Method of multi-radio interworking in heterogeneous wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method of multi-radio interworking to provide integrated cellular and WLAN access for a multi-radio device is provided. A serving base station in a cellular network first obtains wireless local area network (WLAN) information and then forward the WLAN information to a serving device such that the serving device is capable to connect with both the cellular network and a WLAN. The WLAN information may comprise scanning information, WLAN QoS information, WLAN layer-3 information, or additional WLAN access point information. The WLAN information is forwarded based on triggering events associated with the, serving base station information, WLAN coverage information, or the serving device information. Based on the received WLAN information, when entering WLAN coverage, the serving device activates its WLAN access to forward traffic from the cellular access network to the WLAN access network. When leaving WLAN coverage, the serving device deactivates its WLAN access to save power consumption.

1 . A method comprising:
 obtaining wireless local area network (WLAN) information of a WLAN by a serving base station in a cellular network; and   forwarding the WLAN information to a serving device such that the serving device is capable to connect with both the cellular network and the WLAN, wherein the WLAN information is forwarded based on triggering events associated with the serving base station information, WLAN coverage information, or the serving device information.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the WLAN information comprises a service set identifier (SSID) of a WLAN access point (AP) or a frequency channel used by the WLAN AP. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the WLAN information comprises the access priority or principle associated with the SSID of the WLAN AP. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the WLAN information comprises the backhaul type connected by the WLAN AP. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the WLAN information comprises received signal strength, WLAN signal/protocol version, and WLAN mode of a WLAN access point (AP). 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the WLAN information comprises layer-3 information including at least one of a WLAN AP gateway IP address, a DNS IP address, a DHCP server IP address, a device IP address to be used in the WLAN, and I-WLAN information. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 performing pre-authentication and pre-registration with a WLAN access point (AP) based on the serving device identity registered in the cellular network.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 acquiring WLAN access information and forwarding the WLAN access information to the serving device for WLAN access.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 informing a packet data gateway to redirect selected packet data traffic of the serving device from the cellular network to the WLAN.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the WLAN information comprises information about a WLAN access point (AP) including at least one of authentication information, charging policy, access priority, registration information, loading, capacity, achievable throughput, and service latency of the WLAN AP. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the WLAN information is received by the serving base station from a second serving device, and wherein the WLAN information comprises scanning result obtained by the second serving device over WLAN frequency channels. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the WLAN information is contained in a radio resource control (RRC) message, or a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a MAC management message in the cellular network. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cellular network is part of a packet core network, and wherein a paging procedure of the packet core network is used to initiate the WLAN information forwarding procedure. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the triggering event is associated with the serving base station cell coverage. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the triggering event is associated with WLAN coverage information including a WLAN AP location and the WLAN service coverage. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the triggering event is associated with the serving device information including device location, device footprint, device measurement result over the serving base station, or device WLAN capability. 
     
     
         18 . A method comprising:
 obtaining wireless local area network (WLAN) information by a user equipment (UE) in a cellular network, wherein the WLAN information is transmitted from a serving base station in the cellular network, and wherein the UE is equipped with both a cellular module and a WLAN module; and   activating access to a WLAN via the WLAN module based on the obtained WLAN information such that the UE has capability to connect with both the cellular network and the WLAN.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the UE activates the access to the WLAN when it handovers to the serving base station. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the UE activates the access to the WLAN and scans a WLAN access point (AP) over the WLAN frequency channel based on the WLAN information. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the UE selects a WLAN access point (AP) from a plurality of WLAN APs and performs connection setup with the WLAN AP based on the WLAN information. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 deactivating the access to the WLAN via the WLAN module based on a triggering condition.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the triggering condition comprises a notification from the serving base station, and wherein the notification contains WLAN coverage information. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the triggering condition comprises UE device information including UE location, UE footprint, or UE measurement result over the serving base station. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the triggering condition comprises WLAN threshold information including WLAN signal strength threshold or WLAN throughput threshold. 
     
     
         26 . A method comprising:
 scanning over wireless local area network (WLAN) frequency channels by a user equipment (UE) and thereby obtaining scanning result of a WLAN access point (AP) in a WLAN, wherein the UE is equipped with both a WLAN module and a cellular module; and   transmitting the scanning result to a serving base station in a cellular network.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the scanning result comprises at least one of a service set identifier (SSID) of the WLAN AP, a received signal strength, a WLAN signal/protocol version, a WLAN mode, and an IP address of the WLAN AP. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the scanning result comprises WLAN connection quality information including latency and achievable throughput. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the scanning result comprises the WLAN AP location and footprint. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the scanning result comprises measurement result over the cellular network by the UE.