Femtocell Access Control via Path Loss Balancing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional handover measurement procedures for femtocell base stations in hybrid access mode do not balance uplink and downlink performance, leading to suboptimal decision points for allowing macro UEs to access femtocell base stations, and fail to ensure significant quality of service for home UEs while improving performance for macro UEs.
Innovation Solution
A method that determines access to a femtocell base station based on femtocell-mobile device path loss, considering both uplink and downlink performance, with additional conditions such as comparing path loss to macrocell-mobile device path loss and limiting resources for non-preferred group UEs, to balance resource usage and maintain quality of service for home UEs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional handover measurement procedures are used for femtocell base stations in hybrid access mode, then all UEs belonging to the network operator are allowed to access the femtocell base station, but uplink and downlink performance are not balanced and quality of service for home UEs may be degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the handover decision parameters by introducing separate uplink and downlink path loss thresholds instead of using a single conventional measurement event threshold. This allows independent optimization of uplink and downlink performance while maintaining hybrid access mode flexibility. The network node determines handover based on comparing both uplink path loss (from mobile device to femtocell) and downlink path loss (from femtocell to mobile device) against their respective thresholds, ensuring balanced performance and protected quality of service for home UEs.
2Productivity
If macro UEs are allowed to access femtocell base station without path loss consideration, then network coverage and capacity are improved, but resources of the femtocell base station may be consumed excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces path loss as a critical parameter for access control decisions. By requiring that both uplink path loss and downlink path loss be below specific thresholds, the system ensures that only macro UEs with sufficiently good signal conditions can access the femtocell base station. This prevents excessive resource consumption by distant or poorly-connected UEs while still allowing network capacity benefits for eligible devices.
3Ease of operation
If handover decision is based on single threshold measurement event, then implementation is simple, but both uplink and downlink performance cannot be optimized simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the handover decision process into separate uplink and downlink evaluations. Instead of using a single measurement event threshold, the system independently assesses uplink path loss (mobile device to femtocell) and downlink path loss (femtocell to mobile device) against separate thresholds. This segmentation allows precise optimization of both directions while maintaining clear, implementable decision logic through the network node.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for controlling access of a mobile device to a femtocell base station in a communications network are described. The method determines whether to allow access of the mobile device to the femtocell base station based on the femtocell-mobile device path loss for transmissions between the mobile device and the femtocell base station. Access may be allowed if the femtocell-mobile device pathloss is lower than a threshold amount. Additionally or alternatively access may be allowed only if the femtocell-mobile device pathloss is lower than the macrocell-mobile device pathloss for transmissions between the mobile device and a macrocell base station. The method is particularly applicable for hybrid access mode femtocells and additional conditions may be applied regarding the number of mobile device that are not part of the subscriber group that can access the femtocell. The method may be implemented by the femtocell, the macrocell or by any other suitable network device.