Intelligent optimisation system and method of optimising communication performance in a cellular telecommunications network

摘要

A cellular radio system (10, FIG. 1) operates to acquire radio network optimisation for a GSM environment through the utilisation of a dual-technology subscriber unit (36) configured to swap between a UMTS air-interface mode and a slotted GSM-type mode. In the GSM mode, system performance data, i.e. measurements metrics (306), such as RX_Lev and BER, are accumulated for a serving cell and BA list neighbours (12-18) and this GSM system performance data is communicated (214) to a serving OMC (38) through a BSS and MSC (32, 34). Contemporaneously with the acquisition of GSM performance data, a UMTS call (50-54) to serving Node Bs operating in soft handover allows a serving MSC (34) or OMC (38) to identify (302-304) accurately the location of the subscriber unit (36) through a triangulation process. A time reference derived from soft handover of a high bit rate data sequence allows multi-path resolution in the UMTS domain, with an absolute propagation path therefore derivable from the time reference. Correlation (308), at an OMC level, of an identity of the subscriber unit (36) associates the subscriber location with the GSM system performance data, thereby allowing a processor (40) in the OMC (38) to assess accurately GSM system performance with a view to initiating, as required, radio network optimisation of the GSM system. The need for costly drive testing of a GSM-type system is therefore obviated, thereby advantageously allowing radio network reconfiguration at either the will of the service operator or dynamically.