WO2014084792A1 - Procédés et appareils de rapport inter-ran d'état de connexion - Google Patents

Procédés et appareils de rapport inter-ran d'état de connexion Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2014084792A1
WO2014084792A1 PCT/SE2013/051413 SE2013051413W WO2014084792A1 WO 2014084792 A1 WO2014084792 A1 WO 2014084792A1 SE 2013051413 W SE2013051413 W SE 2013051413W WO 2014084792 A1 WO2014084792 A1 WO 2014084792A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
wireless network
mobile terminal
respect
network
report
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PCT/SE2013/051413
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English (en)
Inventor
Mattias BERGSTRÖM
Yu Wang
Oumer Teyeb
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Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
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Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
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Publication of WO2014084792A1 publication Critical patent/WO2014084792A1/fr
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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/16—Performing reselection for specific purposes
    • H04W36/22—Performing reselection for specific purposes for handling the traffic
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/0005—Control or signalling for completing the hand-off
    • H04W36/0055—Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link
    • H04W36/0066—Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link of control information between different types of networks in order to establish a new radio link in the target network
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W48/00—Access restriction; Network selection; Access point selection
    • H04W48/18—Selecting a network or a communication service
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W84/00—Network topologies
    • H04W84/02—Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
    • H04W84/10—Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
    • H04W84/12—WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
    • H04W88/02—Terminal devices
    • H04W88/06—Terminal devices adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Definitions

  • Embodiments of the present disclosure relates to a method in a mobile terminal and a mobile terminal for transmitting information to a first wireless network of the mobile terminal's connection status with respect to a second wireless network, and a method in a network node and a network node for receiving such information.
  • Wi-Fi/Wireless Local Area Network Wi-Fi/Wireless Local Area Network
  • Wi-Fi uses unlicensed frequency that is free of charge.
  • APs Wi-Fi Access Points
  • CAEX capital expense
  • OPEX operational expense
  • BS/eNB 3GPP base station
  • Operators can also take advantage of already deployed APs that are already deployed in hotspots such as train stations, airports, stadiums, shopping malls, etc.
  • Most end users are also currently used to having Wi-Fi for free at home (as home broadband subscriptions are usually flat rate) and public places.
  • Terminal support Many User Equipments (UEs), including virtually all smartphones, and other portable devices currently available in the market support Wi-Fi.
  • STA Station
  • High data rate Under low interference conditions and assuming the user is close to the Wi-Fi AP, Wi-Fi can provide peak data rates that outshine that of current mobile networks (for example, theoretically up to 600Mbps for IEEE 802.1 1 ⁇ deployments with Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)).
  • MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output
  • a very simplified Wi-Fi architecture is discussed below where the UE/STA is connected to the Wi-Fi Access Point (AP), which can directly be connected to the Internet.
  • AP Wi-Fi Access Point
  • an Access point Controller AC handles the management of the AP.
  • One AC usually handles the management of several APs.
  • Security/authentication of users is handled via an Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) entity.
  • Remote Administration Dial In User Service RCV 2865).
  • WiFi-if- coverage Most current WiFi deployments are totally separate from mobile networks, and are to be seen as non-integrated. From the terminal perspective, most mobile operating systems (OS) for UEs such as Android and iOS, support a simple WiFi offloading mechanism, where the UEs immediately switch all their PS (Packet Switched) bearers to a WiFi network upon a detection of such a network with a certain signal level.
  • PS Packet Switched
  • the Access Network Discovery and Selection Function is an entity defined by the Third Generation partnership project (3GPP) for providing access discovery information as well as mobility and routing policies to the UE.
  • 3GPP Third Generation partnership project
  • ANDFS is a new entity added to the 3GPP architecture in Release 8 of 3GPP TS 23.402 (See “Architecture Enhancements for non- 3GPP Accesses," 3GPP TS 23.402, v. 1 1 .4.0 (Sept. 2012), available at www.3gpp.org).
  • a ANDSF server is only connected to the UE, and its main goal is to provide the UE with access network information in a resource efficient and secure manner.
  • the communication between the UE and the ANDSF server is defined as an IP-based S14-interface.
  • the ANDSF enables an energy-efficient mechanism of network discovery, where the UE can avoid continuous and energy-consuming background scanning.
  • the ANDSF provides the mobile operators with a tool for the implementation of flexible and efficient UE steering of access mechanisms, where policy control can guide UEs to select one particular radio access network (RAN) over another.
  • RAN radio access network
  • this may be an overstatement if ANDSF is implemented as an "app", since it then relies on operating system (OS) support and prioritization of ANDSF in relation to other "apps". This condition may be only partly fulfilled, which thus makes the control of the UE via the ANDSF somewhat unreliable.
