KR20190027301A - Smallcell access apparatus, smallcell management server, and smallcell service on/off method of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an operation method of a small cell access apparatus, for which supporting a wireless communication service to terminals accessing from a small cell, comprising the steps of: obtaining at least one determination indicator including neighbor cell signal strength through monitoring the surroundings and calculating a small cell service risk degree based on the at least one determination indicator; determining whether to maintain or interrupt a wireless communication service based on the small cell service risk degree; and when the wireless communication service is determined to interrupt, interrupting the wireless communication service and reporting the interruption of the service to a small cell management server.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a small cell access device, a small cell access device, a small cell management server, and a method of maintaining /

The present invention relates to a method of providing a small cell service.

A small cell is installed in a macro cell boundary area where the communication is not good, inside a building, or in a place where there is a large flow population or a large amount of data demand, thereby assisting a macrocell.

However, after the small cell is built in the macro cell, the communication environment is changed and the data transmission performance through the macro cell can be improved. Then, the small cell becomes unnecessary. If the small cell service is continuously provided, the subscriber located in the small cell may experience radio quality degradation rather. Therefore, if the data transmission performance through the macrocell is improved after the small cell is installed for quality improvement, it is necessary to stop the small cell service. Or by changing the settings of neighboring cells, a small cell service interruption may be required. However, there is currently no device that can judge whether a small cell service interruption is necessary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a small cell access device and a small cell access device which are stacked with a macro cell to provide a small cell service and a small cell access device or a management server thereof, It provides a way to maintain or stop the service.

According to one embodiment, there is provided a method of operating a small cell access device supporting a wireless communication service to terminals connected in a small cell, the method comprising: obtaining at least one judgment indicator including neighboring cell signal strength through peripheral monitoring; Calculating a small cell service risk based on at least one determination index, determining whether to maintain or stop the wireless communication service based on the small cell service risk, and, when determining to stop the wireless communication service, Stopping the wireless communication service and reporting the service interruption to the small cell management server.

The step of calculating the small cell service risk may include measuring at least one neighboring cell signal strength for a predetermined time and assigning a score for increasing the risk of the small cell service when the measured neighboring cell signal strength is greater than a reference value .

The determination index may further include at least one of a number of attempts to connect a terminal to the small cell access device, a collision of a cell identifier set in the small cell access device, and a small cell service quality.

In the step of calculating the small cell service risk, a score for increasing the risk of the small cell service may be given when the number of attempts to connect the small cell access device to the small cell access device is less than a first reference value for a predetermined time. In the step of calculating the small cell service risk, a score for raising the risk of small cell service may be given when the collision of the cell identifier occurs more than the reference number for a predetermined period of time. In the step of calculating the small cell service risk, when the small cell service quality measured for a predetermined time is equal to or less than the second reference value, a score for raising the small cell service risk can be given.

The step of calculating the small cell service risk may calculate the small cell service risk in units of a risk determination period. The step of determining whether to maintain or stop the wireless communication service may determine whether the wireless communication service is maintained or stopped based on the small cell service risk level determined in the risk determination period.

The method of operating the small cell access device may further include stopping the wireless communication service and resuming the wireless communication service after a predetermined time.

The method of operating the small cell access device may further include receiving a wireless communication service resume command from the small cell management server after suspending the wireless communication service, and resuming the wireless communication service.

According to another embodiment, there is provided a method of operating a small cell access device supporting a wireless communication service to terminals connected in a small cell, the method comprising: acquiring at least one determination indicator including neighboring cell signal strength through peripheral monitoring; Receiving, by the small cell management server, at least one obtained determination indicator; receiving an interruption command of the wireless communication service from the small cell management server; and stopping the wireless communication service, The interruption of the wireless communication service is determined based on the small cell service risk by the at least one judgment indicator.

The determination index may further include at least one of a number of attempts to connect a terminal to the small cell access device, a collision of a cell identifier set in the small cell access device, and a small cell service quality.

The step of transmitting the determination indicator may transmit the determination indicator to at least one determination indicator acquired in units of the risk determination period.

The method of operating the small cell access device may include a step of resuming the wireless communication service when the wireless communication service is stopped and the wireless communication service is resumed after a predetermined time or when the wireless communication service resume command is received from the small cell management server .

