Granted Patent B2

US 12,647,338 · App. 18/018,720 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

Inventors: Luca Lunardi (Genoa, IT); Pablo Soldati (Solna, SE); Angelo Centonza (Torrenueva Costa, ES)

Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

H04L43/0817H04W56/0015

Abstract

Claims (54)

1 . A method of operating a first network node operating in a communications network that includes a second network node, the method comprising:

receiving a message from the second network node, the message including information associated with an event detected by a neighbor network node that is different than the first network node, the event being related to channel measurements associated with the neighbor network node operating in the communications network, wherein the event is related to beam measurements collected by a communication device operating in the communications network, and wherein the beam measurements collected by the communication device are measurements on at least one of: synchronization signal block (SSB) beams; channel status indicator reference signal (CSI-RS) beams; or a tracking reference signal; and

determining a network issue associated with the communications network based on the information, wherein the message is a first message, wherein the information is first information, wherein determining the network issue further comprises:

receiving beam measurements from the communication device connected to the communications network via the first network node; and

determining the network issue based on the first information and the beam measurements from the communication device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network issue comprises a capacity and coverage optimization (CCO) issue associated with the first network node and/or the neighbor network node.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the neighbor network node is the second network node, and

wherein the information comprises an indication of a type of the event detected by the second network node.

4 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the communication device is within a coverage area of the first network node.

5 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the communication device is outside of a coverage area of the first network node.

6 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the neighbor network node is a first neighbor network node, and

wherein determining the network issue further comprises:

receiving a second message from a fourth network node, the second message including second information associated with events related to channel measurements that were determined by a second neighbor network node; and

determining the network issue based on the first information and the second information.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is a measurement transfer update message,

the method further comprising:

transmitting a measurement transfer request message to the second network node, the measurement transfer request message requesting the second network node to monitor events and to report the information associated with the events to the first network node; and

receiving a measurement transfer response message from the second network node, the measurement transfer response message indicating that the second network node is configured to monitor the events and report the information associated with the events to the first network node.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the network issue comprises detecting at least one of coverage overlaps, coverage holes, capacity issues, and interference between the first network node and the second network node.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the event indicates that a serving channel status indicator-reference signal (CSI-RS) is worse than a first threshold value and that a neighbor synchronization signal block (SSB) is better than a second threshold value, and

wherein determining the network issue comprises determining that there is a coverage hole associated with CSI-RSs and an overlap between SSB signals between neighboring cells based on the event.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the event indicates that a serving synchronization signal block (SSB) is worse than a first threshold value and that a serving channel status indicator-reference signal (CSI-RS) is an amount better than the serving SSB, and

wherein determining the network issue comprises determining that an interference issue is caused by the event.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the event is a first event, and

wherein determining the network issue further comprises:

determining a second event associated with the first network node, the second event indicating that a serving CSI-RS is worse than a third threshold value and that a serving SSB is better than a fourth threshold value; and

determining that there is a coverage imbalance between SSB and CSI-RS of the first network node and the second network node based on the first event and the second event.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the event is a first event and indicates that a neighbor synchronization signal block (SSB) is an amount better than a serving channel status indicator-reference signal (CSI-RS) and

wherein determining the network issue further comprises:

determining a second event associated with the first network node, the second event indicating that a serving CSI-RS is worse than a third threshold value and that a serving SSB is better than a fourth threshold value; and

determining that there is a coverage imbalance between SSB and CSI-RS of the first network node and the second network node based on the first event and the second event.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the event is a first event and indicates that a neighbor serving synchronization signal block (SSB) of the second network node is a first amount better than a serving channel status indicator-reference signal (CSI-RS) of the second network node and that the neighbor SSB is a second amount better than a serving SSB of the second network node, and

wherein determining the network issue comprises:

determining a second event associated with the first network node, the second event indicating that CSI-RS signals of the first network node are lower than its SSB signals; and

determining that there is mismatch in SSB and CSI-RS coverage in both neighboring cells based on the first event and the second event.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the event indicates that a serving channel status indicator-reference signal (CSI-RS) is an amount better than a neighbor synchronization signal block (SSB) and

wherein determining the network issue comprises determining that data channel coverage for the communication device is stretching into an SSB area coverage of the first network node.

15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to determining the network issue, performing an action based on the network issue; and

transmitting a notification of the action to the second network node.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the communications network is a new radio (NR) network,

wherein the first network node is a first radio access network (RAN) node, and

wherein the second network node is a second RAN node.

17 . A first network node operating in a communications network that includes a second network node, the first network node comprising:

processing circuitry; and

memory coupled with the processing circuitry, wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry causes the first network node to perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving a message from the second network node, the message including information associated with an event detected by a neighbor network node that is different than the first network node, the event being related to channel measurements associated with the neighbor network node operating in the communications network, wherein the event is related to beam measurements collected by a communication device operating in the communications network, and wherein the beam measurements collected by the communication device are measurements on at least one of: synchronization signal block (SSB) beams; channel status indicator reference signal (CSI-RS) beams; or a tracking reference signal; and

determining a network issue associated with the communications network based on the information, wherein the message is a first message, wherein the information is first information, wherein determining the network issue further comprises:

receiving beam measurements from the communication device connected to the communications network via the first network node; and

determining the network issue based on the first information and the beam measurements from the communication device.

18 . The first network node of claim 17 , wherein the network issue comprises a capacity and coverage optimization (CCO) issue associated with the first network node and/or the neighbor network node.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (35)