Sprint Spectrum L.p.

Sprint Communications Comapny L.p.

T-mobile Innovations LLC

Other

Yun Sung Kim

Sanghoon Sung

Pinal Tailor

Sandeep Mangrulkar

PinalKumari K Tailor

Udit Thakore

Tri Duong

Hau Van Tran

Jason Peter Sigg

Minho Song

Dhaval Dipak Mehta

Nagi A Mansour

George William Harter, Iii

Dennis Canoy

Hadeel Fayad

Mee S Kim

Yu Wang

Min Ho Song

Jasinder P Singh

Siddhartha Chenumolu

Nawara Omary

Munawar Uddin

Won An

Greg Keller

In a wireless User Equipment (UE), a serving radio wirelessly exchanges data with a serving cell over a serving radio band. The wireless UE wirelessly receives serving signaling that indicates serving uplink interference for the serving radio band at the serving cell. A neighbor radio in the UE wirelessly receives neighbor signaling. UE circuitry determines serving signal strength and the serving uplink interference for the serving cell. The UE circuitry determines neighbor signal strength for the neighbor cell. The UE circuitry compares the serving uplink interference and the serving signal strength to the neighbor signal strength, and in response, generates a handover request for the neighbor cell. The serving radio wirelessly transfers the handover request to the serving cell, and in response, the neighbor radio wirelessly exchanges additional data with the neighbor cell over the neighbor radio band.

Wireless communication handover responsive to uplink interference at a serving cell

Methods and systems are provided for dynamically adjusting the beamform of an antenna array. An intended beamform, which should ideally be propagated by an antenna array based on a supply of a first set of signals, may not be realized if one or more antenna elements of the antenna array are experiencing a fault. Utilizing various methods, one or more faulty antenna elements of the antenna array are identified and a second set of signals is calculated that, when propagated by one or more operational antenna elements, yield an optimized beamform, wherein the optimized beamform at least partially recovers a portion of a coverage gap.

Dynamic beam management of an antenna array with a faulty element

System and methods are provided for performing intra-cell beam switching based on customizable parameters for event detection. In embodiments, base station is configured with customized physical layer parameters, which the base station broadcasts. The base station uses reports of physical layer parameters of a beam, received from a user device, for example, to determine whether events have occurred that indicate beam switching should be performed. Based on the determinations, the base station may perform beam switching of the user device, in various embodiments.

System and method for intra-cell beam switching based on configurable physical layer event detection

A wireless communication network hands-over wireless User Equipment (UE) from a serving cell to a neighbor cell. The serving cell wirelessly exchanges data with the wireless UE and determines uplink interference for a radio band. The serving cell wirelessly transfers an uplink interference offset to the wireless UE that indicates the uplink interference at the serving cell for the radio band. The wireless UE uses the uplink interference offset to trigger a handover request to the serving cell. The handover request indicates downlink signal strength at the wireless UE for the serving cell. The serving cell initiates a handover to a neighbor cell responsive to a combination of the downlink signal strength at the wireless UE and the uplink interference for the serving cell falling below a handover threshold. After the handover, the neighbor cell wirelessly exchanges data with the wireless UE over a different radio band.

A serving access node is determined as being capable of transmitting a mMIMO signal, responsive to which handover parameters are adjusted for wireless devices attached to the serving access node and receiving the mMIMO signal. Wireless devices attached to a sector deployed by a first access node and not the mMIMO signal are configured to utilize different handover parameters such that the non mMIMO wireless devices request handovers using standard signal level thresholds.

Adjusting handover parameters for massive MIMO wireless devices

A method and system to help control connectivity of a UE served with dual connectivity by a master node and a plurality of secondary nodes. An intermediary that is disposed between a core-network gateway system and the secondary nodes tracks data flow between the gateway system and the secondary nodes and provides the master node with a data-flow report, which the master node could use as a basis to trigger release of the UE's RRC connection, and/or to control addition or removal of one or more secondary nodes for the UE's dual-connectivity service.

Use of intermediary to control device connectivity

Access nodes in a network are configured to periodically measure cell loads and exchange cell load measurements with neighbors. At each access node, cell loads are compared with load thresholds, and with neighboring loads, to determine whether or not load balancing operations should be triggered. Load balancing operations include reducing or increasing an effective coverage area of one or both of the congested cell and the neighbor cell by adjusting a handover threshold parameter, such as a threshold signal level. Adjusting thresholds at a congested cell triggers more handovers from the congested cell to the non-congested cell. Similarly, adjusting thresholds at a non-congested cell prevents handovers from the non-congested cell to the congested cell.

Dynamic handover threshold adjustment for load balancing

Selecting a first BWP for a first carrier deployed by an access node based on requirements of wireless devices attached to the first carrier, selecting a second BWP for a second carrier deployed by the access node based on requirements of wireless devices attached to the second carrier, monitoring a MU-MIMO performance for each carrier, and performing handovers of wireless devices between the first and second carriers based on the MU-MIMO performance.

