CN106899989B

CN106899989B - Method and apparatus for coordinating self-optimization functions in a wireless network

Info

Publication number: CN106899989B
Application number: CN201610855524.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: J.仇
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2012-03-16
Filing date: 2013-03-15
Publication date: 2020-07-17
Anticipated expiration: 2033-03-15
Also published as: CN106899989A; FR2988257A1; SE1550680A1; CN103313283A; FI20176077A; SE540287C2; CN103313283B; FR2988257B1

Abstract

A network management apparatus and method for coordinating self-optimization functions in a wireless network. A network management apparatus for coordinating self-optimization functions includes one or more processors and interfaces. The interface communicates with a plurality of enhanced node bs (enodebs). The interface is arranged to receive a request to change the coverage or capacity of an enhanced node b (enodeb). The interface is further arranged to transmit a query to an eNodeB to obtain a self-optimizing network (SON) coordination state of the eNodeB. The one or more processors are configured to determine whether to grant or deny the request based on the coordination policy and the SON coordination state.

Description

Method and apparatus for coordinating self-optimization functions in a wireless network

Technical Field

Embodiments relate to wireless communications. More particularly, embodiments relate to coordination between self-optimization functions of cells within a wireless communication system. Some embodiments relate to third generation partnership project, technical specification group services and system aspects, telecommunications management, self-organizing network (SON) policy Network Resource Model (NRM) Integration Reference Point (IRP), Information Services (IS)3GPP TS 32.522.

Background

In the context of wireless networks, self-optimization is a process that: measurement data of enhanced node bs (enodebs) is analyzed, and then radio and transmission parameters of the enodebs are tuned in order to obtain optimal network performance, coverage and capacity. Self-optimizing networks (SON) may implement various SON functions including, for example, load balancing, Handover Optimization (HO), Coverage and Capacity Optimization (CCO), cell outage (outage) compensation (COC), and Energy Saving Management (ESM). These optimization functions change the coverage and capacity of the cell by configuring parameters of the eNodeB. Example parameters may include transmit power, antenna tilt, and azimuth parameters for downlink transmissions.

In current third generation partnership project (3GPP) Long term evolution (L TE) systems, SON functions may operate independently to change these parameters or other parameters of one or more eNodeBs. however, current 3GPP L TE advanced systems do not support coordination between SON functions.

Thus, there is a general need for a system and method of coordinating SON function operations within a wireless network.

Disclosure of Invention

A first aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a network management apparatus, including: an interface to communicate with a plurality of enhanced node Bs (eNodeBs), the interface configured to: receiving a request to change a coverage or capacity of an enhanced node B (eNodeB); one or more processors configured to: determining whether to grant or deny the request based on a coordination policy and a SON coordination state, the SON coordination state being a state of a SON function.

A second aspect of the present disclosure is directed to an enhanced node b (enodeb) comprising: an interface in communication with a network management device, the interface configured to: transmitting a request to change a coverage or capacity state, and receiving a permission notification indicating whether the request to change the coverage or capacity state has been granted or denied; and one or more processors configured to: storing a SON coordination state in an associated memory, and changing the coverage or capacity state based on the permission notification.

A third aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a method of coordinating coverage and capacity changes in a self-optimizing network (SON), the method comprising: receiving a request to change a coverage or capacity of an enhanced node B (eNodeB); and determining whether to grant or deny the request based on a coordination policy and a SON coordination state, the SON coordination state being a state of a SON function.

Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates an example portion of a wireless communication network in which example embodiments are implemented.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example block diagram showing a system architecture for implementing coordination of self-optimizing network functions in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example block diagram showing details of an eNodeB included in the wireless communication network of fig. 1 or 2 in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates an example block diagram showing details of a Network Manager (NM) included in the system architecture of fig. 2, according to some example embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a signal flow diagram describing signals and messages for implementing coordination of self-optimizing network functions

Detailed Description

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to create and use computer system configurations, and related methods and articles of manufacture, to coordinate self-optimizing network (SON) functions performed by a Domain Manager (DM) or enhanced node b (enodeb) within a wireless communication network. A coordination strategy is implemented to determine the environment in which the eNodeB can implement different SON functions. In at least one example embodiment, these coordination strategies take into account the current state of the eNodeB. These coordination strategies may also be based on the identity of the desired SON function to which the eNodeB may change, or other inputs related to the desired SON function.

