WO2013170486A1

WO2013170486A1 - Communication method, device and system

Info

Publication number: WO2013170486A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/075763
Authority: WO
Inventors: 杨安全
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2012-05-18
Filing date: 2012-05-18
Publication date: 2013-11-21
Also published as: CN103563438A; CN103563438B

Abstract

Provided are a communication method, device and system. By monitoring the service load change in the coverage range of a macro base station and self-adapting the network load change in the coverage range of the macro base station, a sleep-state capacity sharing base station in the coverage range of the macro base station is activated or the sleep-state capacity sharing base station in the coverage range enters a sleep state, thereby conducting intelligent energy saving management on a wireless network on the whole.

Description

Communication method, device and system

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, apparatus, and system. Background technique

The operating cost of wireless network equipment consumes a lot of energy, and the green energy-saving scheme is an important reference indicator for equipment competitiveness. In recent years, various equipment vendors have made great progress in energy-saving schemes on a single network element, such as base station carrier frequency intelligent channel, baseband board or carrier frequency timing power-on and so on.

As shown in FIG. 1, the base station includes a Base Band Control Unit (BBU) 110 and a Radio Radio Unit (RRU) 120. The current energy-saving scheme is as follows: The network planning or operation and maintenance personnel collects the idleness of the traffic according to the traffic load. The network management system (NMS) 130 configures the RRU120 to periodically power on and off, so as to save the estimated period of no traffic load. The energy consumption of the RRU120.

This energy-saving scheme is only applicable to a single network element, and it is impossible to perform intelligent energy-saving management of the wireless network as a whole. Summary of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a communication method, apparatus, and system, which perform intelligent energy-saving management on a wireless network as a whole.

In one aspect, a communication method is provided, including: acquiring a first service load in a coverage of a macro base station, where the macro base station is configured with a capacity sharing base station; and determining, according to the first service load, the macro base station coverage The first service load occupancy rate in the range; if the first service load occupancy rate is less than or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is in an active state, and the capacity sharing base station service load and the macro base station service The sum of the loads is less than or equal to the load threshold, and the sleep command is sent to the capacity sharing base station. On the other hand, a communication method is provided, including: acquiring a first service load in a coverage of a macro base station, a capacity sharing base station is disposed in a coverage of the macro base station; and determining, according to the first service load, the macro base station The first service load occupancy rate in the coverage area; if the first service load occupancy rate is greater than or equal to the second threshold, and the capacity sharing base station is in a sleep state, sending an activation command to the capacity sharing base station.

In another aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including: a first acquiring unit, configured to acquire a service load in a coverage of a macro base station, a capacity sharing base station is disposed in a coverage of the macro base station; and a first operation unit, configured to a service load in the coverage of the macro base station that is acquired by the first acquiring unit, determining a service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station; and a control unit, if the service load occupancy rate determined by the first operation unit is smaller than Or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is in an active state, and the sum of the service load of the capacity sharing base station and the macro base station service load is less than or equal to a load threshold, and is used to send a control instruction to the sending unit; And a sending unit, configured to send a sleep instruction to the capacity sharing base station according to the control instruction.

In another aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including: a first acquiring unit, configured to acquire a service load in a coverage of a macro base station, a capacity sharing base station is disposed in a coverage of the macro base station; and a first operation unit, configured to The service load in the coverage of the macro base station that is acquired by the first acquiring unit determines the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station; and the control unit, if the service load occupancy rate determined by the first operation unit is greater than Or equal to the second threshold, and the capacity sharing base station is in a sleep state, and is configured to send a control instruction to the sending unit, where the sending unit is configured to send an activation instruction to the capacity sharing base station according to the control instruction.

In another aspect, a communication system is provided, including: a macro base station; at least one capacity sharing base station disposed within a coverage of the macro base station; and a network management device configured to configure and maintain the macro base station and the at least one A capacity sharing base station; the communication device according to any one of the preceding claims, disposed in the macro base station or the network management device.

In a further aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer readable medium comprising a set of program code for performing the communication method of any of the above. It can be seen that the foregoing method, device, or system monitors the service load change in the coverage of the macro base station by acquiring the service load in the coverage of the macro base station, and when the service load changes, the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station is less than or equal to In the first threshold, if there is an active state capacity sharing base station in the coverage of the macro base station, and the service of the active state capacity sharing base station is switched to the macro base station, and the service load of the macro base station does not exceed the load threshold, the active state capacity sharing is performed. The base station sends a sleep command to trigger the active state capacity sharing base station to enter a sleep state to reduce energy consumption. When the service load change causes the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station to be greater than or equal to the second threshold, if the macro base station covers the range of memory In the sleep state capacity sharing base station, the base station sends an activation command to the sleep state capacity sharing base station in the coverage of the macro base station to activate the sleep state capacity sharing base station, share the service load of the macro base station, and ensure the user experience. It can be seen that the method can adapt to the network load change in the coverage of the macro base station, activate the sleep state capacity sharing base station in the coverage of the macro base station, or enable the sleep state capacity sharing base station in the coverage to enter the sleep state, thereby overall The network conducts intelligent energy-saving management. DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings to be used in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below, and obviously, the attached in the following description The drawings are some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings may be obtained from those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 is a schematic structural diagram of a conventional distributed macro base station;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network deployment according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a flowchart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of still another communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of still another communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of still another communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a flowchart of still another communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of still another communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a macro base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. detailed description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention are clearly and completely described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. It is a partial embodiment of the invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts are within the scope of the present invention.

