System and method of detecting a sleeping cell and remedying detected conditions in a telecommunication network

1. A method, in a telecommunication network, of detecting and correcting a sleeping cell, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving by a Radio Network Controller (RNC) within the telecommunication network, a message from a User Equipment (UE) identifying a cell that is transmitting on a broadcast channel, but lacks alarms and is unable to set up traffic;

the RNC confirming that the cell is a sleeping cell; and

upon confirming that the cell is a sleeping cell, the RNC performing the steps of:

sending an alarm to alert the network of the sleeping cell; and

attempting to awaken the sleeping cell by:

automatically locking and unlocking the sleeping cell and thereafter monitoring the cell's performance;

if the cell reappears as a sleeping cell within a first predetermined time period, restarting a radio base station in the cell with a saved configuration and thereafter monitoring the cell's performance; and

if the cell again reappears as a sleeping cell within a second predetermined time period, locking the cell and stopping the broadcast channel of the cell.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of the RNC receiving the message occurs when the UE does not detect any response from the radio base station in response to at least one radio resource control (RRC) request attempt transmitted to the radio base station by the UE, wherein the cell is considered a total sleeping cell.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the step of the RNC receiving the message occurs when the UE does not detect any response from the radio base station in response to a specified number of radio resource control (RRC) request attempts, and the receiving step further comprises:

receiving the number of RRC request attempts from the UE in an Information Element (IE) in an RRC-Connection-Setup-Complete message.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the step of confirming that the cell is a sleeping cell includes utilizing a first counter to count the number of RRC-Connection-Request attempts and a second counter to count a number of RRC-Connection-Request successes.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the step of confirming that the cell is a sleeping cell also includes determining by the RNC that the cell is a partially sleeping cell if the first counter counts over a specified number of RRC-Connection-Request attempts and the second counter does not count any successes.

6. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the specified number of RRC-Connection-Request attempts is fifteen.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of confirming that the cell is a sleeping cell includes determining whether the sleeping cell is a partially sleeping cell or a total sleeping cell.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the RNC determines that the sleeping cell is a partially sleeping cell when a Key Performance Indicator degradation alarm does not exist and the cell is unlocked and enabled.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the RNC determines that the sleeping cell is a totally sleeping cell by:

confirming that a specified number of UEs have flagged the sleeping cell as a sleeping cell in a specified time period;

confirming that no self-healing action has been performed on the sleeping cell;

confirming that no Key Performance Indicator degradation alarm exists for the cell; and

confirming that the cell is unlocked and enabled.

10. An apparatus in a Radio Network Controller (RNC) for detecting and correcting a sleeping cell in a telecommunication network, the apparatus comprising:

means for connecting to a user equipment (UE) operating in the telecommunication network, the connecting means for receiving information from the UE of a cell that is transmitting on a broadcast channel, but lacks alarms and is unable to set up traffic;

wherein the apparatus is configured to:

confirm that the cell is a sleeping cell; and

upon confirming that the cell is a sleeping cell, send an alarm to alert the network of the sleeping cell and attempt to awaken the sleeping cell;

wherein the apparatus attempts to awaken the sleeping cell by:

automatically locking and unlocking the sleeping cell and thereafter monitoring the cell's performance;

if the cell reappears as a sleeping cell within a first predetermined time period, restarting a radio base station in the cell with a saved configuration and thereafter monitoring the cell's performance; and

if the cell again reappears as a sleeping cell within a second predetermined time period, locking the cell and stopping the broadcast channel of the cell.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the connecting means is adapted to receive a message from the UE confirming that the cell does not respond to at least a specified number of radio resource control (RRC) request attempts.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the

specified number of RRC request attempts is received in an Information Element (IE) in and RRC-Connection-Setup-Complete message.

13. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is configured to confirm that the cell is a sleeping cell by utilizing a first counter to count a number of RRC-Connection Request attempts, and a second counter to count a number of RRC-Connection-Request successes.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the

apparatus is configured to determine that the cell is a partially sleeping cell when the first counter counts more than a specified number of RRC-Connection-Request attempts and the second counter does not count any successes.

15. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is configured to determine whether the sleeping cell is a partially sleeping cell or a total sleeping cell.