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Apparatus and method for load balancing in wireless communication system — Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (US11388644B2)

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. · Google Patents

Google Patents · Patents · License: Open Access

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ltd.samsungelectronicsco.

patent, google patents, intellectual property, US11388644B2, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Minyoung Kang, en, 2022

ABSTRACT

Abstract

A 5 th generation (5G) or 6 th generation (6G) communication system for supporting higher data rates, compared to that of a 4 th generation (4G) communication system such as a long term evolution (LTE) communication system are provided. An apparatus and a method for load balancing in a wireless communication system are provided. The apparatus includes a transceiver, a memory storing one or more instructions, and at least one processor configured to execute the one or more instructions stored in the memory to receive first information about a relation between a base station (BS) and a user equipment (UE) from each of a plurality of BSs, determine, based on the first information, a number of UEs on which handover has to be performed from among UEs served by each of the plurality of BSs, and transmit, to each of the plurality of BSs, priority information determined based on the number of UEs.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 119(a) of a Korean patent application number 10-2019-0157691, filed on Nov. 29, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for load balancing in a wireless communication system.

2. Description of Related Art

Considering the development of wireless communication from generation to generation, the technologies have been developed mainly for services targeting humans, such as voice calls, multimedia services, and data services. Following the commercialization of 5 th -generation (5G) communication systems, it is expected that the number of connected devices will exponentially grow. Increasingly, these will be connected to communication networks. Examples of connected things may include vehicles, robots, drones, home appliances, displays, smart sensors connected to various infrastructures, construction machines, and factory equipment. Mobile devices are expected to evolve in various form-factors, such as augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, and hologram devices. In order to provide various services by connecting hundreds of billions of devices and things in the 6 th -generation (6G) era, there have been ongoing efforts to develop improved 6G communication systems. For these reasons, 6G communication systems are referred to as beyond-5G systems.

6G communication systems, which are expected to be commercialized around 2030, will have a peak data rate of tera (1,000 giga)-level bps and a radio latency less than 100 Î¼sec, and thus will be 50 times as fast as 5G communication systems and have the 1/10 radio latency thereof.

In order to accomplish such a high data rate and an ultra-low latency, it has been considered to implement 6G communication systems in a terahertz band (for example, 95 GHz to 3 THz bands). It is expected that, due to severer path loss and atmospheric absorption in the terahertz bands than those in mmWave bands introduced in 5G, technologies capable of securing the signal transmission distance (that is, coverage) will become more crucial. It is necessary to develop, as major technologies for securing the coverage, radio frequency (RF) elements, antennas, novel waveforms having a better coverage than orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), beamforming and massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and multiantenna transmission technologies such as large-scale antennas. In addition, there has been ongoing discussion on new technologies for improving the coverage of terahertz-band signals, such as metamaterial-based lenses and antennas, orbital angular momentum (OAM), and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS).

Moreover, in order to improve the spectral efficiency and the overall network performances, the following technologies have been developed for 6G communication systems: a full-duplex technology for enabling an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission to simultaneously use the same frequency resource at the same time, a network technology for utilizing satellites, high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), and the like in an integrated manner, an improved network structure for supporting mobile base stations and the like and enabling network operation optimization and automation and the like, a dynamic spectrum sharing technology via collision avoidance based on a prediction of spectrum usage, an use of artificial intelligence (AI) in wireless communication for improvement of overall network operation by utilizing AI from a designing phase for developing 6G and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and a next-generation distributed computing technology for overcoming the limit of UE computing ability through reachable super-high-performance communication and computing resources (such as mobile edge computing (MEC), clouds, and the like) over the network. In addition, through designing new protocols to be used in 6G communication systems, developing mechanisms for implementing a hardware-based security environment and safe use of data, and developing technologies for maintaining privacy, attempts to strengthen the connectivity between devices, optimize the network, promote softwarization of network entities, and increase the openness of wireless communications are continuing.

It is expected that research and development of 6G communication systems in hyper-connectivity, including person to machine (P2M) as well as machine to machine (M2M), will allow the next hyper-connected experience. Particularly, it is expected that services such as truly immersive extended reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram, and digital replica could be provided through 6G communication systems. In addition, services such as remote surgery for security and reliability enhancement, industrial automation, and emergency response will be provided through the 6G communication system such that the technologies could be applied in various fields such as industry, medical care, automobiles, and home appliances.

