System and method for WiFi offload
First Claim
1. A method for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the method comprising:
- determining, by a WiFi network component, whether to send over a cellular air interface a packet designated for a WiFi network according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprise at least one of;
sending the packet over the cellular air interface only when the packet is a control or management packet, and sending the packet over the cellular air interface only when a destination address of the packet is a broadcast address; and
upon determining to send the packet using the cellular air interface, sending, by the WiFi network component, the packet to a cellular network component.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments are provided for enabling WiFi offload by integrating the WiFi and cellular networks operations at a radio access network level. The embodiments include a WiFi network component configured to determine whether to send over a cellular air interface a packet designated for WiFi according to a predefined rule. If the rule is met, the WiFi network component sends the packet to a cellular network component over the cellular air interface. The cellular network component is configured to process the received packet for cellular transmission, and transmit the packet using the cellular air interface to a receiver device. The predefined rule comprises at least one of sending the packet using the cellular air interface if the packet belongs to a predefined packet type, if the packet has a size below a predefined threshold size, and if the nature of the destination address for the packet is a broadcast address.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the method comprising:
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determining, by a WiFi network component, whether to send over a cellular air interface a packet designated for a WiFi network according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprise at least one of;
sending the packet over the cellular air interface only when the packet is a control or management packet, and sending the packet over the cellular air interface only when a destination address of the packet is a broadcast address; andupon determining to send the packet using the cellular air interface, sending, by the WiFi network component, the packet to a cellular network component. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A WiFi network component configured for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the WiFi network component comprising:
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at least one processor; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions to; determine whether to send over a cellular air interface a packet designated for a WiFi network according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprise at least one of;
sending the packet over the cellular air interface only when the packet is a control or management packet, and sending the packet over the cellular air interface only when a destination address of the packet is a broadcast address; andupon determining to send the packet using the cellular air interface, send the packet to a cellular network component over the cellular air interface. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the method comprising:
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receiving, by a cellular network component, a packet offloaded from a WiFi network component, wherein the packet is a control or management packet; adding a radio link control (RLC) header to the packet, wherein the header contains information indicating that the packet is designated for a WiFi network; and transmitting the packet with the header using a cellular air interface to a second cellular network component.
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10. A cellular network component configured for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the cellular network component comprising:
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at least one processor; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions to; receive a packet offloaded from a WiFi network component, wherein the packet is a control or management packet; adding a radio link control (RLC) header to the packet, wherein the header contains information indicating that the packet is designated for a WiFi network; and transmit the packet with the header using a cellular air interface to a second cellular network component. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the method comprising:
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receiving, by a cellular network component, a packet with a radio link control (RLC) header from a second cellular network component over a cellular air interface, the packet offloaded from a WiFi network component to the second cellular network component, wherein the packet is a control or management packet, and the header contains information indicating that the packet is for a WiFi network; determining that the packet is designated for the WiFi network; removing the RLC header from the packet; and forwarding the packet to a second WiFi network component.
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16. A cellular network component configured for handling WiFi offload in WiFi and cellular networks, the cellular network component comprising:
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at least one processor; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions to; receive a packet with a radio link control (RLC) header from a second cellular network component over a cellular air interface, the packet offloaded from a WiFi network component to the second cellular network component, wherein the packet is a control or management packet, and the header contains information indicating that the packet is for a WiFi network; determine that the packet is designated for the WiFi network; removing the RLC header from the packet; and forward the packet to a second WiFi network component. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification