RU2806173C2 - Method, device for selecting long-range wireless network wan for multi-mode radio device - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: communications.

SUBSTANCE: device contains radio modules with various RAT radio access technologies that regularly detect available WAN networks at the location of the multi-mode radio device for a period of time limited by the network search timer, and a network selection controller with the help of which, including data on available networks from an external source, a list of available WAN networks is created, separate communication quality metrics are determined for each network and an overall assessment of the transmission quality in each WAN, and a selection and connection is made within a timer limited to a WAN network from the list in descending order of the overall WAN connection quality assessment with periodic repetition of detection, calculation of the overall assessment and connection to the selected WAN network.

EFFECT: providing the ability for a multi-mode radio device to select the best transmission quality and available WAN network in the time interval with a general or simplified use of radio frequency spectrum bands.

7 cl, 5 dwg

Description

Method, device for selecting a long-range wireless network WAN for a multi-mode radio device

Field of technology to which the invention relates

The invention relates to the field of communications technology, more precisely to a method for selecting a network to solve the technical problem of using the best long-range WAN network in terms of overall transmission quality in a time interval. The technical result consists in increasing the efficiency of network selection by periodically generating a list of available networks for a multi-mode radio device and repeatedly using available WAN networks with the highest assessment of transmission quality in radio frequency spectrum bands with general or simplified use.

State of the art

The prior art has been disclosed to the extent known to the applicants. The work of the inventors, according to the description, is devoted to the basics and aspects of the description of the invention, which can be qualified as prior art necessary for understanding the essence of the invention and examination of the application. The level of technology is determined by the following analogues of the invention known to the applicant.

Known is “Method, apparatus and computer program providing network-associated system priority list for multimode selection” (US 2006/0282554 A1 G06F 3/00, 12/14/2006), where the method includes preparing at least one list for a multimode wireless communication terminal system priority (SPL) networks, which contains information that identifies multiple types of wireless network systems and for each identified wireless network type, there is at least one wireless network of that type. The SPL method selects a wireless network for service selectively based on a priority that is manually specified, a priority that is automatically specified, and a priority that is specified for use automatically only when the terminal is powered on.

The technical problem of using the best long-range WAN network in terms of overall transmission quality in a time interval when implementing an analogue of the invention cannot be solved, since the list of system priority networks does not change over time, networks do not automatically change places in the list taking into account the current state of transmission quality, the SPL list is generated only by the telecom operator.

Route selection in wireless networks is known (RU No. 2405282 C2 H04W 40/24, (2006.04), 9.11.2005), where the invention relates to wireless networks and, in particular, to the processing of route request messages in on-demand routing protocols in wireless cellular networks structures. The technical result is to provide rapid discovery of the best route between a source node and one or more destination nodes. The specified technical result is achieved by the fact that a method for discovering the best route is proposed, which includes the stages: selection by the destination node of the best route between itself and the source node based on cumulative metrics received in route request messages received by the destination node, creation of an additional route response message and unicast transmission an additional route response message to the source node.

The technical problem of using the best long-range WAN network in terms of overall transmission quality in the time interval when implementing an analogue of the invention cannot be solved because the analogue of the invention is applied only within the framework of on-demand routing protocols, there is no calculation of a generalized routing metric based on cumulative metrics to justify the choice the best route option.

Route selection in wireless networks is known (RU No. 2682930 C2 H04W 40/24 (2009.01), 05/15/2017), where the invention relates to means for determining the route between a source node and a destination node in a wireless network. The technical result consists in detecting the optimal route without causing a significant delay in route discovery. Receive a route request message from a source node, wherein the route request message has a flag in a given condition, if the intermediate node has a valid route to the destination node and there is a flag in the given condition, send a route request response message to the source node in response to the route request message, so that the source node used this message when establishing a temporary route between the source node and the destination node in the wireless network. Clear the specified flag in any subsequent sending of the specified route request message by the intermediate node, which collectively solves the problem of quickly discovering a route with an optimal metric between a source node and one or more destination nodes for on-demand routing protocols.

The technical problem of using the best long-range WAN network in terms of overall transmission quality in the time interval when implementing an analogue of the invention cannot be solved because the routing metric, including the total routing metric, includes only the characteristics of routes and does not reflect the conditions of radio signal transmission in wireless networks.

“Optimal selection of a communication network at the location of the terminal device” is known (RU No. 2375846 C2 H04W 48/18 (2009.01), 03/09/2006), where the invention relates to communication technology. A method, device and system for optimal communication selection (VPLMN2) are proposed at the location of the terminal device; the terminal device sends a request through a network device (intermediary) of the first communication network (VPLMN1) regarding the second communication network (VPLMN2) to another network device (WLAN DB). Another network device (WLAN DB), after checking the request, sends a response message to the terminal device (MS) containing information depending on which the terminal device (MS) registers in the communication network (VPLMN2), which allows the terminal device to easily and effectively select communication networks. In this case, a set of information data is transmitted to select a network, wherein the information data is a country code, and/or a network code identifying the communication network in which the terminal device (MS) is temporarily registered, and/or location information related to the current location of the terminal device (MS) or data related to the terminal device (MS) required bandwidth and/or security requirements for the communication network (VPLMN2).

