WLAN to cellular handover techniques for voice calls

Abstract

The invention relates to WLAN to cellular handover techniques for voice calls. Techniques related to handover of WLAN voice calls to one or more cellular networks are disclosed. In some embodiments, a device is configured to perform voice communications over one or more wireless local area networks, communicate with a first network using a first cellular radio access technology (RAT), and communicate with a second network using a second cellular RAT. The apparatus may store information indicating that the first network does not support voice communication for the device based on communication via the first network. The device may switch the voice call directly from the wireless local area network to the second cellular RAT based on the stored information and does not need to switch the voice call to the first cellular RAT based on call conditions on the wireless local area network.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with application date of September 29, 2020, application number 202011057165.4, and titled “WLAN to Cellular Switching Technology for Voice Calls”. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to wireless devices and, more particularly, to techniques for handing off a WLAN voice call to one or more cellular networks. Background Art

[0003] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting phone calls, many mobile devices now also provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these capabilities.

[0004] Long Term Evolution (LTE) has become the technology of choice for most wireless network operators around the world, providing mobile broadband data and high-speed Internet access to their user base. LTE defines a number of downlink (DL) physical channels classified as transport or control channels to carry information blocks received from the Medium Access Control (MAC) and higher layers. LTE also defines the number of physical layer channels for the uplink (UL).

[0005] For example, LTE defines the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) as a UL channel shared by all devices (user equipment, UE) in a radio cell to transmit user data to the network. The scheduling of all UEs is under the control of the LTE base station (enhanced Node B or eNB). The eNB uses an uplink scheduling grant (DCI format 0) to inform the UE of the resource block (RB) allocation and the modulation and coding scheme to be used. The PUSCH typically supports QPSK and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). In addition to user data, the PUSCH also carries any control information required to decode the information, such as the transport format indicator and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) parameters. The control data is multiplexed with the information data before being expanded by the digital Fourier transform (DFT).

[0006] The next telecommunications standard proposed to go beyond the current International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-Advanced) standard is called the 5th Generation Mobile Networks or 5th Generation Wireless Systems, or 5G for short (also known as 5G-NR for 5G New Radio, and also simply NR for short). Compared to the current LTE standard, 5G-NR proposes higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users, while supporting ultra-reliable and massive machine communications from device to device, as well as lower latency and reduced battery consumption.

[0007] Voice calls are often performed over wireless LANs, such as using the WiFi calling feature. When the WiFi signal degrades or is lost, the voice call needs to be handed over to the cellular network. For voice calls, 5G standalone networks can support NR voice (VoNR) or can facilitate EPS fallback to one or more legacy networks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of various embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0009] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0010] Figure 2 A base station (BS) is shown in communication with a user equipment (UE) device according to some embodiments.

[0011] Figure 3 An example block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments is shown.

[0012] Figure 4 An example block diagram of a BS according to some embodiments is shown.

[0013] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary 5G, 4G, and WLAN connections for a UE according to some embodiments.

[0014] Figure 6 is a communication diagram illustrating the delay of switching from a WiFi call when the 5G network does not support VoNR according to some embodiments.

[0015] Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example 5GS information element that includes an explicit indication of whether VoNR is supported according to some embodiments.

[0016] Figure 8 is a diagram showing a method for Figure 7 A diagram of exemplary encodings of the fields.

[0017] Fig. 9 is a communication diagram illustrating a first technique for disabling 5G capabilities according to some embodiments.

[0018] Fig.10 is a communication diagram illustrating a second technique for disabling 5G capabilities according to some embodiments.

[0019] Fig.11 is a communication diagram illustrating a third technique for disabling 5G capabilities according to some embodiments.

[0020] Fig.12 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary network-implemented method for specifying support for voice communications according to some embodiments.

[0021] Fig.13 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary UE-implemented method for determining to disable communications via a cellular network according to some embodiments.

[0022] Fig.14 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary UE-implemented method for determining to disable communications via a cellular network based on internally stored information according to some embodiments.

[0023] Fig.15 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer-readable medium storing design information for an integrated circuit according to some embodiments.

[0024] Fig.16 is another flow chart illustrating an exemplary UE-implemented method for determining to disable communications via a cellular network based on internally stored information in accordance with some embodiments.

[0025] Although the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit this document to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, their purpose is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives that fall within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

[0026] Within the present disclosure, different entities (which may be variously referred to as "units," "circuits," other components, etc.) may be described or claimed as being "configured to" perform one or more tasks or operations. This expression—[an entity] configured to [perform one or more tasks]—is used herein to refer to a structure (i.e., a physical thing, such as an electronic circuit). More specifically, this expression is used to indicate that this structure is arranged to perform one or more tasks during operation. A structure may be said to be "configured to" perform a task even if the structure is not currently being operated. "An application processor configured to send IP packets" is intended to cover, for example, a circuit that performs this function during operation, even if the circuit in question is not currently being used (e.g., power is not connected to the circuit). Therefore, an entity described or stated as "configured to" perform a task refers to a physical thing used to implement the task, such as a device, a circuit, a memory storing executable program instructions, etc. This phrase is not used herein to refer to an intangible thing.

[0027] The term "configured to" is not intended to mean "configurable to." For example, an unprogrammed FPGA would not be considered "configured to" perform a particular function, although it might be "configurable to" perform that function. After appropriate programming, the FPGA can then be configured to perform that function.

