Efficient steering for user equipments in either an idle state or a connected state
First Claim
1. A method for operating a user equipment, the method comprising:
- storing in a local memory of the user equipment at least a first set of thresholds and a second set of thresholds for use in offloading traffic to a wireless local area network, whereinat least the first set of thresholds and the second set of thresholds are received from a wireless wide area network,the first set of thresholds comprise different thresholds corresponding to different types of data to be offloaded, andthe second set of thresholds comprise different thresholds corresponding to different classifications of different access nodes operating in one or more wireless local area networks;
utilizing the threshold corresponding to a given type of data to evaluate whether an access node operating in the wireless local area network is suitable for offloading data of the given type;
utilizing the evaluated access node for offloading only the data of the given type only if the evaluated access node is determined to be suitable using the threshold corresponding to the classification of the evaluated access node;
determining at the user equipment that there are a plurality of access node candidates operating in the one or more wireless local area networks; and
storing each of the access node candidates in the local memory within one of a plurality of candidate groups, each candidate group corresponding to one of the different classifications for which there is a different threshold in the second set.
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Abstract
For use in offloading traffic to a wireless local area network (WLAN) a user equipment (UE) receives from a wireless wide area network at least a first set of thresholds having different thresholds corresponding to different types of data to be offloaded. The UE utilizes the threshold corresponding to a given type of data to evaluate whether an access node operating in the WLAN is suitable for offloading data of the given type. Only if the evaluated access node is determined to be suitable will the UE use it for offloading, and only for data of the given type. In other non-limiting embodiments the first set of thresholds has different thresholds corresponding to different data-types for different categories (e.g., subscription levels) of the UE; and there may be a second set of thresholds with different thresholds corresponding to different classifications of different WLAN access nodes.
13 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for operating a user equipment, the method comprising:
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storing in a local memory of the user equipment at least a first set of thresholds and a second set of thresholds for use in offloading traffic to a wireless local area network, wherein at least the first set of thresholds and the second set of thresholds are received from a wireless wide area network, the first set of thresholds comprise different thresholds corresponding to different types of data to be offloaded, and the second set of thresholds comprise different thresholds corresponding to different classifications of different access nodes operating in one or more wireless local area networks; utilizing the threshold corresponding to a given type of data to evaluate whether an access node operating in the wireless local area network is suitable for offloading data of the given type; utilizing the evaluated access node for offloading only the data of the given type only if the evaluated access node is determined to be suitable using the threshold corresponding to the classification of the evaluated access node; determining at the user equipment that there are a plurality of access node candidates operating in the one or more wireless local area networks; and storing each of the access node candidates in the local memory within one of a plurality of candidate groups, each candidate group corresponding to one of the different classifications for which there is a different threshold in the second set. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus comprising a processing system for operating a user equipment, the processing system comprising:
circuitry configured to; store in the at least one memory at least a first set of thresholds and a second set of thresholds for use in offloading traffic to a wireless local area network, wherein at least the first set of thresholds and the second set of thresholds are received from a wireless wide area network, and the first set of thresholds comprise different thresholds corresponding to different types of data to be offloaded, and the second set of thresholds comprise different thresholds corresponding to different classifications of different access nodes operating in one or more wireless local area networks; utilize the threshold corresponding to a given type of data to evaluate whether an access node operating in the wireless local area network is suitable for offloading data of the given type; and utilize the evaluated access node for offloading only the data of the given type only if the evaluated access node is determined to be suitable using the threshold corresponding to the classification of the evaluated access node; determine at the user equipment that there are a plurality of access node candidates operating in the one or more wireless local area networks; and store each of the access node candidates in the local memory within one of a plurality of candidate groups, each candidate group corresponding to one of the different classifications for which there is a different threshold in the second set. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A user equipment comprising:
circuitry configured to; store a first set of thresholds and a second set of thresholds for use in offloading traffic to a wireless local area network, wherein the first set of thresholds comprise different thresholds corresponding to different types of data to be offloaded, and the second set of thresholds comprise different thresholds corresponding to different classifications of different access nodes operating in one or more wireless local area networks; determine at the user equipment that there are a plurality of access node candidates operating in the one or more wireless local area networks; store each of the access node candidates in the local memory within one of a plurality of candidate groups, each candidate group corresponding to one of the different classifications for which there is a different threshold in the second set; utilize the threshold corresponding to a given type of data to evaluate whether one of the plurality of access nodes operating in the wireless local area network is suitable for offloading data of the given type; and utilize the evaluated access node for offloading only the data of the given type only if the evaluated access node is determined to be suitable using the threshold corresponding to the classification of the evaluated access node. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
Specification