PACKET DATA CONNECTIONS IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING A WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK

• US 20150282026A1
• Filed: 12/20/2013
• Published: 10/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Gupta, Vivek
• Granted Patent: US 11,102,689 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: H04B 7/0486 taking channel rank into account
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0626 Channel coefficients, e.g. channel state information [CSI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0632 Channel quality parameters, e.g. channel quality indicator [CQI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0053 using co-ordinated multipoint transmission/reception co-ordinated antenna or beam-forming aspects H04B7/022
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0026 Transmission of channel quality indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0057 Physical resource allocation for CQI
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/304 intercepting circuit switched data communications lawful interception of wireless network communications H04W12/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/306 intercepting packet switched data communications, e.g. Web, Internet or IMS communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0268 using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0005 Control or signalling for completing the hand-off
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0011 for data sessions of end-to-end connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0055 Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 for handling the traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 : Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 : Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0222 : in packet switched networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/0015 : one node acting as a reference for the others
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/005 : compensating for timing error by adjustment in the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/0095 : estimated based on signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 : User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 : in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 : in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 : Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 : Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 : Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 : Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/082 : for traffic bypassing of mobility servers, e.g. location registers, home PLMNs or home agents
• 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 88/08 : Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 : Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Connection control circuitry is provided for a User Equipment (UE) configurable to offload communication of packet data from a cellular radio-access network comprising a Trusted Wireless Local Access Network (TWLAN) and a Trusted Wireless Access Gateway (TWAG) with IP Address preservation. The connection control circuitry has a connection requesting module configured to send a distinguishable-connection establishment message to the TWAG, requesting setup of a TWAG-routed data connection comprising at least one of a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection and a Non-Seamless Wireless Offload (NSWO) connection. A unique virtual gateway interface address is used to identify a point-to-point link between the UE and the TWAG. This allows the TWAG to distinguish between multiple substantially simultaneous point-to-point links which support multiple substantially simultaneous packet data connections. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

Claims

1-25. -25. (canceled)

26. Connection control circuitry for a User Equipment (UE) for use in a cellular wireless communications network configurable to offload communication of packet data from a cellular radio-access network comprising an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) to a Trusted Wireless Local Access Network (TWLAN) comprising a Trusted Wireless Access Gateway (TWAG), the connection control circuitry comprising:

a connection requesting module configured to send a distinguishable-connection establishment message to the TWAG, the message requesting setup of a TWAG-routed data connection comprising at least one of a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection directed through an EPC PDN gateway and a Non-Seamless Wireless Offload (NSWO) connection directed through a non-3GPP gateway;

a connection setup module configured to receive from the TWAG, in response to the distinguishable-connection establishment message, a unique virtual gateway interface address and configured to establish a point-to-point link between the UE and the TWAG, the point-to-point link being distinguishable from any other substantially simultaneous point-to-point link between any UE and the TWAG using the corresponding unique virtual gateway interface address.

27. The connection control circuitry of claim 26, wherein the distinguishable-connection establishment message is a request message comprising at least one TWAG-routed data connection attribute selected from:

a handover indication for handover between an NSWO connection and a PDN connection;

an initial attach indication;

a choice between NSWO connection and PDN connection;

a UE-specified Access Point Name;

a Packet Data Network type;

a user plane connection identifier;

a control plane connection identifier;

a protocol configuration option; and

an indication of whether Internet protocol address preservation is required for a handover connection.

28. The connection control circuitry of claim 26, wherein the response received by the connection setup module comprises, in addition to the unique virtual gateway interface address, an Access Point name selected by the TWLAN.

29. The connection control circuitry of claim 26, wherein the unique virtual gateway interface address used by the connection setup module to identify the point-to-point link comprises one of a gateway Medium Access Control (MAC) address and a gateway Internet Protocol (IP) address.

30. The connection control circuitry of claim 26, wherein the connection setup module is configured to perform one of IPv4 address configuration and IPv6 address configuration using the unique virtual gateway interface address to form a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) request in the case of an IPv4 address configuration and to optionally form a Router Solicitation in the case of an IPv6 configuration.

