RELATING TO INTERWORKING BETWEEN CELLULAR AND WLAN NETWORKS

• US 20170331569A1
• Filed: 05/12/2017
• Published: 11/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Van Der Velde, Himke, Van Lieshout, Gert-Jan, Jang, Jaehyuk
• Granted Patent: US 10,742,335 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/382 for resource allocation, admission control or handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/1446 wherein at least one of the networks is unlicensed
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/12 Access point controller devices

Abstract

A method of operating a mobile terminal in a mobile communications network comprising a core network and a base station, wherein the mobile terminal is capable of transmitting data to and receiving data from the core network via the mobile base station or via a WLAN includes in the event that the WLAN becomes unavailable, reporting the WLAN unavailability to the mobile communications network, and detecting the WLAN becoming available again, and notifying the mobile communications network. A mobile terminal includes a transceiver configured to transmit data to and receive data from the core network via the mobile base station or via a WLAN, a controller configured to in the event that the WLAN becomes unavailable, report the WLAN unavailability to the mobile communications network via the transceiver, and detect the WLAN becoming available again, and notify the mobile communications network.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring network status by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

transmitting, to a first network, a connection status report indicating that a second network is unavailable, if a connection to the second network included in a mobility set fails; and

removing first measurement information associated with the second network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the first measurement information comprises removing measurement reporting entries associated with the second network within a list.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, to the first network, a measurement report including second measurement information associated with the second network, if the second network becomes available after removing the first measurement information associated with the second network.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, to the first network, a connection status report indicating that the second network is available, if the second network becomes available after removing the first measurement information associated with the second network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network is an evolved universal terrestrial access network (E-UTRAN) and the second network is a wireless local area network (WLAN).

6. A method for receiving a network status by a first network, the method comprising:

receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a connection status report indicating that a second network is unavailable, if a connection to the second network included in a mobility set fails; and

transmitting, to the UE, a message associated with releasing offloading configuration for the second network,

wherein first measurement information associated with the second network is removed.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, from the UE, a measurement report including second measurement information associated with the second network, if the second network becomes available after the first measurement information associated with the second network is removed.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, from the UE, a connection status report indicating that the second network is available, if the second network becomes available after the first measurement information associated with the second network is removed.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the first network is an evolved universal terrestrial access network(E-UTRAN) and the second network is a wireless local area network(WLAN).

10. A user equipment (UE) for monitoring network status, the UE comprising:

a transceiver configured to transmit and receive a signal; and

a controller configured to transmit, to a first network, a connection status report indicating that a second network is unavailable, if a connection to the second network included in a mobility set fails, and remove first measurement information associated with the second network.

11. The UE of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to remove measurement reporting entries associated with the second network within a list.

12. The UE of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to:

transmit, to the first network, a measurement report including second measurement information associated with the second network, if the second network becomes available after removing the first measurement information associated with the second network.

13. The UE of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to:

transmit, to the first network, a connection status report indicating that the second network is available, if the second network becomes available after removing the first measurement information associated with the second network.

14. The UE of claim 10, wherein the first network is an evolved universal terrestrial access network (E-UTRAN) and the second network is a wireless local area network (WLAN).

15. A first network for receiving a network status, the first network comprising:

a transceiver configured to transmit and receive a signal; and

a controller configured to receive, from a user equipment (UE), a connection status report indicating that a second network is unavailable, if a connection to the second network included in a mobility set fails, and transmit, to the UE, a message associated with releasing offloading configuration for the second network,

wherein first measurement information associated with the second network is removed.

16. The first network of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to:

receive, from the UE, a measurement report including second measurement information associated with the second network, if the second network becomes available after the first measurement information associated with the second network is removed.

17. The first network of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to:

receive, from the UE, a connection status report indicating that the second network is available, if the second network becomes available after the first measurement information associated with the second network is removed.

18. The first network of claim 15, wherein the first network is an evolved universal terrestrial access network (E-UTRAN) and the second network is a wireless local area network (WLAN).