TEMPORARY ACTIVATION OF INTER-RAT FEATURES IN BASE STATIONS
Systems and methods are disclosed for temporarily activating inter-RAT features in neighboring base stations when a base station becomes out of service. A system in one embodiment receives a notification message from a base station that the base station becomes out of service. The system then identifies other base stations that are neighbors of the out-of-service base station, and generates instructions to activate inter-RAT features in the neighboring base stations while the base station is out of service. The system then transmits the instructions to the neighboring base stations to activate the inter-RAT features. When the base station becomes operational again, the system deactivates the inter-RAT features in the neighboring base stations.
1 . A system comprising:
an interface system operable to receive a notification message from a base station of a mobile network that the base station is out of service; and
a control system operable to identify other base stations that are neighbors of the base station which is out of service, and to generate instructions to activate inter-Radio Access Technology (inter-RAT) features in the neighboring base stations while the base station is out of service;
the interface system is further operable to transmit the instructions to the neighboring base stations to activate the inter-RAT features.
2 . The system of claim 1 wherein:
the control system is further operable to generate instructions to update an intra-network handover blacklist for mobile devices by adding cell identifiers of the base station which is out of service.
3 . The system of claim 1 wherein:
the mobile network comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network; and
the instructions include commands to broadcast a System Information Message to the mobile devices that is of a System Information Block type 6 (SIB6) set to redirect wireless service to a UMTS network.
4 . The system of claim 1 wherein:
the mobile network comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network; and
the instructions include commands to broadcast a System Information Message to the mobile devices that is of a System Information Block type 7 (SIB7) set to redirect wireless service to a GSM network.
5 . The system of claim 1 wherein:
the mobile network comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network; and
the instructions include commands to broadcast a System Information Message to the mobile devices that is of a System Information Block type 8 (SIB8) set to redirect wireless service to a CDMA network.
6 . The system of claim 1 wherein:
the interface system is further operable to receive another notification message from the base station indicating that the base station is operational;
the control system is further operable to generate instructions to deactivate the inter-RAT features in the neighboring base stations; and
the interface system is further operable to transmit the instructions to the neighboring base stations to deactivate the inter-RAT features.
7 . The system of claim 6 wherein:
the control system is further operable to generate instructions to update an intra-network handover blacklist for mobile devices by removing cell identifiers of the base station which is now operational.
8 . The system of claim 1 wherein:
the control system is further operable to record a duration of time in which the inter-RAT features are activated in the neighboring base stations.
9 . The system of claim 1 wherein:
the control system is further operable to record the number of neighboring base stations in which the inter-RAT features are activated.
10 . A method comprising:
receiving a notification message from a base station of a mobile network that the base station is out of service;
identifying other base stations that are neighbors of the base station which is out of service;
generating instructions to activate inter-Radio Access Technology (inter-RAT) features in the neighboring base stations while the base station is out of service; and
transmitting the instructions to the neighboring base stations to activate the inter-RAT features.
11 . The method of claim 10 further comprising:
generating instructions to update an intra-network handover blacklist for mobile devices by adding cell identifiers of the base station which is out of service.
12 . The method of claim 10 wherein:
the mobile network comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network; and
the instructions include commands to broadcast a System Information Message to the mobile devices that is of a System Information Block type 6 (SIB6) set to redirect wireless service to a UMTS network.
13 . The method of claim 10 wherein:
the mobile network comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network; and
the instructions include commands to broadcast a System Information Message to the mobile devices that is of a System Information Block type 7 (SIB7) set to redirect wireless service to a GSM network.
14 . The method of claim 10 wherein:
the mobile network comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network; and
the instructions include commands to broadcast a System Information Message to the mobile devices that is of a System Information Block type 8 (SIB8) set to redirect wireless service to a CDMA network.
15 . The method of claim 10 further comprising:
receiving another notification message from the base station indicating that the base station is operational;
generating instructions to deactivate the inter-RAT features in the neighboring base stations; and
transmitting the instructions to the neighboring base stations to deactivate the inter-RAT features.
16 . The method of claim 15 further comprising:
generating instructions to update an intra-network handover blacklist for mobile devices by removing cell identifiers of the base station which is now operational.
17 . The method of claim 10 further comprising:
recording a duration of time in which the inter-RAT features are activated in the neighboring base stations.
18 . The method of claim 10 further comprising:
recording the number of neighboring base stations in which the inter-RAT features are activated.
19 . A system comprising:
a network management system for a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network;
the network management system operable to receive a notification message from an enhanced NodeB (eNodeB) that the eNodeB has implemented cell-barring;
the network management system is further operable to identify other eNodeBs that are neighbors of the barred eNodeB, to generate instructions to activate inter-Radio Access Technology (inter-RAT) features temporarily in the neighboring eNodeBs while the barred eNodeB is out of service, and to transmit the instructions to the neighboring eNodeBs to activate the inter-RAT features.
20 . The system of claim 19 wherein:
the network management system is further operable to generate instructions to update an intra-LTE handover blacklist for mobile devices by adding cell identifiers of the barred eNodeB to the blacklist.