WO2014056173A1 - Découverte d'un point d'accès non-cellulaire assisté de manière cellulaire - Google Patents

Découverte d'un point d'accès non-cellulaire assisté de manière cellulaire Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2014056173A1
WO2014056173A1 PCT/CN2012/082802 CN2012082802W WO2014056173A1 WO 2014056173 A1 WO2014056173 A1 WO 2014056173A1 CN 2012082802 W CN2012082802 W CN 2012082802W WO 2014056173 A1 WO2014056173 A1 WO 2014056173A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
access point
communication system
area communication
cellular
discovery
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PCT/CN2012/082802
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English (en)
Inventor
Pengfei Sun
Na WEI
Erlin Zeng
Wei Hong
Haiming Wang
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Broadcom Corporation
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Publication date
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Priority to PCT/CN2012/082802 priority Critical patent/WO2014056173A1/fr
Publication of WO2014056173A1 publication Critical patent/WO2014056173A1/fr

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W48/00—Access restriction; Network selection; Access point selection
    • H04W48/20—Selecting an access point

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to cellular assisted non-cellular access point discovery. More specifically, the present invention relates to measures (including methods, apparatuses and computer program products) for realizing cellular assisted non-cellular access point discovery, such as for example LTE/LTE-A-assisted WLAN access point discovery.
  • a specific issue relates to traffic offloading from a cellular wide-area communication system to a non-cellular local-area communication system.
  • an operator of a cellular wide-area communication system operating on a licensed band is enabled to additionally utilize an unlicensed band so as to efficiently increase bandwidth and throughput and/or enhance system coverage and performance.
  • LTE/LTE-A as an illustrative and non-limiting example of a cellular wide-area communication system
  • WLAN or WiFi
  • non-cellular local-area communication system it is to be noted that such references are made by way of example only, and similar considerations as outlined hereinafter equally apply to other types of cellular wide-area and non-cellular local-area communication systems accordingly.
  • the LTE/LTE-A network In order to offload traffic from LTE/LTE-A to WLAN, the LTE/LTE-A network shall be able to control a WLAN or WLAN access points (APs), e.g. in that the operator itself deploys WLANs or WLAN APs. Such operator deployed WLAN access points could be separate from or integrated in the radio access network domain of the LTE/LTE-A system. More importantly, a terminal operating in and thus being served in/by the LTE/LTE-A system shall be able to find APs usable for traffic offloading, such as the operator deployed APs, before the traffic could be passed via a WLAN system.
  • APs WLAN or WLAN access points
  • the AP discovery is realized by scanning AP beacons on their operating channels provided in an infrastructure BSS.
  • An AP discovery procedure in a WLAN system plays a similar role as a cell search procedure in a cellular (e.g. LTE/LTE-A) system.
  • the beacon scanning in IEEE 802.11 standards is quite inefficient from both power consumption and delay perspectives. Namely, a terminal has to scan several operating channels of various APS to search for possible beacons. Depending on the number of potential APs, this could result in a costly search in terms of both power consumption and delay.
  • the beacon interval may be large, for example a typical beacon interval value is 100 TU ( ⁇ 100ms). This means that a large delay could possibly occur before a beacon is found.
  • the WLAN AP discovery is thus very inefficient in terms of delay.
  • LTE/LTE-A and WLAN interworking are only supported in the core network domain. Accordingly, due to the lack of LTE/LTE-A and WLAN interworking in the radio access network domain, the operator control is limited for AP discovery, even for operator deployed WLANs or WLAN APs. That is to say, the lack of LTE/LTE-A and WLAN interworking in the radio access network domain hampers AP discovery procedure in the context of LTE/LTE-A and WLAN interworking. Thus, there is a need to improve non-cellular access point discovery, such as for example WLAN access point discovery in the context of LTE/LTE-A and WLAN interworking. Summary
  • a method comprising determining a request for traffic offloading from a cellular wide-area communication system to a non-cellular local-area communication system, and issuing assistance information for access point discovery in the non-cellular local-area communication system for a terminal being served in the cellular wide-area communication system, said assistance information comprising, for at least one cell of the cellular wide- area communication system, an association with and discovery reference data for at least one access point of the non-cellular local-area communication system.
  • a method comprising obtaining assistance information for access point discovery in a non-cellular local-area communication system from a base station of a cellular wide-area communication system, said assistance information comprising, for at least one cell of the cellular wide-area communication system, an association with and discovery reference data for at least one access point of the non-cellular local-area communication system, and executing access point discovery in the non-cellular local-area communication system on the basis of the obtained assistance information.
  • an apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform: determining a request for traffic offloading from a cellular wide-area communication system to a non-cellular local-area communication system, and issuing assistance information for access point discovery in the non-cellular local- area communication system for a terminal being served in the cellular wide- area communication system, said assistance information comprising, for at least one cell of the cellular wide-area communication system, an association with and discovery reference data for at least one access point of the non-cellular local-area communication system.
  • an apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform : obtaining assistance information for access point discovery in a non-cellular local-area communication system from a base station of a cellular wide-area communication system, said assistance information comprising, for at least one cell of the cellular wide-area communication system, an association with and discovery reference data for at least one access point of the non- cellular local-area communication system, and executing access point discovery in the non-cellular local-area communication system on the basis of the obtained assistance information.
  • an apparatus comprising means for determining a request for traffic offloading from a cellular wide-area communication system to a non- cellular local-area communication system, and means for issuing assistance information for access point discovery in the non-cellular local-area communication system for a terminal being served in the cellular wide-area communication system, said assistance information comprising, for at least one cell of the cellular wide-area communication system, an association with and discovery reference data for at least one access point of the non- cellular local-area communication system.
  • an apparatus comprising means for obtaining assistance information for access point discovery in a non-cellular local-area communication system from a base station of a cellular wide-area communication system, said assistance information comprising, for at least one cell of the cellular wide-area communication system, an association with and discovery reference data for at least one access point of the non- cellular local-area communication system, and means for executing access point discovery in the non-cellular local-area communication system on the basis of the obtained assistance information.
  • a computer program product comprising a set of instructions (e.g. computer-executable computer program code) which, when executed on an apparatus or a computer of an apparatus (e.g. an apparatus according to any one of the aforementioned apparatus-related exemplary aspects of the present invention), is arranged to cause the computer or apparatus to carry out the method according to any one of the aforementioned method-related exemplary aspects of the present invention.
  • Such computer program product may comprise or be embodied as a (tangible) computer-readable (storage) medium or the like on which the computer-executable computer program code is stored, and/or the program may be directly loadable into an internal memory of the computer or a processor thereof.
  • a cellular assisted non-cellular access point discovery That is to say, cellular and non-cellular interworking is utilized for improving non-cellular access point discovery, e.g. efficiency of non-cellular access point discovery in terms of power consumption and/or delay.
  • LTE/LTE-A assisted WLAN access point discovery there is provided a LTE/LTE-A assisted WLAN access point discovery.
  • LTE/LTE-A and WLAN interworking is utilized for improving WLAN access point discovery in terms of power consumption and/or delay.
  • enhancements are achieved by methods, apparatuses and computer program products enabling/realizing cellular assisted non-cellular access point discovery.
  • Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario of cellular assisted non-cellular access point discovery according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention
  • Figure 2 shows a diagram illustrating an example of a procedure in a system according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention
  • Figure 3 shows a diagram illustrating another example of a procedure in a system according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention
  • Figure 4 shows a flowchart illustrating a first example of an access point discovery procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention
  • Figure 5 shows a diagram illustrating an example of beacon scanning with timing references alignment according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention
  • Figure 6 shows a flowchart illustrating a second example of an access point discovery procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention
  • Figure 7 shows a flowchart illustrating a third example of an access point discovery procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention
  • Figure 8 shows a flowchart illustrating a fourth example of an access point discovery procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
  • Figure 9 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating exemplary apparatuses according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
  • a LTE/LTE-A system is used as a non-limiting example of a cellular wide-area communication system and a WLAN (or WiR) system is used as a non-limiting example of a non-cellular local-area communication system.
  • a WLAN or WiR
  • the description of exemplary embodiments given herein specifically refers to terminology which is directly related thereto. Such terminology is only used in the context of the presented non-limiting examples, and does naturally not limit the invention in any way. Rather, any other network configuration or system deployment, etc. may also be utilized as long as compliant with the features described herein.
  • the present invention and its embodiments may be applicable in any interworking or combination scenario between a cellular wide-area communication system and a non-cellular local-area communication system.
  • exemplary embodiments of the present invention in general terms, there are provided mechanisms, measures and means for enabling/realizing cellular assisted non-cellular access point discovery, such as for example LTE/LTE-A-assisted WLAN access point discovery.
  • Rgure 1 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario of cellular assisted non-cellular access point discovery according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
  • a cellular LTE/LTE- A system comprises two cells, wherein each cell is operated by a base station, e.g. an eNB, and that a non-cellular WLAN system comprises seven access points, wherein each access point is operated by the operator of the cellular LTE/LTE-A system or another operator.
  • the cellular LTE/LTE-A system i.e. the radio access network domain thereof, and the non-cellular WLAN system could be integrated with or separate from each other from a deployment/control perspective.
  • Each base station is configured to operate on cellular operating channels and to perform communication in accordance with a cell timing reference.
  • Each access point has a specific address, and is configured to operate on a specific operating channel and to send beacons on its operating channel in accordance with a beacon timing, wherein the beacon timing is specified by a beacon starting point and a beacon interval.
  • One of the access points is assumed to be integrated with a subordinate cell of the LTE/LTE-A system, i.e. a small cell within the first cell. Further, it is assumed that four operator deployed APs and one non-operator deployed AP are located in the first cell, while two operator deployed APs are located in the second cell. Still further, it is assumed that a terminal UE resides in the first cell in the vicinity of the integrated small LTE/LTE-A cell WLAN AP.
  • a base station of the first cell transmits assistance information for AP discovery to the UE in/via the LTE/LTE-A system.
  • the terminal UE may utilize this assistance information for AP discovery for executing AP discovery in the WLAN system, i.e. to discover the APs thereof.
  • the terminal UE knows, among others, that four possible operator deployed/controlled WLAN APs may be detected within the first cell. Due to the vicinity of the terminal UE to the integrated small LTE/LTE-A cell WLAN AP, it is assumed that this AP is eventually discovered (and selected) for WLAN traffic offloading from the LTE/LTE-A system by the terminal UE.
  • any other AP out of the WLAN APs could equally be discovered (and selected) as a result of the AP discovery procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention as outlined below.
  • the assistance information for AP discovery could comprise an association between LTE/LTE-A cells and WLAN APs as well as operating information of the individual WLAN APs.
  • API through AP4 are associated with the first cell
  • APS and AP6 are associated with the second cell
  • all of API through AP6 are operator deployed access points.
  • the operating information may comprise, among others, operating channel and MAC address of the individual WLAN APs, respectively.
  • AP discovery may be specifically dedicated for discovering an access point of the WLAN system which is operated by the same operator as the LTE/LTE/LTE-A system, i.e. an operator deployed/controlled AP, or a cooperating operator having an usage agreement with the operator of the LTE/LTE/LTE-A system, i.e. an operator usable/accessible AP.
  • the assistance information comprises respective information for the kind of access point to be discovered.
  • Figure 2 shows a diagram illustrating an example of a procedure in a system according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
  • a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises, at a cellular system side, that a cellular system base station determines a request for traffic offloading from the cellular system to a non-cellular system, and issues assistance information for access point discovery in the non-cellular system for a terminal being served in the cellular system (and transmits this assistance information to the terminal).
  • the procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises, at a terminal side, that the terminal being served in the cellular system (receives and) obtains the assistance information for access point discovery from the base station of the cellular system, and executes access point discovery in the non-cellular system on the basis of the assistance information.
  • the LTE/LTE-A network first decides to offload traffic to the WLAN network. Such decision may be made in the core network domain or in the radio access network domain, thus enabling determination of a corresponding traffic offloading request at a LTE/LTE-A base station. Thereupon, the LTE/LTE-A base station sends control signaling to its served UE(s), i.e. UE(s) residing in its cell, to scan and thus discovery WLAN APs.
  • the control information includes assistance information which contains, for example, a list of APs that are associated with one or more LTE cells, e.g. its served cell and possibly one or more neighboring cells.
  • the assistance information may also indicate, among others, the operating channel, MAC address, location and backhaul type, etc. of those APs.
  • a UE could derive possible APs, such as operator deployed/controlled APs, under the serving LTE/LTE-A cell for the purpose of AP discovery, and could execute the AP discovery based thereon, i.e. only for the derived APs using the corresponding assistance information.
  • unnecessary scanning could be avoided, thereby saving power consumption and reducing delay in the AP discovery.
