# US 10,321,364 B2 · Network-instructed handover from WLAN to another radio access network > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,321,364 B2 - Document ID: US10321364B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/650,616 - Filed: 2017-07-14 - Published: 2017-11-02 - Granted: 2019-06-11 - Earliest claimed: 2013-04-13 - Assignees: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) - Applicants: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) - Inventors: Filip Mestanov; Tomas Hedberg; Stephen Rayment; Dinand Roeland; Magnus Stattin; Jari Vikberg - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10321364B2 ## CPC - H04W 36/0066: {of control information between different types of networks in order to establish a new radio link in the target network} - H04W 36/0022: {for transferring data sessions between adjacent core network technologies} - H04W 36/144: {over a different radio air interface technology} - H04W 36/0061: {of neighbour cell information} - H04W 36/38: by fixed network equipment - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Systems and methods are disclosed for providing a network-instructed handover of a wireless device from a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) to a Radio Access Network (RAN) of another Radio Access Technology (RAT), e.g., a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) or 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) RAT. In one embodiment, a WLAN access node determines that a handover of a wireless device from the WLAN to another RAN of a different RAT is to be performed and transmits a handover instruction to the wireless device that instructs the wireless device to perform a handover from the WLAN to a RAN of a different RAT. In this manner, the WLAN access node is able to steer the wireless device from the WLAN to a RAN of a different RAT. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of operation of a Wireless Local Access Network, WLAN, access node, comprising: determining that a handover of a wireless device from a WLAN to another radio access network of a different radio access technology is to be performed; and instructing the wireless device to perform a handover from the WLAN to a radio access network of a different radio access technology, wherein instructing the wireless device to perform the handover from the WLAN to the radio access network of the different radio access technology comprises transmitting, to the wireless device, a Basic Service Set, BSS, Transition Management, BTM, frame with zero neighbor report elements and with information regarding the handover instruction in one or more vendor-specific elements within the BTM frame. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the handover instruction comprises information that indicates whether the handover is a full handover of all communication sessions or a selective handover of one or more but less than all communication sessions, and wherein the WLAN can perform both full handovers and selective handovers. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the handover is a selective handover. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the handover is a full handover. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the handover instruction is a general instruction to perform a handover to a radio access network of a different radio access technology. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the handover instruction comprises information that identifies the different radio access technology for the handover. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the handover instruction comprises information that identifies a target cell in the radio access network of the different radio access technology. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7 wherein the handover instruction further comprises information that identifies the different radio access technology and the radio access network of the different radio access technology. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7 wherein the handover instruction further comprises assistance information that assists the wireless device when performing the handover. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9 wherein the assistance information comprises at least some system information of the target cell. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the different radio access technology is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, radio access technology, and the handover instruction comprises one or more parameters that enable the wireless device to connect to a radio access network of the 3GPP radio access technology. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the handover instruction comprises a retry timer value that defines an amount of time that the wireless device should attempt to access the radio access network of the different radio access technology when performing the handover. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the WLAN is an IEEE 802.11 wireless network. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13 wherein the different radio access technology is a cellular network radio access technology. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the cellular network radio access technology is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, or 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2, 3GPP2, radio access technology. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15 wherein transmitting the handover instruction to the wireless device comprises transmitting, to the wireless device, a management frame selected from a group consisting of: a Deauthentication Management frame comprising a reason code that corresponds to the handover instruction; and a Disassociation Management frame comprising a reason code that corresponds to the handover instruction. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16 wherein transmitting the management frame further comprises transmitting information regarding the handover instruction in one or more vendor-specific elements within the management frame. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17 wherein the information regarding the handover instruction comprises at least one of a group consisting of: a target set of networks for the handover; a target radio access technology for the handover; a target cell; assistance information that assists the wireless device when performing the handover; a 3GPP handover command; and a Non-Access Stratum, NAS, parameter. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17 wherein the information regarding the handover instruction comprises a retry timer value that defines an amount of time that the wireless device should attempt to access the radio access network of the 3GPP or 3GPP2 radio access technology when performing the handover. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15 wherein transmitting the handover instruction to the wireless device comprises transmitting, to the wireless device, an Association Response Management frame comprising the handover instruction. ### Claim 21 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15 wherein transmitting the handover instruction to the wireless device comprises transmitting, to the wireless device, a Wireless Network Management Notification, WNM-Notification, Request frame comprising the handover instruction within one or more optional subelements formatted as one or more vendor-specific elements. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21 wherein the handover instruction comprises at least one of a group consisting of: information indicative of the 3GPP or 3GPP2 radio access technology for the handover; a cell identifier of a target cell in the radio access network of the 3GPP or 3GPP2 radio access technology to which the wireless device is to be handed over; and one or more attachment parameters that indicate which communication sessions of the wireless device are to be handed over. ### Claim 23 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15 wherein transmitting the handover instruction to the wireless device comprises transmitting, to the wireless device, a Wireless Network Management Notification, WNM-Notification, Request frame comprising the handover instruction. ### Claim 24 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the information regarding the handover instruction comprises at least one of a group consisting of: a target set of networks for the handover; a target radio access technology for the handover; a target cell; assistance information that assists the wireless device when performing the handover; a 3GPP handover command; and a Non-Access Stratum, NAS, parameter. ### Claim 25 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the information regarding the handover instruction comprises a retry timer value that defines an amount of time that the wireless device should attempt to access the radio access network of the 3GPP or 3GPP2 radio access technology when performing the handover. ### Claim 26 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein: determining that a handover of the wireless device from the WLAN to another radio access network of a different radio access technology is to be performed comprises: deciding to initiate a handover to a 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, radio access technology; sending a handover preparation request to a radio access node in a radio access network of the 3GPP radio access technology; and receiving a handover preparation response from the radio access node comprising a 3GPP handover command; and transmitting the handover instruction comprises transmitting the 3GPP handover command to the wireless device. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26 wherein transmitting the handover instruction further comprises transmitting a frame selected from a group consisting of: a Deauthorization Management frame comprising the 3GPP handover command; a Disassociation Management frame comprising the 3GPP handover command; an Association Response Management frame comprising the 3GPP handover command; and a Wireless Network Management Notification, WNM-Notification, Request frame comprising the 3GPP handover command. ### Claim 28 A Wireless Local Access Network, WLAN, access node comprising: a processor; and memory containing instructions executable by the processor whereby the WLAN access node is operative to: determine that a handover of a wireless device from a WLAN to another radio access network of a different radio access technology is to be performed; and instruct the wireless device to perform a handover from the WLAN to a radio access network of a different radio access technology, wherein instructing the wireless device to perform the handover from the WLAN to the radio access network of the different radio access technology comprises transmitting, to the wireless device, a Basic Service Set, BSS, Transition Management, BTM, frame with zero neighbor report elements and with information regarding the handover instruction in one or more vendor-specific elements within the BTM frame. ### Claim 29 A method of operation of a wireless device, comprising: communicating with a Wireless Local Access Network, WLAN, access node; receiving a handover instruction from the WLAN access node to perform a handover from a WLAN to another radio access network of a different radio access technology, the handover instruction comprising a Basic Service Set, BSS, Transition Management, BTM, frame with zero neighbor report elements and with information regarding the handover instruction in one or more vendor-specific elements within the BTM frame, which is interpreted by the wireless device as an instruction to handover to the other radio access network of the different radio access technology; and performing the handover in response to receiving the handover instruction. ### Claim 30 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29 wherein the handover instruction comprises information that indicates whether the handover is a full handover of all communication sessions or a selective handover of one or more but less than all communication sessions, and wherein the WLAN can perform both full handovers and selective handovers. ### Claim 31 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29 wherein the handover instruction is an instruction for a selective handover from the WLAN to another radio access network of a different radio access technology, and performing the handover comprises performing the selective handover. ### Claim 