System and method of offloading traffic to a wireless local area network

• US 9,706,423 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Horn, Gavin Bernard, Meylan, Arnaud, Kapoor, Rohit
• Primary Examiner(s): Jiang, Charles C
• Assistant Examiner(s): DEFAUW, THAD N
• Application Number:
  US13/830,289
• Publication Number:
  US 20130242783A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,580 Days
• Field of Search: 370252
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0231 based on communication conditions dynamic wireless traffic scheduling definition based on channel quality criteria H04W72/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00837 Determination of triggering parameters for hand-off
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0085 Hand-off measurements
• 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 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for offloading traffic from a cellular network to a wireless local area network (WLAN) are described. One example method generally includes receiving, from a serving base station, a request to measure one or more WLAN access points (APs), determining one or more metrics for the WLAN APs, comparing the metrics for the WLAN APs to a threshold, and reporting metrics for at least a first AP of the WLAN APs if the metrics for the first AP exceed the threshold.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving, from a serving base station of a Radio Access Network (RAN), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs), wherein the request to measure comprises a measurement configuration that indicates to the UE a transmission time of a WLAN beacon relative to timing of the RAN;

determining one or more metrics for at least one of the one or more WLAN APs based on the request;

comparing the one or more metrics for the at least one of the one or more WLAN APs to a threshold;

reporting a first AP of the one or more WLAN APs based on the comparison;

receiving, based on the reporting, a command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP, wherein which data transmissions are offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a first policy from a core network (CN); and

determining, after receiving the command and based on a second policy from the core network, a type of traffic for which to access the serving base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with the first AP.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the report comprises one or more of the metrics and an identifier of the first AP.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting further comprises:

reporting the UE is already connected to the first AP.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, upon reporting the first AP, further comprising:

receiving a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload the data transmissions from the cellular network to the first AP.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, upon reporting the first AP, further comprising:

receiving a configuration request to report additional information about the first AP.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein reporting the first AP of the WLAN APs comprises:

reporting the first AP of the one or more WLAN APs if the metrics for the first AP are below the threshold.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the one or more metrics for at least one of the one or more WLAN APs comprises receiving information elements (IEs) in a beacon or a probe response from the at least one of the one or more WLAN APs.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more WLAN APs correspond to a specific WLAN channel or a WLAN band.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more WLAN APs are identified by a Network Access Identifier Home Realm (NAIHR), a service set identifier (SSID), a basic SSID (BSSID), a homogeneous extended SSID (HESSID), or 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein reporting the first AP of the one or more WLAN APs comprises:

reporting the first AP if the one or more metrics for the first AP exceed the threshold.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if the serving base station supports WLAN and radio access network (RAN) interworking; and

based upon the determination, determining whether to access the serving base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with a WLAN AP.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more metrics comprise a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI), a basic service set (BSS) load, a channel load, or wide area network (WAN) metrics.

13. The method of claim 4, further comprising associating with the first AP upon receiving the RRC command.

14. The method of claim 4, wherein the RRC command comprises an identifier of the first AP.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein the RRC command further comprises Internet protocol (IP) flows, bearer, or access point name (APN) traffic to offload from the cellular network to the first AP.

16. The method of claim 5, wherein reporting the additional information about the first AP comprises performing an access network query protocol (ANQP) with the first AP.

17. The method of claim 6, wherein upon reporting for the first AP, further comprising:

receiving a radio resource control (RRC) command to disassociate with the first AP.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the IP flows or the APN traffic to offload are designated as one or more of seamless or non seamless connectivity.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein disassociating with the first AP comprises offloading data transmissions from the first AP to a cellular network.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the seamless connectivity comprises Internet protocol flow mobility (IFOM) or multi-access packet data network connectivity (MAPCON).

21. A method for wireless communications by a base station of a Radio Access Network (RAN), comprising:

transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs), wherein the request to measure comprises a measurement configuration that indicates to the UE a transmission time of a WLAN beacon relative to timing of the RAN;

receiving a report for a first AP of the one or more WLAN APs; and

transmitting, based on the report, a command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP, wherein which data transmissions are offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a first policy from a core network (CN),

wherein a second policy from the CN indicates a type of traffic for which the UE, after receiving the command, is to access the base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with the first AP.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the report comprises one or more of the metrics and an identifier of the first AP.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the report comprises an indication the UE is already connected to the first AP.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein, upon receiving the report for the first AP, further comprising:

transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload the data transmissions from the cellular network to the first AP.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein, upon receiving the report for the first AP, further comprising:

transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload data transmissions from a serving WLAN AP to the first AP.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein, upon receiving the report for the first AP, further comprising:

determining whether additional information about the first AP is required; and

upon determining the additional information is required, transmitting, to the UE, a configuration request to report additional information about the first AP.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein receiving the report comprises:

receiving the report of the first AP of the one or more WLAN APs if measurements for the first AP are below the threshold.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more WLAN APs correspond to a specific WLAN channel or a WLAN band.

