Method and apparatus for detecting a sleeping cell

1. A method for detecting a sleeping cell, comprising:

monitoring an amount of traffic-related activities in a candidate cell in an observation period, the traffic-related activities comprising one or more activities that have a correlation with traffic in the candidate cell;

calculating an accumulated amount based on the monitored amount of traffic-related activities, wherein the accumulated amount indicates an accumulation of one or more amounts of traffic-related activities monitored in an accumulation period, the accumulation period comprising at least one observation period;

determining whether the accumulated amount exceeds a first threshold;

in response to determining that the accumulated amount exceeds the first threshold, checking whether there is traffic in the candidate cell in the accumulation period;

determining the candidate cell as a sleeping cell if there is no traffic; and

resetting the accumulated amount if there is traffic.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

adapting the first threshold based on a historical amount of traffic-related activities in the candidate cell.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein adapting the first threshold based on the historical amount of traffic-related activities in the candidate cell comprises:

obtaining a candidate first threshold based on statistical information of the historical amount of traffic-related activities; and

updating the first threshold with a maximum of an initial first threshold and the candidate first threshold, wherein the initial first threshold is fixed for the candidate cell.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the accumulated amount based on the monitored amount of traffic-related activities comprises:

determining whether the amount of traffic-related activities monitored in the observation period exceeds a second threshold; and

in response to determining that the amount of traffic-related activities monitored in the observation period exceeds the second threshold, increasing the accumulated amount by the amount of traffic-related activities.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein calculating the accumulated amount based on the monitored amount of traffic-related activities comprises:

adapting the second threshold based on a historical amount of traffic-related activities in the candidate cell.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein adapting the second threshold based on the historical amount of traffic-related activities in the candidate cell comprises:

obtaining a candidate second threshold based on statistical information of the historical amount of traffic-related activities; and

updating the second threshold with a minimum of an initial second threshold and the candidate second threshold, wherein the initial second threshold is fixed for the candidate cell.

7. An apparatus for detecting a sleeping cell, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to:

monitor an amount of traffic-related activities in a candidate cell in an observation period, the traffic-related activities comprising one or more activities that have a correlation with traffic in the candidate cell;

calculate an accumulated amount based on the monitored amount of traffic-related activities, wherein the accumulated amount indicates accumulation of an amount of traffic-related activities monitored in an accumulation period comprising at least one observation period;

determine whether the accumulated amount exceeds a first threshold;

check, in response to determining that the accumulated amount exceeds the first threshold, whether there is traffic in the candidate cell in the accumulation period;

determine the candidate cell as a sleeping cell if there is no traffic; and

reset the accumulated amount if there is traffic.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

adapt the first threshold based on a historical amount of traffic-related activities in the candidate cell.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors configured to adapt the first threshold based on a historical amount of traffic-related activities in the candidate cell comprise one or more processors configured to:

obtain a candidate first threshold based on statistical information of the historical amount of traffic-related activities; and

update the first threshold with a maximum of an initial first threshold and the candidate first threshold, wherein the initial first threshold is fixed for the candidate cell.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

determine whether the amount of traffic-related activities monitored in the observation period exceeds a second threshold; and

increase, in response to determining that the amount of traffic-related activities monitored in the observation period exceeds the second threshold, the accumulated amount by the amount of traffic-related activities.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

adapt the second threshold based on a historical amount of traffic-related activities in the candidate cell.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors configured to adapt the second threshold based on the historical amount of traffic-related activities in the candidate cell comprise one or more processors configured to:

obtain a candidate second threshold based on statistical information of the historical amount of traffic-related activities; and

update the second threshold with a minimum of an initial second threshold and the candidate second threshold, wherein the initial second threshold is fixed for the candidate cell.