Mobile Radio Infrastructure Mobility Signaling for Smarter Handover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Future wireless communications networks face challenges in efficiently supporting diverse devices with varying data traffic profiles, including non-stationary infrastructure equipment such as drones, due to difficulties in maintaining beam correspondence and optimizing cell selection, handover procedures, and beam direction when infrastructure elements are mobile.
Innovation Solution
Communications devices receive mobility information from infrastructure equipment indicating its location and status, adapting operations such as idle mode cell selection, handover procedures, and beam management to enhance communication efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mobility patterns of infrastructure equipment are not considered in handover decisions, then handover procedures are simple and fast, but radio link failures occur due to equipment mobility not being accounted for
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-determines mobility patterns of infrastructure equipment (such as trains or vehicles) before handover decisions are needed. These mobility patterns include speed, direction, and trajectory information that are stored and made available for real-time handover decisions, eliminating the need for complex real-time calculations during actual handover events.
Solution Approach 2:
A network node acts as an intermediary that collects mobility information from infrastructure equipment and provides processed mobility pattern data to communication devices. This intermediary layer simplifies the handover decision process by pre-processing complex mobility data into usable patterns that can be directly applied during handover decisions.
2Measurement precision
If mobility information is collected and processed in real-time, then handover decisions are accurate, but signaling overhead and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
Mobility patterns are determined and stored in advance before handover events occur. The system continuously monitors and updates mobility patterns during periods when handovers are not occurring, so that when a handover is needed, pre-calculated mobility patterns are immediately available for accurate decision-making without real-time processing delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The system updates mobility patterns periodically rather than continuously in real-time. Mobility information is collected at regular intervals and processed to create updated patterns, balancing accuracy with reduced processing overhead. This periodic approach ensures handover decisions remain accurate while avoiding continuous processing delays.
3Reliability
If mobility patterns are determined for all infrastructure equipment, then handover reliability is maximized, but processing resources and signaling overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system determines mobility patterns selectively for specific infrastructure equipment based on local conditions and requirements. Rather than uniformly processing all equipment, mobility patterns are determined only for equipment that actually requires handover operations or is located in areas where handover reliability is critical, optimizing resource usage while maintaining necessary reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the level of mobility pattern determination based on operational parameters such as equipment type, location, speed, and handover frequency. For low-mobility or low-risk equipment, simplified patterns are used requiring fewer resources, while high-mobility or high-risk equipment receives more detailed pattern analysis, optimizing the balance between reliability and resource consumption.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of operating a communications device comprises receiving from an infrastructure equipment of a radio network part of the wireless communications mobility information indicating one or both of whether the infrastructure is non-stationary and a location of the infrastructure equipment, and adapting an operation of the communications device in accordance with the mobility information. The adapted operation includes configuring the communications devices for transmitting signals to the infrastructure equipment or receiving signals from the infrastructure equipment according to the mobility information. In some examples, the infrastructure equipment may form part of a backhaul network or may be a drone or other mobile infrastructure equipment. By transmitting mobility information indicating a mobility status of the infrastructure equipment or its location, a communications device receiving that mobility information from the infrastructure equipment can adapt its operation to communicate more effectively and efficiently via the wireless access interface formed by the wireless communications network. For example, the communications device can adapt an idle mode cell selection/re-selection procedure, a handover procedure or transmit or receive beam direction based on the mobility information.