Network selection
First Claim
1. A method of selecting a network to provide wireless communication with a terminal, when a plurality of such wireless networks is available to provide the communication, the networks being operable according to different values of network operational parameters for the communication, the method comprising at the terminal:
- defining the value of at least one of the operational parameters for the communication,sending an invite to the wireless networks available for the communication inviting them to provide information about their operational parameters;
receiving responses containing said information from one or more of the wireless networks and using said information to identify at least one candidate wireless network for the communication;
referring data based on the or each response from the one or more identified candidate networks to a third party device through one of the wireless networks to obtain charge-related information for making a decision on which of the candidate wireless network to use for the communication; and
receiving the charge-related information from the third party device for making the decision.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A mobile station MS1 can communicate through a PLMN (2) and also through a number of local wireless networks e.g. WLAN (6) and WiMAX (7). When the user of MS1 wishes to run an application, for example an video player application, a suitable one of the networks is selected for the communication by obtaining data from the candidate networks using SIP INVITE messages that produce responses containing network parameter data for each of the candidate networks. The handset MS1 may also monitor local network traffic to determine network congestion and also check past history to determine whether many handovers have been made during previous sessions. The data is collated and checked with a service provider (10) so that a network selection decision can be made.
24 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of selecting a network to provide wireless communication with a terminal, when a plurality of such wireless networks is available to provide the communication, the networks being operable according to different values of network operational parameters for the communication, the method comprising at the terminal:
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defining the value of at least one of the operational parameters for the communication, sending an invite to the wireless networks available for the communication inviting them to provide information about their operational parameters; receiving responses containing said information from one or more of the wireless networks and using said information to identify at least one candidate wireless network for the communication; referring data based on the or each response from the one or more identified candidate networks to a third party device through one of the wireless networks to obtain charge-related information for making a decision on which of the candidate wireless network to use for the communication; and receiving the charge-related information from the third party device for making the decision. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A terminal to provide wireless communication with at least one of a plurality of wireless networks operable according to different values of network operational parameters for the communication, the terminal comprising:
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a processor configuration to run an application requiring a defined value of at least one of the network operational parameters for the communication; a transmitter arrangement to send signals inviting the wireless networks available for the communication to provide information about their operational parameters; a receiver arrangement to receive responses containing said information from one or more of the wireless networks and use this information to identify at least one candidate wireless network for the communication; the transmitter arrangement configured to refer data based on the or each response from the one or more identified candidate networks to a third party device through one of the wireless networks to obtain charge-related information for making a decision on which wireless network to use for the communication; and the receiver arrangement configured to receive the charge-related information from the third party device for making the decision. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A network arrangement to provide wireless communication with a terminal, the network arrangement including:
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a plurality of wireless networks configured to provide wireless communication with the terminal, the networks being configured according to different values of network operational parameters for the communication, the wireless networks being configured to provide information about their operational parameters in response to receiving an invitation from the terminal, and to send responses to the terminal containing said information from at least one of the wireless networks for comparison with a defined value of at least one of the operational parameters for the communication to identify at least one candidate wireless network for the communication, and a third party device configured to receive data based on said responses from the one or more identified candidate networks from the terminal through one of the wireless networks to obtain charge-related information for making a decision on which wireless network to use for the communication, the third party device being configured to communicate the charge-related information to the terminal for making the decision. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A third party device for use in selecting a network to provide wireless communication with a terminal, when a plurality of such wireless networks is available to provide the communication, the wireless networks being configured according to different values of network operational parameters for the communication, wherein the value of at least one of the operational parameters for the communication is defined, the wireless networks are invited by the terminal to provide responses containing information about the operational parameters of the wireless networks respectively available for the communication, for identifying at least one candidate wireless network for the communication, and data based on the or each response from the one or more identified candidate networks is referred by the terminal to the third party device through one of the wireless networks, the third party device comprising:
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an information retriever arranged to obtain charge-related information for making a decision on which wireless network to use for the communication in response to receiving said data from the terminal, and, a transmitter to communicate the charge-related information to the terminal for making the decision. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon a computer program which, when executed by data processing apparatus, causes said data processing apparatus to perform a method, the method:
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defining the value of at least one of the operational parameters for the communication, sending an invite to the networks available for the communication to invite the available networks to provide information about their operational parameters, receiving responses containing said information from at least one of the networks and using said information to identify at least one candidate network for the communication, referring data based on the or each response from the one or more identified candidate networks to a third party device through one of the networks to obtain charge-related information for making a decision on which network to use for the communication, and receiving the charge-related information from the third party device for making the decision.
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Specification