Patent Application
20180139652
This application claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 105137454 filed on Nov. 16, 2016, which is incorporated herein for reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a base station and an access class barring method thereof as well as a communication terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a base station and an access class barring method thereof as well as a communication terminal that improve traffic congestions of a plurality of random access channels.
In environments where communication apparatuses are deployed at high densities, e.g., in machine-to-machine (M2M) communication architectures or in Internet of Things (IoT) communication architectures, accessing a same base station by a lot of communication apparatuses at the same time will cause problems such as traffic congestions or overloads of the base station. To solve these problems, a random access mechanism called Access Class Barring (ACB) has been proposed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for Long-Term Evolution (LTE)/Long-Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A).
Under the random access mechanism of access class barring, each base station determines and broadcasts information comprising an access class barring parameter (a value ranging between 0 and 1) and an access class barring period, and each communication terminal receiving the information broadcasted by the single base station that is serving the communication terminal will randomly generate an access value (a value ranging between 0 and 1). If the access value randomly generated by the communication terminal is less than or equal to the access class barring parameter broadcasted by the base station that is serving the communication terminal, then the probability that the communication terminal accesses the base station (e.g., via a random access channel) is just the access value. However, if the access value is greater than the access class barring parameter, then the communication terminal will have to wait for the access class barring period and then repeat the aforesaid operations.
Under the aforesaid random access mechanism, each communication terminal can only perform the aforesaid random access procedure on the single base station that is serving the communication terminal. That is, each communication terminal can only generate an access value according to an access class barring parameter broadcasted by the single base station that is serving the communication terminal, and determine the probability that it accesses the base station according to a comparison between the access value and the access class barring parameter. Therefore, the aforesaid random access mechanism can only handle traffic congestions of a single random access channel of an individual base station, but cannot handle traffic congestions of a plurality of random access channels as a whole at the same time.
Accordingly, it is important in the art to solve the problem that the aforesaid random access mechanism can only handle traffic congestions of a single random access channel provided by an individual base station.
The disclosure includes a base station. The base station may comprise a processor and a transceiver. The processor may be configured to determine at least one access class barring parameter based on load balance of a plurality of random access channels. Each of the at least one access class barring parameter may correspond to one of the random access channels respectively, and each of the random access channels may be created on a component carrier. The transceiver is configured to broadcast the at least one access class barring parameter so that a communication terminal determines a random access channel candidate from the random access channels and performs a random access procedure on the random access channel candidate.
The disclosure also includes an access class barring method. The access class barring method may comprise the following steps of: determining by a base station at least one access class barring parameter based on load balance of a plurality of random access channels, each of the at least one access class barring parameter corresponding to one of the random access channels respectively, and each of the random access channels being created on a component carrier; and broadcasting by the base station the at least one access class barring parameter so that a communication terminal determines a random access channel candidate from the random access channels and performs a random access procedure on the random access channel candidate.
The disclosure further includes a communication terminal. The communication terminal may comprise a processor and a transceiver. The transceiver may be configured to receive a plurality of access class barring parameters broadcasted by at least one base station. Each of the access class barring parameters may correspond to a random access channel, and each of the random access channels may be created on a component carrier. The processor may be configured to determine a random access channel candidate from the random access channels according to the access class barring parameters and perform a random access procedure on the random access channel candidate.
The disclosure additionally includes a random access method. The random access method may comprise the following steps of: receiving by a communication terminal a plurality of access class barring parameters broadcasted by at least one base station, each of the access class barring parameters corresponding to a random access channel, and each of the random access channels being created on a component carrier; and determining by the communication terminal a random access channel candidate from the random access channels according to the access class barring parameters and performing a random access procedure on the random access channel candidate.