The general components included in the base station and/or network management device in the following embodiments are no longer listed. These general-purpose components include, but are not limited to: baseband processing components; medium-frequency processing components; transmission components; processors; memory; antenna components; Each base station corresponds to one or more cells. Each cell can serve one or more terminals.

Please refer to FIG. 2 , which is a schematic structural diagram of an access network deployment according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the access network is deployed with a macro base station MO to ensure basic coverage. Then, in a densely populated area, a capacity-sharing base station (for example, s0~s2) is deployed to share the traffic load of the macro base station M0, thereby providing a better service experience for the user. For example, in a building in the Central Business District (CBD), a large number of capacity-sharing base stations are deployed for indoor coverage. In addition, due to the layout of the base station in the early stage, there may be a blind zone. Therefore, it is preferable to deploy a Blind-filling eNB, for example, f0~fl. It can be seen that the macro base station is a base station that provides basic coverage. The capacity sharing base station is a base station for sharing the macro base station service load, and is disposed within the coverage of the macro base station. The base station for ensuring blind area coverage is mainly related to the location of the blind area. If the blind area is located at the edge of the coverage of the macro base station, the blind base station is set at the edge of the coverage of the macro base station; if the blind area is located at the macro base station Outside the coverage, the blind base station is placed outside the coverage of the macro base station.

It should be noted that the number of the capacity sharing base station and the supplementary blind base station shown in FIG. 2 is only an example, and is not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art know that the number of the capacity sharing base station and the supplementary blind base station may be one or Multiple.

In the initial stage of the above access network deployment, the macro base station and the blind base station are permanently powered on to ensure the basic coverage of the network. For a capacity-sharing base station, configure it to participate in the network energy-saving mode, that is, configure the initial state of the capacity-sharing base station to be in an active state or a sleep state. The embodiment of the present invention provides an overall energy-saving solution for the access network of the above deployment structure by managing the active state and the sleep state of the capacity sharing base station, and is described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to FIG. 3 , which is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the method may include:

S310: Acquire a service load in a coverage of the macro base station, where the macro base station has a capacity sharing base station.

For convenience of description, the traffic load obtained in step S310 can be recorded as the first traffic load.

S320: Determine, according to the service load in the coverage of the macro base station that is obtained in step S310, the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station.

S330: If the service load occupancy rate determined in step S320 is less than or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is in an active state, and the sum of the service load of the capacity sharing base station and the macro base station service load is less than or equal to the load. The threshold sends a sleep command to the capacity sharing base station.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , which is a flowchart of still another communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the method may include: S310: Acquire a service load in a coverage of the macro base station, where the macro base station is provided with a capacity sharing base station.

S340: If the service load occupancy rate determined in step S320 is greater than or equal to the second threshold, and the capacity sharing base station is in a sleep state, send an activation command to the capacity sharing base station.

The above method monitors the service load change in the coverage of the macro base station by acquiring the service load in the coverage of the macro base station. When the service load change causes the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station to be less than or equal to the first threshold, The active area capacity sharing base station exists in the station coverage area, and after the service of the active state capacity sharing base station is switched to the macro base station, the service load of the macro base station does not exceed the load threshold, and the sleep command is sent to the active state capacity sharing base station to trigger The active state capacity sharing base station enters a sleep state to reduce energy consumption. When the traffic load change causes the traffic load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station to be greater than or equal to the second threshold, if the macro base station coverage area has a sleep state capacity sharing base station, The base station sends an activation command to the sleep state capacity sharing base station in the coverage of the macro base station to activate the sleep state capacity sharing base station, share the service load of the macro base station, and ensure the user experience. It can be seen that the method can adapt to the network load change in the coverage of the macro base station, activate the sleep state capacity sharing base station in the coverage of the macro base station, or enable the sleep state capacity sharing base station in the coverage to enter the sleep state, thereby overall The network conducts intelligent energy-saving management.

In the above step S310, the traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station may be obtained by reporting the traffic load of the cell of the macro base station and the cell cycle of the capacity sharing base station in the active state within the coverage of the macro base station. It can also be reported by the call instruction of the macro base station or the network management device, and the call instruction can be issued periodically, or can be delivered according to the planned delivery time, for example, in the office building area, the service load is in the commute time. If there is a significant change in the segment, the call command can be issued in the early, middle and late time periods to obtain the coverage of the macro base station. Business load. This embodiment does not impose any restrictions.

It should be noted that the above service load may be a radio bearer (RB) utilization rate, a number of users (the number of users refers to the number of active users served by the network element), or a comprehensive balance between the two. Of course, here is only an example, and other embodiments can also use other statistics that can reflect the traffic load, such as counting the CPU occupancy of the base station.

The traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station refers to the traffic load reported by all the cells covered by the base station in the active base state, and the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station refers to the service in the coverage of the macro base station. The load accounts for the ratio of full traffic load within the coverage of the macro base station. The RB utilization rate and the number of users are taken as an example to describe the calculation method of the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station. At this time, the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station is the average RB utilization rate in the coverage of the macro base station. And the average number of users.

It should be noted that the service load in the coverage of the macro base station includes a macro base station and an active state capacity sharing base station, and if other types of access network devices, such as a blind base station, are also provided in the coverage of the macro base station, and the devices are activated. State, the traffic load within the coverage of the macro base station also includes the traffic load of these devices.

