Techniques for enabling quality of service (QoS) on WLAN for traffic related to a bearer on cellular networks

• US 10,581,581 B2
• Filed: 11/06/2017
• Issued: 03/03/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Horn, Gavin Bernard, Khobare, Abhijit S., Gupta, Ajay, Chen, Fang, Jain, Vikas
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao, Kwang B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Loo, Juvena W
• Application Number:
  US15/804,066
• Publication Number:
  US 20180062819A1
• Time in Patent Office: 848 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0058 Allocation criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/24 Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Techniques are described for managing QoS parameters of a bearer for which at least a portion of bearer data is served over a WLAN radio access technology. According to these techniques, a first device may identify a first set of one or more QoS parameters for serving a bearer over a wireless wide area network (WWAN). The first device may also determine a second set of one or more QoS parameters for serving the bearer over the WLAN based on an association between the first set of QoS parameters and the second set of one or more QoS parameters.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, at a first device, a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message comprising a data radio bearer configuration for a data radio bearer from a base station;

identifying, at the first device, a first set of bearer parameters from the data radio bearer configuration;

determining, at the first device, that a bearer type parameter is included in the first set of bearer parameters, the bearer type parameter indicating that the data radio bearer configuration for the data radio bearer is associated with a wide wireless area network (WWAN) or both the WWAN and a local wireless area network (WLAN);

determining, at the first device, to split data associated with the data radio bearer between the WWAN and the WLAN based at least in part on the bearer type parameter; and

routing, at the first device, the data associated with the data radio bearer based at least in part on the determination that the bearer type parameter is included in the first set of bearer parameters and the determination to split the data associated with the data radio bearer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, at the first device, that the bearer type parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters indicates that the data radio bearer is to be switched from the WWAN to the WLAN; and

switching the data radio bearer from the WWAN to the WLAN based at least in part on the bearer type parameter, wherein routing the data radio bearer is based at least in part on switching the data radio bearer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first set of bearer parameters include a WLAN quality-of-service (QoS) parameter to provide a QoS parameter to be associated with the data radio bearer when the radio bearer is switched between the WWAN and the WLAN.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, at the first device, that the bearer type parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters indicates that the data radio bearer is to be switched from the WWAN to both the WWAN and the WLAN, wherein the first set of bearer parameters includes a WLAN quality-of-service (QoS) parameter to provide a QoS parameter to be associated with the data radio bearer when the data radio bearer is switched between the WWAN and both the WWAN and the WLAN.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

mapping, at the first device, a first QoS parameter associated with the WWAN to a second QoS parameter associated with the WLAN based at least in part on the WLAN QoS parameter.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first QoS parameter is a QoS class identifier (QCI) of the data radio bearer associated with the WWAN and the second QoS parameter is a WLAN access category (AC) associated with the WLAN.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the mapping comprises a static mapping or a semi-static mapping.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, at the first device, whether an identity parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters is part of a current configuration of the first device, wherein the data radio bearer is associated with the identity parameter.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein routing the data radio bearer is based at least in part on determining that the identity parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters is part of the current configuration of the first device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, at the first device, a connection completion message based at least in part on routing the radio bearer.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the connection completion message is an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the data radio bearer comprises an evolved packet system (EPS) bearer.

13. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving, at the apparatus, a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message comprising a data radio bearer configuration for a data radio bearer from a base station;

means for identifying, at the apparatus, a first set of bearer parameters from the data radio bearer configuration;

means for determining, at the apparatus, that a bearer type parameter is included in the first set of bearer parameters, the bearer type parameter indicating that the data radio bearer configuration for the data radio bearer is associated with a wide wireless area network (WWAN) or both the WWAN and a local wireless area network (WLAN);

means for determining, at the apparatus, to split data associated with the data radio bearer between the WWAN and the WLAN based at least in part on the bearer type parameter; and

means for routing, the data associated with the data radio bearer based at least in part on the determination that the bearer type parameter is included in the first set of bearer parameters and the determination to split the data associated with the data radio bearer.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

means for determining, at the apparatus, that the bearer type parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters indicates that the data radio bearer is to be switched from the WWAN to the WLAN; and

means for switching the data radio bearer from the WWAN to the WLAN based at least in part on the bearer type parameter, wherein routing the data radio bearer is based at least in part on switching the data radio bearer.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first set of bearer parameters include a WLAN quality-of-service (QoS) parameter to provide a QoS parameter to be associated with the data radio bearer when the data radio bearer is switched between the WWAN and the WLAN.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

means for determining, at the apparatus, that the bearer type parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters indicates that the data radio bearer is to be switched from the WWAN to both the WWAN and the WLAN, wherein the first set of bearer parameters include a WLAN quality-of-service (QoS) parameter to provide a QoS parameter to be associated with the data radio bearer when the data radio bearer is switched between the WWAN and both the WWAN and the WLAN.

17. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor;

memory in electronic communication with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to;

receive, at the apparatus, a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message comprising a data radio bearer configuration for a data radio bearer from a base station;

identify, at the apparatus, a first set of bearer parameters from the data radio bearer configuration;

determine, at the apparatus, that a bearer type parameter is included in the first set of bearer parameters, the bearer type parameter indicating that the data radio bearer configuration for the data radio bearer is associated with a wide wireless area network (WWAN) or both the WWAN and a local wireless area network (WLAN);

determine, at the apparatus, to split data associated with the data radio bearer between the WWAN and the WLAN based at least in part on the bearer type parameter; and

route, at the apparatus, the data associated with the data radio bearer based at least in part on the determination that the bearer type parameter is included in the first set of bearer parameters and the determination to split the data associated with the data radio bearer.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

determine, at the apparatus, that the bearer type parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters indicates that the data radio bearer is to be switched from the WWAN to the WLAN; and

switch the data radio bearer from the WWAN to the WLAN based at least in part on the bearer type parameter, wherein routing the data radio bearer is based at least in part on switching the data radio bearer.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first set of bearer parameters include a WLAN quality-of-service (QoS) parameter to provide a QoS parameter to be associated with the data radio bearer when the data radio bearer is switched between the WWAN and the WLAN.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

determine, at the apparatus, that the bearer type parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters indicates that the data radio bearer is to be switched from the WWAN to both the WWAN and the WLAN, wherein the first set of bearer parameters include a WLAN quality-of-service (QoS) parameter to provide a QoS parameter to be associated with the data radio bearer when the data radio bearer is switched between the WWAN and both the WWAN and the WLAN.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

map, at the apparatus, a first QoS parameter associated with the WWAN to a second QoS parameter associated with the WLAN based at least in part on the WLAN QoS parameter.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the first QoS parameter is a QoS class identifier (QCI) of the radio bearer associated with the WWAN and the second QoS parameter is a WLAN access category (AC) associated with the WLAN.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the mapping comprises a static mapping or a semi-static mapping.

24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

determine, at the apparatus, whether an identity parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters is part of a current configuration of the apparatus, wherein the data radio bearer is associated with the identity parameter.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein routing the data radio bearer is based at least in part on determining that the identity parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters is part of the current configuration of the apparatus.

26. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

transmit, at the apparatus, a connection completion message based at least in part on routing the radio bearer.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the connection completion message is an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to:

receive, at a first device, a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message comprising a data radio bearer configuration for a data radio bearer from a base station;

identify, at the first device, a first set of bearer parameters from the data radio bearer configuration;

determine, at the first device, that a bearer type parameter is included in the first set of bearer parameters, the bearer type parameter indicating that the data radio bearer configuration for the data radio bearer is associated with a wide wireless area network (WWAN) or both the WWAN and a local wireless area network (WLAN);

determine, at the first device, to split data associated with the data radio bearer between the WWAN and the WLAN based at least in part on the bearer type parameter; and

route, at the first device, the data associated with the data radio bearer based at least in part on the determination that the bearer type parameter is included in the first set of bearer parameters and the determination to split the data associated with the data radio bearer.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to:

determine, at the first device, that the bearer type parameter included in the first set of bearer parameters indicates that the data radio bearer is to be switched from the WWAN to the WLAN; and

switch the radio bearer from the WWAN to the WLAN based at least in part on the bearer type parameter, wherein the routing is based at least in part on the switching.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein the first set of bearer parameters include a WLAN quality-of-service (QoS) parameter to provide a QoS parameter to be associated with the data radio bearer when the data radio bearer is switched between the WWAN and the WLAN.