According to the above descriptions, unlike each base station of the conventional access class barring mechanism that can only broadcast one access class barring parameter corresponding to the random access channel provided by itself, the base station and the access class barring method thereof can determine and broadcast at least one (i.e., one or more) access class barring parameter, and each of the at least one access class barring parameter is determined based on load balance of a plurality of random access channels. On the other hand, unlike each communication terminal of the conventional access class barring mechanism that can only perform a random access procedure on a random access channel provided by a single base station that is serving the communication terminal, the communication terminal and the random accessing method thereof can determine a random access channel candidate from a plurality of random access channels according to a plurality of access class barring parameters broadcasted by at least one base station (i.e., one or more base stations), and then perform a random access procedure on the random access channel candidate. Because the present invention can handle traffic congestions of a plurality of random access channels as a whole, the problem that the conventional access class barring mechanism can only handle traffic congestions of a single random access channel provided by an individual base station can be effectively solved.
What described above presents a summary of the present invention (including the problem to be solved, the means to solve the problem and the effect of the present invention) to provide a basic understanding of the present invention. However, this is not intended to encompass all aspects of the present invention. Additionally, what described above is neither intended to identify key or essential elements of the present invention, nor intended to define the scope of the present invention. This summary is provided only to present basic concepts of the present invention in a simple form and as an introduction to the following detailed description.
The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for the subject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the claimed invention.
One or more example embodiments described below are not intended to limit the present invention to any environment, example, embodiment, applications, structures, processes or steps described in these example embodiments. In the attached drawings, elements unrelated to the present invention are omitted from depiction; and dimensions and dimensional relationships among individual elements in the attached drawings are only exemplary examples and are not intended to limit the present invention. Unless stated particularly, same (or similar) element labels may correspond to same (or similar) elements in the following description.
The base station 1 and the communication terminal can be constructed under various communication standards, for example but not limited to: Long Term Evolution (LTE), Long Term Evolution-advanced (LTE-advanced), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) or the like. The base station 1 and the communication terminal can be used in any environments where communication apparatuses are deployed at high densities, for example but not limited to: in machine-to-machine (M2M) communication architectures or in Internet of Things (IoT) communication architectures.
The base station 1 may comprise a processor 11 and a transceiver 13. The processor 11 may be electrically connected with the transceiver 13 via other elements, i.e., electrically connected with the transceiver 13 indirectly. Alternatively, the processor 11 may be electrically connected with the transceiver 13 without using other elements, i.e., electrically connected with the transceiver 13 directly. Through the direct or indirect connection, data communication can be achieved between the processor 11 and the transceiver 13. The communication terminal 9 may comprise a processor 91 and a transceiver 93. The processor 91 may be electrically connected with the transceiver 93 via other elements, i.e., electrically connected with the transceiver 93 indirectly. Alternatively, the processor 91 may be electrically connected with the transceiver 93 without using other elements, i.e., electrically connected with the transceiver 93 directly. Through the direct or indirect connection, data communication can be achieved between the processor 91 and the transceiver 93.
Each of the base station 1 and the communication terminal 9 may comprise a computing apparatus. The computing apparatus may have computing elements such as a processor and a microprocessor for general purposes, and execute various operations via those computing elements. The computing apparatus may have storage elements such as a memory and/or a storage for general purposes, and store various kinds of data via these storage elements. The computing apparatus may have input/output elements for general purposes, and receive data inputted from users and output data to the users via these input/output elements. The computing apparatus can execute corresponding operations through elements such as the aforesaid computing elements, storage elements and input/output elements according to a processing procedure constructed by software, firmware, programs, algorithms or the like. Each of the processor 11 of the base station 1 and the processor 91 of the communication terminal 9 may be the computing apparatus or a part of the computing apparatus, and is configured to execute all the operations described hereinafter.
Each of the base station 1 and the communication terminal 9 may comprise a transceiving apparatus. The transceiving apparatus may for example include communication elements such as an antenna, an amplifier, a modulator, a demodulator, a detector, an analog-to-digital converter, a digital-to-analog converter or the like. Each of the transceiver 13 of the base station 1 and the transceiver 93 of the communication terminal 9 may be the transceiving apparatus or a part of the transceiving apparatus, and is configured to execute all the operations described hereinafter. Through the operations of the transceiver 13 and the transceiver 93, communication connection can be established between the base station 1 and the communication terminal 9, and data communication can be achieved between the base station 1 and the communication terminal 9 via the communication connection.
