JP2011091853A - Handover control method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable handover of a mobile station to secure quality of communication services desired by a user when a base station is in a congestion state. <P>SOLUTION: Communication of a radio base station is determined whether it will become the congestion state. When communication of the radio base station is determined to become the congestion state, a combination of any one of mobile stations communicating with the radio base station and a plurality of radio base stations which can communicate with the mobile station is selected according to a predetermined standard, and the mobile station's communicating partner in the selected combination is switched to a plurality of radio base stations in the selected combination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a control system for controlling a mobile station for mobile communication typified by a mobile phone, and more particularly to a system for performing a handover in which a mobile station switches a radio base station of a communication counterpart in such a system, that is, a handover. .

  In mobile communication such as a mobile phone, control for switching a radio base station of a communication partner as the mobile station moves, that is, handover is essential. A conventional system for realizing the handover is shown in FIG. This system includes a mobile station 30, a plurality of radio base stations (in this case, two radio base stations are shown) 21 and 22, and an RNC (Radio Network Controller) 10. The RNC 10 includes an electric field strength measurement control device 11, a radio resource management device 12, and a switch 13.

  Next, FIG. 22 shows an operation flow of this handover. The mobile station 30 is connected to the backbone network via the radio base station 1 (21) and the switch 13, and is a network operated by a communication carrier other than the mobile carrier that operates the backbone network via the backbone network. It is assumed that communication is being performed with a PSTN (Pub1ic Switched Te1ephone Network), ISDN (Integrated Service Digita1 Network), or a terminal existing in the Internet. As the mobile station 30 moves, it moves away from the radio base station 1 (21) and approaches the radio base station 2 (22), so that the electric field strength from the radio base station 1 (21) becomes weaker. The electric field strength from (22) becomes stronger. Since the electric field strength measurement control device 11 asks the mobile station 30 to measure and report the electric field strength of the surrounding radio base stations including the radio base station 1 (21) (S1 of the operation flow), the mobile station 30 measures the electric field strength of a plurality of radio base stations around its own station, and transmits the information to the electric field strength measurement control device 11 via the radio base station 1 (21) in communication (S2, S3 in the operation flow). ). When the field strength of the radio base station 2 (22) becomes stronger than the field strength of the radio base station 1 (21), the field strength measurement control device 11 notifies the radio resource management device 12 that the handover is performed (operation Flow S4).

  The radio resource management device 12 manages radio resources necessary for communication between the mobile station and the radio base station. Radio resources are so-called physical quantities, and their types are determined by the multiple access method and duplex method of the wireless system. Specifically, in the case of FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access), the bandwidth of the carrier and the allocation time of the carrier for a certain communication, and in the case of TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), the bandwidth of the carrier and the allocation of the carrier This is the number of radio slots obtained by subdividing the time at regular time intervals. Furthermore, in the case of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), it is the bandwidth of the carrier and the transmission power density, which depends on the spreading factor. The maximum value of these values is determined by the maximum transmission capability of each radio base station and mobile station.

  The radio resource management apparatus that manages such radio resources uses a radio resource amount equivalent to the radio resources allocated to the radio base station 1 (21) to communicate with the mobile station 30 as the radio base station 2 (22). And a new radio channel is set (S5 of the operation flow). That is, even if the communication partner of the mobile station 30 switches from the radio base station 1 (21) to the radio base station 2 (22), the transmission capacity between the mobile station 30 and the radio base station does not change. However, when the same amount of radio resources as before switching cannot be secured (S6 of the operation flow), and when the field strength of the newly set radio channel is insufficient and not suitable for communication (S8 of the operation flow), the radio Resource reselection or handover is canceled (S11 in the operation flow). At the same time, the radio resource management device 12 controls the switch 13 to switch the connection between the backbone network and the radio base station 1 (21) to the connection between the backbone network and the radio base station 2 (22) (operation flow S9). . Further, the radio resource management device 12 controls the mobile station 30 to switch the communication partner from the radio base station 1 (21) to the radio base station 2 (22) via the radio base station 1 (21). (S10 of the operation flow). Since these switching controls are performed in synchronization, communication is hardly interrupted during handover.

  The aforementioned control procedure is called Mobile-Assisted Handover, and is a procedure used in PDC (Personal Digita1 Cellular Telecommunication System). The explanation of this procedure is detailed in “Digital Radio Car Telephone System Standard RCRSTD-27H Version” (Radio Industry Association).

  As described above, in the conventional handover system, the trigger for starting the handover is determined by observing the electric field strength or the amount of radio wave interference. For this reason, in the conventional system, when the amount of user information of the mobile station 30 increases and traffic through a specific radio base station increases, the handover is not activated. For this reason, there is a problem that the radio resources of the radio base station are insufficient and the usable communication band is reduced. In such a system, when providing a packet communication service that communicates user information in units of packets only when user information to be transmitted occurs, for example, in the case of PDC-P (PDC mobile packet communications Systems), radio resources are Even if the communication is insufficient, the communication itself can be ensured, but the throughput may be significantly reduced, which may cause inconvenience for the user. In addition, when a shortage of radio resources occurs in a certain radio base station, even if there is a surplus in radio resources of another radio base station, the radio network as a whole can be wirelessly communicated by communicating this radio base station and the mobile station. It has been difficult to make effective use of resources.

  Furthermore, as a low-cost communication service in a wired communication network, a minimum bandwidth guarantee type IP (Internet Protoco 1) communication service that guarantees only the lower limit of throughput is now provided. However, in the conventional mobile communication, it is difficult to apply such a bandwidth guarantee service to the mobile communication because the increase in traffic may cause a significant decrease in throughput as described above.

  Conventionally, a handover system has been proposed in which, when communication at a certain radio base station becomes congested, the communication partner of the mobile station communicating with that radio base station is switched to an adjacent radio base station. (For example, JP 2000-175243 A). In such a handover system, a handover instruction is issued to all mobile stations that communicate with a radio base station that has become congested. Then, all mobile stations that can communicate with the radio base stations adjacent to the congested radio base station are handed over to the adjacent radio base stations.

  However, if all the mobile stations that can communicate with the adjacent radio base station among the mobile stations that communicate with the radio base station in the congestion state are handed over to the adjacent radio base station, the congestion state Depending on the communication status of the handover destination radio base station, some of the handed over mobile stations can continue to communicate with the original radio base station, although the traffic of the existing radio base station will decrease. A situation where the bandwidth is large may occur. In such a case, the quality of the communication service received at the mobile station is degraded.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable handover of a mobile station that communicates with a radio base station that is in a congested state so as to ensure as much as possible the quality of communication service that the user desires when the radio base station is congested. A handover control method and system are provided.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, in a handover control method for switching a radio base station that is a communication partner of a mobile station, any one of the mobile stations in communication with the radio base station is determined in advance. When it is detected that communication with the minimum bandwidth has been ensured and the detection is made, the communication partner of the mobile station that communicates with the radio base station is transferred from the radio base station to another radio base station. Configured to switch to a station.

  In such a handover control method, when one of the mobile stations in communication with the radio base station can no longer communicate with a predetermined minimum bandwidth, the mobile base station communicates with the radio base station. The communication partner of the mobile station that performs is switched from the radio base station to another radio base station.

  The mobile station to which the radio base station to be the communication partner is switched may be a mobile station that cannot communicate with the minimum bandwidth secured or any other mobile station. Further, the number of mobile stations to which the radio base station to be a communication partner can be switched may be one or more.

  When the communication partner of a mobile station that has become unable to communicate in a state where the minimum bandwidth is secured is switched to another radio base station, depending on the amount of radio resources used in the radio base station after the switch, the minimum Communication can be performed with the bandwidth secured. In addition, when the communication partner of a mobile station other than the mobile station that cannot communicate with the minimum bandwidth secured is switched to another radio base station, the radio resource used by the mobile station is the minimum bandwidth Can be assigned to the communication of a mobile station that has become unable to communicate in a state where the minimum bandwidth is secured, and communication can be performed in a state where the minimum bandwidth is secured.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to the present invention, in a handover control method for switching a radio base station that is a communication partner of a mobile station, any one of the mobile stations in communication with the radio base station Detects that communication in a state where a predetermined minimum bandwidth is secured is not possible, and when the detection is made, the communication partner of the mobile station that communicates with the radio base station is set to a plurality of radio base stations. Configured to switch.

  In such a handover control method, the communication partner of the mobile station is switched to a plurality of radio base stations. As a result, a plurality of radio base stations share radio resources necessary for communication with mobile stations.