  • assistance information comprise, for at least one cell of the cellular system, an association with and discovery reference data for at least one access point of the non-cellular system.
  • Figure 3 shows a diagram illustrating another example of a procedure in a system according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Such procedure is for example applicable in the scenario according to Figure 1.
  • the thus illustrated procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises the first to third operations of the procedure according to Figure 2, i.e. determination of a traffic offloading request, provision of assistance information from the cellular system side to the terminal side, and execution of AP discovery at the terminal side on the basis of the assistance information.
  • the procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises, at the terminal side, that the terminal issues (and transmits to the base station of the cellular system) an access point discovery report to the base station of the cellular system, which indicates discovery of an access point out of the at least one access point of the non-cellular system as indicated in the assistance information.
  • the terminal may issue (and transmit to the base station of the cellular system) a probing response from an AP received in the course of an active scanning operation.
  • the procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises, at the cellular system side, that the cellular system base station (receives and) obtains the access point discovery report and/or the probing response from the terminal, and utilizes the indicated discovery of the access point and/or the received probing response for a local processing.
  • Such local processing comprises e.g. offloading traffic from the cellular system to the discovered access point and/or updating the assistance information in terms of association for the discovered access point in accordance with the received access point discovery report.
  • the UE may identify the discovered AP for example by comparing its MAC address in the assistance information with its MAC address obtained in the AP discovery procedure (e.g. contained in a received beacon or probing response). Thereby, the UE may perform association and/or connection, and may report the results to the LTE/LTE-A base station.
  • an access point such as an operator deployed/controlled WLAN AP
  • Figure 4 shows a flowchart illustrating a first example of an access point discovery procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, i.e. an execution of AP discovery in the procedure of Figure 1 or 2.
  • the assistance information i.e. the discovery reference data thereof, comprise, for each one of the at least one access point, an operating channel and a beacon timing reference with respect to a cell timing reference, wherein the beacon timing reference comprises at least one of a beacon starting point and a beacon interval.
  • a terminal is able to perform scanning of the access points included in the assistance information.
  • Such scanning comprises scanning the at least one access point for a transmission on the operating channel of a respective access point (as indicated in the assistance information).
  • the scanning according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise passive or active scanning.
  • a passive scanning the operating channel of a respective AP (as indicated in the assistance information) is monitored in accordance with the beacon timing reference for transmission of a beacon from the respective AP (as indicated in the assistance information).
  • a probing signal is sent on the operating channel of a respective AP (as indicated in the assistance information), and it is listened for a probing response from the respective AP.
  • the AP sends the probing response on its operating channel, and the terminal may report the received probing request to the base station of the cellular system. In this way, the terminal may find APs more quickly with the active scanning than the passive scanning.
  • beacon timing reference in the assistance information the terminal has information on when a beacon may come, and is able to focus its AP discovery operations, i.e. its scanning operations, on a certain time/resource combination on which an AP actually transmits its beacon.
  • the terminal does not need to continuously monitor each operating channel, which would lead to unnecessary power consumption and delay due to the large standard beacon interval.
  • a beacon timing reference and a cell timing reference may be aligned with each other.
  • Figure 5 shows a diagram illustrating an example of beacon scanning with timing references alignment according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
  • the LTE/LTE-A cell timing reference may be aligned with the WLAN beacon timing reference in that the sub-frame timing in the LTE/LTE-A system is aligned with the beacon timing in the WLAN system.
  • a timing synchronization function (TSF) of the non-cellular system, to which the beacon timing reference relates, and a sub-frame number (SFN) of the cellular system, to which the cell timing reference relates may be aligned with each other.
  • the terminal may execute an AP discovery operation, i.e. a beacon scanning operation, on the basis of the LTE/LTE-A timing reference, and may sleep at other times, thus saving power consumption.
  • an aligning of the beacon transmission timing with the LTE/LTE-A timing could be realized, e.g. by/at the LTE/LTE-A base station.
  • the LTE/LTE-A base station could directly influence the LTE/LTE-A timing.
  • the LTE/LTE-A base station could instruct APs, at least operator deployed/controlled APs, in terms of their beacon transmission timing.
  • the WLAN AP and terminals maintain a TSF function, which is measured in units of ms. Given the duration of a LTE subframe of 1ms, the TSF and the SNF could be aligned with each other.
