Method and system for managing congestion in inter-band carrier aggregation
AssigneeSprint Spectrum L.P.
InventorsDaniel S. Broyles, Roger D. Bartlett
Life of this patent
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Abstract
When a base station is serving a plurality of UEs, the base station detects that a load level on a first RF carrier is greater than a threshold load level. The base station then decides, based at least in part on whether a UE is capable of being served by the base station on a second RF carrier, whether to limit allocation of resource blocks on the first RF carrier to the UE. The base station may then establish or modify an air interface connection with the UE to encompass resource blocks on the first RF carrier and/or resources blocks on one or more other RF carriers, in accordance with the limited allocation.
Claims20
A method operable by a base station, wherein the base station is configured to provide wireless communication service on a plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers, each carrier defining a plurality of physical resource blocks for carrying data, the method comprising:
- serving, by the base station, a plurality of user equipment devices (UEs) including a first UE and a second UE;
- during the serving, detecting that a load level on a first RF carrier of the plurality of RF carriers remains higher than a threshold load level for at least a threshold amount of time;
- making a first determination that the first UE (i) is being served by the base station on the first RF carrier and (ii) is capable of being served by the base station on a second RF carrier of the plurality of RF carriers;
- making a second determination that the second UE (i) is being served by the base station on the first RF carrier and (ii) is incapable of being served by the base station on the second RF carrier;
- responsive to at least the detecting, the first determination, and the second determination, reducing a number of resource blocks on the first RF carrier that are available for allocation by the base station to the first UE;
- and
- serving, by the base station, the first UE on the first RF carrier using at most the reduced number of resource blocks available for allocation to the first UE.
A method operable by a base station, wherein the base station is configured to provide wireless communication service on a plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers, each carrier defining a plurality of physical resource blocks for carrying data, the method comprising:
- serving, by the base station, a plurality of user equipment devices (UEs);
- making a first determination that a UE (i) is capable of being served by the base station on a first RF carrier of the plurality of RF carriers and (ii) is capable of being served by the base station on a second RF carrier of the plurality of RF carriers;
- during the serving, making a second determination that a load level on the first RF carrier is higher than a first threshold load level;
- based at least on the first determination and the second determination, limiting a number of resource blocks available for allocation on the first RF carrier by the base station to the UE;
- and
- serving the UE on the first RF carrier using at most the limited number of resource blocks until the load level on the first RF carrier remains lower than a second threshold load level for at least a threshold amount of time.
A method operable by a base station, wherein the base station is configured to provide wireless communication service on a plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers, each carrier defining a plurality of physical resource blocks for carrying data, the method comprising:
- serving, by the base station, a plurality of user equipment devices (UEs) including a first UE and a second UE;
- during the serving, detecting that a load level on a first RF carrier of the plurality of RF carriers remains higher than a first threshold load level for at least a first threshold amount of time;
- making a first determination that the first UE (i) is being served by the base station on the first RF carrier and (ii) is capable of being served by the base station on a second RF carrier of the plurality of RF carriers;
- making a second determination that the second UE (i) is being served by the base station on the first RF carrier and (ii) is incapable of being served by the base station on the second RF carrier;
- responsive to at least the first determination and the second determination, limiting a number of resource blocks available for allocation on the first RF carrier by the base station to the first UE;
- and
- serving the first UE on the first RF carrier using at most the limited number of resource blocks until the load level on the first RF carrier remains lower than a second threshold load level for at least a second threshold amount of time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.