  • OS operating system
  • the ANDSF supplies three types of information - discovery information, inter-system mobility policies (ISMP) and inter-system routing policies (ISRP). All these are summarized and implemented via ANDSF managed objects (MO), which are communicated to the UEs via an over-the-top (OTT) signaling channel, as Simple Object Access Protocol - Extensible Markup Language (SOAP-XML) messages.
  • ISMP inter-system mobility policies
  • ISRP inter-system routing policies
  • MO ANDSF managed objects
  • OTT over-the-top
  • SOAP-XML Simple Object Access Protocol - Extensible Markup Language
  • a mobile terminal 500 and a wireless network for communicating to a first wireless network information of the terminal's connection, or lack thereof, to a second wireless network.
  • This is realized by the terminal 500 signaling to the first network information regarding the connection status of the terminal 500 with respect to the second network.
  • Methods are presented where the terminal 500 reports information about the status of the radio used for the other network as well as information about the terminals current communication situation on the second network.
  • Different triggers for the terminal 500 to report are presented, one such trigger being a request from the network.
  • Some example applications for when the network requests the report are also presented.
  • a mobile terminal 500 capable of operating in at least a first wireless network, e.g a first RAN and possibly a second wireless network e.g. a second RAN, such as via both a wide-area network technology and a wireless local-area network technology.
  • One such example method begins with receiving information that specifies all or part of the report contents, from the first wireless network, e.g., from an eNodeB. This operation may not occur in all embodiments or in all circumstances. For example, all or part of the contents may be determined by the mobile terminal 500, based on current conditions, or may be specified by an industry standard.
  • the method continues with the detecting of a trigger of a reporting event e.g. reporting trigger event.
  • This may be a local event, in some embodiments and/or circumstances, such as a locally generated service request.
  • the trigger event may be a connection or disconnection to the second wireless network e.g., a Wi-Fi access point.
  • the trigger event may be the receiving of an explicit report request from the first wireless network. Note that in some cases a report request from the first wireless network may specify all or part of the contents of the requested report.
  • the mobile terminal 500 In response to the detected trigger event, the mobile terminal 500 assembles the report, including information of the connection status of the mobile terminal 500 with respect to the second network. This may be achieved by any combination of the parameters suggested above.
  • the mobile terminal 500 then transmits the report to the first wireless network e.g., to an LTE eNodeB.
  • the mobile terminal 500 may subsequently receive an order to steer its traffic to the second wireless network, for example, or may receive scheduling grants that have been prioritized or de-prioritized in response to the report.
  • a network node in a first wireless network where the network node is generally configured to control one or more mobile terminals capable of operating in (at least) the first wireless network and a second wireless network, such as in an LTE network and a Wi-Fi network.
  • the method may be carried out in a base station, such as an eNodeB in an LTE network, for example.
  • a scheduling node or controller node that is separate from a radio base station, in which case communication with the mobile terminal 500 is typically carried out via a radio base station.
  • One such method begins with sending information that specifies all or part of the desired report contents to a mobile terminal. This may not occur in all embodiments or in all circumstances. As discussed above, for example, all or part of the contents may be determined by the mobile terminal, based on current conditions, or may be specified by an industry standard.
  • the network node sends a report request to one or more mobile terminals. (Note that information specifying all or part of the report contents may be combined with a report request, in some embodiments.) Again, this may not occur in all embodiments or in all circumstances. In some cases, for example, reports might only be sent by mobile terminals in response to other trigger events detected by the mobile terminals. In some embodiments, the mobile terminals may send reports in response to both explicit report requests sent by the network and other trigger events.
  • the network node receives a report from each of one or more mobile terminals, the report wherein the report comprises information of a connection status of the mobile terminal 500 with respect to a second wireless network.
  • the report characterize a connection status for the mobile terminal 500 with respect to a second wireless network, such as a Wi-Fi network.
  • the report may contain any or all of the parameters discussed earlier.
  • the network node evaluates the report(s), e.g., in conjunction with information about conditions at the first wireless network, such as network or base station loading conditions. Responsive to this evaluation and depending on the information conveyed by the reports, the network node may proceed by steering traffic for one or more mobile terminals to or from the second wireless network, or by prioritizing scheduling for one or more mobile terminals, or both.
  • a mobile terminal 500 for communicating information to a first wireless network of the mobile terminal's connection status to a second wireless network comprises a processing circuit and a transmitter.
  • the processing circuit is configured to detect a trigger of a reporting event and further configured to assemble a report in response to a detected trigger of the reporting event, wherein the report comprises information of a connection status of the mobile terminal 500 with respect to the second wireless network.
  • the transmitter is configured to transmit the report to the first wireless network.
  • a network node configured to control one or more mobile terminals capable of operating in a first wireless network and a second wireless network the network node is also disclosed.
