Switching between radio access technologies at a multi-mode access point

• US 9,913,189 B2
• Filed: 09/06/2016
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Tinnakornsrisuphap, Peerapol, Yavuz, Mehmet, Giaretta, Gerardo
• Primary Examiner(s): Obayanju, Omoniyi
• Application Number:
  US15/256,962
• Publication Number:
  US 20160373989A1
• Time in Patent Office: 546 Days
• Field of Search: 455436, 4555521, 455453, 455444
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 for handling the traffic
• 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

A multi-mode access point supports different radio access technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi and cellular) for serving multi-mode access terminals. To provide improved service for such an access terminal, the access point may redirect the access terminal from a first type of radio access technology to a second type of radio access technology under certain circumstances. A decision to invoke such a redirection may be based on, for example, at least one of: traffic conditions on the first type of radio access technology, traffic conditions on the second type of radio access technology, and whether a backhaul for the access point is currently a bottleneck for access point communication.

Claims

1. An access point for wireless communication, comprising:

a first communication component configured to provide service to an access terminal connected to the access point using a first radio access technology;

a processing system configured to determine, at the access point, at least one indication indicative of traffic conditions associated with the first radio access technology based on one or more network attributes visible to the access point independent of support from the access terminal, to switch, at the access point, to a second radio access technology instead of the first radio access technology based on the at least one indication, and to send a message to the access terminal via the first radio access technology, wherein the message sent via the first radio access technology is configured to cause the access terminal to disable communication via the first radio access technology and to enable communication via the second radio access technology; and

a second communication component configured to provide the service to the access terminal using the second radio access technology as a result of the switch to the second radio access technology, wherein the access point corresponds to one node on a wireless network.

2. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first radio access technology comprises Wi-Fi technology; and

the second radio access technology comprises cellular technology.

3. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first radio access technology comprises cellular technology; and

the second radio access technology comprises Wi-Fi technology.

4. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one indication comprises throughput.

5. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one indication comprises interference.

6. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one indication comprises a number of active devices.

7. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one indication comprises a received signal strength indication (RSSI).

8. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one indication comprises a quantity of transmitted access messages.

9. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one indication comprises a link condition.

10. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one indication comprises a buffer status.

11. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one indication comprises a packet loss rate.

12. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one indication is indicative of whether a communication channel established between the access point and the access terminal using the first radio access technology is congested.

13. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein:

the processing system is further configured to determine at least one second indication indicative of traffic conditions associated with a wide area network communication link for the access point; and

the switch to the second radio access technology is further based on the at least one second indication.

14. The access point recited in claim 13, wherein:

the wide area network communication link comprises at least one backhaul link for the access point; and

the at least one second indication indicates whether the at least one backhaul link is a bottleneck for communications served by the access point.

15. The access point recited in claim 14, wherein, if the at least one backhaul link is the bottleneck for the communications served by the access point, the access terminal is redirected to another access point having at least one different backhaul.

16. The access point recited in claim 14, wherein the processing system is configured to invoke the switch to the second radio access technology in response to a determination that the traffic conditions on the first radio access technology are congested and further that the at least one backhaul link is not the bottleneck for the communications served by the access point.

17. The access point recited in claim 16, wherein the processing system is further configured to redirect the access terminal back to the first radio access technology in response to determining that the congested traffic conditions on the first radio access technology have recovered.

18. The access point recited in claim 13, wherein:

the processing system is further configured to determine at least one third indication indicative of traffic conditions associated with the second radio access technology; and

the switch to the second radio access technology is further based on the at least one third indication.

19. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein:

the processing system is further configured to identify the service that the access point provides to the access terminal; and

the switch to the second radio access technology is further based on the service that the access point provides to the access terminal.

20. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to invoke the switch from the first radio access technology to the second radio access technology by revoking an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the access terminal for communication using the first radio access technology.

21. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to invoke the switch from the first radio access technology to the second radio access technology by disabling a service set identifier (SSID) advertised by the access point for communication using the first radio access technology.

22. The access point recited in claim 21, wherein the disabled SSID is one of a plurality of SSIDs advertised by the access point for the first radio access technology.

23. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to invoke the switch from the first radio access technology to the second radio access technology by filtering traffic sent via the first radio access technology if the traffic is associated with a media access control (MAC) address assigned to the access terminal.

24. The access point recited in claim 1, comprising a single device that implements at least the first communication component, the processing system, and the second communication component.

25. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein at least the first communication component and the second communication component are implemented in different housings that are co-located.

26. The access point recited in claim 25, wherein the first communication component and the second communication component have substantially overlapping coverage areas and are further configured to communicate with one another via point-to-point communication.

27. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to allocate an Internet Protocol (IP) address to the access terminal for communication using the first radio access technology and the second radio access technology to prevent interruption to an IP connection during the switch from the first radio access technology to the second radio access technology.

28. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to wait until a communication channel that the access terminal uses to communicate with via the first radio access technology is inactive on before initiating the switch to the second radio access technology.

29. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to invoke the switch to the second radio access technology in response to a determination that that one or more other access terminals connected to the access point do not support the second radio access technology.

30. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more network attributes used to determine the at least one indication indicative of the traffic conditions associated with the first radio access technology are further visible to the access point without explicit support from any core network elements.

31. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the second communication component is further configured to receive a connection request from the access terminal on a channel associated with the second radio access technology and to establish a new communication with the access terminal in response to the connection request.

32. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first communication component to send the message to the access terminal via a first transceiver that supports the first radio access technology.

33. The access point recited in claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to determine the at least one indication based on a record of the traffic conditions associated with the first radio access technology over time.