The processor 11 of the base station 1 may be configured to determine at least one access class barring parameter based on load balance of a plurality of random access channels.
Each of the at least one access class barring parameter may correspond to one of the random access channels respectively, and each of the random access channels may be created on a component carrier. The processor 11 of the base station 1 may only determine the access class barring parameter (represented as Pself) corresponding to the (one or more) random access channel(s) provided by the base station 1 among the random access channels, or may determine all the access class barring parameters (represented as P=[p1, . . . , pN], where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2) corresponding to the random access channels based on load balance of the plurality of random access channels. For example, if the base station 1 only provides one random access channel with an corresponding access class barring parameter being p1, and there are three other random access channels with three corresponding access class barring parameters being respectively p2, p3 and p4, then Pself is just p1 (i.e., Pself=p1) and P includes p1, p2, p3 and p4 (i.e., P=[p1, p2, p3, p4]). In this example, if the base station 1 provides two random access channels, and the access class barring parameters corresponding to the two random access channels are respectively p1 and p2, then Pself includes p1 and p2 (i.e., Pself=[p1, p2]) and P includes p1, p2, p3 and p4 (i.e., P=[p1, p2, p3, p4]).
Generally, the higher the access barring extent of a random access channel is, the lower the probability that the random access channel is accessed will be; and the lower the probability that a random access channel is accessed is, the lower the channel load of the random access channel will be. Taking the access class barring mechanism proposed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as an example, each access class barring parameter is a value (a probability value) ranging from 0 to 1, and is used as the access barring extent of the random access channel corresponding to the access class barring parameter. A higher value of the access class barring parameter means that the access value generated randomly by the communication terminal is more likely to be smaller than the access class barring parameter, i.e., the access barring extent of the random access channel corresponding to the access class barring parameter is lower.
As shown in
The transceiver 93 of the communication terminal 9 may be configured to receive a plurality of access class barring parameters broadcasted by at least one base station (i.e., one or more base stations), each of the access class barring parameters corresponds to a random access channel, and each of the random access channels is created on a component carrier. The processor 91 of the communication terminal 9 may be configured to determine a random access channel candidate from the random access channels according to the access class barring parameters and perform a random access procedure on the random access channel candidate.
The coverage 10A overlaps with each of the coverages 10B, 10C and 10D, and the coverage 10C overlaps with the coverage 10D. The communication terminal 9A is only located within the coverage 10A, the communication terminal 9B is located within the region where the coverage 10A overlaps with the coverage 10B, and the communication terminal 9C is located within the region where the coverage 10A overlaps with the coverage 10C and the coverage 10D.
In some embodiments, data transmission among the base stations 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D can be achieved through dedicated transmission interfaces (e.g., X2 interfaces) between the base stations. Additionally, in some embodiments, each of the base stations 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D may be connected with a core network 5 via the backhaul link BL thereof, and data transmission among the base stations 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D can be achieved through the core network 5. The core network 5 may comprise a core network apparatus 51. Like the base station 1, the core network apparatus 5 may be an apparatus having a computing apparatus and a transceiving apparatus, and the computing apparatus and the transceiving apparatus may be configured to perform the following operations of the core network apparatus 51.
In some embodiments, when the base station 1A is located within the coverage 10B of the base station 1B, and the base station 1B is also located within the coverage 10A of the base station 1A, the base station 1A can directly transmit data with the base station 1B (e.g., via wireless transmission), and vice versa.