The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the disclosure.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the disclosure are to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for balancing a load in a wireless communication system, whereby a user equipment (UE) can effectively perform handover.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a reinforcement learning apparatus in a wireless communication system is provided. The reinforcement learning apparatus includes a transceiver, a memory storing one or more instructions, and at least one processor configured to execute the one or more instructions stored in the memory to receive first information about a relation between a base station (BS) and a UE from each of a plurality of BSs, determine, based on the first information, a number of UEs on which handover has to be performed from among UEs served by each of the plurality of BSs, and transmit, to each of the plurality of BSs, priority information determined based on the number of UEs.

The at least one processor may be further configured to execute the one or more instructions to receive, from each of the plurality of BSs, UE handover information about handover of the UEs served by each of the plurality of BSs, based on the priority information transmitted to each of the plurality of BSs, obtain a data throughput per BS with respect to the plurality of BSs, determine an updated number of UEs on which handover has to be performed from among the UEs served by each of the plurality of BS s, based on the UE handover information and the data throughput per BS, and transmit, to each of the plurality of BSs, priority information determined based on the updated number of UEs.

The first information may include at least one of information about a number of UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, information about a number of idle-state UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, information about a number of active-state UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, or information about a total volume of data used by UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a BS in a wireless communication system is provided. The BS includes a transceiver, a memory storing one or more instructions, and at least one processor configured to execute the one or more instructions stored in the memory to obtain information about a plurality of BSs based on a measurement report received from at least one UE, the plurality of BSs transmitting a signal with at least preset power to the at least one UE, based on the information about the plurality of BSs, transmit first information about a relation between the BS and the at least one UE to a reinforcement learning apparatus, receive, from the reinforcement learning apparatus, priority information determined based on a number of UEs on which handover has to be performed from among UEs served by the BS, and perform a handover procedure with the at least one UE by transmitting the priority information to the at least one UE.

The at least one processor may be further configured to execute the one or more instructions to transmit a measurement configuration to the at least one UE, receive a first measurement report from the at least one UE, in response to the transmitted measurement configuration, request the at least one UE for information about at least one BS based on the first measurement report, the at least one BS transmitting a signal with at least the preset power, in response to the request for the information, receive, from the at least one UE, a second measurement report including the information about the at least one BS transmitting a signal with at least the preset power, and obtain, based on the second measurement report, the information about the at least one BS that transmits a signal with at least the preset power to the at least one UE.

The at least one processor may be further configured to execute the one or more instructions to, based on the measurement report received from the at least one UE, identify an adjacent BS transmitting a signal with at least the preset power to the at least one UE, request the identified adjacent BS for adjacent BS information, and obtain information about a plurality of BSs by receiving the adjacent BS information from the adjacent BS.

The adjacent BS information may include at least one of information about a number of UEs connected to the adjacent BS, information about a number of idle-state UEs connected to the adjacent BS, information about a number of active-state UEs connected to the adjacent BS, a total volume of data used by UEs connected to the adjacent BS, or information about a ratio of radio resources used by the UEs connected to the adjacent BS.

The at least one processor may be further configured to execute the one or more instructions to identify a number of UEs that have performed handover, based on the priority information, and transmit, to the reinforcement learning apparatus, the identified number of the UEs that have performed handover.

The at least one processor may be further configured to execute the one or more instructions to perform a handover procedure, based on the priority information, and then determine a volume of data usage of the BS, and transmit the determined volume of data usage to the reinforcement learning apparatus.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a UE is provided. The UE includes a transceiver, a memory storing one or more instructions, and at least one processor connected with the transceiver and configured to execute the one or more instructions stored in the memory to transmit a measurement report to a BS, based on a measurement configuration received from the BS, receive, from the BS, a request for information about at least one adjacent BS transmitting a signal with at least preset power to the UE, transmit, based on the request for the information, a second measurement report including the information about at least one adjacent BS to the BS, receive priority information from the BS, and perform a handover procedure with a new BS, based on the priority information.

The information about the at least one adjacent BS may include at least one of information about a number of UEs connected to the at least one adjacent BS, information about a number of idle-state UEs connected to the at least one adjacent BS, information about a number of active-state UEs connected to the at least one adjacent BS, a total volume of data used by UEs connected to the at least one adjacent BS, or information about a ratio of radio resources used by the UEs connected to the at least one adjacent BS.

