CN109548148B

CN109548148B - Base station resource allocation method, base station supporting eMTC (enhanced multicast control) and base station not supporting eMTC (enhanced multicast control) and networking system

Info

Publication number: CN109548148B
Application number: CN201710858123.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张志荣; 曾宇; 张光辉; 朱雪田
Original assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Current assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2017-09-21
Filing date: 2017-09-21
Publication date: 2022-08-02
Anticipated expiration: 2037-09-21
Also published as: CN109548148A

Abstract

The application provides a base station resource allocation method, a base station supporting eMTC and a networking system, and relates to the technical field of communication. The base station resource allocation method comprises the following steps: a base station supporting enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) determines a coverage boundary of an eMTC terminal reaching the base station supporting the eMTC; a base station supporting eMTC determines a physical resource block PRB occupied by an eMTC terminal; the base station supporting the eMTC sends a silent message to a neighboring base station not supporting the eMTC to control the base station not supporting the eMTC to avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal. By the method, when the eMTC terminal reaches the edge of the base station supporting the eMTC, the base station supporting the eMTC can determine the PRB used by the terminal and inform the adjacent base station not supporting the eMTC to avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal, thereby reducing the generation of co-channel interference and improving the signal quality.

Description

Base station resource allocation method, base station supporting eMTC (enhanced multicast control) and base station not supporting eMTC (enhanced multicast control) and networking system

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a base station resource allocation method, a base station supporting and not supporting enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC), and a networking system.

Background

With the increase of the number of terminals connected in the internet of things, operators urgently need to develop new service growth points to deal with the increasingly saturated situation of traditional person-to-person communication. Because the difference between the service carried by the traditional cellular network and the eMTC service is relatively large, if the cellular network is used to carry the eMTC service, the cellular network needs to be correspondingly enhanced and optimized in function, so as to better meet the application requirements of the internet of things.

The eMTC designs cellular Internet of things technology and characteristics based on an LTE (Long Term Evolution, 3GPP Long Term Evolution) air interface access technology, and the eMTC is evolved from an LTE protocol and mainly faces to an Internet of things application scene with low speed, deep coverage, low power consumption and large connection. Because an eDRX (Extended Discontinuous Reception) Power Saving technology and a PSM (Power Saving Mode) Power Saving Mode are introduced, the eMTC terminal has lower Power consumption; in addition, eMTC enhances 15dB over LTE coverage through repetition and frequency hopping techniques.

eMTC evolved from LTE protocols, so eMTC may be supported from LTE base station upgrades. The existing eMTC/LTE can adopt a 1:1 networking mode, but the networking construction cost is high, and the eMTC base station resource waste can be caused because of no eMTC service requirement in some places, so the 1: N networking mode is also a choice.

Disclosure of Invention

The applicant finds that uplink and downlink interference between the eMTC and the LTE may occur in an eMTC base station boundary area when a 1: N networking is adopted, including that when an eMTC terminal moves close to a base station that does not support the eMTC, a base station that does not support the eMTC has downlink co-channel interference with the eMTC terminal, and an eMTC terminal has uplink co-channel interference with a base station that does not support the eMTC, which affects both coverage and capacity of the base station that does not support the eMTC.

An object of the present application is to reduce interference between eMTC and LTE, improving signal quality.

According to an aspect of the present application, a method for allocating base station resources is provided, including: the base station supporting the eMTC determines the coverage boundary of the eMTC terminal reaching the base station supporting the eMTC; a base station supporting eMTC determines a Physical Resource Block (PRB) occupied by an eMTC terminal; the base station supporting the eMTC sends a silent message to a neighboring base station not supporting the eMTC to control the base station not supporting the eMTC to avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal.

Optionally, the silence message includes an uplink PRB identity and/or a downlink PRB identity occupied by the eMTC terminal.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the base station supporting the eMTC sends a message of stopping frequency hopping to the eMTC terminal so that the eMTC terminal does not switch the occupied PRBs.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the base station supporting the eMTC determines that the eMTC terminal returns to a central area from a coverage boundary of the base station supporting the eMTC; the base station supporting the eMTC sends a silence release message to a neighboring base station not supporting the eMTC to allow the base station not supporting the eMTC to use the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the base station supporting the eMTC determines that the eMTC terminal returns to a central area from a coverage boundary of the base station supporting the eMTC; a base station supporting eMTC sends a allow hopping message to an eMTC terminal to allow the eMTC terminal to switch occupied PRBs.

Optionally, the eMTC-enabled base station determines, based on a signal from the eMTC terminal indicating a neighbor cell better than serving cell a3 event, that the eMTC terminal reaches the coverage boundary of the eMTC-enabled base station.

By the method, when the eMTC terminal reaches the edge of the base station supporting the eMTC, the base station supporting the eMTC can determine the PRB used by the terminal and inform the adjacent base station not supporting the eMTC to avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal, thereby reducing the generation of co-channel interference and improving the signal quality.

According to another aspect of the present application, a method for allocating base station resources is provided, including: the base station which does not support the eMTC receives a silent message from a neighboring base station which supports the eMTC, wherein the silent message comprises a PRB identifier; the base station which does not support the eMTC avoids using the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the base station which does not support eMTC starts timing after receiving the silence message; when the timing reaches the silent duration, the base station which does not support eMTC allows the PRB corresponding to the PRB identifier to be used, wherein the silent message also comprises the silent duration; or, after the timing reaches the preset silent duration, the base station which does not support the eMTC allows the PRB corresponding to the PRB identifier to be used.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the base station which does not support the eMTC receives a silence removing message from a neighboring base station which supports the eMTC, wherein the silence removing message comprises a PRB identifier; the base station which does not support eMTC allows the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification in the silence removing message to be used.

By the method, the base station which does not support the eMTC can determine and avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal reaching the edge area of the base station supporting the eMTC according to the silence message from the adjacent base station supporting the eMTC, thereby reducing the generation of co-channel interference and improving the signal quality.

According to yet another aspect of the present application, a base station supporting eMTC is provided, including: a terminal position determining unit, configured to determine that an eMTC terminal reaches a coverage boundary of a base station supporting the eMTC; a terminal PRB determining unit, configured to determine a PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal; the message sending unit is used for sending a silent message to a neighboring base station which does not support eMTC so as to control the base station which does not support eMTC to avoid using PRBs occupied by an eMTC terminal.

Optionally, the message sending unit is further configured to send a stop hopping message to the eMTC terminal so that the eMTC terminal does not switch the occupied PRBs.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the terminal position determining unit is also used for determining that the eMTC terminal returns to the central area from the coverage boundary of the base station supporting the eMTC; the message sending unit is further configured to send a unmute message to a neighboring base station that does not support the eMTC to allow the base station that does not support the eMTC to use the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal when the terminal location determination unit determines that the eMTC terminal returns to the central area from the coverage boundary of the base station that supports the eMTC.

Optionally, the terminal location determining unit is configured to determine, according to a signal from the eMTC terminal indicating that a neighbor cell is better than the serving cell a3 event, that the eMTC terminal reaches a coverage boundary of a base station supporting the eMTC.

The base station supporting the eMTC can determine the PRB used by the terminal when the eMTC terminal reaches the coverage edge of the terminal, and inform the adjacent base station not supporting the eMTC to avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal, thereby reducing the generation of co-channel interference and improving the signal quality.

According to still another aspect of the present application, there is provided a base station that does not support eMTC, including: the message receiving unit is used for receiving a silent message from a base station which is adjacent and supports eMTC, wherein the silent message comprises a PRB identifier; and the silence control unit is used for forbidding to use the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the silent timer is used for starting timing after the message receiving unit receives the silent message; the silent control unit is further configured to allow the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification to be used when the silent timer counts a silent duration, where the silent message further includes the silent duration; or, after the silent timer reaches a preset silent duration, allowing the PRB corresponding to the PRB identifier to be used.

Optionally, the message receiving unit is further configured to receive a silence release message from a neighboring base station supporting the eMTC, where the silence release message includes a PRB identification; the silence control unit is further configured to allow the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification in the silence release message to be used after the message receiving unit receives the silence release message.