Referring to
Referring to
In some embodiments, the processor 11 of the base station 1A may determine N access class barring parameters according to N channel states 20 of the N random access channels based on the load balance of the N random access channels, and wherein the nth access class barring parameter corresponds to the nth random access channel, and n is an integer ranging from 1 to N. The N channel states 20 may provide relevant information about the channel load of the N random access channels, for example but not limited to: the number of communication terminals using each random access channel, the delay time of data transmission on each random access channel, or the like. Through the N channel states 20, the processor 11 of the base station 1A can evaluate the channel load of the N random access channels, and then determine the N access class barring parameters based on the load balance of the N random access channels. For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, the transceiver 13 of the base station 1A may transmit the N channel states 20 of the N random access channels to the core network apparatus 51 via the backhaul link BL. The core network apparatus 51 may calculate N default values 40 of the N access class barring parameters according to the N channel states 20 of the N random access channels based on the load balance of the N random access channels, and then transmits the N default values 40 to the base station 1A via the backhaul link BL. After the transceiver 13 of the base station 1A receives the N default values 40 of the N access class barring parameters from the core network apparatus 51, the processor 11 of the base station 1A can directly determine the N access class barring parameters according to the N default values 40. In some embodiments, this is equivalent to the case that the base station 1A directly uses values of the aforesaid N default values 40 transmitted by the core network apparatus 51 as the values of the aforesaid N access class barring parameters.
After determining the N access class barring parameters, the transceiver 13 of the base station 1A can broadcast N access class barring parameters (i.e., broadcast Pself=[p1, . . . , pN]) and N corresponding access class barring periods. The transceiver 93 of the communication terminal 9A may be configured to receive the N access class barring parameters broadcasted by the base station 1A, and the processor 91 of the communication terminal 9A may be configured to determine a random access channel candidate from the N random access channels according to the N access class barring parameters.
Further, after receiving the N access class barring parameters broadcasted by the base station 1A, the processor 91 of the communication terminal 9A can determine a probability value kn for each of the N random access channels, and wherein n is an integer ranging from 1 to N. Then, the processor 91 of the communication terminal 9A can determine the random access channel candidate according to the probability values, and wherein if a greater access class barring parameter represents a lower access barring extent (e.g., in the access class barring mechanism proposed by the 3GPP), then the probability value kn determined by the processor 91 for the random access channel corresponding to the greater access class barring parameter is greater.
For example, if the first access class barring parameter p1 is greater than the second access class barring parameter p2, and the second access class barring parameter p2 is greater than the third access class barring parameter p3, then it means that the access barring extent of the first random access channel RACH1 is smaller than the access barring extent of the second random access channel RACH2, and the access barring extent of the second random access channel RACH2 is smaller than the access barring extent of the third random access channel RACH3. At this point, a probability value k1 set by the processor 91 of the communication terminal 9A for the first random access channel RACH1 will be greater than a probability value k2 set for the second random access channel RACH2, and a probability value k2 set for the second random access channel RACH2 will be greater than a probability value k3 set for the third random access channel RACH3. In other words, the probability that the random access channel of a larger access barring extent is selected should be lower, and the probability that the random access channel of a smaller access barring extent is selected should be higher, and thereby the probability that the communication terminal 9A accesses the random channel of a smaller access barring extent is higher.
In some embodiments, a sum of the N probability values determined by the processor 91 of the communication terminal 9A for the N random access channels may be set to be less than or equal to 1, and each of the probability values may be set to be less than 1. Setting each of the probability values to be less than 1 is to prevent all the communication terminals (including the communication terminal 9A) under the coverage 10A from selecting the same random access channel all the time, i.e., selecting the random access channel corresponding to the probability value of 1 all the time.
After selecting a random access channel candidate from the N random access channels, the communication terminal 9A can perform a random access procedure on the random access channel candidate. The random access procedure may be a random access procedure based on an access class barring procedure. Taking the access class barring mechanism proposed by the 3GPP as an example, if the processor 91 of the communication terminal 9A selects the second random access channel RACH2 as the random access channel candidate, then the processor 91 of the communication terminal 9A can randomly generate an access value (a value ranging from 0 to 1). If the access value randomly generated by the processor 91 is smaller than or equal to the second access class barring parameter p2, then the probability that the communication terminal 9A accesses the base station 1A through the second random access channel RACH2 is just the access value. If the access value is greater than the second access class barring parameter p2, then the communication terminal 9A will have to wait for the access class barring period corresponding to the second access class barring parameter p2 and then repeat the aforesaid operations.