According to yet another embodiment, there is provided a method of operating a small cell management server in communication with a small cell access device, the method comprising: receiving at least one determination indicator comprising a neighboring cell signal strength from the small cell access device; Calculating a small cell service risk based on the judgment index, determining whether to maintain or stop the wireless communication service provided by the small cell access device based on the small cell service risk, and stopping the wireless communication service And if so, transmitting a wireless communication service interruption message to the small cell access device.

The method of operating the small cell access device may further comprise the steps of adding the small cell access device to the small cell service disabled base station list when it is determined to stop the wireless communication service, To the mobile station.

The step of calculating the small cell service risk may include the step of increasing the risk of the small cell service when the neighbor cell signal strength included in the at least one determination indicator is greater than the reference value.

The determination index may further include at least one of a number of attempts to connect a terminal to the small cell access device, a collision of a cell identifier set in the small cell access device, and a small cell service quality.

In the step of calculating the small cell service risk, a score for increasing the risk of the small cell service may be given when the number of attempted terminal connection attempts to the small cell access device is equal to or less than the first reference value. In the step of calculating the small cell service risk, when the collision of the cell identifiers occurs more than the reference number, a score for raising the risk of the small cell service may be given. In the step of calculating the small cell service risk, a score for raising the small cell service risk may be given when the small cell service quality is equal to or less than the second reference value.

According to the embodiment, it is determined whether the small cell access apparatus is in a state requiring a stop of the small cell service in order to guarantee the communication quality of the subscriber through peripheral monitoring, and the small cell service is stopped to guarantee the communication quality of the subscriber located in the small cell have. According to the embodiment, the small cell access device stops the small cell service and reports it to the management server, so that the management server can easily manage the small cell service status and easily handle the dismantling and recycling of the unnecessary small cell access device And as a result, it is possible to reduce various costs required for the wireless network.

According to the embodiment, the small cell management server determines whether a small cell service interruption is necessary to guarantee the communication quality of the subscriber based on the determination indices received from the small cell access device, and stops the small cell service. The communication quality of the subscriber can be guaranteed.

1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment.
2 is a flow chart of a method for a small cell base station to stop a small cell service according to an embodiment.
3 is a flowchart of a method of interrupting a small cell service in cooperation with a small cell management server according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without excluding other elements unless specifically stated otherwise. Also, the terms " part, "" module," and " module ", etc. in the specification mean a unit for processing at least one function or operation and may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software have.

A mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station (PSS), a user equipment (UE) , An access terminal (AT), and the like, and may include all or some of functions of a mobile station, a mobile terminal, a subscriber station, a mobile subscriber station, a user equipment, an access terminal, and the like.

In the present invention, an access apparatus includes a base station (BS), an access point (AP), a radio access station (RAS), a node B (B), an evolved node B A Node B, an eNodeB, a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a Mobile Multihop Relay (MMR) -BS, and the like.

In the present invention, each of the macro cell connection device, the small cell access device, and the small cell management server performs the operations described in the present invention by at least one processor. Of course, each of the macro cell access device, the small cell access device, and the small cell management server includes hardware and software required to perform the operations described in the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the macrocell access device 10 is a network access device supporting a macrocell wireless network, and provides a wireless communication service to terminals connected in a macrocell. The small cell access apparatus 100 is a network access apparatus that supports a small cell radio network whose coverage is narrower than a macro cell and can operate within the coverage of a macro cell and provide wireless communication services to terminals connected in a small cell do. The small cell is overlapped with the macro cell, and the small cell connection device 100 is installed mainly on the macro cell boundary to supplement the coverage of the macro cell connection device 10. [ Small cell refers to a relatively narrower area than a macro cell, and may be referred to as a MicroCell, a PicoCell, a Femtocell, or the like. On the other hand, the small cell access device 100 may be adjacent to other small cell base stations and may be influenced by them.

The small cell access apparatus 100 in the RF ON state can provide the wireless communication service (the small cell service), and the small cell access apparatus 110 in the RF OFF state can provide the wireless communication service I can not. The small cell access device 100 can be turned on and off as follows.

According to one embodiment, the small cell access apparatus 100 acquires a judgment index related to a service interruption through network monitoring and judges whether to keep / stop the small cell service for communication quality based on the judgment indices . That is, after the small cell access point 100 is installed, it detects a communication environment change such as a better data transmission performance through macrocells or a change of setting of surrounding cells, and determines whether a small cell service interruption is necessary based on the change.

When the small cell access apparatus 100 determines to stop the small cell service, it stops the small cell service and reports it to the small cell management server 200.

On the other hand, when the small cell access apparatus 100 determines that the small cell service is required to maintain communication quality for the communication quality based on the determination indices, Can be resumed. Or the small cell access apparatus 100 may receive the resume small cell service command from the small cell management server 200 after resuming the small cell service and resume the small cell service.

According to another embodiment, the small cell access point 100 transmits the judgment index acquired through the peripheral monitoring to the small cell management server 200. [ The small cell management server 200 determines whether to stop the service of the small cell access device 100 for communication quality based on the judgment index. When the small cell management server 200 determines to stop the small cell service, it commands the small cell access device 100 to stop the small cell service.

On the other hand, the small cell management server 200 periodically receives the determination index from the small cell access device 100 and can determine whether to hold or stop the small cell service based on the received determination index. Alternatively, the small cell management server 200 may transmit the small cell service resume command after a certain period of time after the small cell service is interrupted without receiving the determination indicator from the small cell access apparatus 100 that has stopped the service.

The small cell management server 200 manages the list of the small cell service termination base stations based on the small cell service termination message received from each small cell base station or the small cell service termination message commanded to each small cell base station. If necessary, the small cell management server 200 may transmit a list of the small cell service termination base stations to the network management server (NMS) 300.

As described above, the small cell access apparatus 100 can periodically determine whether to provide or stop the small cell service. When the small cell service is provided, the service is on. When the small cell service is stopped, the service can be recorded off.

The judgment indices obtained by the small cell access device 100 through peripheral monitoring may vary. For example, the determination indicator may include at least one of Neighbor Power, Neighbor Power, Number of Attempts to Connect to the Appliance, Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) Collision, and Small Cell Service Quality (KPI) One can be included. Small cell service quality can be measured by connection success rate, handover success rate, truncation rate, and the like.

It can be seen that the data transmission performance of a neighboring cell (for example, a macro cell) is improved when the neighboring cell signal strength is equal to or greater than the reference value or the number of attempts to connect the terminal is less than the reference value. In addition, when a PCI collision occurs or a small cell service quality is lowered, it can be seen that a cell having the same PCI as the small cell base station is installed in the vicinity, or interference occurs due to setting change of surrounding cells. Therefore, the small cell access device 100 or the small cell management server 200 can calculate the small cell service risk based on at least one judgment index, and the small cell service risk can be calculated variously. If the neighbor cell signal strength is greater than the reference value, a score is given to increase the risk of small cell service. If the number of Attach or Hand-In Attempts is less than the reference value, a score is given to increase the risk of small cell service. In the event of a PCI crash, a score is given to increase the risk of small cell service. If the small cell service quality is lower than the reference value, a score is given to increase the risk of small cell service.

For example, as shown in Table 1, each judgment index is weighted, and a small-cell service risk is calculated according to whether the service risk (1 or 0) in which each judgment index is affected. When the risk of small cell service is equal to or greater than the reference value, the small cell access apparatus 100 or the small cell management server 200 can determine to stop the small cell service. For example, if the neighboring cell signal strength is larger than the reference value and the number of attempts to connect the terminal is smaller than the reference value, the risk of small cell access to the small cell access device 100 is 80% (= 50% * 1 + 30% * 1 ), It can be decided to stop the small cell service.

Judgment index weight Whether the service is at risk (1 or 0) Neighbor cell signal strength 50% If it is larger than the reference value, 1 Number of attempts to connect to the terminal 30% If the condition is less than the reference value, 1 PCI conflict 15% 1 if collision Small cell service quality 15% If it is lower than the reference value, 1 Small cell service risk Above 80% service interruption

2 is a flow chart of a method for a small cell base station to stop a small cell service according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, the small cell access point 100 measures neighbor cell signal intensities for a predetermined period of time and checks whether the measured adjacent cell signal intensities are greater than a reference value (S110). The number of measurement times and the measurement period of the signal intensity may vary. For example, the small cell access device 100 may measure the signal strength of neighboring cells by performing bootup NL at boot time, and may periodically perform peripheral monitoring (periodic NL) to measure the signal strength of neighboring cells. Then, the small cell access point 100 checks whether the neighboring cell signal strength is greater than the reference value by integrating the signal strengths of neighboring cells measured in the risk determination period. If the neighboring cell signal strength is greater than the reference value, it is checked that a neighboring cell signal strength affects service risk occurrence.

The small cell access point 100 measures the number of attempts to connect the terminal for a predetermined period of time and checks whether the measured number of attempts to connect the terminal is less than the reference value at step S120. If the number of attempts to connect to the terminal is less than the reference value, it is checked that there is a service risk occurrence that affects the number of terminal connection attempts.