The base station which does not support the eMTC can determine and avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal reaching the edge area of the base station supporting the eMTC according to the silence message from the adjacent base station supporting the eMTC, thereby reducing the generation of co-channel interference and improving the signal quality.

According to one aspect of the present application, a base station is provided, including: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to perform any one of the base station resource allocation methods mentioned above based on instructions stored in the memory.

The base station can determine the PRB used by the eMTC terminal when the eMTC terminal reaches the coverage edge of the base station supporting the eMTC, and the adjacent base station not supporting the eMTC avoids using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal according to the silence message from the base station supporting the eMTC, thereby reducing the generation of co-channel interference and improving the signal quality.

According to another aspect of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which computer program instructions are stored, which instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of any one of the above-mentioned base station resource allocation methods.

The computer-readable storage medium can determine the PRB used by the eMTC terminal when the terminal reaches the coverage edge of the base station supporting the eMTC by executing the instruction on the storage medium, and the adjacent base station not supporting the eMTC avoids using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal according to the silent message from the base station supporting the eMTC, so that the generation of co-channel interference is reduced, and the signal quality is improved.

Further, according to an aspect of the present application, there is provided a networking system including: any of the base stations mentioned above that support eMTC; and, any of the base stations mentioned above that do not support eMTC.

In the networking system, when an eMTC terminal reaches the coverage edge of the base station supporting the eMTC, the base station supporting the eMTC can determine the PRB used by the terminal, and the adjacent base station not supporting the eMTC avoids using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal according to the silent message from the base station supporting the eMTC, so that the generation of co-channel interference is reduced, and the signal quality is improved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the application and together with the description serve to explain the application and not to limit the application. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a base station resource allocation method according to the present application.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of another embodiment of a base station resource allocation method according to the present application.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for allocating resources of a base station according to another embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a base station supporting eMTC according to the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a base station that does not support eMTC according to the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a base station of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a base station of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a networking system of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of an operating method of the networking system of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution of the present application is further described in detail by the accompanying drawings and examples.

Fig. 1 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a base station resource allocation method according to the present application.

In step 101, a base station supporting eMTC determines that an eMTC terminal reaches a coverage boundary of a base station supporting eMTC. In an embodiment, an A3 event may be preconfigured in a base station supporting an eMTC, and when receiving an A3 reported by an eMTC terminal, it is determined that a signal of a neighboring cell is better than a signal of a local cell serving a terminal, that is, it is determined that the terminal reaches a cell edge.

In step 102, a base station supporting eMTC determines PRBs occupied by an eMTC terminal. In one embodiment, a serving cell (a base station supporting eMTC) may first send a handover request to a neighboring cell through an X2 interface, and if the handover is successful, confirm that the base station of the neighboring cell is the base station supporting eMTC; and if the mobile terminal is rejected, determining that the base station of the adjacent cell is the base station which does not support the eMTC, and executing the step of determining the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal. In an embodiment, the base station may determine the uplink and downlink PRB occupied by the terminal according to the terminal configuration information, or may obtain the uplink and downlink PRB occupied by the terminal from the terminal.

In step 103, a base station supporting eMTC sends a MUTE (MUTE) message to a neighboring base station that does not support eMTC. The silence message may be transmitted between base stations over an X2 interface. In one embodiment, a base station supporting eMTC may determine a serving cell of a terminal by determining a location of the terminal, further determine a neighboring cell and a base station that does not support eMTC and covers the neighboring cell, and send a muting message to the determined one or more neighboring base stations that do not support eMTC. The silence message includes the PRB identification of the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal reaching the edge of the base station supporting the eMTC.

In step 104, after receiving the silence message, the base station that does not support eMTC avoids using the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification.

By the method, when the eMTC terminal reaches the edge of the base station supporting the eMTC, the base station supporting the eMTC can determine the PRB used by the terminal, and the adjacent base station not supporting the eMTC avoids using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal, so that the generation of co-channel interference is avoided, and the signal quality is improved.

In one embodiment, the muting message may include an uplink PRB identity occupied by the eMTC terminal, so as to avoid interference of an uplink signal; the silence message may include a downlink PRB identity occupied by the eMTC terminal, so as to avoid interference of a downlink signal. The silence message can also include an uplink PRB identifier and a downlink PRB identifier occupied by the eMTC terminal, so that the quality of uplink and downlink signals is improved.

