TRANSITIONING A USER EQUIPMENT (UE) TO A DEDICATED CHANNEL STATE DURING SETUP OF A COMMUNICATION SESSION WITHIN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

• US 20110122783A1
• Filed: 05/17/2010
• Published: 05/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Lin, Yih-Hao, Song, Bongyong
• Application Number:
  US12/781,666
• Publication Number:
  US 20110122783A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/27 Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states

Abstract

In an embodiment, an access network (AN) receives data for transmission to a user equipment (UE) that is not in a dedicated-channel state. The AN determines that the received data is associated with a communication session of a given type. Based on this determination, the AN transitions the UE to a dedicated-channel state. In an example, the AN can determine the association between the received data and the communication session of the given type based on an indication of the association that is contained with a data session activation request message.

Claims

1. A method of operating an access network configured to support communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, comprising:

receiving data at an access network for transmission to a user equipment (UE) that is not in a dedicated-channel state;

determining that the received data is associated with a communication session of a given type;

determining to transition the UE to a dedicated-channel state based on the received data'"'"'s association with the communication session of the given type; and

sending a reconfiguration message to the UE to transition the UE to the dedicated-channel state.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication from the UE that the UE has completed its transition to the dedicated-channel state; and

transmitting the received data to the UE on a downlink channel.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the downlink channel corresponds to a downlink dedicated channel (DCH) or a high-speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH).

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the received indication corresponds to a reconfiguration complete message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, based on whether a Radio Bearer, a Transport Channel or a Physical Channel is a highest layer to be reconfigured in accordance with the reconfiguration message, the reconfiguration complete message corresponds to (i) a Radio Bearer Reconfiguration Complete message, (ii) a Transport Channel Reconfiguration Complete message and/or (iii) a Physical Channel Reconfiguration Complete message.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data corresponds to a call announcement message for announcing the communication session to the UE.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

paging the UE after the receiving step;

receiving a page response from the UE,

wherein the reconfiguration message is sent in response to the page response.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before receiving the data for transmission to the UE, receiving a notification of a Radio Bearer (RAB) that is associated with communication sessions of the given type for the UE.

9. Them method of claim 8, wherein the determination that the received data is associated with the communication session of the given type is based on determining whether a RAB associated with the received data corresponds to the RAB from the received notification.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the received notification is contained within a RAB Assignment Request message from a Serving General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN).

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination to transition the UE to the dedicated-channel state is performed irrespective of whether traffic associated with the UE is above a traffic threshold that is established for triggering transitions of UEs to the dedicated-channel state.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the traffic threshold is used by the access network for determining whether to transition UEs that are not associated with communication sessions of the given type.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the given wireless communication protocol corresponds to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA).

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication session of the given type corresponds to a delay sensitive communication session and/or a low data-rate communication session.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the communication session of the given type corresponds to a Push-to-Talk (PTT) communication session, a Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) communication session or a Push-to-Transfer (PTX) communication session.

16. A method of operating a user equipment (UE) configured to participate in communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, comprising:

determining to activate a data session for the UE;

configuring, based on the determination, a data session activation request message to include an indication of an association with communication sessions of a given type;

transmitting the data session activation request message to an access network;

receiving a page from the access network when the UE is not in a dedicated-channel state that indicates that the access network has data to be transmitted to the UE, the data to be transmitted to the UE associated with a communication session of the given type;

sending a page response to the access network; and

receiving, responsive to the page response and based on the data'"'"'s association with the communication session of the given type, a reconfiguration message from the access network that instructs the UE to transition to the dedicated-channel state.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

completing the transition to the dedicated-channel state at the UE;

notifying the access network of the transition-completion; and

receiving the data from the access network on a downlink channel in response to the notification.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the downlink channel corresponds to a downlink dedicated channel (DCH) or a high-speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH).

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, based on whether a Radio Bearer, a Transport Channel or a Physical Channel is a highest layer to be reconfigured in accordance with the reconfiguration message, the reconfiguration complete message corresponds to (i) a Radio Bearer Reconfiguration Complete message, (ii) a Transport Channel Reconfiguration Complete message and/or (iii) a Physical Channel Reconfiguration Complete message

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponds to a call announcement message for announcing the communication session of the given type to the UE.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the communication session of the given type correspond to delay sensitive communication sessions and/or low data-rate communication sessions.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the communication session of the given type correspond to a Push-to-Talk (PTT) communication session, a Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) communication session or a Push-to-Transfer (PTX) communication session.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the data session corresponds to a packet data protocol (PDP) Context, the data session activation request message corresponds to an Activate PDP Context Request message and the received set-up message corresponds to a Radio Bearer (RAB) Setup message.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the configuring step includes the indication that the UE is associated with the communication sessions of the given type by inserting a flag into one or more fields of the data session activation request message.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the flag corresponds to a special Quality-of-Service (QoS) configuration.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the one or more fields into which the flag is inserted corresponds to a Network Service Access Point Identifier (NSAPI) Information Element (IE).