The information about the at least one adjacent BS may include an identifier of the at least one adjacent BS transmitting a signal with at least the preset power to the UE.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an operating method of a reinforcement learning apparatus in a wireless communication system is provided. The operating method includes receiving first information about a relation between a BS and a UE from each of a plurality of BSs, determining, based on the first information, a number of UEs on which handover has to be performed from among UEs served by each of the plurality of BSs, and transmitting, to each of the plurality of BSs, priority information determined based on the number of UEs.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an operating method of a BS in a wireless communication system is provided. The operating method includes obtaining information about a plurality of BSs based on a measurement report received from at least one UE, the plurality of BSs transmitting a signal with at least preset power to the at least one UE, based on the information about the plurality of BSs, transmitting first information about a relation between the BS and the at least one UE to a reinforcement learning apparatus, receiving, from the reinforcement learning apparatus, priority information determined based on a number of UEs on which handover has to be performed from among UEs served by the BS, and performing a handover procedure with the at least one UE by transmitting the priority information to the at least one UE.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an operating method of a UE in a wireless communication system is provided. The operating method includes transmitting a measurement report to a BS, based on a measurement configuration received from the BS, receiving, from the BS, a request for information about at least one adjacent BS transmitting a signal with at least preset power to the UE, transmitting, based on the request for the information, a second measurement report including the information about at least one adjacent BS to the BS, receiving priority information from the BS, and performing a handover procedure with a new BS, based on the priority information.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, provided is a computer-readable recording medium storing one or more programs including instructions that cause, when executed by one or more processors of a reinforcement learning apparatus, the reinforcement learning apparatus to receive first information about a relation between a BS and a UE from each of a plurality of BSs, determine, based on the first information, a number of UEs on which handover has to be performed from among UEs served by each of the plurality of BSs, and transmit, to each of the plurality of BSs, priority information determined based on the number of UEs.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, provided is a computer-readable recording medium storing one or more programs including instructions that cause, when executed by one or more processors of a BS, the BS to obtain information about a plurality of BSs based on a measurement report received from at least one UE, the plurality of BSs transmitting a signal with at least preset power to the at least one UE, based on the information about the plurality of BS s, transmit first information about a relation between the BS and the at least one UE to a reinforcement learning apparatus, receive, from the reinforcement learning apparatus, priority information determined based on a number of UEs on which handover has to be performed from among UEs served by the BS, and perform a handover procedure with the at least one UE by transmitting the priority information to the at least one UE.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for load balancing in a wireless communication system.

2. Description of Related Art

SUMMARY

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

The information about the at least one adjacent BS may include an identifier of the at least one adjacent BS transmitting a signal with at least the preset power to the UE.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, provided is a computer-readable recording medium storing one or more programs including instructions that cause, when executed by one or more processors of a BS, the BS to obtain information about a plurality of BSs based on a measurement report received from at least one UE, the plurality of BSs transmitting a signal with at least preset power to the at least one UE, based on the information about the plurality of BS s, transmit first information about a relation between the BS and the at least one UE to a reinforcement learning apparatus, receive, from the reinforcement learning apparatus, priority information determined based on a number of UEs on which handover has to be performed from among UEs served by the BS, and perform a handover procedure with the at least one UE by transmitting the priority information to the at least one UE.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, provided is a computer-readable recording medium storing one or more programs including instructions that cause, when executed by one or more processors of a UE, the UE to transmit a measurement report to a BS, based on a measurement configuration received from the BS, receive, from the BS, a request for information about at least one adjacent BS transmitting a signal with at least preset power to the UE, transmit, based on the request for the information, a second measurement report including the information about at least one adjacent BS to the BS, receive priority information from the BS, and perform a handover procedure with a new BS, based on the priority information.

An embodiment of the disclosure includes a program stored in a computer-readable recording medium so as to execute the operating methods according to an embodiment of the disclosure, on a computer.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating architecture of a network in which load balancing is performed, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method by which a reinforcement learning apparatus balances a load in a wireless communication system, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method by which a base station (BS) balances a load in a wireless communication system, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method by which a user equipment (UE) balances a load in a wireless communication system, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a method by which a BS and a UE served by the BS perform handover, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a reinforcement learning apparatus, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method by which a BS balances a load by receiving adjacent BS information from a UE, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method by which a BS balances a load by receiving adjacent BS information from an adjacent BS, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of balancing a load in a wireless communication system, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a scheme by which a reinforcement learning apparatus is trained to balance a load of a network, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a reinforcement learning apparatus, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a BS, according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a UE, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms âa,â âan,â and âtheâ include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to âa component surfaceâ includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

In addition, portions irrelevant to the description will be omitted in the drawings for a clear description of the disclosure, and like reference numerals will denote like elements throughout the specification. Furthermore, connecting lines or connectors between elements shown in drawings are intended to represent functional connection and/or physical or logical connection between the elements. It should be noted that many alternative or additional functional connections, physical connections or logical connections may be present in a practical device.