In one embodiment, a base station supporting the eMTC needs to send a frequency hopping stop message to the eMTC terminal first, so as to avoid the eMTC terminal changing its occupied PRBs, ensure that the occupied PRBs of the terminal are always the same as the PRBs corresponding to the PRB identifiers in the silence message, and ensure that interference avoidance is continuous and effective.

Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of another embodiment of a base station resource allocation method according to the present application.

In step 201, the eMTC-enabled base station determines that the eMTC terminal returns from the coverage boundary of the eMTC-enabled base station to the central area. In one embodiment, the base station supporting the eMTC may determine that the terminal returns to the central area according to the signal strength and the signal quality of the eMTC terminal.

In step 202, a base station supporting eMTC sends a UNMUTE (UNMUTE) message to a neighboring base station that does not support eMTC. In one embodiment, the unmuting message may include an identification of PRBs occupied by the eMTC terminal. The base station supporting the eMTC can determine a target base station of a silence message sent by the base station when the eMTC terminal reaches a boundary, and then send a silence release message to the same target base station, so that on one hand, the situation that redundant signaling occupies channel resources is avoided, and on the other hand, the situation that other base stations mistakenly release silence to cause interference is avoided.

In step 203, after receiving the muting cancellation message, the base station that does not support eMTC allows using the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification in the muting cancellation message.

By the method, the silencing treatment of the corresponding PRB of the base station which does not support the eMTC can be removed after the eMTC terminal returns to the central area, interference is reduced, the full and effective utilization of PRB resources is ensured, and the bearing capacity of a network system is ensured.

In one embodiment, after the base station supporting the eMTC determines that the eMTC terminal returns to the central area from the coverage boundary of the base station supporting the eMTC, a frequency hopping allowing message may be sent to the eMTC terminal, so that the eMTC terminal recovers the frequency hopping capability, thereby improving the flexibility of the terminal operation.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a base station resource scheduling method according to another embodiment of the present application.

In step 301, a base station that does not support eMTC receives a muting message from a neighboring base station that supports eMTC and starts timing. In one embodiment, a base station that does not support eMTC may perform timing operations with an equipped timer.

In step 302, the base station that does not support eMTC configures to avoid using the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification.

In step 303, the base station that does not support eMTC determines whether the silence duration (e.g., 30 minutes) has been reached. In one embodiment, the silence message may include a silence duration, and the timer may be configured to count the maximum duration to be the silence duration. In one embodiment, the base station that does not support eMTC may further configure a predetermined silence duration, and the maximum duration counted by the timer is the predetermined silence duration. After the timer finishes counting, step 304 is executed, otherwise, the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification is kept to be avoided.

In step 304, the base station that does not support eMTC releases the muting process on the PRB, and allows the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification to be used.

By the method, the base station which does not support eMTC cancels the silence after the silence processing of the PRB reaches the silence duration, so that the continuous silence of the corresponding PRB caused by the loss of the silence message or the eMTC terminal leaving the coverage area is avoided, the interference is reduced, the full and effective utilization of PRB resources is ensured, and the bearing capacity of a network system and the stability of the system are ensured.

In one embodiment, the base station that does not support eMTC may release the muting processing on the PRB when any one of the conditions of the muting release message being received or the length of the muting time being reached by the timer is satisfied, and allow the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification to be used, thereby further ensuring the full and effective utilization of PRB resources and ensuring the carrying capacity of the network system.

A schematic diagram of one embodiment of a base station supporting eMTC of the present application is shown in fig. 4. The terminal location determination unit 401 can determine that the eMTC terminal reaches a coverage boundary of a base station supporting the eMTC. In an embodiment, an A3 event may be preconfigured in a base station supporting an eMTC, and when receiving an A3 reported by an eMTC terminal, it is determined that a signal of a neighboring cell is better than a signal of a local cell serving a terminal, that is, it is determined that the terminal reaches a cell edge. In one embodiment, a MUTE decision maker may be configured in a base station to determine that an eMTC terminal reaches a base station coverage edge and to determine to send a muting message.