[0028] The statement in the appended claims that a structure is "configured to" perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 USC § 112(f) for that claim element. Thus, no claim in the present application as filed is intended to be interpreted as having means-plus-function elements. If the applicant wishes to invoke section 112(f) during the prosecution of the application, it will use the "means for [performing the function]" statement to recite the claim elements.

[0029] As used herein, the term "based on" is used to describe one or more factors that influence a determination. This term does not exclude that there may be additional factors that may influence the determination. That is, the determination may be based only on the specified factors or on the specified factors and other unspecified factors. Consider the phrase "A is determined based on B." This phrase specifies that B is a factor used to determine A or that B influences the determination of A. This phrase does not exclude that the determination of A may also be based on some other factor such as C. This phrase is also intended to cover embodiments in which A is determined based only on B. As used herein, the phrase "based on" is synonymous with the phrase "based at least in part on."

[0030] Furthermore, as used herein, the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. do not necessarily imply an ordering (e.g., a temporal order) between elements. For example, a reference to a "first" graphical operation and a "second" graphical operation does not imply an ordering of the graphical operations, absent additional language limiting the temporal relationship between the operations. In short, references such as "first," "second," etc. are used as labels for ease of reference in the specification and the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] the term

[0032] The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

[0033] Memory medium—any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include installation media, such as CD-ROM, floppy disk, or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, for example, hard disk drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system executing a program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations in different computer systems connected, for example, via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., in the form of a computer program) that may be executed by one or more processors.

[0034] Carrier Medium—storage media as described above, and physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and / or other physical transmission media that transport signals such as electrical, electromagnetic or digital signals.

[0035] Programmable hardware elements - include a variety of hardware devices that include multiple programmable function blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), PLDs (programmable logic devices), FPOAs (field programmable object arrays), and CPLDs (complex PLDs). Programmable function blocks can vary from fine-grained (combinational logic units or lookup tables) to coarse-grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). Programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as "configurable logic units."

[0036] Computer System - Any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system, workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digital assistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or other device or combination of devices. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0037] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone ™ , based on Android ™phones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS ™ , PlayStation Portable ™ 、Gameboy Advance ™ , iPhone ™ ), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices or other handheld devices, etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to cover any electronic device, computing device and / or telecommunication device (or combination of devices) that can be easily transmitted by a user and capable of wireless communication.

[0038] Base Station—The term “base station” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0039] Processing Element - refers to various elements or combinations of elements that are capable of performing functions in a device such as user equipment or cellular network equipment. Processing elements may include, for example, processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any of the above combinations.

[0040] Channel - a medium used to transmit information from a sender (transmitter) to a receiver. It should be noted that since the characteristics of the term "channel" may vary according to different wireless protocols, the term "channel" used in the present invention may be considered to be used in a manner that conforms to the standards of the type of device to which the term is used. In some standards, the channel width may be variable (e.g., depending on device capabilities, frequency band conditions, etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths of 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, a WLAN channel may be 22 MHz wide, while a Bluetooth channel may be 1 MHz wide. Other protocols and standards may include different definitions of channels. In addition, some standards may define and use multiple types of channels, such as different channels for uplink or downlink and / or different channels for different purposes such as data, control information, etc.

[0041] Frequency band—The term “frequency band” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a segment of the spectrum (eg, radio frequency spectrum) in which channels are used or set aside for the same purpose.

[0042] Automatic—refers to an action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or a device (e.g., a circuit, a programmable hardware element, an ASIC, etc.) without the need for user input to directly specify or perform the action or operation. Thus, the term "automatic" is contrasted with a user manually performing or specifying an action, where the user provides input to directly perform the action. An automatic process may be initiated by input provided by a user, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing in information, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user action. The form may be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills out the form without any user input specifying the answers to the fields. As indicated above, a user may invoke automatic filling out of a form, but not participate in the actual filling out of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify the answers to the fields but rather they are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by a user.

[0043] About - refers to a value that is close to a correct or exact value. For example, about can refer to a value that is within 1% to 10% of an exact (or desired) value. However, it should be noted that the actual threshold value (or tolerance) may depend on the application. For example, in some embodiments, "about" may mean within 0.1% of some specified value or desired value, while in various other embodiments, the threshold value may be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, etc., depending on the expectations or requirements of a particular application.

[0044] Concurrency - refers to parallel execution or implementation, where tasks, processes, or programs are executed in an at least partially overlapping manner. For example, concurrency can be achieved using "strong" or strict parallelism, where tasks are executed (at least partially) in parallel on respective computing elements, or using "weak parallelism", where tasks are executed in an interleaved manner (e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads).

[0045] Figure 1 and Figure 2 —Communications system

[0046] Figure 1 A simplified exemplary wireless communication system according to some embodiments is shown. Note that Figure 1 The system is only one example of possible systems, and features of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

[0047] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102A, which communicates with one or more user equipment 106A, user equipment 106B to user equipment 106N, etc. through a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to as a "user equipment" (UE) in this document. Therefore, user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device.

[0048] The base station (BS) 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site (cellular base station) and may include hardware to enable wireless communications with the UEs 106A through 106N.

[0049] The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". The base station 102A and the UE 106 may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), which are also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), 5G New Radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), and the like. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternatively be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB".

