Method for managing the state of micro base stations by following the variations of traffic requirements, and associated controller device

A controller of a mobile communications network for controlling traffic inside a macro cell, said controller being operative to communicate with a plurality of micro base stations each associated with a micro cell, the macro cell containing at least one Tracking Area covering a plurality of micro cells, wherein said controller is operative to:

• determine a current load of the macro cell,
• emit a first signal to switch on all of the micro base stations associated with all of the micro cells in said Tracking Area when the current load of the macro cell exceeds a first determined value,
• count, for each micro base station, how many portable devices request to be managed by each micro base station in response to the switching on of all the micro base stations, to determine a number of portable devices in an Idle mode in each micro cell inside said Tracking Area of the macro cell, and
• emit a second signal to switch off at least one micro base station associated with a micro cell of said Tracking Area, said second signal being emitted when the number of portable devices in Idle mode managed by the at least one micro base station is lower than a second determined value.