Although the terms used in the disclosure are selected, as much as possible, from general terms that are widely used at present while taking into consideration the functions obtained in accordance with the disclosure, these terms may be replaced by other terms based on intentions of one of ordinary skill in the art, customs, emergence of new technologies, or the like. Also, in particular cases, the terms are discretionally selected by the applicant of the disclosure, and the meaning of those terms will be described in detail in the corresponding part of the detailed description. Therefore, the terms used in the disclosure are not merely designations of the terms, but the terms are defined based on the meaning of the terms and content throughout the disclosure.

Terms such as âcompriseâ, âincludeâ, or âhaveâ are used to specify existence of a recited feature, a number, a process, an operation, a component, a part, and/or combinations thereof, not excluding the existence of one or more other recited features, one or more other numbers, one or more other processes, one or more other operations, one or more other components, one or more other parts, and/or combinations thereof. In particular, numbers are merely an example to support understanding of the disclosure and should not be construed to limit embodiments of the disclosure.

While terms such as âfirst,â âsecond,â etc., may be used to describe various components, such components must not be limited to the above terms. The above terms are used only to distinguish one component from another. The expression âan embodimentâ recited in embodiments of the disclosure does not necessarily indicate the same embodiment. Throughout the disclosure, the expression âat least one of a, b or câ indicates only a, only b, only c, both a and b, both a and c, both b and c, all of a, b, and c, or variations thereof.

Examples of a terminal may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a multimedia system capable of performing a communication function, or the like.

In the disclosure, a controller may also be referred to as a processor.

Throughout the specification, a layer (or a layer apparatus) may also be referred to as an entity.

An embodiment of the disclosure may be described in terms of functional block components and various processing operations. Some or all of such functional blocks may be implemented by any number of hardware and/or software components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, the functional blocks of the disclosure may be implemented by one or more microprocessors or may be implemented by circuit components for predefined functions. Also, for example, the functional blocks of the disclosure may be implemented with any programming or various scripting languages. The functional blocks may be implemented in algorithms that are executed on one or more processors. Also, the disclosure may employ any number of techniques according to the related art for electronics configuration, signal processing and/or data processing, and the like.

In the descriptions of embodiments, detailed explanations of the related art are omitted when it is deemed that they may unnecessarily obscure the essence of the disclosure. For convenience of description, when necessary, an apparatus and method will be described together.

Hereinafter, terms identifying an access node, terms indicating network entities, terms indicating messages, terms indicating an interface between network entities, and terms indicating various pieces of identification information, as used in the following descriptions, are exemplified for convenience of explanation. Therefore, an embodiment of the disclosure is not limited to terms to be described below, and other terms indicating objects having equal technical meanings may be used.

Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the disclosure uses terms and names defined in the standards for the 5 th generation (5G) or New Radio (NR) system, and the long term evolution (LTE) system. However, the disclosure is not limited to these terms and names, and may be equally applied to wireless communication systems conforming to other standards.

That is, when particularly describing embodiments of the disclosure, the communication standards defined by the 3GPP are mainly applied but the essential concept of the disclosure may be modified without departing from the scope of the disclosure and may be applied to other communication system based on similar technical backgrounds, and the application may be made based on determination by one of ordinary skill in the art.

Throughout the specification, a terminal or a user equipment may refer to an apparatus to be used by a user and may include a wireless signal receiving apparatus having only a wireless signal receiver without a transmission function, and transceiving hardware having a transmission and reception hardware function for bi-directional communication via a bi-directional communication link. For example, a terminal may refer to a user equipment (UE), a remote terminal, a wireless terminal, a mobile station (MS), or a user device. The terminal may include all types of devices. For example, the terminal may include personal computers, cellular phones, smartphones, Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) devices, sensors, televisions (TVs), tablet personal computers, notebook computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Portable Multimedia Players (PMPs), navigations, MP3 players, digital cameras, black-box devices, devices mounted in a vehicle, modules in the devices mounted in the vehicle, the vehicle itself, or the like. However, the terminal is not limited to the aforementioned examples and may include various devices.