  The plurality of radio base stations that are switched as communication partners of the mobile station that communicates with the radio base station may include the radio base station that communicates with the mobile station before the switching.

  From the viewpoint that it is preferable to switch the communication partner of the mobile station to a radio base station having a higher received electric field strength, according to the present invention, in each handover control method described above, the electric field strength of the radio base station obtained from each mobile station. Based on the information, as a mobile base station to be handed over and a wireless base station to be a communication partner, a wireless base station having the strongest electric field strength, except for a combination of a wireless base station currently communicating and a mobile station, It can be configured to select an observed mobile station.

  From the viewpoint that it is preferable to switch a mobile station whose communication band is sacrificed as much as possible to a radio base station with sufficient radio resources, according to the present invention, in each of the above handover control methods, the mobile station to be handed over As a radio base station, the mobile station is configured to select a radio station that has a radio resource allocation amount that is closest to the minimum bandwidth and that has no room for an increase in the amount of user information, and a radio base station that has the most radio resource remaining. be able to.

  From the same point of view, according to the present invention, in each of the above handover control methods, as a mobile station and a radio base station to be handed over, a mobile station having the highest minimum bandwidth value and requiring a lot of radio resources, It can be configured to select a radio base station with the most remaining resources.

  In each of the above handover control methods, from the viewpoint of providing a specific method for detecting that communication in a state where the minimum bandwidth is secured cannot be performed, any of the mobile stations in communication with the radio base station The detection that the mobile station is unable to communicate in a state where a predetermined minimum bandwidth is secured is performed by detecting the electric field strength, the code error rate, the frame error rate, the cell discard rate, or a plurality of them. It is possible to measure a combination of the above and perform the measurement based on the measurement result.

  Further, according to the present invention, in each of the handover control methods, the mobile station can select the radio base station that is the communication partner after the switching, or the communication partner after the switching. A radio base station is selected by a node other than the mobile station, information about the selected radio base station is notified from the node to the mobile station, and the radio base station that is the communication partner of the mobile station notifies It is also possible to switch to a designated radio base station.

  From the viewpoint of enabling handover between radio communication systems that employ different protocols, according to the present invention, in each of the above handover control methods, the radio base of the first radio communication system that employs the first communication protocol. Detect that one of the mobile stations communicating with the station is unable to communicate with a predetermined minimum bandwidth, and communicate with the radio base station when the detection is made. When switching the communication partner of the mobile station to perform to the radio base station of the second radio communication system adopting the second communication protocol, the information about the radio resource about the mobile station is transferred to the first radio communication via the wired section. The system may be configured to perform protocol conversion and transfer to the second wireless communication system.

  Further, in order to solve the above problem, according to the present invention, in a handover control method for switching a radio base station that is a communication partner of a mobile station, it is determined whether or not communication of the radio base station is in a congested state. When it is determined that the communication of the base station becomes congested, a combination of any mobile station that communicates with the radio base station and one or more radio base stations that can communicate with the mobile station It is configured to select according to criteria and switch the communication partner of the mobile station in the selected combination to one or more radio base stations in the combination.

  In such a handover control method, when it is determined that the communication of the radio base station is in a congested state, one of the mobile stations that communicate with the base station and one or more radio bases that can communicate with the mobile station The combination with the station is selected according to a predetermined criterion. Then, the communication partner of the mobile station in the selected combination is switched to one or a plurality of radio base stations in the combination.

  The combination of the mobile station and one or a plurality of radio base stations can be selected as a single or a plurality of combinations. In addition, the plurality of radio base stations may include the radio base station that is currently communicating with the mobile station.

  The congestion state in the radio base station includes the amount of free radio resources in the radio base station, the radio resource amount used by the mobile station communicating with the radio base station, the error rate in communication, and the minimum predetermined mobile station. It can be determined based on various information such as whether or not communication is performed in a band.

  From the viewpoint that the communication partner of the mobile station can be switched to a radio base station having as much radio resources as possible, according to the present invention, in the handover control method, a combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is selected. The predetermined reference for the configuration can be configured to be determined based on the amount of free radio resources or the amount of radio resources used in the radio base station.

  From the viewpoint that the communication partner of the mobile station can be switched to a radio base station having a communication state as good as possible, according to the present invention, in each handover control method, the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is selected. The predetermined reference can be configured to be determined based on the received electric field strength in communication between the mobile station and the radio base station.

  From the viewpoint that the communication partner of a mobile station that does not satisfy the required data communication volume can be switched as much as possible, according to the present invention, in each handover control method, the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is The predetermined criterion for selection can be configured to be determined based on a ratio of a radio resource amount actually used to a radio resource amount allowed for the mobile station.

  From the viewpoint that the switching of the communication partner of the mobile station can be made easier, according to the present invention, in each handover control method, the predetermined criterion for selecting the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is the mobile station Can be determined based on the number of radio base stations that should perform simultaneous communication after switching of communication partners.

  In such a handover control method, for example, the communication partner of the mobile station can be preferentially switched to a smaller number of radio base stations. In this case, switching to a smaller number of radio base stations can be performed relatively easily.

  According to the present invention, in each handover control method described above, in the above handover control method, the mobile station and the radio base station that has been communicating before switching as much as possible can be included as communication partners of the switched mobile station. The predetermined criteria for selecting the combination with the radio base station is determined based on whether or not the mobile station includes a radio base station that is currently communicating with the radio base station to communicate with after the communication partner is switched. It can be constituted as follows.

  According to the present invention, in each handover control method described above, a combination of each mobile station that communicates with the radio base station and one or more radio base stations of the radio base station and radio base stations adjacent thereto. On the other hand, it is possible to assign a priority regarding the appropriateness of performing communication with each other according to the predetermined standard, and to select a combination of a mobile station and a radio base station having a higher priority.

  The priority is not particularly limited as long as the mobile station and the radio base station are related to the appropriateness of communication with each other, and even if the priority is expressed by a score given according to a predetermined standard, It may be represented by itself. That is, it represents that a combination of a mobile station and a radio base station having a higher priority is suitable for more communication. Being suitable for communication means that communication can be performed with better communication quality and that control necessary for handover can be easily performed.

  From the standpoint that processing related to handover can be concentrated, according to the present invention, in each of the above handover control methods, one or a plurality of mobile stations that communicate with the radio base station can communicate with the mobile station. The processing for selecting a combination with a radio base station can be configured to be performed at a node connected to each radio base station via a wired section.

  From the viewpoint that processing related to handover can be distributed, according to the present invention, in each handover control method described above, a mobile station that communicates with the radio base station can communicate with the mobile station and the mobile station. A process for selecting a combination with a plurality of radio base stations according to the predetermined criterion may be performed.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the handover control method, the mobile station communicating with the radio base station can be configured to determine whether or not the radio base station is in a congestion state.

  From the viewpoint that the communication quality of the mobile station can be maintained higher and reliably, according to the present invention, in each of the handover control methods, the communication partner of the mobile station is switched to the one or more radio base stations. Later, the communication state between the mobile station and one or more radio base stations is observed, and when the observed communication state becomes worse than a predetermined reference state, the communication partner of the mobile station is again selected. It can be configured to perform processing for switching.

  In such a handover control method, after the communication partner of the mobile station is switched, if the communication state between the mobile station and the wireless base station after the switch is worse than a predetermined state, the communication partner of the mobile station Switched. For this reason, the said mobile station comes to be able to perform communication in a better state more reliably.

  According to the present invention, in the handover control method, an error rate in communication between a mobile station and one or a plurality of radio base stations can be observed as the communication state.

  In order to solve the above problem, according to the present invention, in a handover system for switching a radio base station that is a communication partner of a mobile station, one of the mobile stations communicating with the radio base station is predetermined. The detecting means for detecting that communication with the minimum bandwidth secured cannot be performed, and the communication with the mobile terminal securing the minimum bandwidth set in advance by any of the mobile stations is no longer possible. When detected, the mobile station is configured to have switching control means for switching the communication partner of the mobile station that communicates with the radio base station from the radio base station to another radio base station.

