System and Method of Offloading Traffic to a Wireless Local Area Network

• US 20130242783A1
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Published: 09/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Horn, Gavin Bernard, Meylan, Arnaud, Kapoor, Rohit
• Granted Patent: US 9,706,423 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0231 based on communication conditions dynamic wireless traffic scheduling definition based on channel quality criteria H04W72/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00837 Determination of triggering parameters for hand-off
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0085 Hand-off measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for offloading traffic from a cellular network to a wireless local area network (WLAN) are described. One example method generally includes receiving, from a serving base station, a request to measure one or more WLAN access points (APs), determining one or more metrics for the WLAN APs, comparing the metrics for the WLAN APs to a threshold, and reporting metrics for at least a first AP of the WLAN APs if the metrics for the first AP exceed the threshold.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving, from a serving base station, a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs);

determining one or more metrics for the WLAN APs based on the request;

comparing the metrics for the WLAN APs to a threshold; and

reporting at least a first AP of the WLAN APs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the report comprises one or more of the metrics and an identifier of the first AP.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to measure comprises an indication of timing of advertisements for the WLAN APs.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting further comprises:

reporting the UE is already connected to the first AP.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, upon reporting the first AP, further comprising:

receiving a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising associating with the first AP upon receiving the RRC command.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the RRC command comprises an identifier of the first AP.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the RRC command further comprises Internet protocol (IP) flows, bearer, or access point name (APN) traffic to offload from the cellular network to the first AP.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the IP flows or the APN traffic to offload are designated as one or more of seamless or non seamless connectivity.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the seamless connectivity comprises Internet protocol flow mobility (IFOM) or multi-access packet data network connectivity (MAPCON).

11. The method of claim 5, further comprising offloading data transmissions to the first AP wherein determining which data transmissions are offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a policy from a core network (CN).

12. The method of claim 1, wherein, upon reporting the first AP, further comprising:

receiving a configuration request to report additional information about the first AP.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein reporting the additional information about the first AP comprises performing an access network query protocol (ANQP) with the first AP.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

reporting the first AP of the WLAN APs if the metrics for the first AP are below a threshold.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein upon reporting for the first AP, further comprising:

receiving a radio resource control (RRC) command to disassociate with the first AP.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein disassociating with the first AP comprises offloading data transmissions from the first AP to a cellular network.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the one or more metrics for the one or more WLAN APs comprises receiving information elements (IEs) in a beacon or a probe response from the WLAN APs.

18. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more metrics comprise a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI), a basic service set (BSS) load, a channel load, or wide area network (WAN) metrics.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more WLAN APs correspond to a specific WLAN channel or a WLAN band.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more WLAN APs are identified by a Network Access Identifier Home Realm (NAIHR), a service set identifier (SSID), a basic SSID (BSSID), a homogeneous extended SSID (HESSID), or 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network information.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the metrics for the first AP exceed the threshold.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if the serving base station supports WLAN and radio access network (RAN) interworking; and

based upon the determination, determining whether to access the serving base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with a WLAN AP.

23. A method for wireless communications by a base station, comprising:

transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs); and

receiving a report for at least a first AP of the WLAN APs.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the report comprises one or more of the metrics and an identifier of the first AP.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the request to measure comprises an indication of timing of advertisements for the WLAN APs.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the report comprises an indication the UE is already connected to the first AP.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein, upon receiving the report for the first AP, further comprising:

transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the RRC command comprises an identifier of the first AP.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the RRC command further comprises Internet protocol (IP) flows, bearer, or access point name (APN) traffic to offload from the cellular network to the first AP.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the IP flows or the APN traffic to offload are designated as one or more of seamless or non seamless connectivity.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the seamless connectivity comprises Internet protocol flow mobility (IFOM) or multi-access packet data network connectivity (MAPCON).

32. The method of claim 27, wherein the transmissions offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a static policy from a core network (CN).

33. The method of claim 23, wherein, upon receiving the report for the first AP, further comprising:

transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload data transmissions from a serving WLAN AP to the first AP.

34. The method of claim 23, wherein, upon receiving the report for the first AP, further comprising:

determining whether additional information about the first AP is required; and

upon determining the additional information is required, transmitting, to the UE, a configuration request to report additional information about the first AP.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the additional information about the first AP is not required if the first AP is collocated with the base station.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the additional information is obtained over a backhaul link between the first AP and the base station.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein the additional information about the first AP is obtained from a server.

38. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving a report of the first AP of the WLAN APs if measurements for the first AP are below a threshold.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein upon receiving the report for the first AP, further comprising:

transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to disassociate with the first AP.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein disassociating with the first AP comprises offloading data transmissions from the first AP to a cellular network.

41. The method of claim 24, wherein the one or more metrics comprise a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI), a basic service set (BSS) load, a channel load, or wide area network (WAN) metrics.

42. The method of claim 23, wherein the one or more WLAN APs correspond to a specific WLAN channel or a WLAN band.

43. The method of claim 23, wherein the one or more WLAN APs are identified by a service set identifier (SSID), a basic SSID (BSSID), a homogeneous extended SSID (HESSID), or 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network information.

44. The method of claim 23, wherein measurements for the first AP exceed a threshold.

45. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for receiving, from a serving base station, a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs);

means for determining one or more metrics for the WLAN APs based on the request;

means for comparing the metrics for the WLAN APs to a threshold; and

means for reporting at least a first AP of the WLAN APs.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the report comprises one or more of the metrics and an identifier of the first AP.

47. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the request to measure comprises an indication of timing of advertisements for the WLAN APs.

48. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the means for reporting further comprises:

means for reporting the UE is already connected to the first AP.

49. The apparatus of claim 45, further comprising:

means for receiving a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP upon reporting the first AP.

50. The apparatus of claim 49, further comprising means for associating with the first AP upon receiving the RRC command.

51. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the RRC command comprises an identifier of the first AP.

52. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the RRC command further comprises Internet protocol (IP) flows, bearer, or access point name (APN) traffic to offload from the cellular network to the first AP.

53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the IP flows or the APN traffic to offload are designated as one or more of seamless or non seamless connectivity.

54. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein the seamless connectivity comprises Internet protocol flow mobility (IFOM) or multi-access packet data network connectivity (MAPCON).

55. The apparatus of claim 49, further comprising means for offloading data transmissions to the first AP wherein determining which data transmissions are offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a policy from a core network (CN).

56. The apparatus of claim 45, further comprising:

means for receiving a configuration request to report additional information about the first AP upon reporting the first AP.

57. The apparatus of claim 56, wherein the means for reporting the additional information about the first AP comprises means for performing an access network query protocol (ANQP) with the first AP.

58. The apparatus of claim 45, further comprising:

means for reporting the first AP of the WLAN APs if the metrics for the first AP are below a threshold.

59. The apparatus of claim 58, further comprising:

means for receiving a radio resource control (RRC) command to disassociate with the first AP upon reporting for the first AP.

60. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein disassociating with the first AP comprises offloading data transmissions from the first AP to a cellular network.

61. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein means for determining the one or more metrics for the one or more WLAN APs comprises means for receiving information elements (IEs) in a beacon or a probe response from the WLAN APs.

62. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the one or more metrics comprise a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI), a basic service set (BSS) load, a channel load, or wide area network (WAN) metrics.

63. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the one or more WLAN APs correspond to a specific WLAN channel or a WLAN band.

64. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the one or more WLAN APs are identified by a Network Access Identifier Home Realm (NAIHR), a service set identifier (SSID), a basic SSID (BSSID), a homogeneous extended SSID (HESSID), or 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network information.

65. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the metrics for the first AP exceed the threshold.

66. The apparatus of claim 45, further comprising:

means for determining if the serving base station supports WLAN and radio access network (RAN) interworking; and

means for determining whether to access the serving base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with a WLAN AP based on the result of determining if the serving base station supports WLAN and radio access network (RAN) interworking.

67. An apparatus for wireless communications by a base station, comprising:

means for transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs); and

means for receiving a report for at least a first AP of the WLAN APs.

68. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the report comprises one or more of the metrics and an identifier of the first AP.

69. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the request to measure comprises an indication of timing of advertisements for the WLAN APs.

70. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the report comprises an indication the UE is already connected to the first AP.

71. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising:

means for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP upon receiving the report for the first AP.

72. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the RRC command comprises an identifier of the first AP.

73. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the RRC command further comprises Internet protocol (IP) flows, bearer, or access point name (APN) traffic to offload from the cellular network to the first AP.

74. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein the IP flows or the APN traffic to offload are designated as one or more of seamless or non seamless connectivity.

75. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein the seamless connectivity comprises Internet protocol flow mobility (IFOM) or multi-access packet data network connectivity (MAPCON).

76. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the transmissions offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a static policy from a core network (CN).

77. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising:

means for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload data transmissions from a serving WLAN AP to the first AP upon receiving the report for the first AP.

78. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising:

means for determining whether additional information about the first AP is required upon receiving the report for the first AP; and

means for transmitting, to the UE, a configuration request to report additional information about the first AP upon determining the additional information is required.

79. The apparatus of claim 78, wherein the additional information about the first AP is not required if the first AP is collocated with the base station.

80. The apparatus of claim 78, wherein the additional information is obtained over a backhaul link between the first AP and the base station.

81. The apparatus of claim 78, wherein the additional information about the first AP is obtained from a server.

82. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising:

means for receiving a report of the first AP of the WLAN APs if measurements for the first AP are below a threshold.

83. The apparatus of claim 82, further comprising:

means for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to disassociate with the first AP upon receiving the report for the first AP.

84. The apparatus of claim 83, wherein disassociating with the first AP comprises offloading data transmissions from the first AP to a cellular network.

85. The apparatus of claim 68, wherein the one or more metrics comprise a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI), a basic service set (BSS) load, a channel load, or wide area network (WAN) metrics.

86. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the one or more WLAN APs correspond to a specific WLAN channel or a WLAN band.

87. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the one or more WLAN APs are identified by a service set identifier (SSID), a basic SSID (BSSID), a homogeneous extended SSID (HESSID), or 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network information.

88. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein measurements for the first AP exceed a threshold.

89. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

at least one processor configured to receive, from a serving base station, a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs), determine one or more metrics for the WLAN APs based on the request, compare the metrics for the WLAN APs to a threshold, and report at least a first AP of the WLAN APs; and

a memory coupled with the at least one processor.

90. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

at least one processor configured to transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs) and receive a report for at least a first AP of the WLAN AP; and

a memory coupled with the at least one processor.

91. A computer program product for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for:

receiving, from a serving base station, a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs);

determining one or more metrics for the WLAN APs based on the request;

comparing the metrics for the WLAN APs to a threshold; and

reporting at least a first AP of the WLAN APs.

92. A computer program product for wireless communications by base station, comprising a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for:

transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs); and

receiving a report for at least a first AP of the WLAN APs.