, allocated or assigned resources to each R-TP for downlink or uplink communications, and based on the collected reports selects at least one new serving R-TP of the UE.