  • the network node comprises a processing circuit and a transceiver.
  • the transceiver is configured to receive a report from the one or more mobile terminals, wherein the report comprises information of a connection status of the mobile terminal 500 with respect to a second wireless network.
  • the processing circuit is configured to evaluate the one or more reports and further configured to steer traffic for the one or more mobile terminals to or from the second wireless network based on the evaluated one or more reports or to prioritize scheduling for the one or more mobile terminals based on the evaluated one or more reports.
  • the disclosed techniques and apparatus make it possible for a first wireless network to have information regarding a terminal's connection status with respect to a second wireless network, regardless of the level of integration between the first and second wireless network. This information may be considered by the first wireless network, for example, when performing scheduling, deciding whether a terminal's connection, to the first or the second wireless network, shall be maintained or terminated, whether a terminal 500 shall communicate over the first or second wireless network, etc.
  • An additional advantage is that the disclosed techniques and apparatus can be implemented without changing or modifying already existing and deployed AP.
  • An additional advantage is that the first wireless network knows exactly which mobile terminal 500 that is for example causing a load in the second wireless network or which mobile terminal 500 that can be handed over to the second wireless network. This allows a more precise utilization of radio resources and load balancing.
  • Fig .1 schematically illustrates different scenarios to consider when having multiple wireless networks.
  • Fig. 2 is a process flow diagram illustrating an example of method, according to some embodiments of the disclosure.
  • Fig. 3 is a process flow diagram illustrating an example method implemented by a mobile terminal.
  • Fig. 4 is a process flow diagram illustrating a complementary example method implemented by a network node
  • Fig. 5 illustrates an example terminal according to several embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 6 illustrates an example network node according to several embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 7 schematically illustrates an example terminal and an example network node in a system.
  • nodes that communicate using the air interface are described, it will be appreciated that those nodes also have suitable radio communications circuitry.
  • the technology can additionally be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer-readable memory, including non-transitory embodiments such as solid-state memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk containing an appropriate set of computer instructions that would cause a processor to carry out the techniques described herein.
  • Hardware implementations of the present disclosure may include or encompass, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, a reduced instruction set processor, hardware (e.g., digital or analog) circuitry including but not limited to application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC) and/or field programmable gate array(s) (FPGA(s)), and (where appropriate) state machines capable of performing such functions.
  • DSP digital signal processor
  • ASIC application specific integrated circuit
  • FPGA field programmable gate array
  • a computer is generally understood to comprise one or more processors or one or more controllers, and the terms computer, processor, and controller may be employed interchangeably.
  • the functions may be provided by a single dedicated computer or processor or controller, by a single shared computer or processor or controller, or by a plurality of individual computers or processors or controllers, some of which may be shared or distributed.
  • processor or “controller” also refers to other hardware capable of performing such functions and/or executing software, such as the example hardware recited above.
  • Radio Access Network is used interchangeably with the term wireless network.
  • UE User Equipment
  • STA mobile terminal
  • terminal mobile terminal
  • FIG. 7 An exemplary system comprising a first wireless network and a second wireless network is disclosed in figure 7.
  • a first wireless system a reference is made to at least a base station or similar network node representing a first RAN 600, 601 or radio access network.
  • a second wireless system a reference is made to at least a base station or similar network node representing a second RAN or radio access network.
  • Also disclosed in figure 7 are a number of mobile terminals 500, 501 in communication with at least one of the wireless networks 600, 601 . It is also possible that the first and second wireless networks are connected to an IP network 603.
  • Embodiments of the present disclosure address this problem by enabling the terminal 500 to report to a first RAN its connection status with respect to a second RAN. This is beneficial as the two RANs may not be integrated and hence information about terminals connection status with respect to the second RAN is not available to the first RAN. Even if the two RAN are integrated, e.g. at core network level, such information may not be available to the first RAN.
  • the first RAN is a cellular network such as an LTE RAN
  • the second RAN is a Wi-Fi.
  • Wi-Fi is typically used as an overlay layer to boost capacity of the LTE RAN, it is expected that the decision whether or not a terminal 500 shall communicate using Wi-Fi will be made in the LTE network.
  • the LTE network can order a terminal 500 to connect to a Wi-Fi access point and to steer the data traffic for at least some services over the Wi-Fi link.
  • the LTE network may also order the terminal 500 to disconnect from Wi-Fi if the performance over the Wi-Fi is not as expected.
  • the LTE network may not be aware of the status of the terminal's connection status over Wi-Fi, e.g., it may not be aware if the Wi-Fi radio is turned on or off, if the terminal 500 supports simultaneous connections to both LTE and Wi-Fi, i.e. dual connectivity, if the terminal's data traffic from the service which was steered to Wi-Fi has ended, if the Wi-Fi throughput is/was high or low, etc.
