WO2013141276A1

WO2013141276A1 - Wireless communication system and base station

Info

Publication number: WO2013141276A1
Application number: PCT/JP2013/057991
Authority: WO
Inventors: 良一清水; 小畑　和則; 聖悟原野; 匠吾矢葺; 優輔佐々木
Original assignee: 株式会社エヌ・ティ・ティ・ドコモ
Priority date: 2012-03-21
Filing date: 2013-03-21
Publication date: 2013-09-26
Also published as: JP2013197948A; JP5368598B2

Abstract

A wireless communication system (1) comprises: a plurality of base stations (eNB) that can communicate with a plurality of wireless communication terminals (UE); and a plurality of base stations (NB) that can communicate with a plurality of wireless communication terminals (UE). The wireless communication system (1) is characterized by comprising: a determination unit (42) that, when a wireless communication terminal (UE) makes a connection request to a base station (eNB) or to a base station (NB), determines whether that base station has a predetermined degree of margin in the call accommodation capability; and a switching procedure execution unit (43) that, when a result of the determination performed by the determination unit (42) is negative, executes a procedure for connecting the wireless communication terminal (UE), which has made a call or for which a call has already been established, to a base station different from that base station.

Description

Wireless communication system and base station

The present invention relates to a wireless communication system and a base station.

In 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Projects), W-CDMA (Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access) system based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Communication systems have been specified (hereinafter W-CDMA and UMTS are referred to as 3G). In addition, as a next-generation communication system using OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) technology, an LTE (Long Term Evolution) system has been specified in which the communication speed is greatly improved over the 3G communication system.
In such a wireless communication system, the service level (communication service quality) changes every moment according to the traffic volume on the network. In order to maintain the quality of the communication service, it is preferable to appropriately switch the connection destination of the wireless communication terminal according to the amount of traffic on the network, for example, the congestion state of the base station.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for handing over a wireless communication terminal connected to a congested base station to another base station when the base station becomes congested.

JP 2008-252912 A

When a wireless communication terminal communicates with another wireless communication terminal, the wireless communication terminal requests connection (calls) to a base station located in the vicinity of the terminal. However, when the base station is in a congested state, a call between the base station and the wireless communication terminal that has requested connection to the congested base station may not be established, and call loss may occur. In addition, even when a wireless communication terminal connected to a congested base station is handed over to another base station, other base stations that have requested connection to the base station before the handover of the wireless terminal is completed. A call between the wireless communication terminal and the base station may not be established. Such a call loss has been one of the factors that deteriorate the quality of communication services.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a radio communication system and a base station that can avoid call loss.

A wireless communication system according to the present invention is a wireless communication system including a plurality of base stations capable of communicating with a plurality of wireless communication terminals, and when there is a connection request from a wireless communication terminal to a certain base station, A determination unit that determines whether or not the call capacity of the base station has a predetermined margin, and if the result of the determination made by the determination unit is negative, And a switching procedure execution unit that executes a procedure for connecting the established wireless communication terminal to a base station different from the base station.

According to the present invention, when there is a connection request from a wireless communication terminal, the determination unit determines whether or not there is a predetermined margin in the call capacity of the base station, and there is no predetermined margin In this case, the wireless communication terminal that has been called by the switching procedure execution unit or the wireless communication terminal that has already established a call is connected to a base station different from the own station. Therefore, the base station can maintain a state having a predetermined margin in call capacity. That is, before the base station enters a congested state (for example, a state that accommodates the maximum number of calls that the local station can accommodate), the base station suppresses the occurrence of a congested state. Can be prevented.
As a result, when a new connection request is made from each wireless communication terminal to each base station, the connection request is rejected, that is, the occurrence of a call loss can be prevented.

When the result of the determination performed by the determination unit is negative, the switching procedure execution unit may execute the procedure after a predetermined time has elapsed from the time when the determination result is obtained.

According to this aspect, the switching procedure execution unit executes a procedure of changing the connection destination of the wireless communication terminal after waiting for a predetermined time from the time when the determination result is obtained. Therefore, when the wireless communication terminal is transmitting / receiving data at the time when the determination result is obtained, the switching procedure execution unit determines that the data of After waiting for transmission / reception to be completed, the procedure for changing the connection destination of the wireless communication terminal can be executed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the communication already being executed in the wireless communication terminal from being interrupted or delayed due to the change of the connection destination.

