System and method for performing network selection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10051533-B2
Application number	US-201514604803-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2015
Priority date	Jan 28, 2014
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

The system and methods of the various embodiments enable fine grained network selection decisions. This may allow a mobile network operator, a cable operator, or a Wi-Fi network operator to define network selection rules that are not only based upon network availability, time, and location, but also on network signal strength, signal to noise ratio, link speed, and cellular network radio parameters. These rules may also be complimented with local device based policies and parameters, which may possibly be based on user preferences and/or network operator preferences. The system and methods of the various embodiments also prevent inadvertent Wi-Fi network selection decisions by incorporating a time threshold parameter which defines a time period for which a wireless device must have detected a specific Wi-Fi access point prior to performing network selection.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A server method of causing a user equipment device to evaluate a transition condition and select a wireless communication network, comprising:
receiving, via a processor of a network selection policy server, policy information from a policy management system component;
receiving, via the processor of the network selection policy server, charging information from a charging system component;
determining, via the processor of the network selection policy server, a time threshold value based on a combination of the received policy information and the received charging information, wherein the determined time threshold value identifies a minimum amount of time that the user equipment device should continuously remain in a coverage area associated with a second wireless communication network before attempting to transition from using a first wireless communication network to using the second wireless communication network;
generating, via the processor of the network selection policy server, an enhanced network selection rule that includes information suitable for causing the user equipment device to evaluate a plurality of transition conditions, wherein at least one of the plurality of transition conditions is based on the determined time threshold value; and
sending the generated enhanced network selection rule from the network selection policy server to the user equipment device so as to cause the user equipment device to evaluate at least one of the plurality of transition conditions, the evaluation including:
starting a timer in response to receiving a beacon frame, wherein:
the timer increments a time value;
the user equipment device is currently using the first wireless communication network; and
the beacon frame identifies the coverage area associated with the second wireless communication network;

monitoring a continued presence of the beacon frame while the time value is less than the time threshold value;
stopping and resetting the timer in response to determining that the beacon frame was not present at any time during the monitoring; and
transitioning from using the first wireless communication network to using the second wireless communication network in response to determining, based on a result of the monitoring, that the beacon frame was continuously present during the monitoring.

2. The server method of claim 1 , wherein determining the time threshold value based on the combination of the received policy information and the received charging information comprises:
determining the minimum amount of time that the user equipment device should remain in a coverage area associated with a Wi-Fi network before attempting to transition from using a cellular network to using the Wi-Fi network.

3. The server method of claim 1 , wherein:
the evaluation further includes:
determining whether a value of a radio link property of the first wireless communication network meets or exceeds a threshold value of acceptable radio link properties; and

transitioning from using the first wireless communication network to using the second wireless communication network in response to determining, based on a result of the monitoring, that the beacon frame was continuously present during the monitoring further comprises:
transitioning from using the first wireless communication network to the second wireless communication network in response to determining that the value of the radio link property of the first wireless communication network does not meet or exceed the threshold value of acceptable radio link properties and the beacon frame was continuously present during the monitoring.

4. The server method of claim 1 , wherein:
the evaluation further includes:
determining whether a value of a radio link property of the second wireless communication network meets or exceeds a threshold value of acceptable radio link properties; and

transitioning from using the first wireless communication network to using the second wireless communication network in response to determining, based on a result of the monitoring, that the beacon frame was continuously present during the monitoring further comprises:
transitioning from using the first wireless communication network to the second wireless communication network in response to determining that the value of the radio link property of the second wireless communication network measured in the user equipment device meets or exceeds the threshold value of acceptable radio link properties and the beacon frame was continuously present during the monitoring.

5. The server method of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation further includes:
evaluating a property of the user equipment device.

6. The server method of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation further includes:
evaluating an application state; and
evaluating contextual information.

7. The server method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a network selection policy request message in the network selection policy server from the user equipment device, the received network selection policy request message including information measured by the user equipment device in the first wireless communication network,
wherein generating the enhanced network selection rule that includes information suitable for causing the user equipment device to evaluate at least one of the plurality of transition conditions comprises:
the network selection policy server generating the enhanced network selection rule in response to the network selection policy server receiving the network selection policy request message from the user equipment device.

8. The server method of claim 1 ,
wherein generating the enhanced network selection rule to include information suitable for causing the user equipment device to evaluate at least one of the plurality of transition conditions comprises generating the enhanced network selection rule to include a network selection policy;
wherein the network selection policy includes a plurality of network selection rules; and
wherein the network selection rules are generated based on information obtained from at least one of:
the policy management system component;
the charging system component; or
a subscriber management system component.

9. The server method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying, via the processor of the network selection policy server, a subscriber that is associated with the user equipment device;
using, via the processor of the network selection policy server, at least one of the received policy information or the received charging information to identify a second user equipment device that is associated with the identified subscriber;
generating, via the processor of the network selection policy server, a second enhanced network selection rule based on the information included in the enhanced network selection rule, wherein the second enhanced network selection rule is generated in response to the processor of the network selection policy server identifying the second user equipment device; and
sending the generated second enhanced network selection rule to the identified second user equipment device.

10. The server method of claim 9 ,
wherein generating the enhanced network selection rule that includes information suitable for causing the user equipment device to evaluate the plurality of transition conditions comprises generating the enhanced network selection rule to include a first set of transition conditions;
wherein generating the second enhanced network selection rule based on the information included in the enhanced network selection rule comprises generating the second enhanced network selection rule to include a second

Assignees

• Openet Telecom Ltd

Inventors

• Fitzpatrick John

Classifications

• H04W24/08

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title

• H04W48/18

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W36/04 Primary

  Reselecting a cell layer in multi-layered cells · CPC title

• H04W88/06

  adapted for operation in multiple networks {or having at least two operational modes}, e.g. multi-mode terminals · CPC title