  • the LTE network may not have all the necessary information to decide if the terminal's connection to the Wi-Fi access point shall be maintained or if it can be terminated.
  • LTE network may order UEs to connect to Wi-Fi is when the LTE load is high, which will reduce the quality of experience of all connected terminals. If two terminals are connected to an overloaded LTE base station and a terminal A has a connection to a Wi-Fi access point, while a terminal B has no Wi-Fi connection, if the network knows that terminal A has a backup connection then it may therefore order terminal A to steer all or some traffic from LTE to Wi-Fi, which would reduce the load of the LTE base station. Alternatively the network may prioritize terminal B higher than terminal A when scheduling, since terminal A also has a Wi-Fi connection. If both terminals are connected to Wi-Fi access points and support dual connectivity, the network may consider the throughput experienced by the two terminals when scheduling and prioritizing the terminal that has a worse Wi-Fi link.
  • FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram illustrating an example of a method, according to some embodiments of the disclosure.
  • the illustrated process begins with a mobile terminal 500 for example a mobile terminal A, which is an end user terminal capable of accessing service using two different RATs, that is being able to connect to both an LTE network and a Wi-Fi network.
  • Block 210 indicates that the LTE network load (at least at the relevant base station - eNodeB, in 3GPP terms) is initially low.
  • the specific RATs shown here are only possible examples; other combinations of RATs and RANs are possible.
  • the loading on the LTE network increases, as more terminals connect.
  • the network In response to detecting this increase in network load, the network (e.g., the eNodeB) requests Terminal A to provide a Wi-Fi status report, as shown at block 230.
  • This report generally characterizes terminal A's connection or lack thereof to the second RAN (where the LTE network is the first RAN), in this case the Wi-Fi access point. Details of several example contents of this status report are described below.
  • terminal A determines which information to include in the report.
  • Terminal A transmits the report to the network (e.g., to the LTE eNodeB), as shown at block 250.
  • the network evaluates the report, perhaps along with similar reports from other terminals served by the network. Depending on the contents of the report, the network may determine that terminal A's Wi-Fi link is good enough for communication, and thus orders terminal A to steer some or all of its traffic to Wi-Fi, as shown at block 270. As indicated above, the network may take other actions in response to the report, instead of or in addition to ordering terminal A to steer traffic to the second RAN. For instance, the network (e.g., the eNodeB) may deprioritize terminal A in its scheduling decisions, based on a determination that terminal A has access to a reliable Wi-Fi link.
  • the connection status may indicate a radio status of the mobile terminal 500 as exemplified below.
  • a first radio status parameter is the capability of the terminal 500 of communicating with the second wireless network.
  • one important parameter to report is the terminal's Wi-Fi capability. It may be so that not all terminals are able to perform Wi-Fi communication. Whether a terminal 500 is capable of Wi-Fi communication may be scenario dependent and may therefore change over time. For example, a terminal 500 which has Wi-Fi support may not be able to use it if the Bluetooth is also active, since there might be some maximum total power transmission limit from all RATs per terminal.
  • the terminals Wi-Fi capability maybe communicated to the network in two general ways:
  • the Type Allocation Code (TAC), which is the initial eight digit portion of the 15 digit IMEI code, identifies a particular model (and often revision) of a wireless device.
  • TAC Type Allocation Code
  • the network could have a mapping of the TAC to the device capability regarding other RATs.
  • a second radio status parameter is whether a radio in the mobile terminal 500 for communicating with the second wireless network is on or off. This parameter indicates whether the terminal's Wi-Fi radio is on or off. This parameter is useful, in some embodiments of the disclosure, because for many terminals the Wi-Fi radio can be turned on and off by the user, by an application, etc. Therefore it may not be sufficient for the network to get the information about the terminal's Wi-Fi capability alone, as the network would not know whether the terminal's Wi-Fi radio is actually turned on or off.
  • a third radio status parameter is whether the mobile terminal 500 is associated or connected to the second wireless network.
  • the terminal 500 is also an important parameter to consider, and that may be included in the report, in some embodiments.
  • the LTE network may not be aware that the terminal 500 has connected to a Wi-Fi.
  • the terminal 500 may also include an identifier of the Wi-Fi access point, for example the SSID. This indicator allows the network to prioritize different Wi-Fi access points differently. For example, the network may prioritize the users' home Wi-Fi access point higher than other, e.g. public Wi-Fi access points.
  • a fourth radio status parameter is the version of the communication protocol used in the mobile terminal 500 for communicating with the second wireless network, and for example which versions of Wi-Fi are supported by the terminal 500 as well as the Wi-Fi AP the terminal 500 is connecting.
