Network-assisted to direct device discovery switch

• US 9,781,556 B2
• Filed: 12/26/2013
• Issued: 10/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Johnsson, Kerstin, Stojanovski, Alexandre Saso, Venkatachalam, Muthaiah
• Primary Examiner(s): Haile, Feben M
• Application Number:
  US14/141,222
• Publication Number:
  US 20140301289A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,377 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/10 Open loop power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/244 Interferences in heterogeneous networks, e.g. among macro and femto or pico cells or other sector / system interference [OSI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0473 the resource being transmission power
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Embodiments for providing network-assisted to direct device discovery switch are generally described herein. In some embodiments, location information is received at an evolved packet core (EPC) from at least a first and a second user equipment (UE). A network-assisted device-to-device (D2D) request is received from the first UE for establishing a D2D wireless connection with the second UE. Proximity of the first UE and the second UE are monitored. Before detecting the second UE being in proximity to the first UE, direct discovery is determined to be more resource efficient than continuing to provide network-assisted D2D discovery. An indication is provided to the first UE and the second UE to perform direct discovery based on information provided in the indication.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a device-to-device (D2D) wireless connection, comprising:

providing, by a first user equipment (UE), location information of the first UE to an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) of a first wireless network;

providing, by a second UE, location information of the second UE to the EPC of the first wireless network;

providing, from the first UE to the EPC, a D2D request message for establishing a network-assisted D2D wireless connection with the second UE, the D2D request message comprising a window time period within which the network-assisted D2D wireless connection is to keep attempting to be established if the second UE is out of D2D range of the first UE when the D2D request message is provided;

receiving, by the second UE, a D2D request from the EPC requesting proximity confirmation in an attempt to establish the D2D wireless connection with the first UE;

providing, from the second UE to the EPC, a D2D response message confirming proximity between the first UE and the second UE; and

receiving, by the first UE, a D2D update response message from the EPC that indicates direct discovery is more resource efficient than providing network-assisted D2D discovery, the D2D update response message comprising data indicating the first UE is to perform direct discovery of the second UE and a discovery period for establishing the D2D wireless connection,

wherein determining direct discovery is more resource efficient than providing network-assisted D2D discovery occurs before proximity between the first UE and the second UE is detected and is based on at least one of an amount of overhead involved in determining UE locations, an accuracy of location estimations, or an amount of overhead used for direct discovery.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a D2D update response message from the EPC providing information to the first UE for performing direct discovery of the second UE.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising performing direct discovery of the second UE by the first UE based on the information provided by the D2D update response message from the EPC, wherein the receiving the D2D update response message from the EPC further comprises receiving mutual identifying information for enabling the first UE and the second UE to find each other and information related to a discovery period.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the D2D request message further comprises an indication for the EPC to verify a location of one of:

a plurality of specific UEs, a plurality of specific groups of UEs or any D2D-capable UEs.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing location information of the first UE to the EPC of the first wireless network further comprises providing location information of the first UE to the EPC of a 3GPP Long Term Evolution or 3GPP Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE/LTE-A) wireless network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the D2D request message further comprises an indication for the EPC to verify a location of a specific type of UE.

7. A method performed by a network entity, comprising:

receiving location information from at least a first and a second user equipment (UE);

receiving a device-to-device (D2D) request from the first UE for establishing a network-assisted D2D wireless connection with the second UE, the D2D request message comprising a window time period within which the network-assisted D2D wireless connection is to keep attempting to be established if the second UE is out of range of the first UE when the D2D request message is provided;

providing a D2D request message to the second UE to request confirmation of an attempt to establish the D2D wireless connection with the first UE;

receiving, from the second UE, a D2D response message confirming or denying the attempt to establish the D2D wireless connection with the first UE;

determining proximity of the first UE and the second UE in response to reception of the D2D response message confirming the attempt to establish the D2D wireless connection with the first UE;

determining direct discovery is more resource efficient than providing network-assisted D2D discovery before proximity between the first UE and the second UE is detected and is based on at least one of an amount of overhead involved in determining UE locations, an accuracy of location estimations, or an amount of overhead used for direct discovery; and

providing a D2D update response message to the first UE, the D2D update response message including data indicating the first UE is to perform direct discovery of the second UE and a discovery period for establishing the D2D wireless connection.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising receiving a D2D response message from the second UE, wherein the D2D response message comprises a denial by the second UE for the network entity to attempt establishment of a D2D wireless connection.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising transmitting to the second UE the D2D update response message to inform the first UE and the second UE to engage in discovery operations, the D2D update response message comprising discovery information comprising which device identifier to look for and the discovery period to coordinate discovery timing between the first UE and the second UE.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the determining during the time period direct discovery is more resource efficient than providing network-assisted D2D discovery is further based on a number of UEs included in the received network-assisted D2D request and occurs before proximity between the first UE and the second UE is detected.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising, prior to sending the discovery information to the first UE, making a policy-based determination whether to confirm the D2D request on behalf of the second UE free from confirming the D2D request with the second UE.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising confirming whether the second UE will allow establishment of a D2D connection prior to determining the proximity of the first UE and the second UE.