Various modifications to the embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the scope of the invention. Furthermore, in the following description, numerous details are set forth for the purpose of explanation. However, it will be recognized by one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and processes are not shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the description of the embodiments of the invention with unnecessary detail. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example portion of a wireless communication network 100 in which example embodiments may be implemented in one embodiment, the wireless communication network 100 includes an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) using the third generation partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution (L TE) standard in one embodiment, the wireless communication network 100 includes a first eNodeB 101, a second eNodeB102, a third eNodeB 103, and a fourth eNodeB 104 (also referred to as a first base station 101, a second base station 102, a third base station 103). the first eNodeB 101 serves a certain geographic area cell 1 similarly, the second eNodeB102 serves a geographic area cell 2, the third eNodeB 103 serves a geographic area cell 3, and the fourth eNodeB 104 serves a geographic area cell 4.

It is to be understood that the wireless communication network 100 may include more than 4 enodebs or less than 4 enodebs. It is also understood that each eNodeB may have multiple neighboring enodebs. As one example, eNodeB 103 may have 6 or more neighboring enodebs.

Capacity and Coverage Optimization (CCO), Cell Outage Compensation (COC), and Energy Saving Management (ESM) are SON functions that can change the coverage or capacity of one or more cells in a wireless network. The CCO SON function seeks to maximize the coverage of the eNodeB while optimizing capacity and ensuring that inter-cell interference is minimized. The COCSON function configures an eNodeB to compensate for another eNodeB that is in an outage condition. The ESM function extends the coverage of the neighbor enodebs to cover enodebs configured to enter the energy saving mode. A conflict may occur if one of these SON functions changes the eNodeB while the other SON function changes the same eNodeB.

As an illustrative example, referring to fig. 1, if cell 1 suffers from service outage, the COC SON function will attempt to compensate for the outage of cell 1 by reconfiguring the parameters of the possible candidate cells. For example, COC may attempt to reconfigure the transmit power, antenna tilt, and antenna bearing of

enodebs

102 and 103 serving cells 2 and 3 so that

enodebs

102 and 103 may compensate for the eNodeB serving cell 1. At the same time, however, the ESM SON function may operate on cell 2 to compensate for the coverage of cell 4 when neighboring cell 4 is entering a power saving state. Thus, in this example, the COC SON function and the ESMSON function may attempt to operate on cell 2 simultaneously.

In this illustrative example, from the point in time when cell 1 outage is detected until cell 1 has been compensated by cells 2 and 3, unless there is coordination between SON functions, the COC SON function and the ESM SON function may each attempt to configure different settings of eNodeB102 for transmit power, antenna tilt, and antenna bearing. For example, COC may attempt to tilt the antennas of eNodeB102 downward while ESM attempts to tilt the antennas of eNodeB102 upward, resulting in eNodeB102 instability.

In an example embodiment, a network management device or Network Manager (NM) may incorporate a SON coordination mechanism to coordinate coverage and capacity changes of enodebs in the network 100 and thereby provide conflict prevention or conflict resolution between SON functions. The network management device may include an interface that receives requests to change the coverage and capacity of the enodebs in the network 100. This interface may also transmit a query to the eNodeB to obtain the SON coordination state of the eNodeB. The network management device may also include one or more processors. The processors may execute an algorithm that determines whether to grant or deny the request based on the coordination policy and the SON coordination state. Based on the coordination strategy and SON coordination state, the network management device coordinates the coverage and capacity changes of the enodebs in the network 100 according to the coverage and capacity requirements of the coordination strategy, while minimizing inter-cell interference and energy usage according to the coordination strategy.

According to example embodiments, SON coordinated NM read and write are supported for SON coordination state attribute, value of soncodingationstate, of eNodeB in network 100. Table 1 shows the values of this attribute:

table 1: value of the sonCoordinatinationState attribute

Fig. 2 illustrates an architecture of a system 200 for providing SON coordination functionality according to at least one example embodiment. As shown in fig. 2, the standard interface Itf-N is located between the Network Manager (NM) and the Domain Manager (DM). Itf-N may be used to communicate performance measurement data generated in the network and to communicate performance alerts or notifications.

Network elements such as

enodebs

201, 202 and 203 provide data to support network performance evaluation. Such data may include quality of service (QoS) measurements, network configuration verification, or other parameters. The Element Managers (EM)206, 207 manage the generation of measurement data by, for example, managing the performance measurement collection process and generating performance measurements.

