Setting up a communication session within a wireless communications system

Abstract

An access network (AN) periodically broadcasts, to at least one user equipment (UE) served by the AN, a message requesting the at least one UE, whenever the at least one UE determines to perform a given type of transmission, (i) to measure a reverse-link channel upon which the transmission is to be performed, and (ii) to include results of the measurement within the transmission. A given UE receives the periodically broadcasted message from the AN and determines to perform the given type of transmission. The given UE refrains from measuring the reverse-link channel, as instructed by the AN, based on the data being associated with a communication session of a given type. The given UE transmits the data to the AN. If the data transmission omits the requested measurement results, the AN selects a transmission format for subsequent transmissions of the given UE based on the omission.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating an access network configured to support communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, comprising:
 periodically broadcasting, to at least one user equipment (UE) served by the access network, a message requesting the at least one UE, whenever the at least one UE determines to perform a given type of transmission, (i) to measure a reverse-link channel upon which the transmission is to be performed, and (ii) to include results of the measurement within the transmission;   receiving a given transmission of the given type from a given UE among the at least one UE, the given transmission of the given type omitting the measurement results requested by the periodically broadcasted message; and   selecting a transmission format for subsequent transmissions of the given UE based on the omission of the measurement results within the given transmission of the given type.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the given type of transmission is associated with call set-up of a communication session for the given UE. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the given UE is an originator of the communication session or a target of the communication session. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the communication session corresponds to a delay sensitive communication session and/or a low data-rate communication session. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the communication session corresponds to a Push-to-Talk (PTT) communication session, a Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) session or a Push-to-Transfer (PTX) communication session. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the given type of transmission corresponds to a cell update message. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the periodically broadcasted message is a System Information Block (SIB) message. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the SIB message is a SIB type 11 message or a SIB type 12 message. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the reverse-link channel corresponds to a shared channel. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the reverse-link channel corresponds to a random access channel (RACH). 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting a message allocating the selected transmission format to the given UE.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 in response to a determination that (i) channel quality of a reverse-link dedicated channel rises above a threshold and/or (ii) that the given UE is no longer engaged in the delay-sensitive and/or low data-rate communication session, transmitting a supplemental message that allocates a more aggressive transmission format to the given UE   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the selecting step selects the given transmission format from a plurality of transmission formats that are available for allocation to the UE,   and wherein the selected transmission format is associated with a higher reliability and a lower data rate for subsequent transmissions from the UE.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selected transmission format corresponds to a transmission time interval (TTI) that is used by the UE for transmissions upon a reverse-link dedicated channel during the communication session. 
     
     
         15 . An access network configured to support communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, comprising:
 means for periodically broadcasting, to at least one user equipment (UE) served by the access network, a message requesting the at least one UE, whenever the at least one UE determines to perform a given type of transmission, (i) to measure a reverse-link channel upon which the transmission is to be performed, and (ii) to include results of the measurement within the transmission;   means for receiving a given transmission of the given type from a given UE among the at least one UE, the given transmission of the given type omitting the measurement results requested by the periodically broadcasted message; and   means for selecting a transmission format for subsequent transmissions of the given UE based on the omission of the measurement results within the given transmission of the given type.   
     
     
         16 . An access network configured to support communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, comprising:
 logic configured to periodically broadcast, to at least one user equipment (UE) served by the access network, a message requesting the at least one UE, whenever the at least one UE determines to perform a given type of transmission, (i) to measure a reverse-link channel upon which the transmission is to be performed, and (ii) to include results of the measurement within the transmission;   logic configured to receive a given transmission of the given type from a given UE among the at least one UE, the given transmission of the given type omitting the measurement results requested by the periodically broadcasted message; and   logic configured to select a transmission format for subsequent transmissions of the given UE based on the omission of the measurement results within the given transmission of the given type.   
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions which, when executed by an access network configured to support communication sessions within a wireless communications system operating in accordance with a given wireless communication protocol, cause the access network to perform operations, the instructions comprising:
 program code to periodically broadcast, to at least one user equipment (UE) served by the access network, a message requesting the at least one UE, whenever the at least one UE determines to perform a given type of transmission, (i) to measure a reverse-link channel upon which the transmission is to be performed, and (ii) to include results of the measurement within the transmission;   program code to receive a given transmission of the given type from a given UE among the at least one UE, the given transmission of the given type omitting the measurement results requested by the periodically broadcasted message; and   program code to select a transmission format for subsequent transmissions of the given UE based on the omission of the measurement results within the given transmission of the given type.