  Further, according to the present invention, in a handover control system that switches a radio base station that is a counterpart of communication of a mobile station, any mobile station that is communicating with the radio base station has a predetermined minimum bandwidth. Detecting means for detecting that communication in the secured state can no longer be performed, and detecting that any mobile station has secured a predetermined minimum bandwidth by the detecting means. In some cases, the mobile station is configured to have switching control means for switching a communication partner of a mobile station that communicates with the wireless base station to a plurality of wireless base stations.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, in a handover control system that switches a radio base station that is a communication partner of a mobile station, a congestion determination unit that determines whether or not communication of the radio base station is in a congestion state, and the congestion determination unit A combination of one mobile station that can communicate with the mobile base station and one or more radio base stations that can communicate with the mobile base station when it is determined that the communication of the radio base station is congested Selecting means according to a predetermined criterion, and switching control means for switching the communication partner of the mobile station in the selected combination to one or a plurality of radio base stations in the combination.

  In the handover system of the present invention, even if a certain radio base station is congested, a mobile station can be handed over to another radio base station that is not congested, so that it is possible to effectively utilize radio resources in the entire mobile communication network. . Further, since the minimum transmission capacity or throughput desired by the user can be ensured, the convenience of the user can be achieved.

It is a block block diagram showing the 1st example of the handover system of this invention. It is a figure showing the operation | movement flow of the handover system of this invention. It is a block block diagram which shows the 2nd example of the handover system of this invention. It is a figure showing the example of a structure of the signal distribution / synthesis apparatus of this invention. It is a figure showing the operation | movement flow of the 2nd example of this invention. It is a block block diagram which shows the 3rd example of the handover system of this invention. It is a figure showing the operation | movement flow of the 3rd example of this invention. It is a block block diagram which shows the 4th example of the handover system of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the mobile communication system with which the 5th example of the handover system of this invention is applied. It is a block block diagram which shows the 5th example of the handover system of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the procedure of a handover process. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the process sequence for selecting an optimal mobile station and a radio base station. It is a figure which shows an example (the 1) of an evaluation score table | surface. It is a figure which shows an example (the 2) of an evaluation score table | surface. It is a figure which shows an example (the 3) of an evaluation score table | surface. It is a figure which shows an example of the management table of an evaluation point. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the process sequence for selecting the optimal mobile station and radio | wireless base station in the 6th example of the handover system of this invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure for selecting an optimal mobile station and radio base station in a seventh example of the handover system of the present invention. It is a block block diagram which shows the 8th example of the handover system of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the procedure of a handover process. It is a block block diagram which shows a prior art example. It is a figure showing the operation | movement flow of a prior art example.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first example of a handover system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The system includes mobile stations (here, 1 and 2) 31, 32, a plurality of radio base stations (here, 1 and 2) 21, 22, and the RNC 10. The RNC 10 includes a minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14, an electric field strength measurement control device 11, a radio resource management device 12, and a switch 13.

  The operation flow of this system is shown in FIG. First, it is assumed that the mobile station 1 (31) and the mobile station 2 (32) are communicating with different terminals in the Internet, PSTN, and ISDN via the radio base station 1 (21), the switch 13, and the backbone network. . At this time, the case where the amount of user information of the mobile station 1 (31) increases and the radio base station 1 (22) becomes congested will be described. First, the minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14 stores in advance the minimum bandwidth desired by the user for each user and each communication service (operation flow S1). Next, based on this information, the minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14 sets a lower limit value of the radio resource amount that satisfies the minimum bandwidth desired by the user (operation flow S2). For example, the minimum required number of radio carriers, the number of slots, or the number of spreading codes are set singly or in combination. In addition, it is possible to limit the number of mobile stations that randomly access a particular radio channel.

The radio base station 1 (21) measures the amount of traffic passing through its own station, and notifies the radio resource management apparatus 12 when it becomes congested. The radio resource management device 12 needs to newly allocate radio resources in order to cope with an increase in traffic with respect to this radio base station. However, the radio resources of one radio base station are limited, and the radio resources are insufficient. Then, the radio resource management device 12 inquires of the minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14 whether the communication between the radio base station 1 (21) and each mobile station satisfies the minimum bandwidth (operation flow S3). At the time of this inquiry (S4 in the operation flow), if there is a mobile station that does not satisfy the minimum bandwidth, the radio resource management device 12 determines that the mobile station to be handed over (here, mobile station 1 (31)) its switching destination radio base A station (here, wireless base station 2 (22)) is selected. As a selection method,
(1) A method of selecting a radio base station having the strongest electric field intensity and a mobile station that has observed the radio base station based on the electric field intensity information of the radio base station obtained from each mobile station through the electric field intensity measurement control device 11 (2) A method of selecting a mobile station whose radio resource allocation amount is closest to the minimum bandwidth and a radio base station having the most surplus radio resources based on the radio resource management information (3) A high minimum bandwidth value and a large number of radio resources Examples include a method of selecting a required mobile station and a radio base station having the most radio resources. A plurality of these may be combined. Furthermore, radio resources are allocated to the radio base station 2 (22) so that the radio base station does not fall below the lower limit value of the radio resource amount set by the minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14, and a new radio channel is set (operation) Flow S6). Next, the electric field strength measurement control device 11 instructs via the radio base station 1 (21) to observe from the mobile station 1 (31) whether the newly set radio channel is suitable for communication (operation flow). S7). If it is suitable for communication, the electric field strength measurement control device 11 instructs the radio resource management device 12 to execute handover. The radio resource management device 12 controls the switch 13 to switch the connection between the backbone network and the radio base station 1 (21) to the connection between the backbone network and the radio base station 2 (22) (S9 in the operation flow). Further, the radio resource management device 12 switches the radio base station 1 (21) to the radio base station 2 (22) to completely switch the communication partner of the mobile station from the radio base station 1 (21) to the radio base station 2 (22). 22) and the mobile station 1 (31) are controlled (S10 in the operation flow). These switching operations are performed in synchronization.

  Note that this handover system has a function of performing handover by observing a decrease in electric field strength, occurrence of radio wave interference, and fading as in the conventional system.

  FIG. 3 shows a second example of the handover system according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this system, when neither of the radio base station 1 (21) and the radio base station 2 (22) can secure sufficient radio resources alone, both the radio base station 1 (21) and the radio base station 2 (22) And guarantee the minimum bandwidth by adding the transmission capacity in both communications. If there is still a shortage, the third and fourth radio base stations are selected, and the minimum bandwidth is guaranteed by communicating with a large number of radio base stations. The system of the present invention includes mobile stations (here, 1 and 2) 31, 32, a plurality of radio base stations (here, 1 and 2) 21, 22, and the RNC 10. The RNC 10 includes a minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14, a signal distribution / synthesis device 15, an electric field strength measurement control device 11, a radio resource management device 12, and a switch 13. An example of the signal distribution / synthesis device 15 is shown in FIG. In this apparatus, it is divided into an upstream circuit and a downstream circuit. Signals are input from the radio base station for the upstream circuit and from the exchange for the downstream circuit. These signals are distributed by distributors 151, 152, 161, 162 to signals for each mobile station for uplink and for each radio base station for downlink. The distributed signals are synthesized by the synthesizers 153, 154, 163, and 164 according to the order of transmission at the transmission source and output.

  On the other hand, a mobile station compatible with this system includes a plurality of transmission / reception apparatuses for communicating with a plurality of radio base stations and a signal distribution / combination apparatus for distributing user information to the plurality of transmission / reception apparatuses. The signal distribution / synthesizing apparatus has the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 4, except that the combiner is removed from the upstream circuit, the distributor is removed from the downstream circuit, and the input side is removed from the upstream side. The output side may be configured with one terminal.

  Next, an operation flow is shown in FIG. In this system, when it is determined that the minimum bandwidth desired by the user cannot be satisfied (S4 of the operation flow), the radio resource management device 12 selects a mobile station to be handed over and a plurality of switching destination radio base stations (of the operation flow). S5). Specific selection methods include a method that prioritizes a combination of radio base stations measured by a mobile station with strong electric field strength, a method that prioritizes a combination with a large amount of radio resources, and a method that combines these methods. . Next, the radio resource management apparatus 12 allocates radio resources to the selected mobile station 1 (31) and the plurality of radio base stations so as to satisfy the minimum bandwidth required by the mobile station 1 (31), and newly creates a radio channel. Is set (S6 of the operation flow). Next, in order to determine whether the radio channel newly set by the radio resource management device 12 is suitable for communication, the electric field strength measurement control device 11 measures the electric field strength and reports the result so that the mobile station 1 ( 31). When the field strength measuring device 12 determines that the newly set radio channel is suitable for communication, the field strength measuring device 12 instructs the radio resource management device 12 to perform handover. The radio resource management device 12 controls the signal distribution / combination device 15 to distribute / combine the signals for each mobile station (S9 in the operation flow). Further, the radio resource management device 12 controls the switch 13 to switch the signal for each mobile station, and sends this signal to the Internet or the like via the backbone network (S10 in the operation flow).