The EM 206 may reside in a DM. Example tasks for DM include configuring eNodeB, fault management and performance monitoring. Performance monitoring may include tasks such as receiving performance data from

enodebs

203, 204, and 205.

eNode bs

203 and 204 may communicate with NM201 through DM 202. Alternatively, the eNodeB 203 may implement its own EM 207 to communicate directly with the NM 201. In some embodiments, the NM and the SON functions may operate in accordance with 3GPP TS32.522, but this is not a requirement.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example block diagram showing details of an eNodeB 301 that may be suitable for use as any of

enodebs

101, 102, 103, 104, 203, 204, and 205 according to example embodiments, although other configurations may also be suitable. eNodeB 301 may include processor 300, memory 302, transceiver 304, instructions 306, and other components (not shown).

enodebs

101, 102, 103, 104, 203, 204, and 205 may be similar to one another in terms of hardware, firmware, software, configuration, and/or operating parameters.

Processor 300 includes one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), or both. The processor 300 provides processing and control functionality for the eNodeB. The memory 302 includes one or more transient and static memory units configured to store instructions and data for the eNodeB. The transceiver 304 includes one or more transceivers including multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antennas to support MIMO communications. The transceiver 304 receives uplink transmissions and transmits downlink transmissions, particularly with User Equipment (UE). In some embodiments, the transceiver 304 transmits a request to change the coverage and capacity state of the eNodeB. In some embodiments, in response to the request, the transceiver receives a permission notification indicating whether the request to change the coverage state has been granted or denied. In some embodiments, based on whether permission has been granted, the processor 300 stores the SON coordination state in the associated memory 302 and changes the coverage and capacity state of the eNodeB.

The instructions 306 comprise one or more sets of instructions or software that are executed on a computing device (or machine) to cause such computing device (or machine) to perform any of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 306 (also referred to as computer-executable instructions or machine-executable instructions) may reside, completely or at least partially, within the processor 300 and/or within the memory 302 during execution by the eNodeB. The processor 300 and memory 302 also include machine-readable media.

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine 400 on which any one or more of the operations performed by a Network Manager (NM) discussed herein may be performed. In alternative embodiments, machine 400 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 400 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both, in server-client network environments. In one example, machine 400 may act as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment.

A machine (e.g., a computer system) 400 may include a hardware processor 402 (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 404 and a static memory 406, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interconnection link (e.g., bus) 408. The machine 400 may also include a display unit 410, an alphanumeric input device 412 (e.g., a keyboard), and a User Interface (UI) navigation device 414 (e.g., a mouse). In one example, the display unit 410, the input device 412, and the UI navigation device 414 may be a touch screen display. The machine 400 may also include a storage device (e.g., a driver unit) 416, a signal generation device 418 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 420, and one or more sensors 421, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine 400 may include an output controller 428, such as a serial (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., Infrared (IR)) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.).

The storage 416 may include a machine-readable medium 422, on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or one or more sets of instructions 424 (e.g., software) implemented or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 424 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 404, within static memory 406, or within the hardware processor 402 during execution thereof by the machine 400. In one example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 402, the main memory 404, the static memory 406, or the storage device 416 may constitute machine-readable media.

While the machine-readable medium 422 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "machine-readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 424.

The instructions 424 may also be transmitted or received using any of a number of transmission protocols (e.g., frame relay, Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.) via the network interface device 420, over a communication network 426 using a transmission medium. The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 400, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software. According to example embodiments described below, the instructions 424 may implement an algorithm for the SON coordination authority.

Referring again to fig. 2, SON coordination functionality for implementing SON coordination according to example embodiments resides above Itf-N and is implemented on the processor 402 of the NM201 by instructions 424. However, it will be understood that the SON coordination function may reside below Itf-N. For example, a SON coordination function may reside in the DM 202 to coordinate enodebs 203 and 204 or other enodebs (not shown) managed by the DM 202.

Fig. 5 illustrates a signal flow diagram depicting signals passing between an EM and NM201 in order to implement a SON coordination function to prevent conflicts between ESM, COC and CCO SON functions according to an example embodiment.

In signal 1, the SON coordination entity receives a request to change the coverage and capacity of the enodebs of the network. In an example embodiment, the SON coordination entity is NM 201. The request may be received from the DM 202. Alternatively, if the eNodeB contains embedded EM, the request may be received directly from the eNodeB.