31. The connection control circuitry of claim 26, wherein the connection requesting module is configured to indicate to the TWAG in the distinguishable connection establishment message that the requested connection corresponds to a 3GPP-TWAG handover between a connection with a PDN gateway established via an eNodeB and one of:

a TWAG-routed data connection comprising one of;

a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection directed through an EPC PDN gateway; and

a Non-Seamless Wireless Offload (NSWO) connection directed through a non-3GPP gateway

32. The connection control circuitry of claim 31, wherein when the 3GPP-TWAG handover indication indicates that a handover is being requested, the distinguishable connection establishment message is configured to indicate to the TWAG that an IP address assigned to the UE during the PDN connection formed via the eNodeB is to be preserved when the handover has switched the connection to the TWAG-routed PDN connection.

33. The connection control circuitry of claim 26, wherein the connection requesting module is configured to indicate to the TWAG in the distinguishable-connection establishment message that the requested connection corresponds to a further connection, to be set up to operate substantially simultaneously with a previously-established initial TWAG-routed connection.

34. The connection control circuitry of claim 26, wherein the distinguishable-connection establishment message is communicated from the UE to the TWAG as a payload of an L2 frame.

35. The connection control circuitry of claim 34, wherein the distinguishable-connection establishment message is communicated from the UE to an Access Point using one of IEEE 802.11 action frames, a Generic Advertisement protocol and a dedicated L2 frame ethertype and is communicated from the Access Point to the TWAG using the dedicated L2 frame ethertype.

36. The connection control circuitry of claim 26, wherein the distinguishable-connection control message is communicated from the UE through to the TWAG as a payload of at least one L3 frame.

37. The connection control circuitry of claim 36, wherein the L3 frame uses one of a User Datagram Protocol, Transmission Control Protocol and a Point-to-Point Protocol.

38. The connection control circuitry of claim 26, comprising a user plane connection management module configured to use the unique virtual interface gateway address used by the connection setup module to identify a point-to-point link between the UE and the TWAG, as a user plane identifier for tagging a user-plane data flow between the UE and the TWAG corresponding to the point-to-point link.

39. The connection control circuitry of claim 38, wherein the user plane connection management module comprises

a packet generating module configured to generate uplink Internet Protocol packets encapsulated in data frames for output to the TWLAN, uplink data frames having a destination address field comprising the user plane connection identifier;

a packet receiving module configured to receive from the TWLAN, downlink data frames having a source address field identifying a source of an Internet Protocol packet encapsulated in the downlink data frame, the source corresponding to one of an NSWO connection and a PDN connection.

48. A User Equipment (UE) for use in an Long Term Evolution cellular wireless communications network configurable to offload communication of packet data from a cellular radio-access network to a Trusted Wireless Local Access Network (TWLAN), the UE comprising at least one of the connection control circuitry of claim 26 and the connection attachment circuitry of claim 42.

40. In a wireless communications network capable of wireless communication using an eNodeB and capable of wireless communication using a Trusted Local Wireless Access Network having a Trusted Wireless Access Gateway, a method of transmitting multiple-connection management messages from a UE to the TWAG, the method comprising:

sending a communication setup message from the UE to the TWAG to setup one of a 3GPP TWAG connection and a non-3GPP TWAG connection;

establishing by interacting with the TWAG, a unique connection identifier for assignment to a communication path between the TWAG and the UE, the unique connection identifier being accessible to the TWAG, for uniquely distinguishing the corresponding communication path from any other potentially simultaneous communication paths between the TWAG and a UE;

attaching the UE to the TWAG via the communication path having the unique connection identifier to implement the requested TWAG connection.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the unique connection identifier comprises one of a gateway Medium Access Control (MAC) address or VLAN Id and a gateway Internet Protocol (IP) address.

45. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions configured such that when executed by processing circuitry cause the processing circuitry to implement the method of claim 40 or claim 41.

