Synthetic transaction for wireless handover

• US 9,730,133 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2015
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Hassan, Amer Aref
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, ANH NGOC M
• Application Number:
  US14/713,761
• Publication Number:
  US 20160337927A1
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0016 Hand-off preparation specially adapted for end-to-end data sessions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/165 for reducing network power consumption H04W36/18 - H04W36/22 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/30 by measured or perceived connection quality data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/02 Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]

Abstract

Techniques for synthetic transaction for wireless handover are described. According to various embodiments, a synthetic transaction is utilized to determine a signal quality of a wireless network. Based on the signal quality, a decision is made whether to perform a handover of a communication session to a wireless network.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

one or more computer-readable storage media including instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by the at least one processor, cause the system perform operations including;

determining while a communication session is in progress over a first wireless network that a second wireless network is available;

ascertaining whether the second wireless network is a known trusted network;

responsive to ascertaining that the second wireless network is not a known trusted network, initiating a synthetic transaction over the second wireless network while maintaining a connection to the first wireless network;

ascertaining based on a signal quality detected for the synthetic transaction that the second wireless network complies with a signal quality threshold for allowing a handover of the communication session to the second wireless network; and

causing the handover of the communication session to the second wireless network to be performed.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the first wireless network comprises a wireless cellular network, and wherein the second wireless network comprises a local area network.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the synthetic transaction comprises an exchange of communication media over the second wireless network while the communication session is in progress over the first wireless network.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the synthetic transaction simulates an exchange of communication media over the second wireless network.

5. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the synthetic transaction simulates at least a portion of a real-time communication session.

6. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the synthetic transaction is performed with a remote entity, and wherein an indication of the signal quality for the synthetic transaction is received from the remote entity.

7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the signal quality threshold is based on a threshold number of errors detected in a signal flow, and wherein said ascertaining comprises ascertaining that the signal quality for the synthetic transaction does not exceed the threshold number of errors.

8. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the signal quality threshold is based on a signal quality detected for the communication session across the first wireless network, and wherein said ascertaining comprises ascertaining that the signal quality for the synthetic transaction at least meets the signal quality of the communication session across the first wireless network.

9. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the operations further include, prior to initiating the synthetic transaction, establishing a virtual connection to the second wireless network while the communication session is in progress over the first wireless network.

10. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the operations further include, after the handover of the communication session to the second wireless network:

detecting that one or more additional wireless networks are available while the communication session is in progress over the second wireless network;

initiating one or more synthetic transactions over the one or more additional wireless networks and while the communication session is in progress over the second wireless network; and

ascertaining whether to perform a handover to a particular wireless network of the one or more additional wireless networks based on a signal quality detected for the one or more synthetic transactions.

11. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the operations further include maintaining a connection to the first wireless network for period of time after the handover of the communication session to the second wireless network.

12. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the operations further include, after the handover of the communication session to the second wireless network:

ascertaining a signal quality for the communication session over the second wireless network; and

updating an entry for the second wireless network in a network database to indicate the signal quality for the communication session over the second wireless network.

20. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the operations further include, causing a database of known trusted networks to be updated to include the second wireless network.

13. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining while a communication session is in progress over a first wireless network that a second wireless network is available;

establishing a virtual connection to the second wireless network while the communication session is in progress over the first wireless network;

initiating a synthetic transaction over the virtual connection to the second wireless network while maintaining a connection to the first wireless network; and

ascertaining whether to perform a handover of the communication session to the second wireless network based on a signal quality detected for the synthetic transaction.

14. The method as described in claim 13, wherein said initiating comprises initiating the synthetic transaction over the second wireless network while the communication session is in progress over the first wireless network.

15. The method as described in claim 13, wherein said ascertaining comprises ascertaining that the signal quality detected for the synthetic transaction does not meet a signal quality threshold to perform the handover, and wherein the method further comprises maintaining the communication session over the first wireless network.

16. The method as described in claim 13, wherein said ascertaining comprises ascertaining that the signal quality detected for the synthetic transaction does not meet a signal quality threshold to perform the handover, and wherein the method further comprises:

presenting a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes a first selectable option that is selectable to cause the handover to the second wireless network to be performed, and a second selectable option that is selectable to maintain the communication session over the first wireless network; and

ascertaining whether to initiate the handover of the communication session to the second wireless network based on which of the first selectable option or the second selectable option is selected.

17. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining while a communication session is in progress over a first wireless network that a second wireless network is available;

ascertaining whether the second wireless network is a known trusted network;

in an event that the second wireless network is ascertained to be a known trusted network, initiating a handover procedure to handover the communication session the second wireless network; and

in an event that the second wireless network is not ascertained to be a known trusted network, performing a synthetic transaction for detecting whether the second wireless network meets a threshold signal quality for performing a handover of the communication session to the second wireless network.

18. The method as described in claim 17, wherein in an event that the second wireless network is ascertained to be a known trusted network, said initiating is performed without performing a synthetic transaction over the second wireless network.

19. The method as described in claim 17, wherein said ascertaining comprises comparing the second wireless network to a ranked list of known trusted wireless networks, and wherein the method further comprises determining that the second wireless network is a highest ranked known trusted wireless network that is available for the handover of the communication session.