32 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29 wherein the handover instruction is an instruction for a full handover from the WLAN to another radio access network of a different radio access technology, and performing the handover comprises performing the full handover. ### Claim 33 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29 wherein the handover instruction is a general instruction to perform a handover to a radio access network of a different radio access technology, and performing the handover comprises performing the handover to a radio access network of a different radio access technology. ### Claim 34 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29 wherein the handover instruction comprises information that identifies the different radio access technology for the handover, and performing the handover comprises performing the handover to a radio access network of the different radio access technology identified by the information included in the handover instruction. ### Claim 35 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29 wherein the handover instruction comprises information that identifies a target cell in the radio access network of the different radio access technology, and performing the handover comprises performing the handover to the target cell. ### Claim 36 (depends on 35) The method of claim 35 wherein the handover instruction further comprises information that identifies the different radio access technology and the radio access network of the different radio access technology. ### Claim 37 (depends on 35) The method of claim 35 wherein the handover instruction further comprises assistance information that assists the wireless device when performing the handover, and performing the handover to the target cell comprises performing the handover to the target cell based on the assistance information. ### Claim 38 (depends on 37) The method of claim 37 wherein the assistance information comprises at least some system information of the target cell. ### Claim 39 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29 wherein the different radio access technology is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, radio access technology, and the handover instruction comprises one or more parameters that enable the wireless device to connect to a radio access network of the 3GPP radio access technology. ### Claim 40 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29 wherein the handover instruction comprises a retry timer value that defines an amount of time that the wireless device should attempt to access the radio access network of the different radio access technology when performing the handover. ### Claim 41 (depends on 40) The method of claim 40 wherein: performing the handover comprises re-trying the handover for the amount of time defined by the retry timer value; and notifying the WLAN access node of a handover failure if the handover is not successful within the amount of time defined by the retry timer. ### Claim 42 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29 wherein the WLAN is an IEEE 802.11 wireless network. ### Claim 43 (depends on 42) The method of claim 42 wherein the different radio access technology is a cellular network radio access technology. ### Claim 44 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43 wherein the cellular network radio access technology is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, or 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2, 3GPP2, radio access technology. ### Claim 45 (depends on 44) The method of claim 44 wherein receiving the handover instruction comprises receiving a management frame transmitted by the WLAN access node, the management frame selected from a group consisting of: a Deauthentication Management frame comprising a reason code that corresponds to the handover instruction; and a Disassociation Management frame comprising a reason code that corresponds to the handover instruction. ### Claim 46 (depends on 44) The method of claim 44 wherein receiving the handover instruction comprises receiving an Association Response Management frame comprising the handover instruction from the WLAN access node. ### Claim 47 (depends on 44) The method of claim 44 wherein receiving the handover instruction comprises receiving, from the WLAN access node, a Wireless Network Management Notification, WNM-Notification, Request frame comprising the handover instruction within one or more optional subelements formatted as one or more vendor-specific elements. ### Claim 48 (depends on 44) The method of claim 44 wherein receiving the handover instruction comprises receiving a Wireless Network Management Notification, WNM-Notification, frame comprising the handover instruction from the WLAN access node. ### Claim 49 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29 wherein receiving the handover instruction comprises receiving a 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, handover command within a WLAN frame. ### Claim 50 A wireless device comprising: a transceiver; a processor; and memory containing instructions executable by the processor whereby the wireless device is operative to: communicate with a Wireless Local Access Network, WLAN, access node of a WLAN via the transceiver; receive, via the transceiver, a handover instruction from the WLAN access node to perform a handover from the WLAN to another radio access network of a different radio access technology, the handover instruction comprising a Basic Service Set, BSS, Transition Management, BTM, frame with zero neighbor report elements and with information regarding the handover instruction in one or more vendor-specific elements within the BTM frame, which is interpreted by the wireless device as an instruction to handover to the other radio access network of the different radio access technology; and perform the handover in response to receiving the handover instruction. ### Claim 51 (depends on 50) The wireless device of claim 50 wherein the handover instruction comprises information that indicates whether the handover is a full handover of all communication sessions or a selective handover of one or more but less than all communication sessions, and wherein the WLAN can perform both full handovers and selective handovers.