  FIG. 6 shows a third example in which a minimum bandwidth monitoring device 16 for monitoring whether or not the minimum bandwidth of each user and each communication service is guaranteed to the handover system. The operation flow is shown in FIG. In the system of the present invention, for example, the minimum bandwidth monitoring device 16 is installed between the switch 13 and the backbone network, and the throughput is measured for all or any of each user and each communication service (operation flow S12). . Specifically, an error detection function is provided in each frame for an information signal having a frame configuration. As this function, for example, CRC (Cyc1ic Redundancy Control 1) for adding a redundant code can be cited. Using this function, for example, when retransmission is not performed, if a frame error is detected, it is determined that the frame has not been transmitted, thereby obtaining a throughput within a unit time. Furthermore, if the measurement result does not satisfy the minimum bandwidth (S13 in the operation flow), the minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14 reassigns radio resources and newly sets a radio channel.

  FIG. 8 shows a fourth example in which the handover system is applied to handover between systems having different communication protocols for wireless transmission paths. This system includes a system 2 having the same configuration as that of the conventional example, and a system 1 having the same operation as that of the conventional system, and a system 1 having a radio transmission path in which the system 2 is subordinate and the communication protocol of the system 2 is different. As an example in this case, it may be considered that the system 1 corresponds to IMT-2000 and the system 2 corresponds to PDC.

  The system 1 includes mobile stations (here, 1 and 2) 31, 32, a plurality of radio base stations (here, 1 and 2) 21, 22, and the RNC 10. The RNC 10 includes a minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14, protocol converters 17 and 18, an electric field strength measurement control device 11, a radio resource management device 12, and a switch 13.

  In this system, the switch 13 of the system 1 and the exchange 103 of the system 2 are connected via a protocol converter 17. Further, the minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14 of the system 1 and the radio resource management device 102 of the system 2 are also connected via the protocol converter 18. Note that the communication protocol of the wireless transmission path in this system is different between the system 1 and the system 2. Therefore, the mobile station incorporates a transmission / reception device for system 1 and a transmission / reception device for system 2 in order to support communication protocols of both systems. In addition, a switch for switching between the two transmission / reception devices under the control of the system 1 or the system 2 is also incorporated.

  The operation of this system is almost the same as that described in the first example described above, except that the minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14 communicates with the radio resource management device 102 of the system 2 via the protocol converter 18. Further, the radio resource management apparatus 12 of the system 1 and the radio resource management apparatus 102 of the system 2 exchange information via the protocol converter 18 when adjusting between the two for allocation of radio resources.

  Furthermore, a fifth example of the handover system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this fifth example, when a certain radio base station is congested, select a mobile station suitable for handover from each mobile station communicating with that radio base station to an adjacent radio base station, The selected mobile station is handed over to the adjacent radio base station.

  A mobile communication system to which the handover system according to the fifth example is applied is configured as shown in FIG. 9, for example.

  In FIG. 9, radio base stations BS1, BS2, and BS3 are connected to the RNC 10, and the RNC 10 is connected to the backbone network. With such a configuration, each mobile station MS1 to MS5 located in the communication area of each radio base station BS1, BS2, BS3 can communicate with the PSTN (Public Switched) via the radio base stations BS1, BS2, BS3, RNC10 and the backbone network. It can communicate with terminals existing on the Telephone Network (ISDN), ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network), and the Internet. In addition, this fifth example shows a configuration in which five mobile stations MS1 to MS5 communicate with three radio base stations BS1, BS2, and BS3, and the present invention is not particularly limited thereto. Absent.

  A handover system applied to the mobile communication system as described above is configured as shown in FIG. 10, for example.

  In FIG. 10, the RNC 10 includes a field strength measurement control device 11, a radio resource management device 12, and a switch 13 as in the above example. The RNC 10 further includes a mobile station management device 19. This mobile station management device 19 uses a predetermined evaluation score table from the viewpoints of received electric field strength and used radio resources as will be described later, and establishes communication between each mobile station and each radio base station that should communicate with the mobile station. Evaluate the combination. Then, an optimal combination of the mobile station and the handover destination radio base station is selected from the combinations of the mobile stations and the radio base station according to the evaluation result.

  For example, in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, a description will be given of a handover process performed when the mobile station MS1 communicating with the radio base station BS1 moves from the communication area of the radio base station BS1 to the communication area of the radio base station BS2. .

  As shown in FIG. 9, the radio base station BS1 communicates with the mobile stations MS1 and MS5 located in the communication area, and the radio base station BS2 communicates with the mobile stations MS2 and MS3 located in the communication area. Communicating with MS4. In particular, paying attention to the mobile station MS1 and the mobile station MS2, the communication sequence is as shown in FIG. 11, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 11A, in a state where the mobile station MS1 communicates with the radio base station BS1 and the mobile station MS2 communicates with the radio base station BS2, the received electric field from the electric field strength measurement control device 11 in the RNC 10 An intensity measurement instruction is transmitted to each mobile station MS1, MS2 via each radio base station BS1 and BS2. In accordance with the instruction, each mobile station MS1, MS2 measures the electric field strength from each radio base station existing in the vicinity, and reports the measured value to the RNC 10 via the radio base stations BS1, BS2.

  The mobile station MS1 moves to the communication area of the radio base station BS2 while communicating with the radio base station BS1. At that time, as shown in FIG. 11 (b), the field strength measurement value from the radio base station BS1 and the field strength measurement value from the radio base station BS2 reported to the field strength measurement control device 11 of the mobile station MS1 to RNC10. Are compared. When the electric field strength from the radio base station BS2 becomes larger than the electric field strength from the radio base station BS1 by a predetermined amount or more, the RNC 10 triggers the communication partner of the mobile station MS1 from the radio base station BS1 to the radio base station BS2. Control for switching (handover) is started (handover 1). However, in this case, the radio base station BS2 is using a lot of radio resources for communication with the mobile stations MS2, MS3, and MS4, and there is a shortage of radio resources to be newly allocated for communication with the mobile station MS1. If the radio base station BS2 determines that the radio base station BS2 is operating (congested), the radio base station BS2 is instructed via the RNC 10 to interrupt the handover of the mobile station MS1, and the instruction is transmitted to the radio base station BS1. The data is further transferred from BS1 to mobile station MS1.

  In this way, the mobile station MS1 that has received the instruction to interrupt the handover maintains the communication state with the radio base station BS1. In this state, as shown in FIG. 11C, the radio base station BS2 reports to the RNC 10 that the radio resources are insufficient. Receiving this report, the RNC 10 has already communicated with the radio base station BS2 in order to enable communication between the mobile station MS1 that has moved to the communication area of the radio base station BS2 and the radio base station BS2. A process for selecting a mobile station suitable for handover to an adjacent radio base station from the mobile stations MS2, MS3, and MS4 is performed. Details of this processing will be described later.

  When a combination of a mobile station to be handed over and a radio base station to be handed over is selected in this way, the mobile station in the selected combination is handed over to the radio base station in the combination (handover 2). For example, when it is decided to share the communication of the mobile station MS2 to be handed over between the radio base stations BS2 and BS3 (see the second example), the handover process (field strength measurement, report, base station switching) of the mobile station MS2 The control establishes a link between the mobile station MS2 and the radio base stations BS2 and BS3. The mobile station MS2 performs wireless communication in parallel with the wireless mobile stations BS2 and BS3, and further communicates with other communication terminals via the RNC 10 and the backbone network.

  As described above, when a part of the radio resources necessary for the communication of the mobile station MS2 is shared by the radio base station BS3 (partial handover of the mobile station MS2), the radio base station BS2 enters the communication area. Radio resources for the mobile station MS1 that has moved to communicate with the radio base station BS2 can be secured. In such a state, the RNC 10 resumes the handover process of the mobile station MS1 that has been interrupted as described above (see (d) in FIG. 12). That is, the RNC 10 instructs each radio base station BS1, BS2 and mobile station MS1 to resume base station switching control. As a result, the communication partner of the mobile station MS1 is switched from the radio base station BS1 to the radio base station BS2 (handover). Thereafter, the mobile station MS1 communicates with other terminals via the radio base station BS2, the RNC 10, and the backbone network.