  • Different versions of Wi-Fi e.g., the b,g,a,n and ac version of 802.1 1 , provides different peak data rates and capacity. Such information could be useful for the LTE network when taking decisions of traffic steering.
  • the terminals TAC could be used to implicitly find out the version of Wi-Fi to be supported.
  • the connection status may indicate a communication status of the mobile terminal 500 as exemplified below.
  • a first communication status parameter is the throughput with respect to the second wireless network.
  • a second communication status parameter is the bit rate with respect to the second wireless network.
  • the throughput and/or bitrate the terminal 500 experiences on the Wi-Fi link is also a parameter that could be useful to consider, and that may be included in the report in some embodiments. This may be an average throughput/bitrate the terminal 500 has experienced during the past period of time T, for example. This information may be beneficial for the network to know, for instance, when determining scheduling priority between different terminals in the LTE network.
  • a terminal 500 that experiences lower throughput in Wi-Fi may be given higher priority by eNodeB when scheduled in LTE, compared to a terminal 500 that experiences higher throughput in Wi-Fi.
  • a third communication status parameter is the latency with respect to the second wireless network.
  • Another possible indicator indicates the latency the terminal 500 experiences on the Wi-Fi link. This may be an average delay the terminal 500 has experienced during the past period of time T, for example. This information may be useful for the LTE network to determine whether a terminal 500 should carry a service in LTE or Wi-Fi. For example if the Wi-Fi latency is sufficiently low, the LTE network may order the terminal 500 to steer the traffic from that service to Wi-Fi.
  • a fourth communication status parameter is the amount of data transmitted or received with respect to the second wireless network.
  • the terminal 500 indicates to the network the amount of data communicated by the terminal 500 over the Wi-Fi access point during a time period T.
  • the terminal 500 may indicate whether or not the amount of data communicated exceeds a certain threshold. It is beneficial for the LTE network to know this, for example, as it can be used when determining if the network shall order the terminal 500 to terminate its Wi-Fi connection or not. If a terminal 500 indicates that it has not used the Wi-Fi connection for data communication for some time, the network may judge that the connection to the Wi-Fi access point can be terminated, so as to save terminal battery power. If the terminal 500 indicates that a lot of data has been communicated through the Wi-Fi access point the network may order the terminal 500 not to terminate the connection to the Wi-Fi access point.
  • the time T discussed in relation to the first to fourth communication status parameter may be indicated by the network, for example, prior to the report transmission. Another example is that the time T may be specified in a specification so as to avoid the signaling of time T.
  • a fifth communication status parameter is the uplink-downlink traffic distribution with respect to the second wireless network.
  • the status for uplink and for downlink can be communicated separately in the report, in some embodiments.
  • the uplink and downlink traffic, both for a given terminal as well as the overall network, is often not symmetrical, and hence it may be necessary for the network (e.g., the eNodeB) to evaluate the uplink and downlink separately when deciding whether a terminal's data traffic shall be moved from one RAN to another RAN. For example, a terminal that is generating a lot of uplink traffic may not be offloaded from an overloaded LTE node if the LTE load is mostly in downlink and not in uplink, and vice versa.
  • the UL/DL traffic distribution of the terminal 500 could be used for optimal steering is to consider the uplink throughput towards the Wi-Fi and LTE networks. Due to the small coverage area of the Wi-Fi cell as compared to an LTE cell, it can be expected that the terminal 500 will be able to communicate to the Wi-Fi AP with low power as compared to the LTE eNB. That is, it might be possible for the terminal 500 to have a better uplink connection to the Wi-Fi AP, while the downlink from the LTE is better. Thus, if a terminal's traffic is more heavy in the uplink than in the downlink, it might be beneficial to offload it to the Wi-Fi, even though the downlink signal level that is normally used to make offloading decisions could indicate otherwise.
  • a sixth communication status parameter is the type of traffic with respect to the second wireless network.
  • Different types of traffic may have different characteristics making it more suitable to be communicated in one wireless network than the other.
  • different types of traffic may have different priorities.
  • a proper wireless network may be selected for the terminal 500 based on the priority and the capability of the wireless networks.
  • a seventh communication status parameter is a service quality with respect to the second wireless network.
  • the service quality is useful information as a measure of user satisfaction in the second wireless network.
  • the understanding of user satisfaction may be used to decide which wireless network that should serve the user.
  • An unsatisfied user in the second wireless network may be steered to the first wireless network if better service quality is predicted.
  • the service quality may be measured in the terminal 500.
  • the network can indicate to the terminal 500 which information should be included in the report and the mobile terminal 500 thus receives information specifying the content of the report to be assembled
  • the network may avoid indicating some information elements that are not necessary for the network to know, thereby reducing unnecessary signaling overhead.
