System and Method for WiFi Offload

• US 20140126360A1
• Filed: 11/04/2013
• Published: 05/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Rong, Zhigang, Kwon, Younghoon, Yang, Yunsong
• Granted Patent: US 9,232,434 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0289 Congestion control load shedding arrangements in network planning H04W16/08; performing reselection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0865 of different Radio Access Technologies [RATs], e.g. LTE or WiFi
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

Embodiments are provided for enabling WiFi offload by integrating the WiFi and cellular networks operations at a radio access network level. The embodiments include a WiFi network component configured to determine whether to send over a cellular air interface a packet designated for WiFi according to a predefined rule. If the rule is met, the WiFi network component sends the packet to a cellular network component over the cellular air interface. The cellular network component is configured to process the received packet for cellular transmission, and transmit the packet using the cellular air interface to a receiver device. The predefined rule comprises at least one of sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet belongs to a predefined packet type, if the packet has a size below a predefined threshold size, and if the nature of the destination address for the packet is a broadcast address.

Claims

1. A method for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the method comprising:

determining, at a WiFi network component, whether to send over a cellular air interface a packet designated for WiFi according to a predefined rule including at least one of a type of the packet, a size of the packet, and a nature of a destination address for the packet; and

upon determining to send the packet using the cellular air interface, sending the packet to a cellular network component.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending the packet over a WiFi link to a second WiFi network component upon determining that the predefine rule is not met.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined rule is to send the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet belongs to a predefined packet type.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the predefined packet type is a control or management packet type.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined rule is to send the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet has a size below a predefined threshold size.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined rule is to send the packet using the cellular air interface if the nature of the destination address for the packet is a broadcast address.

7. A WiFi network component configured for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the WiFi network component comprising:

at least one processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions to;

determine whether to send over a cellular air interface a packet designated for WiFi according to a predefined rule including at least one of a type of the packet, a size of the packet, and a nature of a destination address for the packet; and

upon determining to send the packet using the cellular air interface, send the packet to a cellular network component over the cellular air interface.

8. The WiFi network component of claim 7, wherein the programming includes further instructions to send the packet over a WiFi link to a second WiFi network component upon determining that the predefine rule is not met.

9. The WiFi network component of claim 7, wherein the predefined rule comprises at least one of sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet belongs to a predefined packet type, sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet has a size below a predefined threshold size, and sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the nature of the destination address for the packet is a broadcast address.

10. The WiFi network component of claim 7, wherein the WiFi network component is an access point for a WiFi network, and wherein the cellular network component is a base station for a cellular network.

11. The WiFi network component of claim 10, wherein the access point and the base station are collocated in a same area.

12. The WiFi network component of claim 10, wherein the access point and the base station are coupled to each other via a high speed connection which ensures forwarding the packet at a speed that meets a quality of service (QoS) requirement.

13. The WiFi network component of claim 7, wherein the WiFi network component is a station entity in a user communication device, the station entity configured for transmitting and receiving data over a WiFi link, and wherein the cellular network component is a user equipment (UE) entity in the user communication device, the UE entity configured for transmitting and receiving data over the cellular air interface.

14. A method for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the method comprising:

receiving, at a cellular network component, a packet from a WiFi network component, the packet offloaded from the WiFi network component according to a predefined rule including at least one of a type of the packet, a size of the packet, and a nature of a destination address for the packet;

processing the packet for cellular transmission; and

transmitting the packet using a cellular air interface to a second cellular network component.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the predefined rule comprises at least one of sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet belongs to a predefined packet type, sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet has a size below a predefined threshold size, and sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the nature of the destination address for the packet is a broadcast address.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein processing the packet for cellular transmission includes adding a protocol layer header to the packet comprising information indicating that the packet is for WiFi transmission.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the packet is a control or management packet, and wherein the protocol layer header is a radio link control (RLC) header.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein processing the packet for cellular transmission includes removing at least one of a destination address of the packet and other unnecessary data to reduce overhead for transmitting the packet.

19. A cellular network component configured for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the cellular network component comprising:

at least one processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions to;

receive a packet from a WiFi network component, the packet offloaded from the WiFi network component according to a predefined rule including at least one of a type of the packet, a size of the packet, and a nature of a destination address for the packet;

process the packet for cellular transmission; and

transmit the packet using a cellular air interface to a second cellular network component.

20. The cellular network component of claim 19, wherein the predefined rule comprises at least one of sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet belongs to a predefined packet type, sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet has a size below a predefined threshold size, and sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the nature of the destination address for the packet is a broadcast address.

21. The cellular network component of claim 19, wherein the cellular network component is a base station for a cellular network, and wherein the WiFi network component is an access point for a WiFi network.

22. The cellular network component of claim 21, wherein the base station and the access point are collocated in a same area.

23. The cellular network component of claim 21, wherein the base station and the access point are coupled to each other via a high speed connection which ensures forwarding the packet at a speed that meets a quality of service (QoS) requirement.

24. The cellular network component of claim 19, wherein the cellular network component is a user equipment (UE) entity in a user communication device, the UE entity configured for transmitting and receiving data over the cellular air interface, and wherein the WiFi network component is a station entity in the user communication device, the station entity configured for transmitting and receiving data over a WiFi link.

25. A method for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the method comprising:

receiving, at a cellular network component, a packet from a second cellular network component over a cellular air interface, the packet offloaded from a WiFi network component to the second cellular network component according to a predefined rule including at least one of a type of the packet, a size of the packet, and a nature of a destination address for the packet;

determining that the packet is designated for WiFi reception;

processing the packet for WiFi reception; and

forwarding the packet to a second WiFi network component.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the predefined rule comprises at least one of sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet belongs to a predefined packet type, sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet has a size below a predefined threshold size, and sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the nature of the destination address for the packet is a broadcast address.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein processing the packet for WiFi reception includes removing a protocol layer header from the packet comprising information indicating that the packet is for WiFi reception.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the packet is a control or management packet, and wherein the protocol layer header is a radio link control (RLC) header.

29. A cellular network component configured for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the cellular network component comprising:

at least one processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions to;

receive a packet from a second cellular network component over a cellular air interface, the packet offloaded from a WiFi network component to the second cellular network component according to a predefined rule including at least one of a type of the packet, a size of the packet, and a nature of a destination address for the packet;

determine that the packet is designated for WiFi reception;

process the packet for WiFi reception; and

forward the packet to a second WiFi network component.

30. The cellular network component of claim 29, wherein the predefined rule comprises at least one of sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet belongs to a predefined packet type, sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet has a size below a predefined threshold size, and sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the nature of the destination address for the packet is a broadcast address.

31. The cellular network component of claim 29, wherein the cellular network component is a base station for a cellular network, and wherein the WiFi network component is an access point for a WiFi network.

32. The cellular network component of claim 31, wherein the base station and the access point are collocated in a same area.

33. The cellular network component of claim 31, wherein the base station and the access point are coupled to each other via a high speed connection which ensures forwarding the packet at a speed that meets a quality of service (QoS) requirement.

34. The cellular network component of claim 29, wherein the cellular network component is a user equipment (UE) entity in a user communication device, the UE entity configured for transmitting and receiving data over a cellular air interface, and wherein the WiFi network component is a station entity in the user communication device, the station entity configured for transmitting and receiving data over a WiFi link.