In message 2, the NM queries the DM or eNodeB to obtain the SON coordination state. The SON coordination state indicates the behavior of the cell in supporting CCO, COC, and ESM functions, and may include one of the following values: EsmCompenrating, EsmEnergySaving, CocCompressing, CocOutage, CcoUpdating, and None.

The NM201 then determines whether to grant or deny the request based on the SON coordination policy and the SON coordination state. The SON coordination strategy is described below. In an example embodiment, the SON coordination policy is based on one or more inputs from the SON function, a priority level assigned to the SON function by the network operator, and a network operator policy.

If the eNodeB is in the emm comp pending SON coordination state and the NM201 is informed that the cell served by the eNodeB has been down, the SON coordination policy specifies according to an example embodiment: NM201 informs the ESM function to find another cell to compensate for the energy saving cell. If the ESM function is unable to find another cell, the ESM function is to deactivate energy saving on the cell compensated by the eNodeB. NM201 then changes the SON coordination state of the eNodeB to CocOutage.

If NM201 receives a COC request that requires the eNodeB to compensate the neighboring cell that is in outage, while the eNodeB is in the emm opportunistic SON coordination state, the SON coordination policy specifies according to an example embodiment: NM201 determines the priority of COC and ESM based on network operator policy. If the ESM SON function has a higher priority, the COC request is denied. If the COC SON function has a higher priority, NM201 informs the ESM SON function to find another neighboring cell to compensate for the energy saving cell. If the ESM SON function is not able to find another cell to compensate for the energy saving cell, NM201 informs the ESM SON function to deactivate energy saving on the cell compensated by the eNodeB. The NM201 then accepts the COC request and the NM201 changes the SON coordination state of the eNodeB to None.

If the eNodeB is in the esmenergyssaveing state and the NM201 receives a COC request to compensate for a neighbor cell in outage, the SON coordination strategy specifies according to an example embodiment: NM201 should inform the ESM SON function that the eNodeB is required to exit energy saving. NM201 rejects the COC request if the ESM SON function cannot request the eNodeB to exit energy saving. If the ESM SON function can request the eNodeB to exit energy saving, NM201 accepts the COC request and changes the SON coordination state to None.

If the eNodeB is in the CocCompensating state and the NM201 is informed that the eNodeB is suffering from an outage condition, the SON coordination policy specifies: NM201 informs the COC SON function to find one or more neighboring enodebs to compensate for the requesting eNodeB and the cell previously compensated by the requesting eNodeB. NM201 further changes the SON coordination state of the requesting eNodeB to cocout.

If the eNodeB is in the CocOutage state, NM201 rejects all requests. If the eNodeB is in the CcoUpdating state, the NM201 defers all ESM and COC requests until the SON coordination state changes to None. NM201 accepts any requests from CCO, COC or ESM SON functions if eNodeB is in None state.

If the eNodeB is in the emmompensating state, the emmenergysaving state or the coccompassing state and the NM201 receives a CCO request to change the coverage and capacity of the eNodeB, the NM201 determines whether to accept the request based on network operator policy. NM201 changes the SON coordination state to CcoUpdating if the CCO request is to be accepted.

Furthermore, the NM201 does not allow or deny any requests not specified in the SON coordination policy.

The NM201 may use one or more pieces of additional data to help prevent conflicts between SON functions. The one or more parameters may be input from one or more of an ESM SON function, a CCO SON function, or a COC SON function. These inputs may contain identification information of the SON function that is requesting permission to modify eNodeB configuration parameters. The identity may contain information about the supplier, issue number, version, etc. of the SON function. These inputs may also include the duration for which any newly updated eNodeB configuration parameters should be kept unchanged by other or the same SON functions. Still further, these inputs may include SON targets that are reasons for the configuration change. For example, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) may be reported by enodebs that have recently undergone a change in configuration parameters. This KPI is compared to SON target values to verify if previous changes have made improvements in KPI. If the evaluation indicates that sufficient improvement has not been achieved, this may indicate that further optimization and configuration changes should be performed at least for the reported eNodeB. These inputs may also contain any information about the possible influence of the parameter change on other objects in the network, i.e. the area of influence of the parameter change.

