RU2277762C2 - Radio resource control - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: methods and devices for controlling radio resources.

SUBSTANCE: method of radio resource control is proposed which method can be used in network embracing region having many areas. User of at least one area is assigned, which area has many areas-candidates for which the user can be assigned. Information is received that identifies multiplicity of areas-candidates and parameter for any area-candidate is estimated. Parameter contemplates that user is assigned for mentioned area-candidate. Priorities are assigned to multiplicity of areas-candidates taking mentioned parameter into account.

EFFECT: improved efficiency of control.

45 cl, 17 dg, 1 tbl

Description

The invention relates to a radio resource control device and a radio resource control method.

State of the art

In the future, it is anticipated that wireless networks will consist of more than one radio access technology such as WCDMA (Code Division Multiple Access Broadband System), GSM / EDGE (Global System for Mobile Communications, Electronic Data Acquisition System) or things like that. Through the use of different radio access technologies, the network as a whole can take advantage of the coverage and bandwidth characteristics of each technology. This may result in a more economical solution and provide the largest number of suitable unidirectional radio channels for many different services.

In known radio access networks, radio resource management between systems is performed in a distributed manner. The radio network controllers of the various systems control the radio resources of each system independently. The effectiveness of the resource management functions is limited to the area under the control of the radio resource controllers of the respective systems.

The inventors realized that in order to use existing resources, it is most necessary to manage traffic in various systems. The prior art allocation of resources controlled by the radio network controllers of the respective systems is a particular problem with the decision to transfer service between these systems. This is because the information that can be taken into account for performing a handover is limited to resources under the control of each radio resource controller. In a single system, the main limitation is the small amount of information that can be exchanged between different radio resource controllers. This makes it difficult to manage radio resources within the boundaries of radio resource controllers, because information in cells under the control of the neighboring radio resource controller (s) is limited. In a multi-system environment, the information available from the cells of another radio access system is even more limited, and there is no standardized way to check the state of the cell of another system. In addition, if, for example, such an interface were standardized between two well-known radio resource controllers, a new radio access system, which could be introduced later, would require separate interfaces for the corresponding radio resource controllers.

An additional problem is that the separate operation and operation of multiple systems is cost-inefficient and can lead to poor resource utilization and poor network quality.

In third-generation wireless communication networks, a wide variety of services can be provided to an end user. In contrast to existing second-generation networks, continuous coverage or Quality of Service (QoS) cannot be guaranteed for all services throughout the cell due to the higher signal-to-noise ratios required by third-generation services with high bit rates. If the cell to which the call is directed has made a handover or does not support the required quality of service, this may mean that the service in question cannot be supported or is not adequately supported.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the embodiments of the present invention is to address one or more of the problems discussed above.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for use in a network spanning a region that contains a plurality of zones, the user being assigned at least one of said zones, which has a plurality of associated candidate zones to which a user can be assigned, comprising that receives information identifying the plurality of candidate zones; evaluating a parameter for each candidate zone, the parameter assuming that the user is assigned to said candidate zone; and prioritizing said plurality of candidate zones, taking into account the estimated value of said parameter.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a radio resource management device for use in a network spanning a region containing multiple zones, the user being assigned to at least one of said zones, which has a plurality of associated candidate zones to which a user may be assigned, comprising: means for receiving information identifying said plurality of candidate zones; means for evaluating a parameter for each candidate zone, the parameter assuming that the user is assigned to said candidate zone; and means for prioritizing said plurality of candidate zones, taking into account the estimated value of said parameter.

Brief Description of the Drawings

For a better understanding of the present invention and how it can be made, references will be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a network comprising a plurality of systems with various radio access technologies;

Figure 2 shows a General Radio Resource Management (CRRM) device controlling a plurality of radio access systems;

Figure 3 shows the concept of ESD for handover function;

4 shows a sequence of events during a handover process;

5 illustrates a prioritization algorithm in a handover decision;

6 illustrates one embodiment of the invention comprising a plurality of ESD devices;

7 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention comprising a plurality of ESD devices;

8 illustrates a first method for determining throughput;

FIG. 9 illustrates a mapping of carrier to interference N / A to bandwidth; FIG.

10a-c illustrate a second method for determining throughput;

11 shows a graph of downlink transmission power versus load in a third method for determining throughput;

12 illustrates a fourth method for determining throughput;

Fig. 13 shows a modification of the method illustrated in Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 shows a load of a GSM cell;

Fig. 15 shows a graph of the bit error rate as a function of carrier to interference ratio.

Description of preferred embodiments of the present invention

Referring to FIG. 1, which shows a network containing many different radio access technologies. A mobile station (MS) 2 or similar user equipment is capable of using more than one radio access technology. It should be understood that the mobile station may be stationary, and may, for example, be a personal computer (PC) (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA) or the like.

In the example shown, the radio access technologies are macro, micro, or picosystems 4, 6, or 8, respectively. These different systems will have different cell sizes, and the cellular macrocells are many times larger than the cellular picocells. Typically, the coverage area of one cellular macrocell is overlapped by several cellular micro and / or picocells. Cellular macro, micro and picocells can also use systems with various radio access technologies. In the example shown, various radio access technologies include GSM / EDGE 10, WDMCR 12, WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) (WLAN) 14, or DVR (Time Division Duplex) (TDD) 16. It should be understood that this is just an example and that any of these radio access systems or technologies may be omitted, and / or any other suitable technologies or the like may be used in embodiments of the present invention.

Mobile station 2 is configured to communicate with various similar systems. In order to obtain the best possible output of various resources, a general radio resource management (CRM) device (module) is proposed for performing these tasks. ESD is provided with a server, but in this document the module providing the ESD function will be referred to as ESD. This is presented in figure 2.

OURR 20 is provided with a server. It should be understood that although the ESD function is described in this embodiment as being provided by a single module, the same function can be provided in alternative embodiments of the invention by several different modules. These various modules can be part of different systems. The lur interface can be used with a distributed approach to exchange the necessary information about the load of network elements and / or any other information. Load information can be exchanged between radio network controllers via the lur interface. This interface is defined between radio network controllers. It should be understood, however, that the same or similar interface may be defined, for example, between the radio network controller and the interfaces of the base station controllers and the base station controller with the interfaces of the base station controllers.

ESD 20 is configured to connect to each of the various systems that, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, comprise a CMDKR system 12, a GSM / EDGE system 10, a DVR system 16, and an SRDRP system 22 (radio access system with a network protocol) (IP RAN). ESD 20 also receives information from and sends information to module 24 operation and maintenance (IT) for the network as a whole.

