Methods and systems for allocating resources from component carriers to a public safety mobile radio

Abstract

A method performed by an LTE eNodeB (Long-Term Evolution Evolved Node B), the method comprising: performing a first determination to allocate resources to a given mobile radio; Making a second determination that the given radio is a public safety radio; in response to performing the first and second determinations, selecting, based on one or more public safety communication criteria, a component carrier from a plurality of component carriers managed by the eNodeB; and Allocating resources on the selected eNodeB component carrier to the given radio; and Receiving a cellular type message from a network entity communicatively coupled to the eNodeB, the message comprising an indication that the network entity has determined that the given mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio, wherein making the second determination comprises making the second determination based at least in part on the indication in the received cellular type message.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe need of the public safety sector for radio frequency (RF) bandwidth and advanced RF communication technology has been increasing greatly in recent years, and the increase continues. One way to satisfy this need is to employ public safety radio access networks ("radio access networks" (RANs)) that utilize advanced radio access technologies ("radio access technologies" (RATs)), such as long-term evolution (LTE). Due to the relative lack of RF spectrum, some public safety systems share RF spectrum with commercial systems (such as publicly accessible mobile telephone networks). In some applications, the split RF spectrum is further segmented into respective frequency carriers.Some of these carriers, due to their respective characteristics, are more suitable for public safety communication than other carriers. Accordingly, there is a need for allocating resources from component carriers to a public safety mobile radio. It is already generally known from US 2009 / 0 054 029 A1 that access for communication devices by emergency workers to shared resources can be adapted in the event of an emergency in a specific zone. It is also known from EP 2 378 702 A2 to make a temporary load distribution between different component carriers when a carrier is overloaded, for which purpose terminals are temporarily served by another carrier having free capacities.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIOUS VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGSThe accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements throughout the several views, together with the following detailed description, are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate embodiments of concepts incorporating the claimed invention, and explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments. FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system in accordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 2 illustrates an evolved packet system (evolved packet system) in accordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 3 shows an evolved node B (eNodeB) (evolved node B) in accordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of a method in accordance with at least one embodiment.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for purposes of simplicity and clarity and not necessarily to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.The apparatus and method components have been represented, where appropriate, by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are essential to an understanding of the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details readily apparent to those skilled in the art, having the benefit of this description.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONDisclosed herein are methods and systems for allocating resources of component carriers to a public safety mobile radio. An embodiment takes the form of a process executed by an LTE eNodeB. The eNodeB makes a first determination to allocate resources to a first mobile radio. The eNodeB makes a second determination that the given, i.e., first, mobile radio is a public safety radio. In response to performing the first and second determination, the eNodeB selects a component carrier from a plurality of component carriers managed by the eNodeB based on one or more public safety communication criteria. The eNodeB allocates resources on the selected eNodeB component carrier to the given mobile radio.An embodiment is in the form of an eNodeB including a communication interface, a processor, and a data store including instructions executable by the processor to cause the eNodeB to perform at least the functions described in the preceding section. Moreover, any of the variations and permutations described in the following sections and elsewhere in this disclosure may be implemented with respect to any embodiments, including any method embodiments and any system embodiments.In at least one embodiment, executing second determination includes executing second determination based at least in part on one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of a RAT / Frequency Selection Priority (RFSP) index (RAT / Frequency Selection Priority (RFSP) index), a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (PLMN) identifier), an access class identifier, a home subscriber server (HSS) parameter), a subscription profile storage (SPR) parameter, a closed subscriber group identifier, and a configuration parameter from an element manager. In at least one such embodiment, eNodeB receives the one or more parameters from a network entity communicatively coupled to the eNodeB, wherein executing the second determination based at least in part on the one or more