The small cell access point 100 checks whether a PCI conflict exists due to the presence of the same PCI as its own PCI (S130). The small cell access point 100 determines whether there is a PCI in the vicinity and checks if a cell identifier collision occurs more than a reference number for a predetermined period of time as a service risk occurrence that affects a PCI collision.

The small cell access point 100 measures the small cell service quality through the surrounding monitoring for a predetermined time, and checks whether the small cell service quality is lower than the reference value (S140). The small cell access apparatus 100 can determine the small cell service quality of the risk determination period based on the success rate of each small cell service quality item. If the small cell service quality is below the reference value, it is checked that a service risk that affects the small cell service quality has occurred.

The small cell access point 100 determines whether or not a service risk of the judgment indices checked for a predetermined period of time has occurred, and determines whether to keep / stop the small cell service (S150). The small cell access device 100 can calculate the risk of small cell service based on various judgment indices as described in the example of Table 1 and various scoring methods including the weight of each judgment index can be designed.

When the small cell access service 100 determines to stop the service, the small cell access service 100 stops the small cell service (S160). The small cell access apparatus 100 stops the RF transmission and does not provide the small cell service.

The small cell access point 100 reports the small cell management server 200 to the interruption of the small cell service (S170).

If the small cell access service 100 determines to hold the small cell service, the small cell access device 100 can again determine whether to stop the small cell service in the next risk determination period. On the other hand, the small cell access apparatus 100 can periodically acquire determination indications and periodically update / stop the small cell service even when the small cell service is stopped. Alternatively, after the small cell access apparatus 100 stops the small cell service, it can receive the small cell service resume command from the small cell management server 200 and provide the small cell service. After resuming the small cell service, the small cell access device 100 may acquire the determination indications and decide to hold / stop the small cell service.

It is needless to say that the step of receiving the judgment indices by the small cell access device 100 and checking the occurrence of the service risk based on the judgment indices on the basis thereof may proceed in parallel or sequentially.

3 is a flowchart of a method of interrupting a small cell service in cooperation with a small cell management server according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the small cell access device 100 acquires the determination indications related to the service interruption through the surrounding monitoring for a predetermined time (S210). The metrics may include neighbor cell signals, number of UE connection attempts, PCI collisions, and small cell service quality.

The small cell access point 100 determines whether or not the value of the obtained determination indications (e.g., neighboring cell signal strength, number of attempts to connect to the terminal, etc.) or service risk occurrence by each determination indicator (e.g., 0 ") to the small cell management server 200 (S220). Or the occurrence of each judgment index may be a predetermined value (for example, a difference from the reference value) for the small cell service risk calculation.

The small cell management server 200 determines whether to keep the service of the small cell access device 100 based on whether the service risk is caused by the determination indices acquired in the small cell access device 100 at step S230. The small cell management server 200 can calculate the small cell service risk based on various judgment indices as described with reference to Table 1 as an example and the scoring method including the weight of each judgment index can be variously designed.

When the small cell management server 200 determines to stop the small cell service, the small cell management server 200 transmits a small cell service disconnection message to the small cell access device 100 (S240).

The small cell access point 100 stops the small cell service (S242).

The small cell management server 200 adds the small cell access device 100 to the small cell service disrupted base station list (S250).

The small cell management server 200 transmits the updated small cell service termination base station list to the network management server 300 (S260).

When the small cell management server 200 determines to hold the small cell service, the small cell management server 200 may transmit the small cell service holding message to the small cell access device 100 or may not transmit any other message.

The small cell management server 200 periodically receives the value of whether or not the determination indicators are generated from the small cell access device 100 and may periodically decide to hold / stop the small cell service.

As described above, according to the embodiment, the small cell access apparatus determines whether the small cell service is in a state where it is necessary to stop the service of the subscriber in order to guarantee the communication quality of the subscriber through peripheral monitoring and stops the small cell service so that the communication quality of the subscriber located in the small cell Can be guaranteed. According to the embodiment, the small cell access device stops the small cell service and reports it to the management server, so that the management server can easily manage the small cell service status and easily handle the dismantling and recycling of the unnecessary small cell access device And as a result, it is possible to reduce various costs required for the wireless network.

According to the embodiment, the small cell management server determines whether a small cell service interruption is necessary to guarantee the communication quality of the subscriber based on the determination indices received from the small cell access device, and stops the small cell service. The communication quality of the subscriber can be guaranteed.