Further, the wireless communication system described above includes a storage unit that stores congestion information of each of the plurality of base stations, and the switching procedure execution unit, when the result of the determination performed by the determination unit is negative, Based on the congestion information stored in the storage unit, the base station having the lowest degree of congestion is selected as the target base station from the plurality of base stations, and a radio communication terminal that has made a call or has already established a call A procedure for connecting to the target base station may be executed.

According to this aspect, the switching procedure execution unit changes the connection destination of the wireless communication terminal to the base station with the lowest degree of congestion. As a result, the wireless communication terminal to be switched can continue the communication without degrading the quality even after the connection destination base station is changed.

The base station according to the present invention is a base station capable of communicating with a plurality of wireless communication terminals, and when a connection request is made from the wireless communication terminal to the base station, the base station accommodates calls. A determination unit that determines whether or not the capability has a predetermined margin, and a wireless communication terminal that has made a call or a wireless communication that has already established a call if the determination result of the determination unit is negative A switching procedure executing unit that executes a procedure for connecting a terminal to a base station different from the base station.
According to the present invention, the base station can maintain a state having a predetermined margin in the capacity for accommodating calls, and can suppress an increase in the number of calls accommodated before the local station becomes congested. Therefore, occurrence of a congestion state can be prevented. As a result, it is possible to prevent call loss.

When the determination result made by the determination unit is negative, the switching procedure execution unit preferably executes the procedure after a predetermined time has elapsed from the time when the determination result is obtained.
According to this aspect, it is possible to prevent the communication already being executed by the wireless communication terminal that is the switching target from being interrupted or delayed due to the change of the connection destination.

In addition, the base station described above includes a storage unit that stores congestion information of each of a plurality of base stations existing in the vicinity of the base station, and the switching procedure execution unit has a result of the determination performed by the determination unit. If not, the base station with the lowest degree of congestion is selected as the target base station from the plurality of base stations based on the congestion information stored in the storage unit, and the radio communication terminal that has made the call or has already established a call It is preferable to execute a procedure for connecting a wireless communication terminal that is connected to the target base station.
According to this aspect, the wireless communication terminal selected as the switching target can continue communication without degrading quality even after the connection destination base station is changed.

1 is a block diagram showing a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the base station in the said radio | wireless communications system. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the said radio | wireless communications system. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the said radio | wireless communications system.

Hereinafter, various embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the radio communication system 1 is a composite system of a 3G communication system and an LTE communication system. The 3G communication system and the LTE communication system use different radio access technologies (Radio Access Technology, RAT).

The 3G communication system includes an RNC (Radio Network Control Device) 20 that is a radio control device in the 3G communication system, and a plurality of base stations NB [1] to NB [M] capable of 3G communication (where M is 2 or more natural number). Each of the plurality of base stations NB [1] to NB [M] is a 3G Node B. In the following, when each of the plurality of base stations NB [1] to NB [M] is not distinguished, there are cases where the base station NB is simply denoted without a suffix.
Each of the plurality of base stations NB [1] to NB [M] is connected to the RNC 20, and the RNC 20 is connected to the core network 10.

The LTE communication system includes a plurality of base stations eNB [1] to eNB [N] (where N is a natural number of 2 or more) and a plurality of base stations eNB [1], each of which is also a radio control apparatus in the LTE communication system. ˜Equipped with MME (Mobility Management Entity) 30 for managing the communication status of each eNB [N]. Each of the plurality of base stations eNB [1] to eNB [N] is an evolved Node B of LTE. In the following, when each of the plurality of base stations eNB [1] to eNB [N] is not distinguished, the base station eNB may be simply referred to without adding a subscript.
Each of the plurality of base stations eNB [1] to eNB [N] is connected to the core network 10 and the MME 30. That is, the 3G communication system and the LTE communication system are connected to each other via the core network 10.

