JP2015536586A - Transport of control protocol for reliable WLAN (TWAN) offload - Google Patents

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to a method for utilizing a control protocol to establish multiple packet data network (PDN) connections over a trusted wide area network (TWAN). And device. Techniques are provided for expanding mobile network capacity by offloading traffic from a wireless wide area network (WWAN) to other types of networks, including a wireless local area network (WLAN).

Description

  Some aspects of this disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more specifically, an extended extensible authentication protocol (EAP) authentication procedure for establishing a PDN connection using a new control protocol, and It relates to techniques for transport of control protocols between user equipment (UE) and network entities.

[Claim of priority under 35 USC 119]
This application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 719,893, filed Oct. 29, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, 2012. US Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 705,104 filed on September 24, and US Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 705,034 filed on September 24, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Insist on the interests of.

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice and data. These systems may be multiple access systems that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (eg, bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) ^{systems, 3 rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP} ) Long Term Evolution ( LTE) systems and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.

3GPP TS 36.211 "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), Physical Channels and Modulation"

  As the number of wireless subscribers accessing mobile data services and the number of applications using mobile data services continue to increase, mobile operators are faced with challenges that support increasing traffic in their licensed spectrum. Yes.

  Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method, corresponding apparatus, and computer program product for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE). The method generally provides an indication that the UE is capable of supporting multiple packet data network (PDN) connections when the UE decides to connect to the network via a wireless local area network (WLAN). And a step of utilizing a control protocol for management functions over the WLAN to establish multiple PDN connections over the WLAN, wherein the WLAN is reliable with respect to a wireless wide area network (WWAN) operator (TWAN: trusted WAN).

  Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE). The method generally allows a UE to support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections when determining that the UE connects to a network via a wireless local area network (WLAN), or Indicating that it is possible to support a single connection (PDN or NSWO connection) and in response to a response from the network an indication that the WLAN supports a single connection (PDN or NSWO connection) for the UE And establishing at least one of a PDN or NSWO connection through the WLAN based on a response from the network via the EAP authentication procedure in a manner that preserves the IP continuity of the PDN connection.

  Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE). The method generally provides an indication that the UE is capable of supporting multiple packet data network (PDN) connections when the UE decides to connect to the network via a wireless local area network (WLAN). And if a response is received by the UE indicating that the WLAN supports multiple PDN connections, one or more in a manner that preserves the IP continuity of multiple PDN connections as before the decision to connect Establishing a plurality of PDN connections through the WLAN via a plurality of PDN connectivity establishment procedures.

  Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communication by a wireless local area network (WLAN) entity. The method generally receives an indication that the UE can support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections when the user equipment (UE) decides to connect to the network via a WLAN. And establishing multiple PDN connections through the WLAN via one or more PDN connectivity establishment procedures in a manner that preserves the IP continuity of the multiple PDN connections as before the decision to connect Including.

  Many other aspects are provided, including methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, and processing systems.

  For a more complete understanding of the above features of the present disclosure, a more particular description of what has been briefly summarized above may be obtained by reference to the embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. . However, the attached drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present disclosure, because this description has other equivalent effects. Note that this can result in aspects.

1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a wireless communication network in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example frame structure in a wireless communication network in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates an example format for the uplink in Long Term Evolution (LTE) according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a Node B communicating with a user equipment device (UE) in a wireless communication network according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary non-roaming evolved packet service (EPS) wireless network architecture using S5, S2a, and S2b for IWLAN and EPC access according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 shows a network architecture 500 for an S2a based solution including a trusted WLAN access network. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a control plane 602 and a user plane 604 for tunnel management in a reliable WLAN access gateway (TWAG) system. FIG. 7 shows an exemplary call flow 700 for a control protocol that can achieve IP continuity / preservation for a single connection of either PDN or NSWO. FIG. 4 shows a call flow 800 describing a use case for a single connection of either PDN or NSWO. FIG. 5 shows a call flow 900 describing use cases for one or more PDNs with NSWO. It is a figure which shows the call flow 1000 explaining the use example regarding several PDN without NSWO connection. FIG. 6 illustrates example operations that may be performed by a user equipment (UE) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 illustrates example operations that may be performed by a WLAN entity in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates protocol stacks for three example approaches for control plane transport, according to aspects of this disclosure. FIG. 8 illustrates a call flow 800 describing one example approach of a control protocol over generic routing encapsulation (GRE), according to aspects of the disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates a call flow describing one exemplary approach for a control protocol over Internet Protocol (IP), according to aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 illustrates a call flow describing one exemplary approach of a control protocol via a generic advertisement service (GAS) according to aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates example operations that may be performed by a user equipment (UE) according to aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates example operations that may be performed by a user equipment (UE) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates example operations that may be performed by a user equipment (UE) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates example operations that may be performed by a wireless local area network (WLAN) entity in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

  Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communication. The method generally includes utilizing a control protocol to establish multiple packet data network (PDN) connections over a trusted wide area network (TWAN). In some embodiments, multiple PDN connections, simultaneous non-seamless wireless LAN offload (NSWO) and PDN connections, and IP preservation for PDN connections during handover may be achieved. Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communication. The method generally includes offloading traffic from the WWAN to extend network coverage. WLAN offload may be used to expand capacity and provide a better user experience according to some aspects of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, multiple PDN connections and IP preservation during handover may be achieved.

  The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication networks such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network can implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and cdma2000. UTRA includes wideband CDMA (WCDMA®) and other variants of CDMA. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA networks include Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE802.20, Flash-OFDMA Wireless technology such as (registered trademark) may be implemented. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM® are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used with the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above, as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, certain aspects of the techniques are described below for LTE, and LTE terminology is used in much of the description below.

[Example Wireless Network]
FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication network 100 that may be an LTE network. The wireless network 100 may include a number of evolved Node B (eNB) 110 and other network entities. An eNB may be a station that communicates with a user equipment device (UE) and may also be referred to as a base station, a Node B, an access point, or the like. Each eNB 110 can provide communication coverage for a particular geographic region. In 3GPP, the term “cell” may refer to an eNB's coverage area and / or an eNB subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

  An eNB may provide communication coverage for macro cells, pico cells, femto cells, and / or other types of cells. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (eg, a few kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a house) and has a UE associated with the femto cell (e.g., a UE in a limited subscriber group (CSG), a UE in a user in the house, etc.) ) May allow limited access. An eNB for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro eNB (ie, a macro base station). An eNB for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico eNB (ie, a pico base station). An eNB for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto eNB (ie, a femto base station) or a home eNB. In the example shown in FIG. 1, eNBs 110a, 110b, and 110c may be macro eNBs of macro cells 102a, 102b, and 102c, respectively. The eNB 110x may be a pico eNB of the pico cell 102x. eNBs 110y and 110z may be femto eNBs of femto cells 102y and 102z, respectively. An eNB may support one or multiple (eg, three) cells.

