Adaptive transmission direction selection in cellular network

摘要

This document discloses a solution for selecting a transmission direction in a cell. A method comprises: determining, by a controller associated with a cell of a cellular communication system, a traffic asymmetry metric for the cell, the traffic asymmetry metric representing asymmetry between uplink and downlink traffic in the cell; comparing, by the controller, the traffic asymmetry metric with a threshold; upon determining, by the controller on the basis of the comparison, that the traffic asymmetry metric is one of greater and lower than the threshold, selecting a first transmission direction for a time interval; upon determining, by the controller on the basis of the comparison, that the traffic asymmetry metric is the other one of greater and lower than the threshold, selecting for the time interval a second transmission direction different from the first transmission direction, wherein the second transmission direction is a nominal transmission direction determined as common to a cell cluster comprising the cell and a set of neighboring cells, and wherein the controller determines the nominal transmission direction on the basis of traffic condition metrics acquired for the cell and for the set of neighboring cells; and causing data communication to the selected transmission direction in the cell during the time interval.