The radio communication system 1 performs radio communication with a plurality of radio communication terminals UE. The radio communication terminal UE is classified into a radio communication terminal UEa that can use only 3G RAT, a radio communication terminal UEb that can use only LTE RAT, and a radio communication terminal UEc that can use both RAT of 3G and LTE. That is, the radio communication terminal UEa is a 3G dedicated radio communication terminal that can communicate only with the base station NB, the radio communication terminal UEb is an LTE dedicated radio communication terminal that can communicate only with the base station eNB, and the radio communication terminal UEc. Is a radio communication terminal (dual radio communication terminal) capable of communicating with both the base station NB and the base station eNB. Hereinafter, the radio communication terminal UEa, the radio communication terminal UEb, and the radio communication terminal UEc may be collectively referred to as a radio communication terminal UE.
A radio communication terminal UE (radio communication terminal UEa, radio communication terminal UEb) that can use only one RAT can be handed over only between base stations in the RAT. For example, the radio communication terminal UEb located in a region where the cell of the base station eNB [1] and the cell of the base station eNB [2] overlap is handed over from the base station eNB [1] to the base station eNB [2]. sell. On the other hand, a dual-type radio communication terminal (radio communication terminal UEc) can be handed over between base stations in both RATs as well as being handed over between base stations in the currently used RAT.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the base station eNB. The base station eNB includes a communication control unit 41, a storage unit (memory) 44, a timer 45, a wireless interface 46, and a wired interface 47.
The wireless interface 46 includes an antenna, an amplifier, and a circuit for performing wireless communication. The wireless interface 46 transmits a signal to the wireless communication terminal UE and receives a signal from the wireless communication terminal UE. The wired interface 47 transmits / receives data to / from a base station eNB other than the local station (the base station eNB illustrated in FIG. 2), the core network 10, and the MME 30.

The communication control unit 41 includes a determination unit 42 and a switching procedure execution unit 43. The communication control unit 41 performs communication with the radio communication terminal UE via the radio interface 46, and a plurality of base stations eNB other than the own station, the MME 30, and the core network via the wired interface 47 Communication with 10 is executed. The communication control unit 41 is a functional block realized when a CPU (central processing unit) of the base station eNB (not shown) executes a computer program and the CPU functions according to the computer program.
The storage unit 44 stores the maximum number of calls Cmax that can be accommodated by the base station eNB and the number of calls C that are currently accommodated by the base station eNB. For example, the number of calls C increases by 1 when a call from the radio communication terminal UE to the own station is established, and conversely decreases by 1 when the call is disconnected.

The determination unit 42 receives a connection request from the radio communication terminal UE, and based on the maximum call number Cmax and the call number C stored in the storage unit 44 when the connection is established, the call capacity of the base station eNB It is determined whether or not there is a predetermined margin. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the maximum number of calls Cmax and the number of calls C satisfy the following formula (1).
Cmax-C> α (1)
Here, α is a predetermined threshold value, which is a value that is stored in the storage unit 44 by operating the operation unit 48 provided outside the base station eNB by the operator of the radio communication system 1. This threshold value α may be a value common to a plurality of base stations eNB [1] to eNB [N], or may be a value different for each base station eNB.

When the result of the determination performed by the determination unit 42 is affirmative (that is, when there is a predetermined margin in the call capacity of the local station), the communication control unit 41 determines whether the calling radio communication terminal UE and the call All communication with the wireless communication terminal UE that has established the above is continued.
On the other hand, when the result of the determination made by the determination unit 42 is negative, the switching procedure execution unit 43 sets the calling radio communication terminal UE or the radio communication terminal UE that has already established a call as the own station. Performs a procedure for connecting to a different base station eNB (or base station NB).
Note that the switching procedure execution unit 43 may select the radio communication terminal UE (radio communication terminal UE to be switched) for switching the connection destination base station by any method. For example, the switching procedure execution unit 43 may select the calling radio communication terminal UE as a switching target, or the radio communication terminal UE having the longest connection time among the radio communication terminals UE that have already established a call. May be the switching target. Moreover, the switching procedure execution part 43 is good also considering the radio | wireless communication terminal UE selected at random from the radio | wireless communication terminal UE which originated the call, and the radio | wireless communication terminal UE which has already established the call as switching object.
Moreover, the switching procedure execution part 43 may select radio | wireless communication terminal UE which is performing communication with a low scheduling priority as radio | wireless communication terminal UE of switching object. For example, when the scheduling priority of voice communication is higher than the scheduling priority of data communication, the radio communication terminal UE to be switched may be selected from the radio communication terminals UE performing data communication.
In addition, you may exclude radio | wireless communication terminal UE which is performing the emergency call to an emergency medical institution or the police, high priority radio | wireless communication terminal UE etc. which a specific subscriber owns from the radio | wireless communication terminal UE of switching object.

The storage unit 44 stores the congestion information of the own station and the congestion information of each of a plurality of base stations (base station eNB, base station NB) located in the vicinity of the own station. Here, the base station located in the vicinity of the own station is a base station having a relation that the cell of the base station and the cell of the own station overlap geographically.
Note that the congestion information may be any value as long as the value represents the degree of congestion of the base station. For example, the congestion information may represent the number of accommodated calls (the number of currently accommodated calls C) or the resource usage rate of a baseband card (a card equipped with a baseband processing unit). May be. The value represented by the congestion information may be a value Con1 expressed by the following formula (2) or a value Con2 expressed by the following formula (3).
Con1 = C / Cmax (2)
Con2 = Cmax−C−δ (3)
Here, δ is a predetermined threshold value.

The communication control unit 41 reads the congestion information of the local station from the storage unit 44 and notifies the RNC 20 and a plurality of base stations eNB other than the local station. Further, the communication control unit 41 receives the congestion information of each of the plurality of base stations NB transmitted from the RNC 20 and the congestion information of each of the plurality of base stations eNB transmitted from the plurality of base stations eNB other than the own station. These are stored in the storage unit 44. In this way, the congestion information stored in the storage unit 44 is periodically updated.

The switching procedure execution unit 43 selects a base station (target base station) that is a new connection destination of the radio communication terminal UE that is the switching target, based on the congestion information.
More specifically, the switching procedure execution unit 43 is the base station with the lowest degree of congestion among the base stations (base station eNB, base station NB) capable of wireless communication with the wireless communication terminal UE that is the switching target. Are selected as target base stations. And the switching procedure execution part 43 performs the procedure (hand-over) for connecting the radio | wireless communication terminal UE of switching object to a target base station.

In addition, the switching procedure execution part 43 determines whether the size of the data transmitted / received in communication with the radio | wireless communication terminal UE used as switching object is below a predetermined value.
Then, when the data size is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value, the switching procedure execution unit 43 refers to the timer 45 and waits until a predetermined time elapses from the time when the determination result made by the determination unit 42 is obtained. Thereafter, the handover of the radio communication terminal UE that is the switching target is executed.
On the other hand, when the data size is larger than the predetermined value, the switching procedure execution unit 43 executes the handover of the radio communication terminal UE that is the switching target without waiting for a predetermined time. More specifically, various signal exchanges necessary for handover are performed for other base stations and radio communication terminals UE.

As described above, each base station eNB includes a determination unit 42 and a switching procedure execution unit 43, and executes a handover so as to maintain a predetermined margin for the call capacity of each base station eNB. To do. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a state in which the base station eNB accommodates the maximum number of calls Cmax, and to reduce the probability of call loss.

Hereinafter, an example of a specific operation of the wireless communication system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. 3 and 4, switching of the connection destination of the radio communication terminal UE in the LTE communication system, that is, switching the connection destination of the radio communication terminal UE from the base station eNB [i] to the base station eNB [j]. The procedure is illustrated. Here, i is a natural number satisfying 1 ≦ i ≦ N, and j is a natural number satisfying 1 ≦ j ≦ N and satisfying i ≠ j. Moreover, it is assumed that the radio communication terminal UE illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 can perform radio communication with the base station eNB [i] and the base station eNB [j].

As illustrated in FIG. 3, when there is a connection request from the radio communication terminal UE to the base station eNB [i], the radio communication terminal UE, the base station eNB [i], and the MME 30 execute a calling procedure. (Step S1). The calling procedure shown in FIG. 3 is a known example, and a known calling procedure other than the procedure shown in FIG. 3 may be used as appropriate.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the radio communication terminal UE transmits an RRC Connection Request message to the base station eNB [i], so that the calling procedure is started.
The base station eNB [i] that has received the RRC Connection Request message transmits an RRC Connection Setup message to the radio communication terminal UE. Then, the base station eNB [i] that has received the RRC Connection Setup Complete message transmitted from the radio communication terminal UE transmits an Initial UE Message message to the MME 30. Thereafter, the base station eNB [i] that has received the Initial Context Setup Request message transmitted from the MME 30 transmits a Security Mode Command message and an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message to the radio communication terminal UE. Further, the base station eNB [i] that has received the Security Mode Complete message and the RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message transmitted by the radio communication terminal UE transmits an Initial Context Setup Complete message to the MME 30. The calling procedure is completed when the MME 30 receives the Initial Context Setup Complete message (step S1).