It is assumed that the macro base station covers m cells, and the number of full RBs supported by each cell is M _RB , and the number of full users is M _USR . There are N capacity sharing base stations in the coverage of the macro base station, and the bandwidth and the number of users of all the capacity sharing base station cells are the same; each capacity sharing base station has n cells, and the number of full RBs supported by each cell is S _RB and full users. The number is S _USR , where m, n, and N are all positive integers. At a certain time, the RB utilization rate reported by the i-th cell of the macro base station is ^1^1^16[1], the user number occupancy rate is M _USR Rate[i]; and the active state capacity sharing base station within the coverage of the macro base station The RB utilization rate reported by the jth cell is S _RB Rate j], and the user number occupancy rate is S _USR Rate[j] , then the average RB utilization rate within the coverage of the macro base station is AREA_RB _Used _Rate and the average user number occupancy rate AREA_User _{The used} _Rate calculation formula is as follows:

ΑδΕΑ^Β _;ϊ6 . _≤ 3⁄4ίδ = (∑^ _s M _gg * _3⁄4 _Rg a ₃ te?| 3⁄4s * 3⁄4 _s te战》. /( M^e ÷ N * a S^s) (1) Flat H = (∑ _{i3⁄4 3⁄4ss} Ra _te ii) ÷∑^ _S ^ S^ ^ )/Cm , :3⁄4 ÷ : , ^ S,^ (2) In the above step S320, the determination of the service load occupancy rate within the coverage of the macro base station , Ben The domain computing personnel can refer to the above calculation method, and will not be described in detail herein.

In the above steps S330 and S340, the first threshold and the second threshold are respectively two values of the ratio of the traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station to the full service load in the coverage of the macro base station, and the value corresponding to the first threshold. Characterizing a critical point, when the ratio of the traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station to the full service load in the coverage of the macro base station is lower than the critical point, at least one active state capacity sharing base station in the coverage of the macro base station can be entered. Sleep state. The first threshold can be set according to the empirical value, or can be determined according to the operator's demand for service quality, for example, can be set below 50%. The value corresponding to the second threshold represents another critical point. When the ratio of the traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station to the full service load in the coverage of the macro base station is higher than the critical point, the coverage of the macro base station needs to be activated. At least one sleep state capacity shares the base station to share the traffic load of the macro base station. It can be seen that the first threshold can be less than or equal to the second threshold. The load threshold can be set according to the maximum service load capacity of the macro base station, or the load threshold can be set to a certain proportion (for example, 60% to 80%) of the maximum service load capacity of the macro base station according to the service quality requirement of the operator. No #文 any restrictions.

In the above step S330, when the service load occupancy rate determined in step S320 is less than or equal to the first threshold, the base station may directly send a sleep command to the active state capacity sharing base station whose sum of the service load and the macro base station service load is less than or equal to the load threshold. After the service load in the coverage of the macro base station is continued to be monitored for a period of time, when the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station is still less than or equal to the first threshold, the sum of the service load and the macro base station service load is less than Or the active state capacity sharing base station of the load threshold sends a sleep command. At this time, the above step S330 further includes the steps shown in FIG. 5:

S331: If the service load occupancy rate determined in step S320 is less than or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is in an active state, and the sum of the service load of the capacity sharing base station and the macro base station service load is less than or equal to the load. Threshold, obtaining a preset number of service loads within the coverage of the macro base station. For the selection of the preset number of times, the embodiment does not impose any limitation, and the traffic load of the coverage of the macro base station in the daily statistics may be significantly changed according to the daily statistics. The length of time to determine the preset number of times, of course, can also be set according to the needs of operators.

For convenience of description, the service load of the preset number of times obtained in step S331 can be uniformly recorded as the second service load, and is distinguished from the first service load obtained in step S310. It should be noted that the service load of the preset number of times acquired in step S331 is uniformly recorded as the second service load, which does not indicate that the service load acquired each time is the same, and the second service load of the preset number of times is acquired each time. The traffic load can be the same or different, depending on the actual traffic load within the coverage of the macro base station.

S332: Determine, according to the preset service number of the macro base station coverage in the step S331, a service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station by a preset number of times.

S333: If the service load occupancy rate determined in step S332 is less than or equal to the first threshold, send a sleep instruction to the capacity sharing base station.

In this way, after a period of monitoring, the temporary service load reduction in the coverage of the macro base station can be avoided, and when the service load is quickly restored to a higher service load, the base station sends a sleep command to the active state capacity sharing base station, and the active state capacity sharing base station is used. After entering the sleep state, the macro base station service load is too high, and the repeated operation of the sleep state capacity sharing base station needs to be reactivated.

In a preferred embodiment, the first period Tlong and the second period Tshort of the two service load reporting periods may be configured for the cells of the macro base station and the active state capacity sharing base station. The first period Tlong is greater than the second period Tshort. In the daily monitoring, the service period reporting period of the cell of the macro base station and the active state capacity sharing base station is configured to be the first period Tlong. That is, in the above step S310, the traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station is acquired by using the first period Tlong. When the service load occupancy ratio is less than or equal to the first threshold, the traffic load reporting period of the macro base station and the active state capacity sharing base station cell is adjusted to the second period Tshort to monitor the service of the macro base station by using a shorter period. The load, that is, in the above step S331, the second period is used to acquire the traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station by a preset number of times. The advantage of shortening the service load reporting period is that if the traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station is rapidly declining and the service load reporting period is shortened, the trend can be adapted to quickly enable the active state capacity sharing base station when the service load decreases. Enter The effect of sleep state. For example, in the office building area, the business load will show a significant downward trend during the off-hours, and this trend will peak in a short period of time. After this peak, the business load will be greatly reduced. Therefore, shortening the service load reporting period will help to adapt to the traffic load reduction trend, so that the active state capacity sharing base station enters the sleep state and achieves the effect of fast energy saving.

