Small Cell Base Station Clustering for Interference Management

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current wireless communication systems face interference issues between small cell base stations, particularly when terminals move at high speeds, leading to poor communication quality and reduced throughput.

Innovation Solution

A small cell base station-based communication method that divides base stations into clusters, allowing terminals to identify and switch between associated base stations to minimize interference, using CSI-RS information and cluster heads for scheduling, ensuring continuous and efficient communication.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If small cell base stations are densified to improve network capacity, then network capacity is improved, but interference between nodes increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenetwork capacityVSAvoidinterference between nodes
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides small cell base stations into clusters, where each cluster is managed by a cluster head. This segmentation allows interference coordination to be performed at the cluster level, reducing inter-node interference while maintaining high network capacity through dense deployment.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The cluster head acts as an intermediary that coordinates resource allocation and interference management among multiple small cell base stations within its cluster. This intermediary mechanism enables centralized interference mitigation while preserving the benefits of small cell densification.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If terminal switches base stations to avoid interference, then communication quality is improved, but switching delay increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication qualityVSAvoidswitching delay
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent pre-configures cluster information and base station identification information in the terminal before interference occurs. When interference is detected, the terminal can immediately switch to another base station within the same cluster using the pre-obtained configuration, avoiding lengthy switching procedures and reducing switching delay.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Object-affected harmful factors

If complex interference cancellation algorithm is implemented on terminal, then interference avoidance is improved, but terminal complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinterference avoidanceVSAvoidterminal complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the interference coordination function from the terminal and relocates it to the network side (cluster head and small cell base stations). The terminal only needs to perform simple measurements and report channel quality, while the complex interference management algorithms are executed by the network infrastructure, significantly reducing terminal complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Reliability

If CoMP mechanism is used to solve edge user performance, then edge user performance is improved, but requirements on terminal mobility increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveedge user performanceVSAvoidterminal mobility requirement
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the network into clusters with dedicated cluster heads that manage CoMP operations locally. This segmentation allows CoMP to be applied selectively to edge users within each cluster without requiring complex inter-cluster coordination, thereby reducing mobility requirements compared to system-wide CoMP implementations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3179772B1Small cell base station-based communication method and communication system
Publication Date: 2022.03.30 NANCHANG COOLPAD INTELLIGENT TECH CO LTD
  • EP3179772B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3179772B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

Provided are a small cell base station-based communication method and communication system, the method comprising: dividing a plurality of small cell base stations into at least one small cell base station cluster; when a terminal is moving within any particular small cell base station cluster of the at least one small cell base station cluster, the terminal obtains identification information of the particular small cell base station cluster, and determines a small cell base station associated with the terminal from among the particular small cell base station cluster; and a specified small cell base station of the particular small cell base station cluster schedules the small cell base station associated with the terminal to provide communication services for the terminal. The technical solution of the present invention can effectively avoid interference with communication between the terminal and the small cell base station, while increasing the throughput of the interaction between the terminal and the base station and ensuring good communication when the terminal is moving at a high speed in the small cell base station.