[0050] As shown, base station 102A may also be configured to communicate with network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, among other possibilities). Thus, base station 102A may facilitate communications between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. In particular, cellular base station 102A may provide UE 106 with various communication capabilities, such as voice, SMS, and / or data services.

[0051] Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations 102B...102N) operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards can therefore be provided as a network of cells that can provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UEs 106A-N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0052] Thus, although base station 102A may function as Figure 1106A-N, but each UE 106 may also be able to receive signals from (and possibly be within communication range of) one or more other cells (which may be provided by base stations 102B-N and / or any other base stations), which may be referred to as "neighboring cells." Such cells may also be able to facilitate communications between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. Such cells may include "macro" cells, "micro" cells, "pico" cells, and / or cells of any various other granularity of service area size. For example, in Figure 1 The base stations 102A-B shown in FIG. 1 may be macro cells, while the base station 102N may be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

[0053] In some embodiments, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station or "gNB". In some embodiments, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to a new radio communications core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating in accordance with 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0054] It should be noted that UE 106 is capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interface), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.), UE 106 can be configured to communicate using wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and / or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.). If desired, UE 106 can also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H or DVB-H), and / or any other wireless communication protocols. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0055] Figure 2 A user equipment 106 (eg, one of devices 106A-106N) is shown in communication with base station 102 according to some embodiments. UE 106 may be a device with cellular communication capabilities, such as a mobile phone, handheld device, computer or tablet computer, or virtually any type of wireless device.

[0056] UE 106 may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. UE 106 may perform any of the method embodiments described in the present invention by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, UE 106 may include a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) configured to perform any of the method embodiments described in the present invention or any part of any of the method embodiments described in the present invention.

[0057] UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD) or LTE using a single shared radio component and / or GSM or LTE using a single shared radio component. The shared radio may be coupled to a single antenna, or may be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. Typically, the radio component may include any combination of a baseband processor, an analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuit (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or a digital processing circuit (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio component may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains. For example, UE 106 may share one or more portions of a receive chain and / or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies such as those discussed above.

[0058] In some embodiments, UE 106 may include a separate transmit chain and / or receive chain (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol configured to communicate with it. As another possibility, UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radio components used uniquely by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 106 may include a shared radio component for communicating using either LTE or 5GNR (or LTE or 1xRTT, or LTE or GSM), and a separate radio component for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

[0059] Figure 3 —UE block diagram

[0060] Figure 3 An exemplary simplified block diagram of a communication device 106 according to some embodiments is shown. Note that Figure 3The block diagram of the communication device is only an example of a possible communication device. According to an embodiment, the communication device 106 can be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, a notebook or a portable computing device), a tablet computer and / or a combination of devices, in addition to other devices. As shown, the communication device 106 may include a group of components 300 configured to perform core functions. For example, the group of components may be implemented as a system on a chip (SOC), which may include parts for various purposes. Alternatively, the group of components 300 may be implemented as a separate component or group of components for various purposes. This group of components 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the communication device 106 (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly).

[0061] For example, the communication device 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), input / output interfaces such as a connector I / F 320 (e.g., for connecting to a computer system; a docking station; a charging station; an input device such as a microphone, a camera, a keyboard; an output device such as a speaker; etc.), a display 360 that may be integrated with the communication device 106 or external to the communication device 106, and cellular communication circuits 330 such as for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc., and short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuits 329 (e.g., Bluetooth ™ and WLAN circuitry). In some embodiments, the communication device 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as, for example, a network interface card for Ethernet.

[0062] Cellular communication circuitry 330 may be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335 and 336 as shown. Short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuitry 329 may also be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to one or more antennas, such as antennas 337 and 338 as shown. Alternatively, short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuitry 329 may be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to antennas 335 and 336 in addition to or in lieu of being (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to antennas 337 and 338. Short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuitry 329 and / or cellular communication circuitry 330 may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

[0063] In some embodiments, as further described below, the cellular communication circuitry 330 can include dedicated receive chains (including and / or coupled to (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) dedicated processors and / or radio components) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). In addition, in some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry 330 can include a single transmit chain that can switch between radio components dedicated to specific RATs. For example, a first radio component can be dedicated to a first RAT, such as LTE, and can communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with an additional radio component, such as a second radio component that can be dedicated to a second RAT (e.g., 5G NR) and can communicate with the dedicated receive chain as well as the shared transmit chain.

[0064] The communication device 106 may also include and / or be configured for use with one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include various elements such as a display 360 (which may be a touch screen display), a keyboard (which may be a separate keyboard or may be implemented as part of a touch screen display), a mouse, a microphone and / or a speaker, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and / or any of a variety of other elements capable of providing information to a user and / or receiving or interpreting user input.

[0065] The communication device 106 may also include one or more smart cards 345 having SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC cards (one or more Universal Integrated Circuit Cards) 345 .

[0066] As shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that may execute program instructions for the communication device 106 and a display circuit 304 that may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The processor 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340 (the MMU 340 may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 302 and convert those addresses to locations in a memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310)) and / or to other circuits or devices (such as display circuit 304, short-range wireless communication circuit 229, cellular communication circuit 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360). The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor 302.