The 5G system according to an embodiment of the disclosure may consist of a 5G core network (hereinafter, referred to as the 5GC or the 5G core network) and a base station.

The 5GC may consist of network functions including an Access and Mobility management Function (AMF), a Session Management Function (SMF), a Proximity-based Services (ProSe) Function, a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), a Policy and Charging Function (PCF), a Network Exposure Function (NEF), Unified Data Management (UDM), a User Plane Function (UPF), a Unified Data Repository (UDR), or the like. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a network function may refer to a network entity (hereinafter, referred to as the network entity or the NE). The network entity consisting the 5GC may include more or fewer entities than the aforementioned network entities, according to implementation of artificial intelligence (AI).

The base station is an entity that allocates resources to a terminal, and may be at least one of a gNode B (gNB), an eNode B (eNB), a Node B, a base station (BS), a radio access unit, a BS controller, a node on a network, and an access point, but is not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, the disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating architecture of a network in which load balancing is performed, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1 , in an embodiment of the disclosure, a first UE 101 , a second UE 103 , a third UE 105 , a fourth UE 107 , a ninth UE 151 , a tenth UE 153 , an eleventh UE 155 , and a twelfth UE 157 may be included in coverage of a BS A 110 . A thirteenth UE 159 , a fourteenth UE 161 , a fifteenth UE 163 , and a sixteenth UE 165 may be included in coverage of a BS B 120 . A seventeenth UE 167 and an eighteenth UE 169 may be included in coverage of a BS C 130 . A nineteenth UE 171 , a twentieth UE 173 , a twenty- first UE 175 , a twenty- third UE 177 , and a twenty- fourth UE 179 may be included in coverage of a BS D 140 . A sixth UE 111 may be included in coverage of BS C 130 and/or BS D 140 .

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first UE 101 , the second UE 103 , the third UE 105 , the eleventh UE 155 , and the twelfth UE 157 from among UEs connected to the BS A 110 may be UEs that are included in the coverage of the BS A 110 and when in an active state may receive a service from the BS A 110 . Also, the fourth UE 107 is a UE that receives serving from the BS A 110 but is also included in coverages of a BS B 120 and a BS C 130 and thus can perform handover to the BS B 120 or the BS C 130 and when in an active state. Also, the ninth UE 151 and the tenth UE 153 may be UEs in an idle state which are included in the coverage of the BS A 110 but switch to an idle mode because data transmission or reception does not occur due to a predefined reason or for a preset period of time. In an embodiment of the disclosure, an active state of an entity may refer to a state, e.g., a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected mode, in which the entity accesses a network and then receives a service. Also, an idle state of the entity may refer to an RRC inactive connected mode or an RRC idle mode. The RRC inactive connected mode may be a connected state to a core side but is an idle state to a radio side. When a UE configured to transmit or receive data in an RRC connected mode does not transmit or receive data due to a predefined reason or for a preset period of time, a BS may transmit an RRCConnectionRelease message to the UE so as to allow the UE to switch to an RRC idle mode. Afterward, when the UE that is not currently configured for connection has data to be transmitted, the UE may perform an RRC connection establishment procedure on the BS. The UE may establish inverse direction transmission synchronization with the BS through a random access procedure, and may transmit an RRCConnectionRequest message to the BS.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the third UE 105 that receives serving from the BS A 110 may transmit a measurement report to the BS A 110 in a periodic manner or in occurrence of a particular event. The BS A 110 may determine, based on the measurement report, whether the third UE 105 is to perform a handover procedure on an adjacent BS. Handover refers to a technology of changing a serving BS (a source BS) from a current BS to a different new BS (a target BS), the serving BS providing a service to a UE in a connected mode state. When the BS A 110 determines the handover, the BS A 110 may request to perform the handover by transmitting a handover (HO) request message (e.g., a Handover Preparation Information message) to the BS B 120 that is a new BS, i.e., the target BS, to provide a service to the third UE 105 . When the BS B 120 accepts the request of handover, the BS B 120 may transmit a HO Request Ack message (e.g., a Handover Command message) to the BS A 110 . When the BS A 110 receives the HO Request Ack message, the BS A 110 may transmit a handover command message to the third UE 105 . The handover command message may include an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message extracted from a message received by the BS A 110 from the BS B 120 .

