APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ALLOCATING DATA FLOWS BASED ON INDICATION OF SELECTION CRITERIA

• US 20110188376A1
• Filed: 01/10/2011
• Published: 08/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Giaretta, Gerardo, Stupar, Patrick, Venkateshwaran, Ramaswamy
• Granted Patent: US 9,749,152 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5692 Selection among different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0268 using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

An apparatus and method for allocating a data flow based on selection criteria including receiving at least one policy including at least one indication for selecting an access from two or more of available accesses; determining a selection criterion based on the data flow; and selecting the access based on the determined selection criterion and the at least one indication. In one example, the selection criterion is one of the following: a bandwidth requirement for the data flow, an application generating the data flow, a protocol used to carry the data flow, a file size, an application name/ID, a role ID, or a throughput of the data flow. In one example, the policy is a management object (MO) received from an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) module and the selected access is for a wireless local area network (WLAN), a LTE network or for a 3GPP service.

Claims

1. A method for allocating a data flow based on selection criteria comprising:

receiving at least one policy including at least one indication for selecting an access from two or more available accesses;

determining a selection criterion based on the data flow; and

selecting the access based on the determined selection criterion and the at least one indication.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the selection criterion is one of the following:

a bandwidth requirement for the data flow, an application generating the data flow, a protocol used to carry the data flow, a file size, an application name/ID, a role ID, or a throughput of the data flow.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one policy includes a management object (MO) received from a network entity.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the network entity is an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) module.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one indication indicates one of the following:

to use an access for data flows that allocate greater than a defined value of data rate;

to use an access for data flows generated by a particular type of application or protocol or uses a particular consumed bandwidth;

or to use an access based on an allowed throughput for each of the data flows.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the at least one indication is part of a management object (MO) received from an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) module.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one indication indicates either a minimum used bandwidth or a maximum used bandwidth.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least one indication is part of a management object (MO) received from an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) module and the access selected is for a wireless local area network (WLAN) or for a 3GPP service.

9. An apparatus for allocating a data flow based on selection criteria comprising:

means for receiving at least one policy including at least one indication for selecting an access from two or more of available accesses;

means for determining a selection criterion based on the data flow; and

means for selecting the access based on the determined selection criterion and the at least one indication.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the selection criterion is one of the following:

a bandwidth requirement for the data flow, an application generating the data flow, a protocol used to carry the data flow, a file size, an application name/ID, a role ID, or a throughput of the data flow.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the at least one policy includes a management object (MO) received from a network entity.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the network entity is an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) module.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the at least one indication indicates one of the following:

to use an access for data flows that allocate greater than a defined value of data rate;

to use an access for data flows generated by a particular type of application or protocol or uses a particular consumed bandwidth;

or to use an access based on an allowed throughput for each of the data flows.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the at least one indication is part of a management object (MO) received from an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) module.

15. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the at least one indication indicates either a minimum used bandwidth or a maximum used bandwidth.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the at least one indication is part of a management object (MO) received from an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) module and the access selected is for a wireless local area network (WLAN) or for a 3GPP service.

17. A user equipment for allocating a data flow based on selection criteria comprising:

a receiver for receiving at least one policy including at least one indication for selecting an access from two or more of available accesses; and

a processor for determining a selection criterion based on the data flow and for selecting the access based on the determined selection criterion and the at least one indication.

18. The user equipment of claim 17 wherein the selection criterion is one of the following:

a bandwidth requirement for the data flow, an application generating the data flow, a protocol used to carry the data flow, a file size, an application name/ID, a role ID, or a throughput of the data flow.

19. The user equipment of claim 17 wherein the at least one policy includes a management object (MO) received from a network entity.

20. The user equipment of claim 19 wherein the network entity is an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) module.

21. The user equipment of claim 17 wherein the at least one indication indicates one of the following:

to use an access for data flows that allocate greater than a defined value of data rate;

to use an access for data flows generated by a particular type of application or protocol or uses a particular consumed bandwidth;

or to use an access based on an allowed throughput for each of the data flows.

22. The user equipment of claim 21 wherein the at least one indication is part of a management object (MO) received from an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) module.

23. The user equipment of claim 17 wherein the at least one indication indicates either a minimum used bandwidth or a maximum used bandwidth.

24. The user equipment of claim 23 wherein the at least one indication is part of a management object (MO) received from an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) module and the access selected is for a wireless local area network (WLAN) or for a 3GPP service.

25. A computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising:

program code for receiving at least one policy including at least one indication for selecting an access from two or more of available accesses;

program code for determining a selection criterion based on the data flow; and

program code for selecting the access based on the determined selection criterion and the at least one indication.