  As described above, even when the mobile station MS1 moves to the communication area of the radio base station BS2, even if the radio base station BS2 becomes congested, it already communicates with the radio base station BS2. By handing over a mobile station to an adjacent radio base station BS3 (including partial handover), radio resources for communication between the mobile station MS1 that has moved and the radio base station BS2 can be secured. become. Then, the processing as described above is performed in a chain for each radio base station, so that more mobile stations can reliably communicate.

  As described above, in order to enable communication between the mobile station MS1 that has moved to the communication area of the radio base station BS2 and the radio base station BS2, each mobile station MS2 that has already communicated with the radio base station BS2 , MS3 and MS4 are processed for selecting a mobile station suitable for handover to an adjacent radio base station (see FIG. 11 (c)). It is done according to the procedure shown.

  In FIG. 12, the electric field strength measurement control device 11 of the RNC 10 measures the received electric field strength from each of the radio base station and the adjacent radio base station that are the communication counterparts for each of the subordinate mobile stations. Instruct. Then, each mobile station MS1 and MS2 reports their electric field strength measurement values to the RNC 10 via the radio base stations BS1 and BS2 ((1) in FIG. 12).

  Further, the radio resource management device 12 of the RNC 10 instructs each radio base station BS1, BS2, BS3 to report the use status of radio resources. Then, each radio base station BS1, BS2, BS3 reports the radio resource usage status to the radio resource management device 12 of the RNC 10 according to the instruction ((2) in FIG. 12).

  As information indicating the usage status of this radio resource, for example, the maximum radio resource amount allowed for each mobile station communicating with each radio base station, and the radio resource occupied by the mobile station by actual communication Ratio, the usage rate of radio resources in each radio base station, and the like.

  As described above, when the field strength measurement control device 11 receives the report of the measured value of the field strength from each mobile station, and the radio resource management device 12 receives the report about the usage status of the radio resource from each radio base station, the RNC 10 The mobile station management device 19 evaluates the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station as a communication partner based on the reported field strength measurement and radio resource usage. Based on the evaluation, a pair of a mobile station suitable for handover and a radio base station that is the handover destination is selected ((3) in FIG. 12).

  The selection result, that is, the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station that is the handover destination is notified from the RNC 10 to each radio base station BS1, BS2, BS3 ((4) in FIG. 12). After that, the selected mobile station is handed over to the radio base station paired therewith (see FIG. 11C).

  The evaluation of the combination of each mobile station described above and the radio base station as a communication partner is performed, for example, as follows.

A radio base station in which the measured value of the received electric field strength is as large as possible is suitable as a communication partner for each mobile station. The combination of the radio base station BS _i and the mobile station MS _j, measurements of electric field strength if _{P ij,} the evaluation point is represented by the measured value _{P ij} of the function f of the electric field intensity _{(P ij).} This evaluation score f (P _ij ) is defined based on, for example, an evaluation score table as shown in FIG. In this example (see FIG. 13), the appropriate dynamic range of the received electric field at the mobile station is assumed to be 4 dBμV to 64 dBμV.

Current mobile station MS _j and the radio base stations performing communications when the measured value P _ij of the received electric field from (partner station) BS _i is less than the dynamic range, the evaluation point f (P _ij) is "0 point" As the measured value P _ij of the electric field strength increases, the evaluation points f (P _ij ) are sequentially “1 point”, “2 points”, “3 points”, “4 points”. growing. Therefore, the higher the evaluation score for the combination of the mobile station MS _j and the radio base station BS _i that is the current communication partner, the higher the mobile station MS _j should maintain communication with the radio base station BS _i. Represents.

On the other hand, when the measured value P _ij of the received electric field from the radio base station station (adjacent station) BS _i adjacent to the radio base station communicating with the mobile station MS _j is equal to or less than the dynamic range, the communication partner described above As in the case of the radio base station (partner station), the evaluation point f (P _ij ) is “0 point” (lowest point), and the evaluation point f increases as the measured value P _{ij of the} electric field strength increases. (P _ij ) increases sequentially as “1 point”, “2 points”, “3 points”, “4 points”. Therefore, the higher the evaluation score for the combination of the mobile station MS _j and the adjacent station BS _i , the more preferable the mobile station MS _j is handed over to the adjacent station BS _j .

That is, the higher the evaluation score for the combination of the mobile station MS _j and the radio base station BS _i (which may be either the partner station or the adjacent station), the higher the mobile station MS _j is, the radio base station BS _i that is the combination destination. It is expressed that it is preferable to communicate with.

A radio base station that can occupy as many radio resources as possible is suitable as a communication partner for each mobile station. Therefore, for the combination of the radio base station BS _i and the mobile station MS _j , the ratio between the maximum radio resource amount allowed for the mobile station MS _j and the radio resources actually occupied by communication is r _j , and the radio base station _Assuming that the radio resource usage rate at BS _i is R _i , the evaluation point for each is expressed by the corresponding ratio functions g ₁ (r _j ) and g ₂ (R _i ). Each evaluation point g ₁ (r _j ) and g ₂ (R _i ) is defined based on an evaluation point table as shown in FIG. 14, for example.

When the ratio r _j (usage rate) between the maximum radio resource amount allowed for the mobile station MS _j and the radio resources occupied in the actual communication with the radio base station is 0 to 60%, the evaluation point g _{1 (r j)} is "4-point" (highest point), the evaluation point _g 1 according to its usage _{r j} is increased _{(r j)} is "3-point", "2 points", "1 point", " It becomes smaller like “0 point”. When the current communication amount of the mobile station MS _j is small (the usage rate is small), there is a high possibility that the radio resources are free in the adjacent radio base stations, and the radio station MS _j It is considered that it is easy to make a handover to the base station. Further, as the communication speed increases (the amount of communication increases), the necessary transmission power increases, and it becomes difficult to communicate with the mobile station MS _j and a distant radio base station. Therefore, indicating that higher the the evaluation point g _{1 (r j),} a situation which is suitable for the radio base station handover adjacent the mobile station MS _j.

When the radio resource usage rate R _i at the radio base station (partner station) BS _i currently communicating with the mobile station is 0 to 20%, the evaluation point g ₂ (R _i ) is “4 points” ( The evaluation point g ₂ (R _i ) increases sequentially as “1 point”, “2 points”, “3 points”, “4 points” as the usage rate R _i increases. Accordingly, the larger the evaluation point g ₂ (R _j ) is, the more radio resources are available in the radio base station (partner station) BS _i communicating with the mobile station, and the mobile station and its radio base station BS _i The combination with indicates that the situation is suitable for communication.

On the other hand, also in the case of a radio base station (neighboring station) BS _i adjacent to a radio base station communicating with a mobile station, evaluation is performed when the radio resource usage rate R _i is 0 to 20% as described above. The point g ₂ (R _i ) is “4 points” (the highest point), and the evaluation point g ₂ (R _i ) becomes “3 points”, “2 points”, “1 points” as the usage rate R _i increases. ”,“ 0 point ”and so on. Thus, the higher the evaluation point g _{2 (R i),} there are enough radio resources in the radio base station BS _i adjacent to the radio base stations communicating with the mobile station, and the mobile station its neighbor BS The combination with _i indicates that the situation is suitable for communication, that is, it is preferable to hand over the mobile station from the radio base station currently communicating to the adjacent radio base station BS _i. .

  When there is not enough free radio resources in both the radio base station (partner station) that is the communication partner of the mobile station and the radio base station (adjacent station) adjacent to the partner station, one mobile station There is a case where communication is established with a link with a station. In consideration of such a case, the mobile station management device 19 adds one or a plurality of radio bases that link with each mobile station in addition to the evaluation of the combination of each mobile station and the radio base station as described above. An evaluation point D for the combination with the station is given. This evaluation score D is defined based on, for example, an evaluation score table as shown in FIG.

  It is preferable for the mobile station to maintain communication with the radio base station that is currently communicating as much as possible, and even if the communication partner of the mobile station is changed to another radio base station, it is easy to control. From the above, it is preferable that the number of wireless base stations to be changed is as small as possible. From such a viewpoint, the evaluation points shown in FIG. 15 are determined.

  In FIG. 15, the highest evaluation score “5 points” is given when the mobile station maintains communication with the radio base station (own station) with which communication is currently performed, that is, when the mobile station does not perform handover. And the evaluation score becomes small as the number of radio base stations after the change of the communication partner with the mobile station increases. When the communication partner in the mobile station is switched to a plurality of (two, three and more) radio base stations, the radio base station (local station) currently communicating with the radio base station after the switching When it is included, the evaluation score is higher than when it is not included.

