Access point name management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10348679-B2
Application number	US-201615369137-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 5, 2016
Priority date	Dec 5, 2016
Publication date	Jul 9, 2019
Grant date	Jul 9, 2019

Abstract

A computer device may include a memory configured to store instructions and a processor configured to execute the instructions to select to use an access point name (APN) table to be received from a wireless access network and attach to the wireless access network. The processor may be further configured to execute the instructions to receive a Protocol Configuration Options (PCO) message from the wireless access network; retrieve the APN table from the received PCO message; select an APN from the retrieved APN table; and connect to a packet data network associated with the selected APN via the wireless access network using the selected APN.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method performed by a wireless communication device, the method comprising:
selecting, by the wireless communication device, to use an access point name (APN) table to be received from a wireless access network;
attaching, by the wireless communication device, to the wireless access network;
receiving, by the wireless communication device, a Protocol Configuration Options (PCO) message from the wireless access network;
identifying, by the wireless communication device, an APN table container field in the received PCO message;
retrieving, by the wireless communication device, the APN table from the identified APN table container field;
selecting, by the wireless communication device, an APN from the retrieved APN table;
connecting, by the wireless communication device, to a packet data network (PDN) associated with the selected APN via the wireless access network using the selected APN;
determining, by the wireless communication device, whether the retrieved APN table includes a preferred attachment APN;
selecting, by the wireless communication device, to use the preferred attachment APN for subsequent wireless access network attachments, in response to determining that the retrieved APN table includes the preferred attachment APN;
detaching, by the wireless communication device, from the wireless access network; and
re-attaching, by the wireless communication device, to the wireless access network using the selected preferred attachment APN.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the APN table includes:
an APN for a particular PDN;
an availability for the particular PDN, wherein the availability indicates whether the particular PDN is available on a home network only, on a visited network only, or on both home networks and visited networks; and
an application access for the particular PDN, wherein the application access indicates a type of application associated with the particular PDN.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the APN from the retrieved APN table is based on an application requesting a connection.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the application requesting the connection includes:
an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) application;
an Internet access application;
a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) application;
a device management application;
a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) management application; or
an application associated with a private packet data network.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the retrieved APN table includes a default APN; and
selecting to use the default APN when an application requesting a connection is not associated with any other APNs in the retrieved APN table, in response to determining that the retrieved APN table includes the default APN.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a Quality of Service (QoS) class associated with an application requesting a connection; and
selecting the APN based on the determined QoS class.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining an Internet Protocol (IP) address type associated with the selected APN; and
using the determined IP address type when communicating with the PDN associated with the selected APN.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing the APN table in a memory device included in the wireless communication device.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving another PCO message from the wireless access network;
retrieving an updated APN table from the received other PCO message; and
updating the stored APN table with the updated APN table.

10. A computer device comprising:
a memory configured to store instructions; and
a processor configured to execute the instructions to:
select to use an access point name (APN) table to be received from a wireless access network;
attach to the wireless access network;
receive a Protocol Configuration Options (PCO) message from the wireless access network;
identify an APN table container field in the received PCO message;
retrieve the APN table from the identified APN table container field;
select an APN from the retrieved APN table;
connect to a packet data network (PDN) associated with the selected APN via the wireless access network using the selected APN;
determine whether the retrieved APN table includes a preferred attachment APN;
select to use the preferred attachment APN for subsequent wireless access network attachments, in response to determining that the retrieved APN table includes the preferred attachment APN;
detach from the wireless access network; and
re-attach to the wireless access network using the selected preferred attachment APN.

11. The computer device of claim 10 , wherein the APN table includes:
an APN for a particular PDN;
an availability for the particular PDN, wherein the availability indicates whether the particular PDN is available on a home network only, on a visited network only, or on both home networks and visited networks; and
an application access for the particular PDN, wherein the application access indicates a type of application associated with the particular PDN.

12. The computer device of claim 10 , wherein selecting the APN from the retrieved APN table is based on an application requesting a connection.

13. The computer device of claim 12 , wherein the application requesting the connection includes:
an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) application;
an Internet access application;
a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) application;
a device management application;
a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) management application; or
an application associated with a private packet data network.

14. The computer device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:
determine whether the retrieved APN table includes a default APN; and
select to use the default APN when an application requesting a connection is not associated with any other APNs in the retrieved APN table, in response to determining that the retrieved APN table includes the default APN.

15. The computer device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:
determine a Quality of Service (QoS) class associated with an application requesting a connection; and
select the APN based on the determined QoS class.

16. The computer device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:
determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address type associated with the selected APN; and
use the determined IP address type when communicating with the PDN associated with the selected APN.

17. The computer device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:
store the APN table in a memory device included in the computer device;
receive another PCO message from the wireless access network;
retrieve an updated APN table from the received other PCO message; and
update the stored APN table with the updated APN table.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable memory device storing instructions executable by a processor, the non-transitory computer-readable memory device comprising:
one or more instructions to select to use an access point name (APN) table to be received from a wireless access network;
one or more instructions to attach to the wireless access network;
one or more instructions to receive a Protocol Configuration Options (PCO) message f

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Youtz Andrew
• Uy Warren Hojilla
• Eichinger Siegfried Erhard
• Mathison James
• Schmidt Christopher M

Classifications

• H04W28/0268 Primary

  using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] (negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24) · CPC title

• H04L61/1588

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L61/3075 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L61/6068

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L2101/375

  Access point names [APN] · CPC title