Technology agnostic QoS support in a multi-mode environment

• US 20060029096A1
• Filed: 08/04/2005
• Published: 02/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Babbar, Uppinder Singh, Lioy, Marcello, Veerepalli, Sivaramakrishna, Mir, Idreas A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,331,375 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/24 Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0044 of quality context information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/04 Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks

Abstract

A generic quality of service (QoS) model that is not dependent on network technology is used to support QoS for communication networks utilizing different network technologies. The generic QoS model may include a superset of all QoS parameters for all network technologies being supported, e.g., 3GPP and 3GPP2. An application at a device may specify QoS for a traffic flow based on the generic QoS parameters in the superset. The generic QoS parameters may be converted to QoS parameters that are specific to a serving network. The converted QoS parameters are exchanged with the serving network and are used while exchanging traffic with the serving network.

Claims

1. A method of supporting quality of service (QoS) for communication, comprising:

receiving a first set of QoS parameters for a first QoS model from a first entity;

converting the first set of QoS parameters to a second set of QoS parameters for a second QoS model; and

sending the second set of QoS parameters to a second entity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first QoS model is a generic QoS model and the second QoS model is a network-specific QoS model.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from the second entity a revised second set of QoS parameters for the second QoS model;

converting the revised second set of QoS parameters to a revised first set of QoS parameters for the first QoS model; and

providing the revised first set of QoS parameters to the first entity.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

converting the first set of QoS parameters to a third set of QoS parameters for a third QoS model; and

sending the third set of QoS parameters to a third entity.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first entity is an application at a device and the second entity is a base station in a communication network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first entity is a base station in a communication network and the second entity is an application at a device.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the first entity is an application at a device, the second entity is a first base station in a first communication network utilizing a first network technology, and the third entity is a second base station in a second communication network utilizing a second network technology that is different from the first network technology.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the first QoS model is a generic QoS model, the second QoS model is for 3GPP, and the third QoS model is for 3GPP2.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first QoS model utilizes a data rate format and the second QoS model utilizes a token bucket format to specify data rate.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a maximum data rate supported by a device; and

constraining data rate parameters in the second set of QoS parameters based on the maximum data rate.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a latency applicable for a device; and

deriving at least one data rate parameter for the second set of QoS parameters based on the latency.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining at least one auxiliary parameter used for converting the first set of QoS parameters to the second set of QoS parameters.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one auxiliary parameter comprises a maximum rate dependent latency, a minimum data rate to meet latency requirement, or a combination thereof.

14. A method of supporting quality of service (QoS) for communication, comprising:

receiving a first set of QoS parameters for a generic QoS model from an application at a device;

converting the first set of QoS parameters to a second set of QoS parameters for a first network technology; and

sending the second set of QoS parameters to a first base station in a first communication network.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a revised second set of QoS parameters from the first base station;

converting the revised second set of QoS parameters to a revised first set of QoS parameters; and

providing the revised first set of QoS parameters to the application.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

converting the first set of QoS parameters to a third set of QoS parameters for a second network technology that is different from the first network technology; and

sending the third set of QoS parameters to a second base station in a second communication network.

17. An apparatus comprising:

a processor operative to receive a first set of quality of service (QoS) parameters for a first QoS model from a first entity, to convert the first set of QoS parameters to a second set of QoS parameters for a second QoS model, and to send the second set of QoS parameters to a second entity; and

a memory unit operative to store the first set of QoS parameters, the second set of QoS parameters, or both the first and second sets of QoS parameters.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is operative to receive from the second entity a revised second set of QoS parameters for the second QoS model, to convert the revised second set of QoS parameters to a revised first set of QoS parameters for the first QoS model, and to provide the revised first set of QoS parameters to the first entity.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is operative to convert the first set of QoS parameters to a third set of QoS parameters for a third QoS model and to send the third set of QoS parameters to a third entity.

20. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a first set of quality of service (QoS) parameters for a first QoS model from a first entity;

means for converting the first set of QoS parameters to a second set of QoS parameters for a second QoS model; and

means for sending the second set of QoS parameters to a second entity.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

means for receiving from the second entity a revised second set of QoS parameters for the second QoS model;

means for converting the revised second set of QoS parameters to a revised first set of QoS parameters for the first QoS model; and

means for providing the revised first set of QoS parameters to the first entity.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

means for converting the first set of QoS parameters to a third set of QoS parameters for a third QoS model; and

means for sending the third set of QoS parameters to a third entity.

