System and method for heterogeneous carrier aggregation

• US 10,333,675 B2
• Filed: 04/03/2017
• Issued: 06/25/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Meylan, Arnaud, Griot, Miguel, Giaretta, Gerardo
• Primary Examiner(s): Hsu, Alpus
• Application Number:
  US15/477,883
• Publication Number:
  US 20170207893A1
• Time in Patent Office: 813 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0005 Time-frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0064 Rate requirement of the data, e.g. scalable bandwidth, data priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0087 when data requirements change
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0092 Indication of how the channel is divided
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0098 Signalling of the activation or deactivation of component carriers, subcarriers or frequency bands
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/16 Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Techniques for aggregating heterogeneous carriers in a wireless communication system are disclosed. A mobile device may receive a configuration for aggregating a plurality of component carriers including one or more cellular carriers and a wireless local area network (WLAN) carrier. The one or more cellular carriers may include LTE carriers, and aggregation may be performed at a sub-IP protocol layer of operation. In one aspect, protocol entities may be modified to perform quality of service determinations, carrier selection, traffic mapping, or the like, in view of the different capabilities and characteristics of the heterogeneous carriers in the carrier aggregation configuration.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a network entity, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration message specifying at least one of a channel number that identifies a wireless local area network (WLAN) carrier of a WLAN or a service set identification of the WLAN, wherein the RRC configuration message is associated with aggregation of a cellular carrier and the WLAN carrier, and wherein the RRC configuration message includes keying material for WLAN link layer encryption;

determining, by the network entity, whether data traffic is to be transmitted via the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier; and

transmitting, by the network entity, the data traffic via the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier based on a result of the determining.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

authenticating with the WLAN based on the RRC configuration message.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the authenticating comprises:

identifying a key based on the RRC configuration message; and

authenticating with the WLAN by using the key.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving an RRC reconfiguration message after the network entity authenticates for WLAN communication.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the RRC configuration message is associated with the aggregation of the cellular carrier and the WLAN carrier at a protocol layer below an Internet Protocol (IP) layer.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the RRC configuration message is received via the cellular carrier.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an activation/deactivation command via the cellular carrier; and

enabling a sleep mode on an interface associated with the WLAN based on the activation/deactivation command.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information that indicates a packet size threshold,

wherein the result of the determining is based on the packet size threshold.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information regarding at least one of a maximum transmission unit (MTU), a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTS) threshold, uplink radio link conditions, or whether frame aggregation is configured; and

selecting a payload size for the transmitting based on the information.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving signaling information that includes;

information identifying the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier as a default carrier, and

information that indicates that one of the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier is to be used when a buffer size satisfies a buffer size threshold.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving Quality of Service (QoS) information,

wherein the result of the determining is based on the QoS information and a mapping between a bearer and the WLAN carrier.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving signaling information that indicates whether data traffic may be transmitted on the WLAN carrier or the cellular carrier.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

receive a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration message specifying at least one of a channel number that identifies a wireless local area network (WLAN) carrier of a WLAN or a service set identification of the WLAN, wherein the RRC configuration message is associated with aggregation of a cellular carrier and the WLAN carrier, and wherein the RRC configuration message includes keying material for WLAN link layer encryption;

determine whether data traffic is to be transmitted via the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier; and

transmit the data traffic via the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier based on a result of the determining; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor for storing data.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

authenticate with the WLAN based on the RRC configuration message.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor, when authenticating with the WLAN, is further configured to:

identify a key based on the RRC configuration message; and

authenticate with the WLAN by using the key.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive an RRC reconfiguration message after the apparatus authenticates for WLAN communication.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the RRC configuration message is associated with the aggregation of the cellular carrier and the WLAN carrier at a protocol layer below an Internet Protocol (IP) layer.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the RRC configuration message is received via the cellular carrier.

19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive an activation/deactivation command via the cellular carrier; and

enable a sleep mode on an interface associated with the WLAN based on the activation/deactivation command.

20. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive information that indicates a packet size threshold,

wherein the result of the determining is based on the packet size threshold.

21. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive information regarding at least one of a maximum transmission unit (MTU), a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTS) threshold, uplink radio link conditions, or whether frame aggregation is configured; and

select a payload size for the transmitting based on the information.

22. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive signaling information that includes;

information identifying the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier as a default carrier, and

information that indicates that one of the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier is to be used when a buffer size satisfies a buffer size threshold.

23. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive Quality of Service (QoS) information,

wherein the result of the determining is based on the QoS information and a mapping between a bearer and the WLAN carrier.

24. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive signaling information that indicates whether data traffic may be transmitted on the WLAN carrier or the cellular carrier.

25. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving, by a network entity, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration message specifying at least one of a channel number that identifies a wireless local area network (WLAN) carrier of a WLAN or a service set identification of the WLAN, wherein the RRC configuration message is associated with aggregation of a cellular carrier and the WLAN carrier, and wherein the RRC configuration message includes keying material for WLAN link layer encryption;

means for determining, by the network entity, whether data traffic is to be transmitted via the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier; and

means for transmitting, by the network entity, the data traffic via the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier based on a result of the determining.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising:

means for identifying a key based on the RRC configuration message; and

means for authenticating with the WLAN based on the RRC configuration message and by using the key.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising:

means for receiving information regarding at least one of a maximum transmission unit (MTU), a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTS) threshold, uplink radio link conditions, or whether frame aggregation is configured; and

means for selecting a payload size for the transmitting based on the information.

28. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising:

means for receiving at least one of;

information that indicates a packet size threshold,

wherein the result of the determining is based on the packet size threshold, or

Quality of Service (QoS) information,

wherein the result of the determining is based on the QoS information and a mapping between a bearer and the WLAN carrier.

29. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising:

means for receiving signaling information that at least one of;

includes information identifying the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier as a default carrier, and information that indicates that one of the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier is to be used when a buffer size satisfies a buffer size threshold, or

indicates whether data traffic may be transmitted on the WLAN carrier or the cellular carrier.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to;

receive a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration message specifying at least one of a channel number that identifies a wireless local area network (WLAN) carrier of a WLAN or a service set identification of the WLAN, wherein the RRC configuration message is associated with aggregation of a cellular carrier and the WLAN carrier, and wherein the RRC configuration message includes keying material for WLAN link layer encryption;

determine whether data traffic is to be transmitted via the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier; and

transmit the data traffic via the cellular carrier or the WLAN carrier based on a result of the determining.