The technical problem of using the best long-range WAN network in terms of overall transmission quality in the time interval when implementing an analogue of the invention cannot be solved, because there is no solution for the processing device as part of the terminal device regarding the procedure for selecting the VPLMN2 network for registration in the event that from the WLAN The DB receives a set of information data regarding more than one VPLMN2 network in the coverage area of which the MS is located; there is no solution for the case when no sets of information data are received from the WLAN DB; there is no solution in the case of self-detection of MS at the location of several VPLMNs and the choice between them.

It is known “Switching wireless network selection modes in connection with the selection of a set of wireless cells” (RU No. 2480956 C2 H04W 48/18 (2009.01), where the invention relates to wireless communications and, more specifically, to the selection of a wireless network. The technical result is to provide selection wireless network.To this end, the communication device contains: a cell selector configured to select a cell advertising a closed group of subscribers; a network selector configured to identify a wireless network associated with the selected cell, and further configured to switch from the first wireless network selection mode to the second a mode for selecting a wireless network as a result of identifying a wireless network; and a communication controller configured to register with the identified wireless network; when the access terminal detects a higher priority wireless network, the access terminal can automatically select that network.

In a typical case, a user's home wireless network may be assigned the highest priority (eg, designated as a preferred wireless network), while other wireless networks that the user is authorized to access may have a lower priority. At some point in time, the access terminal may determine that it is no longer accepting service from a closed group of CSG subscribers (eg, by determining that the access terminal is no longer based in any cell of that CSG). Available CSG IDs may be displayed first for the allowed CSG list, then for the operator's CSG list, and any other identifier not included in the allowed CSG list and in the operator's CSG list. The device is designed with a communication controller for managing communications with other nodes and for providing other related functionality, which can be used to send messages and process received messages for cell selection (for example, receiving messages that include CSG identifiers, wireless network identifiers, and etc.), identifying the wireless network associated with the CSG cell, registering with the network and determining whether the access terminal is based in the CSG cell, and determining whether the access terminal has returned to the wireless coverage area of the CSG cell (e.g., within a certain period of time ). The device is designed with a network selection controller that can switch modes based on the identification of the wireless network and/or based on a determination that the access terminal is no longer based in a CSG cell, maintain a record of the current wireless network selection mode, return to the mode identified by the record, select wireless network based on a determination that the access terminal is no longer based in a CSG cell, designate a closed CSG as the preferred choice, and revert to the wireless network identified by the supported entry if the access terminal moves out of the wireless coverage area of the CSG cell. The access terminal may also include a cell selector for selecting a cell and to provide other related functionality, for example, the cell selector may select a cell advertising a CSG and select that CSG cell if the access terminal enters the cell's wireless coverage area in for a specified period of time after the access terminal ceases to be based in any CSG cell.

The technical problem of using the best long-range WAN network in terms of overall transmission quality in the time interval when implementing an analogue of the invention cannot be solved, because the access terminal does not contain a device for analyzing and determining a general assessment of communication quality for sequential selection of a CSG cell and a wireless network PLMN; there is no decision about the possibility or impossibility of selecting another SCG cell of a wireless network, or another wireless network, due only to the purpose of improving the quality of communication and not related to the loss of basing in the cell or in the wireless network; The disadvantage is the presence of a separate communication controller, a separate cell selection block, a separate network selection block, since at the current level of technology and programming development, these devices and blocks can be functionally implemented on a single microcontroller device.

Known "ANDSF parameters for WLAN network selection" (WO 2014/052339 A1, H04W 48/18 (2014.01), 04/03/2014) where embodiments describe systems, methods and devices for identification based, at least in part, on the detection function and access network selection (ANDSF), quality of service (QoS) policies, wireless local area network (WLAN) preferred access point (AP). In some ANDSF implementations, the QoS policy can be compared to one or more radio interface congestion parameters. AP, and/or AP transport network congestion parameter. The subscriber device includes a network selection module coupled to a receiver to identify an air interface congestion or a transport network congestion parameter for use of an access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) and a quality of service (QoS) policy according to which the access point is the preferred access point.

The technical problem of using the best long-range WAN network in terms of overall transmission quality in a time interval when implementing an analogue of the invention cannot be solved, since the subscriber device does not determine transmission quality parameters at certain time intervals; the subscriber device determines the parameters of available networks only when there is an overload, determines communication quality policies only by ANDSF without the possibility of individual settings, determines only the preferred access point, does not generate a list of preferred networks and does not organize the list of networks.