  • the UE could predict the beacon's transmission and/or arrival and keep sleep during the rest of the time to save power. Namely, based on the LTE/LTE-A timing, the UE is able to find an allocated beacon time resource and monitor the operating channel or send a probing signal accordingly.
  • a power efficient scanning may be achieved based on LTE/LTE-A timing reference, e.g. LTE/LTE-A SFN and WLAN beacon alignment.
  • the beacon scanning i.e.
  • the passive scanning may be executed only within a scanning window (scanning time period) in accordance with the beacon timing reference of a respective access point, while the scanning may be stopped (or suppressed, prohibited, disabled, etc.) outside the scanning time period (scanning time period). That is to say, the terminal may save power by adopting a sleep or standby state in times other than a possible/expected beacon transmission in a passive scanning operation.
  • Figure 6 shows a flowchart illustrating a second example of an access point discovery procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, i.e. an execution of AP discovery in the procedure of Figure 1 or 2.
  • the assistance information i.e. the discovery reference data thereof, additionally comprise, for each one of the at least one access point, at least one of a timing advance (TA) reference and a pathloss (PL) reference with respect to a respective access point (in addition to an operating channel and a beacon timing reference with respect to a cell timing reference).
  • TA timing advance
  • PL pathloss
  • a terminal is able to perform prioritizing the above-outlined scanning operation of the at least one access point on the basis of the at least one of the timing advance reference and the pathloss reference with respect to a respective access point. Namely, before executing scanning, the terminal may prioritize the APs included in the assistance information in terms of scanning sequence.
  • the terminal may perform the scanning with the thus established scanning sequence of APs on the basis of their prioritization, as described above with reference to Figures 4 and/or 5.
  • the PL and/or TA reference included in the assistance information for each AP may prioritize the APs to be scanned.
  • the base station may indicate reference PL or TA values to APs, and the terminal may check a current PL and/or TA value to the base station and then scan those APs with closest reference PL and/or TA values first, i.e. prioritizing the APs in accordance with an increasing difference between their reference PL and/or TA values and the current PL and/or TA value to the base station.
  • the prioritizing operation may comprise measuring a TA and/or PL value with respect to the base station of the cellular system, and sorting a sequence of scanning of access points in accordance with a difference between the measured TA and/or PL value with respect to the base station and the TA and/or PL reference with respect to a respective access point.
  • Figure 7 shows a flowchart illustrating a third example of an access point discovery procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, i.e. an execution of AP discovery in the procedure of Figure 1 or 2.
  • the assistance information i.e. the discovery reference data thereof, additionally comprise, for each one of the at least one access point, a medium access control address of a respective access point (in addition to an operating channel and a beacon timing reference with respect to a cell timing reference, or in addition to an operating channel, a beacon timing reference with respect to a cell timing reference and a TA and/or PL reference with respect to a respective access point).
  • the terminal may perform the scanning of APs, as described above with reference to Figures 4 and/or 5.
  • the terminal is able to detect the access point out of the at least one access point of the non- cellular system, and to identify the detected access point by means of its medium access control address included in the assistance information. That is to say, after the UE successfully detects an access point, such as an operator deployed/controlled WLAN AP, it may identify the discovered AP for example by comparing its MAC address in the assistance information with its MAC address obtained in the AP discovery procedure (e.g. contained in a received beacon or probing response). Thereby, the UE may perform association and/or connection, and may report the results to the LTE/LTE-A base station.
  • an access point such as an operator deployed/controlled WLAN AP
  • Figure 8 shows a flowchart illustrating a fourth example of an access point discovery procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, i.e. an execution of AP discovery in the procedure of Figure 1 or 2.
  • the assistance information at least comprise, for each one of the at least one access point, an operating channel and a beacon timing reference with respect to a cell timing reference, wherein the beacon timing reference comprises at least one of a beacon starting point and a beacon interval.
  • the assistance information comprise an association between LTE/LTE-A cells (including any potential small cells of subordinate base stations, such as e.g. home, micro, pico, femto, etc. base stations with the cell of the (macro) base station) and WLAN APs.
  • the assistance information may also comprise any one of the discovery reference data described above.
  • a terminal is able to perform measurements on subordinate base stations in a cell of the cellular system, and to identify a subordinate base station on the basis of the measurements. Based on the aforementioned assistance information, the terminal is able to detect at least one access point relating to the identified subordinate base station. If a single access point is detected, this access point is discovered as such. If two or more access points are detected, an access point discovery operation according to any one of Figures 4 to 7 (depending on the contents of the discovery reference data) may be based on the thus detected access points. Such procedure is specifically beneficial for discovering an access point of the non-cellular system which is integrated in a subordinate base station of the cellular system.
  • WLAN AP discovery could be further enhanced via utilizing the LTE/LTE-A mobility scheme.
  • Such enhanced WLAN AP discovery is especially applicable for integrated small LTE/LTE-A cell WLAN APs which represent a low cost and easy deployment implementation.
  • Such enhancement is based on the assumption that the coverage of a LTE/LTE-A small cell may be similar to the WLAN coverage of an integrated AP.
  • finding a LTE/LTE-A small cell implies that a WLAN AP is nearby.
  • the UE could perform measurements on the LTE/LTE-A small cells. Due to LTE/LTE-A physical layer signal features, the measurement of LTE/LTE-A small cell is quite efficient in terms of power consumption and/or delay due to the high density of broadcast signals.
  • the differences on the physical layer between LTE/LTE-A and WLAN enable the enhancement in that finding a LTE/LTE-A small cell is much easier than finding a WLAN AP and could then be utilized for the WLAN AP discovery. Namely, after finding of a LTE/LTE-A small cell, it becomes more efficient to search for and find an integrated AP.
  • cellular assisted non-cellular access point discovery such as e.g. LTE/LTE-A assisted WLAN access point discovery
  • an efficient non-cellular, e.g. WLAN, AP discovery can be enabled/realized by utilizing cellular, e.g. LTE/LTE-A, assistance.
  • cellular e.g. LTE/LTE-A
  • reduced scanning effort can be achieved due to assistance information and/or reduced wasteful scanning can be achieved due to an assisted cellular, e.g. LTE/LTE-A, reference.
  • a cellular system i.e.
  • a base station thereof sends AP discovery assistance information to a terminal served thereby.
  • the assistance information tells the terminal the discovery reference and association between one or multiple APs and/or cells.
  • Such discovery reference may include a timing reference such as beacon starting point and beacon interval as well as operating channels, etc., and/or possible certain timing advance and/or pathloss values, under which the terminal may find proper APs. Accordingly, the terminal is enabled to only scan those APs accessible for the cellular system at the indicated beacon positions, i.e. at certain time/resources, and sleep at other times.
  • the solid line blocks are basically configured to perform respective operations as described above.
  • the entirety of solid line blocks are basically configured to perform the methods and operations as described above, respectively.
  • the individual blocks are meant to illustrate respective functional blocks implementing a respective function, process or procedure, respectively.
  • Such functional blocks are implementation-independent, i.e. may be implemented by means of any kind of hardware or software, respectively.
  • the arrows and lines interconnecting individual blocks are meant to illustrate an operational coupling there-between, which may be a physical and/or logical coupling, which on the one hand is implementation-independent (e.g. wired or wireless) and on the other hand may also comprise an arbitrary number of intermediary functional entities not shown.
  • the direction of arrow is meant to illustrate the direction in which certain operations are performed and/or the direction in which certain data is transferred.
  • Figure 9 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating exemplary apparatuses according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
  • the thus described apparatus 10 corresponds to an entity which may represent a (part of a) a communication controller entity or a cellular base station apparatus, such as an eNB in a LTE/LTE-A system, or a corresponding modem (which may be installed as part thereof, but may be also a separate module, which can be attached to various devices, as described above), and may be configured to perform a procedure and/or functionality as described in conjunction with any one of Figures 1 to 3.
  • a communication controller entity such as an eNB in a LTE/LTE-A system
  • a corresponding modem which may be installed as part thereof, but may be also a separate module, which can be attached to various devices, as described above
  • the thus described apparatus 20 corresponds to an entity which may represent a (part of a) a communication entity or a terminal apparatus, such as an UE operable both in a LTE/LTE-A system and a WLAN system, or a corresponding modem (which may be installed as part thereof, but may be also a separate module, which can be attached to various devices, as described above), and may be configured to perform a procedure and/or functionality as described in conjunction with any one of Figures 1 to 8.
  • a communication entity or a terminal apparatus such as an UE operable both in a LTE/LTE-A system and a WLAN system, or a corresponding modem (which may be installed as part thereof, but may be also a separate module, which can be attached to various devices, as described above), and may be configured to perform a procedure and/or functionality as described in conjunction with any one of Figures 1 to 8.
