Dynamic allocation of carrier aggregation resources based on device requests

• US 10,051,646 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2016
• Issued: 08/14/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Hinkle, Aaron Paul, Gassman, Lawrence Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Song, Rebecca E
• Application Number:
  US15/149,544
• Publication Number:
  US 20160309486A1
• Time in Patent Office: 827 Days
• Field of Search: 370329
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/00 Orthogonal multiplex systems, e.g. using WALSH codesH04J13/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/006 Quality of the received signal, e.g. BER, SNR, water filling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0064 Rate requirement of the data, e.g. scalable bandwidth, data priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/543 based on requested quality, e.g. QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

Examples disclosed herein provide systems, methods, and software to dynamically provide carrier aggregation to wireless communication devices. In one example, a method of operating an eNodeB includes exchanging first wireless communication signals with a wireless communication device using a first carrier aggregation configuration. The method further provides identifying a request from the wireless communication device for a modified quality of service, and determining a second carrier aggregation configuration based on the request. The method also includes exchanging second wireless communication signals with the wireless communication device using the second carrier aggregation configuration.

Claims

1. A method of operating a wireless base station to use Long Term Evolution (LTE) Carrier Aggregation (CA) to support a video application, the method comprising:

exchanging wireless communication signals with a wireless communication device using the LTE CA over a frequency band to deliver a Quality-of-Service (QoS);

receiving a request from the wireless communication device identifying the video application, a QoS Class Identifier (QCI) for the video application, and an Access Point Name (APN) for the video application, and in response, identifying a larger frequency band based on the QCI and the APN for the video application to deliver an increased QoS to the video application; and

exchanging additional wireless communication signals with the wireless communication device using the LTE CA over the larger frequency band to deliver the increased QoS to the video application.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the request indicates a content requirement for the video application.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the request indicates a content requirement for the video application; and

identifying the larger frequency band to deliver the increased QoS comprises identifying the larger frequency band based on the content requirement.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the request indicates a bit-rate for the video application.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the request indicates a bit-rate for the video application; and

identifying the larger frequency band to deliver the increased QoS comprises identifying the larger frequency band based on the bit-rate.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the wireless base station comprises an LTE eNodeB.

7. A wireless base station to use Long Term Evolution (LTE) Carrier Aggregation (CA) to support a video application, the wireless base station comprising:

a communication interface comprising a Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver configured to exchange wireless communication signals with a wireless communication device using the LTE CA over a frequency band to deliver a Quality-of-Service (QoS);

a computer system comprising processing circuitry and memory configured to process a request from the wireless communication device identifying the video application, a QoS Class Identifier (QCI) for the video application, and an Access Point Name (APN) for the video application, and in response, identify a larger frequency band based on the QCI and the APN for the video application to deliver an increased QoS to the video application; and

the communication interface comprising the RF transceiver is further configured to exchange additional wireless communication signals with the wireless communication device using the LTE CA over the larger frequency band to deliver the increased QoS to the video application.

8. The wireless base station of claim 7 wherein the request indicates a content requirement for the video application.

9. The wireless base station of claim 7 wherein:

the request indicates a content requirement for the video application; and

the computer system is configured to identify the larger frequency band to deliver the increased QoS based on the content requirement.

10. The wireless base station of claim 7 wherein the request indicates a bit-rate for the video application.

11. The wireless base station of claim 7 wherein:

the request indicates a bit-rate for the video application; and

the computer system is configured to identify the larger frequency band to deliver the increased QoS based on the bit-rate.

12. The wireless base station of claim 7 wherein the wireless base station comprises an LTE eNodeB.