  • a first trigger of a reporting event is sending of a service request to the first wireless network.
  • the terminal 500 may send the information to the network when the terminal requests a service i.e. sending a service request.
  • the network may then, based on knowledge about the current load of the system as well as the received information about the terminal, decide whether the terminal's service shall be carried over LTE or over Wi-Fi. For example, a service request is received by a terminal 500 which has Wi-Fi access when the LTE base station experiences high load - the network may not admit the terminal 500 and/or may admit it but schedule it with less resources and/or may order it to carry the service over Wi-Fi.
  • a second trigger of a reporting event is the connection or disconnection to the second wireless.
  • the terminal 500 may send the information to the LTE network upon connection or disconnection to a Wi-Fi access point. This alternative allows for the LTE network to get notified immediately whenever the terminal 500 connects and disconnects to Wi-Fi, even in the case where the mobile terminal 500 has the main control regarding whether to connect to Wi-Fi or not, and the LTE network may consider this information in, for example, scheduling.
  • a third trigger of a reporting event is a request for a report received from the first wireless network.
  • the terminal 500 may also send the information to the network upon reception of explicit request from the network.
  • the terminal 500 may not know when the network needs the report and hence the network needs to request the terminal 500 to transmit a report.
  • the network may indicate in the request the wanted content of the report. For example, the network may need to get reports of the amount of data transmitted over Wi-Fi more often than it needs to get reports of the experienced throughput. It could then request the terminal 500 to report certain information while avoiding some other information which would avoid unnecessary signaling overhead. Combinations of the above mentioned triggering conditions are also possible.
  • the network may request the terminal 500 to send a connection status report. There are several scenarios when this is expected to be beneficial.
  • the LTE network may not be able to provide good enough service to all the terminals and therefore would try to offload data traffic from one or more terminals from LTE to Wi-Fi.
  • the LTE network may need to consider up-to-date information about the terminals Wi-Fi status. The network may then request one or more terminals to report this information. Note that the offloading may affect a terminal 500 only partially if it supports dual LTE-Wi-Fi connectivity (e.g. a terminal could still have some services keep running over LTE and offload some others to Wi-Fi).
  • Figure 3 is a process flow diagram illustrating an example method implemented by a mobile terminal 500 capable of operating in at least a first RAN and a second RAN, such as in an LTE network and a Wi-Fi network.
  • the illustrated method begins with receiving information that specifies all or part of the report contents, from the first RAN, e.g., from an eNodeB.
  • This operation is shown in a dashed box in Figure 3, to indicate that this may not occur in all embodiments or in all circumstances.
  • all or part of the contents may be determined by the mobile terminal, based on current conditions, or may be specified by an industry standard. It also possible that triggering conditions may be received from the first RAN specifying when to trigger a reporting event.
  • the mobile terminal 500 may then send a report that includes the specified contents when the trigger of the reporting event is fulfilled.
  • the mobile terminal 500 detects a trigger of a reporting event i.e. reporting trigger event.
  • the trigger event may be a connection or disconnection to the second RAN (e.g., a Wi-Fi access point).
  • the trigger event may be the receiving of an explicit report request from the first RAN.
  • a report request from the first RAN may specify all or part of the contents of the requested report.
  • the mobile terminal 500 assembles the report, including any combination of the parameters suggested above. That is, assembling a report in response to detecting the trigger of the reporting event, wherein the report comprises information of a connection status of the mobile terminal 500 with respect to the second wireless network.
  • all or part of the specific contents are specified by the information received by the mobile terminal 500 from the first RAN.
  • the mobile terminal 500 then transmits the report to the first RAN (e.g., to an LTE eNodeB).
  • the mobile terminal 500 may subsequently receive an order to steer its traffic to the second RAN, for example, or may receive scheduling grants that have been prioritized or de-prioritized in response to the report.
  • Figure 4 is a process flow diagram illustrating a complementary example method implemented by a network node in a first RAN, wherein the network node is generally configured to control one or more mobile terminals capable of operating in (at least) the first RAN and a second RAN, such as in an LTE network and a Wi-Fi network.
  • the method may be carried out in a base station, such as an eNodeB in an LTE network, for example. However, it may also be carried out by another node in a network, such as a scheduling node or controller node that is separate from a radio base station, in which case communication with the mobile terminal 500 is typically carried out via a radio base station.
  • the illustrated method begins with sending information that specifies all or part of the desired report contents to one or more mobile terminals. This operation is shown in a dashed box in Figure 4, to indicate that this may not occur in all embodiments or in all circumstances. As discussed above, for example, all or part of the contents may be determined by the mobile terminal, based on current conditions, or may be specified by an industry standard.
  • the network node sends a request for a report, i.e. a report request, to one or more mobile terminals.