The terminal PRB determination unit 402 can determine PRBs occupied by an eMTC terminal. In an embodiment, the terminal PRB determining unit 402 may determine the uplink and downlink PRBs occupied by the terminal according to the terminal configuration information, or may obtain the uplink and downlink PRBs occupied by the terminal from the terminal. The message sending unit 403 sends a mute message to a neighboring base station that does not support eMTC through an X2 interface. In one embodiment, a base station supporting eMTC may determine a serving cell of a terminal by determining a location of the terminal, further determine a neighboring cell and a base station that does not support eMTC and covers the neighboring cell, and send a muting message to the determined one or more base stations that do not support eMTC. The silence message includes the PRB identification of the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal reaching the edge of the base station supporting the eMTC. In one embodiment, an identification field may be included in the muting message in order for the target base station to recognize the muting message.

By the method, when the eMTC terminal reaches the edge of the base station supporting the eMTC, the base station supporting the eMTC can determine the PRB used by the terminal so that the adjacent base station not supporting the eMTC can avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal, thereby avoiding the generation of co-channel interference and improving the signal quality.

In one embodiment, the message sending unit 403 is further capable of sending a frequency hopping stop message to the eMTC terminal that reaches the edge of the coverage area of the base station, so as to avoid the eMTC terminal changing its occupied PRB, ensure that the occupied PRB of the terminal is always the same as the PRB corresponding to the PRB identifier in the silence message, and ensure that interference avoidance continues and is effective.

In one embodiment, when determining that the eMTC terminal reaches the coverage edge, the base station supporting the eMTC may first send a handover request to the neighboring cell through an X2 interface, and if the handover is successful, determine that the base station of the neighboring cell is the base station supporting the eMTC; if the rejection is obtained, the base station of the neighboring cell is determined to be the base station that does not support the eMTC, and the activated terminal PRB determination unit 402 executes determining the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal.

The base station supporting the eMTC can determine whether the base station of the adjacent cell supports the eMTC or not based on the existing base station and the message, thereby being better combined with the existing network and being beneficial to popularization and application.

In one embodiment, the terminal location determination unit 401 is capable of determining that the eMTC terminal is returning to the central area from the coverage boundary of the eMTC-enabled base station. In one embodiment, the terminal location determination unit 401 may determine that the terminal returns to the center area based on the signal strength of the eMTC terminal. The message transmitting unit 403 transmits a unmute message to a neighboring base station that does not support eMTC. In one embodiment, the unmuting message may include an identification of PRBs occupied by the eMTC terminal. The base station supporting the eMTC can determine a target base station of a silence message sent by the base station when the eMTC terminal reaches a boundary, and then send a silence release message to the same target base station, so that on one hand, the situation that redundant signaling occupies channel resources is avoided, and on the other hand, the situation that other base stations mistakenly release silence to cause interference is avoided.

The base station supporting the eMTC can remove the silent processing of the corresponding PRB of the base station supporting the eMTC after the eMTC terminal returns to the central area, thereby reducing the interference, ensuring the full and effective utilization of PRB resources and ensuring the bearing capacity of a network system. In one embodiment, after the terminal location determining unit 401 determines that the eMTC terminal returns to the central area from the coverage boundary of the base station supporting the eMTC, the message sending unit 403 may further send a frequency hopping permission message to the eMTC terminal, so that the eMTC terminal recovers the frequency hopping capability, thereby improving the flexibility of the terminal operation.

A schematic diagram of an embodiment of a base station that does not support eMTC is shown in fig. 5. The message receiving unit 501 is capable of receiving a muting message from a base station supporting eMTC. In one embodiment, the muting message may be transmitted between base stations over the X2 interface. The muting message may include PRB identities of PRBs occupied by eMTC terminals that reach the edge of a base station supporting eMTC. The silence control unit 502 can obtain the PRB identification in the silence message, and forbid the base station from using the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification.

The base station which does not support the eMTC can determine and avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal reaching the edge area of the base station supporting the eMTC according to the silence message from the adjacent base station supporting the eMTC, thereby avoiding the generation of co-channel interference and improving the signal quality.