parameters includes executing the second determination based at least in part on the one or more received parameters.According to the invention, it is provided that the eNodeB receives a cellular type message from a network entity communicatively connected to the eNodeB, wherein the message includes an indication that the network entity has determined that the given mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio, and wherein making the second determination includes making the second determination based at least in part on the indication in the received cellular type message. In at least one embodiment, network entity is a mobility management entity (MME)).In at least one embodiment, public safety communication criteria include spectral characteristics of respective component carriers, coverage areas of respective component carriers, frequencies of respective component carriers, usage of respective component carriers, uplink signal strength of respective component carriers, and / or downlink signal strength of respective component carriers. In at least one embodiment, public safety communication criteria include a type of application requested by given mobile radio, preconfigured bearer access data, respective component bearer compatabilities with LTE multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS), respective component bearer compatabilities with LTE proximity services (ProSe), respective component bearer compatabilities with LTE group communication system enablers (GCSE), and / or respective component bearer compatabilities with unicast. In at least one embodiment, public safety communication criteria include an event, a severity of an event, a number of mobile radios serving an event, and / or conditions of respective component carriers at a location of an event.In at least one embodiment, allocating resources on selected component carriers to given mobile radio includes making a third determination that second mobile radio to which resources are currently allocated is not a public safety radio, removing resources from second mobile radio, and allocating removed resources to given mobile radio.In at least one embodiment, allocating resources on selected component carriers includes allocating resources in response to detecting a crisis condition.In at least one such embodiment, detecting a crisis condition includes receiving a crisis condition message from a network entity communicatively connected to eNodeB. In at least one such embodiment, network entity includes at least one of a fixed network application, a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) application ("computer-aided dispatch") application, a maintenance terminal, a given mobile radio, a mobile command arrangement, and a mobile radio other than the given mobile radio.In at least one other such embodiment, in response to detecting crisis condition, eNodeB removes resources allocated to mobile radios in a given set of mobile radios. In at least one such embodiment, none of mobile radios in the given set of mobile radios is a public safety mobile radio. In at least one such embodiment, eNodeB identifies one or more mobile radios in given set of mobile radios to be non-public safety mobile radios based on a RAT / RFSP index, a PLMN identifier, an access class identifier, an HSS parameter, a SPR parameter, a group identifier for a closed group, and / or a configuration parameter from an element manager.In at least one other such embodiment, detecting the crisis condition includes determining that an overload level of the eNodeB exceeds a threshold load level.In at least one embodiment, the plurality of component carriers includes a primary carrier and one or more secondary carriers. In at least one such embodiment, the selected component carrier is the primary carrier. In at least one other such embodiment, the selected component carrier is a secondary carrier.Before proceeding to this detailed description, it is to be understood that the units, connections, arrangements, and the like illustrated in and described in connection with the various figures are presented by way of example and not for purposes of limitation. Thus, any and all findings and other remarks regarding what a particular figure "shows" what a particular element or unit in a figure "is" or "comprises", and any and all similar findings-which may be isolated and read outside the context as absolute and therefore limited-may only be read appropriately as if a phrase preceded constructively, such as "in at least one embodiment...". And, therefore, for purposes of similar reasons, such as brevity and clarity of illustration, this implied leading clause will not be repeated until vomiting in this detailed description.FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system in accordance with at least one embodiment. As shown, communication system 100 includes mobile radios 104 communicatively coupled to an evolved packet system (EPS)) 102 via respective air interface links 106. The EPS 102 is communicatively coupled to a packet switching network 108 and a circuit switching network 110 via communication links 112 and 114, respectively.An example of an EPS 102 is discussed below in connection with FIG. 2, although generally an EPS 102 may include typical EPS elements, such as eNodeBs, gateways, routers, switches, and the like, that are arranged, connected, and programmed to provide wireless service to, for example, mobile radios 104 in a manner that is generally known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In an embodiment compatible with LTE technology, the EPS includes an eNodeB and an evolved packet core (EPC)). The EPC may be further divided into standard 3GPP elements such as mobility management entity (MME)), serving gateway (S-GW)), packet gateway (P-GW)), policy control and charging rules function (PCRF)), and home subscriber server (HSS)), among other possibilities. It should be appreciated that other terms may be used to refer to an EPS 102 (e.g., RAN, core, etc.), and that respective EPS elements may be referred to using other terms (e.g., base station, base station controller, base transceiver station, mobile switching center, home location register, core network, back end infrastructure, etc.).The EPS 102 and the mobile radios 104 may communicate over respective air interface links 106 according to one or more wireless communication protocols, as known to those skilled in the art. Example wireless communication types and / or protocols that could be used in a given implementation include time-division multiple access (TDMA)), code-division multiple access (CDMA)), frequency-division multiple access (FDMA)), orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA)), mobile land radio (LMR)), mobile digital radio (DMR)), LTE, WiFi, Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) Project 25 (P25) and Terrestrial Truncated Radio (TETRA) may certainly be listed. Respective air interface connections could include one or more downlink channels, uplink channels, voice channels, data channels and / or channels of any other type that would appear suitable to those skilled in the relevant art in a given context.The packet switching network 108 may take the form of (or include) the global network, which is typically referred to as the Internet. Entities communicating over the packet switching network 108 - entities such as servers, routers, computers, and the like - may be identified by a network address, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address ("Internet Protocol"). In addition, packet switching networks 108 may include one or more network access servers (NASs)), gateways, and the like to form bridges for communications for one or more entities and / or networks, such as EPS 102 and / or circuit switching network 110, as representative examples.The circuit switching network 110 may take the form of (or include) a circuit switching telephone network, commonly referred to as a public switched telephone network (PSTN)), which may generally operate to provide circuit switching communications to various communication units as are known in the relevant art. Moreover, the circuit switching network 110 may include one or more NASs, gateways, and the like to provide bridges for communications with one or more other entities and / or networks, such as the EPS 102 and / or the packet switching network 108, as representative examples.One or both of the communication links 112 and 114 could include one or more communication devices, networks, links, switches, bridges, routers, and the like, and could utilize wired and / or wireless forms of communication. One or more communication links could be present instead and / or in addition to communication links 112 and 114.FIG. 2 shows an EPS in accordance with at least one embodiment. As shown, the EPS 102 includes an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) 202 and an EPC 204.In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, E-UTRAN 202 includes a plurality of eNodeBs 206 communicatively interconnected via one or more communication links 208. Mobile radios 104 are communicably connected to a given one of eNodeBs 206 via respective air interfaces 106, although in general mobile radios 104 may be communicably connected to any one or more of eNodeBs 206. As may be the case with other air interface connections discussed herein, one or more of the air interface connections 106 may utilize one or more wireless communication protocols and may include one or more channels of different types.Moreover, it is noted that some LTE implementations include what is known in the art as carrier aggregation capability and allows multiple shared RF carriers to be used by a single LTE eNodeB. These carriers may be adjacent in frequency or they may be arranged in separate frequency blocks. When a request for resources is made (e.g., by a mobile radio 104) by LTE user equipment (UE)), the eNodeB may choose on which bearer the resources are to be allocated for the arrangement. Further, although user traffic may be allocated to one or many component carriers, signaling information (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) signaling) between the EPS and the UE is often performed over a specific one of the component carriers managed by the eNodeB.The EPC 204 is shown to include an S-GW 210, a P-GW 212, an MME 214, an HSS 216, and a / a PCRF / subscription profile repository (SPR)) 226. DAS S-GW 210 is communicably connected to P-GW 212 and MME 214 via communication links 218 and 220, respectively, and HSS 216 is communicably connected to MME 214 via communication link 222. Additionally, the PCFR / SPR 226 is communicatively coupled to the P-GW 212 via a communication link 228. The S-GW 210 may enable routing of traffic between the E-UTRAN 202 and various entities within the EPC 204, and the P-GW 212 may enable routing of data between the EPS 200 and one or more other networks (such as one or more packet switching networks 108 and circuit switching networks 110 via the communication links 110 and 112, respectively), as examples. The MME 214 may operate to manage connections between one or more mobile radios 104, and the HSS 212 may store subscription data for respective mobile radios, among other possibilities. The PCRF component of / the PCRF / SPR 226 may support and / or perform functions such as policy-based arbitration, flow-based loading, quality of service (QoS) authorizations (possibly among other functions known to those skilled in the art, while the SPR component of / the PCRF / SPR 226 may operate to store and otherwise manage subscription profiles, among other functions known to those skilled in the art.The EPC 204 may be communicably connected to the E-UTRAN 202 via one or more communication links. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the S-GW 210 in the EPC 204 is communicably connected to the eNodeBs 206 in the E-UTRAN 202 via respective communication links 224. As is the case with other communication links discussed herein, any one or more communication links 208 and 218-224 may take the form of (or include) one or more wired and / or wireless communication links, as would be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art in a given context.FIG. 3 shows an eNodeB in accordance with at least one embodiment. As shown, eNodeB 206 includes a processor 302, a data store 304, and a communication interface 306, all of which are interconnected via a bus system 308. Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that eNodeB 206 may include additional and / or different components, as well as possibly a different arrangement of components, among many other possible variations that could be listed herein.Processor 302 may include one or more processors of any type that appears suitable to those skilled in the relevant art, some examples including a general purpose microprocessor and a special purpose digital signal processor (DSP).The data store 304 may take the form of a non-transitory computer readable medium or combinations of such media, some examples of which include flash memory, read-only memory (ROM)), and random-access memory (RAM)), to name a few, and one or more types of non-transitory data storage technology that would appear suitable to those skilled in the relevant art may be used. As shown in FIG. 3, the data store 304 includes program instructions 310 executable by the processor 302 to perform various functions, although the data store 304 may include various and / or additional data (such as operational data).In an embodiment in which the eNodeB 206 is configured to perform one or more processes (such as the process described with reference to FIG. 4 ), program instructions 310 are executable by the processor 302 to perform those functions. In situations where other entities described herein have a structure similar to that of an eNodeB 206, the respective program instructions 310 stored by the respective data stores 304 of those respective devices are executable by their respective processors to perform functions performed by those respective devices.The communication interface 306 may include: (i) one or more wireless communication interfaces for communicating according to one or more of the wireless communication types and / or protocols mentioned above, and / or one or more other types and / or protocols that appear relevant to those skilled in the relevant art for a given implementation or context, and / or (ii) one or more wired communication interfaces for communicating according to one or more types and / or protocols, such as Ethernet, USB, and the like, and / or one or more other types and / or protocols that appear suitable to those skilled in the relevant art for a given implementation or context. Thus, communication interface 304 may include any required hardware (e.g., chip arrays, antennas, Ethernet cards, etc.), any required firmware, and any required software for performing one or more types of communication with one or more other devices.FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of a method in accordance with at least one embodiment. Although method 400 is described as being performed by eNodeB 206, those skilled in the art will appreciate that any other entity may be capable of performing the method.As shown, method 400 begins at step 401, where eNodeB 206 makes a first determination to allocate resources (such as one or more LTE resource blocks) to a first mobile radio. Performing the first determination could include the eNodeB 206 receiving a request for resources from the given, i.e., first, mobile radio and / or the eNodeB 206 performing a determination that the given radio has performed a handover to the eNodeB 206 from another eNodeB, just as examples.At step 402, the eNodeB 206 makes a second determination that the given mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio. In at least one embodiment, eNodeB 206 determines that given mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio based on one or more parameters. The one or more parameters could include a RAT / RFSP index, a PLMN identifier, an access class identifier, an HSS parameter, an SPR parameter, a closed subscriber group identifier, and / or a configuration parameter from an element manager, among numerous other possibilities. For example, the eNodeB 206 may determine that the given mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio based on a PLMN identifier that the given mobile radio used to connect to the eNodeB 206. The eNodeB may receive the one or more parameters from a communicably connected network entity, such as (for example) an S-GW 210, a P-GW 212, an MME 214, and / or an HSS 216, and may determine that the given mobile radio is a public safety radio based on the one or more parameters received.In at least one embodiment, eNodeB 206 receives a cellular type message from a network entity (such as an S-GW 210, a P-GW 212, an MME 214, and / or an HSS 216) communicatively connected to eNodeB 206. The message may include an indication that the network entity has determined that the given mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio. The eNodeB 206 may then determine that the given mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio based on the received message. For example, the network entity may obtain one or more parameters (such as one or more of the parameters described above - i.e., a RAT / RFSP index, a PLMN identifier, an access class identifier, an HSS parameter, an SPR