The analogue closest to the invention - the prototype - is “Improving the selection of preferred systems for multi-mode wireless systems” (RU No. 2487497 C2 H04W 48/18 (2009.01), 04/30/2009 (where the invention relates to communication systems, the result is to increase the efficiency of multi-mode selecting systems in a wireless communication system using various techniques to synthesize databases of systems corresponding to distinct groups of wireless access technologies (RATs), such as a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list and/or Preferred Roaming List (PRL), using one or more overlaid databases and associated location information to form a multi-modal system preference list. A system preference list can be created to enhance the granularity of information in one or more databases while still supporting databases with less detailed information. Techniques for enhancement are further described and/or grouping one or more overlay databases to allow a higher granularity of information available for different wireless access technologies (RATs) than the granularity provided in databases of systems corresponding to wireless access technologies (RATs). Additionally, techniques are presented for automated generation of a list of preferred systems based on changes in observed location.

The technical problem of using the best long-range WAN network in terms of overall transmission quality in a time interval when implementing the prototype cannot be solved due to the lack of a multi-mode list generator for generating a multi-mode list of restrictions in the form of the duration of intervals of the list formation time period, resulting in the solution does not allow you to quickly carry out procedures for regularly updating the list; when assigning a priority class, information about other metrics of communication quality and radio signal transmission in a specific network is not used, except for information about the location of the device, about the interleaving of RAT technology in terms of supporting high-speed services.

Disclosure of the invention

The technical result of the invention consists in the selection by a multi-mode radio device of the best transmission quality and available in the time interval WAN network with general or simplified use of radio frequency spectrum bands, which is achieved by the presence in the multi-mode radio device of radio modules with various radio access technologies RAT, which regularly detect available radio access technologies at the location of the multi-mode radio device. WAN networks for a period of time limited by the network search timer, or receiving a list of WAN networks from an external source with the formation of a list of available WAN networks in non-volatile memory. The network selection controller as part of a multi-mode radio device, within a time-limited time, determined individual communication quality metrics for each detected WAN network or for each WAN network received from an external source, determined an overall assessment of the transmission quality in each WAN, and selected and connected to the WAN network from list in descending order of overall WAN connection quality rating. The actions of the multi-mode radio device to discover WAN networks, determine the transmission quality metrics in each detected WAN, calculate the overall transmission quality rating in the available WANs, connect to the WAN network in descending order of the overall transmission quality rating are periodically repeated by the multi-mode radio device independently at its location.

The essence of the proposed method is a sequential search and selection by a multi-mode radio device for possible use over a certain period of time of available wireless WAN networks in frequency bands with a general and simplified procedure for using, measuring or receiving data from an external source by a multi-mode radio device for the values of individual transmission quality metrics in each detected network WAN, calculating the overall assessment of transmission quality in each of the detected WAN networks, connecting a multi-mode radio device to the WAN network with the maximum overall assessment of transmission quality, repeating the sequence of actions within the proposed method at intervals of time.

The disclosure of the invention provides for monitoring, using a timer, the duration of the search time interval, detection, generating a list of available WAN networks and calculating an overall assessment of the transmission quality in each WAN network with different RAT technologies at the device location, monitoring, using a timer, the duration of connection time to each WAN network from the list in descending order of the overall transmission quality rating for WAN networks.

Unless otherwise indicated, the following approaches are not prior art with respect to the description of the invention and the claims.

Ensuring the deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure includes radio frequency support for Internet of Things networks using radio frequency spectrum bands used in a general or simplified manner. IoT networks involve the use of narrowband (Narrow Band, NB) wireless communication networks, where for the general use of radio frequency bands, it is required to obtain appropriate administrative permission from the national regulator, and for the simplified use of radio frequency bands, it is necessary to adhere to restrictions due to compliance with the requirements of electromagnetic compatibility, noise immunity, life safety, operating cycle duration, but not limited to them, and these requirements for the used radio frequency band, equivalent to the radiated power of the devices, differ from the general conditions for using the radio frequency spectrum in the direction of decreasing the value of the characteristics.

Radio access technologies (RAT), with the general use of radio frequency spectrum bands, include NB-IoT and LTE-eMTC technologies, but without limiting the list of technologies given. RAT radio access technologies, with simplified use of radio frequency spectrum bands, include LoRa/LoRaWAN, ZigFox, NB-Fi, Weightless technologies, but not limiting the list to the above technologies. The RAT technologies under consideration technically provide data transmission over distances of up to 1 km or more, as a result of which they can be classified as long-range wireless networks Wide-Area Network (WAN).

Given the technical differences between RAT technologies, devices can be equipped with WAN radios that support radio access technology modes for simplified use of radio frequency spectrum bands and radio modules that support radio access technology modes for general use of radio frequency spectrum bands. Thus, in terms of terrestrial cellular communication systems, stations are created, including mobile ones, with several radio modules (Multi Radio Mobile Station), and a radio module with a RAT can be enabled for transmitting and receiving information.

Such multi-mode radios (multi-mode stations) can connect or switch from a system cell with RAT NB-IoT, LTE-eMTC, but not limited to, to a wireless network cell with RAT LoRa/LoRaWAN, ZigFox, NB-Fi, Weightless, but not limited to them, or from a wireless network cell with RAT LoRa/LoRaWAN, ZigFox, NB-Fi, Weightless, to a cell (cell) of a mobile cellular communication system with RAT NB-IoT, LTE-eMTC, but not limited to them.

