Patent ID: 9585092
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: H04W,Y02D

Claim:
1. A method for ascertaining resources of a radio access network that can be switched off during low network utilization, the method comprising: ascertaining an overlap of at least one sector of a base station of the radio access network by at least one sector of a surrounding base station of the radio access network; determining at least one candidate sector to be switched off as a function of the ascertained overlap, wherein the candidate sector is essentially completely covered by the at least one sector of the surrounding base station; repeating the steps of ascertaining overlaps and determining candidate sectors; selecting from among the determined candidate sectors a combination of candidate sectors that is to be switched off, and switching off the candidate sectors of the selected combination; and ascertaining a configuration of parameters of sectors that cover the combination of candidate sectors to be switched off, wherein the ascertained configuration of parameters of the radio access network leads to an essentially complete coverage of the combination of candidate sectors to be switched off, wherein the ascertained configuration of parameters is different than a configuration of parameters of the radio access network during normal operation of the radio access network, wherein a deviation of the ascertained configuration of parameters is minimized in comparison to the configuration of parameters of the radio access network during normal operation of the radio access network when the combination of candidate sectors is switched on such that interference between sectors which are switched on when the combination of candidate sectors is switched off is minimized, and wherein the ascertained configuration is established when the selected combination of candidate sectors to be switched off is switched off.