After transmitting the Initial Context Setup Complete message, the base station eNB [i] determines whether there is a predetermined margin in the call capacity of the base station eNB [i] (step S2). The communication control unit 41 of the base station eNB [i] functions as the determination unit 42 by executing the process of step S2.
If the result of the determination in step S2 is affirmative, the base station eNB [i], the radio communication terminal UE that has made a call to the own station and the radio communication terminal UE that has already established a call with the own station All communication with the local station is continued. On the other hand, when the result of the determination in step S2 is negative, the base station eNB [i] advances the process to step S3.
In step S3, the base station eNB [i] selects one radio communication terminal UE to be switched from the radio communication terminal UE that has made a call or the radio communication terminal UE that has already established a call. 3 and 4 exemplify a case where the calling radio communication terminal UE is selected as a switching target for convenience of illustration.
In step S3, the base station eNB [i] selects, as a target base station, a base station having the lowest degree of congestion among a plurality of base stations existing in the vicinity of the base station eNB [i]. 3 and 4 are based on the assumption that the base station eNB [j] is selected as the target base station.

Next, the base station eNB [i] determines whether or not the size of data transmitted and received in communication performed by the radio communication terminal UE to be switched via the base station eNB [i] is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value. Determine (step S4). And base station eNB [i] advances a process to step S5, when a determination result is affirmation, and when a determination result is negative, a process is advanced to step S6.
In step S5, the base station eNB [i] stands by until a predetermined time elapses from the time when the determination result in step S2 is obtained. And base station eNB [i] advances a process to step S6, after predetermined time passes.

In step S6, the base station eNB [i] executes a procedure for handing over the radio communication terminal UE from the base station eNB [i] to the base station eNB [j]. The communication control unit 41 of the base station eNB [i] functions as the switching procedure execution unit 43 by executing the processes of steps S3 to S6.
The handover may be executed by appropriately applying a known procedure. Hereinafter, as an example, the procedure of the X2 handover shown in FIG. 4 will be described.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the base station eNB [i] transmits a HANDOVER REQUEST message to the base station eNB [j]. Thereafter, the base station eNB [i] that has received the HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message transmitted from the base station eNB [j] transmits an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message to the radio communication terminal UE, and then the base station eNB [j] Send an SN STATUS TRANSFER message to The radio communication terminal UE that has received the RRC Connection Reconfiguration message transmits an RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message to the base station eNB [j]. The base station eNB [j] that has received the SN STATUS TRANSFER message transmitted from the base station eNB [i] and the RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message transmitted from the radio communication terminal UE sends a Path Switch Request message to the MME 30. Send. Thereafter, the base station eNB [j] that has received the Path Switch Request Acknowledge message transmitted from the MME 30 transmits a UE CONTEXT RELEASE message to the base station eNB [i]. When the base station eNB [i] receives the UE CONTEXT RELEASE message, the handover procedure in step S6 is completed.

3 and 4 exemplify a handover between base stations (base stations eNB) in the LTE RAT, the radio communication terminal UEa and the radio communication terminal UEc are the base stations (base stations) in the 3G RAT. Station NB). A handover between base stations in the 3G RAT may be executed by appropriately applying a known procedure. In the 3G communication system, the determination unit 42 and the switching procedure execution unit 43 are provided in the RNC 20. However, one or both of the determination unit 42 and the switching procedure execution unit 43 of the 3G communication system may be distributed and arranged in each base station NB.
Further, the radio communication terminal UEc can be handed over between a base station (base station NB) in the 3G RAT and a base station (base station eNB) in the LTE RAT. The handover between the base station in the 3G RAT and the base station in the LTE may be executed by appropriately applying a known procedure.

In the present embodiment, the determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is a predetermined margin in the call capacity of the base station when there is a connection request to the base station from the radio communication terminal UE. When the determination result is negative, the switching procedure execution unit 43 connects the calling radio communication terminal UE or the radio communication terminal UE that has already established a call to a base station different from the own station. Follow the steps for:
As a result, each base station can maintain a state having a predetermined margin in call capacity, and the own station becomes congested (for example, the own station accommodates the maximum number of calls Cmax). State). Therefore, when there is a connection request from the radio communication terminal UE, it is possible to prevent or reduce the occurrence of a situation where the connection request is rejected (that is, call loss).