In addition, the macro base station may have more than one active state capacity sharing base station within the coverage of the macro base station. In addition, there may be a trend of reducing the traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station, and as the traffic load is gradually reduced, the active state capacity sharing base station that can save energy may be more than one, even if the traffic load is reduced to only the macro base station. In the case of support, the capacity of all active states can be shared to the base station to go to sleep. In this case, the sleep command can be sent to the base station in all active states at a time, or it can be sent one by one. The specific policy may include, but is not limited to: when the sum of the traffic load of the active state capacity sharing base station and the service load of the macro base station is less than or equal to the load threshold, the sleep command is simultaneously sent to all the active state capacity sharing base stations. Or, according to the order of the traffic load from high to low, sequentially exclude an active state capacity sharing base station, calculate the sum of the remaining active state capacity sharing base station and the macro base station, and calculate the obtained service load is less than or equal to the load. At the threshold, the sleep command is sent to all active state capacity sharing base stations corresponding to the sum of the traffic loads at this time. Or, according to the active state capacity sharing base station traffic load, the sleep command is sent in ascending order.

Preferably, the sleep load is transmitted in a descending order according to the active state capacity sharing base station traffic load. This kind of algorithm has a relatively simple system overhead, and is more suitable for the randomness of load variation of the network. At this time, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present invention may include the steps shown in FIG. 6:

S610: Acquire a service load in a coverage area of the macro base station, and set a capacity sharing base station with multiple active states in the coverage of the macro base station.

S620: Determine, according to the service load in the coverage of the macro base station obtained in step S610, the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station. S630: Determine whether the service load occupancy rate determined in step S620 is less than or equal to the first threshold, and if yes, execute step S640, otherwise end.

S640: If the service load occupancy rate determined in step S630 is less than or equal to the first threshold, determine whether the sum of the service load of the active state capacity sharing base station and the service load of the macro base station with the lowest current traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station is less than or equal to The load threshold; if yes, steps 651 to 654 may be performed, or the sleep instruction may be directly sent to the active state capacity sharing base station with the lowest current service load in the coverage of the macro base station, and the process ends.

S651: Acquire a service load within a preset number of macro base station coverages.

S652: Determine, according to the preset service number of the macro base station coverage in step S651, the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station by a preset number of times.

S653: Determine whether the service load occupancy rate determined in step S652 is less than or equal to the first threshold, if step S654 is performed, otherwise, the process ends.

S654: Send a sleep instruction to the active state capacity sharing base station with the lowest current service load in the coverage of the macro base station.

Then, the above steps S640 to 654 are repeated until the judgment result of step S640 or step S653 is NO, or the active state capacity sharing base station within the coverage of the macro base station all enters the sleep state.

For convenience of description, the preset number of service loads obtained in step S652 and the preset number of service loads obtained in step S331 can be collectively recorded as the second service load, so as to be distinguished from the first service load obtained in step S310. It should be noted that the service load of the preset number of times acquired in step S331 is uniformly recorded as the second service load, which does not indicate that the service load acquired each time is the same, and the second service load of the preset number of times is acquired each time. The traffic load can be the same or different, depending on the actual traffic load within the coverage of the macro base station. Similarly, in the process of repeating the above steps S640 to 654, the service load obtained by repeating the preset number of times of the traffic load acquired in step S652 can be uniformly recorded in each repeated. For example, the traffic load of the preset number of times obtained in the first step S652 may be uniformly recorded as the third service load, and the first service load acquired in the foregoing step S310 and the second service obtained in the first step S652 are negative. Carry out the distinction. It should be noted that the first time and the repeated execution of the second service load and the third service load that are acquired in the step S652 do not indicate that the service load acquired each time is the same, and the second service load of the preset number of times. In the third service load, the traffic load acquired each time may be the same or different, depending on the actual traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station. In the above step S340, when the service load occupancy rate determined in step S320 is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the activation command may be directly sent to the sleep state capacity sharing base station in the coverage of the macro base station, and the coverage of the macro base station may be continuously monitored. After the service load in the coverage of the macro base station is still greater than or equal to the second threshold, the activation command is sent to the sleep state capacity sharing base station within the coverage of the macro base station. Step S340 further includes the steps shown in FIG. 7:

S341: If the service load occupancy rate determined in step S320 is greater than or equal to the second threshold, and the capacity sharing base station is in a sleep state, obtain a preset number of service loads in the coverage of the macro base station. For the selection of the preset number of times, the embodiment does not impose any limitation. Specifically, the number of preset times may be determined according to the length of the time when the service load of the macro base station coverage changes is relatively obvious, and may also be operated according to the operation. Set by the needs of the business.

S342: Determine, according to the preset service number of the macro base station coverage in the step S341, a service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station by a preset number of times.

S343: If the service load occupancy rate determined in step S342 is greater than or equal to the second threshold, send an activation command to the capacity sharing base station.

In this way, after a period of monitoring, it is possible to avoid the temporary traffic load increase in the coverage of the macro base station, and quickly return to the lower traffic load, and send the activation command to the sleep state capacity sharing base station, and the sleep state capacity sharing After the base station enters the active state, the macro base station has a lower traffic load, and needs to re-enable the active state capacity sharing operation of the base station to enter the sleep state.

