Load balancing in a wireless network based on a load of a relay node
Exemplary embodiments described herein include systems, methods, and processing nodes for performing load balancing in a wireless network based on a load of a relay node communicatively coupled to a donor access node. Exemplary methods described herein include determining that a traffic load on a relay node meets a threshold, wherein the relay node is configured to relay traffic between an access node and a first one or more wireless devices attached to the relay node, and attempting to offload a second one or more wireless devices attached to the access node and located at a cell edge of the access node.
1. A method for performing load balancing in a wireless network, the method comprising:
determining that a traffic load on a relay node meets a threshold, wherein the relay node is configured to relay traffic between an access node and a first one or more wireless devices attached to the relay node; and
attempting to offload a second one or more wireless devices attached to the access node and located at a cell edge of the access node.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining the traffic load from the relay node.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the traffic load comprises a resource requirement of each of the first one or more wireless devices.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the resource requirement is based on a guaranteed bit rate (GBR) requirement of at least one of the one or more wireless devices.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the traffic load based on one or more bearers between the access node and the relay node.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising comparing the traffic load with the threshold.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attempting to offload comprises initiating a handover of the second one or more wireless devices to one or more neighboring access nodes.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising determining that the second one or more wireless devices are within range of the one or more neighboring access nodes.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the attempting to offload the second one or more wireless devices failed; and
instructing the relay node to offload at least one of the first one or more wireless devices.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the at least one of the first one or more wireless devices has a requirement for a guaranteed bit rate (GBR).
11. A system for performing load balancing in a wireless network, the system comprising:
a processing node; and
a processor communicably coupled to the processing node, the processor for enabling the processing node to perform operations comprising:
monitoring a load of a relay node attached to an access node, wherein the load is based on a resource requirement of wireless devices attached to the relay node;
determining that the load meets a threshold;
identifying a number of wireless devices attached to the access node and adjacent a cell edge of the access node; and
initiating a handover of one or more of the number of wireless devices.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the resource requirement comprises a guaranteed bit rate (GBR) requirement of the wireless devices attached to the relay node.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining a variance of the GBR requirement from the threshold; and
initiating the handover of the one or more wireless devices based on the variance.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining that the variance is high; and
initiating the handover of an increased number of wireless devices.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining that the variance is low; and
initiating the handover of a reduced number of wireless devices.
16. A processing node for performing load balancing in a wireless network, the processing node comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform operations comprising:
obtaining a load of a relay node attached to an access node; and
offloading wireless devices attached to the access node based on the load.
17. The processing node of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise identifying the wireless devices to be offloaded based on the wireless devices being located at a cell edge of the access node.
18. The processing node of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise determining that none of the wireless devices attached to the access node are located at the cell edge.
19. The processing node of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise identifying one or more wireless devices attached to the relay node and requesting a guaranteed bit rate.
20. The processing node of claim 19 , further comprising offloading the one or more wireless devices attached to the relay node.