[0067] As described above, the communication device 106 may be configured to communicate using wireless and / or wired communication circuits. The communication device 106 may be configured to perform a method including the communication device 106 exchanging communications with a base station to determine one or more scheduling profiles. In some embodiments, communicating with a base station to determine one or more scheduling profiles may include exchanging one or more radio resource control (RRC) signal messages. In some embodiments, the one or more scheduling profiles may not conflict with each other. In some embodiments, the scheduling profile may specify one or more parameters associated with the communication behavior of the communication device 106, such as one or more constraints on the communication behavior of the communication device 106 and / or the time slot scheduling of the communication of the communication device 106. In addition, the method may include the communication device 106 receiving a time slot configuration schedule from the base station. The time slot configuration schedule may be based on at least one scheduling profile of the one or more scheduling profiles. In addition, the method may include the communication device 106 performing communication with the base station based on the at least one scheduling profile.

[0068] As described herein, the communication device 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above-described features of the communication device 106 to send a scheduling profile for power saving to the network. The processor 302 of the communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described in the present invention, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of the other components 300, 304, 306, 310, 320, 329, 330, 340, 345, 350, 360, the processor 302 of the communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described in the present invention.

[0069] In addition, as described in the present invention, the processor 302 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, the processor 302 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the processor 302. In addition, each integrated circuit may include a circuit (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 302.

[0070] In addition, as described herein, both the cellular communication circuit 330 and the short-range wireless communication circuit 329 may include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in the cellular communication circuit 330, and similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in the short-range wireless communication circuit 329. Thus, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 330. In addition, each integrated circuit may include a circuit (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 230. Similarly, the short-range wireless communication circuit 329 may include one or more ICs configured to perform the functions of the short-range wireless communication circuit 32. In addition, each integrated circuit may include a circuit (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the short-range wireless communication circuit 329.

[0071] Figure 4 —Block diagram of a base station

[0072] Figure 4 An exemplary block diagram of a base station 102 according to some embodiments is shown. Note that Figure 4 The base station of is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuit or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and convert these addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0073] Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 Multiple devices of the telephone network described in, such as UE device 106.

[0074] The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as the UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0075] In some embodiments, base station 102 may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or "gNB". In such embodiments, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). Furthermore, a UE capable of operating in accordance with 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0076] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured to function as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via the radio component 430. The antenna 434 communicates with the radio component 430 via a communication chain 432. The communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio component 430 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including but not limited to 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0077] Base station 102 may be configured to perform wireless communications using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, base station 102 may include multiple radios that may enable base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, base station 102 may include an LTE radio component for performing communications according to LTE and a 5G NR radio component for performing communications according to 5G NR. In this case, base station 102 may be able to operate as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, base station 102 may include a multimode radio component capable of performing communications according to any one of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0078] As further described later in the present invention, the base station 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting the implementation of the features described in the present invention. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement or support part or all of the implementation of the method described in the present invention, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, and 470, the processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement or support part or all of the implementation of the features described in the present invention.

[0079] In addition, as described herein, processor 404 may be composed of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor 404. Therefore, processor 404 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 404. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., first circuits, second circuits, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 404.

[0080] Additionally, as described herein, radio 430 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in radio 430. Thus, radio 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of radio 430. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio 430.

[0081] Figure 5 : Block diagram of an example cellular network interface

[0082] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary interface for potential connections between a UE 106, different cellular networks (e.g., LTE and NR networks), and a wireless local area network (WLAN) according to some embodiments. In the illustrated example, the UE 106 is configured to wirelessly communicate with an eNB 502, a gNB 504, and a WLAN AP 506.

[0083] The disclosed connection may allow the UE 106 to switch from a WiFi voice call to one of the cellular base stations via the WLAN AP 506, for example, when WiFi radio conditions deteriorate. However, the NR network corresponding to the gNB 504 may or may not support Voice over New Radio (VoNR). Various techniques discussed below may improve the handover from a WLAN network to one of the multiple cellular networks supported by the UE.

[0084] In the illustrated embodiment, the eNB 502 is configured to provide connectivity with the Internet 515 or the IMS core network 517 via one or more of a mobility management entity (MME) 510, an access and mobility management function (AMF) 520, a serving gateway (SGW) 530, session management function (SMF) / packet gateway control (PGW-C) elements 540A-540B, and a user plane function (UPF) / user plane gateway (UPGW-U) elements 550A-550B.

[0085] In the illustrated embodiment, the gNB 504 is configured to provide connectivity with the Internet 515 or the IMS core network 517 via one or more of the AMF 520, session management function (SMF) / packet gateway control (PGW-C) elements 540A-540B, and user plane function (UPF) / user plane gateway (UPGW-U) elements 550A-550B.

[0086] In the illustrated embodiment, the WLAN AP 506 is configured to provide connectivity to the Internet and is also configured to provide connectivity to the IMS core network 517 via one or more of the evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) 570, the non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF), and the user plane function (UPF) / user plane gateway (UPGW-U) elements 550A-550B.

[0087] Note that the AMF 520 and SMF / PGW-C elements may communicate with one or more elements implementing one or more of the following functions: NSSF, SMSF, AF, UDM, PCF, and AUSF.

[0088] The public Figure 5 The connectivity is for the purpose of illustrating an exemplary configuration, but is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The technology disclosed in the present invention can be used in various network configurations.

[0089] Example of switching delay

[0090] Figure 66 is a communication diagram illustrating an exemplary handover from a WiFi voice call to a cellular network according to some embodiments. In the illustrated example, communications between a UE 106, an ePDG 610, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) core network (CN) 620, a 5G network 630, and a 4G network 640 are shown.