In a preferred embodiment, the first period Tlong and the second period Tshort of the two service load reporting periods may be configured for the cells of the macro base station and the active state capacity sharing base station. The first period Tlong is greater than the second period Tshort. In daily monitoring, the macro base station and the active state capacity are shared by the small base station. The service load reporting period of the area is configured with the first period Tlong. That is, in the above step S310, the traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station is acquired by using the first period Tlong. When the service load occupancy ratio is less than or equal to the first threshold, the traffic load reporting period of the macro base station and the active state capacity sharing base station cell is adjusted to the second period Tshort to monitor the service of the macro base station by using a shorter period. The load, that is, in the above step S341, the second period is used to acquire the traffic load within the coverage of the macro base station by a preset number of times. The advantage of shortening the service load reporting period is that if the service load in the coverage of the macro base station is rapidly increasing, the service load reporting period is shortened, and the trend can be adapted to quickly activate the sleep state capacity sharing base station when the traffic load increases. Effect. For example, in the office building area, the business load will show a clear upward trend during the working hours, and this trend will peak in a short period of time. After this peak, the business load will be balanced, so The service load reporting period is shortened, which is beneficial to adapt to the upward trend of the service load, so as to quickly activate the sleep state capacity sharing base station.

In addition, the macro base station may have more than one sleep state capacity sharing base station within the coverage of the macro base station. In addition, there may be a trend of increasing the traffic load in the coverage of the macro base station. As the traffic load increases, the activated sleep state capacity sharing base station may be more than one, even if the traffic load increases to a certain degree, all sleep needs to be activated. The capacity of the state shares the base station. In this case, the activation command may be sent to the capacity sharing base station in all or part of the sleep state at one time, or may be sent one by one.

Preferably, the size of the service load that can be shared after the base station is activated is shared according to the sleep state capacity, and the activation command is sent in descending order. In the case that a plurality of sleep state capacity sharing base stations are activated at a time, when a sleep state capacity sharing base station is activated, and the service load in the coverage of the macro base station has met the requirements, the other sleep state capacity sharing base stations may not be turned on. Unnecessary energy waste can be avoided. At this time, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present invention may include the steps shown in FIG. 8:

S810: Acquire a service load in a coverage of the macro base station, where the macro base station covers a plurality of sleep state capacity sharing base stations. S820: Determine, according to the service load in the coverage of the macro base station obtained in step S810, the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station.

S830: Determine whether the service load occupancy rate determined in step S820 is greater than or equal to the second threshold. If yes, perform steps 841 to 844, or directly share the sleep state capacity of the maximum service load after the current activation in the coverage of the macro base station. The shared base station sends an activation command, otherwise it ends.

Regarding the determination of the sleep state capacity sharing base station that can share the most traffic load after the current macro base station coverage, the minimization of Drive-Tests (MDT) data can be used to obtain the service load distribution within the coverage of the macro base station. In this case, according to the traffic load distribution, the nearest sleep state capacity sharing base station in the area with the largest traffic load is found, that is, the capacity sharing base station that can share the most traffic load after activation.

S841: Acquire a service load within a preset number of macro base station coverages.

S842: Determine, according to the service load in the coverage of the macro base station that is obtained in step S841, the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station by a preset number of times.

S843: Determine whether the service load occupancy rate determined in step S842 is greater than or equal to the second threshold, if step S844 is performed, otherwise, the process ends.

S844: The sleep state capacity sharing base station that sends the most traffic load after the current activation in the coverage of the macro base station transmits an activation command.

Then, the above steps S841 to 844 are repeated until the judgment result in the step S843 is NO, or the sleep state capacity sharing base stations in the coverage of the macro base station all enter the active state.

It should be noted that the execution entity of the foregoing method may be a macro base station, or may be a network management device that configures and maintains each base station. When the execution entity is a macro base station, the active state capacity sharing base station in the coverage of the macro base station transmits the service load reported by each of the cells to the macro base station, so that the macro base station shares the reported service of the base station according to its own service load and active state capacity. The load determines the traffic load within the coverage of the macro base station and the traffic load occupancy within the coverage of the macro base station, thereby determining whether to send a sleep command or an activation command. When the execution subject is a network management device The macro base station and the active state capacity sharing base station in the coverage of the macro base station send the service load reported by each of the cells to the network management device, so that the network management device determines the service load reported by the base station according to the macro base station and the active state capacity. The service load in the coverage of the macro base station and the traffic load occupancy in the coverage of the macro base station, thereby determining whether to send a sleep command or an activation command. Of course, the macro base station may also share the service load reported by the base station according to the service load and the active state capacity of the base station, determine the service load in the coverage of the macro base station, and the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station, and then determine whether to send the sleep. The command or the activation command is sent to the network management device, and the network management device generates a sleep command or an activation command according to the judgment result of the macro base station to control the state change of the active state capacity sharing base station. Conversely, the network management device may also determine the service load in the coverage of the macro base station and the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station according to the reported traffic load of the base station and the active state capacity sharing base station, and then determine whether to send sleep. The command or the activation command controls the macro base station to send a sleep instruction or an activation instruction to the capacity sharing base station. This embodiment does not impose any restrictions.

The following takes the execution entity as the network management device as an example. Referring to FIG. 9, when the service load in the macro base station falls back, the active state capacity is shared to the base station to enter the sleep state. As shown in Figure 9, the process can include:

Step S910: The macro base station reports the service load.