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the fourth UE 107 may be a UE in an activate state which is included in coverages of the BS A 110 , the BS B 120 , and the BS C 130 . The fourth UE 107 may access a network and receive a service by using the BS B 120 . That is, a serving BS of the fourth UE 107 may be the BS B 120 . Also, a fifth UE 109 may be included in coverages of the BS B 120 , the BS C 130 , and a BS D 140 , may be a UE in an active state, and may access a network and receive a service by using the BS B 120 . When a signal received from the BS B 120 is equal to or less than preset power, the fourth UE 107 or the fifth UE 109 may transmit a measurement report to the BS B 120 , based on a measurement configuration received from the BS B 120 . When the BS B 120 receives the measurement report from the fourth UE 107 , the BS B 120 may request the fourth UE 107 for information about a plurality of BSs that transmit a signal with at least preset power. In an embodiment of the disclosure, power corresponding to a condition of requesting the information about a plurality of BSs that transmit a signal with at least preset power may have a value equal to or different from a value of power corresponding to a condition of transmitting a measurement report when the power is equal to or less than preset power. When the BS B 120 receives the measurement report from the fifth UE 109 , the BS B 120 may request the fifth UE 109 for information about a plurality of BSs that transmit a signal with at least preset power. That is, based on a measurement report received from at least one UE, the BS B 120 may request the at least one UE for information about a plurality of BSs that transmit a signal with at least preset power. When the at least one UE receives a request for the information about a plurality of BS, the at least one UE may transmit, to a serving BS, a measurement report including information about one or more adjacent BSs that transmit a signal with at least preset power to the at least one UE. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the information about one or more adjacent BSs may include identifiers of the one or more adjacent BSs that transmit a signal with at least preset power to the at least one UE. In another embodiment of the disclosure, the information about one or more adjacent BSs may include, but is not limited to, the identifiers of the one or more adjacent BSs that transmit a signal with at least preset power, information about the number of UEs connected to each of the one or more adjacent BSs, information about the number of idle-state UEs connected to each of the one or more adjacent BSs, information about the number of active-state UEs connected to each of the one or more adjacent BSs, a total volume of data used by the UEs connected to each of the one or more adjacent BSs, information about an amount of radio resources used by the UEs connected to each of the one or more adjacent BSs, and respective data rates of the one or more adjacent BSs.

For example, the fourth UE 107 is included not only in coverage of the BS B 120 that is a serving BS but also is included in coverages of the BS A 110 and the BS C 130 , and thus, the fourth UE 107 may measure power of a signal broadcast from the BS A 110 and the BS C 130 , and when the power is equal to or greater than preset power, the fourth UE 107 may transmit identifiers of the BS A 110 and the BS C 130 to the BS B 120 that is a serving BS. Based on the identifiers of the BS A 110 and the BS C 130 received from the fourth UE 107 , the BS B 120 may request the BS A 110 and the BS C 130 for information about the number of UEs connected to each of BSs, information about the number of idle-state UEs connected to each of the BSs, information about the number of active-state UEs connected to each of the BSs, a total volume of data used by the UEs connected to each of the BSs, information about a ratio of radio resources used by the UEs connected to each of the BSs, and respective data rates of the BSs and may receive the information. That is, the serving BS may obtain adjacent BS information about an adjacent BS by directly requesting the adjacent BS for the adjacent BS information and receiving the adjacent BS information.