After the communication terminal 9A accesses the base station 1A through the random access channel candidate, the processor 91 can perform a data transmission procedure on a data transmission channel. The data transmission channel may comprise a control channel and a data channel, and the data transmission procedure comprises various operations of transmitting control messages on the control channel and various operations of transmitting control messages on the data channel For example, the control channel may be a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and the data channel may be a physical uplink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).
In some embodiments, the data transmission channel and the random access channel candidate may be created on the same component carrier; while in some other embodiments, the data transmission channel and the random access channel candidate may be created on different component carriers. In other words, after the communication terminal 9A accesses the base station 1A through the random access channel candidate, the processor 91 can perform a data transmission procedure on a data transmission channel created on any component carrier.
For example, if the base station 1A creates the first random access channel RACH1, the second random access channel RACH2 and the third random access channel RACH3 respectively on the first component carrier CC1, the second component carrier CC2 and the third component carrier CC3, then the communication terminal 9A can select any of a first data transmission channel DTCH1 (created on the first component carrier CC1), a second data transmission channel DTCH2 (created on the second component carrier CC2) and a third data transmission channel DTCH3 (created on the third component carrier CC3) to perform a data transmission procedure after the communication terminal 9A accesses the base station 1A through the second random access channel RACH2.
Referring to
In some embodiments, the processor 11 of at least one of the base station 1A and the base station 1B may determine access class barring parameters p1A, p2A and p1B according to three channel states 20 of the aforesaid three random access channels (i.e., RACH1A, RACH2A and RACH1B) based on the load balance of the three random access channels. The way in which the access class barring parameters p1A, p2A and p1B are determined herein may be the same as the way in which the N access class barring parameters are determined in the above description (reference may be made to the above description of
In some embodiments, the transceiver 13 of the base station 1A may transmit the channel states 20 of the random access channels RACH1A and RACH2A to the core network apparatus 51 via the backhaul link BL, and the transceiver 13 of the base station 1B may also transmit the channel state 20 of the random access channel RACH1B to the core network apparatus 51 via the backhaul link BL. The core network apparatus 51 may calculate default values 40 of the access class barring parameters p1A, p2A and p1B respectively according to the channel states 20 of the random access channels RACH1A, RACH2A and RACH1B based on the load balance of the random access channels RACH1A, RACH2A and RACH1B.
The core network apparatus 51 may only transmit the default values 40 of the access class barring parameters p1A and p2A to the base station 1A, and only transmit the default value 40 of the access class barring parameter p1B to the base station 1B. In this way, the processor 11 of the base station 1A can directly determine the access class barring parameters p1A and p2A according to the default values 40 of the access class barring parameters p1A and p2A, and then the transceiver 13 of the base station 1A can broadcast the access class barring parameters p1A and p2A and the two corresponding access class barring periods. Similarly, the processor 11 of the base station 1B can directly determine the access class barring parameters p1B according to the default value 40 of the access class barring parameters p1B, and then the transceiver 13 of the base station 1B can broadcast the access class barring parameter p1B and one corresponding access class barring period.
The core network apparatus 51 may also together transmit the default values 40 of the three access class barring parameters p1A, p2A and p1B to the base station 1A and the base station 1B. In this way, the processor 11 of at least one of the base station 1A and the base station 1B can directly determine the access class barring parameters p1A, p2A and p1B according to the default values 40 of the three access class barring parameters p1A, p2A and P1B, and then the transceiver 13 can broadcast the access class barring parameters p1A, p2A and p1B.