[0091] In the illustrated example, the UE 106 establishes a WiFi call via the ePDG 610 and the IMS CN 620. Subsequently, the WiFi connection is weak or lost, and the UE 106 performs an IMS PDU session establishment on the 5G network, where the IMS PDN IP address is retained for the call. The UE then performs an IMS re-registration due to a change in radio access technology (RAT). However, in this example, the 5G network 630 does not support VoNR and redirects the UE 106 to the Evolved Packet System (EPS). The UE 106 then transfers a Tracking Area Update (TAU) and a Packet Data Network (PDN) context to the 4G NW 640, performs an IMS re-registration due to the change in RAT, and is assigned a dedicated bearer after the IMS data path switch.

[0092] As shown, in the case where the 5G network does not support VoNR and instead uses EPS fallback or RAT fallback, switching to 5G and then switching to 4G will result in delays. Traditional networks do not provide a clear indication of whether the 5G network supports VoNR. Instead, traditional networks may simply indicate whether the network supports IMS Voice over PS (VoPS), so that the UE is unclear whether voice services are provided on the 5G network via, for example, VoNR or VoLTE (EPS fallback or RAT fallback). In addition, if the user disables the 4G connection, the UE 106 will not know whether to remain pre-camped on the 5G connection during the voice call (which is appropriate if the VoNR radio is supported) or move to another RAT (e.g., 2G or 3G RAT, which is appropriate if the 5G network relies on EPS fallback or fallback).

[0093] In the disclosed embodiments discussed in detail below, the 5G network explicitly indicates whether it supports VoNR or the UE implements techniques that remember the capabilities of the 5G network. Note that the various techniques discussed herein with reference to voice calls can also be used for other types of communications with real-time requirements, such as video communications.

[0094] Example Explicit Indication for VoNR Support

[0095] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating exemplary 5GS network feature support information elements according to some embodiments. Fig. 9.11.3.5 The illustrated information may be included in the Registration Acceptance Information Element generated by the AMF and transmitted from the gNB to the UE as discussed in 3GPP TS 24.501. In the illustrated embodiment, spare bits 3 and 4 in octet 5 are used to transmit the VoNR support information. It should be noted that these bits are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In other embodiments, other fields of the illustrated message or other types of messages may be used to transmit similar information using any of a variety of suitable encodings.

[0096] Figure 8 is a table showing exemplary encoding for VoNR support according to some embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, two bits are used to indicate one of the following cases: VoNR is not supported, VoNR is supported in NR connected only to 5GCN, VoNR is supported in E-UTRAN connected only to 5GCN (e.g., when using traditional radio resources on 5GCN), or VoNR is supported in both connected to 5GCN and E-UTRAN connected to 5GCN. In some embodiments, UE 106 can use this information to reduce handover delays for WiFi calls, as discussed in detail below. In general, this information can specify whether the network supports voice communications via a cellular system (e.g., 5GCN or EPC) and using one or more RATs (e.g., NR, LTE, etc.).

[0097] Exemplary Techniques for Reducing Handoff Delays

[0098] The following discussion provides three example techniques for UE actions based on an indication that a 5G standalone (SA) network does not support VoNR.

[0099] Fig. 9 is a communication diagram illustrating a first technique for disabling a 5G connection based on an indication that the 5G network does not support VoNR according to some embodiments. In the illustrated example, the UE 106 disables 5G SA capabilities as soon as it is registered for WiFi calling (in this example, the IMS is registered to the IMS CN 920 via the ePDG). The UE then attaches to the LTE network 940 or performs a TAU with the LTE network 940, and performs IMS re-registration (the UE may perform the attachment or TAU based on the interworking rules between the 5GC and the EPS (e.g., whether an N26 interface exists)). When the WiFi connection is poor in WiFi signal quality (as indicated by an "X"), the UE 106 may switch directly to the LTE network 6940, rather than first switching to the 5G network 930 and then falling back to the LTE network when the 5G network does not support VoNR. This may advantageously reduce delays in switching WiFi calls to cellular.

[0100] As shown, when UE 106 loses IMS registration via non-3GPP and the device is not in an active voice call on another cellular network, UE 106 can re-enable 5G SA capabilities. In addition, in some embodiments, UE 106 can use a hysteresis timer to avoid frequent switching on and off the 5G network.

[0101] Fig.10 is a communication diagram illustrating a second technique for disabling a 5G connection based on an indication that the 5G network does not support VoNR according to some embodiments. In this example, the UE 106 disables the 5G SA capability when initiating or receiving a voice call over a non-cellular network (e.g., WiFi) and re-enables the 5G SA capability at the end of the voice call. Thus, as shown, the UE will instead camp on the LTE NW 940 and can quickly handover the call to the LTE network if necessary.

[0102] Fig.11 is a communication diagram illustrating a third technique for disabling a 5G connection based on an indication that the 5G network does not support VoNR according to some embodiments. In this example, the UE 106 disables 5G SA capability in response to determining that an ongoing WiFi voice call is impacted by a poor WiFi signal and may be lost. When making a determination that a handoff of a WiFi call may be lost, the UE 106 may consider various factors, such as signal strength data, packet loss data, historical data, etc. When the voice call ends in either RAT (via WiFi or LTE network), the UE 106 re-enables 5G SA capability. In general, Fig. 9 The technology is the most active, and Fig.11 The technology allows for more granular control over the ability to disable 5G SA.