  The mobile station management device 19 is a radio base station suitable for performing a new communication by handing over the mobile station and the mobile station based on the evaluation points for the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station as described above. The process for selecting the combination is performed. This process is performed as follows, for example.

First, evaluation point _{y ij} for the mobile station MS _j to communicate with the radio base station BS _j after the handover, i.e., evaluation point _{y ij} of the combination of the mobile station MS _j and the radio base station BS _i has been described above each evaluation point _{f (P ij), g 1} (r j), using a g 2 _{(R i),}
y _ij = αf (P _ij ) + βg ₁ (r _j ) + γg ₂ (R _i ) (1)
Is calculated according to In the above equation (1), α, β, and γ are weight constants and are set in advance based on the requirements of the system.

Furthermore, by using the evaluation point D (see FIG. 15), the final evaluation point z of the combination of the mobile station MS _j and the radio base station _i is
z = y _ij + εD (2-1)
Is calculated according to

  Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 16, each mobile station MS2, MS3, MS4 currently communicating with the radio base station BS2 in a congested state and the mobile station MS1 that has entered the communication area of the radio base station BS2 Are combined with the radio base stations BS2, BS1, BS3,..., The evaluation values calculated according to the above equation (2-1) are collected in the form of a management table.

Furthermore, the combination of the mobile station MS _j and two radio base stations _BS i1, _{BS i2,} and the mobile station MS _j and three radio base stations _{BS i1,} BS i2, evaluation point z for the combination of the _{BS i3,} respectively ,
z = (y _i1j + y _i2j ) / 2 + εD (2-2)
z = (y _i1j + y _i2j + y _i3j ) / 3 + εD (2-3)
Is calculated according to In the above equations (2-2) and (2-3), ε is a weight constant. The radio base stations BS _i1 , BS _i2 , BS _i3 are selected in descending order of the evaluation value y _ij calculated as described above for the radio base station combined with the mobile station MS _j .

Evaluation points z for combinations of each mobile station MS _j and a plurality of (two and three) radio base stations calculated as described above are added to the management table as shown in FIG.

  When the management table is completed as described above, a combination of the mobile station to be handed over and the handover destination radio base station is selected with reference to the management table.

For example, referring to the management table shown in FIG. 16, the combination of the mobile station BS _j and the radio base station BS _i is sequentially searched in descending order of the evaluation score z, and the mobile station and the radio base station that are currently communicating are searched. Among the combinations other than the combination, the combination having the highest evaluation score is selected. This means that a combination of a mobile station and a radio base station that is most suitable for communication is selected from combinations other than a combination of a mobile station and a radio base station that are currently communicating. As a result of selecting the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station as described above, in this example, the combination of the mobile station MS2 and the radio base stations BS2 and BS3 is selected.

  When the combination of the mobile station MS2 and the radio base stations BS2 and BS3 is selected in this way, the handover process based on the instruction from the RNC 10 as described above is executed (see FIG. 11C). As a result, the communication partner of the mobile station MS2 communicating with the radio base station BS2 is switched to the radio base stations BS2 and BS3 (partial handover).

  In the example described above, the case where the mobile station MS1 enters the communication area of the radio base station BS2 and the radio resources in the radio base station BS2 are short (congested) has been described. However, the mobile station MS1 communicates with the radio base station BS2. Wireless communication at the radio base station BS2 is caused by an increase in the data communication amount of any of the mobile stations MS2, MS3, and MS4 being performed, or when a new mobile station that starts communication with the radio base station BS2 is generated. Similar processing can be performed when resources are insufficient.

  In the above-described example, the number of combinations of mobile stations and radio base stations selected for handover is one. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station that is the communication partner is selected. Multiple selections are possible. In this case, the combinations are selected in descending order of the evaluation score. The number of combinations includes the amount of radio resources that can still be used in the radio base station, the mobile station that newly starts communication with the radio base station (by handover or transmission), and data communication in communication with the radio base station. It can be determined based on the relationship with the radio resources newly required by each mobile station whose amount has rapidly increased.

  Furthermore, a sixth example of the handover system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the sixth example, each mobile station switches a radio base station to be a communication partner (handover) by autonomous control based on the communication status. For this reason, each mobile station has the same function as the mobile station management device 19 provided in the RNC 10 described above.

  In the sixth example of the handover system, processing is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. 17, for example.

  In FIG. 17, the radio resource management device 12 of the RNC 10 requests a report on the availability (or use status) of radio resources from the radio base stations BS1, BS2, and BS3 (1). In response to the request, each radio base station BS1, BS2, BS3 reports the availability of radio resources in the own station to the radio resource management device 12 of the RNC 10 (1).

  The radio resource management device 12 sends the reported information regarding the availability of radio resources in each radio base station BS1, BS2, BS3 to the subordinate mobile stations, for example, the mobile base stations BS1, BS2, respectively. (2).

  Each mobile station MS1, MS2 measures the received electric field strength from the currently communicating radio base stations BS1, BS2 and the radio base stations adjacent thereto. Then, based on the radio resource vacant state in the currently communicated radio base station and the radio base station adjacent thereto notified as described above and the measured received electric field strength, each mobile station MS1, MS2 Similar to the example described above, an evaluation point representing the degree of suitability of each radio base station as a communication partner for the mobile station is calculated (3). The calculation method is the same as the method described in the fifth example (function of the mobile station management device 19). Each mobile station MS1 and MS2 further creates a management table as shown in FIG. 16 describing the evaluation points for the combination of the mobile station and each radio base station calculated as described above (4).

  For example, the mobile station MS1 and MS2 are notified of the information regarding the vacant radio resources in each radio base station at predetermined intervals. Each time the mobile stations MS1 and MS2 receive the notification, the mobile stations MS1 and MS2 update the evaluation points described in the management table based on the notified information and the measured value of the received electric field strength from each radio base station. . When the amount of communication at a certain radio base station increases and becomes in a congested state, the mobile station that communicates with the radio base station determines that one or more radio base stations from the evaluation point for the combination with the currently communicating radio base station When the evaluation score for the other combination becomes higher and the difference between the evaluation points exceeds a predetermined reference value, the one or more radio base stations are selected as communication partners of the mobile station (3 ).

  Then, the mobile station autonomously switches to a radio base station which is a combination with the mobile station selected as described above (handover) (4). Thereafter, this mobile station communicates with other terminals via the switched radio base station and RNC 10 and the backbone network.

  In such a handover system, each mobile station manages a combination with a radio base station with which the mobile station is currently communicating and an evaluation of another combination with one or a plurality of radio base stations. The station autonomously switches communication partners. Therefore, the RNC 10 does not need to collectively manage evaluation points for combinations of subordinate mobile stations and radio base stations, and the processing load on the RNC 10 is reduced.

  Furthermore, a seventh example of the handover system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the seventh example, similarly to the above-described sixth example, each mobile station switches the radio base station to be a communication partner (handover) by autonomous control based on the communication status. In this example, each mobile station selects a radio base station to be a new communication partner without creating a management table (see FIG. 16) as described above.

  For example, it is assumed that the communication data of a mobile station that communicates with a certain radio base station increases rapidly and the radio base station becomes congested.

  Each mobile station performs processing according to the procedure shown in FIG. 18, for example.

  For example, it is assumed that the communication data of the mobile station MS1 that communicates with the radio base station BS1 increases rapidly and the radio base station BS1 is congested. In this case, the mobile station MS1 compares the radio resource amount Ru newly required due to the increase in the communication data amount with the free resource amount R1 in the radio base station BS1 reported from the RNC 10 as described above ( S1). As a result of the comparison, if the free radio resource amount R1 in the radio base station BS1 is equal to or greater than the newly required radio resource amount Ru (YES in S1), the mobile station MS1 communicates with the radio base station BS1. Is maintained (S2). That is, in this case, the mobile station MS1 is not handed over.

  On the other hand, when the free resource amount R1 in the radio base station BS1 is smaller than the radio resource amount Ru newly required for data communication in the mobile station MS1 as described above (NO in S1), the mobile station MS1 Measures the received electric field strength from the radio base stations BS2, BS3,... Adjacent to the radio base station BS1 (S3). Then, prioritization of adjacent radio base stations is performed according to the magnitude of the received electric field strength.

