Collaborative scheme for selection of optimal accesses and seamless transition between accesses

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10206164-B2
Application number	US-201113822695-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2011
Priority date	May 31, 2011
Publication date	Feb 12, 2019
Grant date	Feb 12, 2019

Abstract

Devices and methods are disclosed for selecting an optimal access network in a wireless communications environment, such as when offloading mobile data traffic. In various embodiments disclosed herein, a contributing device comprises processing logic configured to generate set of communication environment identification data corresponding to the location of the communication device, to generate a set of observed AN availability and communication performance data corresponding to the location of the communication device and, and to transmit the set of communication environment identification data and the set of observed communication performance data to a server. In some embodiments, the contributing device is location-aware and in some embodiments, the contributing device is location-unaware.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A communication device, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to:
generate a set of communication environment identification data corresponding to a location of said communication device, wherein said set of communication environment identification data comprises radio signature data and at least one of:
a histogram of performance for access nodes corresponding to a radio signature observed by said communication device when said communication device was unaware of its location,
an authentication scheme used by an access node to establish connection with said communication device, or
a histogram of latency observed by said communication device to establish connection to an access node;

generate a set of observed communication performance data corresponding to the location of said communication device;
transmit said set of communication environment identification data and said set of observed communication performance data to a server; and
receive processed information items from said server, wherein said processed information items comprise a list of access nodes available to said communication device and a plurality of attributes for each of the access nodes, wherein said processed information items are based on said set of communication environment identification data and said set of observed communication performance data, and wherein said set of observed communication performance data comprises at least:
a histogram of received signal strengths for access nodes observed by said communication device,
a location of said communication device when each received signal strength was observed by said communication device, and
a chipset used by said communication device to connect to each access node when each received signal strength was observed by said communication device.

2. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein said set of communication environment identification data comprises location data corresponding to the location of said communication device and radio signature data, along with identification data corresponding to access nodes observed by the communication device, wherein said identification data identifies technologies implemented by each of the corresponding access nodes.

3. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of attributes for each of the access nodes include:
received signal strengths, from each of the access nodes, observed by other communication devices;
locations of the other communication devices when the respective received signal strengths were observed; and
chipsets used by the other communication devices to connect to each of the access nodes when the respective received signal strengths were observed.

4. A communication device, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to:
generate a set of communication environment identification data corresponding to a location of said communication device, wherein said set of communication environment identification data comprises radio signature key data and at least one of:
a histogram of performance for access nodes corresponding to a radio signature observed by said communication device when said communication device was unaware of its location,
an authentication scheme used by an access node to establish connection with said communication device, or
a histogram of latency observed by said communication device to establish connection to an access node;

transmit said set of communication environment identification data as a key to a server;
in response to transmitting said set of communication environment identification data as the key to the server, receive from said server a set of processed information items relevant to the key, wherein said processed information items comprise a list of access nodes available to said communication device and a plurality of attributes for each of the access nodes, wherein said processed information items are based on said set of communication environment identification and observed communication performance data, and wherein said set of communication environment identification data comprises at least:
a histogram of received signal strengths for access nodes observed by said communication device,
a location of said communication device when each received signal strength was observed by said communication device, and
a chipset used by said communication device to connect to each access node when each received signal strength was observed; and

use said processed information items to select an access node to wirelessly communicate with.

5. The communication device of claim 4 , wherein said plurality of attributes for each of the access nodes includes a plurality of received signal strengths observed by a plurality of other communication devices, along with a respective location of said other communication devices and a respective chipset used by said other communication devices to connect to each of the access nodes when the plurality of received signal strengths were observed.

6. The communication device of claim 4 , wherein said processor is further configured to use said processed information items to select a new access node to handoff to based on a future location of the communication device, and wherein said processor predicts said future location based on the communication device's trajectory and speed.

7. The communication device of claim 4 , wherein said processor is further configured to use said processed information items to select an access node when said communication device is operating in an idle mobility mode.

8. The communication device of claim 4 , wherein said processor is further configured to use said processed information items to optimize a set of access nodes that the communication device is communicating with.

9. A communication device, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to:
generate a set of communication environment identification and observed performance data corresponding to a location of said communication device;
transmit said set of communication environment identification and observed performance data to a collaboration server in response to determining that the location of said communication device is not within a degree of accuracy required to access an external database;
receive from said collaboration server a set of location data based on said set of communication environment identification and observed performance data;
use said set of location data to improve an accuracy of the communication device's location to the degree required to access the external database, wherein the external database is an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) server separate from the collaboration server;
in response to accessing the external database, receive from said external database a set of access node attribute data, wherein said access node attribute data comprises a list of access nodes available to said communication device and a plurality of attributes for each of the access nodes, wherein said access node attribute data is based on said set of communication environment identification and observed performance data and said set of location data, and wherein said set of communication environment identification and observed performance data comprises at least:
a histogram of received signal strengths for access nodes observed by said communication device,
a location of said communication device when each received signal strength was observed by said communication device, and
a chipset used by said communication device to connect to each access node when each rec

Assignees

• Le Khiem
• Wu Wei
• Lo Wing Fai
• Blackberry Ltd

Inventors

• Le Khiem
• Wu Wei
• Lo Wing Fai

Classifications

• H04W48/14

  using user query {or user detection} · CPC title

• H04W24/08

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

• H04W64/00

  Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management · CPC title

• H04W48/18 Primary

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title