In one embodiment, the message receiving unit 501 is also capable of receiving a unmute message from a neighboring eMTC-enabled base station. In one embodiment, the unmuting message may include an identification of PRBs occupied by the eMTC terminal. The muting control unit 502 can also allow the base station to use the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification in the muting canceling message after the message receiving unit 501 receives the muting canceling message.

The base station which does not support the eMTC can remove the silent processing of the corresponding PRB after the eMTC terminal returns to the central area, thereby reducing the interference, ensuring the full and effective utilization of PRB resources and ensuring the bearing capacity of a network system.

In an embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, the base station that does not support eMTC may further include a muting timer 503, which can start timing after the message receiving unit 501 receives the muting message, and when the timing reaches the muting duration, the muting control unit 502 releases the muting processing on the PRB, and allows using the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification. In one embodiment, the silence message may include a silence duration; in another embodiment, the silence timer 503 may be configured with a default predetermined silence duration, such as 30 minutes.

The base station which does not support the eMTC can remove the silence after the silence processing of the PRB reaches the silence duration, thereby avoiding the continuous silence of the PRB caused by the loss of the silence message or the eMTC terminal leaving the coverage area, ensuring the full and effective utilization of PRB resources while reducing the interference, and ensuring the bearing capacity of a network system and the stability of the system.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a base station of the present application. The base station includes a memory 610 and a processor 620. Wherein: the memory 610 may be a magnetic disk, flash memory, or any other non-volatile storage medium. The memory is used for storing instructions in the corresponding embodiments of the base station resource allocation method. Processor 620 is coupled to memory 610 and may be implemented as one or more integrated circuits, such as a microprocessor or microcontroller. The processor 620 is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, so as to reduce co-channel interference and improve signal quality.

In one embodiment, as also shown in fig. 7, the base station 700 includes a memory 710 and a processor 720. Processor 720 is coupled to memory 710 by BUS 730. The base station 700 may also be coupled to an external storage device 750 via a storage interface 740 for retrieving external data, and to a network or another computer system (not shown) via a network interface 760. And will not be described in detail herein.

In the embodiment, the data instruction is stored by the memory, and the instruction is processed by the processor, so that co-channel interference can be reduced, and the signal quality can be improved.

In another embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium has stored thereon computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method in the corresponding embodiment of the base station resource allocation method. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, apparatus, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable non-transitory storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

A schematic diagram of one embodiment of the networking system of the present application is shown in fig. 8. The base stations eNB1, eNB4, eNB5 may be base stations that support eMTC (e.g., base stations that support both eMTC and LTE), and other base stations, such as eNB2 and eNB3, may be base stations that do not support eMTC (e.g., base stations that support only LTE). The coverage area of each base station includes 3 cells Cell1, Cell2, and Cell3, respectively. The base station supporting eMTC and the base station not supporting eMTC may be any of those mentioned above. In one embodiment, to reduce networking costs and reduce eMTC base station waste, the number of base stations that do not support eMTC may be greater than the number of base stations that support eMTC.

When the eMTC terminal UE reaches the Cell1 Cell edge of the base station eNB1, the eNB1 sends a stop frequency hopping message to the UE, ensuring that the UE does not switch the occupied PRBs. The eNB1 transmits the PRB identification of the PRB occupied by the UE to the surrounding base stations that do not support eMTC through the X2 interface between the base stations through a muting message. In one embodiment, a target base station which does not support eMTC may be determined according to cells which belong to other base station coverage areas and to which the Cell in which the terminal is located is adjacent, for example, a Cell1 is adjacent to a Cell3 in the coverage area of the eNB2, and is adjacent to a Cell2 in the coverage area of the eNB3, so that the eNB1 sends a muting message to the eNB2 and the eNB3, and the eNB2 prohibits the Cell3 and the Cell3 from using PRBs corresponding to the PRB identifiers included in the muting message in the Cell 2.