To prevent conflicts, the NM201 may rely on additional information, such as the possible impact of parameter changes on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The NM201 may also rely on information about the current state of the eNodeB, the state of certain managed objects in the network, the priorities of the SON functions and SON coordination strategies.

Based on the SON coordination policy described above, NM201 returns either message 3 (rejecting the request) or message 4 (granting the request). If the decision is a decision to reject the request, no further processing occurs and no configuration change is made. On the other hand, if the decision is to grant the request, the eNodeB or DM changes the coverage and capacity and informs the NM201 in message 5 that the coverage and capacity change has been completed. The eNodeB or DM may also transmit information on success or failure of parameter change, or parameter values before and after the parameter change.

After the SON function has been completed at the eNodeB, the SON coordination state should change to one of emmcomp ranging, emmenergysaving or coccompnsing. For example, after the ESM activates a cell to compensate for energy saving, the SON coordination state of such a cell should change to emmcomp. In message 6, the NM201 informs the eNodeB or DMeNodeB that the SON coordination state should change, and the DM or eNodeB stores the new SON coordination state in the memory 302.

In other example embodiments, in addition to or in place of: the request is denied or granted by the SON function, the NM may configure certain parameters of at least one eNodeB with certain values. In an example embodiment, the NM may prevent a parameter from being changed by one or more SON functions within a certain time after the parameter has been changed by another SON function. The NM may also inform the SON function of state changes that may affect performance indicator computations.

In other example embodiments, the NM201 detects and proactively resolves conflicts between SON functions. NM201 may be in parallel with and implement such conflict resolution in addition to the conflict prevention process described above. To detect conflicts, the SON coordination function implemented on the NM201 analyzes data such as, for example, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), measurements indicating whether SON functions meet their goals, and unacceptable oscillations or changes in eNodeB configuration parameters over time. An anomaly in any of these measurements or data may indicate that SON functions are operating in conflict with one another.

To resolve the detected conflict, the NM201 may enable, disable, or abort the SON function. The SON configuration function may modify the configuration of certain SON functions, or the SON configuration function may modify configuration parameters of the eNodeB.

It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity purposes describes some embodiments with reference to different functional units or processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processors or domains may be used without detracting from embodiments of the invention. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processors or controllers may be performed by the same processor or controller. Hence, references to specific functional units are only to be seen as references to suitable means for providing the described functionality rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in accordance with the invention. Moreover, it will be recognized that various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The abstract of the disclosure is provided to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is proposed under the following understanding: it is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Furthermore, in the foregoing detailed description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that: the embodiments of the claims require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

1. A network manager, NM, of a cellular system, comprising:

a self-optimizing network (SON) coordination function that prevents conflicts caused by one SON function operating while another SON function is operating on a Base Station (BS), and provides a solution to the conflicts;

wherein the SON coordination function is configured to coordinate SON functions comprising at least an energy saving management, ESM, function, a cell outage compensation, COC, function, or a coverage and capacity optimization, CCO, function, wherein the SON coordination function is configured to prevent the conflict by preventing one or more SON functions from changing a certain parameter in a predetermined time period after another SON function has changed the same parameter, wherein the SON coordination function is configured to prevent the conflict by relying on information indicating a possible impact of a parameter change on a key performance indicator, KPI.

2. The NM of claim 1, wherein the SON coordination function resides above Itf-N, wherein Itf-N is an interface between the NM and a domain manager DM.

3. The NM of claim 1, wherein the SON coordination function resides below Itf-N, wherein Itf-N is an interface between the NM and a domain manager DM.

4. The NM of claim 1, wherein the SON coordination function is configured to detect the conflict and resolve the conflict based on the detection.

5. The NM of claim 1, wherein the SON coordination function is configured to detect the conflict by analyzing data, wherein the data includes at least one of Key Performance Indicator (KPI) measurements.

6. The NM of claim 1, wherein the SON coordination function is configured to resolve the conflict by enabling, disabling, or aborting SON functions.

7. A method of coordinating between two or more self-optimizing network, SON, functions, comprising:

implementing, by a network manager, NM, of a cellular system, a SON coordination function, wherein the SON coordination function prevents conflicts caused by one SON function operating while another SON function is operating on a base station, BS, and provides a solution to the conflicts;

wherein the SON coordination function is configured to coordinate SON functions, the SON functions at least including an energy saving management, ESM, function, a cell outage compensation, COC, function, or a coverage and capacity optimization, CCO, function, and the method further includes:

the conflict is prevented by preventing one or more SON functions from changing a parameter within a predetermined time period after another SON function has changed the same parameter,

the preventing includes: depending on information indicating a possible impact of parameter changes on the key performance indicators KPIs.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the SON coordination function resides above Itf-N, wherein Itf-N is an interface between the NM and a domain manager DM.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the SON coordination function resides below Itf-N, wherein Itf-N is an interface between the NM and a domain manager DM.