Step S920: The first capacity sharing base station in the active state reports the traffic load. Of course, the other active state capacity sharing base stations in the coverage of the macro base station also report the service load. In addition, there is no order requirement between steps S910 and S920. The macro base station may be reported first, or the active capacity sharing base station may report the first report, or may report the same at the same time.

Step S930: The network management device shares the service load reported by the base station according to the macro base station and all the active state capacity, and determines whether the first capacity sharing base station is put into a sleep state. The method for judging is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 5, and details are not described herein again. If yes, go to step S940.

Step S940: The network management device sends a sleep instruction to the first capacity sharing base station.

Step S950: After the first capacity sharing base station receives the sleep instruction sent by the network management device, If the first capacity sharing also has a serving User Equipment (UE) on the base station, the UE needs to be handed over to the macro base station. Then steps S960 and S970 are performed.

Step S960: The first capacity sharing base station notifies the network management device that the first capacity sharing base station has entered a sleep state.

Step S970: The first capacity sharing base station enters a sleep state.

Step S980: After receiving the notification of the first capacity sharing base station, the network management device notifies the macro base station that the first capacity sharing base station has entered a sleep state to avoid redundant switching operations.

The above step S960 is an optional process, that is, the first capacity sharing base station may not notify the network management device before entering the sleep state. Since the network management device has sent the sleep command, the base station may not share the notification of the base station according to the first capacity, and directly proceeds to step S980 to notify the macro base station that the first capacity sharing base station enters the sleep state to avoid redundant handover operations. If the step S980 is performed according to the notification in step S960, the feedback of the real-time status of each network element can be ensured, and the erroneous operation in the case where the first capacity sharing base station fails to enter the sleep state is avoided.

The following takes the execution subject as the network management device as an example. Referring to FIG. 10, when the service load in the macro base station rises, the sleep state capacity is shared into the active state. As shown in FIG. 10, the process may include:

Step S101: The service load reported by the macro base station, and all the active state capacity sharing base stations in the coverage of the macro base station also need to report the traffic load.

Step S102: The network management device shares the traffic load reported by the base station according to the macro base station and all the active state capacity, and determines whether to activate the first capacity sharing base station in the sleep state. The method for judging is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 7, and details are not described herein again. If yes, go to step S103.

Step S103: The network management device sends an activation instruction to the first capacity sharing base station.

Step S104: After the first capacity sharing base station activation command, power on and activate the cell. Then, step S105 is performed.

Step S105: The first capacity sharing base station notifies the network management device that the first capacity sharing base station has entered an active state. Step S106: After receiving the notification of the first capacity sharing base station, the network management device notifies the macro base station that the first capacity sharing base station is powered on, which facilitates switching of services.

Step S107: After the macro base station learns that the first capacity sharing base station is powered on, the macro base station switches the partial UE to the first capacity sharing base station.

In addition, after the first capacity sharing base station is powered on, it is in an active state, and at this time, the traffic load can be reported to the network management device (step S108).

The above step S105 is an optional process, that is, the first capacity sharing base station may not notify the network management device before entering the active state. Since the network management device has sent the power-on command, the device may directly perform the step S106 to notify the macro base station that the first capacity sharing base station is activated, so as to facilitate the macro base station to perform service switching. If the network management device receives the notification from the first capacity sharing base station, and then notifies the macro base station that the first capacity sharing base station is activated, the real-time status feedback of each network element can be ensured, and the first capacity sharing base station is prevented from being successfully activated. Misoperation.

Please refer to FIG. 11, which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the communication device 110 includes a first acquisition unit 111, a first operation unit 112, a transmission unit 113, and a control unit 114. The first obtaining unit 111 is configured to acquire a service load in the coverage of the macro base station, and the capacity sharing base station is disposed in the coverage of the macro base station. The first operation unit 112 is configured to use the macro base station coverage according to the first acquiring unit 111. The service load determines the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station; the sending unit 113 is configured to send a sleep instruction to the capacity sharing base station; if the service load occupancy rate determined by the first operation unit 112 is less than or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing The base station is in an active state, and the sum of the traffic load of the capacity sharing base station and the macro base station traffic load is less than or equal to the load threshold, and the control unit 114 is configured to control the sending unit 113 to send a sleep instruction to the capacity sharing base station.

Preferably, the communication device 110 may further include a second obtaining unit 121 and a second computing unit 122. The second obtaining unit 121 is configured to acquire a service load in the coverage of the macro base station of the preset number of times. The second operation unit 122 is configured to use the preset number of times acquired by the second acquiring unit 121. The service load in the coverage of the macro base station is determined, and the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station is determined. If the service load occupancy rate determined by the first operation unit 112 is less than or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is activated. The control unit 114 is further configured to control the second obtaining unit 121 to obtain a preset number of service loads in the coverage of the macro base station, and control, and control the second acquisition unit 121 to obtain a preset number of service loads in the coverage of the macro base station, and control the traffic load of the base station to be less than or equal to the load threshold. The second operation unit 122 determines the service load occupancy rate in the coverage of the macro base station of the preset number of times according to the service load in the coverage of the macro base station that is acquired by the second obtaining unit 121, and if the second operation unit The service load occupancy rate determined by the control unit 114 is used to control the sending unit 113 to send a sleep instruction to the capacity sharing base station.