The interfaces between ESD 20 and various systems 10, 12, 16, 22 are preferably made up of elements that are controlled by the radio resource control device in these systems. These elements are a radio network controller (RSK) in ShMDKR networks, a base station controller (KBS) in GSM / EDGE networks and cell server resources (SRY) or some other radio resource controller in SRDRP networks. These elements are only mentioned as examples of controllers, and the term “radio resource controller” is intended to include all of these elements in this document.

ESD 20 is a strategy management device that controls access to radio resources. As will be described in more detail below, one of its tasks consists in assigning priorities to the final cellular service candidate cells during transmission and call setup. The main advantages of ESD 20 are:

load sharing for efficient use of resources;

interference distribution to provide higher spectral efficiency;

Improved Quality of Service (QoS) management. By combining radio technologies based on QoS control, optimal end-user performance can be achieved.

Since the characteristics of different radio access systems are generally completely different, a common language should preferably be defined for signaling, handover algorithms, harmonized load indicators, and the like between different systems and module (s) in subordination of the general radio resource control function to avoid introducing new interfaces if the network requires the use of a new radio access system.

Next, a cell prioritization algorithm that can be used in ESD to select or assign an optimal end cell to connect when a call is established, in standby mode, and during handover / reselection of a cell or the like will be described.

In a mobile communication environment, when a mobile station that supports the connection leaves a certain coverage area, or the network has some other reasons to move the mobile station to another cell, a handover / cell reselection is required. In a situation where there is more than one radio access technology and / or more than one service with different QoS requirements, the decision to transfer the service / reselect the cell (the decision whether to connect to which connection or connections) should not be handled as simple as in the case of the existing, known from the prior art mobile environment, when there is only one radio access system and when the traffic largely consists of voice services. A similar problem exists when a call is established, when the call is placed in the cell to which it was connected in standby mode.

In the latter case, call setup candidates can be sent to ESD 20, which selects the best cell to connect to.

The load threshold can be used to trigger a directed retry instead of using a directed retry only when the cell is completely overloaded. If reliable standby mobile measurements from available cells are known in the system before the signaling channel is allocated when a call is established, this call can be routed from the very beginning to the optimal cell.

The choice of the final cell in ESD 20 is based on the priority assignment algorithm, which will order the cells included in the list of candidate final cellular cells sent by the respective radio resource controllers of different radio access systems to ESD 20. The list of final candidate cellular cells is then rebuilt according to the degree of suitability each cell is held on connection. Some additional information may also be taken into account, for example, whether a change in radio access technology, location or routing area affects handover / cell reselection. A reordered list of candidate cells will be sent back to the radio resource controller, who will command the actual handover / reselection process of the cell.

The method embodying the present invention allows the mobile station to always be connected to most suitable cells by combining various radio access systems in such a way that the QoS requirements of the user connection (s) are met and the network characteristics are optimized in terms of spectral and grouping efficiency. In practice, this may mean that: 1) a greater number of users can be allowed (and / or higher bit rates can be achieved) while maintaining the quality of the connections; 2) you can minimize the number of unsatisfied users; 3) handover / cell reselection procedures can be more reliable while minimizing unnecessary cell handoffs / cell reselections; and 4) it is possible to optimize the use of hardware resources in various radio access systems. The process performed by OURR20, for the decision function on the transfer of service conditionally shown in figure 3. The various inputs to ESD 20 are described in more detail below and which of them are used by the ESD algorithms.

OURD will periodically, upon request, receive information on the state of resources 30 of the cell. This information may include, for example, the following:

1. The current traffic load in the cell. This information can be used to verify whether a new connection is expected to introduce a high load into the end cell. Information about the load can be divided into:

- real-time load (RV) (RT). RV load can simply be measured as:

- percentage of hardware usage (AO) (HW) (for example, taking into account the bandwidth in the main frequency band, transmission bandwidth, processor performance of the digital signal processor (DSP) (DSP), limitations of the spreading code in the CDMA, etc.) ;

- in ShMDKR this may be the ratio between the transmit / receive power (Per / Pr) used by the RV users, the measured system, to the Per / Pr power of the final cell. One or the other of the uplink (Pr) and downlink (Per) relationships may be sent, or both of them;

- non-real-time load (NRT) (NRT). NRV load can be measured by measuring the average delay of NRV users. The average delay should preferably be sent separately for each type of QoS class / NRT traffic priority combination. This would mean reporting the following average delays:

- the average delay experienced by the packet of the class of interactive traffic with priority 1 traffic processing;

- average delay experienced by the packet of the class of interactive traffic with priority 2 traffic processing;

- average delay experienced by the packet of the class of interactive traffic with priority 3 traffic processing;

- the average delay experienced by the packet of the class of background traffic with priority 1 traffic processing.

The notification of these values may be the ratio of the average delay and retransmission time of higher-level frames (sub-layer of logical connection establishment control (ULS) (LLC)). Other options for reporting a delay can be:

- the average value of the delay (for different classes of priorities);

- weighted average delay, where the weighting factor may relate to the priority of planning for each priority class.

2. Full load. Full utilization of the AO of the cell, or, in SMDKR, the ratio between the total Per / Pr power measured by the system and the Per / Pr power of the final cell. Information about the uplink (Pr) or downlink (Per), or both of them can be sent to ESD.

3. Cell jamming condition. Cell interference statistics can be used to select the most suitable cell in terms of interference. For real-time data services with guaranteed bandwidth, this interference measurement can be used to estimate how many resources of a new service are going to occupy the final cell. With this method, OURD, when assigning priorities to different cells in the case of a user in real time, can approximate the new real time and the full loads of each candidate cell based on the above information about the load and interference.

The interference state of the cell can be sent, for example, in the form of:

- carrier to interference ratio (N / A) (C / I) at 95% output, which means that 95% of users in a cell experience a higher N / A than this value. Naturally, any other value or statistical measurement of the output can be used;

- alternatively, the interference measurement can be, for example, the output of the bit error coefficient (BER) (BER) or the probability of bit error (BER) (BER) (or another statistical measure of this);

- the interference value can also be displayed in the radio resource controller in the bandwidth value, which can then be used to evaluate the new real-time and full load of the candidate cell.

Another option for evaluating interference experienced by a user in different candidate cells is to send an interference rating per connection related to each candidate cell when an event such as directional retry (NRT) (DR) is triggered cell reselection or the like. NPP means a means in a cellular radio system that allows a mobile subscriber to have a second attempt to gain access if the first attempt failed due to overflow (overload).