10. The method of claim 7, comprising:

detecting the conflict by analyzing data, wherein the data comprises at least one of key performance indicator, KPI, measurements.

11. The method of claim 10, comprising:

resolving the conflict based on the detection of the conflict.

12. The method of claim 7, comprising:

the conflict is resolved by enabling, disabling, or aborting SON functions.

13. A system for wireless communication, comprising:

a BS of the plurality of enhanced base stations BS;

wherein the BSs of the plurality of BSs are coordinated by a self-optimizing network (SON) coordination function configured to prevent conflicts caused by one SON function operating at the same time as another SON function operates the BSs of the plurality of BSs and to provide a solution to the conflicts, and wherein the SON coordination function is for coordinating SON functions including at least an Energy Saving Management (ESM) function, a Cell Outage Compensation (COC) function, or an overlay and capacity optimization (CCO) function, the SON coordination state being a state of a SON function, wherein the SON coordination function is configured to prevent conflicts by preventing one or more SON functions from changing a certain parameter for a predetermined period of time after another SON function has changed the same parameter,

wherein the SON coordination function is configured to prevent the conflict by relying on information indicating a possible impact of a parameter change on a key performance indicator, KPI.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the SON coordination function resides above Itf-N, wherein Itf-N is an interface between a network manager and a domain manager DM.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the SON coordination function resides below Itf-N, wherein Itf-N is an interface between a network manager and a domain manager DM.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the SON coordination function detects the conflict and resolves the conflict based on the detection.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the SON coordination function is to coordinate the operations by

Analyzing data to detect conflicts, wherein the data comprises at least one of key performance indicator, KPI, measurements.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the SON coordination function is configured to resolve the conflict by enabling, disabling, or aborting SON functions.

19. A machine for communication, comprising: non-transitory computer readable medium containing therein program instructions of a self-optimizing network SON coordination function, which instructions, when executed by a network manager NM, result in:

preventing conflicts caused by one SON function operating while another SON function is operating on the base station BS and providing a solution to the conflicts;

wherein the SON coordination function is to coordinate SON functions including at least an energy saving management, ESM, function, a cell outage compensation, COC, function, or a coverage and capacity optimization, CCO, function, wherein the instructions, when executed by the NM, result in:

one or more SON functions are prevented from changing a certain parameter in a predetermined period of time after another SON function has changed the same parameter by relying on information indicating a possible impact of a parameter change on the key performance indicator KPI.

20. The machine of claim 19, wherein the SON coordination function resides above Itf-N, wherein Itf-N is an interface between the NM and a domain manager DM.

21. The machine of claim 19, wherein the SON coordination function resides below Itf-N, wherein Itf-N is an interface between the NM and a domain manager DM.

22. The machine of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the NM, result in:

a conflict is detected and the conflict is resolved based on the detection.

23. The machine of claim 22 wherein the instructions, when executed by the NM, result in:

24. The machine of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the NM, result in:

the conflict is resolved by enabling, disabling, or aborting SON functions.

25. A base station, BS, configured according to operation of a self-optimizing network, SON, coordination function, wherein the SON coordination function prevents conflicts caused by one SON function operating while another SON function is operating on the BS of the plurality of BSs and provides a solution to the conflicts; and

26. The BS of claim 25, wherein the SON coordination function resides above Itf-N, wherein Itf-N is an interface between a network manager NM and a domain manager DM.

27. The BS of claim 25, wherein the SON coordination function resides below Itf-N, wherein Itf-N is an interface between a network manager NM and a domain manager DM.

28. The BS of claim 25, wherein the SON coordination function is configured to detect the conflict and resolve the conflict based on the detection.

29. The BS of claim 25, wherein the SON coordination function is configured to detect the conflict by analyzing data, wherein the data comprises at least one of a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) measurement.

30. The BS of claim 25, wherein the SON coordination function is configured to resolve the conflict by enabling, disabling, or aborting SON functions.