Traffic steering across cell-types

• US 9,374,773 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2012
• Issued: 06/21/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cui, Zhi, Brisebois, Arthur Richard, Chen, Ye, Henderson, Thomas W., Tong, Yonghui
• Primary Examiner(s): Sabouri, Mazda
• Application Number:
  US13/707,538
• Publication Number:
  US 20140162635A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,293 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point

Abstract

Concepts and technologies are described herein for traffic steering across cell-types. According to one aspect disclosed herein, a mobile device enables radio access network (“RAN”) selection across multiple cell-types, including, but not limited to, macro cells, metro cells, femto cells, pico cells, and the like, based upon network conditions, local device information, and/or other information such as policies and user profiles. The local device information can include, but is not limited to, mobility state information, performance measurement information, battery utilization information, channel quality information, and user overrides.

Claims

1. A mobile device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising

receiving a system information block comprising cell-type information of a current camping cell on which the mobile device is currently camping, first cell-type information of a first neighbor cell of a plurality of neighbor cells to the current camping cell, first cell load information of the first neighbor cell, second cell-type information of a second neighbor cell of the plurality of neighbor cells to the current camping cell, and second cell load information of the second neighbor cell, wherein the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell is different from the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell,

determining a mobility state of the mobile device,

determining, based at least upon the cell-type information of the current camping cell, the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell, the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell, and the mobility state of the mobile device, that the first neighbor cell and the second neighbor cell are both qualified to be a target camping cell for the mobile device, and

after determining that the first neighbor cell and the second neighbor cell are both qualified to be the target camping cell for the mobile device, selecting, based at least on the first cell load information of the first neighbor cell as compared with the second cell load information of the second neighbor cell, the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target camping cell for the mobile device.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the system information block comprises an existing system information block that has been modified to include the cell-type information of the current camping cell, the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell, and the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell.

3. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the system information block comprises a new system information block.

4. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving an operator policy, and wherein selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target camping cell for the mobile device is further based on the operator policy.

5. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving local device information comprising user rules associated with a user of the mobile device, wherein the user rules comprise an override selection of a particular cell-type to be selected if the particular cell-type is available, and wherein selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target camping cell for the mobile device is further based on the user rules.

6. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein:

the cell-type information of the current camping cell identifies the current camping cell as being of a macro cell-type;

the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell of the plurality of neighbor cells identifies the first neighbor cell as being of a metro cell-type;

the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell of the plurality of neighbor cells identifies the second neighbor cell as being of the macro cell-type;

the mobility state indicates that the mobile device is moving at a speed that is conducive to both the metro cell-type and the macro cell-type; and

selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target camping cell is based upon the speed of the mobile device being conducive to the metro cell-type of the first neighbor cell and the first cell load information of the first neighbor cell indicating that a first cell load of the first neighbor cell is lower, relative to a capacity of the first neighbor cell, than a second cell load of the second neighbor cell.

7. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving local device information comprising an indication of an application utilizing at least one of the processor or the memory of the mobile device, and wherein selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target camping cell for the mobile device is further based on the indication of the application utilizing the at least one of the processor or the memory of the mobile device.

8. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

generating feedback regarding a preferred cell of the plurality of neighbor cells; and

sending the feedback to the current camping cell to provide a load balancing recommendation.

9. A mobile device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising

receiving a system information block comprising cell-type information of a current serving cell to the mobile device, first cell-type information of a first neighbor cell of a plurality of neighbor cells to the current serving cell, first cell load information of the first neighbor cell, second cell-type information of a second neighbor cell of the plurality of neighbor cells to the current serving cell, and second cell load information of the second neighbor cell, wherein the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell is different from the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell,

determining a mobility state of the mobile device,

determining, based at least upon the cell-type information of the current serving cell, the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell, the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell, and the mobility state of the mobile device, that the first neighbor cell and the second neighbor cell are both qualified to be a target serving cell for the mobile device, and

after determining that the first neighbor cell and the second neighbor cell are both qualified to be the target serving cell for the mobile device, selecting, based at least on the first cell load information of the first neighbor cell as compared with the second cell load information of the second neighbor cell, the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target serving cell for the mobile device.

10. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the system information block comprises an existing system information block that has been modified to include the cell-type information of the current serving cell, the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell, and the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell.

11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the system information block comprises a new system information block.

12. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise receiving an operator policy, and wherein selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target serving cell for the mobile device is further based on the operator policy.

13. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise receiving local device information comprising user rules associated with a user of the mobile device, wherein the user rules comprise an override selection of a particular cell-type to be selected if the particular cell-type is available, and wherein selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target serving cell for the mobile device is further based on the user rules.

14. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein:

the cell-type information of the current serving cell identifies the current serving cell as being of a macro cell-type;

the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell of the plurality of neighbor cells identifies the first neighbor cell as being of a metro cell-type;

the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell of the plurality of neighbor cells identifies the second neighbor cell as being of the macro cell-type;

the mobility state indicates that the mobile device is moving at a speed that is conducive to both the metro cell-type and the macro cell-type; and

selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target serving cell is based upon the speed of the mobile device being conducive to the metro cell-type of the first neighbor cell and the first cell load information of the first neighbor cell indicating that a first cell load of the first neighbor cell is lower, relative to a capacity of the first neighbor cell, than a second cell load of the second neighbor cell.

15. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise receiving local device information comprising an indication of an application utilizing at least one of the processor or the memory of the mobile device, and wherein selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target serving cell for the mobile device is further based on the indication of the application utilizing the at least one of the processor or the memory of the mobile device.

16. A computer storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor of a mobile device, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a system information block comprising cell-type information of a current cell associated with the mobile device, first cell-type information of a first neighbor cell of a plurality of neighbor cells to the current cell, first cell load information of the first neighbor cell, second cell-type information of a second neighbor cell of the plurality of neighbor cells to the current cell, and second cell load information of the second neighbor cell, wherein the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell is different from the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell;

determining a mobility state of the mobile device, the mobility state identifying a speed at which the mobile device is moving;

determining, based at least upon the cell-type information of the current cell, the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell, the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell, and the mobility state of the mobile device that the first neighbor cell and the second neighbor cell are both qualified to be a target cell for the mobile device; and

after determining that the first neighbor cell and the second neighbor cell are both qualified to be the target cell for the mobile device, selecting, based at least on the first cell load information of the first neighbor cell as compared with the second cell load information of the second neighbor cell, the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target cell for the mobile device.

17. The computer storage medium of claim 16, wherein the system information block comprises an existing system information block that has been modified to include the cell-type information of the current cell, the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell, and the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell.

18. The computer storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise receiving local device information comprising user rules associated with a user of the mobile device, wherein the user rules comprise an override selection of a particular cell-type to be selected if the particular cell-type is available, and wherein selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target cell for the mobile device is further based on the user rules.

19. The computer storage medium of claim 16, wherein:

the cell-type information of the current cell identifies the current cell as being of a macro cell-type;

the first cell-type information of the first neighbor cell of the plurality of neighbor cells identifies the first neighbor cell as being of a metro cell-type;

the second cell-type information of the second neighbor cell of the plurality of neighbor cells identifies the second neighbor cell as being of the macro cell-type;

the speed at which the mobile device is moving is conducive to both the metro cell-type and the macro cell-type; and

selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target cell is based upon the speed at which the mobile device is moving being conducive to the metro cell-type of the first neighbor cell and the first cell load information of the first neighbor cell indicating that a first cell load of the first neighbor cell is lower, relative to a capacity of the first neighbor cell, than a second cell load of the second neighbor cell.

20. The computer storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise receiving an operator policy, and wherein selecting the first neighbor cell over the second neighbor cell as the target cell is further based upon the operator policy.