Adaptive transmission direction selection in cellular network

An apparatus, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:
• determine a traffic asymmetry metric for a cell of a cellular communication system, the traffic asymmetry metric representing asymmetry between uplink and downlink traffic in the cell;
• compare the traffic asymmetry metric with a threshold;
• upon determining, on the basis of the comparison, that the traffic asymmetry metric is one of greater and lower than the threshold, selecting a first transmission direction for a time interval;
• upon determining, on the basis of the comparison, that the traffic asymmetry metric is the other one of greater and lower than the threshold, select for the time interval a second transmission direction different from the first transmission direction, wherein the second transmission direction is a nominal transmission direction determined as common to a cell cluster comprising the cell and a set of neighboring cells, and wherein the controller determines the nominal transmission direction on the basis of traffic condition metrics acquired for the cell and for the set of neighboring cells;
• and
• cause data communication to the selected transmission direction in the cell during the time interval.

A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, said computer program product comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to execute the method, comprising:

• determining a traffic asymmetry metric for the cell, the traffic asymmetry metric representing asymmetry between uplink and downlink traffic in the cell;
• comparing the traffic asymmetry metric with a threshold;
• upon determining, on the basis of the comparison, that the traffic asymmetry metric is one of greater and lower than the threshold, selecting a first transmission direction for a time interval;
• and
• upon determining, on the basis of the comparison, that the traffic asymmetry metric is the other one of greater and lower than the threshold, selecting for the time interval a second transmission direction different from the first transmission direction, wherein the second transmission direction is a nominal transmission direction determined as common to a cell cluster comprising the cell and a set of neighboring cells, and wherein the controller determines the nominal transmission direction on the basis of traffic condition metrics acquired for the cell and for the set of neighboring cells;
• and
• causing data communication to the selected transmission direction in the cell during the time interval.