  • any apparatus may comprise at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus.
  • each of the apparatuses comprises a processor 11/21, a memory 12/22 and an interface 13/23, which are connected by a bus 14/24 or the like, and the apparatuses may be connected via a link or connection 30, respectively.
  • the processor 11/21 and/or the interface 13/23 may be facilitated for communication over a (hardwire or wireless) link, respectively.
  • the interface 13/23 may comprise a suitable receiver or a suitable transmitter- receiver combination or transceiver, which is coupled to one or more antennas or communication means for (hardwire or wireless) communications with the linked or connected device(s), respectively.
  • the interface 13/23 is generally configured to communicate with another apparatus, i.e. the interface thereof.
  • the memory 12/22 may store respective programs assumed to include program instructions or computer program code that, when executed by the respective processor, enables the respective electronic device or apparatus to operate in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
  • the memory 12/22 of the apparatus 10/20 may store the aforementioned assistance information, and the like.
  • the respective devices/apparatuses may represent means for performing respective operations and/or exhibiting respective functionalities, and/or the respective devices (and/or parts thereof) may have functions for performing respective operations and/or exhibiting respective functionalities.
  • the processor or some other means
  • the processor is configured to perform some function
  • this is to be construed to be equivalent to a description stating that at least one processor, potentially in cooperation with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the thus mentioned function.
  • function is to be construed to be equivalent ⁇ implementable by specifically configured means for performing the respective function (i.e. the expression "processor configured to [cause the apparatus to] perform xxx-ing” is construed to be equivalent to an expression such as "means for xxx-ing").
  • At least one processor at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform as described, could correspond to a processing system.
  • the apparatus 10 or its processor 11 i.e.
  • the at least one processor 11, with the at least one memory 12 and the computer program code is configured to determine a request for traffic offloading from a cellular wide-area communication system to a non-cellular local-area communication system, and to issue assistance information for access point discovery in the non-cellular local-area communication system for a terminal being served in the cellular wide-area communication system, said assistance information comprising, for at least one cell of the cellular wide- area communication system, an association with and discovery reference data for at least one access point of the non-cellular local-area communication system.
  • the apparatus 10 or its processor 11 may comprise corresponding means for determining and means for issuing.
  • the apparatus 10 or its processor 11 may be configured to cause the apparatus to perform obtaining an access point discovery report from the terminal, which indicates discovery of an access point out of the at least one access point of the non-cellular local-area communication system, and offloading traffic from the cellular wide-area communication system to the discovered access point and/or updating the assistance information in terms of association for the discovered access point in accordance with the received access point discovery report.
  • the apparatus 10 or its processor 11 may comprise corresponding means for obtaining and means for offloading and/or updating.
  • the apparatus 20 or its processor 21 i.e. the at least one processor 21, with the at least one memory 22 and the computer program code
  • the apparatus 20 or its processor 21 is configured to obtain assistance information for access point discovery in a non-cellular local-area communication system from a base station of a cellular wide-area communication system, said assistance information comprising, for at least one cell of the cellular wide-area communication system, an association with and discovery reference data for at least one access point of the non-cellular local-area communication system, and to execute access point discovery in the non-cellular local-area communication system on the basis of the obtained assistance information.
  • the apparatus 20 or its processor 21 may comprise corresponding means for obtaining and means for executing.
  • the apparatus 20 or its processor 21 may be configured to
  • the passive scanning may be based on a beacon timing reference comprising at least one of a beacon starting point and a beacon interval, and/or
  • the apparatus 20 or its processor 21 may comprise one or more of corresponding means for scanning, means for prioritizing, means for measuring and means for sorting, means for detecting and means for identifying and means, and means for performing, means for identifying and means for detecting.
  • a system may comprise any conceivable combination of the thus depicted devices/apparatuses and other network elements, which are configured to cooperate as described above.
  • respective functional blocks or elements according to above-described aspects can be implemented by any known means, either in hardware and/or software, respectively, if it is only adapted to perform the described functions of the respective parts.
  • the mentioned method steps can be realized in individual functional blocks or by individual devices, or one or more of the method steps can be realized in a single functional block or by a single device.
  • any structural means such as a processor or other circuitry may refer to one or more of the following : (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of processor(s) or (ii) portions of processor(s)/software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. Also, it may also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware, any integrated circuit, or the like.