  Wireless network 100 may also include relay stations. A relay station receives data and / or other information transmissions from upstream stations (eg, eNB or UE) and transmits data and / or other information transmissions to downstream stations (eg, UE or eNB) Station. A relay station may also be a UE that relays transmissions for other UEs. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the relay station 110r may communicate with the eNB 110a and the UE 120r in order to enable communication between the eNB 110a and the UE 120r. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay eNB, a relay, etc.

  Wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network (HetNet) that includes various types of eNBs, eg, macro eNBs, pico eNBs, femto eNBs, relays, and the like. These different types of eNBs may have different impacts on different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and interference in the wireless network 100. For example, a macro eNB may have a high transmission power level (eg, 20 watts), while a pico eNB, femto eNB, and relay may have a lower transmission power level (eg, 1 watt).

  Wireless network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, eNBs may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different eNBs may be approximately time aligned. For asynchronous operation, eNBs may have different frame timings, and transmissions from different eNBs may not be time aligned. The techniques described herein may be used for both synchronous and asynchronous operations.

  Network controller 130 may couple to a set of eNBs and perform coordination and control of these eNBs. Network controller 130 may communicate with eNB 110 via the backhaul. eNBs 110 may also communicate with each other, for example, directly or indirectly via a wireless or wireline backhaul.

  UE 120 may be distributed throughout wireless network 100, and each UE may be fixed or mobile. A UE may also be called a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, etc. A UE may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, and the like. A UE may be able to communicate with macro eNBs, pico eNBs, femto eNBs, relays, and the like. In FIG. 1, a solid line with arrows on both sides indicates the desired transmission between the UE and the serving eNB, which is the eNB designated to serve the UE in the downlink and / or uplink . A broken line with double arrows indicates interfering transmission between the UE and the eNB. In some aspects, the UE may include an LTE release 10 UE.

  LTE uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, and so on. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, K may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively, for a system bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz). The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz, and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively. .

  FIG. 2 shows a frame structure used in LTE. The downlink transmission timeline may be divided into radio frame units. Each radio frame may have a predetermined duration (eg, 10 milliseconds (ms)) and may be partitioned into 10 subframes with indices 0-9. Each subframe may include two slots. Thus, each radio frame may include 20 slots with indices 0-19. Each slot may include L symbol periods, e.g., as shown in Figure 2 for a normal cyclic prefix, including L = 7 symbol periods, or for an extended cyclic prefix, L = 6 symbol periods may be included. An index of 0 to 2L-1 may be assigned to 2L symbol periods in each subframe. Available time frequency resources may be partitioned into resource blocks. Each resource block may cover N subcarriers (eg, 12 subcarriers) in one slot.

  In LTE, an eNB may send a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) to each cell of the eNB. The primary and secondary synchronization signals are sent in symbol periods 6 and 5, respectively, in each of subframes 0 and 5 of each radio frame with a normal cyclic prefix, as shown in FIG. obtain. The synchronization signal may be used by the UE for cell detection and acquisition. The eNB may send a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) during symbol periods 0-3 in slot 1 of subframe 0. PBCH may carry certain system information.

  The eNB may send a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) during the first symbol period of each subframe, as shown in FIG. The PCFICH may carry several (M) symbol periods used for the control channel, where M may be equal to 1, 2, or 3 and may change from subframe to subframe. M may also be equal to 4 for small system bandwidths, eg, with less than 10 resource blocks. The eNB may send a physical HARQ indicator channel (PHICH) and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) during the first M symbol periods of each subframe (not shown in FIG. 2). The PHICH may carry information to support hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ). The PDCCH may carry information on resource allocation for the UE and control information for the downlink channel. The eNB may send a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) during the remaining symbol periods of each subframe. The PDSCH may carry data for UEs scheduled for data transmission on the downlink. Various signals and channels in LTE are described in the published 3GPP TS 36.211 entitled "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), Physical Channels and Modulation".

  The eNB may send PSS, SSS, and PBCH at the center 1.08 MHz of the system bandwidth used by the eNB. The eNB may send PCFICH and PHICH over the entire system bandwidth in each symbol period in which these channels are sent. The eNB may send a PDCCH to a group of UEs in some part of the system bandwidth. The eNB may send a PDSCH to a specific UE in a specific part of the system bandwidth. An eNB may send PSS, SSS, PBCH, PCFICH, and PHICH to all UEs in a broadcast manner, may send PDCCH to a specific UE in a unicast manner, and may send PDSCH to a specific UE in a unicast manner.

  Several resource elements may be available in each symbol period. Each resource element may cover one subcarrier in one symbol period and may be used to send one modulation symbol that may be real-valued or complex-valued. Resource elements that are not used for the reference signal in each symbol period may be configured in a resource element group (REG). Each REG may include four resource elements in one symbol period. PCFICH may occupy four REGs that may be approximately equally spaced in frequency in symbol period 0. A PHICH may occupy three REGs that may be spread over frequency in one or more configurable symbol periods. For example, the three REGs for PHICH can all belong to symbol period 0 or can be distributed over symbol periods 0, 1, and 2. The PDCCH may occupy 9, 18, 32, or 64 REGs that may be selected from the available REGs in the first M symbol periods. Only some combinations of REGs may be allowed for PDCCH.

  The UE may know the specific REG used for PHICH and PCFICH. The UE may search for different combinations of REGs for PDCCH. The number of combinations to search is usually less than the number of combinations allowed for the PDCCH. The eNB may send a PDCCH to the UE in any combination that the UE will search.

  FIG. 2A shows an exemplary format 200A for the uplink in LTE. Available resource blocks for the uplink may be partitioned into a data section and a control section. The control section can be formed at two edges of the system bandwidth and can have a configurable size. Resource blocks in the control section may be allocated to the UE for transmitting control information. The data section may include all resource blocks that are not included in the control section. The design of FIG. 2A results in a data section that includes consecutive subcarriers that may allow all of the consecutive subcarriers in the data section to be assigned to a single UE.

  The UE may be assigned resource blocks in the control section to transmit control information to the eNB. The UE may also be assigned resource blocks in the data section to transmit data to the eNB. The UE may send control information in physical uplink control channels (PUCCH) 210a, 210b on assigned resource blocks in the control section. The UE may transmit data alone or both data and control information in physical uplink shared channels (PUSCH) 220a, 220b on assigned resource blocks in the data section. Uplink transmission may be across both slots of the subframe and may hop on the frequency as shown in FIG. 2A.

  A UE may be within the coverage of multiple eNBs. One of these eNBs may be selected to serve that UE. The serving eNB may be selected based on various criteria such as received power, path loss, signal to noise ratio (SNR).

