US 11,777,855 B2 · Policy based dual connectivity traffic steering

Abstract

Policy based dual connectivity traffic steering is described herein. A master Long-Term Evolution (LTE) base station may operate in conjunction with a secondary New Radio (NR) base station to provide dual connectivity to user equipment (UE) operating in an environment. The LTE base station can steer traffic between the LTE base station and the NR base station based at least in part on policy information received at the LTE base station. The policy information can indicate, for a particular UE and for a particular Quality of Service (QoS) Class Identifier (QCI), whether the LTE base station can transfer a communication to the NR base station. Thus, traffic steering determinations can be based on the policy information, quality identifiers, device capability, signal strength(s), load level(s), and the like, thereby providing a flexible framework for steering wireless traffic in a dual connectivity environment.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system comprising:

one or more processors;
a memory;
and
one or more components stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, at a first base station and from a user equipment (UE), a first request to initiate a communication;
determining, based at least in part on the first request, a quality identifier associated with the communication, wherein:
the quality identifier is a Quality of Service (QoS) Class Identifier (QCI);
and
the QCI is indicative of a non-guaranteed bit rate (non-GBR) communication;
sending, to a network device and based at least in part on the first request, a second request for policy information, wherein the policy information is associated with a subscriber level of a user profile associated with the UE;
receiving, at the first base station, the policy information;
determining that the policy information indicates that the communication can be initiated by a second base station;
and
instructing, by the first base station and based at least in part on the policy information, the second base station to initiate the communication with the UE.

11 more elements

A processor-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a first base station and from a user equipment (UE), a first request to initiate a communication, the first base station configured to communicate via a first communication type;
sending, to a network device and based at least in part on the first request, a second request for policy information;
receiving, at the first base station, the policy information, wherein the policy information is associated with a subscriber level of a user profile associated with the UE;
determining, based at least in part on the first request, a quality identifier associated with the communication;
determining signal data associated with at least one of a first wireless signal associated with the first base station and the UE or a second wireless signal associated with a second base station and the UE wherein the signal data comprises at least one of:
received signal strength indication (RSSI) data;
reference signal received power (RSRP) data;
reference signal received quality (RSRQ) data;
or
signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) data;
selecting, as a selected base station and based at least in part on 1) the policy information, 2) the quality identifier, and 3) the signal data, the first base station or the second base station to communicate with the UE;
and
initiating, by the selected base station, the communication with the UE.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Policy based dual connectivity traffic steering

Life of this patent

Policy based dual connectivity traffic steering

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20