[0103] In some embodiments, either alone or in combination with the various techniques described above, the UE 106 may internally store information for different WLAN networks to which it has connected or to which it has made voice calls. This may allow the UE 106 to determine the likelihood of a handover of a voice call for a particular WLAN network. For example, the UE 106 may maintain information indicating average LTE reference signal received power (RSRP), real-time transport protocol (RTP) packet loss rate for voice calls on WLAN networks, percentage of calls that ended in handover via WLAN networks, and the like. For example, Fig.10 For technology, UE 106 may disable 5G SA capabilities when initiating WiFi calls only for WLAN networks whose performance has degraded below one or more thresholds in the past, which may allow the UE to remain connected to 5G when, for example, switching to cellular is unlikely.

[0104] In addition, in some embodiments, the UE 106 may internally store information about the capabilities of the 5G SA network or portions or network elements thereof. For example, the UE 106 may store information specifying the VoNR, EPS fallback, or RAT fallback capabilities of a network based on previous voice call experience with these networks. Thus, in addition to or in lieu of an explicit indication of VoNR capabilities, the UE 106 may determine whether to disable 5G SA capabilities in various situations based on this stored fingerprint information. The UE 106 may periodically clear or update this information, for example, to appropriately handle situations in which the VoNR capabilities of the 5G network change.

[0105] Note that the various techniques discussed above may also be applicable to WiFi emergency calls that are switched to cellular and N3IWF connections (eg, in lieu of ePDG).

[0106] In addition, when a user disables LTE (e.g., based on whether the 5G network supports VoNR), the disclosed techniques can advantageously allow the UE 106 to determine whether to stay on the 5G network or move to another RAT (e.g., 2G or 3G RAT). Specifically, the UE 106 can stay on the 5G network if it supports VoNR, or can camp on another RAT if the 5G network uses EPS fallback.

[0107] Exemplary Methods

[0108] Fig.12 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for indicating whether a network element supports cellular voice communications according to some embodiments. Fig.12 The methods shown in the can be used in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements or components disclosed herein, etc. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown can be performed concurrently in an order different from the order shown, or can be omitted. Additional method elements can also be performed as needed.

[0109] At 1210, in an illustrated embodiment, a network element such as a gNB wirelessly communicates with one or more mobile devices using a first cellular RAT.

[0110] At 1220, in an illustrated embodiment, the network element transmits information specifying whether the network element supports voice communications using the first cellular RAT. For example, the AMF may generate a message specifying whether the gNB supports VoNR for the 5G SA network. The information may be included in the registration accept message. The information may be encoded to indicate one of the following: the network element does not support Voice over New Radio (VoNR); the network element supports VoNR in NR connected to a 5G core network (CN); the network element supports VoNR in E-UTRAN connected to 5GCN; or the network element supports VoNR in both NR connected to 5GCN and E-UTRAN connected to 5GCN.

[0111] Fig.13 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for determining whether cellular network capabilities are disabled by a client device according to some embodiments. Fig.13 The method shown in can be used in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements or components disclosed herein. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown can be performed concurrently in an order different from the order shown, or can be omitted. Additional method elements can also be performed as needed.

[0112] At 1310, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device performs voice communications via one or more wireless radio components and a wireless local area network. For example, the mobile device may initiate or receive a WiFi call.

[0113] At 1320, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device communicates with a first network via one or more wireless radio components using a first cellular RAT.

[0114] At 1330, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device receives information from the first network specifying that the first network does not support voice communications. In some embodiments, the information specifies whether the first network supports VoNR.

[0115] At 1340, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device determines to disable communication via the first network based on the information from the first network. For example, the device may disable communication via the first network in response to a voice call being registered via the wireless local area network. As another example, in response to a voice call being initiated for the device via the wireless local area network, the device may disable communication via the first network. As yet another example, in response to a connection condition during a threshold period being satisfied during a voice call via the wireless local area network, the device may disable communication via the first network.

[0116] In some embodiments, the device may store one or more communication metrics based on one or more previous voice calls via the first wireless local area network, and in response to a voice call being initiated for the device via the wireless local area network and based on the one or more communication metrics, disable communication via the first network. In some embodiments, the one or more communication metrics include one or more of: cellular signal strength when performing one or more voice calls via the first wireless local area network; packet loss rate when performing one or more voice calls via the first wireless local area network; or the number of times a voice call is handed off from the first wireless local area network to a cellular network.

[0117] At 1350, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device switches directly from the wireless local area network to the second cellular RAT over the voice call based on the call conditions on the wireless local area network.

[0118] In some embodiments, the first network is a NR network, the second network is an LTE network, and the voice call is a WiFi call.

[0119] Fig.14 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for determining whether cellular network capabilities are disabled by a client device according to some embodiments. Fig.14 The method shown in can be used in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements or components disclosed herein. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown can be performed concurrently in an order different from the order shown, or can be omitted. Additional method elements can also be performed as needed.

[0120] At 1410, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device performs voice communications via one or more wireless radio components and a wireless local area network. For example, the mobile device may initiate or receive a WiFi call.

[0121] At 1420, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device communicates with a first network via one or more wireless radio components using a first cellular RAT.

