TECHNIQUES FOR DYNAMICALLY SPLITTING BEARERS BETWEEN VARIOUS RADIO ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES (RATs)

• US 20150189551A1
• Filed: 12/19/2014
• Published: 07/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: OZTURK, Ozcan, GUPTA, Ajay, HORN, Gavin Bernard, WEI, Yongbin
• Granted Patent: US 9,918,251 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/024 Co-operative use of antennas of several sites, e.g. in co-ordinated multipoint or co-operative multiple-input multiple-output [MIMO] systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0273 adapting protocols for flow control or congestion control to wireless environment, e.g. adapting transmission control protocol [TCP] wireless network protocols or protocol adaptations to wireless operation, e.g. wireless application protocol H04W80/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/08 Load balancing or load distribution transferring a connection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/082 among bearers or channels
• 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

A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. The apparatus determines a first fractional amount of a first data flow to be served to a UE via a first communication link using a first radio access technology (RAT), determines a second fractional amount of the first data flow to be served to the UE via a second communication link using a second RAT, and serves the first fractional amount of the first data flow to the UE using the first communication link.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

determining a first fractional amount of a first data flow to be served to a user equipment (UE) via a first communication link using a first radio access technology (RAT);

determining a second fractional amount of the first data flow to be served to the UE via a second communication link using a second RAT; and

serving the first fractional amount of the first data flow to the UE using the first communication link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first fractional amount of the first data flow or the second fractional amount of the first data flow is determined based on a configuration or an optimization function.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the optimization function is based on at least one of:

an assignment of data flows to a communication link,

a channel condition of each of the first RAT and the second RAT,

a traffic condition of each of the first RAT and the second RAT,

a resource of the first RAT and the second RAT,

a channel load of the first communication link and the second communication link, or

a difference between data rates and latencies on the first communication link and the second communication link.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending and receiving control information for the first data flow to and from the UE via the first communication link using the first RAT, or

sending and receiving the control information for the first data flow to and from the UE via the second communication link using the second RAT.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the control information comprises at least one of radio resource control (RRC) messages for configuration of fractional transmissions on each of the first and second communication links, radio link control (RLC) messages, and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) status messages.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving feedback information for the first data flow from the UE via the first communication link using the first RAT,

receiving the feedback information for the first data flow from the UE via the second communication link using the second RAT, or

receiving the feedback information for the first data flow from the second RAT.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the feedback information comprises at least one feedback message containing UE measurements and second RAT measurements.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second fractional amounts of the first data flow are based on an optimization of a system utility, which may use proportional fairness between bearers.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a third fractional amount of a second data flow to be sent by the UE via the first communication link using the first RAT;

determining a fourth fractional amount of the second data flow to be sent by the UE via the second communication link using the second RAT; and

receiving the third fractional amount of the second data flow from the UE via the first communication link.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first data flow comprises downlink traffic and the second data flow comprises uplink traffic.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining whether a channel quality is below a threshold; and

updating the determined first, second, third and fourth fractional amounts when the channel quality is below the threshold.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising periodically evaluating the determination of the first and second fractional amounts of the first data flow.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising periodically evaluating the determination of the third and fourth fractional amounts of the second data flow.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein evaluating the determination of the first and second fractional amounts of the first data flow, and the third and fourth fractional amounts of the second data flow comprises at least one of:

optimizing a difference of effective data rates and latencies between the first and second RATs for a bearer served on both the first and second communication links,

refraining from applying the determined first and second fractional amounts of the first data flow or the determined third and fourth fractional amounts of the second data flow when a prohibit timer is running, or

refraining from applying the determined first and second fractional amounts of the first data flow and refraining from applying the determined third and fourth fractional amounts of the second data flow when a number of fractional allocation changes for a data flow exceeds a threshold within a certain time.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising transmitting a message to the UE, wherein the message configures the UE to send the third fractional amount of the second data flow via the first communication link using the first RAT and to send the fourth fractional amount of the second data flow via the second communication link using the second RAT.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising implementing the determined first and second fractional amounts of the first data flow and the determined third and fourth fractional amounts of the second data flow based on token bucket mechanisms maintained for the first and second communication links or based on a fraction probability.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first fractional amount of the first data flow or determining the second fractional amount of the first data flow is based at least in part on a report from the UE.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first fractional amount of the first data flow or determining the second fractional amount of the first data flow is performed dynamically for a period of time or based at least in part on a reception of a report from the UE.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the first fractional amount of the first data flow is one and the determination of the second fractional amount of the first data flow is zero when a channel quality of the second communication link is below a threshold or when a lowest modulation and coding scheme (MCS) cannot be selected for the second communication link.

20. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for determining a first fractional amount of a first data flow to be served to a user equipment (UE) via a first communication link using a first radio access technology (RAT);

means for determining a second fractional amount of the first data flow to be served to the UE via a second communication link using a second RAT; and

means for serving the first fractional amount of the first data flow to the UE using the first communication link.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein at least one of the first fractional amount of the first data flow or the second fractional amount of the first data flow is determined based on:

a configuration, or

an optimization function based on at least one of;

an assignment of data flows to a communication link,

a channel condition of each of the first RAT and the second RAT,

a traffic condition of each of the first RAT and the second RAT,

a resource of the first RAT and the second RAT,

a channel load of the first communication link and the second communication link, or

a difference between data rates and latencies on the first communication link and the second communication link.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

means for sending and receiving control information for the first data flow to and from the UE via the first communication link using the first RAT, or

means for sending and receiving the control information for the first data flow to and from the UE via the second communication link using the second RAT.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

means for receiving feedback information for the first data flow from the UE via the first communication link using the first RAT,

means for receiving feedback information for the first data flow from the UE via the second communication link using the second RAT, or

means for receiving feedback information for the first data flow from the second RAT.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

means for determining a third fractional amount of a second data flow to be sent by the UE via the first communication link using the first RAT;

means for determining a fourth fractional amount of the second data flow to be sent by the UE via the second communication link using the second RAT; and

means for receiving the third fractional amount of the second data flow from the UE via the first communication link.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising:

means for determining whether a channel quality is below a threshold; and

means for updating the determined first, second, third and fourth fractional amounts when the channel quality is below the threshold.

26. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for periodically evaluating the determination of the first and second fractional amounts of the first data flow.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for transmitting a message to the UE, wherein the message configures the UE to send the third fractional amount of the second data flow via the first communication link using the first RAT and to send the fourth fractional amount of the second data flow via the second communication link using the second RAT.

28. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for implementing the determined first and second fractional amounts of the first data flow and the determined third and fourth fractional amounts of the second data flow based on token bucket mechanisms maintained for the first and second communication links or based on a fraction probability.

29. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to;

determine a first fractional amount of a first data flow to be served to a user equipment (UE) via a first communication link using a first radio access technology (RAT);

determine a second fractional amount of the first data flow to be served to the UE via a second communication link using a second RAT; and

serve the first fractional amount of the first data flow to the UE using the first communication link.

30. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising code for;

determining a first fractional amount of a first data flow to be served to a user equipment (UE) via a first communication link using a first radio access technology (RAT);

determining a second fractional amount of the first data flow to be served to the UE via a second communication link using a second RAT; and

serving the first fractional amount of the first data flow to the UE using the first communication link.