ADAPTIVE SCANNING WITH MULTI-RADIO DEVICE

• US 20160219440A1
• Filed: 01/22/2015
• Published: 07/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Wang, Jibing
• Granted Patent: US 10,098,016 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• 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

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are described for adaptive scanning with a multi-radio device. A mobile device may monitor the signal quality of an established communication associated with a first radio (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio) to dynamically adapt the measurement activity (e.g., scanning periodicity) of a second radio (e.g., wireless local area network (WLAN) radio) to minimize data transmission interruption.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication at a mobile device, comprising:

determining a signal quality for at least one channel for a first radio utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT);

comparing the signal quality for the first radio with a threshold; and

adapting a scan activity of a second radio utilizing a second RAT based, at least in part, on the comparison.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting the scan activity of the second radio comprises:

increasing scan periodicity of the second radio when the signal quality for the first radio is greater than the threshold.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting the scan activity of the second radio comprises:

decreasing scan periodicity of the second radio when the signal quality for the first radio is less than or equal to the threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting the scan activity of the second radio comprises:

disabling the second radio when the signal quality for the first radio is greater than the threshold.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

interrupting a connection of the first radio based at least in part on the signal quality for the first radio; and

increasing the scan activity of the second radio upon interrupting the connection of the first radio.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a false channel quality report for the second radio based at least in part on the signal quality for the first radio;

receiving a message from a base station in response to the false channel quality report; and

decreasing the scan activity of the second radio based at least in part on the received message.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting the scan activity comprises:

adapting the scan activity based at least in part on power usage, history of signal quality, proximity of base station, or any combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first RAT comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAT and the second RAT comprises a wireless local area network (WLAN) RAT.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first RAT comprises a WLAN RAT and the second RAT comprises an LTE RAT.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

operating the first and second radio within an unlicensed spectrum.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the unlicensed spectrum comprises an Unlicensed Nation Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band.

12. An apparatus for wireless communication at a mobile device, comprising:

a signal quality detector for determining a signal quality for at least one channel for a first radio utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT);

a signal quality comparator for comparing the signal quality for the first radio with a threshold; and

an adaptive scanner for adapting a scan activity of a second radio utilizing a second RAT based at least in part on the comparison.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein adapting the scan activity of the second radio comprises:

a periodicity incrementer for increasing scan periodicity of the second radio when the signal quality for the first radio is greater than the threshold.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein adapting the scan activity of the second radio comprises:

a periodicity decrementer for decreasing scan periodicity of the second radio when the signal quality for the first radio is less than or equal to the threshold.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein adapting the scan activity of the second radio comprises:

a disabler for disabling the second radio when the signal quality for the first radio is greater than the threshold.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

an interrupter for interrupting a connection of the first radio based at least in part on the signal quality for the first radio; and

a periodicity incrementer for increasing the scan activity of the second radio upon interrupting the connection of the first radio.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

a channel quality reporter for transmitting a false channel quality report for the second radio based at least in part on the signal quality for the first radio;

a receiver for receiving a message from a base station in response to the false channel quality report; and

a periodicity decrementer for decreasing the scan activity of the second radio based at least in part on the received message.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein adapting the scan activity comprises:

adapting the scan activity based at least in part on power usage, history of signal quality, proximity of base station, or any combination thereof.

19. An apparatus for wireless communication at a mobile device, comprising:

means for determining a signal quality for at least one channel for a first radio utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT);

means for comparing the signal quality for the first radio with a threshold; and

means for adapting a scan activity of a second radio utilizing a second RAT based in at least in part on the comparison.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for adapting the scan activity of the second radio comprises:

means for increasing scan periodicity of the second radio when the signal quality for the first radio is greater than the threshold.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for adapting the scan activity of the second radio comprises:

means for decreasing scan periodicity of the second radio when the signal quality for the first radio is less than or equal to the threshold.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for adapting the scan activity of the second radio comprises:

means for disabling the second radio when the signal quality for the first radio is above the threshold.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:

means for interrupting a connection of the first radio based at least in part on the determined signal quality for the first radio; and

means for increasing the scan activity of the second radio upon interrupting the connection of the first radio.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

means for transmitting a false channel quality report for the second radio based at least in part on the determined signal quality for the first radio;

means for receiving a message from a base station in response to the false channel quality report; and

means for decreasing the scan activity of the second radio based at least in part on the received message.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for adapting the scan activity comprises:

means for adapting the scan activity based at least in part on power usage, history of signal quality, proximity of base station, or combination thereof.

26. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first RAT comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAT and the second RAT comprises a wireless local area network (WLAN) RAT.

27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first RAT comprises a WLAN RAT and the second RAT comprises an LTE RAT.

28. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

means for operating the first and second radio within an unlicensed spectrum.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the unlicensed spectrum comprises an Unlicensed Nation Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at mobile device, the code comprising instructions executable to:

determine a signal quality for at least one channel for a first radio utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT);

compare the determined signal quality for the first radio with a threshold; and

adapt a scan activity of a second radio utilizing a second RAT based at least in part on the comparison.