The following is a description of the disclosure, which may use the phrases “in an embodiment” or “in embodiments,” each of which may refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. The most obvious embodiment of the present disclosure is designated as “preferred,” and the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” “permitting,” and the like, when used with respect to an embodiment of the present disclosure, are synonymous.

This document describes a method that allows a multi-mode radio device to use an overall assessment of the transmission quality of a WAN network, obtained as an aggregated assessment of individual metrics from offline measurements or estimates of transmission quality metrics obtained from an external source during the reception and transmission of radio communications signals. An overall assessment of the transmission quality metrics of the WAN network as part of all WAN networks accessible to the radio device allows you to consistently select the preferred WAN for connection for the purpose of receiving and transmitting information in the form of data.

The expressions “general use of radio frequency bands”, “common use of radio frequency spectrum bands”, “simplified use of radio frequency bands”, “simplified use of radio frequency spectrum bands” are further intended to classify the modes of use of radio frequency bands in a certain range using a certain RAT, and the technical means of determining modes of use are not relevant to the disclosure of the present invention, where the term "simplified" does not imply the need to obtain prior administrative approval from a regulatory organization to use radio frequency spectrum bands, the expression "general" implies the need to obtain prior administrative approval from a regulatory organization to use radio frequency spectrum bands, wherein “simplified” quantitatively more limits the parameters of the mode of use of frequencies and frequency bands of the radio frequency spectrum, but does not exhaust the list of technical parameters specified in this disclosure in relation to the “general” one, as a result of which WAN networks have different technical parameters of use, which is taken into account in the design of a multi-mode radio device .

In the preferred embodiment, a multi-mode radio device is a radio-electronic device that includes WAN radio modules with RAT in its design, allowing radio communication in the transmit-receive mode in a technically accessible way and with technical parameters for a specific RAT technology, using external antenna devices and a network selection controller and with an executable computer a program stored in the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller, which starts the network search time timer, after which the network selection controller turns on, by transmitting control signals to the inputs of the radio modules, WAN radio modules with RAT, which detect at the location of the multi-mode radio device the electromagnetic radiation of available WAN networks with network identifier SSID or other identifier, in the mode of general use of radio frequency bands and in the mode of simplified use of radio frequency bands, determine and measure the technical parameters and characteristics of the WAN, allowing to estimate the value of at least one metric characterizing the quality of transmission for the detected WAN network with RAT, for example metrics "signal to noise ratio" SNR, "received signal strength indicator" RSSI, "radio channel quality indicator" LQI, but not limited to them, and with the ability to record a list of detected network identifiers with measured WAN network parameters and metric values in the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller .

Within the scope of the present disclosure, a multi-mode radio device is in a preferred embodiment implemented as a separate product or a removable, mountable, attachment component in relation to another device, whether or not equipped with an antenna system of a particular type or type, wherein the method, manufacturing technology, design and technical implementation of the antenna equipment, another device in relation to which the multi-mode radio device is a removable or mounted or hinged component and constitutes a technical complex, is not related to the disclosure of the essence of the invention.

In an embodiment, a multi-mode radio device is a radio-electronic device that includes in the design one WAN radio module with RAT for simplified use of radio frequency bands, allowing radio communication in the transmit-receive mode in a technically accessible way and with technical parameters for a specific RAT technology, using external antenna devices and a network selection controller with an executable computer program stored in the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller, which starts the network search time timer, after which the network selection controller turns on, by transmitting control signals to the inputs of the radio modules, a WAN radio module with RAT for simplified use of radio frequency bands, wherein the radio module and the selection controller networks can detect and measure one or more metrics characterizing the quality of communication for a discovered WAN network with a RAT and a network SSID or other identifier, and containing, for example, the metrics “signal-to-noise ratio” SNR, “received signal strength indicator” RSSI, “quality indicator” radio channel" LQI, but not limited to them, and with the ability to record a list of identifiers of detected networks with metric values in the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller.

In an embodiment, a multi-mode radio device is a radio-electronic device that includes in the design one WAN radio module with RAT for the general use of radio frequency bands, allowing radio communication in the transmit-receive mode in a technically accessible way and with technical parameters for a specific RAT technology, using external antenna devices and a network selection controller with an executable computer program stored in the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller, which starts the network search time timer, after which the network selection controller turns on, by transmitting control signals to the inputs of the radio modules, a WAN radio module with a RAT for shared use of radio frequency bands, wherein the radio module and the network selection controller can detect and measure one or more metrics characterizing the transmission quality of a detected WAN network with a RAT and a network SSID or other identifier, and containing, for example, the metrics "signal-to-noise ratio" SNR, "received signal strength indicator" RSSI, "received signal strength indicator" radio channel quality" LQI, but not limited to them, and with the ability to record a list of network identifiers with metric values in the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller.

In an embodiment, a multi-mode radio device containing WAN radio modules with RAT for the general use of radio frequency bands, allowing radio communication in the transmit-receive mode in a technically accessible way and with technical parameters for a specific RAT technology and with a network selection controller with an executable computer program stored in the non-volatile memory of the controller network selection, which starts a network search timer, after which the same network selection controller turns on, by transmitting control signals to the radio inputs, a WAN radio with RAT for shared use of radio frequency bands, and the multi-mode radio can establish a secure tunneled connection to the ANDSF node as recommended 3GPP TS 23.402 and receive from the ANDSF node a list of available access networks for the radio device and service policies in each network from the ANDSF list, and the multi-mode radio device, using an executable computer program stored in the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller, can retrieve metric values or WAN network parameters from the list subject to measurement and evaluation, with the ability to record metric values for the WAN network identifier in non-volatile memory.

In the preferred embodiment, the values of weighting coefficients (hereinafter referred to as “weights”), reflecting the significance of each transmission quality metric, are recorded into the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller from an external computer device via the radio interface (Over-The-Air) or by direct connection to a multi-mode radio device, as input data of an executable computer program that programmatically implements a method for selecting a WAN network.

In an embodiment, the values of the weights reflecting the significance of each transmission quality metric are calculated by the network selection controller independently using a software-implemented algorithm, which in the form of an executable computer program is recorded from an external computer device via the radio interface (Over-The-Air) or by direct connection to a multi-mode radio device into the volatile memory of the network selection controller, for example, equal weights for all metrics proportional to the number of metrics.

In the preferred embodiment, the “weights” before recording non-volatile memory are calculated by pairwise comparison methods, rank methods, scoring methods, rating methods on a ratio scale, utility function approximation methods, preference frequency transformation method, as previously indicated in scientific articles: Anokhin, A M. Methods for determining criteria importance coefficients [Text] / A. M. Anokhin, V. A. Glotov, V. V. Pavelyev, A. M. Cherkashin // Automation and telemechanics. – 1997. – issue. 8. – P. 3–35; Podinovsky V.V., Potapov M.A. Method of weighted sum of criteria in the analysis of multicriteria decisions: Pro et Contra [Text] / V.V. Podinovsky, M.A. Potapov // Business informatics. – 2013. – No. 3(25). – P. 41-48, and the list of methods and application of methods is not limited to those listed.

In the preferred embodiment, via the radio interface (Over-The-Air) or by direct connection to a multi-mode radio device, threshold values of metrics reflecting the numerical or qualitative maximum permissible value of the transmission quality metric of the WAN network are written from an external computer device to the volatile memory of the network selection controller, as input data of an executable computer program that programmatically implements a method for selecting a WAN network.

In embodiments, metric thresholds reflecting the numerical or qualitative value of each WAN link quality metric are values assigned to data elements or individual variables of the executable computer program during program creation, and as such are stored in the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller.

In the preferred embodiment, the network selection controller's calculation of the overall WAN transmission quality score for each network identifier is done by dividing the metric value obtained from measuring a parameter or technical characteristic of the WAN network by the metric threshold value, then multiplying the result by a weighting factor and adding for all metrics, and recording the result in volatile memory, as follows from formula (1):

(1)

Where – general assessment of the quality of WAN network communication by communication quality metrics taking into account weight or significance each metric;

…. – values of “weights” or significance of each communication quality metric;

... – values of communication quality metrics obtained by measurements in the WAN network or obtained from external data sources;

... – threshold or target values of communication quality metrics;

N – number of communication quality metrics.

In the preferred embodiment, if the metric has a qualitative meaning, such as, but not limited to, a RAT radio technology designation as a text string of the form "LoRa" or "ZigFox", then formula (2) holds:

(2)

In a preferred embodiment, the time interval between successive starts of an executable computer program, hardware is limited by a preset value of network selection time timers.

In the preferred embodiment, after the network selection timer has expired, the network selection controller starts the network connection timer, after which it reads the network identifier with the highest overall communication quality score from machine-readable memory and activates, by issuing discrete signals to the contacts, the WAN radio module with RAT , and the RAT coincides with the network RAT, and the process of connecting to the network for receiving and transmitting information continues until the network timer expires.

In the preferred embodiment, if the connection timer has expired and the radio has not connected to the selected WAN network, the network selection controller restarts the WAN connection timer, after which the WAN ID is read from volatile memory with the next decreasing overall quality score value. transmission and is activated by issuing control signals from the WAN radio module with RAT, and the RAT settings of the radio module coincide with the parameters of the RAT network, and the method for performing such settings does not relate to the disclosure of the essence of the present invention.

It should be understood that other embodiments and structural or logical modifications of the claimed method may be used, which can be done without going beyond the scope of the present description of the disclosure of the invention. Therefore, the present description should not be construed in a limiting sense, the set of embodiments being defined by the appended claims.

The various actions or sequences of actions within the embodiments may be described in detail as separate operations or related operations, and related in a sequence most useful for disclosing the essence of the invention. The order of actions in this disclosure should not be interpreted as implying that the order of actions necessarily depends on the embodiment of the claimed method. In particular, actions may be performed not in the order of presentation within the framework of the disclosure of the invention; actions may be associated with a different sequence of implementation compared to that described. There may be various additional actions performed that may be omitted in the embodiments relative to the preferred embodiment.