In the networking system, when an eMTC terminal reaches the coverage edge of the base station supporting the eMTC, the base station supporting the eMTC can determine the PRB used by the terminal, and the adjacent base station not supporting the eMTC avoids using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal according to the silent message from the base station supporting the eMTC, so that the generation of co-channel interference is reduced, and the signal quality is improved. When the eMTC/LTE adopts 1: N networking, the uplink and downlink interference between the eMTC and the LTE is reduced through self-adaptive silent/non-silent corresponding PRB resources, and the signal quality is improved; meanwhile, base station PRB resources which do not support eMTC are fully utilized, the utilization rate of network resources is improved, the networking flexibility is improved, and the networking and operation and maintenance costs are reduced.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an operating method of the networking system of the present application. The base station A is a base station supporting both LTE and eMTC, and the base station B is a base station supporting only LTE. When the base station a determines the coverage edge position of the eMTC terminal base station a, the base station a sends a stop frequency hopping message to the eMTC terminal in 901, and the eMTC terminal may still communicate with the base station a using the original PRB. In one embodiment, the base station a calculates the PRB identities (uplink and downlink) occupied by the eMTC terminal as follows:

downlink PRB identification: PRBk1DL ═ NB _ BaseDL + i ₁ *6

0<＝i1<＝Max(NB DL),0<＝k1<＝Max(PRB DL)----------(1)

And uplink PRB identification: PRBk2UL ═ NB _ BaseUL + i ₂ *6

0<＝i2<＝Max(NB UL),0<＝k2<＝Max(PRB UL)----------(2)

Here, the bandwidth of 1 NB (narrow band) is 1.4MHz, and 6 PRBs are 1 NB, as shown in fig. 9. NB _ BaseDL is a basic downlink NB identifier, namely the minimum value of the downlink NB serial number; NB _ BaseUL base uplink NB identity, i.e. uplink NB sequence number minimum. NB DL is a downlink NB sequence number, and Max (NB DL) is the maximum value of the downlink NB sequence number; NB UL is an uplink NB number, and max (NB UL) is the maximum uplink NB number. PRB DL is a downlink PRB sequence number, and Max (PRB DL) is the maximum value of the downlink PRB sequence number; PRB UL is an uplink PRB sequence number, and Max (PRB UL) is the maximum value of the uplink PRB sequence number. And i1, i2, k1 and k2 are all non-negative integers.

In 902, the base station a sends a muting message to the base station B, which suspends the use of PRBs occupied by the eMTC terminal and therefore does not interfere with the communication between the base station a and the eMTC terminal.

In the networking system, the base station supporting the eMTC can calculate the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal, allocate base station resources in time, improve networking flexibility, reduce networking and operation and maintenance costs, and facilitate eMTC network deployment and cellular Internet of things service expansion.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The present application has been described in detail so far. Some details well known in the art have not been described in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the present application. It will be fully apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description how to practice the presently disclosed embodiments.

The methods and apparatus of the present application may be implemented in a number of ways. For example, the methods and apparatus of the present application may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination of software, hardware, and firmware. The above-described order for the steps of the method is for illustration only, and the steps of the method of the present application are not limited to the order specifically described above unless specifically stated otherwise. Further, in some embodiments, the present application may also be embodied as a program recorded in a recording medium, the program including machine-readable instructions for implementing a method according to the present application. Thus, the present application also covers a recording medium storing a program for executing the method according to the present application.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application and not to limit them; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: modifications to the specific embodiments of the application or equivalent replacements of some of the technical features may still be made; all of which are intended to be encompassed within the scope of the claims appended hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for allocating base station resources comprises the following steps:

a base station supporting enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) determines a coverage boundary of an eMTC terminal reaching the base station supporting the eMTC;

the base station supporting the eMTC determines a physical resource block PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal;

the base station supporting the eMTC sends a silent message to a neighboring base station which does not support the eMTC so as to control the base station which does not support the eMTC to avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the muting message includes an uplink PRB identification and/or a downlink PRB identification occupied by the eMTC terminal.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

and the base station supporting the eMTC sends a frequency hopping stopping message to the eMTC terminal so that the eMTC terminal does not switch the occupied PRBs.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the base station supporting the eMTC determines that the eMTC terminal returns to a central area from a coverage boundary of the base station supporting the eMTC;

the base station supporting the eMTC sends a silence release message to a neighboring base station not supporting the eMTC so as to allow the base station not supporting the eMTC to use the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal; and/or the base station supporting the eMTC sends a frequency hopping allowing message to the eMTC terminal so as to allow the eMTC terminal to switch the occupied PRBs.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein,

and the base station supporting the eMTC determines the coverage boundary of the eMTC terminal reaching the base station supporting the eMTC according to a signal from the eMTC terminal indicating that an adjacent cell is superior to a serving cell A3 event.