  The mobile station MS1 first determines whether the electric field strength from the radio base station with the highest priority (the strongest received electric field strength), for example, the radio base station BS2 is sufficient for communication. (S4). If the electric field strength is not sufficient for communication (NG in S4), the mobile station MS1 maintains communication with the radio base station BS1 (handover cancellation). In this case, the radio base station BS1 allocates radio resources to communication with the mobile station MS1 within the range of the free radio resource R1.

  On the other hand, if the electric field strength from the radio base station BS2 is sufficient for communication (OK in S4), the mobile station MS1 further vacates the radio base station BS2 reported from the RNC 10 as described above. It is determined whether or not the radio resource amount R2 is greater than or equal to the radio resource amount Ru newly required by the mobile station MS1 (S5). If the free radio resource amount R2 of the radio base station BS2 is equal to or greater than the radio resource amount Ru newly required by the mobile station MS1 (YES in S5), the mobile station MS1 designates the radio base station BS2 as a communication partner. (S6). The communication partner of the mobile station MS1 is switched from the radio base station BS1 to the radio base station BS2 (handed over) by the switching control of the RNC 10 based on this designation.

  Further, when the free radio resource amount R2 of the radio base station BS2 is smaller than the newly required radio resource amount Ru in the mobile station MS1 (NO in S5), the mobile station MS1 is free of both the radio base stations BS1 and BS2. It is determined whether or not the total amount (R1 + R2) of the radio resource amounts R1 and R2 is equal to or greater than the unrelated resource amount Ru newly required by the mobile station MS1 (S7). When the total amount (R1 + R2) is equal to or greater than the radio resource amount Ru newly required in the mobile station MS1 (YES in S7), the mobile station MS1 designates two radio base stations BS1 and BS2 as communication partners. (S8). By switching control of the RNC 10 based on this designation, the communication partner of the mobile station MS1 is switched from one station of the radio base station BS1 to two stations of the radio base stations BS1 and BS2 (partially handed over).

  On the other hand, if the total amount (R1 + R2) of the free radio resource amounts R1 and R2 of both the radio base stations BS1 and BS2 is smaller than the radio resource amount Ru newly required for the mobile station MS1 (NO in S7), the mobile station The station MS1 determines whether or not the electric field strength from the radio base station having the next highest priority (the reception electric field strength is high), for example, the radio base station BS3, is sufficient to perform communication after the radio base station BS2. Is determined (S9). If the electric field strength is not sufficient for communication (NG in S9), the mobile station MS1 maintains communication with the radio base station BS1 as in the above case (NG in S4) (handover). Cancel).

  If the electric field strength from the radio base station BS3 is sufficient to communicate with the mobile station MS1 (OK in S9), the mobile station MS1 further transmits the radio base reported from the RNC 10 as described above. It is determined whether or not the free radio resource amount R3 at the station BS3 is equal to or greater than the newly required radio resource amount Ru (S10). If the free radio resource amount R3 in the radio base station R3 is equal to or greater than the radio resource amount Ru newly required in the mobile station MS1 (YES in S10), the mobile station MS1 designates the radio base station BS3 as a communication partner. (S11). The communication partner of the mobile station MS1 is switched from the radio base station BS1 to the radio base station BS3 (handed over) by switching control of the RNC 10 based on this designation.

  On the other hand, when the free radio resource amount R3 of the radio base station BS3 is smaller than the newly required radio resource amount Ru in the mobile station MS1 (NO in S10), the mobile station MS1 is free of both the radio base stations BS1 and BS3. It is determined whether or not the total amount (R1 + R3) of the radio resource amounts R1 and R2 is equal to or greater than the unrelated resource amount Ru newly required for the mobile station MS1 (S12). When the total amount (R1 + R3) is equal to or greater than the radio resource amount Ru newly required for the mobile station MS1 (YES in S12), the mobile station MS1 designates two radio base stations BS1 and BS3 as communication partners. (S13). By switching control of the RNC 10 based on this designation, the communication partner of the mobile station MS1 is switched from one station of the radio base station BS1 to two stations of the radio base stations BS1 and BS3 (partially handed over).

  When the total amount (R1 + R3) of the free radio resource amounts R1 and R3 of both the radio base stations BS1 and BS3 is smaller than the radio resource amount Ru newly required for the mobile station MS1 (NO in S12), the mobile station MS1 The total amount (R2 + R3) of free radio resource amounts R2 and R3 of both two radio base stations BS2 and BS3 adjacent to the radio base station BS1 is equal to or greater than the radio resource amount Ru newly required for the mobile station MS1. It is determined whether or not (S14). If this total amount (R2 + R3) is equal to or greater than the newly required radio resource amount Ru (YES in S14), the mobile station MS1 designates two radio base stations BS2 and BS3 as communication partners (S15). By switching control of the RNC 10 based on this designation, the communication partner of the mobile station MS1 is switched from the radio base station BS1 to the radio base stations BS2 and BS3 (handover to a plurality of stations).

  If the total amount (R2 + R3) of the free radio resource amounts R2 and R3 of both the radio base stations BS2 and BS3 is smaller than the radio resource amount Ru newly required by the mobile station MS1 (NO in S14), further movement The station MS1 determines whether or not the total amount (R1 + R2 + R3) of the free radio resources R1, R2 and R3 of the three radio base stations BS1, BS2 and BS3 is equal to or greater than the radio resource amount Ru newly required by the mobile station MS1. Is determined (S16). If this total amount (R1 + R2 + R3) is equal to or greater than the radio resource amount Ru newly required by the mobile station MS1 (YES in S16), the mobile station MS1 uses three radio base stations BS1, BS2, and BS3 as communication partners. Specify (S17). By switching control of the RNC 10 based on this designation, the communication partner of the mobile station MS1 is switched from one station of the radio base station BS1 to three stations of the radio base stations BS1, BS2 and BS3 (partial handover).

  On the other hand, when the total amount (R1 + R2 + R3) of the radio resources is smaller than the radio resource amount Ru newly required for the mobile station MS1 (NO in S16), the mobile station MS1 has no other radio base station adjacent thereto. In the same manner as described above (NG in S4, NG in S9), communication with the radio base station BS1 is maintained (handover cancellation).

  The processing as described above is executed by a mobile station when the amount of data communication of the mobile station communicating with the radio base station increases rapidly. Therefore, when a mobile station in communication enters a communication area of a certain radio base station and the radio base station becomes congested, which mobile station has already communicated with the radio base station. It is not known whether the process related to the handover should be executed according to the above-described procedure (see FIG. 18). Therefore, the RNC 10 includes the mobile station management device 19 as described above, so that even in the above case, an appropriate mobile station can switch the radio base station to be a communication partner by autonomous control based on the communication status. .

  For example, all mobile stations already communicating with a radio base station that becomes congested when a mobile station enters the communication area measure the received electric field strength from the radio base station, and each mobile station measures the measured value. Is reported to the mobile station management device 19 of the RNC 10. The mobile station management device 19 gives priority to each mobile station in the order of the reported reception field strength being weak. Then, the mobile station management device 19 instructs the mobile station with the highest priority (lowest received field strength) to perform processing related to the handover. The instructed mobile station performs a handover process according to the procedure shown in FIG. At that time, the radio resource amount Ru is the radio resource amount currently used by the designated mobile station.

  If the amount of radio resource reduction due to handover of the mobile station does not reach the radio resource amount to be used by the mobile station entering the communication area, or if the indicated mobile station cannot be handed over, the next priority The mobile station (which has the next low received electric field strength) is instructed to perform processing related to handover according to the procedure shown in FIG. Then, until the amount of radio resource reduction reaches the amount of radio resources to be used by the mobile station entering the communication area, the above-described processing related to the designation of the mobile station and the handover at the designated mobile station is repeated.

  Next, an eighth example of the handover system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this example, after the mobile station is handed over as in the above examples, it is verified whether or not the communication status of the handed over mobile station is appropriate.

  The handover system according to this example is configured as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 19, the RNC 10 includes a field strength measurement control device 11, a radio resource management device 12, a switch 13, and a mobile station management device 19 as in the fifth example described above (see FIG. 10). The RNC 10 further includes a BER (Bit Error Rate) measurement control device 20. Each mobile station MS1, MS2, and MS3 includes a BER measuring device for measuring an error rate (BER) in communication with the radio base station.

  In this example, processing is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG.

  When the radio base station BS2 becomes congested due to handover of the mobile station MS1 communicating with the radio base station BS1, according to procedures (a), (b), (c) similar to the procedure shown in FIG. The mobile station MS2 communicating with the radio base station BS2 to be handed over is handed over. As a result, the communication partner of the mobile station MS2 is switched from one station of the radio base station BS2 to two stations of the radio base stations BS2 and BS3.

