Dynamic RAT Selection

• US 20180092007A1
• Filed: 08/30/2017
• Published: 03/29/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Ekici, Ozgur, Shi, Jianxiong, Su, Li, Sane, Sachin J., Karri, Sai Sravan Bharadwaj
• Granted Patent: US 10,129,796 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0066 of control information between different types of networks in order to establish a new radio link in the target network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0072 of resource information of target access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0094 Definition of hand-off measurement parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0212 managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is master and terminal is slave
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/245 taking into account received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/367 Power values between minimum and maximum limits, e.g. dynamic range
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/40 during macro-diversity or soft handoff
• 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: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

According to techniques described herein, a UE (which may be link budget limited) may be connected to a network using a first RAT. The UE may be configured to determine a first resource requirement for communication on the network using the first RAT and a second resource requirement for communication on the network using a second RAT. The UE may be further configured to trigger a re-selection to the second RAT in response to the UE determining that the second RAT is preferred over the first RAT based, at least in part, on a comparison of the first and second resource requirements.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), comprising:

at least one antenna;

at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna for performing wireless cellular communications with a cellular network; and

at least one processing element coupled to the at least one radio, wherein the UE is connected to a network using a first radio access technology (RAT), wherein the UE is configured to;

determine a first resource requirement for communication on the network using the first RAT and a second resource requirement for communication on the network using a second RAT; and

trigger a re-selection to the second RAT in response to the UE determining that the second RAT is preferred over the first RAT based, at least in part, on a comparison of the first and second resource requirements.

2. The UE of claim 1,

wherein the first and second resource requirements comprise required transmit power levels.

3. The UE of claim 2,

wherein the required transmit power levels are calculated based at least in part on an application type associated with communication with the network.

4. The UE of claim 2,

wherein the required transmit power levels are calculated based at least in part on signal strengths associated with the first and second RATs.

5. The UE of claim 2,

wherein the required transmit power levels comprise an estimated energy required per byte of data communicated for each of the first and second RATs.

6. The UE of claim 1

wherein the first and second resource requirements comprise an estimated temperature response of the UE.

7. The UE of claim 6,

wherein the estimated temperature response is calculated based at least in part on a measurement of the ambient temperature.

8. The UE of claim 6,

wherein the estimated temperature response is calculated based at least in part on a measurement of the temperature of the UE.

9. A method, comprising:

by a user equipment device (UE) comprising at least one antenna, at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna for performing wireless cellular communications with a cellular network, and at least one processing element coupled to the at least one radio, wherein the UE is connected to a network using a first radio access technology (RAT), the method comprising;

determining a first resource requirement for communication on the network using the first RAT and a second resource requirement for communication on the network using a second RAT; and

triggering a re-selection to the second RAT in response to the UE determining that the second RAT is preferred over the first RAT based, at least in part, on a comparison of the first and second resource requirements.

10. The method of claim 9,

wherein the re-selection to the second RAT overwrites network settings installed on the UE for RAT selection.

11. The method of claim 9,

wherein the first and second resource requirements comprise crowd-sourced information received from the network.

12. The method of claim 11,

wherein the crowd-sourced information comprises location-assistance data.

13. The method of claim 11,

wherein the first and second resource requirements further comprise one or more of:

a remaining battery life of the UE;

RAT-specific antenna frequency attenuation; and

a maximum transmit power level of the UE.

14. The method of claim 9, the method further comprising:

based on a determination that the attempt to reselect to the second RAT has failed;

determining that the attempt to reselect to the second RAT failed due to a network failure; and

continuing communication with the network using the first RAT.

15. The method of claim 9, the method further comprising:

based on a determination that the attempt to reselect to the second RAT has failed;

incrementing a reattempt counter;

determining whether the reattempt counter exceeds a predetermined threshold;

reattempting reselection to the second RAT based on determining that the reattempt counter does not exceed the predetermined threshold; and

continuing communication with the network using the first RAT based on determining that the reattempt counter exceeds the predetermined threshold.

16. A non-volatile computer-readable medium that stores program instructions that, when executed by a processor of a user equipment device (UE), cause the UE to:

determine a first resource requirement for communication on a network using a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second resource requirement for communication on the network using a second RAT; and

trigger a re-selection to the second RAT in response to the UE determining that the second RAT is preferred over the first RAT based, at least in part, on a comparison of the first and second resource requirements.

17. The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 16,

wherein the first and second resource requirements comprise required transmit power levels;

and

wherein the required transmit power levels are calculated based at least in part on an application type associated with communication with the network.

18. The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 17,

wherein the required transmit power levels comprise an estimated energy required per byte of data communicated for each of the first and second RATs.

19. The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 16,

wherein, based on a determination that the attempt to reselect to the second RAT has failed, the program instructions are further executable to cause the UE to:

increment a reattempt counter;

determine whether the reattempt counter exceeds a predetermined threshold;

reattempt reselection to the second RAT based on determining that the reattempt counter does not exceed the predetermined threshold; and

continue communication with the network using the first RAT based on determining that the reattempt counter exceeds the predetermined threshold.

20. The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 16,

wherein the first and second resource requirements comprise a preference by an operator of the network for the first RAT over the second RAT.