Methods for estimating interference or potential throughput are described in more detail below.

ESD 20 may also, periodically or upon request, receive information 32 about the state of the elements of another radio access network (RAN), such as information related to the load of gateways, etc. In order to display the percentage of cell load to the number of available / reserved time slots or to a specific transmit power, ESD 20 must know the configuration information of the various cells and / or the configuration information of the various SDR elements. This configuration information should preferably include cell throughput. For example, it would include information about whether a particular cell supports OPR (General Packet Radio Service) (GPRS) and / or EDGE (8-FMn modulation) in GSM. This information can be received, for example, from the network operation and maintenance module.

In addition to the configuration information, ESD 20 must know the values of parameters, such as the margins of power reserves, for the transfer of service between different cells (especially for GSM) for circuit switched (QC) (CS) and packet switched (CP) (PS) connections ( or PB and NRV). The handoff boundary refers to power reserves and is used to eliminate the ping-pong effect between adjacent zones.

Other information that can be used in ESD 20 when prioritizing candidate cells includes the following.

Received signal strength or link quality information (e.g., Prur (received signal strength) (RxLev) in GSM, received signal code power (MSC) (RSCP), or chip-to-noise energy ratio (Ec / I) in WDMCR) from serving cell and directed retry, direct access, handover or reselection of candidate candidate cells before such an event. Those. an important (but not essential for all embodiments of the invention) input when choosing the optimal cell, as here, determines whether the mobile station is in the coverage area of a particular candidate cell.

Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. QoS requirements, such as guaranteed bandwidth requirements, should be considered when choosing the best cell. Throughput can be measured as the number of bits (or data bits) transmitted in one direction through a section per unit of time (for example, bits / s).

The type of traffic class (s) related to the connection related to the QoS requirements should also be considered. There may be several Data Transfer Protocol (PDP) contexts associated with a single connection. In such cases, priority assignment to the target cell should preferably take into account all related contexts.

Any parameter related to the cell capacity can be used in embodiments of the invention, for example, the number of transceivers (Transmitters) (TRX), the ratio of the transmitted cell to the received power (Per / Pr) of the final cell, the bandwidth of EDGE / GPRS, lists of neighboring cells cells or initial thresholds / boundaries of the transfer of service (ON) (BUT).

ESD 20 also receives information defining a candidate cell list, mobile station information, and connection information 34. As will be described in more detail below, ESD uses the information that it receives to obtain a revised list of final candidate cells, in which candidate cells are given a weight or priority rating.

A method of implementing the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG. 4, which illustrates a handover process.

When ESD 20 accepts a list of candidate end cells, it will give a priority value or weight to each cell included in this list. To calculate this priority value, ESD 20 uses an algorithm consisting of a linear and non-linear combination of its inputs, fuzzy logic, neural networks, or any other procedures. An example of a priority assignment algorithm is shown in FIG. Priority Wn is assigned to each cell, which is the final cell for which a handover is received, as said, as a function of several inputs:

Wn = f (Cell_Resource_Status, Cell_RESD_Others_Status, Other_CONTENT_Elements_DS, Requirements_CO, Measurements_MS, Class_MC, Settings_THE, Operator Preferences).

When prioritizing candidate candidate cells, the current serving cell is also included in the candidate list. In this case, ESD 20 may also prevent directed retry, handover, cell reselection or the like by the radio resource controller, if this is not necessary or optimal.

The following operations are performed. It should be understood that while the method is running, ESD may be in a state of receiving information discussed previously. At operation 1, a handover start is detected. It can be any trigger trigger in known communication systems. In operation 2, a list of destination candidate candidate cells is sent to ESD 2. This list is made up of information received from various radio access systems 10, 12 and 22. Only one radio resource controller reports a list of candidates. This candidate cell list is based on a measurement notification measured by the mobile station MS. The list of neighboring cells in each radio resource controller also includes cells from other systems. Otherwise, they cannot be measured by a user connected to a cell that belongs to a given radio resource controller. In operation 3, ESD 20 organizes the list of candidate candidate final cells, i.e. prioritizes them. This is done using an algorithm that will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In step 4, ESD 20 sends an ordered list of end cells to the radio resource controller of a system having a cell with which the mobile station is currently connected. This radio resource controller then issues a command for a handover operation based on a list of candidate cells. In particular, the radio resource controller will select the cell with the highest priority. If this cell is not available for some reason, then the cell with the next highest priority is selected, etc.

In step 5, the mobile station receives a handover command from the radio network controller, and in step 6, the connection moves to the new cell. This new cell may be in another radio call system or in the same system. The old connection will be freed.

Turning now to FIG. 5, which shows a prioritization algorithm. In the shown embodiment, the algorithm is represented having N parts 50, where N is the number of cells in the list of candidate cells. Each part 50 receives the following information related to the candidate cell with which it deals: the state of the cell, the measurement 52 of the mobile station from cell N, the state 54 of the other elements of the DRS (as discussed earlier) and the resource status of the cell N 56 The purpose of the priority assignment algorithm is to provide the cell with WN priority. The measurements of the mobile station, as well as the identifier of the candidate cell are provided by a list of 60 candidate cell. Additionally, a radio resource controller is also provided for each part of the algorithm through input 58 by the class of the mobile station and the parameters of the unidirectional radio access channel, such as quality of service requirements, etc.

Each part of algorithm 50 also accepts the preferences of 62 operators, and from part 64 of the operation and maintenance of the network, parameters for the algorithm and information related to the network configuration. Based on the received information, each part of the algorithm calculates the priority or weighting coefficient for each candidate cell. This information from parts 50 of the algorithm is inserted into list 66, which is sent to the radio resource controller.

It should be understood that parts of the algorithm can execute any suitable algorithm using the received information. A person skilled in the art is able to come up with such an algorithm.

It should be understood that in this document the term "radio resource controller" is intended to encompass any module in any access system that provides a control function in its access system. For example, it can be a base station controller (BSC) in the GSM / EDGE system, a radio network controller (RSK) in the CDMA system, a cell resource server (SRN) in the SRDM system or the like.

Emergency handoffs, such as handoffs when the field collapses quickly, can be performed without consulting ESD 20 so as not to delay the procedures.

As previously mentioned, the method of the invention can be implemented centrally or distributed. In a distributed solution, each radio resource controller will be responsible for prioritizing the cells for events that are triggered in the cells controlled by that particular radio resource controller. In a distributed solution, it is necessary to exchange information about the state of network elements from each radio resource controller to all neighboring radio resource controllers. With a centralized solution to ESD, this signaling should be sent only from each radio resource controller to the corresponding ESD (s).