  The UE may operate in a dominant interference scenario where the UE may observe high interference from one or more interfering eNBs. The dominant interference scenario may occur due to limited association. For example, in FIG. 1, UE 120y may be in proximity to femto eNB 110y and may have high received power for eNB 110y. However, UE 120y may not be able to access femto eNB 110y due to limited association, where (as shown in FIG. 1) macro eNB 110c with lower received power or femto eNB 110z (also with lower received power) (FIG. 1). (Not shown). In that case, UE 120y may observe high interference from femto eNB 110y on the downlink and may cause high interference to eNB 110y on the uplink.

  A dominant interference scenario may also occur due to range extension, which is a scenario where a UE connects to an eNB with a lower path loss and a lower SNR among all eNBs detected by the UE. For example, in FIG. 1, UE 120x may detect macro eNB 110b and pico eNB 110x, and may have lower received power for eNB 110x than eNB 110b. Nevertheless, if the path loss of the pico eNB 110x is lower than the path loss of the macro eNB 110b, it may be desirable for the UE 120x to connect to the eNB 110x. This may reduce interference to the wireless network for a given data rate of UE 120x.

  In one aspect, communication in the dominant interference scenario may be supported by operating different eNBs on different frequency bands. A frequency band is a frequency range that can be used for communication and can be provided by (i) a center frequency and bandwidth, or (ii) a low frequency and a high frequency. A frequency band may also be referred to as a band, a frequency channel, etc. The frequency bands for different eNBs may be selected such that a UE can communicate with a weaker eNB in a dominant interference scenario while allowing a strong eNB to communicate with its UE. An eNB may be classified as a “weak” eNB or a “strong” eNB based on the received power of the signal from the eNB received at the UE (without being based on the transmission power level of the eNB).

  According to some aspects of the present disclosure, when a network supports enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (eICIC), the base station may reduce interference by causing the interfering cell to give up some of its resources or They can negotiate with each other to adjust resources to eliminate. With this interference coordination, the UE may be able to access the serving cell even with severe interference by using resources provided by the interfering cell.

  For example, a femto cell that is in a closed access mode in an open macro cell coverage area (i.e., where only member femto UEs can access the cell) provides resources and effectively removes the interference by It may be possible to create a “coverage hall” (in the coverage area of the femtocell) for By negotiating for the femto cell to bring resources, macro UEs under the femto cell coverage area may still be able to access the UE's serving macro cell using these brought resources. .

  In a radio access system using OFDM, such as an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), the resulting resources may be time-based, frequency-based, or a combination of both. When the coordinated resource partition is time based, the interfering cell may simply not use some of the subframes in the time domain. When the coordinated resource partition is frequency based, the interfering cell may result in a subframe in the frequency domain. For a combination of both frequency and time, the interfering cell may provide frequency and time resources.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a design of a base station or eNB 110 and UE 120, which may be one of the base stations / eNBs of FIG. 1 and one of the UEs. For the limited association scenario, eNB 110 may be the macro eNB 110c of FIG. 1 and UE 120 may be UE 120y. The eNB 110 may also be some other type of base station. The eNB 110 may be equipped with T antennas 334a-334t, and the UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas 352a-352r, where T ≧ 1 and R ≧ 1 in general.

  At eNB 110, transmit processor 320 may receive data from data source 312 and receive control information from controller / processor 340. The control information may be for PBCH, PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, etc. The data can be for PDSCH and the like. Transmit processor 320 may process (eg, encode and symbol map) data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. Transmit processor 320 may also generate reference symbols for PSS, SSS, and cell specific reference signals, for example. A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 330 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols, if applicable, and T T output symbol streams may be provided to modulators (MOD) 332a through 332t. Each modulator 332 may process a respective output symbol stream (eg, for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 332 may further process (eg, convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. T downlink signals from modulators 332a through 332t may be transmitted via T antennas 334a through 334t, respectively.

  At UE 120, antennas 352a-352r may receive downlink signals from eNB 110 and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMOD) 354a-354r, respectively. Each demodulator 354 may adjust (eg, filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 354 may further process input samples (eg, OFDM) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 356 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 354a-354r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols, if applicable, and provide detected symbols. Receive processor 358 processes (eg, demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes) the detected symbols, provides decoded data for UE 120 to data sink 360, and provides decoded control information to controller / processor 380. Can be provided to.

  On the uplink, at UE 120, transmit processor 364 receives and processes data (eg, for PUSCH) from data source 362 and receives control information (eg, for PUCCH) from controller / processor 380. And can be processed. Transmit processor 364 may also generate reference symbols for the reference signal. The symbols from transmit processor 364 may be precoded by TX MIMO processor 366, where applicable, further processed by modulators 354a-354r (eg, for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to eNB 110. At eNB 110, the uplink signal from UE 120 is received by antenna 334, processed by demodulator 332, detected by MIMO detector 336, if applicable, further processed by receive processor 338, and sent by UE 120. The decoded data and control information can be obtained. Receiving processor 338 may provide decoded data to data sink 339 and provide decoded control information to controller / processor 340.

  Controllers / processors 340 and 380 may direct the operation at eNB 110 and UE 120, respectively. Controller / processor 340, receiving processor 338, and / or other processors and modules in eNB 110 may perform or direct the operation and / or processing of the techniques described herein. Memories 342 and 382 may store data and program codes for eNB 110 and UE 120, respectively. A scheduler 344 may schedule the UE for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[Exemplary technique for WIFI offloading through reliable WLAN access]
As the number of wireless subscribers accessing mobile data services and the number of applications using mobile data services continue to increase, mobile operators are faced with challenges that support increasing traffic in their licensed spectrum. Yes. One approach to expanding network capacity is to offload certain traffic to a wireless local area network (WLAN). Some standards bodies (eg, 3GPP standards bodies) are working on defining how to offload traffic from a wireless wide area network (WWAN) to a WLAN. One of the scenarios is WLAN offload through a WiFi hotspot deployed by an operator (“S2a Mobility based On GTP” (SaMOG). Unfortunately, existing standards (eg, 3GPP Rel-11 SaMOG) only support a single packet data network (PDN) connection.

  According to current standards (eg Rel-11), SaMOG may have various features and / or limitations. One exemplary feature / restriction is via a WLAN (without Internet Protocol (IP) storage) using a point-to-point link per user equipment (UE) between the UE and a trusted wireless access gateway (TWAG). Can be a PDN connection to the default access point name (APN). In Rel-11 SaMOG, layer 2 may be triggered by Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) authentication (eg, PDN connection setup triggered by a trusted WAN (TWAN)). Alternatively, in Rel-11 SaMOG, layer 3 may be triggered by a dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) (eg, PDN connection setup triggered by the UE).

  Handover between TWAN with IP address storage and 3GPP access, connectivity to non-default APN, UE-driven connectivity to additional PDN, and simultaneous non-seamless wireless offload (NSWO) and evolved packet core (EPC) Some features, such as access, cannot be supported by Rel-11 SaMOG.

  Therefore, it is desirable to expand the network capacity by WLAN offload. For example, backwards compatibility with Rel-11, a solution that supports IP preservation, the ability to connect to non-default APNs and multiple PDN connections, simultaneous non-seamless wireless offload and interworking WLANs, and the ability to differentiate PDN connections desirable.