23. A processor readable media for storing instructions operable in a device to:

receive a first set of quality of service (QoS) parameters for a first QoS model from a first entity;

convert the first set of QoS parameters to a second set of QoS parameters for a second QoS model; and

send the second set of QoS parameters to a second entity.

24. The processor readable media of claim 23 and further for storing instructions operable to:

receive from the second entity a revised second set of QoS parameters for the second QoS model;

convert the revised second set of QoS parameters to a revised first set of QoS parameters for the first QoS model; and

provide the revised first set of QoS parameters to the first entity.

25. The processor readable media of claim 23 and further for storing instructions operable to:

convert the first set of QoS parameters to a third set of QoS parameters for a third QoS model; and

send the third set of QoS parameters to a third entity.

26. A method of supporting quality of service (QoS) for communication, comprising:

providing a first QoS interface for a first entity, the first QoS interface being based on a first QoS model;

providing a second QoS interface for a second entity, the second QoS interface being based on a second QoS model; and

performing conversion between the first QoS interface and the second QoS interface.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

providing a third QoS interface for a third entity, the third QoS interface being based on a third QoS model; and

performing conversion between the first QoS interface and the third QoS interface.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

receiving via the first QoS interface a first set of QoS parameters from the first entity;

converting the first set of QoS parameters to a second set of QoS parameters; and

sending the second set of QoS parameters via the second QoS interface to the second entity.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

receiving via the second QoS interface a revised second set of QoS parameters from the second entity;

converting the revised second set of QoS parameters to a revised first set of QoS parameters; and

providing the revised first set of QoS parameters via the first QoS interface to the first entity.

30. A method of performing Internet Protocol (IP) packet filtering, comprising:

obtaining at a device a first set of at least one IP packet filter defined based on a first set of filter parameters for at least two network technologies;

converting the first set of at least one IP packet filter to a second set of at least one IP packet filter, the second set of at least one IP packet filter being defined based on a second set of filter parameters for a first network technology among the at least two network technologies; and

sending the second set of at least one IP packet filter to a first network.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

filtering IP packets sent to the first network based on the first set of at least one IP packet filter.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

converting the first set of at least one IP packet filter to a third set of at least one IP packet filter, the third set of at least one IP packet filter being defined based on a third set of filter parameters for a second network technology among the at least two network technologies;

sending the third set of at least one IP packet filter to a second network; and

filtering IP packets sent to the second network based on the first set of at least one IP packet filter.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the first set of at least one IP packet filter is obtained from an application at the device.

34. The method of claim 30, wherein the first set of filter parameters is a superset of filter parameters used by the at least two network technologies.

35. An apparatus comprising:

a processor operative to obtain a first set of at least one Internet Protocol (IP) packet filter, to convert the first set of at least one IP packet filter to a second set of at least one IP packet filter, and to send the second set of at least one IP packet filter to a first network, wherein the first set of at least one IP packet filter is defined based on a first set of filter parameters for at least two network technologies, and wherein the second set of at least one IP packet filter is defined based on a second set of filter parameters for a first network technology among the at least two network technologies; and

a memory unit operative to store the first set of at least one IP packet filter, the second set of at least one IP packet filter, or both the first and second sets of at least one IP packet filter.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the processor is operative to filter IP packets sent to the first network based on the first set of at least one IP packet filter.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the at least two network technologies comprise 3GPP and 3GPP2.

38. An apparatus comprising:

means for obtaining a first set of at least one Internet Protocol (IP) packet filter defined based on a first set of filter parameters for at least two network technologies;

means for converting the first set of at least one IP packet filter to a second set of at least one IP packet filter, the second set of at least one IP packet filter being defined based on a second set of filter parameters for a first network technology among the at least two network technologies; and

means for sending the second set of at least one IP packet filter to a first network.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, further comprising:

means for filtering IP packets sent to the first network based on the first set of at least one IP packet filter.

40. A processor readable media for storing instructions operable in a device to:

obtain a first set of at least one Internet Protocol (IP) packet filter defined based on a first set of filter parameters for at least two network technologies;

convert the first set of at least one IP packet filter to a second set of at least one IP packet filter, the second set of at least one IP packet filter being defined based on a second set of filter parameters for a first network technology among the at least two network technologies; and

send the second set of at least one IP packet filter to a first network.

41. The processor readable media of claim 40 and further for storing instructions operable to:

filter IP packets sent to the first network based on the first set of at least one IP packet filter.