parameter, a closed subscriber group identifier and / or a configuration parameter from an element manager). The network entity may determine, based on the one or more parameters, that the given radio is a public safety radio. The network entity may then send an indication to the eNodeB 206 that the network entity has determined that the mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio.It should be appreciated that for the purposes of this disclosure, a given mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio in that the eNodeB 206 has determined that the mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio, and not, for example, in that the mobile radio is marketed as a public safety mobile radio. A mobile radio determined by eNodeB 206 to be a public safety mobile radio may utilize technologies typically associated with commercial mobile radio (such as LTE and / or GSM), in addition to or in place of technologies typically associated with public safety mobile radio.At step 404 and in response to making the first and second determination at steps 401 and 402, the eNodeB 206 selects a component carrier from a plurality of component carriers managed by the eNodeB 206 based on one or more public safety communication criteria. At step 406, the eNodeB 206 allocates resources on the selected eNodeB component carrier to the given mobile radio.In at least one embodiment, plurality of component carriers include a primary carrier and one or more secondary carriers, and selected component carrier could be primary carrier and / or a secondary carrier. The plurality of component carriers could take the form of the component carriers used for advanced LTE carrier aggregation by a respective eNodeB. In at least one embodiment, both primary carrier and secondary carriers are used for traffic, with only primary carrier being used for signaling between eNodeB 206 and one or more respective mobile radios.The public safety communication criteria may include, for example: the spectral characteristics, coverage areas, frequencies, uses, uplink signal strength, and / or downlink strengths of the respective component carriers, among numerous other possibilities. To illustrate, eNodeB 206 may select and allocate resources on a lower frequency component carrier, from the plurality of component carriers, i.e., a component carrier of the plurality of component carriers that is lower in frequency compared to other carriers of the plurality of component carriers, because the carrier may provide better indoor coverage for the mobile radio (compared to higher frequency component carriers). Additionally or alternatively, the eNodeB 206 could select and allocate resources on a given component carrier because the component carrier establishes an excellent signal-to-noise ratio with the public safety mobile radio. And certainly other examples could also be listed.The public safety communication criteria could include a type of application requested by the mobile radio and / or preconfigured bearer allocation data. For example, mobile radios designated as public safety radios may all be allocated to a given component carrier. For example, the eNodeB 206 may select and allocate resources on a given component carrier because all mobile radios determined by the eNodeB to be public safety mobile radios are allocated resources on the given component carrier.The public safety communication criteria could include respective component carrier compatabilities with MBMS, LTE ProSe, LTE GCSE, and / or unicasting, among other possible examples. For example, ProSe allows temporary allocation of a given LTE component carrier for direct mode communication between public safety mobile radios. The eNodeB 206 may select the given ProSe compatible component carrier such that if the public safety mobile radio were intended for participation in direct mode communication, the given radio would already be allocated resources on the component carrier used for this direct communication. And certainly, other implementation possibilities could also be listed here.One or more of the public safety communication criteria could relate to characteristics of a given event. For example, public safety communication criteria could include a type of event, a severity of an event, a number of mobile radios serving an event, and / or conditions of the respective component carriers at a location of an event, among other examples. Illustratively, the eNodeB 206 selects and allocates resources on a given component carrier because the component carrier provides a relatively strong received signal strength indicator (RSSI)) at an event location (as compared to other component carriers). The characteristics of the event could be determined automatically and / or could be provided to the eNodeB 206 by an individual (such as a dispatcher ("dispatcher") and / or an emergency responder). And certainly, other possible implementation examples could also be listed here.The eNodeB 206 may allocate the resources on the selected component carrier, for example, in response to the given mobile radio setting up an air interface connection with the eNodeB 206 and / or attempting to set up a voice and / or data call, among numerous other possibilities.In at least one embodiment, allocating resources on selected component carrier includes allocating resources in response to detecting a crisis condition. Detecting the crisis condition could include, for example, receiving a crisis condition message from a network entity communicatively connected to the eNodeB 206. The network entity could include a fixed network application, a CAD application, a maintenance terminal, the given mobile radio, a mobile command application, a mobile radio different from and / or any combination of the given mobile radio, among numerous other possibilities. As another possibility, detecting the crisis condition could include determining that an overload level of the eNodeB 206 exceeds a threshold load level. For example, peaks in mobile radio traffic may indicate a crisis condition. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that sensing a crisis situation may take other forms as well (including any combination of the embodiments described above).In addition to allocating resources to one or more component carriers, the eNodeB 206 may release resources on one or more carriers (such as the selected component carrier). In at least one embodiment, allocating resources on selected component carrier to given mobile radio includes (i) making a determination that a second mobile radio to which resources are currently allocated is not a public safety mobile radio, (ii) releasing resources from second mobile radio, and (iii) allocating released resources to given mobile radio.In at least one embodiment, eNodeB 206 releases resources in response to detecting a crisis condition. In at least one embodiment, in response to detecting a crisis condition, eNodeB 206 releases resources allocated to mobile radios in a given set of mobile radios (e.g., a set of mobile radios in which none of mobile radios is a public safety mobile radio). Such clearance may be useful in situations where permitting commercial traffic (or any other non-public safety traffic) via the eNodeB 206 may pose a safety risk - for example, a situation where a commercial mobile radio could be used to perform remote triggering of a fire pin device. The eNodeB 206 could identify the one or more mobile radios as not being public safety mobile radios based on a RAT / RFSP index, a PLMN identifier, an access class identifier, an HSS parameter, a SPR parameter, a closed subscriber group identifier, and / or a configuration parameter from an element manager, among other possibilities.In the foregoing description, specific embodiments have been described. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present teachings.The benefit, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may (may) provide the entry or stronger manifestation of a benefit, advantage, or solution should not be interpreted as a critical, required, or essential functionality or elements of any or all claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims, including all modifications made during the pendency of the present application and all published equivalents of the present claims.Moreover, in this document, relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like are intended to be used exclusively to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "including," "including," "containing," "containing," or any variation thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article, or device comprising a list of elements includes, includes, contains, not only includes such elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, articles, or devices. An element continuing with "comprises... a", "has... a", "includes... a", "includes... a" does not include, without further editions, the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus comprising the element. The terms "a" and "an" are defined as one or more unless expressly stated herein. The terms "substantially," "essential," "about," "about," or any other version thereof, have been defined as being "near" as would be understood by those skilled in the art, and in one non-limiting embodiment, the term is defined to be within 10%, in another embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1%, and in another embodiment within 0.5%. The term "coupled" as used herein is defined as "connected," although not necessarily directly and not necessarily mechanically. A device or structure that is "configured" in a particular manner is configured in at least this manner, but may also be configured in at least one manner that is not listed.It will be appreciated that some embodiments may consist of one or more generic or specialized processors (or "processing devices") such as microprocessors, digital signal processors, custom-made processors and general purpose circuits (FPGA=field programmable gate array) and specific stored program instructions (including both software and firmware) that control the one or more processors to implement some, most or all of the functions of the method and / or apparatus described herein in conjunction with certain circuits other than processors. Alternatively, some or all of the functions could be implemented by a state machine without stored program instructions or by one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), in which each function or some combinations of certain of the functions are implemented as specific logic. Of course, a combination of both approaches may be used.Moreover, an embodiment may be implemented as a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer readable code for programming a computer (e.g., with a processor) to perform a method described and claimed herein. Examples of such computer readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), and a flash memory. Further, it is expected that those of ordinary skill in the art, regardless of potentially significant effort and many design possibilities, for example, instantiated by available time, current technology, and economic considerations, will readily be able to generate such software instructions and programs and ICs with minimal experimentation when guided by the concepts and principles disclosed herein.The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to enable the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope and meaning of the claims. Moreover, it will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description that various features have been grouped in different embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting the intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Accordingly, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

