IP Library Granted Patent US 12713358
Granted Patent B2
US 12713358 · App. 18/591,027 · Granted Aug 18, 2026

Downlink power control method and apparatus

Inventors: Man Wang (Shanghai, CN); Jian Zhang (Shenzhen, CN)
Assignee: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
H04W52/143H04W52/245H04W52/367H04W56/0045
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12713358
App. No.
18/591,027
Granted
Aug 18, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A downlink power control method and an apparatus. A network management node determines a low energy consumption area, where the low energy consumption area is an area that is within signal coverage of a network node and whose communication distance from the network node is greater than a first preset distance. The network management node generates a power control policy, where the power control policy is used to control the network node to reduce energy consumption for the low energy consumption area, and the network node executes the power control policy to save energy. Energy saving is performed based on loads of some areas in a cell, to maximize an energy efficiency gain.

Claims (53)

1 . A downlink power control method, applied to a network management node, wherein the method comprises:

determining a low energy consumption area, wherein the low energy consumption area is an area that is within signal coverage of a network node and whose communication distance from the network node is greater than a first preset distance;

generating a power control policy, wherein the power control policy is usable to control the network node to reduce energy consumption for the low energy consumption area; and

sending the power control policy to the network node.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein before the determining a low energy consumption area, the method further comprises:

obtaining information related to first communication between the network node and at least one terminal device, wherein the at least one terminal device is a terminal device that receives a downlink signal of the network node;

determining a communication distance between the network node and the at least one terminal device based on the information related to the communication between the network node and the at least one terminal device; and

determining the first preset distance based on the communication distance between the network node and the at least one terminal device.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the obtaining the information related to the first communication includes obtaining a timing advance TA of a terminal device that communicates with the network node, first positioning information of the terminal device, or terminal measurement information for communication between the terminal device and the network node; and

the terminal measurement information includes: reference signal received power RSRP, reference signal received quality RSRQ, a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio SINR, and/or second positioning information of the terminal device.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the determining a communication distance between the network node and the at least one terminal device based on the information related to the communication between the network node and the at least one terminal device includes:

determining a relative distance between the network node and the terminal device based on the TA of the terminal device that communicates with the network node, and determining the communication distance between the network node and the terminal device based on the relative distance; or

determining communication signal strength between the network node and the terminal device based on signal strength-related information in the terminal measurement information for communication between the terminal device and the network node, and determining the communication distance between the network node and the terminal device based on the communication signal strength, wherein the signal strength-related information includes the RSRP, the RSRQ, and/or the SINR; or

determining a location of the terminal device based on positioning information of the terminal device, and determining the communication distance between the terminal device and the network node based on the location of the terminal device, wherein the positioning information includes the first positioning information or the second positioning information.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein before the generating a power control policy, the method further comprises:

obtaining information related to communication between the network node and at least one terminal device; and

determining, based on the information related to the communication, that a quantity of terminal devices in the low energy consumption area is less than a first preset quantity, or determining, based on the information related to the communication, that traffic in the low energy consumption area is less than first preset traffic.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the obtaining the information related to the communication includes obtaining:

first positioning information of the at least one terminal device; or

terminal measurement information for communication between the at least one terminal device and the network node; or

the information related to the communication further includes throughput information of the at least one terminal device.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the determining, based on the information related to the communication, that a quantity of terminal devices in the low energy consumption area is less than a first preset quantity includes:

determining a location of the at least one terminal device based on the first positioning information of the at least one terminal device or the terminal measurement information for communication between the at least one terminal device and the network node, and determining, based on the location of the at least one terminal device, whether the quantity of terminal devices in the low energy consumption area is less than the first preset quantity; and

the determining, based on the information related to the communication between the network node and the at least one terminal device, that traffic in the low energy consumption area is less than first preset traffic includes:

determining the location of the at least one terminal device based on the first positioning information of the at least one terminal device or the terminal measurement information for communication between the at least one terminal device and the network node; and

determining, based on a throughput of the at least one terminal device, whether traffic of the terminal device in the low energy consumption area is less than the first preset traffic.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining the low energy consumption area includes determining a low energy consumption area in a target time period, and that the power control policy is used to control the network node to reduce energy consumption for the low energy consumption area includes: the power control policy is used to control the network node to reduce energy consumption for the low energy consumption area in the target time period.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the generating the power control policy includes: down-regulating transmit power of the network node, or performing communication link rollback processing on the network node.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

generating first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates to hand over a first terminal device to an auxiliary network node, and the first terminal device is a terminal device in the low energy consumption area; and

sending the first indication information to the network node.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

generating indication information, wherein the indication information indicates the network node to increase transmit power for a first terminal device, and the first terminal device is a terminal device in the low energy consumption area; and

sending the indication information to the network node.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining the low energy consumption area is an area that is within the signal coverage of the network node includes determining signal coverage of a cell corresponding to the network node.

13 . A downlink power control method, applied to a network node, wherein the method comprises:

receiving a power control policy, wherein the power control policy is usable to control the network node to reduce energy consumption for a low energy consumption area, and the low energy consumption area is an area that is within signal coverage of the network node and whose communication distance from the network node is greater than a first preset distance; and

executing the power control policy.

14 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein before the receiving a power control policy, the method further comprises: sending information related to first communication between the network node and at least one terminal device to a network management node, wherein the at least one terminal device is a terminal device that receives a downlink signal of the network node, and the information related to the first communication is used by the network management node to determine the first preset distance.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the sending the information related to the first communication includes sending a timing advance TA of a terminal device that communicates with the network node, first positioning information of the terminal device, or terminal measurement information for communication between the terminal device and the network node;

wherein the terminal measurement information includes: reference signal received power RSRP, reference signal received quality RSRQ, a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio SINR, and/or second positioning information of the terminal device.

16 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein before the receiving a power control policy, the method further comprises: sending information related to communication between the network node and at least one terminal device to a network management node, wherein the information related to the communication is used by the network management node to determine that a quantity of terminal devices in the low energy consumption area is less than a first preset quantity, or determine that traffic in the low energy consumption area is less than first preset traffic.

17 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates to hand over a first terminal device to an auxiliary network node; and

performing an operation indicated by the first indication information.

18 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving indication information, wherein the indication information indicates the network node to increase transmit power for a first terminal device; and

performing an operation indicated by the indication information.

19 . A communication apparatus, comprising:

a processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute a stored computer program to perform operations for:

determining a low energy consumption area, wherein the low energy consumption area is an area that is within signal coverage of a network node and whose communication distance from the network node is greater than a first preset distance;

generating a power control policy, wherein the power control policy is usable to control the network node to reduce energy consumption for the low energy consumption area; and

sending the power control policy to the network node.