System and method for determining air interface information for radio resource management in wireless communications

Abstract

A radio resource control unit configured to determine values for use by radio resource management functions includes a measurement reception and storing unit and a measurement processing unit. The measurement reception and storing unit is configured to obtain and store air interface actual values and predictive values; and generate and store a timestamp indicating a time when each actual or predictive value is obtained. The measurement processing unit is configured to process the actual and predictive values to provide an output value; determine an occurrence of a transient period, which is a period of time when a radio link is unstable; and determine whether the actual value is valid by comparing the timestamp of the actual value to the occurrence of the transient period, and on a condition that the timestamp is within the transient period, then the actual value is determined to be not valid.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A radio resource control (RRC) unit configured to determine values for use by radio resource management functions, the RRC unit comprising:
 a measurement reception and storing unit, configured to:
 obtain air interface actual values and predictive values; 
 store the actual values and the predictive values; and 
 generate and store a timestamp indicating a time when each actual value or predictive value is obtained; and 
   a measurement processing unit, configured to:
 process the actual values and the predictive values to provide an output value, wherein the output value includes any one of: an actual value, a predictive value, a combination of the actual value and the predictive value, a default value, or the actual value plus a margin; 
 determine an occurrence of a transient period, wherein the transient period is a period of time when a radio link is unstable; and 
 determine whether the actual value is valid by comparing the timestamp of the actual value to the occurrence of the transient period, and on a condition that the timestamp is within the transient period, then the actual value is determined to be not valid. 
   
     
     
         2 . The RRC unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurement processing unit is further configured to determine whether the actual value or the predictive value is valid by comparing the corresponding timestamp with a threshold, and on a condition that the timestamp is older than the threshold, then the actual value or the predictive value is determined to be not valid. 
     
     
         3 . The RRC unit according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the measurement reception and storing unit is further configured to store the actual value with a corresponding indicator, which indicates whether the actual value was obtained during the transient period; and   the measurement processing unit is further configured to evaluate the indicator to determine whether the actual value is valid.   
     
     
         4 . The RRC unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurement processing unit is further configured to use the actual value to provide the output value on a condition that the actual value is available and valid. 
     
     
         5 . The RRC unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurement processing unit is further configured to combine the actual value and the predictive value to provide the output value on a condition that the actual value is available but not valid and the predictive value is available. 
     
     
         6 . The RRC unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurement processing unit is further configured to provide the output value using any one of:
 the default value, the combination of the actual value and the default value, the actual value plus the margin, or declaring air interface resources to be unavailable on a condition that the actual value is available but not valid and the predictive value is not available.   
     
     
         7 . The RRC unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurement processing unit is further configured to use the predictive value to provide the output value on a condition that the actual value is not available and the predictive value is available. 
     
     
         8 . The RRC unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurement processing unit is further configured to use the default value to provide the output value on a condition that the actual value is not available and the predictive value is not available.