42. Connection attachment circuitry for a User Equipment (UE) for use in a wireless communications network configurable to offload communication of data from the cellular radio-access network to a Trusted Wireless Local Access Network (TWLAN) comprising a Trusted Wireless Access Gateway (TWAG), the connection attachment circuitry comprising:

a capability exchange module configured to send to the TWAG at least one UE TWLAN connection capability parameter indicating whether the UE is capable of supporting at least one of;

(i) a single-connection mode permitting a single gateway connection between the UE and the TWAG;

(ii) a multiple-connection mode permitting a plurality of substantially simultaneous gateway connections between the UE and the TWAG; and

(iii) non-seamless TWLAN offload;

a connection establishing module configured to receive from the TWAG an indication of whether the TWAG is configurable to support at least a subset of features indicated by the at least one UE TWLAN connection capability parameter and to establish a communication mode between the UE and the TWLAN depending upon the indication.

43. The connection attachment circuitry of claim 42, wherein the capability exchange module is configurable to send the at least one UE TWLAN connection capability parameter to the TWAG as part of an authentication procedure between the UE and the TWAG.

44. The connection attachment circuitry of claim 42, wherein when the UE is configured to operate in the multiple connection mode, the connection establishing module is configured to send a connection request to the TWAG specifying at least one connection attribute selected from:

(i) an attribute specifying the connection comprises a handover attachment between a 3GPP gateway and a non-3GPP gateway;

(ii) an attribute requesting a connection to a non-default Access Point Name;

(iii) an attribute specifying whether the connection is a 3GPP connection or a non-3GPP connection;

(iv) an attribute specifying a Packet Data Network Type;

(v) an attribute specifying protocol configuration options;

(vi) an attribute specifying a user plane connection identifier; and

(v) an attribute specifying a control plane connection identifier.

46. A User Equipment for use in a cellular wireless communications network configurable to offload communication of packet data from a cellular radio-access network to a Trusted Wireless Local Access Network (TWLAN) comprising a Trusted Wireless Access Gateway (TWAG), the User Equipment comprising:

a WLAN network interface card (NIC) for wireless communication with the TWLAN;

a WLAN NIC miniport configured to communicate with a PDN gateway and an NSWO gateway to exchange with the UE capabilities characteristic of a TWLAN-routed connection;

a plurality of virtual miniports corresponding to a respective plurality of substantially simultaneous TWLAN-routed connections, each connection having a unique identifier visible to the TWAG;

a simultaneous-connection driver configured to mediate access to the WLAN NIC by the plurality of virtual miniports.

47. The User Equipment of claim 46, wherein the plurality of virtual miniports are belong to a protocol layer between a TCP/IP transport layer and a layer corresponding to the simultaneous-connection driver.

49. Connection control circuitry for a User Equipment (UE) for use in a cellular wireless communications network configurable to offload communication of packet data from a cellular radio-access network comprising an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) to a Trusted Wireless Local Access Network (TWLAN) a Trusted Wireless Access Gateway (TWAG), the connection control circuitry comprising:

means for requesting a connection configured to send a distinguishable-connection establishment message to the TWAG, the message requesting setup of a TWAG-routed data connection comprising at least one of a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection directed through an EPC PDN gateway and a Non-Seamless Wireless Offload (NSWO) connection directed through a non-3GPP gateway;

means for setting up a connection configured to receive from the TWAG, in response to the distinguishable-connection establishment message, a unique virtual gateway interface address and configured to establish a point-to-point link between the UE and the TWAG, the point-to-point link being distinguishable from any other substantially simultaneous point-to-point link between the UE and the TWAG using the corresponding unique virtual gateway interface address.

50. Connection attachment circuitry for a User Equipment (UE) for use in a wireless communications network configurable to offload communication of data from the cellular radio-access network to a Trusted Wireless Local Access Network (TWLAN) comprising a Trusted Wireless Access Gateway (TWAG), the connection attachment circuitry comprising:

means for capability exchange configured to send to the TWAG at least one UE TWLAN connection capability parameter indicating whether the UE is capable of supporting at least one of;

(i) a single-connection mode permitting a single gateway connection between the UE and the TWAG;

(ii) a multiple-connection mode permitting a plurality of substantially simultaneous gateway connections between the UE and the TWAG; and

(iii) non-seamless TWLAN offload;

means for connection establishment configured to receive from the TWAG an indication of whether the TWAG is configurable to support at least a subset of features indicated by the at least one UE TWLAN connection capability parameter and to establish a communication mode between the UE and the TWLAN depending upon the indication.