  In this document, wireless offloading supports multiple PDN connections for wireless offloading while maintaining IP preservation, and maintains backward compatibility with previous (e.g., pre-Rel-12) solutions. Techniques and apparatus are provided for. These techniques may reduce UE implementation complexity and may provide standards compliant products (eg, Long Term Evolution (LTE) Rel-12 SaMOG compliant products). This technique may not require any changes to the current DHCP running on the high level operating system (HLOS) on the application processor (AP).

  As described in more detail below, the technique may involve a new control protocol for establishing a PDN connection. According to some aspects, the new control protocol may be executed on a modem. This approach may eliminate the need for the UE to store PDN connections that use DHCP to obtain an IP address. This approach may also avoid UE complexity, provide forward compatibility, and support IPv6-only bearer cases.

  Multiple WLAN offload scenarios are possible. An example is an interworking WLAN with WWAN (IWLAN). According to some aspects, the WLAN may be used to access EPC and enable mobility between the WLAN and the WWAN. In this example, IP continuity may be maintained during handover (HO) between WLAN and WWAN. Furthermore, simultaneous access to multiple access point names (APNs) over the WLAN may be supported. Multiple PDN connections over WLAN and WWAN simultaneously (which may be referred to as multiple access PDN connectivity (MAPCON)) may also be supported. For example, operator application traffic over a WLAN connection and IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) traffic over a simultaneous WWAN connection may be supported. In such cases, the granularity may be on all PDN connections for a given APN. Dual radios (eg, radio for WLAN and radio for WWAN) can be used for simultaneous connectivity. In some aspects, local breakout may be used. The WLAN can be used to access the Internet directly without going through the EPC (eg, Internet traffic can travel through the WWAN but to the Internet APN).

  According to some aspects, there can be various EPC access options, which can depend on whether the WLAN is reliable or unreliable, whether the WiFi hotspot is owned by the operator And depending on the hotspot security policy.

  FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary non-roaming evolved packet service (EPS) wireless network architecture 400 that uses S5, S2a, and S2b for IWLAN and EPC access in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, a portion of network 400 may be a home public land mobile network (HPLMN) 402, and a portion of the network may be comprised of a non-3GPP network 404.

  According to some aspects, the IWLAN option may include S2a, S2b, and S2c. S2a may provide reliable WLAN access using general GTP as shown in FIG. In the S2a solution, WLAN access is considered a reliable connection 406, so an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) 408 or an IPsec tunnel cannot be used for this option. Instead, connectivity is managed by the UE 410 that selects and connects to the WLAN and then exchanges signaling with the WLAN access network to establish connectivity with the EPC.

  In another option, S2b may be used for untrusted WLAN access 412, also as shown in FIG. In the S2b solution, UE410 establishes a PDN connection via WLAN to EPC. Since the WLAN access 412 is unreliable, the ePDG 408 mediates communication between the UE 410 and the PDN gateway 414. In some instances, by establishing an Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) tunnel between UE 410 and ePDG 408, UE 410 may tunnel control and user plane data to ePDG 408. The ePDG then establishes a GTP or Proxy Mobile Internet Protocol (PMIP) tunnel to the appropriate PDN gateway 414.

  Although not shown in FIG. 4, S2c may also be used for trusted WLAN access 406 or untrusted WLAN access 412. If the WLAN access is untrusted WLAN access 412, an IPsec tunnel to ePDG 408 may be used, while if the WLAN access is trusted WLAN access 406, the IPsec tunnel may not be used. In the S2c solution, the UE 410 may connect directly to the PDN gateway 414 using Dual Stack Mobile IP (DSMIP).

  FIG. 5 shows a network architecture 500 for an S2a-based (SaMOG-based) solution that includes a trusted WLAN access network 506 (eg, similar to trusted WLAN access network 406). Trusted WLAN access network 506 may include TWAG 507. As shown in Figure 5, PDN gateways (PGW) 514, 515 (e.g., similar to PDN gateway 414) access multiple PDNs (e.g., PDN # 1 516, PDN # 2 518, PDN # 3 520) Can do.

  FIG. 6 shows a control plane 602 and a user plane 604 for tunnel management in a trusted WLAN access gateway (TWAG) system 600 (eg, similar to trusted access 406, 506). As shown in FIG. 6, traffic to and from UE 610 (e.g., similar to UE 510) is routed between TWAN 606 (e.g., similar to TWAN 506) and PGW 614 (e.g., similar to PGW 514, 515). Can move through. The TWAN 606 may route traffic to the PGW 614.

  FIG. 7 shows an exemplary call flow 700 for a control protocol that can achieve IP continuity / preservation for a single connection (PDN or NSWO). As shown in FIG. 7, EAP authentication may be performed between UE 710 and TWAN 706 at 2 after WLAN discovery and selection at 1. In the example shown in Figure 7, during the EAP authentication procedure (2 in Figure 7), the UE710, TWAN706, and 3GPP Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server 718 will support reliable WLAN access to the EPC. Can be judged. If the PDN connection is established via S2a, the GRE tunnel (or any other technique for identifying the PDN connection) cannot be used. The S2a step is indicated by a dotted line in the figure.

  After the EAP authentication procedure, UE 710 may send an EAP response to TWAN 706. To achieve IP preservation in the WLAN offload procedure, a vendor specific “skippable” attribute with one or more information elements for the EAP response may be defined. In some implementations, the attribute included in the EAP response may include the HO indication and / or the APN name of the APN that UE 710 is attempting to connect as the first connection. According to some embodiments, NSWO may be defined as a specific APN name. Alternatively, the UE may provide an APN list of PDNs it has connected over the WWAN, and the network may select one as the first connection.

  According to some aspects, the HO indication may provide IP preservation and the APN name indication may allow the UE to connect to a non-default APN and multiple PDN connections. For example, if the handover is from a WWAN, UE 710 may indicate HO in the EAP response to the network (and may include an APN name that it wishes to forward context as the first PDN). If UE 710 does not indicate HO, the EAP response indicates the initial connection request.

  If UE 710 specifies an APN name (or NSWO), the network responds with the selected APN name (or NSWO) for the first connection. If UE 710 does not specify an APN name, the network responds with a default APN name for the first connection. The network may include the APN name in EAP signaling to UE 710. For example, TWAN 706 may send an EAP request / success signaling to UE 710 in response to the EAP response, where the EAP request / success may indicate an APN name or NSWO.

  “Skipable” may mean that a device that does not support the corresponding feature may simply ignore or skip the feature. Thus, if either UE 710 or TWAN 706 does not support the skippable attribute, offload protocol 700 may continue as previously defined. Since the attributes may be skippable, the approach shown in FIG. 7 may be backward compatible (eg, with Rel-11) with a UE or network that may not support additional attributes. For example, if UE 710 does not include the HO indication and APN name in EAP messaging (eg, the UE does not support additional attributes), process 700 may fall back to Rel-11. Further, if the UE includes an HO indication and / or APN name in EAP messaging, but the network does not support additional features or does not include an APN name in EAP messaging, process 700 is still Rel Can fall back to -11.