Claims

A method performed by a long-term evolution evolved node B (LTE eNodeB), the method comprising: performing a first determination to allocate resources to a given mobile radio; performing a second determination that the given radio is a public safety radio; in response to performing the first and second determination, selecting, based on one or more public safety communication criteria, a component carrier from a plurality of component carriers managed by the eNodeB; and allocating resources on the selected eNodeB component carrier to the given radio; and receiving a cellular type message from a network entity communicatively connected to the eNodeB, the message comprising an indication that the network entity has determined that the given mobile radio is a public safety mobile radio, wherein performing the second determination comprises performing the second determination based at least in part on the indication in the received cellular type message.The method of claim 1, wherein performing the second determination comprises performing the second determination based at least in part on one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of: a radio access technology / frequency selection priority index (RAT) / frequency selection priority (RFSP) index), a public land mobile network identifier (PLMN) identifier), an access class identifier, a home subscriber server parameter (HSS) parameter), a subscription profile repository parameter (SPR) parameter), an identifier for a closed subscriber group and a configuration parameter from an element manager.The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving the one or more parameters from a network entity communicably connected to the eNodeB, wherein performing the second determination based at least in part on the one or more parameters comprises performing the second determination based at least in part on the one or more received parameters.The method of claim 1, wherein the network entity comprises a mobility management entity (MME)).The method of claim 1, wherein the public safety communication criteria comprise one or more of spectral characteristics of the respective component carriers, coverage areas of the respective component carriers, frequencies of the respective component carriers, usage of the respective component carriers, uplink signal strength of the respective component carriers, and downlink signal strength of the respective component carriers.The method of claim 1, wherein the public safety communication criteria comprises one or more of: a type of event, a severity of an event, a number of mobile radios serving an event, and conditions of the respective component carriers at a location of an event.The method of claim 1, wherein allocating resources on the selected component carrier to the mobile radio comprises: making a third determination that a second mobile radio currently allocated resources is not a public safety mobile radio; releasing the resources from the second mobile radio; and allocating the released resources to the given mobile radio.The method of claim 1, wherein allocating resources on the selected component carrier comprises allocating resources in response to detecting a crisis condition.The method of claim 8, wherein detecting the crisis condition comprises receiving a crisis condition message from a network entity communicatively connected to the eNodeB.The method of claim 9, wherein the network entity comprises at least one of: a fixed network application, a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) application (CAD) application), a maintenance terminal, the given mobile radio, a mobile command application, and a mobile radio other than the given mobile radio.The method of claim 8, further comprising: responsive to detecting the crisis condition, releasing resources allocated to mobile radios in a given set of mobile radios.The method of claim 11, wherein none of the mobile radios in the given set of mobile radios is a public safety mobile radio.The method of claim 12, further comprising identifying the one or more radios in the given set of radios as not a public safety mobile radio based on one or more of: a radio access technology / frequency selection priority index (RAT) / frequency selection priority (RFSP) index), a public land mobile network identifier (PLMN) identifier), an access class identifier, a home subscriber server parameter (HSS) parameter), a subscription profile repository parameter (SPR) parameter), an identifier for a closed subscriber group and a configuration parameter from an element manager.The method of claim 8, wherein detecting the crisis condition comprises determining that an overload level of the eNodeB exceeds a threshold overload level.The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of component carriers comprises a primary carrier and one or more secondary carriers.The method of claim 15, wherein the selected component carrier is the primary carrier.The method of claim 15, wherein the selected component carrier is a secondary carrier.The method of claim 1, wherein the public safety communication criteria comprises one or more of: a type of instruction requested by the given mobile radio, preconfigured bearer allocation data, respective compatabilities of the component bearers with multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS)), respective compatabilities of the component bearers with proximity services (ProSe)), respective compatabilities of the component bearers with group communication system enables (GCSE)), and respective compatabilities of the component bearers with unicast.

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