As another example, the fifth UE 109 is included not only in coverage of the BS B 120 that is a serving BS but also is included in coverages of the BS C 130 and the BS D 140 , and thus, the fifth UE 109 may measure power of a signal broadcast from the BS C 130 and the BS D 140 , and when the power is equal to or greater than preset power, the fifth UE 109 may transmit adjacent BS information about the BS C 130 and the BS D 140 to the BS B 120 that is a serving BS. The adjacent BS information may include, but is not limited to, information about the number of UEs connected to each of adjacent BSs, information about the number of idle-state UEs connected to each of the adjacent BSs, information about the number of active-state UEs connected to each of the adjacent BSs, a total volume of data used by the UEs connected to each of the adjacent BSs, information about a ratio of radio resources used by the UEs connected to each of the adjacent BSs, and respective data rates of the adjacent BSs. That is, the serving BS may obtain adjacent BS information in a manner that the serving BS requests a UE for the adjacent BS information and the UE receives the adjacent BS information from at least one adjacent BS and then transmits the adjacent BS information to the serving BS.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, based on the adjacent BS information, the serving BS may transmit information about a relation between a BS and at least one UE to a reinforcement learning apparatus. The reinforcement learning apparatus may detect the number of UEs connected to each of a plurality of BSs, the number of active-state UEs, e.g., the number of RRC_connected state UEs, from among the UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, a total volume of data used by the number of the UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, respective data rates of the plurality of BSs, or the like, but information detectable by the reinforcement learning apparatus is not limited thereto. For example, the reinforcement learning apparatus may detect that the number of UEs connected to the BS A 110 is 80, the number of active-state UEs from among the UEs connected to the BS A 110 is 50, and a data rate of the BS A 110 is 40 Mbps. The reinforcement learning apparatus may detect th

CLAIMS

Claims ( 20 )

What is claimed is:

1. A reinforcement learning apparatus in a wireless communication system, the reinforcement learning apparatus comprising:

a transceiver;

a memory storing one or more instructions; and

at least one processor connected with the transceiver and configured to execute the one or more instructions stored in the memory to:

receive, from each of a plurality of base stations (BSs), first information about a relation between a corresponding BS and one or more user equipments (UEs) in coverage of the BS,

determine, based on the first information received from each of the plurality of BSs, a number of UEs on which handover is to be performed from among UEs served by a corresponding BS, and

transmit, to each of the plurality of BSs, priority information comprising a handover order or handover weights associated with the plurality of BSs, wherein the priority information is determined by the reinforcement learning apparatus based on the number of UEs on which handover is to be performed.

2. The reinforcement learning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to:

receive, from each of the plurality of BSs, UE handover information about handover of the one or more UEs in coverage of the BS, based on the priority information transmitted to each of the plurality of BSs,

obtain a data throughput per BS with respect to the plurality of BSs,

determine an updated number of UEs on which handover is to be performed from among the UEs served by the BS, based on the UE handover information and the data throughput per BS, and

transmit, to each of the plurality of BSs, priority information determined based on the updated number of UEs.

3. The reinforcement learning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first information comprises at least one of information about a number of UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, information about a number of idle-state UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, information about a number of active-state UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, or information about a total volume of data used by UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs.

4. A base station (BS) in a wireless communication system, the BS comprising:

a transceiver;

a memory storing one or more instructions; and

at least one processor connected with the transceiver and configured to execute the one or more instructions stored in the memory to:

obtain information about the BS based on a measurement report received from one or more user equipments (UEs) in coverage of the BS, the BS transmitting a signal with at least preset power to the one or more UEs,

based on the information about the BS, transmit first information about a relation between the BS and the one or more UEs to a reinforcement learning apparatus,

receive, from the reinforcement learning apparatus, priority information comprising a handover order or handover weights associated with a plurality of BSs, wherein the priority information is determined by the reinforcement learning apparatus based on a number of UEs on which handover is to be performed from among UEs served by the BS, and

perform a handover procedure with at least one UE by transmitting the priority information to the at least one UE.

5. The BS of claim 4 , wherein the first information comprises at least one of information about a number of UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, information about a number of idle-state UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, information about a number of active-state UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, or information about a total volume of data used by UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs.

6. The BS of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to:

transmit a measurement configuration to the one or more UEs,

receive a first measurement report from the one or more UEs, in response to the transmitted measurement configuration,

request the one or more UEs for information about one BS based on the first measurement report, the one BS transmitting a signal with at least the preset power,

in response to the request for the information, receive, from the one or more UEs, a second measurement report comprising the information about the at least one BS transmitting a signal with at least the preset power, and

obtain, based on the second measurement report, the information about the at least one BS that transmits a signal with at least the preset power to the at least one UE.

7. The BS of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to:

based on the measurement report received from the one or more UEs, identify an adjacent BS transmitting a signal with at least the preset power to the one or more UEs,

request the identified adjacent BS for adjacent BS information, and

obtain information about a plurality of BSs by receiving the adjacent BS information from the adjacent BS.

8. The BS of claim 7 , wherein the adjacent BS information comprises at least one of information about a number of UEs connected to the adjacent BS, information about a number of idle-state UEs connected to the adjacent BS, information about a number of active-state UEs connected to the adjacent BS, a total volume of data used by UEs connected to the adjacent BS, or information about a ratio of radio resources used by the UEs connected to the adjacent BS.

