Measurement Report Triggering for Inter-Cell Coordination

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current LTE standards generate unnecessary measurement reports and may not fully exploit the benefits of inter-cell coordination, as the existing triggering events are not ideally suited for identifying UEs that can benefit from inter-cell coordination techniques, leading to inefficient bandwidth and processing resource usage.

Innovation Solution

A UE method and device that determine when to send a measurement report by calculating a UE metric based on received signal quality measurements from neighboring cells, using a scaling parameter and threshold provided by the serving cell, to limit reports only when inter-cell coordination is likely to provide benefits, thereby conserving bandwidth and processing resources.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If measurement reports are triggered based on existing LTE events, then UEs can be identified for handover decisions, but unnecessary measurement reports are generated and bandwidth resources are wasted

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehandover decision accuracyVSAvoidbandwidth consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a new metric parameter that combines serving cell RSRP and dominant interfering cell RSRP with a scaling factor. This parameter change enables more precise identification of UEs suitable for inter-cell coordination while reducing unnecessary measurement reports, thus resolving the contradiction between reliable handover decisions and bandwidth conservation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts only the most relevant measurement information (serving cell RSRP and dominant interfering cell RSRP) needed for inter-cell coordination decisions, rather than requiring complete measurement reports for all neighbor cells. This extraction approach maintains decision accuracy while significantly reducing uplink bandwidth consumption

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Measurement precision

If measurement reports are triggered frequently to improve coordination accuracy, then inter-cell coordination benefits can be maximized, but processing resources and bandwidth are consumed inefficiently

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecoordination identification accuracyVSAvoidsystem resource efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent modifies the measurement triggering parameter by introducing a scaling factor (between 0 and 1) that weights the interfering cell RSRP contribution. This parameter change enables the system to achieve accurate coordination identification with fewer measurement reports, thereby improving resource efficiency while maintaining measurement precision

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies partial action by requiring measurement reports only when the combined metric (serving cell RSRP plus scaled interfering cell RSRP) exceeds a threshold, rather than requiring reports from all UEs. This selective approach achieves sufficient coordination identification accuracy without excessive processing overhead

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Ease of operation

If a simple RSRP threshold is used for measurement triggering, then implementation is straightforward, but inter-cell coordination benefits are not fully exploited

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemeasurement triggering simplicityVSAvoidcoordination benefit identification
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent enhances the simple RSRP threshold approach by introducing a scaling parameter that adjusts the contribution of interfering cell measurements. This parameter modification maintains implementation simplicity while significantly improving the reliability of identifying UEs that will benefit from inter-cell coordination

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a universal metric that can serve both handover decisions and inter-cell coordination identification by combining serving cell and interfering cell RSRP with a scalable weight. This multi-functional metric maintains ease of operation while improving coordination benefit identification across different scenarios

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP3228119B1Measurement report triggering for inter-cell coordination in cellular deployment
Publication Date: 2018.10.17 TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
  • EP3228119B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3228119B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP3228119B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

A method and device for determining whether to send a measurement report to a serving cell and determining when an inter-cell coordination procedure is likely to achieve coordination gain are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method includes performing received signal quality measurements of the serving cell and a plurality of neighboring cells. The method also includes calculating a UE metric based on the received signal quality measurements of a plurality of interfering cells and based on a scaling parameter. The method further includes comparing the calculated UE metric to a threshold to determine whether to send the measurement report to the serving cell.