The transceiver 93 of the communication terminal 9B may be configured to receive the access class barring parameters p1A, p2A and p1B broadcasted by the base station 1A and the base station 1B, and the processor 91 of the communication terminal 9B may be configured to determine a random access channel candidate from the random access channels RACH1A, RACH2A and RACH1B according to the access class barring parameters p1A, p2A and p1B, and perform a random access procedure on the random access channel candidate. The way in which the communication terminal 9B determines the random access channel candidate and performs the random access procedure herein may be the same as the way in which the communication terminal 9A determines the random access channel candidate and performs the random access procedure in the above description (reference may be made to the above description of
After performing the random access procedure, the communication terminal 9B may also perform a data transmission procedure on a data transmission channel, and the data transmission channel and the random access channel candidate may be created on the same component carrier or created on different component carriers. The way in which the communication terminal 9B performs the data transmission procedure herein may be the same as the way in which the communication terminal 9A performs the data transmission procedure in the above description (reference may be made to the above description of
Referring to
In some embodiments, the processor 11 of at least one of the base station 1A, the base station 1C and the base station 1D may determine access class barring parameters p1A, p1C and p1B according to three channel states 20 of the aforesaid three random access channels (i.e., RACH1A, RACH1C and RACH1B) based on the load balance of the three random access channels. The way in which the access class barring parameters p1A, p1C and p1B are determined herein may be the same as the way in which the N access class barring parameters are determined in the above description (reference may be made to the above description of
In some embodiments, the transceiver 13 of the base station 1A may transmit the channel state 20 of the random access channel RACH1A to the core network apparatus 51 via the backhaul link BL, the transceiver 13 of the base station 1C may transmit the channel state 20 of the random access channel RACH1C to the core network apparatus 51 via the backhaul link BL, and the transceiver 13 of the base station 1D may also transmit the channel state 20 of the random access channel RACH1D to the core network apparatus 51 via the backhaul link BL. The core network apparatus 51 may calculate default values 40 of the access class barring parameters p1A, p1C and p1D respectively according to the channel states 20 of the random access channels RACH1A, RACH1C and RACH1D based on the load balance of the random access channels RACH1A, RACH1C and RACH1D.
The core network apparatus 51 may only transmit the default value 40 of the access class barring parameters p1A to the base station 1A, only transmit the default value 40 of the access class barring parameter p1C to the base station 1C, and only transmit the default value 40 of the access class barring parameter p1B to the base station 1D. In this way, the processor 11 of the base station 1A can directly determine the access class barring parameter p1A according to the default value 40 of the access class barring parameters p1A, and then the transceiver 13 of the base station 1A can broadcast the access class barring parameter p1A and one corresponding access class barring period. Similarly, the base station 1C can determine and broadcast the access class barring parameter p1C and one corresponding access class barring period, and the base station 1D can determine and broadcast the access class barring parameter p1D and one corresponding access class barring period.
The core network apparatus 51 may also together transmit the default values 40 of the three access class barring parameters p1A, p1C and p1D to the base station 1A, the base station 1C and the base station 1D. In this way, the processor 11 of at least one of the base station 1A, the base station 1C and the base station 1D can directly determine the access class barring parameters p1A, p1C and p1B according to the default values 40 of the three access class barring parameters p1A, p1C and p1D, and then the transceiver 13 can broadcast the access class barring parameters p1A, p1C and p1D.
The transceiver 93 of the communication terminal 9C may be configured to receive the access class barring parameters p1A, p1C and p1D broadcasted by the base station 1A, the base station 1C and the base station 1D, and the processor 91 of the communication terminal 9C may be configured to determine a random access channel candidate from the random access channels RACH1A, RACH1C and RACH1D according to the access class barring parameters p1A, p1C and p1B, and perform a random access procedure on the random access channel candidate. The way in which the communication terminal 9C determines the random access channel candidate and performs the random access procedure herein may be the same as the way in which the communication terminal 9A determines the random access channel candidate and performs the random access procedure in the above description (reference may be made to the above description of
After performing the random access procedure, the communication terminal 9C may also perform a data transmission procedure on a data transmission channel, and the data transmission channel and the random access channel candidate may be created on the same component carrier or created on different component carriers. The way in which the communication terminal 9C performs the data transmission procedure herein may be the same as the way in which the communication terminal 9A performs the data transmission procedure in the above description (reference may be made to the above description of
In some embodiments, the step of determining the at least one access class barring parameter further comprises: determining by the base station the at least one access class barring parameter according to channel states of the random access channels.