Brief description of drawings

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form part of the description of the invention, in which like numerals denote like parts throughout, and in which by way of illustration there is shown an embodiment that most fully reflects the disclosure of the invention, but is not the only possible option that can be implemented in practice.

Figure 1 shows a functional diagram of the connectivity of a multi-mode radio and a long-range wireless WAN.

Figure 2 shows a functional diagram of the connectivity of a multi-mode radio device and an ANDSF node.

Figure 3 shows a functional diagram of a multi-mode radio device.

Figure 4 shows a block diagram of the algorithm for searching and generating a list of long-range wireless networks.

Figure 5 shows a flowchart of the algorithm for calculating the overall transmission quality rating for the list for each long-range wireless network.

In fig. 1 schematically shows the WAN network (105) (hereinafter referred to as “Network 105”) of long-range wireless communication WAN with a simplified procedure for accessing radio frequency bands, for which radio access technologies RAT LoRa/LoRaWAN, ZigFox, NB-Fi, Weightless are used, but not limited to them . WAN (110) (hereinafter referred to as “Network 110”) is a long-range wireless WAN with a common use of radio frequency bands, which uses, but is not limited to, RAT NB-IoT and LTE-eMTC radio access technologies. “Network 110” can be a cellular communication network of 2G/GSM, 3G/UMTS, 4G/LTE, 5G, 6G standards, but not limited to them. The multi-mode radio device (115), hereinafter referred to as “Device 115,” is a radio-electronic device. "Device 115" is capable of establishing a communication mode with "Network 105" (130) at the transmission channel level with the current values of transmission quality parameters and at the network level with "Network 105". "Device 115" is capable of establishing a communication mode with "Network 110" (135) at the transmission channel level with the current values of transmission quality parameters and with transmission parameters at the network level.

If "Device 115" has at least one "Network 105" and at least one "Network 110" available for communication at the location of "Device 115", then "Device 115" is capable of switching communications (140) (hereinafter referred to as "Communication Switching") 140") between “Network 105” and “Network 110” in any order, by sequentially turning on and off the radio module with RAT to connect to the required network, including, but not limited to, the option when the communication channel with one of the WAN networks is broken or if in the WAN network through which the current data transmission and reception is carried out, the quality of this transmission is worse than in another available network.

In fig. 2 schematically illustrates a secure tunneled connection 210, such as, but limited to, a TLS transport layer security tunnel to a tunnel, between “Appliance 115” and an access network discovery and selection function node ANSDF (215) (“ANDSF Node 215”) through a long-range wireless WAN to obtain a WAN list with RAT and transmission quality metrics (220) (hereinafter referred to as “List 220”). The method of organizing a tunneled connection (210) between “Device 115” and “ANDSF Node 215” is determined by information security requirements, including, but not limited to, the Internet Engineering Working Group documents, IETF “IETF RFC 4555. IKEv2 Mobility and Multihoming Protocol (MOBIKE )", "IETF RFC 4877. Mobile IPv6 Operation with IKEv2 and the Revised IPsec Architecture", "IETF RFC 5448. Improved Extensible Authentication Protocol Method for 3rd Generation Authentication and Key Agreement (EAP-AKA)", "IETF RFC 5996. Internet Key Exchange Protocol Version 2 (IKEv2)", and the method of implementing a secure tunneled connection and the method or methods of protection are not the subject of the disclosure of the invention. ANDSF Node 215 independently generates List 220, and the method for generating such a list is not the subject of the present disclosure, and Device 115 may perform additional operations to provide a tunneled connection (210) that are not the subject of this disclosure.

In fig. 3 schematically shows the functional block diagram of “Devices 115”, which includes a WAN radio module with RAT for a general procedure for accessing radio frequency bands (310) (hereinafter referred to as “Radio Module 310”) for organizing communication and searching for available networks, a WAN radio module with RAT for simplified using radio frequency bands (320) (hereinafter referred to as “Radio Module 320”) to organize communications and search for available networks. “Radio module 310” and “Radio module 320” are technically capable of implementing data reception and transmission at the level of a physical communication channel, at the data link level, are capable of detecting radio emissions from WAN networks, receiving data about the network SSID or other network identifier, measuring technical parameters and characteristics of networks WAN and transmit the measurement results to the network selection controller (325) (hereinafter referred to as “Controller 325”) to compile a list of WAN networks with RAT (345) (hereinafter referred to as “List 345”), to determine one or more transmission quality metrics of WAN networks (350) ( hereinafter referred to as “Metrics 350”), characterizing the transmission quality for detected WAN networks with RAT, including but not limited to the metrics “signal-to-noise ratio” SNR, “received signal strength indicator” RSSI, “radio channel quality indicator” LQI.

The power supply unit (355) provides power to the “Radio Module 310”, “Radio Module 320”, “Controller 325”, including, but not limited to, the case where the non-volatile memory (360) (hereinafter referred to as “Memory 360”) is made in the form of an electrically erasable reprogrammable memory device . The power supply unit (355) is made in the form of a rechargeable battery, but not limited to it, for example, the power supply unit (355) can be technically implemented in the form of a solar panel or as a voltage and current converter from an external power supply network.