29. The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more WLAN APs are identified by a service set identifier (SSID), a basic SSID (BSSID), a homogeneous extended SSID (HESSID), or 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network information.

30. The method of claim 21, wherein receiving the report comprises:

receiving the report of the first AP of the WLAN APs if measurements for the first AP exceed a threshold.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein the one or more metrics comprise a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI), a basic service set (BSS) load, a channel load, or wide area network (WAN) metrics.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein the RRC command comprises an identifier of the first AP.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein the RRC command further comprises Internet protocol (IP) flows, bearer, or access point name (APN) traffic to offload from the cellular network to the first AP.

34. The method of claim 26, wherein the additional information about the first AP is not required if the first AP is collocated with the base station.

35. The method of claim 26, wherein the additional information is obtained over a backhaul link between the first AP and the base station.

36. The method of claim 26, wherein the additional information about the first AP is obtained from a server.

37. The method of claim 27, wherein upon receiving the report for the first AP, further comprising:

transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to disassociate with the first AP.

38. The method of claim 33, wherein the IP flows or the APN traffic to offload are designated as one or more of seamless or non seamless connectivity.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein disassociating with the first AP comprises offloading data transmissions from the first AP to a cellular network.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the seamless connectivity comprises Internet protocol flow mobility (IFOM) or multi-access packet data network connectivity (MAPCON).

41. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for receiving, from a serving base station of a Radio Access Network (RAN), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs), wherein the request to measure comprises a measurement configuration that indicates to the UE a transmission time of a WLAN beacon relative to timing of the RAN;

means for determining one or more metrics for at least one of the one or more WLAN APs based on the request;

means for comparing the metrics for the at least one of the one or more WLAN APs to a threshold;

means for reporting a first AP of the one or more WLAN APs based on the comparison;

means for receiving, based on the reporting, a command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP, wherein which data transmissions are offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a first policy from a core network (CN); and

means for determining, after receiving the command and based on a second policy from the CN, a type of traffic for which to access the serving base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with the first AP.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the report comprises one or more of the metrics and an identifier of the first AP.

43. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the means for reporting further comprises:

means for reporting the UE is already connected to the first AP.

44. The apparatus of claim 41, further comprising:

means for receiving a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload the data transmissions from the cellular network to the first AP upon reporting the first AP.

45. The apparatus of claim 41, further comprising:

means for receiving a configuration request to report additional information about the first AP upon reporting the first AP.

46. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the means for reporting is configured to:

report the first AP of the one or more WLAN APs if the metrics for the first AP are below the threshold.

47. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein means for determining the one or more metrics for the one or more WLAN APs comprises means for receiving information elements (IEs) in a beacon or a probe response from the WLAN APs.

48. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the one or more WLAN APs correspond to a specific WLAN channel or a WLAN band.

49. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the one or more WLAN APs are identified by a Network Access Identifier Home Realm (NAIHR), a service set identifier (SSID), a basic SSID (BSSID), a homogeneous extended SSID (HESSID), or 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network information.

50. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the means for reporting is configured to:

report the first AP if the metrics for the first AP exceed the threshold.

51. The apparatus of claim 41, further comprising:

means for determining if the serving base station supports WLAN and radio access network (RAN) interworking; and

means for determining whether to access the serving base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with a WLAN AP based on the result of determining if the serving base station supports WLAN and radio access network (RAN) interworking.

52. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the one or more metrics comprise a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI), a basic service set (BSS) load, a channel load, or wide area network (WAN) metrics.

53. The apparatus of claim 43, further comprising means for associating with the first AP upon receiving the RRC command.

54. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the RRC command comprises an identifier of the first AP.

55. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the RRC command further comprises Internet protocol (IP) flows, bearer, or access point name (APN) traffic to offload from the cellular network to the first AP.

56. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the means for reporting the additional information about the first AP comprises means for performing an access network query protocol (ANQP) with the first AP.

57. The apparatus of claim 46, further comprising:

means for receiving a radio resource control (RRC) command to disassociate with the first AP upon reporting for the first AP.

58. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the IP flows or the APN traffic to offload are designated as one or more of seamless or non seamless connectivity.

59. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein disassociating with the first AP comprises offloading data transmissions from the first AP to a cellular network.

60. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the seamless connectivity comprises Internet protocol flow mobility (IFOM) or multi-access packet data network connectivity (MAPCON).

61. An apparatus for wireless communications by a base station of a Radio Access Network (RAN), comprising:

means for transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs), wherein the request to measure comprises a measurement configuration that indicates to the UE a transmission time of a WLAN beacon relative to timing of the RAN;

means for receiving a report for a first AP of the one or more WLAN APs; and

means for transmitting, based on the report, a command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP, wherein which data transmissions are offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a first policy from a core network (CN),

wherein a second policy from the CN indicates a type of traffic for which the UE, after receiving the command, is to access the base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with the first AP.

62. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the report comprises one or more of the metrics and an identifier of the first AP.

63. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the report comprises an indication the UE is already connected to the first AP.

64. The apparatus of claim 61, further comprising:

means for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload the data transmissions from the cellular network to the first AP upon receiving the report for the first AP.

65. The apparatus of claim 61, further comprising:

means for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to offload data transmissions from a serving WLAN AP to the first AP upon receiving the report for the first AP.

66. The apparatus of claim 61, further comprising:

means for determining whether additional information about the first AP is required upon receiving the report for the first AP; and

means for transmitting, to the UE, a configuration request to report additional information about the first AP upon determining the additional information is required.

67. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the means for receiving is configured to:

receive the report of the first AP of the one or more WLAN APs if measurements for the first AP are below the threshold.

68. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the one or more WLAN APs correspond to a specific WLAN channel or a WLAN band.

69. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the one or more WLAN APs are identified by a service set identifier (SSID), a basic SSID (BSSID), a homogeneous extended SSID (HESSID), or 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network information.

70. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the means for receiving is configured to:

receive the report of the first AP if measurements for the first AP exceed a threshold.

71. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the one or more metrics comprise a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI), a basic service set (BSS) load, a channel load, or wide area network (WAN) metrics.

72. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the RRC command comprises an identifier of the first AP.

73. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the RRC command further comprises Internet protocol (IP) flows, bearer, or access point name (APN) traffic to offload from the cellular network to the first AP.

74. The apparatus of claim 66, wherein the additional information about the first AP is not required if the first AP is collocated with the base station.

75. The apparatus of claim 66, wherein the additional information is obtained over a backhaul link between the first AP and the base station.

76. The apparatus of claim 66, wherein the additional information about the first AP is obtained from a server.

77. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising:

means for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to disassociate with the first AP upon receiving the report for the first AP.

78. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein the IP flows or the APN traffic to offload are designated as one or more of seamless or non seamless connectivity.

79. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein disassociating with the first AP comprises offloading data transmissions from the first AP to a cellular network.

80. The apparatus of claim 78, wherein the seamless connectivity comprises Internet protocol flow mobility (IFOM) or multi-access packet data network connectivity (MAPCON).

81. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

receive, from a serving base station of a Radio Access Network (RAN), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs), wherein the request to measure comprises a measurement configuration that indicates to the UE a transmission time of a WLAN beacon relative to timing of the RAN,

determine one or more metrics for at least one of the one or more WLAN APs based on the request,

compare the one or more metrics for the at least one of the one or more WLAN APs to a threshold,

report a first AP of the one or more WLAN APs based on the comparison,

receive, based on the report, a command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP, wherein which data transmissions are offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a first policy from a core network (CN), and

determine, after receiving the command and based on a second policy from the CN, a type of traffic for which to access the serving base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with the first AP; and

a memory coupled with the at least one processor.

82. An apparatus of a Radio Access Network (RAN) for wireless communications, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs) , wherein the request to measure comprises a measurement configuration that indicates to the UE a transmission time of a WLAN beacon relative to timing of the RAN,

receive a report for a first AP of the one or more WLAN AP, and

transmit, based on the report, a command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP, wherein which data transmissions are offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a first policy from a core network (CN),

wherein a second policy from the CN indicates a type of traffic for which the UE, after receiving the command, is to access the base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with the first AP; and

a memory coupled with the at least one processor.

83. A non-transitory computer readable medium for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), the non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for:

receiving, from a serving base station of a Radio Access Network (RAN), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs), wherein the request to measure comprises a measurement configuration that indicates to the UE a transmission time of a WLAN beacon relative to timing of the RAN;

determining one or more metrics for at least one of the one or more WLAN APs based on the request;

comparing the one or more metrics for the at least one of the one or more WLAN APs to a threshold;

reporting a first AP of the one or more WLAN APs based on the comparison;

receiving, based on the reporting, a command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP, wherein which data transmissions are offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a first policy from a core network (CN); and

determining, after receiving the command and based on a second policy from the CN, a type of traffic for which to access the serving base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with the first AP.

84. A non-transitory computer readable medium for wireless communications by base station of a Radio Access Network (RAN), the non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for:

transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a request to measure one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs), wherein the request to measure comprises a measurement configuration that indicates to the UE a transmission time of a WLAN beacon relative to timing of the RAN;

receiving a report for a first AP of the one or more WLAN APs; and

transmitting, based on the report, a command to offload data transmissions from a cellular network to the first AP, wherein which data transmissions are offloaded from the cellular network to the first AP is based on a first policy from a core network (CN),

wherein a second policy from the CN indicates a type of traffic for which the UE, after receiving the command, is to access the base station before associating or exchanging transmissions with the first AP.