The embodiments of the present invention described above are not implemented only by the apparatus and method, but may be implemented through a program for realizing the function corresponding to the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention or a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, It belongs to the scope of right.

Claims (16)

1. A method of operating a small cell access device supporting a wireless communication service to terminals connected in a small cell,
Obtaining at least one judgment indicator including neighbor cell signal strength through peripheral monitoring and calculating a small cell service risk based on the at least one judgment indicator,
Determining whether to maintain or stop the wireless communication service based on the small cell service risk, and
Stopping the wireless communication service and reporting a service interruption to the small cell management server when it is determined to stop the wireless communication service
Wherein the small cell connection device comprises: The method of claim 1,
The step of calculating the small cell service risk
Wherein the at least one neighboring cell signal strength is measured during a predetermined time and a score for increasing the risk of the small cell service is given when the measured neighboring cell signal strength is greater than a reference value. The method of claim 1,
Wherein the determination indicator further includes at least one of a number of attempts to connect a terminal to the small cell access device, a collision of a cell identifier set in the small cell access device, and a small cell service quality. 4. The method of claim 3,
The step of calculating the small cell service risk
When a number of attempted terminal connection attempts to the small cell access device is less than or equal to a first reference value for a predetermined period of time,
When a collision of the cell identifiers occurs more than a reference number for a predetermined time, a score for increasing the risk of the small cell service is given,
Wherein when a small cell service quality measured for a predetermined period of time is equal to or less than a second reference value, a score for increasing the risk of small cell service is given. The method of claim 1,
The step of calculating the small cell service risk
The small cell service risk is calculated in units of the risk judgment period,
The step of determining whether to maintain or interrupt the wireless communication service
And determines whether to maintain or stop the wireless communication service in the risk determination period based on the small cell service risk level determined in the risk determination period. The method of claim 1,
Stopping the wireless communication service and resuming the wireless communication service after a predetermined time. The method of claim 1,
Receiving a wireless communication service restart command from the small cell management server after stopping the wireless communication service, and
And resuming the wireless communication service
Further comprising the steps of: 1. A method of operating a small cell access device supporting a wireless communication service to terminals connected in a small cell,
Obtaining at least one determination indicator including neighbor cell signal strength through peripheral monitoring,
Transmitting, to the small cell management server, at least one obtained determination indicator;
Receiving an interruption command of the radio communication service from the small cell management server, and
Stopping the wireless communication service,
Wherein the termination of the wireless communication service is determined based on the small cell service risk by the at least one judgment indicator. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the determination indicator further includes at least one of a number of attempts to connect a terminal to the small cell access device, a collision of a cell identifier set in the small cell access device, and a small cell service quality. 9. The method of claim 8,
The step of transmitting the determination indicator
And transmits the judgment index to at least one judgment index obtained in units of a risk judgment period. 9. The method of claim 8,
Resuming the wireless communication service after the wireless communication service is stopped and resuming the wireless communication service when receiving the wireless communication service resume command from the small cell management server
Further comprising the steps of: A method of operating a small cell management server communicating with a small cell access device,
Receiving at least one determination indicator including a neighboring cell signal strength from the small cell access device,
Calculating a small cell service risk based on the at least one judgment indicator,
Determining whether to maintain or stop the wireless communication service provided by the small cell access device based on the small cell service risk, and
Transmitting a wireless communication service interruption message to the small cell access device when it is determined to stop the wireless communication service;
Cell management server. The method of claim 12,
Adding the small cell access device to the small cell service disabled base station list when it is determined to stop the wireless communication service, and
And transmitting the updated small cell service termination base station list to the network management server
Further comprising the steps of: The method of claim 12,
The step of calculating the small cell service risk
Wherein a score for increasing the risk of the small cell service is given when the neighboring cell signal strength included in the at least one determination indicator is greater than a reference value. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the determination index further includes at least one of a number of attempts to connect a terminal to the small cell access device, a collision of a cell identifier set in the small cell access device, and a small cell service quality. 16. The method of claim 15,
The step of calculating the small cell service risk
When the number of attempted terminal connection attempts to the small cell access device is equal to or less than a first reference value, a score for increasing the risk of small cell service is given,
When a collision of the cell identifiers occurs more than a reference number of times, a score for increasing the risk of the small cell service is given,
And when the small cell service quality is equal to or less than a second reference value, a score for increasing the risk of small cell service is given.

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