If there are multiple ESDs, signaling between the ESDs can be done in the same way as in the case of a distributed ESDD function. Referring now to FIG. 6, which shows a network comprising two ESDs 20, each of which controls multiple cells or zones 68. ESDs 20 are configured to receive information from their cells or zones. These cells or zones are associated with only one ESD. ESD 20 connects together to receive boundary cell or zone information from each other.

A centralized ESD can also operate with larger zones, so that the radio resource controllers will send load information and / or other information to the centralized ESD from a specific “zone” instead of cells. ESD will then only select the best “zone”, and the radio resource controller will be able to choose the best cell / resource in this zone.

FIG. 7 shows an alternative where radio resource controllers located in the border zones 68 of the ESD send cell state information to several ESD 20. Thus, the border cells or zones are able to notify more than one ESD and notify all the ESD that control adjacent zones or cells. The OURR-OURR interface is not required.

Preferred embodiments of the invention combine the arrangements of FIGS. 6 and 7, so that cells or zones can notify more than one ESD, and ESD can communicate with each other. This has the advantage that one or another option can be selected. This may depend on the size of the ESD, the available transmission capacity, the capacity of the base station, or the like.

It should be understood that various systems may span adjacent or at least partially overlapping zones. Accordingly, the term “border cell” should, accordingly, be interpreted as including also cells within the network, which are adjacent or overlapping cells, or an excellent system.

ESD 20 is configured to route incoming calls to the most suitable candidate cell according to the QoS requirements (for example, unidirectional radio access channel (RAB) parameters). Additionally, for handovers or re-election of a network-controlled cell, the throughput of candidate cells to support the requested QoS must be known. Among other parameters (for example, traffic load, Pr level, operator priorities), the throughput should preferably be estimated for each cell, otherwise no QoS (required throughput) can be guaranteed until a new cell is selected. Bandwidth is important to know especially for real-time (RV) services before proceeding with the establishment or transfer of services. Similarly, it is important to know the increase in load in order to check if the throughput remaining in the candidate cell is sufficient, and also to take into account the differences in throughput between the cells.

A method for estimating throughput in GSM / EDGE cells based on measurement and dynamic frequency and channel allocation (DFCA) (DFCA) notifications will now be described.

The mobile station periodically informs its base station of measurement notifications from several neighboring cells, for example, the 6 strongest of 32 in the case of advanced measurement notifications. Of course, any suitable number of cells may also be reported. The original base station or radio resource controller calculates the throughput of each candidate cell and provides this information to the ESD. Analysis / evaluation of the N / A ratio and available time intervals (which are the throughput) is performed every time there is a distribution of channels, i.e. handover, call setup, or the like, using a unidirectional check of the DRC. The throughput is determined on the basis of notifications about the measurements of the mobile station and the channel allocations in each candidate cell (obtained from the notices of the HDRC between the cells).

In addition, Background Interference Matrices (MFPs) (BIMs) from each candidate cell can be used to obtain more accurate estimates. This requires that the MFPs be transmitted to the original cell.

Estimated N / A values for one time interval can be mapped to actual throughput values using mapping tables. When the maximum throughput value is determined, the number of available time slots is taken into account.

FIG. 8 illustrates an N / A estimation procedure based on the MC measurement notification and the HDR resource tables from other candidate cells. FIG. 9 illustrates how N / A is mapped to the actual throughput for one time slot.

The radio resource controller receives a measurement notification from the mobile station, including the received levels of each neighboring cell (the 6 strongest neighbors and the signal level from the current cell). Up to 32 strongest neighbors can be considered if extended measurement notice is used. The radio resource controller (which includes the HDR algorithms) also receives information about the current channel distribution of neighboring cells (reserved time intervals for one frequency) from table 200. Based on this information, the serving radio resource controller creates a table 202 for each candidate cell of all physical channels (time slots / transmitters) showing all available and busy channels.

The Serving Radio Resource Controller (HDRO) can calculate N / A for each time slot / frequency of each neighboring cell. This procedure is the same as the unidirectional check of the HDR, although the MFPs of neighboring cells are not used.

Calculation of N / A only for the largest group with many time intervals is not the only way to act. It should be noted, for example, that 3 time intervals with better N / A can result in higher throughput than 4 time intervals with less good N / A.

Accordingly, in addition to the largest group with a plurality of time slots, N / A values can also be calculated for one or more of the following best combinations of time slots. It should be understood that this is only one way of calculating the N / A ratio and that any other suitable method can alternatively be used.

Based on the average N / A and the maximum number of available time slots (depending on the embodiment, whether the time slots should be consecutive), the radio resource controller calculates a measure of throughput for each candidate cell. This is sent to OURR. In addition to this, an average N / A value per one time interval may be sent to ESD. In ESD, this can then be mapped to throughput per slot in accordance with FIG. 9.

Referring now to FIG. 8, which shows a procedure for estimating a carrier-to-interference ratio based on measurement notifications from a mobile station and the HDRC resource tables from other candidate candidate cells. First of all, in operation 1, resource tables 200 are determined for each cell for each frequency. Tables 200 have an entry for each frequency f and for each time interval T. Following this, in step 2, a table 202 is determined that defines a resource table for each cell for each transmitter. In other words, this table includes information for each transmitter regarding available time slots. The first table 200 thus includes an entry for each frequency and time slot about whether the transceiver uses this time slot at that frequency, and if so, the identifier of that transceiver. If the specified frequency and time interval are not used, the table may leave a space or have any other suitable indication that these time interval and frequency are available.

The second table 202 sets for each transceiver what time interval is used by the respective transceivers.

In the third operation, operation 3, the largest set of subsequent time intervals or a group of time intervals is selected. In the example shown in table 202, these will be time intervals T ₁ -T ₄ .

In step 4, a carrier to interference ratio is calculated for each frequency and associated time interval, which can accommodate groups of time intervals. This is based on other candidate cell resource tables and measurement notifications. This is shown in the third table 204. As can be seen, the third table 204 is based on the first table 200, but includes the calculated carrier-to-interference ratios for time slots T ₁ through T ₄ at selected frequencies. The frequencies that are selected are frequencies having all time intervals T ₁ -T ₄ empty. Information from other cells is used, which is in the same table as table 200. The carrier to interference ratio is calculated using the following equation:

N / A = UrPr (N) level of the signal of own cell (cell n), divided by the average (in decibels) or the worst (highest) value of the measured levels (P) from the levels of other cells.