34. A method of communication for a multi-mode access point, comprising:

providing, by the multi-mode access point, service to an access terminal connected to the multi-mode access point using a first radio access technology;

determining, by the multi-mode access point, at least one indication indicative of traffic conditions associated with the first radio access technology based on one or more network attributes visible to the multi-mode access point independent of support from the access terminal;

switching, by the multi-mode access point, to a second radio access technology instead of the first radio access technology based on the at least one indication;

sending, to the access terminal, a message via the first radio access technology, wherein the message sent via the first radio access technology is configured to cause the access terminal to disable communication via the first radio access technology and to enable communication via the second radio access technology; and

providing, by the multi-mode access point, the service to the access terminal using the second radio access technology as a result of the switch to the second radio access technology, wherein the multi-mode access point corresponds to one node on a wireless network.

35. The method recited in claim 34, wherein:

the first radio access technology comprises Wi-Fi technology; and

the second radio access technology comprises cellular technology.

36. The method recited in claim 34, wherein:

the first radio access technology comprises cellular technology; and

the second radio access technology comprises Wi-Fi technology.

37. The method recited in claim 34, wherein the at least one indication comprises throughput.

38. The method recited in claim 34, wherein the at least one indication comprises interference.

39. The method recited in claim 34, wherein the at least one indication comprises a number of active devices.

40. The method recited in claim 34, wherein the at least one indication comprises a received signal strength indication (RSSI).

41. The method recited in claim 34, wherein the at least one indication comprises a quantity of transmitted access messages.

42. The method recited in claim 34, wherein the at least one indication comprises a link condition.

43. The method recited in claim 34, wherein the at least one indication comprises a buffer status.

44. The method recited in claim 34, wherein the at least one indication comprises a packet loss rate.

67. The method recited in claim 34, wherein the message is sent to the access terminal via a first transceiver that supports the first radio access technology.

68. The method recited in claim 34, wherein the multi-mode access point is configured to determine the at least one indication based on a record of the traffic conditions associated with the first radio access technology over time.

45. A multi-mode access point, comprising:

means for providing service to an access terminal connected to the multi-mode access point using a first radio access technology;

means for determining at least one indication indicative of traffic conditions associated with the first radio access technology based on one or more network attributes visible to the multi-mode access point independent of support from the access terminal;

means for switching to a second radio access technology instead of the first radio access technology based on the at least one indication;

means for sending, to the access terminal, a message via the first radio access technology, wherein the message sent via the first radio access technology is configured to cause the access terminal to disable communication via the first radio access technology and to enable communication via the second radio access technology; and

means for providing the service to the access terminal using the second radio access technology as a result of the switch to the second radio access technology, wherein the multi-mode access point corresponds to one node on a wireless network.

46. The multi-mode access point recited in claim 45, wherein:

the first radio access technology comprises Wi-Fi technology; and

the second radio access technology comprises cellular technology.

47. The multi-mode access point recited in claim 45, wherein:

the first radio access technology comprises cellular technology; and

the second radio access technology comprises Wi-Fi technology.

48. The multi-mode access point recited in claim 45, wherein the at least one indication comprises throughput.

49. The multi-mode access point recited in claim 45, wherein the at least one indication comprises interference.

50. The multi-mode access point recited in claim 45, wherein the at least one indication comprises a number of active devices.

51. The multi-mode access point recited in claim 45, wherein the at least one indication comprises a received signal strength indication (RSSI).

52. The multi-mode access point recited in claim 45, wherein the at least one indication comprises a quantity of transmitted access messages.

53. The multi-mode access point recited in claim 45, wherein the at least one indication comprises a link condition.

54. The multi-mode access point recited in claim 45, wherein the at least one indication comprises a buffer status.

55. The multi-mode access point recited in claim 45, wherein the at least one indication comprises a packet loss rate.

56. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code for causing a multi-mode access point to:

provide service to an access terminal connected to the multi-mode access point using a first radio access technology;

determine at least one indication indicative of traffic conditions associated with the first radio access technology based on one or more network attributes visible to the multi-mode access point independent of support from the access terminal;

switch to a second radio access technology instead of the first radio access technology based on the at least one indication;

send, to the access terminal, a message via the first radio access technology, wherein the message sent via the first radio access technology is configured to cause the access terminal to disable communication via the first radio access technology and to enable communication via the second radio access technology; and

provide the service to the access terminal using the second radio access technology as a result of the switch to the second radio access technology, wherein the multi-mode access point corresponds to one node on a wireless network.

57. The non-transitory computer-readable medium recited in claim 56, wherein:

the first radio access technology comprises Wi-Fi technology; and

the second radio access technology comprises cellular technology.

58. The non-transitory computer-readable medium recited in claim 56, wherein:

the first radio access technology comprises cellular technology; and

the second radio access technology comprises Wi-Fi technology.

59. The non-transitory computer-readable medium recited in claim 56, wherein the at least one indication comprises throughput.

60. The non-transitory computer-readable medium recited in claim 56, wherein the at least one indication comprises interference.

61. The non-transitory computer-readable medium recited in claim 56, wherein the at least one indication comprises a number of active devices.

62. The non-transitory computer-readable medium recited in claim 56, wherein the at least one indication comprises a received signal strength indication (RSSI).

63. The non-transitory computer-readable medium recited in claim 56, wherein the at least one indication comprises a quantity of transmitted access messages.

64. The non-transitory computer-readable medium recited in claim 56, wherein the at least one indication comprises a link condition.

65. The non-transitory computer-readable medium recited in claim 56, wherein the at least one indication comprises a buffer status.

66. The non-transitory computer-readable medium recited in claim 56, wherein the at least one indication comprises a packet loss rate.