Small Cell Discovery Signaling for Sleep-State Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In high-density user environments, deploying small cells to offload traffic from macro cells leads to interference and challenges in detecting and connecting with small cells in an off state, which are not transmitting signals.
Innovation Solution
Small cell wireless access network nodes transmit discovery signals with modified periodicity and configurations, allowing UEs to detect their presence, and maintain synchronization with other network nodes to facilitate activation when needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If small cells are deployed to increase capacity, then data communication capacity is improved, but interference increases and detection difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic discovery signals transmitted by small cells in off state at specific intervals. This periodic transmission allows UEs to detect and connect to small cells while the small cells remain in off state for most time, thereby increasing capacity without continuous interference. The discovery signals are transmitted periodically to maintain detectability while minimizing active transmission time.
2Use of energy by moving object
If small cells operate in off state to reduce energy consumption, then energy usage is improved, but detection capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic discovery signal transmission where small cells in off state transmit signals at predetermined intervals. This allows UEs to detect and establish connections during these periodic windows while the small cell remains powered down for the majority of time, achieving energy efficiency without completely sacrificing detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent configures UEs with advance information about discovery signal transmission patterns, including timing and frequency resources. This preliminary configuration enables UEs to know when and where to look for discovery signals from small cells in off state, maintaining detection capability without requiring continuous small cell transmission.
3Productivity
If discovery signals are transmitted with modified periodicity, then detection efficiency is improved, but signal configuration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the periodicity parameter of discovery signals to optimize detection efficiency. By changing the transmission interval parameter, the system achieves better detection performance while managing configuration complexity through standardized parameter sets that can be pre-configured and managed by the network.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A method for a user equipment, UE, the method comprises receiving, from a first wireless access network node, a message comprising configuration information associated with a second wireless access network node that is capable of operating in an active state and in a sleep state, wherein the configuration information includes timing information for a reference signal to be transmitted by the second wireless access network node. The method further comprises receiving the reference signal from the second wireless access network node in the active state according to a first periodicity; and receiving the reference signal from the second wireless access network node in the sleep state at a second periodicity, wherein the second periodicity is longer than the first periodicity.