Usually, when data of a small size is transmitted / received between the radio communication terminals UE or between the radio communication terminal UE and the base station, the time required for transmitting / receiving the data is short. Therefore, when the data size transmitted and received in the communication performed by the wireless communication terminal UE is small, the user of the wireless communication terminal is likely to perceive the delay as a large delay even if the communication delay is small. . Therefore, in the case of communication in which small-sized data is transmitted / received, it is important to prevent delay in maintaining service quality.
On the other hand, in this embodiment, the switching procedure execution unit 43 determines whether or not the size of data transmitted and received in the communication performed by the radio communication terminal UE to be switched is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and the data Is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value, the wireless communication terminal UE is handed over after waiting for a predetermined time. In this case, the handover is started after completion of data transmission / reception in communication performed by the radio communication terminal UE. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the communication already being executed in the radio communication terminal UE from being interrupted or delayed due to the change of the connection destination. As a result, it is possible to prevent the user of the radio communication terminal UE from perceiving a communication delay and to prevent deterioration in service quality.
On the other hand, when transmitting / receiving large-size data, even if some delay occurs in communication, the user of the wireless communication terminal is less likely to perceive the delay. Therefore, in this case, even if handover of the radio communication terminal UE is executed without waiting for completion of data transmission / reception, the user of the radio communication terminal UE is unlikely to perceive communication delay, and the service quality The impact on is small.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the switching procedure execution part 43 selects the base station with the lowest degree of congestion as a target base station.
As a result, the radio communication terminal UE that is the switching target can perform stable communication even after the connection destination is switched to the target base station.

<Modification>
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications as described below are possible, for example. Moreover, the aspect of the deformation | transformation described below can also combine suitably arbitrarily selected 1 or several.

<Modification 1>
In the embodiment described above, it is determined whether or not there is a predetermined margin in the call capacity of the base station eNB (or base station NB) using the formula (1). For example, the following formula ( It may be determined by 4) or may be determined by the following equation (5).
(C / Cmax) <β (4)
C <γ (5)
Here, β appearing in Equation (4) is a predetermined threshold value that satisfies 0 <β <1, and is stored in the storage unit 44. The threshold value β may be a value common to a plurality of base stations, or may be a value different for each base station. In addition, γ appearing in Equation (5) is a predetermined threshold that satisfies 0 <γ <Cmax. The threshold value γ is also stored in the storage unit 44.
In any case, as long as the capacity of the call capacity of the base station is a value indicating how much room the number of calls C currently accommodated has with respect to the maximum number of calls Cmax, It may be a value calculated by a calculation method.

<Modification 2>
In the embodiment and the modification described above, the determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is a predetermined margin in the call capacity of the base station without limiting the call type. May be limited to calls related to voice calls (Voice over LTE) in LTE communication systems (VoLTE calls). Alternatively, the determination unit 42 may perform determination without limiting to the call type, and separately perform determination with the call type limited to the VoLTE call.

<Modification 3>
In the embodiment and the modification described above, the switching procedure execution unit 43 switches the base station to which the radio communication terminal UE is connected by handover, but the base to which the radio communication terminal UE is connected by appropriately applying a known method other than handover. Stations may be switched. For example, the switching procedure execution unit 43 may switch the base station to which the radio communication terminal UE is connected by redirection (Release with Redirection).
Moreover, the switching procedure execution part 43 may perform switching of the base station to which the radio | wireless communication terminal UE connects by using suitably multiple types of procedures, such as a hand-over and redirection, according to a condition.
For example, in order to hand over a dual-type radio communication terminal UEc from a base station (base station eNB) in the LTE RAT to a base station (base station NB) in the 3G RAT, the radio communication terminal UEc It is necessary to provide a function necessary for handover between RATs. Therefore, when the radio communication terminal UEc does not have a function required when the inter-RAT handover is performed, the switching procedure execution unit 43 switches the base station to which the radio communication terminal UEc is connected by redirection. That is, the switching procedure execution unit 43 determines whether or not the radio communication terminal UE to be switched has a function required when the inter-RAT handover is performed, and switches the base station to which the radio communication terminal UE is connected. Select the procedure for. More specifically, when the switching procedure execution unit 43 has a function necessary when the radio communication terminal UE to be switched is handed over between RATs, the switching procedure execution unit 43 moves the radio communication terminal UE to another base station. On the other hand, when the radio communication terminal UE does not have a function required when the radio communication terminal UE is handed over between RATs, the radio communication terminal UE is redirected to another base station.