If any measured cell (n-1) uses the same time interval, it should be considered as interference in cell n.

In step 5, the best average carrier to interference value is selected.

The average carrier-to-interference ratio can be mapped to a common measure of throughput and multiplied by the number of time slots. This is done in step 6. In this regard, reference is made to FIG. 9, which gives an example of how the carrier-to-interference ratio can be mapped to throughput. In particular, FIG. 9 shows a graph of throughput over one time slot versus carrier to interference ratio.

9 shows various statistics collected for different multiple coding schemes. This graph can be used to estimate throughput when N / A is known. As you can see from this graph, the greater the interference and noise, the less bandwidth (so another cell can be better). In more detail, FIG. 9 illustrates link adaptation: the better N / A, the less channel / error coding can be used and the better the throughput. The converse is also true: the less N / A, the more robust coding is required. This graph / table should be in the ESD or radio resource controller.

This method can be used on any network where an HDR is used. However, in the notification of the HDRO in a network known in the art, no information about the transmitters is received. Therefore, in order to use an embodiment of the present invention, some additional information is added to the HDR notifications from neighboring cells, namely, the number of transmitters used for each frequency / time interval and the total number of transmitters in each cell.

The following embodiment describes a distributed method for estimating throughput in GSM / EDGE cells based on notifications of measurements of dynamic frequency and channel distribution (HDLC). Figures 10a-c show a procedure for estimating N / A (maximum throughput) in each candidate cell based on the distributed notification of the measurements of the mobile station and the HDR resource tables of each candidate cell (and MFP). As in the previous embodiment, FIG. 9 illustrates how N / A is mapped to the actual throughput for one time slot.

As shown in FIGS. 10a-c, the following operations are performed.

A mobile station measures the signal level of several neighboring cells, for example, six of the 32 strongest neighboring cells in the case of advanced measurement notification, and the current cell. Of course, in alternative embodiments of the invention, any suitable number of measurements can be used. The mobile station periodically reports measurement notifications to its original base station.

This initial base station uses a unidirectional HDR check, i.e. estimates the maximum throughput from the measurement notification and the background interference matrix (MFP) of the HDR.

The initial base station sends the measured values obtained in the previous step to each cell in the candidate list. Candidate cells estimate their maximum throughput based on these measurements and the MFP. This is done by finding each cell with its largest set of possible available combinations of time intervals (consecutive or scattered groups of time intervals depending on the embodiment). Then each cell calculates the average N / A for these combinations of time intervals using both the measured values and the MFP values (for cells that are not in the measurement notification). The average estimated N / A values for one time interval are mapped to the actual throughput values for one time interval using the mapping tables. This can be done in the same manner as described with respect to the previous embodiment. The number of available time slots is taken into account when determining the maximum throughput value.

In some embodiments, maximum throughput is needed only if the embodiment requires consecutive time slots. Otherwise, throughput per time slot may be sufficient.

Each cell then sends the calculated throughput values (per time slot or N / A per time slot) to the ESD, which can use these values in the process of prioritizing the cells.

This method can be used in any network where an HDRO is used. The measurement notification must be multicast to other candidate cells, and accordingly estimated throughput values are sent to ESD 20.

Now, a method for estimating throughput and increasing load in the cells of the CDMA will be described.

During handovers and call setup, all candidate cells may be prioritized in the ESD, as discussed above. For this purpose, all cells report multiple pointers to the ESD, such as traffic loading and throughput. For services with low bit rates, such as voice services (e.g. 12.2 kbps), the measured percentage of the load will be sufficient to distinguish candidate cells, even if there are differences in bandwidth between them, but for more high bit rates (for example, more than 50 kbit / s), it is necessary to take into account differences in bandwidth (transmit power of the downlink Pper_end, the number of transceivers, etc.) between the cells. For example, if there is a GSM candidate cell and a ShMDKR candidate cell with the same percentage load but different maximum throughput, it would be more desirable to transfer the service to the ShMDKR (assuming that other parameters / pointers included in the assignment process priorities do not affect this).

To estimate the required transmit power, i.e. increase in load due to a new user in each cell of the candidate ShMDKR, the algorithm for controlling the entrance to the ShMDKR is used. The required maximum power and mobile measurement notification (ρ _c = E _s / I _c ) can then be used to estimate the available throughput in each cell, i.e. to check whether this cell can support the required Ko.

Here, it is assumed that the downlink direction will limit the load and throughput due to the asymmetric nature of the traffic in the cell. Accordingly, only downlink estimation is considered here. However, it may be desirable to estimate the uplink load, especially if most of the connections generate mostly uniform traffic in both directions. A similar method can be used to evaluate the uplink.

Turning now to FIG. 11, which shows a graph of downlink transmission power versus load. For each cell, a threshold is determined for the maximum planned downlink transmit power, Pper_Final in FIG. 11. Rper_end determines the optimal operating point in the load of the cell (100% of the final load), to which the input control of the radio resource controller can work. When the uncontrolled part of the cell load, i.e. the real-time part of the transmitted / received power that cannot be dynamically regulated as NRV exceeds the final limit, the input control will reject at least those establishment requests that imply an immediate increase in the uplink load on the VLAN (UL). End_Rper is defined by the Final Network Radio Planning (RNP) (RNP) parameter.

The total transmit power Pper_total can be expressed as the sum of the power caused by uncontrolled traffic, Pper_nu, and the power caused by the controlled traffic of unrealistic users, Pper_nrv:

Therefore, percent loads for both the total load (including the RV and NRV data) and the RV load can be calculated in the radio resource controller as follows:

For unidirectional radio access channels (RACs) to be installed in the RV, the increase in unmanaged load ΔPper_nu should be estimated in order to achieve the estimated load in percent, including the requested unidirectional radio access channel. Then the percentage load RV is:

The increase in unmanaged load ΔPper_nu can be estimated by determining the maximum transmit power of the downlink (DL) (DL) radio line. Consider a single service call with one unidirectional radio access channel OCDD of the requested guaranteed bit rate RI _max in bits and the final E _b / N ₀ = ρ for it. If P _{ne, et} represents the maximum transmit power of the NLS reference service (for example, a voice service with 12.2 kbit / s can be used as a reference service), RI _et is its bit rate, and ρ _et is its final E _b / N ₀ , then the maximum power P _{per, max} for a radio link is determined from P _{per, et} by the equation (in linear form)

where the correction coefficient of the maximum effective bit rate is determined by the expression

here R _{per_VFK_max} is the absolute maximum for the transmit power of the _VFK code channel (dedicated physical channel) of the NLS determined by the MaxRperVFK parameter.

