US 11,363,495 B1Granted

Use of per-connection spectral efficiency as basis for dynamic control of air-interface communication with dual-connected device

AssigneeSprint Spectrum L.P.

InventorSreekar Marupaduga

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Abstract

A method and system for controlling data split of a dual-connected user equipment device (UE) when the UE has at least two co-existing air-interface connections including a first air-interface connection with a first access node and a second air-interface connection with a second access node. An example method includes (i) comparing a level of spectral efficiency of the first air-interface connection with a level of spectral efficiency of the second air-interface connection, (ii) based at least on the comparing, establishing a split ratio that defines a distribution of data flow of the UE between at least the first air-interface connection and the second air-interface connection, and (iii) based on the establishing, causing the established split ratio to be applied. Further the method could include using the comparison as a basis to set one of the UE's air-interface connections as the UE's primary uplink path.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A method for controlling data split of a dual-connected user equipment device (UE) when the UE has at least two co-existing air-interface connections including a first air-interface connection with a first access node and a second air-interface connection with a second access node, the method comprising:

determining a level of spectral efficiency of the first air-interface connection based on spectral efficiency of one or more cells on which the first air-interface connection is defined;
determining a level of spectral efficiency of the second air-interface connection based on spectral efficiency of one or more cells on which the second air-interface connection is defined;
comparing the determined level of spectral efficiency of the first air-interface connection with the determined level of spectral efficiency of the second air-interface connection;
based at least on the comparing, establishing a split ratio that defines a distribution of data flow of the UE between at least the first air-interface connection and the second air-interface connection, wherein establishing the split ratio based on the comparing of the determined level of spectral efficiency of the first air-interface connection with the determined level of spectral efficiency of the second air-interface connection comprises (i) selecting one of the first and second air-interface connections based on the determined level of spectral efficiency of the identified air-interface connection being higher than the determined level of spectral efficiency of the other of the first and second air-interface connections and (ii) based on the selecting, establishing as the split ratio a split ratio that will put a majority of the data flow of the UE on the selected air-interface connection;
and
based on the establishing, causing the established split ratio to be applied.

3 more elements

A computing system configured to control data split of a dual-connected user equipment device (UE) when the UE has at least two co-existing air-interface connections including a first air-interface connection with a first access node and a second air-interface connection with a second access node, the computing system comprising:

a processor;
non-transitory data storage;
and
program instructions stored in the non-transitory data storage and executable by the processor to cause the computing system to carry out operations including:
determining a level of spectral efficiency of the first air-interface connection based on spectral efficiency of one or more cells on which the first air-interface connection is defined,
determining a level of spectral efficiency of the second air-interface connection based on spectral efficiency of one or more cells on which the second air-interface connection is defined,
comparing the determined level of spectral efficiency of the first air-interface connection with the determined level of spectral efficiency of the second air-interface connection,
based at least on the comparing, establishing a split ratio that defines a distribution of data flow of the UE between at least the first air-interface connection and the second air-interface connection, wherein establishing the split ratio based on the comparing of the determined level of spectral efficiency of the first air-interface connection with the determined level of spectral efficiency of the second air-interface connection comprises (i) selecting one of the first and second air-interface connections based on the determined level of spectral efficiency of the identified air-interface connection being higher than the determined level of spectral efficiency of the other of the first and second air-interface connections and (ii) based on the selecting, establishing as the split ratio a split ratio that will put a majority of the data flow of the UE on the selected air-interface connection, and
based on the establishing, causing the established split ratio to be applied.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.