APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ACCESS STRATUM MANAGEMENT OF WIRELESS DEVICES

• US 20100197304A1
• Filed: 01/28/2010
• Published: 08/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Sawhney, Salil, Tenny, Nathan, Grilli, Francesco, Pica, Francesco
• Granted Patent: US 9,480,003 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/434
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/10 using broadcasted information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal

Abstract

An apparatus and method for access stratum management comprising reading system information from at least one broadcast channel from a current serving cell; and determining if an available cell is suitable for a user equipment (UE) based on information included in the broadcasted system information, wherein the determining step comprises at least one of the following: comparing system release information of the user equipment (UE) from the broadcasted system information; determining if the available cell supports a specific feature which makes the available cell suitable for optimum performance of the UE; or determining if the available cell and a frequency combination are suitable for a UE type.

Claims

1. A method for access stratum management comprising:

reading system information from at least one broadcast channel from a current serving cell; and

determining if an available cell is suitable for a user equipment (UE) based on information included in the broadcasted system information, wherein the determining step comprises at least one of the following;

comparing system release information of the user equipment (UE) from the broadcasted system information;

determining if the available cell supports a specific feature which makes the available cell suitable for optimum performance of the UE;

or

determining if the available cell and a frequency combination are suitable for a UE type.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising camping on the available cell and obtaining service from the available cell.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising comparing RF signal strengths with at least one other available cell on at least one other frequency.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising measuring RF signal strengths from a plurality of cells, wherein the available cell is part of the plurality of cells.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising determining the suitability of the available cell based on the measurements of the RF signal strengths and a signal strength criteria.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising repeating the determining step of claim 1 with a second available cell from the plurality of cells.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising powering up and re-selecting the available cell.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the UE type is either a handset or a data card.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the UE is compatible with a certain 3GPP Release type:

Rel 99, Rel4, Rel 5, Rel 6, Rel 7, Rel 8 or onward releases.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the system information includes information regarding compatibility with a certain radio network feature (for example, high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), high speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), Continuous Packet Connectivity).

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the system information includes information regarding one or more compatible 3GPP releases and/or features.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the steps are performed by a long term evolution (LTE) wireless device.

31. The user equipment of claim 6 further comprising means for powering up and re-selecting the available cell.

13. A user equipment comprising a processor and a memory, the memory containing program code executable by the processor for performing the following:

reading system information from at least one broadcast channel from a current serving cell; and

determining if an available cell is suitable for the user equipment (UE) based on information included in the broadcasted system information, wherein the program code for the determining step comprises program code for performing at least one of the following;

comparing system release information of the user equipment (UE) from the broadcasted system information;

determining if the available cell supports a specific feature which makes the available cell suitable for optimum performance of the UE;

or

determining if the available cell and a frequency combination are suitable for a UE type.

14. The user equipment of claim 13 wherein the memory further comprising program code for camping on the available cell and obtaining service from the available cell.

15. The user equipment of claim 13 wherein the memory further comprising program code for comparing RF signal strengths with at least one other available cell on at least one other frequency.

16. The user equipment of claim 15 wherein the memory further comprising program code for measuring RF signal strengths from a plurality of cells, wherein the available cell is part of the plurality of cells.

17. The user equipment of claim 16 wherein the memory further comprising program code for determining the suitability of the available cell based on the measurements of the RF signal strengths and a signal strength criteria.

18. The user equipment of claim 17 wherein the memory further comprising program code for repeating the determining step of claim 13 with a second available cell from the plurality of cells.

19. The user equipment of claim 18 wherein the memory further comprising program code for powering up and re-selecting the available cell.

20. The user equipment of claim 13 wherein the UE type is either a handset or a data card.

21. The user equipment of claim 13 wherein the UE is compatible with a certain 3GPP Release type:

Rel 99, Rel4, Rel 5, Rel 6, Rel 7, Rel 8 or onward releases.

22. The user equipment of claim 13 wherein the system information includes information regarding compatibility with a certain radio network feature (for example, high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), high speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), Continuous Packet Connectivity).

23. The user equipment of claim 13 wherein the system information includes information regarding one or more compatible 3GPP releases and/or features.

24. The user equipment of claim 13 wherein the UE is a long term evolution (LTE) wireless device.

25. A user equipment for access stratum management comprising:

means for reading system information from at least one broadcast channel from a current serving cell; and

means for determining if an available cell is suitable for the user equipment (UE) based on information included in the broadcasted system information, wherein the means for determining comprises at least one of the following;

means for comparing system release information of the user equipment (UE) from the broadcasted system information;

means for determining if the available cell supports a specific feature which makes the available cell suitable for optimum performance of the UE;

or

means for determining if the available cell and a frequency combination are suitable for a UE type.

26. The user equipment of claim 25 further comprising means for camping on the available cell and obtaining service from the available cell.

27. The user equipment of claim 25 further comprising means for comparing RF signal strengths with at least one other available cell on at least one other frequency.

28. The user equipment of claim 27 further comprising means for measuring RF signal strengths from a plurality of cells, wherein the available cell is part of the plurality of cells.

29. The user equipment of claim 28 further comprising means for determining the suitability of the available cell based on the measurements of the RF signal strengths and a signal strength criteria.

30. The user equipment of claim 29 further comprising means for enabling the means for determining in claim 25 with a second available cell from the plurality of cells.

32. The user equipment of claim 25 wherein the UE type is either a handset or a data card.

33. The user equipment of claim 25 wherein the UE is compatible with a certain 3GPP Release type:

Rel 99, Rel4, Rel 5, Rel 6, Rel 7, Rel 8 or onward releases.

34. The user equipment of claim 25 wherein the system information includes information regarding compatibility with a certain radio network feature (for example, high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), high speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), Continuous Packet Connectivity).

35. The user equipment of claim 25 wherein the system information includes information regarding one or more compatible 3GPP releases and/or features.

36. The user equipment of claim 25 wherein the UE is a long term evolution (LTE) wireless device.

37. A computer-readable medium storing a computer program, wherein execution of the computer program is for:

reading system information from at least one broadcast channel from a current serving cell; and

determining if an available cell is suitable for a user equipment (UE) based on information included in the broadcasted system information, wherein the determining step comprises at least one of the following;

comparing system release information of the user equipment (UE) from the broadcasted system information;

determining if the available cell supports a specific feature which makes the available cell suitable for optimum performance of the UE;

or

determining if the available cell and a frequency combination are suitable for a UE type.