  When the communication partner of the mobile station MS2 is switched to the radio base stations BS2 and BS3 in this way, the error rate in the communication of the mobile station MS2 is confirmed (see (d) of FIG. 20). That is, the BER measurement control device 20 of the RNC 10 instructs the mobile station MS2 to measure the error rate via the radio base stations BS2 and BS3. When the mobile station MS2 receives this instruction, the BER measuring device measures the error rate in communication with each of the radio base stations BS2 and BS3 according to the instruction. Then, the mobile station MS2 reports the measured error rate to the BER measurement control device 20 of the RNC 10.

  When receiving the report of the error rate from the mobile station MS2, the BER measurement control device 20 determines whether or not the error rate is below a certain value. If the error rate is below a certain value, the BER measurement control device 20 notifies the mobile station MS2 via the radio base stations BS2 and BS3 that it has been successfully handled. On the other hand, if the error rate exceeds a certain value, the BER measurement control device 20 determines that the combination of the mobile station MS1 and the radio base station with which it communicates is inappropriate, to the mobile station management device 19 An instruction is given to start a procedure for selecting a combination of a mobile station to be handed over again and a radio base station as a communication partner. Then, under the control of the mobile station management device 19, the combination of the mobile station to be handed over and the radio base station that is the handover destination is selected again according to the procedure described above (see FIG. 12). Then, the selected mobile station is handed over to a radio base station paired with it.

  When the processing related to the handover to the adjacent radio base station of the mobile station communicating with the radio base station BS2 as described above is performed, and it is confirmed that the communication after the handover is in a good state, the mobile station The handover of the station MS1 from the radio base station BS1 to the radio base station BS2 is resumed (see (e) of FIG. 20).

  In each of the above examples, the minimum bandwidth guarantee device 14 (refer to the processing in S3 in FIGS. 2, 5, and 7) corresponds to the detection means, and the radio resource management device 12 (S5 in FIGS. 2, 5, and 7). The processing in S6) corresponds to the switching control means, and in particular, the processing in S5 in FIGS. 2, 5, and 7 corresponds to the selection means.

  The route connecting the radio resource management apparatuses 12 and 102 including the protocol converter 18 shown in FIG. 8 sends information about radio resources about the mobile station from the first radio communication system to the second radio communication system via the wired section. This corresponds to a means for performing protocol conversion and transferring.

  Part of the functions of each radio base station or mobile station corresponds to the congestion determination means, and the mobile station management device 19 (the process in the procedure (3) shown in FIGS. 12 and 17 and the process in the procedure shown in FIG. 18). 11) corresponds to the selection means, and a part of the processing in the hander 2 shown in FIG. 11 corresponds to the switching control means. The functions of the BER measurement control device 20 correspond to communication state observation means, state determination means, and re-switching control means.

10 RNC (Radio Network Controller)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Electric field strength measurement control apparatus 12 Radio resource management apparatus 13 Switch 14 Minimum bandwidth guarantee apparatus 15 Signal distribution / synthesis apparatus 16 Bandwidth measurement apparatus (minimum bandwidth monitoring apparatus)
17, 18 Protocol converter 19 Mobile station management device 20 BER measurement control device

Claims (23)

In a handover control method for switching a radio base station that is a communication partner of a mobile station,
Determine whether the wireless base station communication is congested,
When it is determined that the communication of the radio base station is congested, a combination of any mobile station that communicates with the radio base station and a plurality of radio base stations that can communicate with the mobile station is a predetermined reference Select according to
A handover control method for switching a communication partner of a mobile station in the selected combination to a plurality of radio base stations in the selected combination. The handover control method according to claim 1, wherein
A handover control method in which a predetermined criterion for selecting a combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is determined based on an available radio resource amount or a used radio resource amount in the radio base station. The handover control method according to claim 1, wherein
A handover control method in which a predetermined criterion for selecting a combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is determined based on a received electric field strength in communication between the mobile station and the radio base station. The handover control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The handover control method, wherein the predetermined reference for selecting the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is determined based on the number of radio base stations that the mobile station should perform simultaneous communication after switching the communication partner. The handover control method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Whether the predetermined criteria for selecting the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station includes a radio base station that is currently communicating with the radio base station with which the mobile station should communicate after switching the communication partner A handover control method defined based on the above. The handover control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Communicate with each other according to the above-mentioned predetermined standard for the combination of each mobile station that communicates with the radio base station and the radio base station and a plurality of radio base stations adjacent to the radio base station. Prioritize the appropriateness of what to do,
A handover control method for selecting a combination of a mobile station and a radio base station having a higher priority. The handover control method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A process for selecting a combination of any mobile station that communicates with the radio base station and a plurality of radio base stations that can communicate with the mobile station is connected to each radio base station via a wired section. A handover control method performed at a node. The handover control method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A handover control method in which a mobile station that communicates with the radio base station performs processing for selecting a combination of the mobile station and a plurality of radio base stations that can communicate with the mobile station according to the predetermined criterion. . The handover control method according to claim 8, wherein
A handover control method in which the mobile station that communicates with the radio base station determines whether or not the radio base station is congested. The handover control method according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
After switching the communication partner of the mobile station to the plurality of radio base stations, observe the communication state between the mobile station and the plurality of radio base stations,
A handover control method for performing a process for switching a communication partner of the mobile station again when the observed communication state is worse than a predetermined reference state. The handover control method according to claim 10, wherein
A handover control method in which an error rate in communication between a mobile station and a plurality of radio base stations is observed as the communication state. In a handover control system for switching a radio base station that is a communication partner of a mobile station,
Congestion determination means for determining whether or not the communication of the radio base station is in a congestion state;
When it is determined by the congestion determination means that the communication of the radio base station is in a congested state, any mobile station that communicates with the radio base station and a plurality of radio base stations that can communicate with the mobile station, Selecting means for selecting a combination according to a predetermined criterion;
A handover control system comprising switching control means for switching a communication partner of a mobile station in the selected combination to a plurality of radio base stations in the selected combination. The handover control system according to claim 12,
A handover control system in which a predetermined criterion for selecting a combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is determined based on an available radio resource amount or a used radio resource amount in the radio base station. The handover control system according to claim 12,
A handover control system in which a predetermined criterion for selecting a combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is determined based on a received electric field strength in communication between the mobile station and the radio base station. The handover control system according to any one of claims 12 to 14,
The predetermined standard for selecting the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is determined based on the ratio of the radio resource amount actually used to the radio resource amount allowed for the mobile station. Handover control system. The handover control system according to any one of claims 12 to 15,
A handover control system in which a predetermined criterion for selecting a combination of the mobile station and the radio base station is determined based on the number of radio base stations with which the mobile station should perform simultaneous communication after switching a communication partner. The handover control system according to any one of claims 12 to 16,
Whether the predetermined criteria for selecting the combination of the mobile station and the radio base station includes a radio base station that is currently communicating with the radio base station with which the mobile station should communicate after switching the communication partner A handover control system defined based on the above. The handover control system according to any one of claims 12 to 17,
The selection means includes the predetermined reference for a combination of each mobile station communicating with the radio base station, the radio base station, and a plurality of radio base stations adjacent to the radio base station. Prioritize the appropriateness of communicating with each other,
A handover control system for selecting a combination of a mobile station and a radio base station having a higher priority. The handover control system according to any one of claims 12 to 18,
A handover control system in which the selection means is provided in a node connected to each wireless base station via a wired section. The handover control system according to any one of claims 12 to 18,
A handover control system comprising a selection means for a mobile station that communicates with the radio base station to select a combination of the mobile station and a plurality of radio base stations that can communicate with the mobile station according to the predetermined criterion. The handover control system according to claim 20,
A handover control system in which the mobile station that communicates with the radio base station includes the congestion determination unit. The handover control system according to any one of claims 12 to 21,
Communication state observation means for observing the communication state between the mobile station and the plurality of radio base stations after switching the communication partner of the mobile station to the one or more radio base stations;
State determination means for determining whether or not the communication state observed by the communication state observation means is worse than a predetermined reference state;
A re-switching control unit that performs processing for switching the communication partner of the mobile station again when the state determination unit determines that the observed communication state is worse than a predetermined reference state; Handover control system. The handover control system according to claim 22, wherein
The communication state observing means includes an error rate detecting means for observing an error rate in communication between a mobile station and a plurality of radio base stations as the communication state.

Images