  • a report request i.e. a report request
  • information specifying all or part of the report contents may be combined with a report request, in some embodiments. Again, this operation is shown in a dashed box in Figure 4, to indicate that this may not occur in all embodiments or in all circumstances.
  • reports might only be sent by mobile terminals in response to other trigger events detected by the mobile terminals.
  • the mobile terminals may send reports in response to both explicit report requests sent by the network and other trigger events.
  • the network node receives a report from one or more mobile terminals, the report for each mobile terminal 500 characterizing a connection status for the mobile terminal 500 with respect to a second RAN, such as a Wi-Fi network.
  • the report may contain any or all of the parameters discussed earlier.
  • the network node evaluates the one or more reports, e.g., in conjunction with information about conditions at the first RAN, such as network or base station loading conditions. Responsive to this evaluation and depending on the information conveyed by the reports, the network node may proceed by steering traffic for one or mobile terminals to or from the second RAN, or by prioritizing scheduling for one or more mobile terminals, or both.
  • the network node may for example transmit an order to the one or more mobile terminals to disconnect from or connect to the second wireless network.
  • the network node may transmit scheduling grants to the mobile terminal that the mobile terminal 500 has been prioritized or de-prioritized in response to the report. This is shown at block 450.
  • Terminal 500 which may be a UE configured for operation with an LTE network (E-UTRAN) and that also supports Wi-Fi, for example, comprises a transceiver unit 520 for communicating with one or more base stations as well as a processing circuit 510 for processing the signals transmitted and received by the transceiver unit 520.
  • Transceiver unit 520 includes a transmitter 525 coupled to one or more transmit antennas 528 and receiver 530 coupled to one or more receiver antennas 533. The same antenna(s) 528 and 533 may be used for both transmission and reception.
  • Receiver 530 and transmitter 525 use known radio processing and signal processing components and techniques, typically according to a particular telecommunications standard such as the 3GPP standards for LTE.
  • transmitter unit 525 may comprise separate radio and/or baseband circuitry for each of two or more different types of radio access network, such as radio/baseband circuitry adapted for E-UTRAN access and separate radio/baseband circuitry adapted for Wi-Fi access.
  • radio/baseband circuitry adapted for E-UTRAN access and separate radio/baseband circuitry adapted for Wi-Fi access.
  • the mobile terminal 500 described above may be used for communicating information to a first wireless network of the mobile terminal's connection status to a second wireless network.
  • the processing circuit 510 is configured to detect a trigger of a reporting event and further configured to assemble a report in response to a detected trigger of the reporting event, wherein the report comprises information of a connection status of the mobile terminal 500 with respect to the second wireless network.
  • the transmitter 525 is configured to transmit the report to the first wireless network
  • the detection may also be performed by a detection module 570 for detecting the trigger of the reporting event.
  • the assembling may be performed by an assembling module 580 for assembling the report as described above. All modules, e.g. detection module 570 and assembling module 580 may be implemented as a computer program running on the processor or made to use by dedicated hardware such as an ASIC.
  • the mobile terminal 500 may also comprise a receiver 530.
  • the receiver may be configured for receiving information specifying the content of the report to be assembled.
  • Processing circuit 510 comprises one or more processors 540 coupled to one or more memory devices 550 that make up a data storage memory 555 and a program storage memory 560.
  • Processor 540 identified as CPU 540 in Figure 5, may be a microprocessor, microcontroller, or digital signal processor, in some embodiments. More generally, processing circuit 510 may comprise a processor/firmware combination, or specialized digital hardware, or a combination thereof.
  • Memory 550 may comprise one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc.
  • processing circuit 510 may include separate processing resources dedicated to one or several radio access technologies, in some embodiments. Again, because the various details and engineering tradeoffs associated with the design of baseband processing circuitry for mobile devices are well known and are unnecessary to a full understanding of the disclosure, additional details are not shown here.
  • processing circuit 510 Typical functions of the processing circuit 510 include modulation and coding of transmitted signals and the demodulation and decoding of received signals.
  • processing circuit 510 is adapted, using suitable program code stored in program storage memory 560, for example, to carry out one of the techniques described above for access network selection.
  • program code stored in program storage memory 560, for example, to carry out one of the techniques described above for access network selection.
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a network node 600 in which a method embodying any of the presently described network-based techniques can be implemented.
  • a computer program for controlling the node 600 to carry out a method of the present disclosure is stored in a program storage 630, which comprises one or several memory devices.
  • Data used during the performance of a method of the present disclosure is stored in a data storage 620, which also comprises one or more memory devices.
  • program steps are fetched from the program storage 630 and executed by a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 610, retrieving data as required from the data storage 620.
