Centralized Load Balancing Control Apparatus for LTE Base Stations

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current load balancing methods in LTE communication systems result in resource waste as each base station periodically calculates load balancing coefficients for all adjacent cells, leading to increased expenditure and computational burden, especially with a large number of cells.

Innovation Solution

A control apparatus receives and ranks load balancing coefficients from all base stations, sending the ranking result to the base station with the highest coefficient, thereby eliminating the need for all stations to calculate and rank coefficients, and implementing load balancing through a centralized control process.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If each base station periodically calculates load balancing coefficients for all adjacent cells, then load balancing can be performed, but resource waste and computational burden increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveload balancing performanceVSAvoidcomputational resource waste
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the load balancing coefficient calculation and ranking function from each individual base station and centralizes it in a control apparatus. Only the necessary load balancing coefficients are calculated and transmitted to the control apparatus, which then determines the cell with the highest coefficient. This extraction eliminates redundant calculations at each base station while preserving the load balancing function.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of having each base station independently calculate and compare load balancing coefficients with all adjacent cells, the patent inverts the approach: base stations send their coefficients to a central control apparatus that performs the ranking and identification of the highest coefficient cell. This inversion shifts the computational burden from distributed base stations to a centralized controller.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

2Measurement precision

If all base stations calculate and rank load balancing coefficients, then accurate load balancing can be achieved, but device complexity and expenditure increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveload balancing coefficient accuracyVSAvoidbase station processing complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The ranking and comparison function is extracted from individual base stations and relocated to the control apparatus. Each base station only needs to calculate its own load balancing coefficient and send it to the control apparatus, significantly reducing the processing complexity at each base station while maintaining system-wide accuracy through centralized ranking.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Productivity

If each base station performs load balancing operations independently, then local load balancing can be achieved, but overall resource utilization efficiency decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveload balancing speedVSAvoidresource utilization efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the load balancing decision-making process into a single control apparatus that receives coefficients from all base stations and determines the optimal load balancing target. This consolidation ensures that load balancing operations are performed only when necessary and only at the most appropriate location, improving overall resource utilization efficiency while maintaining productivity through centralized coordination.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP2779736B1Load balancing method and control apparatus
Publication Date: 2020.03.25 ZTE CORP
  • EP2779736B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP2779736B1 patent drawingFigure 3~5
  • EP2779736B1 patent drawingFigure 6~7

AI summary

A load balancing method and a control apparatus are provided. The method includes: a control apparatus receiving load balancing coefficients of all cells which belong to a plurality of base stations; the control apparatus ranking all the cells according to values of the load balancing coefficients and determining a cell with the highest load balancing coefficient; and the control apparatus sending a ranking result to a base station corresponding to the cell with the highest load balancing coefficient. The present invention solves the resource waste problem in the load balancing method in the related art, improving the utilization efficiency of the resources.