Dynamic configuration of base station settings for controlling handover to preferred coverage frequency

1. A computing system for dynamically configuring a particular base station to broadcast at least one setting for controlling handover to a preferred coverage frequency on which the particular base station does not operate, wherein the at least one setting includes a start-scanning threshold that defines downlink receive signal strength, from the particular base station, at which a device served by the particular base station will begin inter-frequency scanning, the computing system comprising:

a processing unit;

data storage; and

program instructions stored in the data storage and executable by the processing unit to determine a configuration state of the network, to select, based on the determined configuration state, a signal strength value for the particular base station to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold, and to configure the particular base station to broadcast the selected signal strength value as the start-scanning threshold,

wherein determining the configuration state of the network comprises making a determination, based on network configuration data, of which of at least the following three mutually exclusive configurations exists in the network:

(A) there is at least one other base station that is located within a predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency,

(B) there is no other base station that is located within the predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency, but there is at least one other base station that is a handover neighbor of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency, and

(C) there is no other base station that is located within the predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency, and there no other base station that is a handover neighbor of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency,

wherein selecting the signal strength value for the particular base station to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold comprises (i) if the determination is that configuration A exists in the network, then selecting as the start-scanning threshold a first signal strength value, (ii) if the determination is that configuration B exists in the network, then selecting as the start-scanning threshold a second signal strength value lower than the first signal strength value, and (iii) if the determination is that configuration C exists in the network, then selecting as the start-scanning threshold a third signal strength value lower than the second signal strength value.

2. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the computing system is part of the particular base station, and wherein configuring the particular base station to broadcast the selected signal strength value as the start-scanning threshold comprises setting the selected signal strength value as the start-scanning threshold in a system information message that the particular base station periodically broadcasts.

3. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the computing system is remote from the particular base station but is in network communication with the particular base station, and wherein configuring the particular base station to broadcast the selected signal strength value as the start-scanning threshold comprises transmitting from the computing system to the particular base station a control signal that directs the particular base station to include the selected signal strength value as the start-scanning threshold in a system information message that the particular base station periodically broadcasts.

4. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the preferred coverage frequency is a particular frequency band.

5. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein making the determination comprises determining from the network configuration data whether there is at least one other base station that is located within the predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency.

6. The computing system of claim 5 , wherein the network configuration data comprises data that specifies locations of base stations and coverage frequencies of base stations.

7. The computing system of claim 5 , wherein a base station co-located with the particular base station is within the predefined threshold distance of the particular base station.

8. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein making the determination comprises determining from network configuration data whether there is at least one other base station that is a handover neighbor of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency.

9. The computing system of claim 8 ,

wherein the network configuration data comprises a neighbor list that specifies handover neighbors of the particular base station and that specifies, for each handover neighbor, a coverage frequency on which the handover neighbor operates, and

wherein determining from the network configuration data whether there is at least one other base station that is a handover neighbor of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency comprises referring to the neighbor list to determine whether there is at least one other base station that is a handover neighbor of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency.

10. The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the neighbor list is a neighbor list for the particular base station.

11. In a wireless communication network, a method of dynamically configuring a particular base station to broadcast at least one setting for controlling handover to a preferred coverage frequency on which the particular base station does not operate, wherein the at least one setting includes a start-scanning threshold that defines downlink receive signal strength, from the particular base station, at which a device served by the particular base station will begin inter-frequency scanning, the method comprising:

making a determination, by a computing system, based on an evaluation of network configuration data, of which one of the following three configurations exists in the network:

(A) there is at least one other base station that is located within a predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency,

(B) there is no other base station that is located within the predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency, but there is at least one other base station that is a handover neighbor of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency, and

(C) there is no other base station that is located within the predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency, and there no other base station that is a handover neighbor of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency; and

if the determination is that configuration A exists in the network, then responsively configuring the particular base station, by the computing system, to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold a first signal strength value;

if the determination is that configuration B exists in the network, then responsively configuring the particular base station, by the computing system, to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold a second signal strength value lower than the first signal strength value; and

if the determination is that configuration C exists in the network, then responsively configuring the particular base station, by the computing system, to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold a third signal strength value lower than the second signal strength value.

12. A method of dynamically configuring a particular base station to broadcast at least one setting for controlling handover to a preferred coverage frequency on which the particular base station does not operate, wherein the at least one setting includes a start-scanning threshold that defines downlink receive signal strength, from the particular base station, at which a device served by the particular base station will begin inter-frequency scanning, the method comprising:

making a first determination of whether there is at least one other base station that is located within a predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency;

if the first determination is positive, then responsively configuring the particular base station to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold a first signal strength value; and

if the first determination is negative, then making a second determination of whether there is at least one other base station that is a handover neighbor of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency and (i) if the second determination is positive, then responsively configuring the particular base station to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold a second signal strength value that is lower than the first signal-strength value, and (ii) if the second determination is negative, then responsively configuring the particular base station to broadcast as the start-scanning threshold a third signal strength value that is lower than the second signal-strength value,

wherein making the second determination comprises consulting neighbor list data that specifies neighbor relationships between base stations and that specifies operating coverage frequencies of base stations, and determining from the neighbor list data whether there is at least one other base station that neighbors the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the preferred coverage frequency is a particular frequency band.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein making the first determination of whether there is a second base station that is within the predefined threshold distance of the particular base station and that operates on the preferred coverage frequency comprises:

consulting location-data to determine locations of one or more other base stations, and

determining whether a location of any of the one or more other base stations is within the predefined threshold distance of a location of the particular base station.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein a base station co-located with the particular base station is considered to be located within the predefined threshold distance of the particular base station.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the neighbor list data comprises a neighbor list of the particular base station.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the method is carried out in response to detecting a change to the neighbor list data.

18. The method of claim 12 , carried out by a computing device in network communication with the particular base station,

wherein configuring the particular base station to broadcast a signal strength value as the start-scanning threshold comprises transmitting from the computing device to the particular base station a control signal that directs the particular base station to include the signal strength value as the start-scanning threshold in system information message broadcast periodically by the particular base station.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one handover setting further includes a first handover threshold that defines a receive signal strength, from the particular base station, at which the device served by the particular base station will request handover to a sufficiently strong target base station, and wherein the method further comprises:

if the first determination is positive, then responsively configuring the particular base station to broadcast as the first handover threshold a fourth signal strength value; and

if the first determination is negative and the second determination is positive, then responsively configuring the particular base station to broadcast as the first handover threshold a fifth signal strength value that is lower than the fourth signal-strength value, and

if the first determination is negative and the second determination is negative, then responsively configuring the particular base station to broadcast as the first handover threshold a sixth signal strength value that is lower than the fifth signal-strength value.