[0122] At 1430, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device determines that the first network does not support voice communications.

[0123] At 1440, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device stores information indicating that the first network does not support voice communications.

[0124] At 1450, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device determines to disable communications via the first network based on the stored information.

[0125] At 1460, in the illustrated embodiment, the mobile device switches directly from the wireless local area network to the second cellular RAT via the voice call based on the calling conditions of the wireless local area network.

[0126] As used herein, the term "module" refers to a circuit configured to perform a specified operation or to a physical non-transitory computer-readable medium storing information (e.g., program instructions) that instructs other circuits (e.g., processors) to perform a specified operation. Therefore, a module can be implemented in a variety of ways, including as a hard-wired circuit or a memory in which program instructions are stored, wherein the program instructions can be executed by one or more processors to perform the operation. Hardware circuits may include, for example, customized very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors (such as logic chips, transistors), or other discrete components. Modules may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices (such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, etc.). A module may also be a non-transitory computer-readable medium of any suitable form storing program instructions that can be executed to perform a specified operation.

[0127] The present disclosure has described various exemplary circuits in detail above. It is intended that the present disclosure covers not only embodiments including such circuit systems, but also computer-readable storage media including design information specifying such circuit systems. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to support claims covering not only devices including the disclosed circuit systems, but also storage media that specify the circuit systems in a format recognized by a manufacturing system configured to generate hardware (e.g., integrated circuits) including the disclosed circuit systems. Claims to such storage media are intended to cover, for example, entities that generate circuit designs but do not manufacture the designs themselves.

[0128] Fig.15 15 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing circuit design information according to some embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, semiconductor manufacturing system 1520 is configured to process design information 1515 stored on non-transitory computer-readable medium 1510 and manufacture integrated circuit 1530 based on the design information 1515.

[0129] The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 1510 may include any of a variety of suitable types of memory devices or storage devices. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 1510 may be an installation medium, such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, or a tape device; a computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as flash memory, a magnetic medium, for example, a hard drive or an optical storage device; a register, or other similar type of memory element, etc. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 1510 may include other types of non-transitory memory or a combination thereof. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 1510 may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations, such as different computer systems connected by a network.

[0130] Design information 1515 may be specified using any of a variety of suitable computer languages, including hardware description languages ​​such as, but not limited to, VHDL, Verilog, SystemC, SystemVerilog, RHDL, M, MyHDL, etc. Design information 1515 may be used by semiconductor manufacturing system 1520 to manufacture at least a portion of integrated circuit 1530. The format of design information 1515 may be recognized by at least one semiconductor manufacturing system 1520. In some embodiments, design information 1515 may also include one or more cell libraries that specify the synthesis and / or layout of integrated circuit 1530. In some embodiments, the design information is specified in whole or in part in the form of a netlist that specifies cell library elements and their connectivity. Design information 1515 obtained separately may or may not include sufficient information for manufacturing the corresponding integrated circuit. For example, design information 1515 may specify circuit elements to be manufactured, but not their physical layout. In this case, design information 1515 may need to be combined with layout information to actually manufacture the specified circuit.

[0131] In various embodiments, integrated circuit 1530 may include one or more custom macrocells, such as memory, analog or mixed signal circuits, etc. In this case, design information 1515 may include information related to the included macrocells. Such information may include, but is not limited to, a schematic capture database, mask design data, behavioral models, and device or transistor level netlists. As used herein, mask design data may be formatted according to a graphic data system (GDSII) or any other suitable format.

[0132] Semiconductor manufacturing system 1520 may include any of a variety of suitable elements configured to manufacture integrated circuits. This may include, for example, elements for depositing semiconductor material (e.g., on a wafer that may include a mask), removing material, changing the shape of deposited material, modifying material (e.g., by doping the material or using ultraviolet treatment to modify the dielectric constant), etc. Semiconductor manufacturing system 1520 may also be configured to perform various tests of the manufactured circuits for proper operation.

[0133] In various embodiments, integrated circuit 1530 is configured to operate according to the circuit design specified by design information 1515, which may include performing any of the functions described herein. For example, integrated circuit 1530 may include Figures 3 to 6 Any of the various elements shown in . In addition, integrated circuit 1530 can be configured to perform various functions described herein in conjunction with other components. In addition, the functionality described herein can be performed by multiple connected integrated circuits.

[0134] As used herein, a phrase of the form "design information specifying a design of a circuit configured to..." does not imply that the circuit in question must be manufactured in order to satisfy the element. Rather, the phrase indicates that the design information describes a circuit that, when manufactured, will be configured to perform the indicated actions or will include the specified components.

[0135] Fig.16 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for determining whether cellular network capabilities are disabled by a client device according to some embodiments. Fig.16 The method shown can be used in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements or components disclosed herein. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown can be performed concurrently in an order different from the order shown, or can be omitted. Additional method elements can also be performed as needed.

[0136] At 1610, in the illustrated embodiment, the computing device communicates with the first network via one or more wireless radio components using a first cellular radio access technology (RAT). For example, the first RAT may be a new radio (NR) RAT, and the device may also communicate via a second RAT such as an evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) RAT.

[0137] At 1620, in the illustrated embodiment, the device performs voice communications via one or more wireless radio components over one or more wireless local area networks.