When the maximum transmit power of the downlink of the NLS for the requested bearer of the OCRD radio access channel is determined, it can be used to check the estimate of the maximum bit rate Rmax in bits (= bandwidth), which can be achieved at a given power P _{per, max} transmission. For this purpose, the formula for the initial transmit power of the NLS

can be changed. Determining the transmit power requires knowledge of several parameter values. They are obtained as follows:

ρ = E _b / N ₀ is the energy per bit per noise density for the desired bit rate,

ρ _c = E _c / I ₀ is the signal-to-noise ratio per time element of the working channel, measured by the terminal (notification of the MS measurement),

W is the elementary signal transmission rate (3.84 Element / s),

R is the bit rate determined by the network,

Pper_total - measured by the base station,

Rper, DPC is a radio network planning parameter for determining the transmit power of the primary common pilot channel (CPCH) (CPICH),

α is difficult to determine because it depends on a variety of factors that can change rapidly. Previously, it can be fixed at 0.5.

Instead of solving the initial transmit power for a known bit rate R in bits, the maximum achievable bit rate R _max in bits for a known maximum power R _{per, max} is defined as follows:

The embodiment of this embodiment, like the previous embodiments, can be distributed or centralized. In the distributed version, the required values of the MS measurement notifications are sent to the candidate cells, which, in turn, calculate the throughput and load increase and send them to the ESD. In a centralized version, a notification of MS measurements is sent directly to the ESD, where bandwidth and load increase are calculated. In this case, ESDR also requires some specific parameters of the radio network planning (RPS), including RI _et , ρ _et (final E _b / N ₀ ), P _{per, et} , P _{per_VFK_max} , α and the table E _b / N ₀ for different data transfer rates, and all of them should be kept in the database in the OURD server and updated from the cell if they change.

Next, with reference to FIG. 14, a similar method for estimating a load increase for a GSM cell is described.

An example of a load in a GSM cell is illustrated. The time interval can be fully allocated for RV / NRV traffic or shared between different classes of traffic. For a real-time user, the full guaranteed bandwidth is considered with the summation of each guaranteed part of the bandwidth. The load of NRB is not important for the user RV, since it can be flexibly controlled by the packet scheduler.

Each GSM cell has a certain number of time intervals (VIN _max ) for filling in user data depending on the number of PrPP transceivers in the cell and reserved time intervals. The total load consists of RV and NRV data:

Consequently, the percentage load for the total load (including both RV data and NRV data, both for allocated and shared time intervals) and for RV load can be calculated in the radio resource controller as follows:

To establish RAB PB demanding R _treb bit rate should assess the available bandwidth per slot R _{est, wines} (based on mobile measurements and BTS statistics (BTS) (BTS)), to estimate a new interest load including required OECD. Then the percentage load RV can be approximated as follows:

For example: current load_RV = 60%, VINmax + 30, throughput on VIN = 25 kbit / s, required service = 64 kbit / s,

the service will require at least a group of time slots of 3 VIN.

This does not mean that three time intervals will be allocated for the service, but it will give a rough estimate of the increase in load due to the new user.

Bandwidth estimation can be carried out based on the cell, i.e. by collecting statistics for the entire cellular area and using some assumption with a reliability of 95% of the available bandwidth for one time interval. Alternatively, you can estimate the “real” maximum throughput based on connections for a given user in each candidate cell based on mobile measurements and BPS statistics. This assessment can be carried out, for example, by using existing HDR algorithms in each candidate cell. This may require some additional signaling between the cells. In a further embodiment, a method for estimating the throughput of GSM / EDGE cells is used based on the statistics of interference, the location of the mobile station and the measurement notification of the mobile station. In this embodiment, interference statistics are collected (for example, a cumulative distribution function with a probability of 90-95% yield) from incoming calls as a function of the location of the mobile station. The cell zone (or a zone of any other type) is divided into smaller zones, from which statistics are collected. The collected statistical values may be based on the actual interference level reported by the mobile station, or may be based on the received bit error rate as a function of the level of the received signal, which can be mapped and stored. Each time there is a distribution of channels, i.e. during a handover or call setup, the N / A value (carrier to interference) can be estimated from the measurement report of the mobile station (which provides the value for H) and the location of the mobile station and the interference statistics (which provide the value for P).

The estimated N / A value can then be mapped to the throughput for one time interval. The number of available time slots is taken into account when determining the maximum throughput value.

If the location of the mobile station cannot be obtained, the interference statistics can be collected as a function of path loss (the received signal level from the base station gives a measure of the radius of the cell and the location of the mobile station in this cell). This may not be as accurate as location-based statistics, but it can provide more accurate estimates than a single average statistics for the entire range of cells.

Similar statistics can be collected for uplink direction.

Unified interference statistics, N / A or bandwidth can be collected for the entire cell. This is not very accurate, since the interference is not the same throughout the cell area and does not take into account interference changes. To increase accuracy, more processing power and signaling are needed.

12 shows a procedure for collecting interference statistics as a function of the location of a mobile station. As you can see, the cell 100 is divided into many smaller zones 102. For each of these zones, the carrier-to-interference ratio is calculated using the measurement report of the mobile station to provide H and the location of the mobile station and statistics of the measurement reports of the mobile station so that provide P. If N / A statistics are collected for a geographic area, then the N / A value for a new connection is only a function of location, not the current measured value (N).

For each shallow zone with coordinates (X and Y), interference statistics (P) (or N / A statistics) are collected and a 90-95% value of these statistics (curve 110 in Fig. 12) is stored in the table (x depending on y).

Referring to FIG. 13, which shows a procedure for collecting interference statistics as a function of the PR_level (path loss). In this embodiment, the cell is divided into a plurality of annular zones at respective distances from the base station. In this embodiment, the carrier to interference ratio is calculated. The carrier is calculated as described in relation to the previous drawing. The interference value is calculated from the path loss function in the air interface.

Referring again to FIG. 9, which shows how carrier-to-interference ratios are mapped to throughput.

помех в ОУРР, который затем отображает извещения об измерениях мобильной станции, местоположение мобильной станции и доступные временные интервалы в максимальную пропускную способность. Альтернативно, извещения об измерениях мобильной станции могут направляться в каждую сотовую ячейку-кандидат, которая вычисляет значения пропускной способности и направляет их в ОУРР.Statistics collection should be implemented for each base station. Base stations can report matrices

interference into the ESD, which then displays the notifications of the measurements of the mobile station, the location of the mobile station, and the available time slots at maximum throughput. Alternatively, mobile station measurement notifications can be sent to each candidate cell, which calculates the throughput values and sends them to the ESD.