"Controller 325" is connected to "Radio Module 310" and to "Radio Module 320" and through this connection can, using an executable computer control program in the "General evaluation of the quality of transmission of the WAN network" (335) block (hereinafter "Evaluation 335") register and activate device in “Network 105” and “Network 110”, transmit control signals to turn them on, off, “Switching 140”, select the mode and parameters of reception and transmission including, but not limited to, receiving data on identifiers, parameters and technical characteristics of networks , measured by “Radio Module 310” and “Radio Module 320”, as a result of which in “Memory 360” of “Controller 325” a list of WAN networks with RAT (345) is formed in machine-readable form (hereinafter referred to as “List 345”), obtained by autonomously carried out measurements, calculations by “Device 325” with the addition of “List 220” received from “ANDSF Node 215”. “Controller 325” calculates and stores in “Memory 360” in machine-readable form “Metrics 350”, calculates and stores in “Memory 360” in machine-readable form a generalized assessment of the quality of transmission of the WAN network from the list “Evaluation 335”.

"Controller 325" supports the operation of the network search time timer (330) (hereinafter "Timer 330") in "Memory 360" in a machine-readable form. "Controller 325" supports the operation of the network connection timer (340) (hereinafter "Timer 340") in "Memory 360" in a machine-readable form.

In fig. 4 schematically shows a functional block diagram of the algorithm 400 for implementing the search for “Network 105”, “Network110”, determination of “List 345”, determination of “Metrics 350”.

In the “Enabling “Device 115” (405) block, the “Device 115” is activated manually or automatically or remotely by a special signal or command via the radio interface, after which the value of the current and voltage of the power supply unit (355) increases to the operating values for the start of operation of the “Controller 325” ", "Radio module 310", "Radio module 320".

In the block “Is the list of networks empty?” (410) "Controller 325" checks for the presence of records in machine-readable form in the volatile memory area (360) "List 345". If “List 345” is empty, then “Timer 330” (410) is started to control the detection time of available WAN networks.

If the list of networks is not empty, then the parameters and technical characteristics of WAN networks are measured according to the list in the “Measurement “Metric 350” (450) block.

In the block “Procedure for searching a WAN network with RAT with simplified use of radio frequency bands” (420), electromagnetic radiation from “Networks 105” is sequentially detected by turning on “Radio Module 320”, and the network identifier of each detected WAN network is recorded. For each detected WAN network in block (425), the controller “Controller 325” in non-volatile memory (360) in machine-readable form recorded the identifier of each detected network in the memory area “List 345” and recorded the values of communication quality metrics of each detected network “List 345” to the Metrics 350 memory area.

In the block “Timer 330 expired?” (430) the value of “Timer 330” is checked. If the value of “Timer 330” is not zero, then a transition to block (435) occurs.

In the block “Procedure for searching for a WAN network with RAT with a common use of radio frequency bands” (435), the electromagnetic radiation of “Networks 110” is sequentially detected by turning on the “Radio Module 310”, and the network identifier of each detected WAN network is recorded.

For each detected WAN network in block (440), the controller “Controller 325” in non-volatile memory (360) in machine-readable form recorded the identifier of each detected network in the memory area “List 345” and recorded the values of communication quality metrics of each detected network “List 345” to the Metrics 350 memory area.

In the block “Timer 330 expired?” (445) the value of “Timer 330” is checked. If the value of “Timer 330” is not zero, then a transition to block (450) occurs.

In block (450), the network selection controller 325, using “Radio Module 310” and through “Network 110”, makes a tunneled connection (210) with “ANDSF Node 215” and in block (455) “Device 115” receives “List 220” with network network identifiers and communication quality metrics from the ANDSF node.

In block (460) “Weighing metrics” from the non-volatile memory of “Controller 325” the threshold values (“weights”) of transmission quality metrics are read from the memory area “Metrics 350” and then the metrics are “weighted” in the form of an expression for each “Metric 350” metric for each WAN network from “List 345” using block (465) “Calculation for each metric according to “List 345” by dividing the measured and threshold values of the metrics .

In block (470) “Timer 330 expired?” The value of “Timer 330” is checked. If the value of “Timer 330” is not zero, then a transition to block (475) occurs. If the value of “Timer 330” is zero, then the algorithm stops, and “Score 335” is determined in descending order of value with maximum weight.

In the block (475) “General assessment of transmission quality” for each WAN network from the “List 345”, the “Score 335” is calculated in the block (480) “Calculation of the weighted sum of metrics” according to formulas (1) and (2), as a result of which in block (485) “WAN list with overall transmission quality rating,” the list of WAN networks in “List 345” is reordered in descending order of the overall communication quality rating.

In fig. 5 schematically shows a functional block diagram of an algorithm 500 for implementing a connection to WAN networks with RAT according to a list in the order of the assessment of the overall quality of WAN network transmission over a time interval calculated in the algorithm 400. In block (510) “Start timer 340”, controller 325, after executing algorithm 400, starts the network connection time timer.

