Dynamic Paging Concatenation for Roaming Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless service providers face economic challenges and user dissatisfaction due to roaming agreements, which result in increased fees and limited access to services when devices hand off to non-preferred wireless coverage areas, leading to potential service degradation.
Innovation Solution
A wireless service provider can proactively reduce the likelihood of handoffs to non-preferred areas by analyzing historical roaming data to identify likely roaming devices and enhancing service quality, such as increasing air interface channel power and adjusting paging parameters, to keep devices within preferred coverage areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a wireless service provider partners with other wireless service providers to form roaming agreements, then wireless coverage is improved, but roaming fees and service degradation occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by analyzing historical roaming data to identify WCDs likely to roam before the handoff occurs. The RAN component calculates a likelihood value and proactively adjusts communication parameters (such as increasing transmission power or modifying paging settings) to prevent the handoff, thereby avoiding roaming fees while maintaining service quality.
2Area of stationary object
If a wireless service provider partners with other wireless service providers to form roaming agreements, then wireless coverage is improved, but access to applications and services is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring handoff attempts and analyzing roaming data to identify patterns. The RAN component uses this feedback to dynamically adjust communication parameters for WCDs showing roaming behavior, thereby preventing handoffs to non-preferred coverage areas and ensuring continued access to home network services while maintaining extended coverage through selective handoff prevention.
3Reliability
If handoff is performed to provide continuous wireless coverage, then service continuity is improved, but handoff to non-preferred areas causes service degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by differentiating between preferred and non-preferred wireless coverage areas. The RAN component evaluates the likelihood of handoff to non-preferred areas and applies targeted adjustments only to specific WCDs at risk of roaming, rather than applying blanket restrictions. This maintains service continuity through normal handoffs to preferred areas while preventing degradation from handoffs to non-preferred areas.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for reducing the frequency of handoffs to non-preferred wireless coverage areas are presented. In particular, a RAN may determine that a WCD is likely to begin roaming. The WCD may be served by a preferred wireless coverage area and may be likely to roam to a non-preferred wireless coverage area. In order to avoid drawbacks associated with letting the WCD roam, the RAN may grant the WCD one or more forms of increased service quality. For example, the RAN may use a roaming-likelihood value as a basis for determining a page-concatenation level for the page, concatenate the page according to the determined page-concatenation level, and then transmit the page.