Access point name management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10965643-B2
Application number	US-201916423823-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2019
Priority date	Dec 5, 2016
Publication date	Mar 30, 2021
Grant date	Mar 30, 2021

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:
attaching, by the wireless communication device, to a wireless access network;
receiving, by the wireless communication device, access point name (APN) information from the wireless access network;
selecting, by the wireless communication device, an APN from the received APN information;
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;
detaching, by the wireless communication device, from the wireless access network;
determining, by the wireless communication device, that the received APN information includes a preferred attachment APN; and
re-attaching, by the wireless communication device, to the wireless access network using the preferred attachment APN included in the received APN information based on determining that the received APN information includes the preferred attachment APN.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the APN information from the wireless access network includes:
receiving a Protocol Configuration Options (PCO) message from the wireless access network; and
retrieving the APN information from the received PCO message.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein
determining that the received APN information includes the preferred attachment APN includes:
selecting to use the preferred attachment APN for subsequent wireless access network attachments, in response to determining that the received APN information includes the preferred attachment APN.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the APN information 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.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the APN from the received APN information is based on an application requesting a connection.

6. The method of claim 5 , 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.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the received APN information 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 received APN information, in response to determining that the received APN information includes the default APN.

8. 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.

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

10. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
storing the received APN information;
receiving another PCO message from the wireless access network;
retrieving updated APN information from the received other PCO message; and
updating the stored APN information with the updated APN information.

11. A computer device comprising:
a memory configured to store instructions; and
a processor configured to execute the instructions to:
attach to a wireless access network;
receive an access point name (APN) information from the wireless access network;
select an APN from the received APN information;
connect to a packet data network (PDN), associated with the selected APN, via the wireless access network using the selected APN;
detach from the wireless access network;
determine that the received APN information includes a preferred attachment APN; and
re-attach to the wireless access network using the preferred attachment APN included in the received APN information based on determining that the received APN information includes the preferred attachment APN.

12. The computer device of claim 11 , wherein, when receiving the APN information from the wireless access network, the processor is further configured to:
receive a Protocol Configuration Options (PCO) message from the wireless access network; and
retrieve the APN information from the received PCO message.

13. The computer device of claim 11 , wherein, when determining that the received APN information includes the preferred attachment APN, the processor is further configured to:
select to use the preferred attachment APN for subsequent wireless access network attachments, in response to determining that the received APN information includes the preferred attachment APN.

14. The computer device of claim 11 , wherein the APN information 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.

15. The computer device of claim 11 , wherein selecting the APN from the received APN information is based on an application requesting a connection.

16. The computer device of claim 15 , 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.

17. The computer device of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:
determine whether the received APN information 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 received APN information, in response to determining that the received APN information includes the default APN.

18. The computer device of claim 11 , 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.

19. The computer device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:
store the APN information in a memory device included in the computer device;
receive another PCO message from the wireless access network;
retrieve updated APN information from the received other PCO message; and
update the stored APN information with the updated APN information.

20. 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 attach to a wireless access network;
one or more instructions to receive an access point name (APN) information

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

• H04L2101/375

  Access point names [APN] · CPC title

• H04L2101/668

  Internet protocol [IP] address subnets · CPC title

• H04L61/4588

  containing mobile subscriber information, e.g. home subscriber server [HSS] · CPC title

• H04L61/6068

  Electricity · mapped topic