Multi-Sector Camping for Wireless Terminal Devices

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Solution Overview

Problem

High-frequency wireless communication systems face significant signal attenuation and loss of camping due to blocking objects, leading to increased paging overhead and time-consuming blind searching for terminal devices to find new sectors or access nodes.

Innovation Solution

A method and terminal device that detect and monitor broadcast signals from multiple sectors, allowing the device to camp on multiple sectors simultaneously and respond to system messages, thereby reducing the risk of losing camping and minimizing signaling overhead by maintaining connectivity even when one sector is blocked.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Power

If high gain beamforming is adopted to compensate for signal attenuation at high frequency, then signal strength is improved, but the system becomes vulnerable to blocking objects that cause loss of camping

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesignal strengthVSAvoidcamping stability
Core Design Contradiction:
PowerVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The terminal device segments its camping strategy by maintaining connections to multiple sectors simultaneously. Instead of relying on a single high-gain beam, the device camps on multiple sectors with different beam directions, dividing the risk of blocking across multiple independent connections. This allows the device to maintain at least one active connection even when some sectors are blocked.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The terminal device performs beforehand cushioning by proactively monitoring broadcast signals from multiple sectors and maintaining a diversified set of camping sectors before blocking occurs. When signal blocking happens in one sector, the device already has alternative sectors ready, cushioning against the impact of blocking without requiring time-consuming blind searches.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

2Reliability

If the terminal device monitors multiple sectors to prevent loss of camping, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecamping stabilityVSAvoidmonitoring complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The terminal device applies partial action by monitoring broadcast signals from multiple sectors but not all possible sectors. The device selects a limited number of sectors to monitor based on signal strength thresholds and camping criteria, performing enough monitoring to achieve reliability improvement without the excessive complexity of monitoring every possible sector. This balanced approach provides sufficient diversity to handle blocking while keeping device complexity manageable.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Reliability

If blind searching is performed to find new sectors after loss of camping, then connectivity is restored, but time is significantly increased

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveconnectivity restorationVSAvoidsector search time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The terminal device performs preliminary action by pre-monitoring and pre-evaluating multiple sectors before losing camping. The device maintains knowledge of multiple candidate sectors and their signal characteristics in advance. When blocking occurs and camping is lost, the device can quickly switch to a pre-identified alternative sector rather than performing time-consuming blind searches, dramatically reducing the time to restore connectivity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

4Reliability

If paging messages are broadcast to all ANs in expanded TA, then terminal device is reached, but signaling overhead is significantly increased

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepaging deliveryVSAvoidsignaling overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The terminal device provides feedback by actively monitoring system messages including paging messages from multiple sectors simultaneously. This allows the device to receive paging messages from any sector that is not blocked, eliminating the need for the network to expand the tracking area and broadcast to all ANs. The feedback mechanism of active multi-sector monitoring enables targeted paging delivery with minimal signaling overhead, as the device can respond to paging messages from the specific sector it is currently receiving.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP3338475B1Method for camping on sectors and terminal device
Publication Date: 2019.10.09 TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
  • EP3338475B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3338475B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP3338475B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

The present disclosure provides a method (300) in a terminal device for camping on sectors. The method (300) comprises: detecting (S310) a broadcast signal from an access node, the broadcast signal being associated with a first sector and having a signal strength higher than a first threshold; adding (S320) the first sector to a set of sectors for the terminal device to camp on; and monitoring (S330) a system message from each sector in the set.