[0138] At 1630, in an illustrated embodiment, the device stores information indicating that the first network does not support voice communications for the computing device based on the communications via the first network. For example, the communications via the first network may include a previous fallback for a voice call from a first cellular RAT to a second cellular RAT after switching from a wireless local area network, which may indicate to the device that the first network does not support (e.g., in a current registration area) voice communications for the computing device. The stored information may indicate that the network supports voice communications via fallback to another RAT.

[0139] At 1640, in the illustrated embodiment, the device directly switches the voice call from the wireless local area network to the second cellular RAT based on the stored information, and does not need to switch the voice call to the first cellular RAT based on the call condition on the wireless local area network. The second network can perform voice communication via a new radio (VoNR) in E-UTRAN connected to the 5G core network (5GCN).

[0140] The device may initially attach to the first network during a voice call via the WLAN. In some embodiments, the device determines to disable communication via the first network and attach to the second network during the call based on the stored information and a first event associated with the wireless local area network. For example, the first event may be that the device registers a voice call via the wireless local area network, initiates or receives a voice call for the device via the wireless local area network, or a connection condition during a voice call via the wireless local area network meets a threshold (e.g., degrades). The device may perform IMS re-registration after attaching to the second network. The device may store one or more communication metrics based on one or more previous voice calls via the wireless local area network, and the first event may be defined based on the one or more communication metrics. For example, if the device detects a condition before a previous dropped call on the WLAN, the device may disable communication via the first cellular network and attach to the second cellular network.

[0141] In some embodiments, the device enables communication via the first network after a hysteresis interval after the first event ends (e.g., registration for the voice call ends on the WLAN network, the call ends, or a connection condition improves beyond a threshold). In some embodiments, the voice communication over the one or more wireless local area networks is a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) communication or an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) communication.

[0142] ***

[0143] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0144] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as computer-implemented methods, computer-readable storage media, or computer systems. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0145] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be configured such that it stores program instructions and / or data, wherein if the program instructions are executed by a computer system, the computer system is caused to perform a method, such as any one of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein or any combination of such subsets.

[0146] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., UE 106) may be configured to include a processor (or a group of processors) and a memory medium, wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of the method implementations described herein, or any subset of any of the method implementations described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

[0147] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

[0148] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 909,960, filed on October 3, 2019, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Claims

1. A method comprising: Perform IP Multimedia Subsystem IMS registration via non-3GPP interworking function N3IWF or evolved packet data gateway ePDG on the wireless local area network; establishing a connection over one or more of the first 3GPP network and the second 3GPP network; Determining the first 3GPP network: The device does not support voice communication; or Only support fallback to the second 3GPP network for voice communication; Initiate or receive a voice call via the N3IWF or ePDG; disabling a capability associated with the first 3GPP network based on one of: (a) IMS registration via the N3IWF or ePDG; or (b) initiating or receiving a voice call via the N3IWF or ePDG; In response to disabling the capability associated with the first 3GPP network, handing over the voice call from the wireless local area network directly to the second 3GPP network using a second 3GPP cellular radio access technology (RAT); and The capability associated with the first 3GPP network is enabled based on one of: (a) IMS deregistration via the N3IWF or ePDG; or (b) Termination of the voice call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the voice call is initiated on the first 3GPP network and transferred to the wireless local area network. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first 3GPP network uses New Radio (NRRAT). 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second 3GPP cellular RAT is an Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN RAT).

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second 3GPP network supports Voice over New Radio (VoNR) or Voice over LTE (VoLTE) in E-UTRAN connected to a 5G core network (5GCN).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the disabling the capability associated with the first 3GPP network is further based on one or more communication metrics via the wireless local area network falling below one or more thresholds. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing an IMS re-registration.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the enabling the capability associated with the first 3GPP network is further based on an end of a hysteresis interval.

9. A method comprising: Performing IP Multimedia Subsystem IMS voice sessions over one or more wireless local area networks via non-3GPP interworking function N3IWF or evolved packet data gateway ePDG; storing information indicating that the first network using the first 3GPP cellular radio access technology, RAT, does not support voice communication of the user equipment, UE; as well as Based on the stored information, the IMS voice session is directly handed over from the one or more wireless local area networks to a second network using a second 3GPP cellular RAT without handing over the IMS voice session to the first 3GPP cellular RAT.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the stored information is further based on communications via the first network, the communications comprising a previous fallback of a voice call from the first 3GPP cellular RAT to the second 3GPP cellular RAT after handover from the one or more wireless local area networks.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the IMS voice session is initiated on the first network and transferred to the one or more wireless local area networks. 12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the first 3GPP cellular RAT is a New Radio (NRRAT) and the second 3GPP cellular RAT is an Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) RAT.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second network supports Voice over LTE (VoLTE) or Voice over New Radio (VoNR) in E-UTRAN connected to a 5G Core Network (5GCN).

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the stored information indicates that the first network supports voice communications via fallback to another RAT.

15. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: Determining to disable communications via the first network and attach to the second network during the IMS voice session is performed based on the stored information and a first event associated with a wireless local area network.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first event is the UE registering a voice call via the wireless local area network.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the first event is initiating or receiving a voice call for the UE via the wireless local area network.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the first event is one or more communication metrics of the wireless local area network falling below one or more thresholds.

19. A device, comprising: A processor configured to perform a method according to any one of the preceding claims when executing instructions stored in a memory.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising: A radio is operably coupled to the processor.

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