  As seen in FIG. 7, at 3, UE 710 may then obtain an IP address through DHCP and Router Solicitation / Router Authentication (RS / RA). Vendor-specific DHCP options may be used to obtain a provider reserved protocol configuration option (PCO).

  The approach shown in FIG. 7 may involve a new UE implementation. On the data path, the IP address can be moved between the WWAN and the WLAN adapter on the application processor (AP) in a seamless manner without the application knowing about it. If operator-reserved PCO is required, vendor-specific DHCP options may be desirable, and DHCP may be used on the modem if the first connection is a PDN. In this case, it may be desirable for the TWAN to support vendor-specific DHCP options if the operator reserved PCO is used and can operate in IPv4-only bearer case, IPv6-only bearer case, and IPv4v6 bearer case.

  FIG. 8 illustrates a call flow 800 describing a use case for a single connection that is either a PDN or NSWO, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, in addition to the HO and APN / NSWO indications, the EAP response may be extended to also include an indication of the UE's ability to support multiple PDN connections. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, UE 810 indicates in a (2) EAP response that it is multi-PDN capable. In the direction from the network to the UE, the network may send an indication of whether the first connection is an APN or NSWO. “NSWO” may indicate that the first connection is NSWO. If received, the APN name may be the APN that the network connects as the first connection.

  As shown in Figure 8, the EAP request / success also gives an indication of whether it supports a single connection (PDN / NSWO) or multi-PDN connection with or without NSWO Can be extended. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, TWAN 806 indicates in the (2) EAP Request / Success message that the network supports only a single PDN.

  Extended EAP signaling notifies the network that UE 710 supports multiple PDNs and notifies the UE that the network supports a single PDN. Figure 8 shows the backward compatibility with pre-Rel-11. In this case, DHCP and RS / RA are used to obtain an IP address for the first connection, which is a PDN or NSWO.

  FIG. 9 illustrates a call flow 900 describing a use case for one or more PDNs with NSWO, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, in 2, UE 910 indicates that UE 910 supports multiple PDN connections in an EAP response, and the network also indicates that it supports multiple PDN connections in an EAP request / success. Show.

  According to some aspects, a control protocol for carrying PDN related information elements may be used to set up a PDN connection. The PDN connection may use a link layer or network layer tunnel (eg, a GRE tunnel as shown in the call flow). In the direction from the UE to the network, it may be a new control protocol or an extension of an existing protocol, and a standard non-DHCP control protocol may signal an APN name and PCO that are an initial or handover indication. For example, UE 910 may signal information to TWAN 906 in a PDN connectivity request message.

  In the direction from the network to the UE, the network may signal the UE 910 with a PDN ID, an IP address, and a PCO. For example, TWAN 906 may signal information to UE 910 in a PDN connectivity complete message.

  The control protocol can be repeated for each PDN connection. User traffic may be sent via a tunnel (eg, a GRE tunnel). In addition, when there are multiple PDNs, IP addresses can be used to differentiate traffic. New control protocols may include new advertising protocols via the generic advertisement service (GAS).

  According to some aspects, the combination of the UE's medium access control (MAC) address, PDN ID (eg, GRE key), and UE's IP address may uniquely identify the PDN connection. If HSS / AAA 918 returns a wildcard as an authentication APN, UE 910 and TWAN 906 may negotiate a PDN ID (eg, GRE key).

  FIG. 10 illustrates a call flow 1000 that describes a use case for multiple PDNs without NSWO, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Call flow 1000 shows that UE 1010 first performs WLAN discovery and selection, and then after selection, an EAP authentication and authorization procedure is performed between UE 1010 and TWAG 1006. As shown in Figure 10, the standard DHCP and / or RS / RA procedures used for NSWO IP address assignment are not present because the network shows a multi-PDN scenario but does not specify NSWO during the EAP authentication procedure. Can be skipped. The control protocol may be the same as the case for one or more PDNs with NSWO shown in 4 of FIG.

  The techniques shown in FIGS. 7-10 may support a single connection PDN / NSWO while retaining backward compatibility with the pre-Rel-12 technique (eg, as shown in FIG. 7). If multiple connections are supported, NSWO can be the first connection (eg, as shown in FIG. 9) if allowed by operator policy. DHCP and RS / RA can be used to obtain an IP address. Alternatively, if NSWO is not allowed, DHCP and RS / RA procedures may be skipped (eg, as shown in FIG. 10). A new control protocol procedure can be used to establish or release a PDN connection.

  The technique may support multiple PDN connections and NSWOs simultaneously without requiring changes to current DHCP and RS / RA that can be executed on HLOS on the application processor. The control protocol described herein may be used to establish one or more PDN connections and may be executed on a modem. This approach may eliminate the need for the UE to store PDN connections that use DHCP to obtain an IP address, thereby avoiding UE complexity. The technique may also be forward compatible with a “to be established” standardization technique, for example, by supporting IPv6 limited bearer cases that may not be generally supported by current DHCP and RS / RA. Some embodiments of the present disclosure may provide advantages over existing systems. Multiple PDN connections can be established simultaneously with NSWO connections. New control protocols can be used for PDN connections. The present disclosure is backward compatible with 3GPP Rel-11 S2a-based mobility over GTP (SaMOG) and may be forward compatible with new releases. Another advantage is IP address storage. Yet another advantage includes simultaneous NSWO and EPC access. Another advantage is UE-driven connectivity to additional PDNs.

  FIG. 11 illustrates an example operation 1100 that may be performed, for example, by a UE, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Operation 1100 begins at 1102 by providing an indication that the UE is capable of supporting multiple packet data network (PDN) connections when the UE decides to connect to the network via a WLAN. obtain. As determined at 1104, if the UE does not receive an indication from the network that it is a multi-PDN scenario, the UE can use standard DHCP (and to obtain a local IP address assigned by the PDN gateway. (Or RS / RA) procedure.

  If the UE receives an indication from the network that it is a multi-PDN scenario as determined at 1104, and further receives an NSWO indication as determined at 1108, the UE Use standard DHCP (and / or RS / RA) procedures to obtain IP addresses, and at 1112 via one or more PDN connectivity establishment procedures in a manner that preserves IP continuity of PDN connections Establish multiple PDN connections through WLAN. If the UE does not receive an NSWO indication, operation 1110 is skipped.

  FIG. 12 illustrates example operations 1200 that may be performed, for example, by an entity in a WLAN, according to aspects of this disclosure. Operation 1200 begins at 1202 by receiving an indication that the UE can support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections when the UE decides to connect to the network via a WLAN. To do. As determined at 1204, if the entity does not give an indication from the network that it is a multi-PDN scenario, the entity can use standard DHCP (for example, by a PDN gateway) to assign a local IP address. And / or RS / RA) procedure.