Performing MU-MIMO in wireless networks utilizing different bandwidth parts

Methods and systems are provided for dynamic performance of antenna calibration. To ensure channel reciprocity of downlink and uplink channels, antenna calibration must be performed with some degree of regularity. The present disclosure includes systems and methods for performing antenna calibration, wherein noise levels are determined at various subframes of wireless telecommunication frame structures as a basis for determining when the calibration signal should be transmitted in an OFDM symbol. Utilizing the disclosed systems and methods yields preferred antenna calibration, avoiding gain degradations caused by decreases in propagation performance.

Dynamic antenna calibration scheduling

In an arrangement where an access node (e.g., a Node-B) is used in dual-connectivity service of UEs that are served by other access nodes, resources of the access node could be dynamically allocated to the UEs based at least on respective priorities designated for the other access nodes. For instance, each other access node could be prioritized based on its type, such as whether it is a macro access node, a small-cell access node, an indoor access node, an access node for a special event, or a access node for dedicated service, among other possibilities, and allocation of resources of the jointly-used access node could be defined based on these priorities, giving higher resource-allocation priority to UEs that are served by a higher priority other access node and giving lower resource-allocation priority to UEs that are served by a lower priority other access node.

Dynamic sharing of secondary node resources among multiple primary nodes in dual-connectivity service

Methods and systems are provided for dynamically adjusting the power supplied to an antenna system. The dynamic adjustment of power is based on a total load of an antenna system and a quality of service class identifier (QCI) value. When the total load and the load of the QCI value identifier (e.g., QCI-) are below a predefined threshold, the power supply to the antenna system can be adjusted. The adjustment can be a complete shut-down of the entire power supply. The adjustment can be a gradual reduction in the power supply provided to the antenna system. The power supply may be adjusted with respect to the entire antenna system, an antenna array of the antenna system, a node of the antenna array, an antenna element of the node, and the like.

Dynamic adjustment of power supply using QCI

A cell site that has multiple first-RAT carriers will monitor a capacity demand respectively of each first-RAT carrier, with capacity demand representing an extent to which adding more service capacity could be useful in view of the state of service on the 4G carrier. Further, the cell site will dynamically allocate resources of a second-RAT carrier for use in dual-connectivity service of UEs served on various ones of the first-RAT carriers, with the allocation being based on the capacity demands of the various primary-RAT carriers. For instance, if a first first-RAT carrier has a higher capacity demand than a second first-RAT carrier, then the cell site could allocate a more resources of the secondary-RAT carrier for use in dual-connectivity service of UEs served on the first first-RAT carrier than for use in dual-connectivity service of UEs served on the second first-RAT carrier.

Dynamic sharing of secondary carrier among multiple primary carriers in dual-connectivity service

A method and corresponding system for configuring an eNodeB for improved circuit-switched-fallback (CSFB) service. The method includes detecting that, during past CSFB call setup for UEs served by the eNodeB, UEs reported as a strongest fallback coverage area a fallback coverage area that is not included in the eNodeB's CSFB-candidate data. And the method includes responsively (i) determining, based on location information and based on an identifier of the reported fallback coverage area, a node of the fallback network that the eNodeB's network can contact to facilitate CSFB call setup in the reported fallback coverage area, and (ii) adding to the CSFB-candidate data a record of the reported coverage area in association with a node identifier of the determined node, the added record being thereafter useable by the eNodeB to facilitate CSFB call setup in the reported fallback coverage area for a UE served by the eNodeB.

Dynamic configuration of eNodeB to facilitate circuit switched fallback service

When a base station groups a given user equipment device (UE) together with one or more other UEs for multi-user multiple-input-multiple-output (MU-MIMO) service, the base station will predict a level of RF correlation between the given UE and the one or more other UEs of the group (e.g., based angular separation between beam direction of the UE and beam direction of each of the one or more other UEs). And the base station will use that predicted level of RF correlation as a basis to adjust a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) that the base station and the given UE will use for data communication with each other, so as to help improve data communication between the base station and the given UE in the presence of the predicted RF correlation.

Use of RF correlation between UEs in a MU-MIMO group as a basis to bias MCS

In a Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) radio, networking circuitry transfers MU-MIMO target information to a neighbor radio. The neighbor radio processes the MU-MIMO target information to propose User Equipment (UEs) for handover from the neighbor radio to the MU-MIMO radio. In the MU-MIMO radio, transceiver circuitry determines MU-MIMO channel characteristics for the UEs. Based on their MU-MIMO channel characteristics, the networking circuitry selects some of the UEs from the handover proposals and rejects the other UEs. The transceiver circuitry wirelessly transfers handover acceptance signals to the selected UEs. The transceiver circuitry wirelessly transfers handover rejection signals to the rejected UEs. The transceiver circuitry wirelessly transfers user data to the selected UEs using MU-MIMO.

Growing community of inventors

Ashburn, VA, United States of America

Yun Sung Kim