6. A method for allocating base station resources comprises the following steps:

a base station which does not support enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) receives a silent message from an adjacent base station which supports the eMTC, wherein the silent message comprises a Physical Resource Block (PRB) identifier;

and the base station which does not support eMTC avoids using the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

the base station which does not support eMTC starts timing after receiving the silence message;

when the timing reaches the silent duration, the base station which does not support eMTC allows the PRB corresponding to the PRB identifier to be used, wherein the silent message also comprises the silent duration; or, when the timing reaches a predetermined silent duration, the base station not supporting the eMTC allows the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification to be used.

8. The method of claim 6 or 7, further comprising:

the base station which does not support the eMTC receives a silence removing message from the adjacent base station which supports the eMTC, wherein the silence removing message comprises a PRB mark;

and the base station which does not support eMTC allows the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification in the silence removing message to be used.

9. A base station supporting enhanced machine type communication, eMTC, comprising:

a terminal position determining unit, configured to determine a coverage boundary where an eMTC terminal reaches the base station supporting the eMTC;

a terminal physical resource block PRB determining unit, configured to determine a physical resource block PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal;

a message sending unit, configured to send a muting message to a neighboring base station that does not support the eMTC to control the base station that does not support the eMTC to avoid using the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal.

10. The base station according to claim 9, wherein the muting message includes an uplink PRB identification and/or a downlink PRB identification occupied by the eMTC terminal.

11. The base station of claim 9 or 10, wherein the message sending unit is further configured to send a stop hopping message to the eMTC terminal to cause the eMTC terminal not to switch occupied PRBs.

12. The base station of claim 9, further comprising:

the terminal position determining unit is further configured to determine that the eMTC terminal returns to a central area from a coverage boundary of the base station supporting the eMTC;

the message sending unit is further configured to, when the terminal location determination unit determines that the eMTC terminal returns to a central area from a coverage boundary of the eMTC-enabled base station:

sending a silence release message to a neighboring base station which does not support eMTC to allow the base station which does not support eMTC to use the PRB occupied by the eMTC terminal; and/or sending a frequency hopping allowing message to the eMTC terminal to allow the eMTC terminal to switch the occupied PRBs.

13. The base station of claim 10, wherein the terminal location determination unit is to determine a coverage boundary for the eMTC terminal to reach the eMTC-enabled base station based on a signal from the eMTC terminal indicating a neighbor cell better than serving cell a3 event.

14. A base station that does not support enhanced machine type communication, eMTC, comprising:

a message receiving unit, configured to receive a muting message from a neighboring base station that supports eMTC, where the muting message includes a physical resource block PRB identifier;

and the silence control unit is used for forbidding to use the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification.

15. The base station of claim 14, further comprising:

a silence timer for starting timing after the message receiving unit receives the silence message;

the silent control unit is further configured to allow the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification to be used after the silent timer counts a silent duration, where the silent message further includes the silent duration; or, after the silent timer reaches a preset silent duration, allowing the PRB corresponding to the PRB identifier to be used.

16. The base station according to claim 14 or 15,

the message receiving unit is further configured to receive a silence release message from the neighboring base station supporting the eMTC, where the silence release message includes a PRB identification;

the silence control unit is further configured to allow the PRB corresponding to the PRB identification in the silence canceling message to be used after the message receiving unit receives the silence canceling message.

17. A base station, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-8 based on instructions stored in the memory.

18. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 8.

19. A networking system, comprising:

the eMTC-capable base station of any one of claims 9 to 13; and the combination of (a) and (b),

the base station of any of claims 14-16 that does not support eMTC.