  If the entity gives an indication that it is a multi-PDN scenario, as determined at 1204, and if NSWO is specified as determined at 1208, then the entity will assign a local IP address at 1210. Multiple PDNs through the WLAN via one or more PDN connectivity establishment procedures in 1212, using standard DHCP (and / or RS / RA) procedures to maintain IP continuity of the PDN connection at 1212 Establish a connection. If NSWO is not specified, operation 1210 is skipped.

[Transport of control protocol for reliable WLAN offloading]
As explained above, multiple packet data network (PDN) connections, simultaneous PDN and non-seamless wireless offload (NSWO) connections, and between wireless wide area networks (WWAN) and wireless local area networks (WLANs) It may be desirable to support IP preservation during handover. Techniques for wireless offload over a reliable WLAN (TWAN) have been described above, including a new control protocol.

  One problem to be addressed is the transport of the control protocol for PDN connection management between the user equipment (UE) and the TWAN, as shown above in FIGS.

  For transport of control protocol for PDN connection management between UE and TWAN, three approaches are provided herein. The first solution involves a control protocol over GRE that uses a dedicated generic routing encapsulation (GRE) tunnel between the UE and the TWAN for transport of the control protocol. The second solution involves transporting the control protocol over the internet protocol (IP). And the third solution involves the transport of the control protocol via the generic advertisement service (GAS).

  FIG. 13 shows protocol stacks for three exemplary approaches for control plane transport. According to the first embodiment 1302, the control protocol 1304 is transported via the PHY 1310 via the MAC 1308 via the dedicated GRE tunnel 1306 (or virtual LAN (VLAN)) between the UE and the TWAN. According to the second embodiment 1312, the control protocol 1314 is transported via the PHY 1320 via the MAC 1318 via the Internet Protocol (IP) 1316. In the third embodiment 1322, the control protocol 1324 is transported via GAS 1326 via MAC 1328 via PHY 1330.

  Some exemplary call flows are shown in the following figure. The technique shown in one or more of these call flows follows multiple approaches to multiple PDN connections, simultaneous NSWO and PDN connections, and / or IP storage for PDN connections, and transport of control protocols. Can support.

  Figure 14 shows the first for a control protocol over GRE over MAC using multiple PDN connections established by a control protocol utilizing a dedicated GRE tunnel 1420 while achieving IP continuity / preservation FIG. 4 illustrates an example call flow 1400 in accordance with an example approach. Call flow 1400 may use Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) for authentication. This call flow can be extended to other Layer 2 approaches, for example, VLANs can be used instead of GRE tunnels 1420 (correspondingly, GRE keys can be replaced by VLAN IDs).

  As explained above, EAP can be extended to show additional attributes. As shown in FIG. 14, after UE 1410 selects a network to be connected via WLAN in 2, UE 1410 sends an EAP response message including an indication that UE 1410 can support multiple PDN connections. Can send. At 3, the control protocol for establishing a PDN connection may utilize one or more link layer or network layer tunnels, eg, GRE or VLAN, for link layer tunneling.

  In some embodiments, the UE 1410 may request a PDN ID (eg, a GRE key) to identify a link layer tunnel carrying a control protocol. The link layer tunnel may be a dedicated GRE tunnel 1420. For example, UE 1410 may use enhanced EAP at 2 to obtain a PDN ID (eg, GRE key) for the control protocol. According to some embodiments, the PDN ID may be obtained via a static configuration of UE 1410 or through a DHCP procedure. In some embodiments, at 3, the NSWO IP address may be configured using DHCP. As shown in FIG. 14, at 14 using the PDN ID (e.g., GRE key) obtained through extended EAP signaling, the UE 1410 connects the PDN to the TWAN 1406 via the GRE tunnel 1420 to request a PDN connection. A sex request message may be sent. In response to the PDN connectivity request message, TWAN 1406 may send a PDN connectivity completion that may indicate a PDN ID via GRE tunnel 1420. After the PDN connection is established, data over this PDN connection can be transferred over the GRE tunnel assigned during the PDN establishment procedure.

  The example approach shown in FIG. 14 may have the benefit of simplicity and consistency between the data and the control plane.

  FIG. 15 illustrates an example call flow 1500 according to a second example approach in which a control protocol may be transported over IP over MAC. In this example approach, if NSWO is not allowed, the UE 1510 may use the control protocol transport instead of the GRE tunnel (e.g., GRE tunnel 1420 used in the example approach shown in FIG. 14). A link local address or NSWO address may be used. In some embodiments, if NSWO is allowed, a local IP address for control protocol messaging may be obtained. The link local address may be an IPv4 or IPv6 link local address.

  The exemplary approach shown in FIG. 14 is a modem centric solution with the benefit of simplicity and may be an upper layer solution.

  FIG. 16 illustrates a call flow 1600 according to a third exemplary approach in which a control protocol may be transported over GAS over MAC according to some aspects of the present disclosure. GAS is an 802.11 service that provides transport of higher layer frames between stations (eg, UE and TWAN). As shown in FIG. 16, at 2, the EAP may not give any additional indication, and instead a control protocol may be carried between the UE 1610 and the TWAN 1606 via the GAS.

  FIG. 17 illustrates an example operation 1700 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Operation 1700 may be performed by a UE, such as UE 120, for example, as described above with respect to FIGS. Operation 1700 begins at 1702 by giving an indication that the UE can support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections when the UE decides to connect to the network via a WLAN. obtain.

  In 1704, the UE may utilize a control protocol for management functions over the WLAN to establish multiple PDN connections through the WLAN, which is a reliable WLAN (with respect to wireless wide area network (WWAN) operators). TWAN). According to some aspects, the management function may include bearer setup, bearer change, bearer release procedure, or creation of a bearer with QoS.

  According to some aspects, the UE may utilize a control protocol to exchange an IP flow mobility filter for providing IP flow mobility functionality between the WLAN and the WWAN. According to some aspects, the control protocol may be transported via a link layer or network layer tunnel, eg, GRE or VLAN may be used for link layer tunneling. According to some aspects, the UE may obtain a GRE key to identify the link layer tunnel through enhanced EAP, static configuration, or DHCP procedures. Alternatively, the control protocol may use IP. For example, a link local address (eg, IPv4 or IPv6) or NSWO for tunneling control protocol messages may be obtained over IP. According to some aspects, the IP address for the TWAN may be obtained via extended EAP, DHCP, or multicast discovery.

  According to some aspects, the control protocol may be transported via GAS.

  FIG. 18 illustrates an example operation 1800 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Operation 1800 may be performed by a UE, such as UE 120, for example, as described above with respect to FIGS. Operation 1800 begins at 1802 by providing an indication that the UE can support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections when the UE decides to connect to the network via a WLAN. obtain.

