Radio resource management

A method for use in a network covering a region, said region comprising a plurality of areas, a user being assigned to at least one of said areas and having associated therewith a plurality of candidate areas to which the user may be assigned, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving information identifying said plurality of candidate areas;
• estimating for each candidate area a parameter, said parameter assuming that said user is assigned to said candidate area;
• and
• prioritising said plurality of candidate areas which takes into account the estimated value of said parameter;
• wherein in said estimating and/or prioritising step(s) a carrier to interference ratio is calculated for at least some time slots associated with at least one of said candidate areas.

A method for use in a network covering a region, said region comprising a plurality of areas, a user being assigned to at least one of said areas and having associated therewith a plurality of candidate areas to which the user may be assigned, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving information identifying said plurality of candidate areas;
• estimating for each candidate area a parameter, said parameter assuming that said user is assigned to said candidate area;
• and
• prioritising said plurality of candidate areas which takes into account the estimated value of said parameter;
• wherein in said estimating and/or prioritising step(s), a number of channels or transceivers used for a given frequency and/or time slot is determined.

A method for use in a network covering a region, said region comprising a plurality of areas, a user being assigned to at least one of said areas and having associated therewith a plurality of candidate areas to which the user may be assigned, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving information identifying said plurality of candidate areas;
• estimating for each candidate area a parameter, said parameter assuming that said user is assigned to said candidate area;
• and
• prioritising said plurality of candidate areas which takes into account the estimated value of said parameter;
• wherein in said estimating and/or prioritising step(s), the number of channels or transceivers in at least one candidate cell is determined.

A method for use in a network covering a region, said region comprising a plurality of areas, a user being assigned to at least one of said areas and having associated therewith a plurality of candidate areas to which the user may be assigned, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving information identifying said plurality of candidate areas;
• estimating for each candidate area a parameter, said parameter assuming that said user is assigned to said candidate area;
• and
• prioritising said plurality of candidate areas which takes into account the estimated value of said parameter;
• wherein said area with which said user is associated is divided into a plurality of smaller areas and information relating to each of said smaller areas is used in said estimating and/or prioritising step.

A method for use in a network covering a region, said region comprising a plurality of areas, a user being assigned to at least one of said areas and having associated therewith a plurality of candidate areas to which the user may be assigned, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving information identifying said plurality of candidate areas;
• estimating for each candidate area a parameter, said parameter assuming that said user is assigned to said candidate area;
• and
• prioritising said plurality of candidate areas which takes into account the estimated value of said parameter;
• wherein said estimating and/or prioritising step(s) are arranged to determine a required maximum power for each candidate cell, and
• wherein measurements provided by the user is used with said required maximum power to determine available throughput for a candidate area.

A radio resource manager for use in a network covering a region, said region comprising a plurality of areas, a user being assigned to at least one of said areas and having associated therewith a plurality of candidate areas to which the user may be assigned, said radio resource manager comprising:

• means for receiving information identifying said plurality of candidate areas and information about a status of resources in said areas;
• means for estimating for each candidate area, based on said information about the status of resources, a parameter, said parameter assuming that said user is assigned to said candidate area;
• and
• means for prioritising said plurality of candidate areas which takes into account the estimated value of said parameter.

A radio resource manager for use in a network covering a region, said region comprising a plurality of areas, a user being assigned to at least one of said areas and having associated therewith a plurality of candidate areas to which the user may be assigned, said radio resource manager comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive information identifying said plurality of candidate areas and configured to receive information about a status of resources in said areas;
• an estimator configured to estimate, for each candidate area, based on said information about the status of resources, a parameter, said parameter assuming that said user is assigned to said candidate area;
• and
• a prioritisor configured to prioritise said plurality of candidate areas which takes into account the estimated value of said parameter.

A computer program, embodied on a machine readable medium, the computer program comprising a method for use in a network covering a region, said region comprising a plurality of areas, a user being assigned to at least one of said areas and having associated therewith a plurality of candidate areas to which the user may be assigned, wherein, when run on a computer, said computer program is configured to perform the following steps:

• receiving information identifying said plurality of candidate areas;
• receiving information about a status of resources in said candidate areas;
• based on said information about the status of resources, estimating for each candidate area a parameter, said parameter assuming that said user is assigned to said candidate area;
• and
• prioritising said plurality of candidate areas which takes into account the estimated value of said parameter.