  • any procedural step or functionality is suitable to be implemented as software or by hardware without changing the idea of the present invention.
  • Such software may be software code independent and can be specified using any known or future developed programming language, such as e.g. Java, C+ + , C, and Assembler, as long as the functionality defined by the method steps is preserved.
  • Such hardware may be hardware type independent and can be implemented using any known or future developed hardware technology or any hybrids of these, such as MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor), CMOS (Complementary MOS), BiMOS (Bipolar MOS), BiCMOS (Bipolar CMOS), ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic), TTL (Transistor- Transistor Logic), etc., using for example ASIC (Application Specific IC (Integrated Circuit)) components, FPGA (Field-programmable Gate Arrays) components, CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) components or DSP (Digital Signal Processor) components.
  • MOS Metal Oxide Semiconductor
  • CMOS Complementary MOS
  • BiMOS Bipolar MOS
  • BiCMOS BiCMOS
  • ECL Emitter Coupled Logic
  • TTL Transistor- Transistor Logic
  • ASIC Application Specific IC
  • FPGA Field-programmable Gate Arrays
  • CPLD Complex Programmable Logic Device
  • DSP
  • a device/apparatus may be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, system in package, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of a device/apparatus or module, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as software in a (software) module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution/being run on a processor.
  • a device may be regarded as a device/apparatus or as an assembly of more than one device/apparatus, whether functionally in cooperation with each other or functionally independently of each other but in a same device housing, for example.
  • Apparatuses and/or means or parts thereof can be implemented as individual devices, but this does not exclude that they may be implemented in a distributed fashion throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the device is preserved. Such and similar principles are to be considered as known to a skilled person.
  • Software in the sense of the present description comprises software code as such comprising code means or portions or a computer program or a computer program product for performing the respective functions, as well as software (or a computer program or a computer program product) embodied on a tangible medium such as a computer-readable (storage) medium having stored thereon a respective data structure or code means/portions or embodied in a signal or in a chip, potentially during processing thereof.
  • the present invention also covers any conceivable combination of method steps and operations described above, and any conceivable combination of nodes, apparatuses, modules or elements described above, as long as the above-described concepts of methodology and structural arrangement are applicable.
  • the present invention and/or exemplary embodiments thereof provide measures for cellular assisted non-cellular access point discovery, such as for example LTE/LTE-A-assisted WLAN access point discovery.
  • measures may exemplarily comprise measures for determining a request for traffic offloading from a cellular wide-area communication system to a non-cellular local-area communication system at a cellular base station, measures for providing assistance information for access point discovery in the non-cei!uiar local-area communication system from the cellular base station to a terminal being served in the cellular wide-area communication system, said assistance information comprising, for at least one cell of the cellular wide-area communication system, an association with and discovery reference data for at least one access point of the non-cellular local-area communication system, and means for executing access point discovery in the non-cellular local-area communication system on the basis of the obtained assistance information at the terminal.
  • E-UTRAN base station E-UTRAN base station

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne des mesures portant sur une découverte d'un point d'accès non-cellulaire assisté de manière cellulaire, tel que par exemple une découverte d'un point d'accès WLAN assisté LTE/LTE-A. De telles mesures peuvent comprendre à titre d'exemple des mesures permettant de déterminer une requête pour un déchargement de trafic à partir d'un système de communication de zone étendue cellulaire à un système de communication de zone locale non-cellulaire au niveau d'une station de base cellulaire, des mesures permettant de fournir des informations d'assistance pour une découverte de point d'accès dans le système de communication de zone locale non-cellulaire à partir de la station de base cellulaire à un terminal qui est desservi dans le système de communication de zone étendue cellulaire, lesdites informations d'assistance comprenant, pour au moins une cellule du système de communication de zone étendue cellulaire, une association avec et des données de référence de découverte pour au moins un point d'accès du système de communication de zone locale non-cellulaire, et des moyens permettant d'exécuter une découverte de point d'accès dans le système de communication de zone locale non-cellulaire sur la base des informations d'assistance obtenues au niveau du terminal.
PCT/CN2012/082802 2012-10-11 2012-10-11 Découverte d'un point d'accès non-cellulaire assisté de manière cellulaire WO2014056173A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

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WO2016074222A1 (fr) * 2014-11-14 2016-05-19 华为技术有限公司 Procédé et dispositif de transmission de données

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