  At 1804, as a response from the network, the UE may receive an indication that the WLAN supports multiple PDN connections with or without non-seamless wireless offload (NSWO) for the UE.

  At 1806, the UE may establish one or more PDN connections through the WLAN via one or more PDN connectivity establishment procedures in a manner that preserves the IP continuity of the one or more PDN connections. For example, a PDN connection can be established using a link layer or network layer tunnel. According to some embodiments, the APN may be signaled in a PDN connectivity establishment procedure. The PDN connectivity completion message from the network may indicate a PDN identifier and optionally an IP address assigned to the UE for the corresponding PDN connection. GRE tunneling may be used to identify or separate (distinguish) PDN connections. According to some aspects, the protocol may be implemented in a modem processor.

  FIG. 19 illustrates an example operation 1900 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Operation 1900 may be performed by a UE, such as UE 120, for example, as described above with respect to FIGS. Operation 1900 begins at 1902 by giving an indication that the UE can support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections when the UE decides to connect to the network via a WLAN. obtain.

  At 1904, as a response from the network, the UE may receive an indication that the WLAN supports multiple PDN connections with or without non-seamless wireless offload (NSWO) for the UE.

  In 1906, the UE determines whether the PDN or NSWO connection is over the WLAN based on the response from the network via the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) authentication procedure in a manner that preserves the Internet Protocol (IP) continuity of the PDN or NSWO connection. At least one of the following may be established. According to some aspects, if the UE does not indicate the capability of multiple PDN connections or a single connection, or if no response is received by the UE indicating that the WLAN supports multiple PDN connections, the A single connection can be established.

  FIG. 20 illustrates an example operation 2000 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Operation 2000 may be performed, for example, by a wireless local area network (WLAN) entity. Operation 2000 receives an indication that, in 2002, when a user equipment (UE) determines to connect to a network via a WLAN, the UE can support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections. You can start by doing.

  In 2004, a WLAN entity can establish a WLAN via one or more PDN connectivity establishment procedures in a manner that preserves Internet Protocol (IP) continuity of multiple PDN connections as before the UE decides to connect. Multiple PDN connections can be established through According to some aspects, the WLAN may be a WiFi hotspot operated by a WWAN operator. According to some aspects, multiple PDN connections may use link layer or network layer tunnels (eg, GRE tunneling). According to some aspects, signaling per PDN connectivity establishment procedure may indicate an APN (eg, in a PDN connection complete message). According to some aspects, if NSWO is allowed, the NSWO connection is established before establishing the PDN connection. Alternatively, if NSWO is not authorized by the WLAN operator, only a PDN connection can be established. According to some aspects, DHCP and RS / RA procedures for collecting local IP addresses may be skipped.

  The various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable means that can perform the corresponding function. The means may include various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including but not limited to circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. In general, if there are operations shown in the figures, those operations may have corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components with similar numbers.

  As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, “determining” means calculating, calculating, processing, deriving, exploring, searching (eg, searching a table, database, or another data structure), Confirmation may be included. Also, “determining” may include receiving (eg, receiving information), accessing (eg, accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving, selecting, selecting, establishing and the like.

  As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including individual members. As an example, “at least one of a, b, or c” shall cover a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c.

  Those of skill in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description are voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any of them Can be represented by a combination.

  Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Like. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in a variety of ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

  Various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or It may be implemented or implemented with other programmable logic devices, individual gate or transistor logic, individual hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, eg, a DSP and microprocessor combination, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. obtain.

  The method or algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented directly in hardware, implemented in software modules executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. Software modules reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art Can do. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and / or write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in the user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal. In general, if there are operations shown in the figures, those operations may have corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components with similar numbers.

  In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and computer communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer readable media can be RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any desired form in the form of instructions or data structures. Any other medium may be provided that is used to carry or store the program code means and that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or general purpose or special purpose processor. Any connection is also properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, software can use a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technology such as infrared, wireless, and microwave, from a website, server, or other remote source When transmitted, coaxial technology, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the media definition. As used herein, a disk and a disc are a compact disc (CD), a laser disc (registered trademark), an optical disc, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a floppy disc (registered trademark), and Including Blu-ray discs, the disk normally reproduces data magnetically, and the disc optically reproduces data with a laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

  The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. obtain. Accordingly, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. .

100 wireless communication network, wireless network
102a Macrocell
102b macrocell
102c macro cell
102x picocell
102y femtocell
102z femtocell
110 Advanced Node B (eNB)
110a eNB
110b eNB, macro eNB
110c eNB, macro eNB
110r relay station
110x eNB, pico eNB
110y eNB, femto eNB
110z eNB, femto eNB
120r UE
120x UE
120y UE
130 Network controller
200A format
210a Physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)
210b Physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)
220a Physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)
220b Physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)
312 data source
320 Transmit processor
330 Transmit (TX) Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Processor
332 Modulator, demodulator
332a to 332t modulator (MOD)
334 antenna
334a to 334t antenna
336 MIMO detector
338 Receive Processor
339 Data Sync
340 Controller / Processor
342 memory
344 Scheduler
352a ~ 252r antenna
354 Demodulator
354a-354r demodulator (DEMOD), modulator
356 MIMO detector
358 receive processor
360 data sync
362 data sources
364 Transmit Processor
366 TX MIMO processor
380 controller / processor
382 memory
400 Non-Roaming Advanced Packet Service (EPS) wireless network architecture, network
402 Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN)
404 non-3GPP network
406 Reliable connection
408 Advanced Packet Data Gateway (ePDG)
410 UE
412 Unreliable WLAN access
414 PDN gateway
500 network architecture
506 Reliable WLAN access network
507 TWAG
510 UE
514 PDN gateway (PGW)
515 PDN gateway (PGW)
516 PDN # 1
518 PDN # 2
520 PDN # 3
600 Reliable WLAN Access Gateway (TWAG) system
602 control plane
604 User plane
606 TWAN
610 UE
614 PGW
700 call flow, offload protocol, process
706 TWAN
710 UE
718 3GPP Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server
800 call flow
806 TWAN
810 UE
900 call flow
906 TWAN
910 UE
918 HSS / AAA
1000 call flow
1006 TWAG
1010 UE
1100 operation
1200 operation
1302 First embodiment
1304 Control protocol
1306 Dedicated GRE tunnel
1308 MAC
1310 PHY
1312 Second Embodiment
1314 Control protocol
1316 Internet Protocol (IP)
1318 MAC
1320 PHY
1322 Third embodiment
1324 Control protocol
1326 GAS
1328 MAC
1330 PHY
1400 call flow
1406 TWAN
1410 UE
1420 Dedicated GRE tunnel
1500 call flow
1510 UE
1600 call flow
1606 TWAN
1610 UE
1700 operation
1800 operation
1900 operation
2000 operation

Claims (40)

