# US 9,883,439 B2 · Offloading method and apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,883,439 B2 - Document ID: US9883439B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/471,395 - Filed: 2017-03-28 - Published: 2017-07-13 - Granted: 2018-01-30 - Earliest claimed: 2014-09-29 - Assignees: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Xiaoli Shi; Tianle Deng; Haiyan Luo - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9883439B2 ## CPC - H04W 36/36: by user or terminal equipment - H04W 28/10: Flow control {between communication endpoints} - H04W 36/08: Reselecting an access point - H04W 36/142: {over the same radio air interface technology} - H04W 72/1273: of downlink data flows - H04L 2101/681: using addresses for wireless personal area networks or wireless sensor networks, e.g. Zigbee addresses - H04W 76/27: Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states - H04W 84/042: {Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems} - H04W 84/12: WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] - H04W 88/12: Access point controller devices - H04W 88/16: Gateway arrangements - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract The present disclosure relates to the field of mobile communications technologies, and in particular, to an offloading method and an apparatus. In this solution, when a terminal is in a handover process, a destination cellular network node sends, to the terminal, configuration information of a WLAN AP managed by the destination cellular network node; and then the terminal selects a destination WLAN AP from WLAN APs managed by the destination cellular network node, and offloads data of the destination cellular network node to the destination WLAN AP. Therefore, the destination WLAN AP selected by the destination cellular network node can be received before a handover is completed, thereby ensuring service continuity and improving service quality of a terminal. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An offloading method, comprising: receiving, by a terminal, configuration information that is of a WLAN AP managed by a source cellular network node and that is sent by the source cellular network node; receiving, by the terminal, an identifier that is of a to-be-activated WLAN AP and that is sent by the source cellular network node; activating, by the terminal, the to-be-activated WLAN AP according to the identifier of the to-be-activated WLAN AP; performing, by the terminal, configuration according to the configuration information of the WLAN AP managed by the source cellular network node; receiving, by the terminal, configuration information that is of the WLAN AP managed by a destination cellular network node and that is obtained by the source cellular network node, wherein the WLAN AP has an attribute of receiving data sent by a cellular network radio access device or sending data to the cellular network radio access device; selecting, by the terminal according to the configuration information of the WLAN AP managed by the destination cellular network node, a destination WLAN AP; and offloading, by the terminal, data of the destination cellular network node to the destination WLAN AP. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, after the offloading, by the terminal, data of the destination cellular network node to the destination WLAN AP, further comprising: receiving, by the terminal, a release instruction message sent by the source cellular network node; and releasing, by the terminal, configuration information of a WLAN AP managed by the source cellular network node. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving, by the terminal, the configuration information that is of the WLAN AP managed by the source cellular network node and that is sent by the source cellular network node comprises: receiving, by the terminal, the configuration information that is of the WLAN AP managed by the source cellular network node and that is sent by the source cellular network node by using a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message or a broadcast message. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, before the receiving, by the terminal, the configuration information that is of the WLAN AP managed by the source cellular network node and that is sent by the source cellular network node, further comprising: receiving, by the terminal, configuration information of an additional WLAN AP managed by the source cellular network node; or receiving, by the terminal, changed configuration information of a WLAN AP whose corresponding configuration information is changed, wherein the WLAN AP is managed by the source cellular network node. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving, by the terminal, an identifier that is of the to-be-activated WLAN AP and that is sent by the source cellular network node comprises: receiving, by the terminal, an activation instruction that carries the identifier of the to-be-activated WLAN AP and that is sent by the source cellular network node. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method according to claim 5, wherein the receiving, by the terminal, an activation instruction that carries the identifier of the to-be-activated WLAN AP and that is sent by the source cellular network node comprises: receiving, by the terminal, the activation instruction that carries the identifier of the to-be-activated WLAN AP and that is sent by the source cellular network node by using an RRC reconfiguration message, a medium access control MAC control element message, or a scheduling control physical downlink control channel PDCCH message. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein configuration information of a WLAN AP comprises one or any combination of the following: basic service set identifier (BSSID) information, MAC address information, service set identifier (SSID) information, frequency information, bandwidth information, or channel information. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the source cellular network node is any one of a base station, a single RAN coordinator (SRC), or an access controller (AC); and the destination cellular network node is any one of a base station, an SRC, or an AC. ### Claim 9 A terminal, comprising: a receiver, configured to receive configuration information that is of a WLAN AP managed by a destination cellular network node and that is obtained by a source cellular network node, wherein the WLAN AP has an attribute of receiving data sent by a cellular network radio access device or sending data to the cellular network radio access device; and a processor, configured to select a destination WLAN AP according to the configuration information of the WLAN AP managed by the destination cellular network node; and to offload data of the destination cellular network node to the destination WLAN AP; wherein the receiver is configured to: receive the configuration information that is of the WLAN AP managed by the source cellular network node and that is sent by the source cellular network node; and the offloading unit is further configured to: perform configuration according to the configuration information of the WLAN AP managed by the source cellular network node; wherein the receiver is configured to: receive an identifier that is of the to-be-activated WLAN AP and that is sent by the source cellular network node; and the terminal further comprises: an activation unit, configured to activate the to-be-activated WLAN AP according to the identifier of the to-be-activated WLAN AP. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The terminal according to claim 9, wherein the receiver is configured to: receive a release instruction message sent by the source cellular network node; and the terminal further comprises: a release unit, configured to release configuration information of a WLAN AP managed by the source cellular network node. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The terminal according to claim 9, wherein the receiver is configured to: receive the configuration information that is of the WEAN AP managed by the source cellular network node and that is sent by the source cellular network node by using a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message or a broadcast message. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The terminal according to claim 9, wherein the receiver is configured to: receive configuration information of an additional WLAN AP managed by the source cellular network node; or receive changed configuration information of a WLAN AP whose corresponding configuration information is changed, wherein the WLAN AP is managed by the source cellular network node. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The terminal according to claim 9, wherein the receiver is configured to: receive an activation instruction that carries the identifier of the to-be-activated WLAN AP and that is sent by the source cellular network node. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The terminal according to claim 13, wherein the receiver is configured to: receive the activation instruction that carries the identifier of the to-be-activated WLAN AP and that is sent by the source cellular network node by using an RRC reconfiguration message, a medium access control MAC control element message, or a scheduling control physical downlink control channel PDCCH message. ### Claim 15 (depends on 9) The terminal according to claim 9, wherein configuration information of the WLAN AP comprises one or any combination of the following: basic service set identifier BSSID information, MAC address information, service set identifier SSID information, frequency information, bandwidth information, or channel information. ### Claim 16 (depends on 9) The terminal according to claim 9, wherein the source cellular network node is any one of a base station, a single RAN coordinator SRC, or an access controller AC; and the destination cellular network node is any one of a base station, an SRC, or an AC.