Method and system for maintaining device service in a network

• US 9,794,416 B1
• Filed: 09/04/2015
• Issued: 10/17/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Oroskar, Siddharth S., Singh, Jasinder P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jiang, Charles C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lin, Will
• Application Number:
  US14/845,598
• Time in Patent Office: 774 Days
• Field of Search: 370329, 370230, 370331
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0022 for transferring data sessions between adjacent core network technologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00226 wherein the core network technologies comprise IP multimedia system [IMS], e.g. single radio voice call continuity [SRVCC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a method and corresponding system for managing communication in a first network, where the first network is interconnected with a fallback network. The first network may detect, when a user equipment device (UE) served by a base station of the first network seeks to initiate a voice call, the UE will transition from being served by the first network to be served by the fallback network in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback network rather than initiate the voice call via the first network. In response to detecting this, and further in response to the base station not supporting signaling between the UE and the fallback network, the first network may cause the UE to not transition to be served by the fallback network and to instead stay served by the base station.

Claims

1. In a first radio access network (RAN) comprising a plurality of base stations each configured to provide a respective coverage area in which to serve user equipment devices (UEs) according to a first air interface protocol, wherein the first RAN is interconnected with a fallback RAN configured to serve UEs according to a second air interface protocol, a method comprising:

the first RAN detecting that, when a UE served by a base station of the plurality seeks to initiate a voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the first RAN, wherein the base station does not support signaling between the UE and the fallback network that will serve the UE with the voice call; and

in response to detecting that, when the UE seeks to initiate the voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the first RAN, and further in response to the base station not supporting signaling between the UE and the fallback network that will serve the UE with the voice call, the first RAN causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before causing the UE to not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station, the first RAN making a determination that the UE is operable to engage in voice calls using VoIP service,

wherein causing the UE to not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station is further responsive to the first RAN making the determination that the UE is operable to engage in voice calls using the VoIP service.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein causing the UE to not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station comprises causing the base station to transmit to the UE a directive that causes the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that, when the UE seeks to initiate the voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the first RAN comprises the first RAN receiving from the UE a message including data interpretable by the first RAN to indicate that, when the UE seeks to initiate the voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the first RAN.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that, when the UE seeks to initiate the voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the first RAN comprises the first RAN referring to a profile record stored by the first RAN for the UE, the profile record indicating that, when the UE seeks to initiate the voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the first RAN.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before causing the UE to not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station, the first RAN receiving from the UE a message indicating that, because the base station does not support signaling between the UE and the fallback network that will serve the UE with the voice call, the UE is leaving service of the first RAN and transitioning to be served by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN,

wherein causing the UE to not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station is further responsive to the first RAN receiving the message indicating that, because the base station does not support signaling between the UE and the fallback network that will serve the UE with the voice call, the UE is leaving service of the first RAN and transitioning to be served by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN.

7. The method of claim 1, performed while the base station is serving the UE through a radio-link-layer connection between the base station and the UE.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first air interface protocol is an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) air interface protocol, and wherein the second air interface protocol is selected from the group consisting of a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) air interface protocol and a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) air interface protocol.

9. A method for managing wireless communication service comprising:

providing, by a first radio access network (RAN), a plurality of base stations each configured to provide a respective coverage area in which to serve user equipment devices (UEs) according to a first air interface protocol, wherein the first RAN is interconnected with a fallback RAN configured to serve UEs according to a second air interface protocol;

the first RAN detecting that, when a UE served by a base station of the plurality seeks to initiate a voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the first RAN, wherein the base station does not support an inter-RAN fallback process in which the first RAN passes signaling between the fallback RAN and UEs served by the first RAN to facilitate transition of UEs from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to being served with voice calls according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN; and

in response to detecting that, when the UE seeks to initiate the voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the first RAN, and further in response to the base station not supporting the inter-RAN fallback process, the first RAN causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

before causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service, the first RAN receiving from the UE a message indicating that, because the base station does not support the inter-RAN fallback process, the UE is leaving service of the first RAN and transitioning to be served by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN,

wherein causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service is further responsive to the first RAN receiving the message indicating that, because the base station does not support the inter-RAN fallback process, the UE is leaving service of the first RAN and transitioning to be served by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service comprises causing the base station to transmit to the UE a directive that causes the UE to (a) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (b) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service, and

wherein the directive is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection Reconfiguration message.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

before causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service, the first RAN receiving from the UE a request for the UE to communicate with the fallback network in order to engage in the voice call,

wherein causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service is further responsive to receiving from the UE the request for the UE to communicate with the fallback network in order to engage in the voice call.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

before causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service, the first RAN receiving from the UE a message indicating that the UE is operable to engage in voice calls using the VoIP service,

wherein causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service is further responsive to the first RAN receiving the message indicating that the UE is operable to engage in voice calls using the VoIP service.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

before causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service, the first RAN referring to a profile record stored by the first RAN for the UE, the profile record indicating that the UE is operable to engage in voice calls using the VoIP service,

wherein causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service is further responsive to the profile record indicating that the UE is operable to engage in voice calls using the VoIP service.

15. The method of claim 9, performed by at least one entity of the first RAN selected from the group consisting of the base station and a mobility management entity (MME), wherein the base station is an evolved Node-B (eNodeB).

16. A radio access network (RAN) comprising a plurality of base stations each operable to provide a respective coverage area in which to serve user equipment devices (UEs) according to a first air interface protocol, wherein the RAN has a communication interface with a fallback RAN, wherein the RAN is configured to pass circuit-switched fallback (CSFB) signaling, via the communication interface, between the fallback RAN and UEs served by the RAN, to facilitate a CSFB process in which UEs transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the RAN to being served with voice calls according to a second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN, and wherein the first air interface protocol is different than the second air interface protocol, the RAN further comprising:

a controller configured to;

detect that, when a UE served by a base station of the plurality seeks to initiate a voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the RAN, wherein the base station does not support the CSFB process; and

in response to detecting that, when the UE seeks to initiate the voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the RAN, and further in response to the base station not supporting the CSFB process, transmit to the UE a directive for causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.

17. The RAN of claim 16, wherein the controller is included as part of at least one entity of the RAN selected from the group consisting of the base station and a mobility management entity (MME), wherein the base station is an evolved Node-B (eNodeB).

18. The RAN of claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to:

before transmitting the directive to the UE, receive from the UE a message indicating that, because the base station does not support the CSFB process, the UE is leaving service of the first RAN and transitioning to be served by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN,

wherein transmitting the directive to the UE is further responsive to the first RAN receiving the message indicating that, because the base station does not support the CSFB process, the UE is leaving service of the first RAN and transitioning to be served by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN,

wherein the message is a context release request message.

19. The RAN of claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to:

before transmitting to the UE the directive for causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using the VoIP service, receive from the UE a request for the UE to communicate with the fallback network in order to engage in the voice call,

wherein transmitting the directive is further responsive to receiving from the UE the request for the UE to communicate with the fallback network in order to engage in the voice call, and,

wherein the request is a CSFB extended service request message.

20. The RAN of claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to:

before transmitting the directive to the UE, receive from the UE a message indicating that the UE is operable to engage in voice calls using the VoIP service,

wherein transmitting the directive to the UE is further responsive to receiving the message indicating that the UE is operable to engage in voice calls using the VoIP service, and

wherein the message indicating that the UE is operable to engage in voice calls using the VoIP service is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection Reconfiguration Complete message.