9. The BS of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to:

identify a number of UEs on which handover has been performed, based on the priority information, and

transmit, to the reinforcement learning apparatus, the identified number of the UEs that have performed handover.

10. The BS of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to:

perform a handover procedure, based on the priority information, and then determine a volume of data usage of the BS, and

transmit the determined volume of data usage to the reinforcement learning apparatus.

11. An operating method of a reinforcement learning apparatus in a wireless communication system, the operating method comprising:

receiving, from each of a plurality of base stations (BSs), first information about a relation between a corresponding (BS) and one or more user equipments (UEs) in coverage of the BS;

determining, based on the first information received from each of the plurality of BSs, a number of UEs on which handover is to be performed from among UEs served by a corresponding BS; and

transmitting, to each of the plurality of BSs, priority information comprising a handover order or handover weights associated with the plurality of BSs, wherein the priority information is determined by the reinforcement learning apparatus based on the number of UEs on which handover is to be performed.

12. The operating method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving, from each of the plurality of BSs, UE handover information about handover of the one or more UEs in coverage of the BS, based on the priority information transmitted to each of the plurality of BSs;

obtaining a data throughput per BS with respect to the plurality of BSs;

determining an updated number of UEs on which handover is to be performed from among the UEs served by the BS, based on the UE handover information and the data throughput per BS; and

transmitting, to each of the plurality of BSs, priority information determined based on the updated number of UEs.

13. The operating method of claim 11 , wherein the first information comprises one of information about a number of UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, information about a number of idle-state UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, information about a number of active-state UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, or information about a total volume of data used by UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs.

14. An operating method of a base station (BS) in a wireless communication system, the operating method comprising:

obtaining information about the BS based on a measurement report received from one or more user equipments (UE) in coverage of the BS, the BS transmitting a signal with at least preset power to the one or more UEs;

based on the information about the BS, transmitting first information about a relation between the BS and the one or more UEs to a reinforcement learning apparatus;

receiving, from the reinforcement learning apparatus, priority information comprising a handover order or handover weights associated with a plurality of BSs, wherein the priority information is determined by the reinforcement learning apparatus based on a number of UEs on which handover is to be performed from among UEs served by the BS; and

performing a handover procedure with at least one UE by transmitting the priority information to the one UE.

15. The operating method of claim 14 , wherein the first information comprises one of information about a number of UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, information about a number of idle-state UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, information about a number of active-state UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs, or information about a total volume of data used by UEs connected to each of the plurality of BSs.

16. The operating method of claim 14 , wherein the obtaining of the information about the plurality of BSs comprises:

transmitting a measurement configuration to the one or more UEs,

receiving a first measurement report from the one or more UEs, in response to the transmitted measurement configuration,

requesting the one or more UEs for information about at least one BS based on the first measurement report, the at least one BS transmitting a signal with at least preset power,

in response to the request for the information, receiving, from the one or more UEs, a second measurement report comprising the information about the at least one BS transmitting a signal with at least the preset power, and

obtaining, based on the second measurement report, the information about the at least one BS that transmits a signal with at least the preset power to the at least one UE.

17. The operating method of claim 14 , wherein the obtaining of the information about the plurality of BSs comprises:

based on the measurement report received from the one or more UEs, identifying an adjacent BS transmitting a signal with at least the preset power to the one or more UEs,

requesting the identified adjacent BS for adjacent BS information, and

obtaining information about a plurality of BSs by receiving the adjacent BS information from the adjacent BS.

18. The operating method of claim 17 , wherein the adjacent BS information comprises at least one of information about a number of UEs connected to the adjacent BS, information about a number of idle-state UEs connected to the adjacent BS, information about a number of active-state UEs connected to the adjacent BS, a total volume of data used by UEs connected to the adjacent BS, or information about a ratio of radio resources used by the UEs connected to the adjacent BS.

19. The operating method of claim 14 , further comprising:

identifying a number of UEs on which handover has been performed, based on the priority information; and

transmitting, to the reinforcement learning apparatus, the identified number of the UEs that have performed handover.

20. The operating method of claim 14 , further comprising:

performing a handover procedure, based on the priority information, and then determining a volume of data usage of the BS; and

transmitting the determined volume of data usage to the reinforcement learning apparatus.

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