DRX parameter configuration method and associated base station for facilitating ANR measurement

1. A Discontinuous Reception (DRX) parameter configuration method for facilitating Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) measurement, comprising:

determining a traffic intensity of a User Equipment (UE) by which a DRX-based ANR measurement is to be performed;

setting a value for a DRX parameter to be used by the UE to perform the DRX-based ANR measurement, in accordance with the determined traffic intensity of the UE and a maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate, wherein the DRX parameter pertains to a duration of DRX inactivity time; and

transmitting the value set for the DRX parameter to the UE.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the DRX parameter is DRX Inactivity Timer.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the DRX parameter is set to one of a predetermined set of values, which is closest to but not larger than a value corresponding to the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate in accordance with the determined traffic intensity.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein setting the value for the DRX parameter further comprises:

identifying a traffic type of the UE, according to which range of a predetermined set of numerical ranges the traffic intensity of the UE falls into; and

setting the value for the DRX parameter to be used by the UE to perform the DRX-based ANR measurement, in accordance with the identified traffic type.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the DRX parameter is DRX Inactivity Timer, and the method further comprises an adjustment to the set value of the DRX Inactivity Timer, and the adjustment comprises:

for a group of UEs having a same identified traffic type in a cell,

obtaining an ANR measurement failure rate based on a number of ANR measurements performed by the UEs and a number of failures of the ANR measurements, during a first monitoring period;

reducing the DRX Inactivity Timer for the UEs having the identified traffic type after the first monitoring period, if the obtained ANR measurement failure rate is larger than the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate or the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate plus a first positive offset value; and

increasing the DRX Inactivity Timer for the UEs having the identified traffic type after the first monitoring period, if the obtained ANR measurement failure rate is smaller than the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate or the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate minus a second positive offset value.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising a UE level adjustment operation, comprising:

for each UE,

reducing the DRX Inactivity Timer for the UE after a second monitoring period, if a number of ANR measurement failures the UE experiences during the second monitoring period exceeds a threshold.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the first monitoring period is longer than the second monitoring period.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the traffic intensity of the UE is measured in terms of a data rate of the UE.

9. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the DRX Inactivity Timer is further adjusted based on a UE-specific parameter.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the UE-specific parameter is a velocity of the UE; and wherein a higher the velocity is, a smaller value the DRX Inactivity Timer is adjusted to.

11. A Discontinuous Reception (DRX) parameter configuration method for facilitating Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) measurement, comprising:

identifying a traffic type of a User Equipment (UE) by which a DRX-based ANR measurement is to be performed, according to which range of a predetermined set of numerical ranges a traffic intensity of the UE falls into;

adjusting a DRX Inactivity Timer to be used by the UE to perform the DRX-based ANR measurement, by:

for a group of UEs having a same identified traffic type in a cell,

obtaining an ANR measurement failure rate based on a number of ANR measurements performed by the UEs and a number of failures of the ANR measurements, during a first monitoring period;

reducing the DRX Inactivity Timer for the UEs having the identified traffic type after the first monitoring period, if the obtained ANR measurement failure rate is larger than a maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate or the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate plus a first positive offset value; and

increasing the DRX Inactivity Timer for the UEs having the identified traffic type after the first monitoring period, if the obtained ANR measurement failure rate is smaller than the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate or the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate minus a second positive offset value; and

transmitting the adjusted DRX Inactivity Timer to the UE.

12. A base station (BS) adapted to perform Discontinuous Reception (DRX) parameter configuration to facilitate Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) measurement, comprising:

a processor; and

memory containing program instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the BS to perform operations to:

determine a traffic intensity of a User Equipment (UE) by which a DRX-based ANR measurement is to be performed;

set a value for a DRX parameter to be used by the UE to perform the DRX-based ANR measurement, in accordance with the determined traffic intensity of the UE and a maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate, wherein the DRX parameter pertains to a duration of DRX inactivity time; and

transmit the value set for the DRX parameter to the UE.

13. The BS according to claim 12 , wherein the DRX parameter is DRX Inactivity Timer.

14. The BS according to claim 12 , wherein the DRX parameter is set to one of a predetermined set of values, which is closest to but not larger than a value corresponding to the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate in accordance with the determined traffic intensity.

15. The BS according to claim 12 , wherein the program instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the BS to perform operations to identify a traffic type of the UE, according to which range of a predetermined set of numerical ranges the traffic intensity of the UE falls into; and to set the value for the DRX parameter to be used by the UE to perform the DRX-based ANR measurement, in accordance with the traffic type identified.

16. The BS according to claim 15 , wherein the DRX parameter is DRX Inactivity Timer, and the BS further performs operations to:

obtain an ANR measurement failure rate based on a number of ANR measurements performed by a group of UEs having a same identified traffic type in a cell and a number of failures of the ANR measurements, during a first monitoring period;

reduce the DRX Inactivity Timer for the UEs having the identified traffic type after the first monitoring period, if the obtained ANR measurement failure rate is larger than the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate or the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate plus a first positive offset value; and

increase the DRX Inactivity Timer for the UEs having the identified traffic type after the first monitoring period, if the obtained ANR measurement failure rate is smaller than the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate or the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate minus a second positive offset value.

17. The BS according to claim 12 , wherein the traffic intensity of the UE is measured in terms of a data rate of the UE.

18. A BS adapted to perform Discontinuous Reception (DRX) parameter configuration to facilitate Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) measurement, comprising:

a processor; and

memory containing program instructions when executed by the processor, cause the BS to perform operations to:

identify a traffic type of a User Equipment (UE) by which a DRX-based ANR measurement is to be performed, according to which range of a predetermined set of numerical ranges a traffic intensity of the UE falls into;

adjust a DRX Inactivity Timer to be used by the UE to perform the DRX-based ANR measurement by performing operations to:

obtain an ANR measurement failure rate based on a number of ANR measurements performed by a group of UEs having a same identified traffic type in a cell and a number of failures of the ANR measurements, during a first monitoring period;

reduce the DRX Inactivity Timer for the UEs having the identified traffic type after the first monitoring period, if the obtained ANR measurement failure rate is larger than a maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate or the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate plus a first positive offset value; and

increase the DRX Inactivity Timer for the UEs having the identified traffic type after the first monitoring period, if the obtained ANR measurement failure rate is smaller than the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate or the maximum acceptable ANR measurement failure rate minus a second positive offset value; and

transmit the adjusted DRX Inactivity Timer to the UE.