  • CPU Central Processing Unit
  • Output information resulting from performance of a method of the present disclosure can be stored back in the data storage 620, or sent to an Input/Output (I/O) interface 640, which includes a network interface (not shown) for sending and receiving data to and from other network nodes and which may also include a radio transceiver 650 for communicating with one or more terminals.
  • I/O Input/Output
  • processing circuits such as the CPU 610 in Figure 6, are configured to carry out one or more of the techniques described in detail above.
  • other embodiments include radio network controllers including one or more such processing circuits.
  • these processing circuits are configured with appropriate program code, stored in one or more suitable memory devices, to implement one or more of the techniques described herein.
  • the network node 600 described above may be used to control one or more mobile terminals capable of operating in a first wireless network and a second wireless network.
  • the transceiver 650 is configured to receive a report from the one or more mobile terminals 500, 501 , wherein the report for each mobile terminal comprises information of a connection status of the mobile terminal with respect to a second wireless network.
  • the processing circuit is configured to evaluate the one or more reports and further configured to steer traffic for the one or more mobile terminals to or from the second wireless network based on the evaluated one or more reports or to prioritize scheduling for the one or more mobile terminals based on the evaluated one or more reports.
  • the evaluation may also be performed by an evaluation module 660 for evaluating the one or more reports.
  • the steering of traffic described above may be performed by a steering module 670 and the prioritization of traffic described above may be performed by a prioritization module 680.
  • All modules e.g. evaluation module 660, steering module 670 and prioritization module 680 may be implemented as a computer program running on the processor made to use by dedicated hardware such as an ASIC .
  • the transceiver 650 may further be configured to send information to the one or more mobile terminals specifying the content of the report to be received.
  • the transceiver may further be configured to send a request for the report to the one or more mobile terminals.
  • the disclosed techniques make it possible for a first RAN to have information regarding a terminal's connection to a second RAN, regardless of the level of integration between the first and second RAN. This information may be considered by the first RAN, for example, when performing scheduling, deciding whether a terminal's connection (to the first or the second RAN) shall be maintained or terminated, whether a terminal shall communicate over the first or second RAN, etc.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

Avec des technologies actuellement existantes, les informations concernant une communication d'un terminal dans un réseau sans fil ne sont pas facilement disponibles dans un autre réseau sans fil. Cela peut être particulièrement problématique si un réseau sans fil est en train de commander la communication du terminal dans l'autre réseau sans fil. L'invention porte sur un procédé dans un terminal mobile, un terminal mobile, un procédé dans un nœud de réseau et un nœud de réseau. Le terminal mobile transmet, à un premier réseau sans fil, des informations de l'état de connexion du terminal mobile relativement à un second réseau sans fil. Le terminal mobile détecte un évènement déclencheur de rapport et assemble ensuite un rapport en réponse à la détection de l'évènement déclencheur de rapport. Le rapport comprend des informations d'un état de connexion du terminal mobile relativement au second réseau sans fil. Enfin, le rapport est transmis au premier réseau sans fil.
PCT/SE2013/051413 2012-11-29 2013-11-29 Procédés et appareils de rapport inter-ran d'état de connexion Ceased WO2014084792A1 (fr)

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US10271254B2 (en) 2013-04-04 2019-04-23 Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) Methods for connection handling of auxiliary RAT
WO2014189436A3 (fr) * 2013-05-23 2015-01-22 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Procédé et appareil de prise en charge de connexions selon des technologies d'accès radio multiples
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GB2522673B (en) * 2014-01-31 2016-08-03 Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Method and apparatus for implementing dual connectivity
US9980192B2 (en) 2014-02-21 2018-05-22 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Traffic steering between WLAN and cellular networks
WO2016048229A2 (fr) 2014-09-26 2016-03-31 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Perfectionnements apportés à la remise de rapports de charge à un réseau lte par un réseau local sans fil
CN106717058A (zh) * 2014-09-26 2017-05-24 瑞典爱立信有限公司 增强从无线局域网到lte网络的负载报告
US10342055B2 (en) 2014-09-26 2019-07-02 Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) Reporting wireless local-area network terminal connections to 3GPP nodes
US10798573B2 (en) 2014-09-26 2020-10-06 Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) Enhancements to load reporting from a wireless local-area network to an LTE network
WO2016048229A3 (fr) * 2014-09-26 2016-06-02 Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) Perfectionnements apportés à la remise de rapports de charge à un réseau lte par un réseau local sans fil
CN106717058B (zh) * 2014-09-26 2020-11-27 瑞典爱立信有限公司 增强从无线局域网到lte网络的负载报告
WO2016048224A1 (fr) 2014-09-26 2016-03-31 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Rapport de connexions de terminal de réseau local sans fil à des noeuds 3 gpp

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