It is necessary to have a certain coefficient of absence of consequences (i.e. filtering data, for example, with an IIR filter (infinite impulse response) (IIR): new_statistical_value = 0.98 * old_statistical_value + 0.02 * new_report) to filter the collected data, since at different times different interference / load conditions appear.

It should be understood that in the same network you can use one or more methods for determining throughput. Different systems may use different methods. It is possible for the same system to use more than one method of determining throughput. It should be understood that in alternative embodiments of the invention, throughput is not determined, but other parameters, such as load, can be determined instead. Methods similar to those described can be used to determine such parameters.

A method embodying the present invention will now be described.

The calculation of the signal-to-noise ratio (SIR) (SIR) can be based either on the cell or on the connection. A connection-based assessment may require a very significant amount of signaling because it needs to be done for each distribution (handoff, call setup). A cell-based score, on the other hand, requires only one single (or more in some embodiments of the present invention) statistics for each cell that can be reported to the ESD along with other periodic notifications, such as load. Connectivity-based bandwidth / SIR estimates can be calculated as follows:

Centralized bandwidth calculation based on HDR:

Distributed bandwidth calculation based on the HDR:

Calculation of throughput based on BER (bit error rate) and / or N / A statistics and knowledge of the location of the mobile station MS:

The statistical method used in cells may be as follows:

- Collect BER values from measurement notifications for each incoming call in each GSM / EDGE cell;

- Display them in the N / A values (Fig. 15) and add the difference in power control (Max transmit power - actual transmit power) to the N / A value. Without NLS power control, BER pairs (AVERAGE_BACK, CV_BACK) can be directly mapped to throughput / VIN according to the table (which is included at the end of the description);

- Add these values to N / A statistics;

- Periodically report 90-95% value of N / A statistics in ESD.

In ESD, the N / A statistics of each cell can be mapped to the throughput / VIN using, for example, a table (a table of direct mapping of N / A to the throughput) depending on the throughput of the cell. For a cell with EDGE, an excellent display should be used compared to a cell with only GMSK Gaussian Minimum Frequency Shift Keying (GMMS). If all cells have the same capabilities (for example, EDGE), cell statistics can be collected directly from a separate BER to obtain the throughput / VIN values.

If the percentage of users with a high bit rate in a cell is large, this is much more attractive than a single cell with most users with a low bit rate, and vice versa. This can be resolved by collecting statistics for a set of traffic classes and for reporting different values to the ESD individually or the weight of statistics in proportion to the distribution of users.

For statistical purposes, you can also use the service benchmark performance. For example, in statistics, only measurements from AMR users of 12.2 kbit / s can be used.

It is assumed that this type of notification is not needed from the ShMDKR cell. However, in some embodiments of the invention, this type of notification can be used with CDMA cells.

Table
Bandwidth in kbit / s as a function of the average BER (assumes an optimal monitoring and control system) GMMES 8FMn CV_COB Avg Cob Range log10 (valid BER) Range log10 (valid BER) 0 one 2 3 four 5 6 7 0 > -0.60 > -0.60 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 3.4 2,4 one -0.70 ÷ -0.60 -0.64 ÷ -0.60 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 8.8 6.4 5,6 2 -0.80 ÷ -0.70 -0.68 ÷ -0.64 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 11.0 8.8 8.5 3 -0.90 ÷ -0.80 -0.72 ÷ -0.68 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 15.7 13.0 11.6 10.9 four -1.00 ÷ -0.90 -0.76 ÷ -0.72 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 17.7 15.0 14.1 13.6 5 -1.10 ÷ -1.00 -0.80 ÷ -0.76 0,0 0,0 0,0 21.6 19.1 17.1 16.1 16.1 6 -1.20 ÷ -1.10 -0.84 ÷ -0.80 0,0 0,0 26.3 22.4 20.9 19.0 17.9 18.0 7 -1.30 ÷ -1.20 -0.88 ÷ -0.84 0,0 0,0 27.3 23.3 22.4 21.0 19.7 19.5 8 -1.40 ÷ -1.30 -0.92 ÷ -0.88 0,0 29.5 28.3 24.8 23,4 22.6 21,4 20.9 9 -1.50 ÷ -1.40 -0.96 ÷ -0.92 33,2 29.5 28.9 26.8 24.1 23.9 23.1 22.6 10 -1.60 ÷ -1.50 -1.00 ÷ -0.96 34.1 29.5 29.2 27.9 26.1 24.8 24.8 24.6 eleven -1.70 ÷ -1.60 -1.04 ÷ -1.00 34.8 29.5 29.4 28.7 27.8 26.7 26,4 26,4 12 -1.80 ÷ -1.70 -1.08 ÷ -1.04 36.0 29.6 29.5 29.1 28.5 27.9 27.7 27.9 13 -1.90 ÷ -1.80 -1.12 ÷ -1.08 36,4 29.6 29.5 29.4 29.1 28.7 28.5 28.7 fourteen -2.00 ÷ -1.90 -1.16 ÷ -1.12 36.7 29.6 29.6 29.4 29.4 29.2 29.2 29.1 fifteen -2.10 ÷ -2.00 -1.20 ÷ -1.16 37,4 29.9 29.6 29.6 29.5 29.4 29.4 29.3 16 -2.20 ÷ -2.10 -1.36 ÷ -1.20 41.8 36,2 32.1 29.7 29.6 29.6 29.6 29.6 17 -2.30 ÷ -2.20 -1.52 ÷ -1.36 44.3 42.8 41.2 39.7 38.1 36.7 36.7 36.7 eighteen -2.40 ÷ -2.30 -1.68 ÷ -1.52 44.7 44.5 44.0 43.6 43,2 42.9 42.6 42.5 19 -2.50 ÷ -2.40 -1.84 ÷ -1.68 44.8 44.7 44.7 44.5 44.5 44,4 44.3 44,2 twenty -2.60 ÷ -2.50 -2.00 ÷ -1.84 44.8 44.8 44.7 44.7 44.7 44.7 44.7 44.7 21 -2.70 ÷ -2.60 -2.16 ÷ -2.00 44.8 44.8 44.8 44.8 44.8 44.8 44.8 44.8 22 -2.80 ÷ -2.70 -2.32 ÷ -2.16 46.0 46.0 45.9 46.3 46.3 45.8 45.7 45.8 23 -2.90 ÷ -2.80 -2.48 ÷ -2.32 48.9 49.2 49.3 49.4 49.5 49.9 49.6 49.5 24 -3.00 ÷ -2.90 -2.64 ÷ -2.48 51.3 51.3 51.7 51.6 52.1 51.8 52.0 52.1 25 -3.10 ÷ -3.00 -2.80 ÷ -2.64 52.8 53.0 53.0 53,2 53.0 52.9 53.1 53,2 26 -3.20 ÷ -3.10 -2.96 ÷ -2.80 53.7 53.8 53.7 53.8 54.5 54.3 54.0 53.9 27 -3.30 ÷ -3.20 -3.12 ÷ -2.96 55.8 56.1 56.2 56.1 56.2 56.2 56.2 56.6 28 -3.40 ÷ -3.30 -3.28 ÷ -3.12 57.2 57.3 57.2 57.5 57.4 57.4 57.7 57.5 29th -3.50 ÷ -3.40 -3.44 ÷ -3.28 58.1 57.9 58.1 58.3 58.3 58.3 58.4 58.3 thirty -3.60 ÷ -3.50 -3.60 ÷ -3.44 58.7 58.6 58.6 58.8 58.8 58.8 58.8 58.8 31 <-3.60 <-3.60 58.9 58.8 58.8 58.9 58.8 58.9 58.9 59.0