13. A first user equipment (UE), comprising:

a multi-mode transceiver comprising circuitry arranged to perform a wireless communications with an evolved NodeB (eNB) and with a second UE via a device-to-device (D2D) connection, the circuitry further arranged to facilitate a D2D connection for direction communications between the first UE and a second UE, by performing operations to;

provide, by the first UE, location information of the first UE to an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) of a first wireless network;

provide, from the first UE to the EPC, a D2D request message for establishing a network-assisted D2D wireless connection with the second UE, the D2D request message comprising a window time period within which the network-assisted D2D wireless connection is to keep attempting to be established if the second UE is out of D2D range of the first UE when the D2D request message is provided; and

receive, by the first UE, a D2D update response message from the EPC that indicates direct discovery is more resource efficient than providing network-assisted D2D discovery, the D2D update response message comprising data indicating the first UE is to perform direct discovery of the second UE and a discovery period for establishing the D2D wireless connection,

wherein the D2D update response message is received from the EPC after location information and a D2D response message confirming proximity between the first UE and the second UE is received at the EPC from the second UE, the D2D response message received in response to a D2D request message transmitted from the EPC to the second UE for requesting proximity confirmation in attempting to establish the D2D wireless connection with the first UE;

wherein determining direct discovery is more resource efficient than providing network-assisted D2D discovery occurs before proximity between the first UE and the second UE is detected and is based on at least one of an amount of overhead involved in determining UE locations, an accuracy of location estimations, or an amount of overhead used for direct discovery.

14. The user equipment of claim 13, wherein the D2D update response message from the EPC further comprises information for performing direct discovery of the second UE.

15. The user equipment of claim 13, further comprising performing direct discovery of the second UE by the first UE based on the information provided by the D2D update response message from the EPC.

16. The user equipment of claim 14, wherein the receiving the D2D update response message from the EPC further comprises receiving mutual identifying information for enabling the first UE and the second UE to find each other and information related to the discovery period.

17. The user equipment of claim 13, wherein the providing location information of the first UE to the EPC of the first wireless network further comprises providing location information of the UE to the EPC of a 3GPP Long Term Evolution or 3GPP Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE/LTE-A) wireless network.

18. An evolved packet core (EPC), comprising:

components for providing communications on a wireless network, the components arranged to operate processing components to establish a network communication link between a first user equipment (UE) and a second UE via one or more evolved Node Bs (eNODEBs), and the components arranged to facilitated an establishment of a device-to-device communication link between the first UE and a second UE over a second wireless network, by performing operations to;

receive location information from at least the first UE and the second UE;

receive a device-to-device (D2D) request from the first UE for establishing a network-assisted D2D wireless connection with the second UE, the D2D request message comprising a window time period within which the network-assisted D2D wireless connection is to keep attempting to be established if the second UE is out of range of the first UE when the D2D request message is provided;

provide a D2D request message to the second UE for requesting proximity confirmation in an attempt to establish the D2D wireless connection with the first UE;

receive a D2D response message from the second UE confirming or denying the attempt to establish the D2D wireless connection with the first UE;

determine proximity of the first UE and the second UE in response to reception of the D2D response message confirming the attempt to establish the wireless connection;

determine direct discovery is more resource efficient than providing network-assisted D2D discovery before proximity between the first UE and the second UE is detected and is based on at least one of an amount of overhead involved in determining UE locations, an accuracy of location estimations, or an amount of overhead used for direct discovery; and

provide a D2D update response message to the first UE, the D2D update response message including data indicating the first UE is to perform direct discovery of the second UE and a discovery period for establishing the D2D wireless connection.

19. The evolved packet core of claim 18, wherein the D2D response message comprises a denial by the second UE for the EPC to attempt establishment of a the D2D connection.

20. The evolved packet core of claim 18, wherein the components are further arranged to determine direct discovery is more resource efficient than providing network-assisted D2D discovery based on a number of UEs included in the received network-assisted D2D request.

21. The evolved packet core of claim 18, wherein the components are further arranged to operate processing components of a 3GPP Long Term Evolution or 3GPP Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE/LTE-A) wireless network.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising contents that, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform the operations to:

provide, by a first user equipment (UE), location information of the first UE to an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) of a first wireless network;

provide, from the first UE to the EPC, a D2D request message for establishing a network-assisted D2D wireless connection with the second UE, the D2D request message comprising a window time period within which the network-assisted D2D wireless connection is to keep attempting to be established if the second UE is out of D2D range of the first UE when the D2D request message is provided;

receive, by the first UE, a D2D update response message from the EPC determining that direct discovery is more resource efficient than providing network-assisted D2D discovery, the D2D update response message comprising data indicating the first UE is to perform direct discovery of the second UE and a discovery period for establishing the D2D wireless connection,

wherein the D2D update response message is received from the EPC after location information and a D2D response message confirming proximity between the first UE and the second UE is received at the EPC from the second UE, the D2D response message received in response to a D2D request message transmitted from the EPC to the second UE for requesting proximity confirmation in attempting to establish the D2D wireless connection with the first UE,

wherein determining direct discovery is more resource efficient than providing network-assisted D2D discovery occurs before proximity between the first UE and the second UE is detected and is based on at least one of an amount of overhead involved in determining UE locations, an accuracy of location estimations, or an amount of overhead used for direct discovery.

23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the D2D update response message from the EPC further comprises information for enabling the first UE to find the second UE and information related to the discovery period.