In some embodiments, the step of determining the at least one access class barring parameter may further comprise: determining by the base station the at least one access class barring parameter according to channel states of the random access channels. Additionally, the component carriers may be provided by the base station.
In some embodiments, the step of determining the at least one access class barring parameter may further comprise: determining by the base station the at least one access class barring parameter according to channel states of the random access channels. Additionally, the component carriers may be provided by the base station and at least one other base station, and the access class barring method 7 may further comprise the following step of: communicating by the base station the channel states with the at least one other base station.
In some embodiments, the step of determining the at least one access class barring parameter further comprises: receiving by the base station a default value of the at least one access class barring parameter from a core network apparatus, and determining the at least one access class barring parameter according to the default value.
In some embodiments, the step of determining the at least one access class barring parameter further comprises: receiving by the base station a default value of the at least one access class barring parameter from a core network apparatus, and determining the at least one access class barring parameter according to the default value. Additionally, the component carriers may be provided by the base station.
In some embodiments, the step of determining the at least one access class barring parameter further comprises: receiving by the base station a default value of the at least one access class barring parameter from a core network apparatus, and determining the at least one access class barring parameter according to the default value. Additionally, the component carriers may be provided by the base station and at least one other base station.
The access class barring method 7 may be applied to the base stations 1, 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D, and accomplish the aforesaid various operations of the base stations 1, 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D. It shall be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the above descriptions of the base stations 1, 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D regarding how the access class barring method 7 accomplishes the corresponding steps of these operations, and thus will not be further described herein.
In some embodiments, the processor may further determine a probability value for each of the random access channels and determine the random access channel candidate according to the probability values, and wherein if a greater access class barring parameter represents a lower access barring extent, then the probability value determined by the processor for the random access channel corresponding to the greater access class barring parameter is greater.
In some embodiments, the processor may further determine a probability value for each of the random access channels and determine the random access channel candidate according to the probability values, and wherein if a greater access class barring parameter represents a lower access barring extent, then the probability value determined by the processor for the random access channel corresponding to the greater access class barring parameter is greater. Additionally, a sum of the probability values may be less than or equal to 1, and each of the probability values may be less than 1.
In some embodiments, the processor may further perform a data transmission procedure on a data transmission channel after performing the random access procedure, and the data transmission channel is created on a component carrier different from that of the random access channel candidate
In some embodiments, the processor may further perform a data transmission procedure on a data transmission channel after performing the random access procedure, and the data transmission channel is created on the same component carrier as that of the random access channel candidate.
In some embodiments, the random access procedure may be a random access procedure based on an access class barring procedure.
The random access method 8 may be applied to the communication terminals 9, 9A, 9B and 9C, and accomplish the aforesaid various operations of the communication terminals 9, 9A, 9B and 9C. It shall be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the above descriptions of the communication terminals 9, 9A, 9B and 9C regarding how the random access method 8 accomplishes the corresponding steps of these operations, and thus will not be further described herein.
According to the above descriptions, unlike each base station of the conventional access class barring mechanism that can only broadcast one access class barring parameter corresponding to the random access channel provided by itself, the base station and the access class barring method thereof according to the present invention can determine and broadcast at least one (i.e., one or more) access class barring parameter, and each of the at least one access class barring parameter is determined based on load balance of a plurality of random access channels. On the other hand, unlike each communication terminal of the conventional access class barring mechanism that can only perform a random access procedure on a random access channel provided by a single base station that is serving the communication terminal, the communication terminal and the random accessing method thereof according to the present invention can determine a random access channel candidate from a plurality of random access channels according to a plurality of access class barring parameters broadcasted by at least one base station (i.e., one or more base stations), and then perform a random access procedure on the random access channel candidate. Because the present invention can handle traffic congestions of a plurality of random access channels as a whole, the problem that the conventional access class barring mechanism can only handle traffic congestions of a single random access channel provided by an individual base station can be effectively solved.
The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 105137454 | Nov 2016 | TW | national |