A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE),
Providing an indication that when the UE determines to connect to a network via a wireless local area network (WLAN), the UE may support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections; ,
Using a control protocol for management functions over the WLAN to establish a plurality of PDN connections through the WLAN, wherein the WLAN is a reliable WLAN with respect to a wireless wide area network (WWAN) operator ( (TWAN)
Including a method.   The method of claim 1, wherein the management function includes at least one of a bearer setup procedure, a bearer change procedure, or a bearer release procedure. The method of claim 1, further comprising: utilizing the control protocol to exchange an IP flow mobility filter for providing an IP flow mobility function between the WLAN and the WWAN.   The method of claim 1, wherein the management function includes creation of a bearer with quality of service (QoS).   The method of claim 1, wherein the control protocol utilizes one or more link layer or network layer tunnels.   6. The method of claim 5, wherein the control protocol utilizes at least one of generic routing encapsulation (GRE) or virtual local area network (VLAN) for link layer tunneling.   1 to identify a link layer tunnel carrying the control protocol via at least one of Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), static configuration of the UE, or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) procedure The method of claim 6, further comprising obtaining one or more keys.   The method of claim 1, wherein the control protocol utilizes an Internet protocol (IP).   9. The method of claim 8, wherein the UE utilizes at least one of a link local address or a non-seamless WLAN offload (NSWO) address for tunneling of control protocol messages over IP.   The method of claim 9, wherein the link local address comprises at least one of an IPv4 or IPv6 link local address.   The method further comprises obtaining an IP address for the TWAN via at least one of Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), or through multicast discovery. The method described in 1.   The method of claim 1, wherein the control protocol utilizes a generic advertisement service (GAS). A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE),
Providing an indication that when the UE determines to connect to a network via a wireless local area network (WLAN), the UE may support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections; ,
As a response from the network, receiving an indication that the WLAN supports multiple PDN connections with or without non-seamless wireless offload (NSWO) for the UE;
Establishing the one or more PDN connections through the WLAN via one or more PDN connectivity establishment procedures in a manner that preserves the IP continuity of the one or more PDN connections;
Including a method.   14. The method of claim 13, wherein the established one or more PDN connections utilize one or more link layer or network layer tunnels.   15. The method of claim 14, wherein signaling for each PDN connectivity establishment procedure includes information sufficient to include a PDN identifier, wherein the PDN identifier uniquely identifies the one or more PDN connections. .   16. The method of claim 15, wherein the signaling for each PDN connectivity establishment procedure indicates at least an access point name (APN). Each PDN connectivity completion message from the network indicates a PDN identifier and optionally an IP address assigned to the UE for the corresponding PDN connection;
16. The method of claim 15, wherein if generic routing encapsulation (GRE) tunneling is used to identify or separate PDN connections, the PDN identifier is a GRE key.   If the UE does not receive the IP address from the network through the PDN connectivity establishment procedure, the UE can use the dynamic host configuration protocol to obtain the IP address for the one or more PDN connections. 16. The method according to claim 15, which triggers (DHCP) and / or router solicitation / router authentication (RS / RA). Generic routing encapsulation (GRE) tunneling is used for each PDN connection,
The method includes receiving a PDN connectivity completion message from the network, wherein each PDN connectivity completion message uniquely identifies the one or more PDN connections in the TWAN. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising a receiving step indicating a combination of an access control (MAC) address, a PDN ID, and a UE IP address.   14. The method of claim 13, wherein the indication from the network indicates that the WLAN supports multiple PDN connections with NSWO, and the method further comprises establishing an NSWO connection.   21. The method of claim 20, wherein the NSWO connection is established prior to establishing the one or more PDN connections.   22. At least one of a current dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) procedure and a router solicitation / router authentication (RS / RA) procedure is used to obtain a local IP address for the NSWO connection. The method described in 1.   14. The method of claim 13, wherein the WLAN comprises a WiFi hotspot operated by a wireless wide area network (WWAN) operator.   14. The method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of PDN connections are established via a protocol implemented in a modem processor. A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE),
When the UE decides to connect to a network via a wireless local area network (WLAN), the UE may support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections or a single connection Providing an indication that it is possible to support (PDN or NSWO connection);
As a response from the network, receiving an indication that the WLAN supports a single packet data network (PDN) or non-seamless wireless offload (NSWO) connection for the UE;
At least one of the PDN or NSWO connections through the WLAN based on the response from the network via an extensible authentication protocol (EAP) authentication procedure in a manner that preserves Internet Protocol (IP) continuity of the PDN or NSWO connection Establishing one,
Including a method.   26. The method of claim 25, further comprising establishing only a single connection through the WLAN if the UE does not indicate the capabilities of multiple PDN connections or a single connection.   26. The method of claim 25, further comprising establishing only a single connection through the WLAN if a response indicating that the WLAN supports multiple PDN connections is not received by the UE. A method for wireless communication by a wireless local area network (WLAN) entity, comprising:
Receiving an indication that the UE is capable of supporting multiple packet data network (PDN) connections when a user equipment (UE) determines to connect to a network via the WLAN; and
The plurality of PDNs through the WLAN via one or more PDN connectivity establishment procedures in a manner that preserves Internet Protocol (IP) continuity of the plurality of PDN connections as before the UE decides to connect Establishing a connection;
Including a method.   30. The method of claim 28, wherein the plurality of PDN connections utilize one or more link layer or network layer tunnels.   30. The method of claim 29, wherein signaling for each PDN connectivity establishment procedure includes information sufficient for a PDN ID, wherein the PDN ID uniquely identifies the one or more PDN connections.   32. The method of claim 30, wherein the signaling for each PDN connectivity establishment procedure indicates at least an access point name (APN).   32. The method of claim 31, further comprising receiving a PDN connectivity completion message from the network, wherein the PDN connectivity completion message indicates a PDN ID for a corresponding PDN connection. . Generic routing encapsulated tunneling is used for each PDN connection,
The PDN connectivity completion message indicates a combination of the UE medium access control (MAC) address, a PDN ID, and a UE IP address to uniquely identify the one or more PDN connections. 28. The method according to 28.   29. The method of claim 28, further comprising establishing a non-seamless wireless offload (NSWO) connection if allowed by the WLAN operator.   35. The method of claim 34, wherein the NSWO connection is established prior to establishing the one or more PDN connections.   36. The method of claim 35, wherein at least one of a current dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) procedure and a router solicitation / router authentication (RS / RA) procedure is used to obtain a local IP address.   29. The method of claim 28, further comprising establishing only a PDN connection if NSWO is not authorized by the WLAN operator.   38. The method of claim 37, further comprising skipping a current dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) procedure and a router solicitation / router authentication (RS / RA) procedure for obtaining a local IP address.   30. The method of claim 28, wherein the WLAN includes a WiFi hotspot operated by a wireless wide area network (WWAN) operator.   32. The method of claim 31, further comprising establishing only a single connection through the WLAN if the UE does not indicate the capability of multiple PDN connections.

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