Patent ID: 8737222

Claim:
A method of determining a bias parameter for a heterogeneous network including a small cell, a macro cell, and a plurality of user equipment (UEs), the small cell being underlaid with respect to the macro cell, the method comprising: determining, at a base station of the small cell, a loading state of the macro cell by performing a first incrementing operation at the base station by incrementing a bias parameter, the bias parameter being a parameter which controls a tendency of the plurality of UEs to be handed over from the macro cell to the small cell, determining, after incrementing the bias parameter, whether a small cell load increases, the small cell load being a number of the plurality of UEs connected to the small cell, and determining the loading state of the macro cell based on whether or not the small cell load increased after incrementing the bias parameter; and setting, at the base station of the small cell, the bias parameter based on the determined loading state.