Claims (44)

1. A method of managing radio resources for use in a network spanning a region that contains many zones, the user being assigned at least one of said zones, which has many associated candidate zones to which a user can be assigned, comprising receiving information identifying the plurality of candidate zones, receiving information about the status of resources in said zones, based on information about the status of resources, evaluating a parameter for each candidate zone, than option assumes that the user of said assigned to the candidate zone, and assigning priorities to said plurality of candidate areas in view of the estimated value of said parameter. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that said parameter comprises a total load and / or an increase in load in the candidate zone. 3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that said parameter contains a throughput. 4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that when assigning priorities and / or evaluating the parameter, the current traffic load in the candidate zone is taken into account. 5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the current traffic load contains a real-time load, a non-real-time load and / or a total load. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when assigning priorities and / or evaluating the parameter, the interference state of the candidate zone is taken into account, for example, carrier to interference ratio (N / A), bit error rate (BER) or bit error probability (PSA), or throughput value. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the prioritization and / or estimation of the parameter depends on the state of the resources of one or more network elements in said network. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when assigning priorities and / or evaluating the parameter, configuration information related to the candidate zone is taken into account. 9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when assigning priorities and / or evaluating a parameter, the boundaries of the handover between different zones are taken into account. 10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when assigning priorities and / or evaluating the parameter, a parameter indicating the signal level and / or quality of the communication line is taken into account. 11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when assigning priorities and / or evaluating a parameter, user requirements for quality of service are taken into account. 12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when assigning priorities and / or evaluating a parameter, the traffic class or classes associated with the user are taken into account. 13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when assigning priorities and / or evaluating a parameter, parameters associated with the user are taken into account. 14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the prioritization and / or estimation of the parameter also depends on the signal level measurements made by the user in relation to one or more candidate zones. 15. The method according to 14, characterized in that the measurements comprise the level of signals received from at least several candidate zones. 16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when assigning priorities and / or evaluating a parameter, information related to the distribution of channels in at least several candidate zones is taken into account. 17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when assigning priorities and / or evaluating the parameter, the carrier to interference ratio is calculated for at least some of the time intervals associated with at least one of the candidate zones. 18. The method according to 17, characterized in that the ratio of the carrier to the interference is calculated using the dynamic distribution of frequencies and channels. 19. The method according to 17, characterized in that to determine the aforementioned carrier-to-interference ratio, background noise values are used. 20. The method according to 17, characterized in that the ratio of the carrier to interference is converted into the corresponding values of the throughput. 21. The method according to 17, characterized in that the ratio of the carrier to the interference and the measurement of the available time intervals are used to obtain the throughput, said parameter comprising the throughput. 22. The method according to 17, characterized in that the ratio of the carrier to the interference is calculated using network elements associated with the candidate zones. 23. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when evaluating the parameter and / or assigning priorities, several channels or transceivers are used that are used for a given frequency and / or time interval. 24. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when evaluating the parameter and / or assigning priorities, several channels or transceivers are determined in at least one candidate zone. 25. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the zone with which the user is associated is divided into many smaller zones, and information related to each of the smaller zones is used when evaluating the parameter and / or assigning priorities. 26. The method according A.25, characterized in that the said information is collected as a function of the location of the user. 27. The method according A.25, characterized in that the said information is collected as a function of path loss. 28. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when evaluating the parameter and / or assigning priorities, the required maximum power for each candidate zone is determined. 29. The method according to p, characterized in that the maximum power is determined using the access control algorithm. 30. The method according to clause 29, wherein the user-provided measurements are used with said required maximum power to determine the available throughput for the candidate zone. 31. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the candidate zones include the zone to which the user is currently assigned. 32. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the user comprises a mobile station. 33. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the said zones include cells. 34. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said network comprises a plurality of radio access systems. 35. The method according to clause 34, wherein at least two of these systems use different methods of radio access and / or radio interfaces. 36. The method according to clause 35, wherein at least two of these systems overlap at least partially. 37. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the parameter estimation and prioritization are carried out in a network element. 38. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the parameter estimation and prioritization is carried out using many different network elements. 39. The method of claim 38, wherein the plurality of different network elements includes network elements in various radio access systems. 40. A radio resource management device for use in a network spanning a region containing multiple zones, the user having been assigned at least one of said zones, which has a plurality of candidate zones associated with it, to which a user containing means for receiving information may be assigned, identifying said plurality of candidate zones, means for receiving information about the status of resources in said zones, means for estimating a parameter for each candidate zone based on information about resource depletion, wherein the parameter assumes that the user is assigned to said candidate zone, and means for prioritizing said plurality of candidate zones, taking into account the estimated value of said parameter. 41. The device according to p, characterized in that the said means for receiving, means for evaluating the parameter and means for assigning priorities are provided in a single network element. 42. The device according to paragraph 41, wherein a plurality of network elements are provided. 43. The device according to § 42, wherein the plurality of said network elements are configured to be connected. 44. The device according to p, characterized in that the said means for receiving, means for evaluating the parameter and means for assigning priorities are provided in many different network elements.

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