<Modification 4>
In the embodiment and the modification described above, the switching procedure execution unit 43 determines whether or not the size of data transmitted and received in communication performed by the radio communication terminal UE that is the switching target is equal to or less than a predetermined value. The procedure execution unit 43 may not perform such a determination. That is, when the result of the determination performed by the determination unit 42 is negative, the switching procedure execution unit 43 is uniform regardless of the size of the data transmitted and received in the communication performed by the wireless communication terminal UE that is the switching target. You may perform the procedure which waits for predetermined time and switches the base station of the connection destination of radio | wireless communication terminal UE.

<Modification 5>
In the embodiment and the modification described above, when the result of the determination performed by the determination unit 42 is negative, the switching procedure execution unit 43 waits for a predetermined time from the time when the determination result of the determination unit 42 is obtained. The procedure for switching the base station to which the radio communication terminal UE is connected is executed, but when the result of the determination made by the determination unit 42 is negative, the connection destination of the radio communication terminal UE is not waited for a predetermined time. The procedure of switching the base station may be executed.

<Modification 6>
In each base station, each function executed by the CPU may be executed by hardware instead of the CPU, or executed by a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). May be. When the determination unit 42 and the switching procedure execution unit 43 are provided in the RNC 20 of the 3G communication system, the determination unit 42 and the switching procedure execution unit 43 may be a CPU function executed by a program or executed by hardware. Alternatively, it may be executed by a programmable logic device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Wireless communication system, 10 ... Core network, 20 ... RNC, 30 ... MME, 41 ... Communication control part, 42 ... Determination part, 43 ... Switching procedure execution part, 44 ... Memory | storage part, 45... Timer, 46... Wireless interface, 47... Wired interface, 48 .. Operation unit, eNB, NB... Base station, UE, UEa, UEb, UEc.

Claims

A wireless communication system comprising a plurality of base stations capable of communicating with a plurality of wireless communication terminals,
When there is a connection request from a wireless communication terminal to a base station, a determination unit that determines whether or not there is a predetermined margin in the call capacity of the base station;
When the result of the determination made by the determination unit is negative, the wireless communication terminal that has made a call or the wireless communication terminal that has already established a call is A wireless communication system including a switching procedure execution unit that executes a procedure for connecting to a base station different from a base station.
A wireless communication system comprising a plurality of base stations capable of communicating with a plurality of wireless communication terminals,
A storage unit for storing congestion information of each of the plurality of base stations;
When there is a connection request from a wireless communication terminal to a base station, a determination unit that determines whether or not there is a predetermined margin in the call capacity of the base station;
If the result of the determination made by the determination unit is negative, based on the congestion information stored in the storage unit, select the base station with the lowest degree of congestion from the plurality of base stations as a target base station, A radio communication system comprising a switching procedure execution unit for executing a procedure for connecting a radio communication terminal that has made a call or a radio communication terminal that has already established a call to the target base station.
A base station capable of communicating with a plurality of wireless communication terminals,
When there is a connection request from the wireless communication terminal to the base station, a determination unit that determines whether there is a predetermined margin in the call capacity of the base station;
When the result of the determination made by the determination unit is negative, the wireless communication terminal that has made a call or the wireless communication terminal that has already established a call after a predetermined time has elapsed since the time when the determination result was obtained A base station comprising: a switching procedure execution unit that executes a procedure for connecting to a base station different from the base station.
A base station capable of communicating with a plurality of wireless communication terminals,
A storage unit for storing congestion information of each of a plurality of base stations existing in the vicinity of the base station;
When there is a connection request from the wireless communication terminal to the base station, a determination unit that determines whether there is a predetermined margin in the call capacity of the base station;
If the result of the determination made by the determination unit is negative, based on the congestion information stored in the storage unit, select the base station with the lowest degree of congestion from the plurality of base stations as a target base station, A base station comprising: a switching procedure execution unit that executes a procedure for connecting a radio communication terminal that has made a call or a radio communication terminal that has already established a call to the target base station.