Base Station Global Beam Activation for Mobile Handover Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing number of handovers between sub-coverage area beams in wireless carrier networks due to highly-mobile wireless communication devices (WCDs) imposes a processing burden on base stations, as they need to transition resources from one beam to another as devices move across coverage areas.
Innovation Solution
A base station emits multiple beams to split the coverage area into sub-areas and detects a threshold number of highly-mobile WCDs, activating a global beam to serve all devices within the area, thereby reducing the number of handovers required between sub-coverage area beams by reallocating resources and antenna elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a base station emits multiple beams to split the coverage area into sub-coverage areas, then coverage quality for stationary or low-mobility WCDs is improved, but the number of handovers increases due to highly-mobile WCDs moving between sub-coverage areas
Solution Approach 1:
The coverage area is segmented into multiple sub-coverage areas served by different beams. This allows the base station to provide focused coverage to specific regions while enabling the introduction of a global beam as an alternative service option for highly-mobile WCDs, thereby reducing unnecessary handovers between sub-coverage areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The global beam serves as a universal service that can accommodate WCDs from any sub-coverage area, making the system more flexible. Highly-mobile WCDs can be assigned to the global beam instead of being forced to handover between sub-coverage beams, thus reducing handover frequency while maintaining coverage quality.
2Reliability
If the base station performs frequent handovers between beams to track highly-mobile WCDs, then coverage continuity is maintained, but the processing burden on the base station increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts highly-mobile WCDs from the sub-coverage area beam management system and assigns them to the global beam instead. This separation removes the processing complexity of tracking and handover management for these specific devices from the base station's workload, while maintaining coverage continuity through the global beam's broad coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The base station identifies highly-mobile WCDs in advance and assigns them to the global beam before they would otherwise undergo frequent handovers. This preliminary action prevents the need for continuous handover management, reducing processing burden while maintaining coverage continuity.
3Productivity
If the base station assigns all WCDs to sub-coverage area beams, then resource allocation is optimized for stationary devices, but highly-mobile WCDs experience frequent handovers and service disruption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different service qualities to different device types: sub-coverage area beams provide optimized resource allocation for stationary or low-mobility WCDs, while the global beam provides continuous service for highly-mobile WCDs. This differentiation ensures that each device type receives the appropriate level of service without compromising overall system efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A base station may be configured to emit a plurality of beams in a given coverage area, where each beam defines a different respective sub-coverage area of the given coverage area and serves wireless communication devices (WCDs) located in the respective sub-coverage area. While emitting these beams, the base station may detect that there is a threshold number of highly-mobile WCDs located in the given coverage area. In response, the base station may activate a global beam that serves WCDs located anywhere in the given coverage area. In turn, the base station may assign at least one highly-mobile WCD located in the given coverage area to the global beam.