CELL BROADCAST FOR SMART TRAFFIC STEERING ACROSS RADIO TECHNOLOGIES WITH IMPROVED RADIO EFFICIENCY

• US 20150065133A1
• Filed: 09/04/2013
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cui, Zhi, Brisebois, Arthur Richard, Henderson, Thomas W., Tong, Yonghui, Chen, Ye, Spatafora, Vince, Zelmer, Donald E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,491,678 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/436
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0865 of different Radio Access Technologies [RATs], e.g. LTE or WiFi
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0027 for a plurality of data sessions of end-to-end connections, e.g. multi-call or multi-bearer end-to-end data connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0094 Definition of hand-off measurement parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 for handling the traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/30 by measured or perceived connection quality data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/302 due to low signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Traffic associated with user equipment that are coupled to a first radio access network is steered to a second radio access network based on an adaptable signal strength criterion. The signal strength criterion is related to real-time network load conditions of the first radio access network and can be broadcasted from a serving access point to the user equipment. Moreover, the signal strength criterion facilitates steering, to the second radio network, traffic associated with user equipment that are located closer to a cell edge of the first radio access network before steering traffic associated with user equipment are located further away from the cell edge. In addition, based on the network congestion within the first radio access network, the signal strength criterion is modified to adjust the number of user equipment that are steered to the second radio network.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a memory to store executable instructions; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of the instructions to perform operations, comprising;

based on an analysis of network load data associated with an access point device of a first radio access network, updating information indicative of a device steering criterion to adjust a number of user equipment that are to be steered from the access point device to a network device of a second radio access network, and

facilitating a transmission of the information to a set of the user equipment via the access point device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information comprises signal strength threshold data representing a threshold of a strength of a signal transmitted from the access point device to a user equipment of the set of the user equipment.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the updating comprises decreasing the threshold, in response to determining that congestion within the first radio access network has decreased.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the updating comprises increasing the threshold, in response to determining that congestion within the first radio access network has increased.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the facilitating the transmission comprises broadcasting the information via a system information block message comprising message data that is employable by a user equipment of the set of the user equipment to facilitate cell selection.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the network load data is first network load data and the updating comprises updating the information based on second network load data associated with a set of access point devices that are deployed within a defined distance from the access point device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the network load data is first network load data and the updating comprises updating the information based on second network load data associated with the network device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the updating comprises updating the information based on distribution data indicative of a distribution of a set of target radio access point devices having respective coverage areas that overlap with a coverage area of the access point device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the updating comprises updating the information based on distribution data indicative of a distribution of the user equipment within a coverage area of the access point device.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the second radio access network comprises a wireless local area network.

11. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a user equipment comprising a processor, device steering criterion data from an access point device serving the user equipment, wherein the device steering criterion data is adapted based on network load data associated with the access point device; and

based on analyzing the device steering criterion data, facilitating, by the user equipment, network selection to determine a radio access network that is to be employed by the user equipment for communication.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the access point device is a first access point device of a first radio access network, the facilitating comprises facilitating network selection to determine a second radio access network comprising a second radio access point device and the method further comprises:

based on policy data, determining, by the user equipment, a first portion of data that is to be communicated via the first radio access point device and a second portion of the data that is to be communicated via the second radio access point device.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

facilitating, by the user equipment, a transmission of query data to a network load management device, wherein the query data is indicative of a request for the device steering criterion data and the receiving is in response to the facilitating the transmission.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the receiving comprises receiving information comprising signal strength threshold data representing a threshold of a strength of a signal received by the user equipment from the access point device and the analyzing comprises comparing the signal strength threshold data with received signal strength data that represents the strength of the signal received by the user equipment from the access point device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the access point device is a first access point device of a first radio access network, the radio access network is a second radio access network, and the facilitating comprises:

in response to determining, based on the comparing, that the strength of the signal is less than the threshold, facilitating a connection of the user equipment to a second access point device of the second radio access network and a disconnection of the user equipment from the first access point device.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the facilitating comprises performing a first portion of the network selection, wherein a second portion of the network selection is performed via a device coupled to the user equipment.

17. A computer readable storage device comprising computer-executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:

determining device steering criterion data that is employable to steer communication data associated with a set of user equipment from a first access point device of a first radio access network to a second access point device of a second radio access network, wherein the set of user equipment is selected based on load data representing a network load associated with the first access point device; and

providing the device steering criterion data to the set of user equipment via the first access point device.

18. The computer readable storage device of claim 17, wherein the directing comprises directing the device steering criterion data via a cell broadcast message.

19. The computer readable storage device of claim 17, wherein the device steering criterion data represents a threshold of a strength of a signal transmitted from the first access point device to a user equipment of the set of user equipment.

20. The computer readable storage device of claim 17, wherein the set of user equipment is increased in response to determining, based on the load data, that the first radio access network is congested.