# US 12,010,573 B2 · User equipment based fast return to LTE

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- Number: US 12,010,573 B2
- Document ID: US12010573B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/111,019
- Filed: 2023-02-17
- Published: 2023-06-29
- Granted: 2024-06-11
- Earliest claimed: 2015-01-28
- Assignees: AT&T Mobility II LLC
- Applicants: AT&T Mobility II LLC
- Inventors: Haywood Peitzer
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12010573B2

## CPC

- H04W 36/023: {Buffering or recovering information during reselection}
- H04W 36/14: Reselecting a network or an air interface
- H04W 36/144: {over a different radio air interface technology}
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

A system for delaying or inhibiting data is provided in order to shorten the time required for a reselection process from a first communication protocol to a second communication protocol. Reselection from the first communication protocol to the second communication protocol (e.g., 3G to 4G) requires a period of time without data transfers to allow the reselection to complete. The system delays or inhibits data transfers on the mobile device until the reselection process completes or the mobile device is idle for a predetermined length of time. In an embodiment, the system can buffer outgoing data and then send the data once the reselection has completed. In other embodiments, the system can drop packet sessions or ignore incoming packet pages. In another embodiment, the system can delay or inhibit data based on the priority of the data.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method, comprising:
initiating, by a user equipment comprising a processor, a reselection from using a first communication protocol to using a second communication protocol;
receiving, by the user equipment, during the reselection, an incoming data transmission;
generating, by the user equipment, during the reselection, an outgoing data transmission in response to the incoming data transmission;
determining, by the user equipment, during the reselection, a priority of the outgoing data transmission; and
processing, by the user equipment, during the reselection, the outgoing data transmission, comprising:
in response to determining that the priority exceeds a threshold priority:
interrupting the reselection,
transmitting the outgoing data transmission from the user equipment using the first communication protocol, and
reinitiating the reselection.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the processing further comprises:
in response to determining that the priority does not exceed the threshold priority:
storing, by the user equipment, the outgoing data transmission in a buffer until the reselection has completed.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, further comprising, in response to determining that the reselection has completed, transmitting, by the user equipment, the outgoing data transmission using the second communication protocol.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating comprises suspending outgoing data transmissions from the user equipment using the first communication protocol for a defined period of time estimated to complete the reselection.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, further comprising, in response to determining that the reselection has not completed by an expiration of the defined period of time:
interrupting, by the user equipment, the reselection, and
resuming, by the user equipment, the outgoing data transmissions from the user equipment using the first communication protocol.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, further comprising:
increasing, by the user equipment, the defined period of time, and
to end the interrupting, reinitiating, by the user equipment, the reselection.

### Claim 7 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, further comprising, in response to determining that the reselection has completed, transmitting, by the user equipment, the outgoing data transmissions from the user equipment using the second communication protocol.

### Claim 8

A user equipment, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
initiating a reselection from a first communication network protocol to a second communication network protocol;
receiving, during the reselection, an incoming data packet;
generating, during the reselection, an outgoing data packet in response to the incoming data packet;
determining, during the reselection, a priority of the outgoing data packet; and
processing, during the reselection, the outgoing data packet, comprising:
in response to determining that the priority exceeds a threshold priority:
halting the reselection,
transmitting the outgoing data packet from the user equipment using the first communication network protocol, and
reinitiating the reselection.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The user equipment of claim 8, wherein the processing further comprises:
in response to determining that the priority does not exceed the threshold priority:
buffering the outgoing data packet until the reselection has completed.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The user equipment of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise, in response to determining that the reselection has completed, transmitting the outgoing data packet from the user equipment using the second communication network protocol.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The user equipment of claim 8, wherein the initiating comprises suspending transmitting of outgoing data packets from the user equipment using the first communication network protocol for a defined period of time estimated to complete the reselection.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The user equipment of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise, in response to determining that the reselection has not completed by an end of the defined period of time:
halting the reselection, and
resuming the transmitting of the outgoing data packets from the user equipment using the first communication network protocol.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:
increasing the defined period of time,
ending the halting, and
reinitiating the reselection.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The user equipment of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise, in response to determining that the reselection has completed, transmitting the outgoing data packets from the user equipment using the second communication network protocol.

### Claim 15

A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a mobile device, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
initiating a reselection from a first communication protocol to a second communication protocol;
receiving, during the reselection, an incoming communication;
generating, during the reselection, an outgoing communication in response to the incoming communication;
determining, during the reselection, priority data representative of a priority of the outgoing communication; and
processing, during the reselection, the outgoing communication, comprising:
in response to determining, based on the priority data, that the priority exceeds a threshold priority:
stopping the reselection,
transmitting the outgoing communication from the mobile device using the first communication protocol, and
reinitiating the reselection.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the processing further comprises:
in response to determining that the priority does not exceed the threshold priority:
storing the outgoing communication in a buffer until the reselection has completed.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise, in response to determining that the reselection has completed, transmitting the outgoing communication from the mobile device using the second communication protocol.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the initiating comprises suspending transmitting of outgoing communications from the mobile device using the first communication protocol for a defined period of time estimated to complete the reselection.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise, in response to determining that the reselection has not completed by an end of the defined period of time:
interrupting the reselection, and
resuming the transmitting of the outgoing communications from the mobile device using the first communication protocol.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:
increasing the defined period of time, and
reinitiating the reselection.