It should be noted that the first obtaining unit 111 and the second obtaining unit 121 may be integrated into one acquiring unit, and the first computing unit 112 and the second computing unit 122 may be integrated into one computing unit. This embodiment does not impose any restrictions. And when a plurality of active state capacity sharing base stations are set in the coverage of the macro base station, and the sum of the service loads of the at least two active state capacity sharing base stations and the macro base station is less than or equal to the load threshold, the second obtaining unit 121 and the second computing unit 122 can repeatedly perform its functions to perform the communication method shown in FIG. 6.

The communication device 110 shown in FIG. 11 can be used to execute the communication method provided by the embodiment shown in FIG. The communication method provided by the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is also used, and the difference is that: the sending unit 113 is configured to send an activation command to the capacity sharing base station; and the traffic load occupancy determined by the control unit 114 in the first computing unit 112 is greater than Or equal to the second threshold, and the capacity sharing base station is in a sleep state, and is used to control the sending unit 113 to send an activation command to the capacity sharing base station. The communication device 110 may further include a second acquisition unit 121 and a second operation unit 122 as shown in FIG. 12 to perform the communication method provided by the embodiment shown in FIG. Similarly, the method of the embodiment shown in Fig. 7 can also be used, with the difference that the conditions under which the control unit 114 performs the operation are different. That is, if the service load occupancy rate determined by the first operation unit is less than or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is in an active state, and the capacity sharing base station is in a sleep state, the control unit 114 is configured to control the second acquiring unit. 121 obtaining a preset number of times within the coverage of the macro base station The service load is controlled, and the second operation unit 122 determines the service load in the coverage of the macro base station by a preset number of times according to the service load in the coverage of the macro base station that is acquired by the second obtaining unit 121. The control unit 114 is configured to control the sending unit 113 to send an activation command to the capacity sharing base station, if the traffic load occupancy determined by the second computing unit 122 is greater than or equal to the second threshold. When the plurality of sleep state capacity sharing base stations are set in the coverage of the macro base station, the second obtaining unit 121 and the second arithmetic unit 122 may repeatedly perform their functions to execute the communication method shown in FIG. 8.

It should be noted that each unit of the foregoing communication device may be disposed in the macro base station or may be disposed in the network management device; and may be set independently or as a logic module. For example, the macro base station (or network management device) 130 includes a receiver 131, a transmitter 132, and a processor 133. The functions of the first obtaining unit 111 and the second obtaining unit 121 are implemented by the receiver 131; the function of the transmitting unit 113 is implemented by the transmitter 132; the functions of the first computing unit 112 and the second computing unit 122 are passed through a logic The entity one-to-one operation unit 1331 is implemented, and the operation unit 1331 is embedded in the processor 133; the control unit 114 is also embedded in the processor 133. The arithmetic unit 1331 and the control unit 114 may exist in the form of a program, which is implemented by the call of the processor 133; or may be embedded in the processor 133 in the form of a hardware logical entity. This embodiment does not limit anything.

Please refer to FIG. 14, which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14, the system includes a macro base station 141, a capacity sharing base station 142, and a network management device 143. The network management device 143 is configured to configure and maintain all network elements (including the macro base station 141 and the capacity sharing base station 142), and the macro base station 141 or the network management device 143 includes the communication device according to any one of FIGS.

In addition, due to the previous layout of the base station, there may be a blind zone. Therefore, preferably, the communication system may further include a blind base station to cover a blind zone that may exist. The number of the capacity sharing base station and the supplementary blind base station is only an example, and is not intended to limit the present invention. It is known to those skilled in the art that the number may be one or more. A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or part of the steps of the foregoing embodiments may be through a combination of a hardware module or a hardware module, a combination of a processor and a chipset such as a memory, or a program to instruct related hardware and processing. The program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the storage medium can include: read only memory (ROM,

Read- Only Memory ), Random Access Memory (RAM), disk or optical disk, and other media that can store program code.

Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium, the readable medium comprising a set of program code for performing any of the communication methods described in the above embodiments.

It should be noted that the above embodiments are only for explaining the technical solutions of the present invention, and are not intended to be limiting; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that: The technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments are modified, or some of the technical features are equivalently replaced; and the modifications or substitutions do not deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

Rights request

1. A communication method, including:

Obtaining the first service load within the coverage area of the macro base station, where a capacity sharing base station is installed;

According to the first service load, determine the first service load occupancy rate within the coverage area of the macro base station; if the first service load occupancy rate is less than or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is in an active state, and If the sum of the service load of the capacity sharing base station and the service load of the macro base station is less than or equal to the load threshold, a sleep instruction is sent to the capacity sharing base station.

2. The method according to claim 1, if the first service load occupancy rate is less than or equal to a first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is in an active state, and the service load of the capacity sharing base station is the same as that of the macro base station. If the sum of business loads is less than or equal to the load threshold, sending a sleep instruction to the capacity sharing base station includes:

If the first service load occupancy rate is less than or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is in an active state, and the sum of the service load of the capacity sharing base station and the business load of the macro base station is less than or equal to the load threshold, obtain The second traffic load within the coverage area of the macro base station for a preset number of times;

Determine the second service load occupancy rate within the coverage area of the macro base station for a preset number of times according to the second business load for a preset number of times;

If the second service load occupancy rate for the preset number of times is less than or equal to the first threshold, a sleep instruction is sent to the capacity sharing base station.

3. The method according to claim 2, the first business load is periodically acquired in a first cycle, the second business load is periodically acquired in a second cycle, and the first cycle is greater than the second cycle. .