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the flag corresponds to inserting a given NSAPI into the NSAPI IE, wherein the given NSAPI belongs to a set of NSAPIs that are reserved or prohibited by W-CDMA.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the flag corresponds to one or more unused bits within the NSAPI IE without modifying the NSAPI contained in the NSAPI IE.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the flag corresponds to a keyword or bit-setting that is inserted into a given field containing an access point name (APN) of the UE'"'"'s serving Gateway General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) Support Node (GGSN).

30. The method of claim 16, wherein the given wireless communication protocol corresponds to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA).

31. The method of claim 16, wherein the reconfiguration message instructs the UE to transition to the dedicated-channel state irrespective of whether traffic associated with the UE is above a traffic threshold that is established for triggering transitions of UEs to the dedicated-channel state.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the traffic threshold is used by the access network for determining whether to transition UEs that are not associated with communication sessions of the given type.

33. The method of claim 16, wherein the notification corresponds to a reconfiguration complete message.

34. An access network configured to support communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, comprising:

means for receiving data at an access network for transmission to a user equipment (UE) that is not in a dedicated-channel state;

means for determining that the received data is associated with a communication session of a given type;

means for determining to transition the UE to a dedicated-channel state based on the received data'"'"'s association with the communication session of the given type; and

means for sending a reconfiguration message to the UE to transition the UE to the dedicated-channel state.

35. A user equipment (UE) configured to participate in communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, comprising:

means for determining to activate a data session for the UE;

means for configuring, based on the determination, a data session activation request message to include an indication of an association with communication sessions of a given type;

means for transmitting the data session activation request message to an access network;

means for receiving a page from the access network when the UE is not in a dedicated-channel state that indicates that the access network has data to be transmitted to the UE, the data to be transmitted to the UE associated with a communication session of the given type;

means for sending a page response to the access network; and

means for receiving, responsive to the page response and based on the data'"'"'s association with the communication session of the given type, a reconfiguration message from the access network that instructs the UE to transition to the dedicated-channel state.

36. An access network configured to support communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, comprising:

logic configured to receive data at an access network for transmission to a user equipment (UE) that is not in a dedicated-channel state;

logic configured to determine that the received data is associated with a communication session of a given type;

logic configured to determine to transition the UE to a dedicated-channel state based on the received data'"'"'s association with the communication session of the given type; and

logic configured to send a reconfiguration message to the UE to transition the UE to the dedicated-channel state.

37. A user equipment (UE) configured to participate in communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, comprising:

logic configured to determine to activate a data session for the UE;

logic configured to configure, based on the determination, a data session activation request message to include an indication of an association with communication sessions of a given type;

logic configured to transmit the data session activation request message to an access network;

logic configured to receive a page from the access network when the UE is not in a dedicated-channel state that indicates that the access network has data to be transmitted to the UE, the data to be transmitted to the UE associated with a communication session of the given type;

logic configured to send a page response to the access network; and

logic configured to receive, responsive to the page response and based on the data'"'"'s association with the communication session of the given type, a reconfiguration message from the access network that instructs the UE to transition to the dedicated-channel state.

38. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions which, when executed by an access network configured to support communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, cause the access network to perform operations, the instructions comprising:

program code to receive data at an access network for transmission to a user equipment (UE) that is not in a dedicated-channel state;

program code to determine that the received data is associated with a communication session of a given type;

program code to determine to transition the UE to a dedicated-channel state based on the received data'"'"'s association with the communication session of the given type; and

program code to send a reconfiguration message to the UE to transition the UE to the dedicated-channel state.

39. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions which, when executed by a user equipment (UE) configured to participate in communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, cause the UE to perform operations, the instructions comprising:

program code to determine to activate a data session for the UE;

program code to configure, based on the determination, a data session activation request message to include an indication of an association with communication sessions of a given type;

program code to transmit the data session activation request message to an access network;

program code to receive a page from the access network when the UE is not in a dedicated-channel state that indicates that the access network has data to be transmitted to the UE, the data to be transmitted to the UE associated with a communication session of the given type;

program code to send a page response to the access network; and

program code to receive, responsive to the page response and based on the data'"'"'s association with the communication session of the given type, a reconfiguration message from the access network that instructs the UE to transition to the dedicated-channel state.