In the “WAN Selection” block (515), the controller 325 reads the identifier of the first network in order from the list 345 and attempts to connect to the selected WAN network using the radio module 310 or radio module 320.

In the decision block (520) “Connection to WAN accomplished?” if the connection in block (515) is made, then the network selection controller 325 in block (540) “Stop timer 340” stops the countdown of timer 340. In block (545) “Work in the selected WAN” device 115 operates in the selected WAN. Simultaneously in the background in the decision block (550) “Is there a radio mode with WAN?” device 115 monitors the presence of a radio mode with the selected WAN in block (515). If the radio mode with the WAN is absent for a time longer than the time of connecting to the network, then the controller 325 restarts the timer 340. If the radio mode continues, work continues in the selected WAN network in block (545).

If the connection to the WAN in block (520) is not made, then the transition occurs to block (525) “Has List 345 been viewed completely?” to continue selecting the next WAN network from the list and connecting to the WAN network, for which it returns to starting the timer (340) in block (510). If in block (525) “List 345 has been viewed completely?” in the list 345, all networks have been viewed and there is no connection to any of them and the radio communication mode has not been set, then the transition to block (530) “Algorithm 400” occurs and algorithm 400 is launched.

Claims (14)

1. A method for selecting a long-range wireless network WAN for a multi-mode radio device, characterized in that in order to synthesize databases of systems corresponding to groups of RAT wireless access technologies, a sequence of actions is carried out, where threshold values of transmission quality metrics in a wireless network are recorded from an external computer device long range into the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller; by means of an external computer device, at least one weighting coefficient is recorded into the non-volatile memory of the network selection controller, reflecting the significance of each transmission quality metric; start the network search timer; alternately include at least one WAN radio module with RAT access radio technology with simplified use of radio frequency bands and include at least one WAN radio module with RAT access radio technology with common use of radio frequency bands; using the network selection controller, during the network search, the values of long-range WAN network identifiers are obtained from the radio modules; determine transmission quality metrics in WAN networks; recording the received data in the form of a list in machine-readable form into a volatile memory; calculate an overall assessment of the transmission quality in all detected WAN networks by dividing the metric value obtained as a result of measuring a parameter or technical characteristic of the WAN network by the metric threshold value, then multiplying the result by a weighting factor and adding over all metrics, and writing the result to volatile memory , as follows from formula (1): $$WAN\_Estimation(M|w)=w_1\frac{M_{Meter}^1}{M_{Threshold}^1}+w_2\frac{M_{Meter}^2}{M_{Threshold}^2}+\mathrm{...}{w}_i\frac{M_{Meter}^i{}_{}}{M_{Threshold}^i}+\mathrm{...}{w}_N\frac{M_{Meter}^N}{M_{Threshold}^N},$$ (1) Where $$WAN\_Estimation(M|w)$$ – general assessment of the quality of WAN network communication by $$M$$ communication quality metrics taking into account weight or significance $$w$$ each metric; $$w_1$$ …. $$w_N$$ – values of “weights” or significance of each communication quality metric; $$M_{Meter}^1$$ ... $$M_{Meter}^N$$ – values of communication quality metrics obtained by measurements in the WAN network or obtained from external data sources; $$M_{Threshold}^1$$ ... $$M_{Threshold}^N$$ – threshold or target values of communication quality metrics; N – number of communication quality metrics; after stopping the network search time timer, the network connection time timer is started; during the network connection time, the WAN radio module with RAT radio access technology is launched; They start sequentially connecting to the WAN from the list and select the WAN with the highest overall transmission quality rating first. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the WAN connection time has expired and the multi-mode device is not connected to the selected WAN network, and the network connection timer is restarted and the next WAN network is selected from the list in decreasing order of the overall transmission quality rating . 3. The method according to claim 1, in which, at the stage of turning on the WAN radio module with RAT radio access technology with the shared use of radio frequency bands, using a network selection controller, a tunneled connection is established to a node with the functions of the ANDSF access network discovery service, and a list of available wireless networks is received from the ANDSF node long-range WAN networks with their identifiers and transmission quality metric values or metrics. 4. The method according to claim 1, in which the network connection timer is restarted using the network selection controller if there is a loss of communication in the long-range WAN network. 5. A device for selecting a long-range wireless network WAN, related to wireless communication systems and in particular to multi-mode radio devices, characterized in that there is a network selection controller connected to at least one WAN radio module with RAT radio access technology with simplified use of radio frequency bands ; and a network selection controller coupled to at least one WAN radio module with radio access technology RAT sharing radio frequency bands; and a network selection controller with non-volatile memory; and a WAN radio module with RAT radio access technology with simplified use of radio frequency bands,
connected to the power supply; and a WAN radio module with RAT radio access technology sharing radio frequency bands connected to the power supply unit; and a network selection controller connected to the power supply unit. 6. The device according to claim 5, in which there is no WAN radio module with RAT radio access technology with shared use of radio frequency bands. 7. The device according to claim 5, in which there is no WAN radio module with RAT radio access technology with simplified use of radio frequency bands.

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