UE Traffic Steering via RAN Assistance Parameters

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Solution Overview

Problem

Radio access networks (RAN) and WLANs often experience high traffic loads, leading to inefficient communication performance, as existing technologies lack effective methods for seamlessly steering user equipment (UE) traffic between these networks based on workload and traffic characteristics.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a method for UE to utilize stored or updated RAN assistance information, obtained through broadcast or dedicated signaling, to make informed decisions about traffic steering between 3GPP LTE and WLAN networks, considering factors like buffer status and time elapsed since last transmission, to optimize traffic offloading and improve communication performance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traffic steering decisions are made frequently to optimize network load distribution, then communication performance is improved, but battery power consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommunication performanceVSAvoidbattery power consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The UE stores RAN assistance information in advance and reuses it for multiple traffic steering decisions without needing to obtain fresh information each time, thereby reducing the frequency of information acquisition operations and lowering power consumption while maintaining effective load distribution

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements traffic steering decisions at periodic intervals or based on trigger events rather than continuously, allowing the UE to balance network optimization with energy conservation by making decisions only when necessary

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

2Measurement precision

If the UE continuously obtains updated RAN assistance information to make accurate traffic steering decisions, then traffic steering accuracy is improved, but device complexity and signaling overhead increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetraffic steering accuracyVSAvoidsignaling overhead

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

RAN assistance information is obtained and stored in advance through broadcast or dedicated signaling, allowing the UE to make multiple traffic steering decisions using pre-acquired information without requiring continuous signaling exchanges, thereby reducing overall signaling overhead

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The UE stores copies of RAN assistance information locally and reuses these copies for traffic steering decisions, eliminating the need to repeatedly request and receive the same information from the network, thus reducing signaling overhead and device complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS9622284B2User equipment and method for radio access network assisted WLAN interworking

Publication Date: 2017.04.11 INTEL CORP

AI summary

A User Equipment is disclosed that is configured to perform traffic steering from a RAN (e.g., 3GPP system) to a WLAN, or vice versa, based on one or more rules. In an embodiment, the UE performs the traffic steering to the WLAN based on whether data is to be transmitted from or received by the UE. In another embodiment, the UE performs the traffic steering based on receipt of RAN assistance parameters without checking the status of the UE upload buffers or the eNB/AP download buffers. In yet another embodiment, the UE performs the traffic steering based on the latest RAN assistance information and a time elapsed since the last transmission or receipt of data.