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, when there are multiple active capacity sharing base stations within the coverage area of the macro base station, the capacity sharing base station is the first active capacity sharing base station. The first active capacity sharing base station is an active capacity sharing base station with the smallest traffic load within the coverage area of the macro base station.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

After the first active state capacity sharing base station enters the sleep state, if the sum of the service load of the second active state capacity sharing base station and the service load of the macro base station is less than or equal to the load threshold, obtain a preset number of times of the macro base station The third service load within the coverage area, the second active state capacity sharing base station is the active state capacity sharing base station with the smallest service load within the coverage area of the macro base station after the first active state capacity sharing base station enters the sleep state;

Determine the third service load occupancy rate within the coverage area of the macro base station for a preset number of times according to the third service load for a preset number of times;

If the third service load occupancy rate for the preset number of times is less than or equal to the first threshold, a sleep instruction is sent to the second active state capacity sharing base station.

6. A communication method, including:

According to the first service load, determine the first service load occupancy rate within the coverage area of the macro base station; if the first service load occupancy rate is greater than or equal to the second threshold, and the capacity sharing base station is in a sleep state, Send an activation instruction to the capacity sharing base station.

7. The method according to claim 6, said step c includes:

If the first service load occupancy rate is greater than or equal to the second threshold, and the capacity sharing base station is in a sleep state, obtain the second service load within the coverage of the macro base station for a preset number of times; For the second service load, determine the second service load occupancy rate within the coverage area of the macro base station for a preset number of times;

If the second service load occupancy rates are greater than or equal to the second threshold, an activation instruction is sent to the capacity sharing base station.

8. The method according to claim 7, the first business load is periodically acquired in a first cycle, the second business load is periodically acquired in a second cycle, and the first cycle is greater than the second cycle. .

9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, when there are multiple sleep state capacity sharing base stations within the coverage area of the macro base station, and the capacity sharing base station is the first sleep state capacity sharing base station, so The first sleep state capacity sharing base station is the sleep state capacity sharing base station that can share the most service load after activation among the plurality of sleep state capacity sharing base stations.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

When the first sleep state capacity sharing base station is activated, obtain the third service load within the coverage of the macro base station for a preset number of times;

If the third service load occupancy rate of the preset number of times is greater than or equal to the second threshold, an activation instruction is sent to the second active state capacity sharing base station, and the second sleep state capacity sharing base station is the first sleep state capacity sharing base station. After the state capacity sharing base station is activated, the sleep state capacity sharing base station can share the most service load after activation within the coverage of the macro base station.

11. A communication device, including:

The first acquisition unit is used to acquire the service load within the coverage area of the macro base station, where a capacity sharing base station is provided within the coverage area of the macro base station;

The first computing unit is configured to determine the business load occupancy rate within the coverage of the macro base station based on the business load within the coverage of the macro base station obtained by the first acquisition unit;

Control unit, if the business load occupancy rate determined by the first computing unit is less than or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is in an active state, and the sum of the business load of the capacity sharing base station and the business load of the macro base station Less than or equal to the load threshold, used to send control instructions to the sending unit;

The sending unit is configured to send sleep information to the capacity sharing base station according to the control instruction. Sleep command.

12. The device according to claim 11, further comprising:

The second acquisition unit is used to acquire the business load within the coverage area of the macro base station for a preset number of times;

The second computing unit is configured to determine the business load occupancy rate within the coverage area of the macro base station for the preset number of times based on the business load within the coverage area of the macro base station for the preset number of times obtained by the second acquisition unit;

If the business load occupancy rate determined by the first computing unit is less than or equal to the first threshold, the capacity sharing base station is in an active state, and the sum of the business load of the capacity sharing base station and the business load of the macro base station is less than or equal to Load threshold, the control unit is also used to control the second acquisition unit to acquire the service load within the coverage of the macro base station for a preset number of times, and to control the second computing unit according to the load threshold acquired by the second acquisition unit. The business load occupancy rate within the coverage area of the macro base station for a preset number of times is determined, and if the business load occupancy rate determined by the second computing unit is equal to less than or equal to the first threshold, the control unit is configured to control the sending unit to send a sleep instruction to the capacity sharing base station.

13. A communication device, including:

A control unit, if the service load occupancy determined by the first computing unit is greater than or equal to the second threshold, and the capacity sharing base station is in a sleep state, is used to send a control instruction to the sending unit; the sending unit is used according to The control instruction is to send an activation instruction to the capacity sharing base station.

14. The communication device according to claim 13, further comprising: A second acquisition unit, configured to acquire the service load within the coverage area of the macro base station for a preset number of times;

A control unit, if the service load occupancy determined by the first computing unit is greater than or equal to the second threshold, and the capacity sharing base station is in a sleep state, is used to control the second acquisition unit to acquire a preset number of times of the macro base station. The traffic load within the coverage area of the macro base station is controlled, and the second computing unit is controlled to determine the preset number of macro base station coverage according to the business load within the macro base station coverage for the preset number of times obtained by the second acquisition unit. The service load occupancy rate within the range, and if the service load occupancy rate determined by the second computing unit is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the control unit is used to control the sending unit to send to the capacity sharing base station Activate command.

15. A communication system, including:

Macro base station;

At least one capacity sharing base station is installed within the coverage of the macro base station;

Network management equipment, used to configure and maintain the macro base station and the at least one capacity sharing base station;

The communication device according to any one of claims 11 to 14, is provided in the macro base station or the network management equipment.

16. A computer program product, including a computer-readable medium, the readable medium including a set of program codes for executing the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.