Barring factors in wireless communications systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12513610-B2
Application number	US-202017928099-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2020
Priority date	May 28, 2020
Publication date	Dec 30, 2025
Grant date	Dec 30, 2025

Abstract

Access class barring can provide latency for accessing a barred service using a radio access technology (RAT) due to congestion of a local cell accessed via that RAT. A user equipment (UE) supports multiple RATs and the same service may be accessible via a separate cell accessed using a different RAT. Various aspects of the present disclosure describe techniques for configuring the UE to selectively switch between RATs to access a service based on a barring factor employed for a particular RAT, thereby reducing latency for accessing the service. The UEs may operate to monitor a current value of a barring factor for a service the UE seeks to access via a preferred, or default, RAT. In the event that the current value of the barring factor exceeds a specified threshold, the UE switches over to using a different RAT to access this service.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
selectively switching from use of a first radio access technology (RAT) to access a service at the UE to use of a second RAT for use in accessing the service at the UE responsive to a relationship between a barring factor associated with the service for the first RAT and a first barring factor threshold; and subsequently switching from use of the second RAT back to use of the first RAT to access the service at the UE responsive to the barring factor satisfying a second barring factor threshold.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a system information message comprising an indication of the barring factor associated with the service; and determining the barring factor based on the indication received in the system information message.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the first barring factor threshold based on at least one of: a service type of the service; a power level of the UE; time resource expected to be utilized by the UE in accessing the service; a frequency resource expected to be utilized by the UE in accessing the service, and a power resource expected to be utilized by the UE in accessing the service.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first RAT is fourth generation (4G) and the second RAT is fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR).

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively switching comprises switching from use of the first RAT to use of the second RAT responsive to the barring factor exceeding the first barring factor threshold.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first barring factor threshold is greater than the second barring factor threshold.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the barring factor satisfies the second barring factor threshold when the barring factor is less than the second barring factor threshold.

8 . A method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
determining a value of a barring factor associated with a service; determining a first barring factor threshold value associated with the service based on a barring factor parameter; and switching from a first radio access technology (RAT) to a second RAT responsive to the value of the barring factor satisfying the first barring factor threshold value; and subsequently switching from use of the second RAT back to use of the first RAT to access the service at the UE responsive to the barring factor satisfying a second barring factor threshold.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving a system information message comprising an indication of the value of the barring factor; and determining the value of the barring factor based on the indicated in the received system information message.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the first barring factor threshold value associated with the service comprises determining the first barring factor threshold value based on at least one of: a service type of the service; a power level of the UE; time resource expected to be utilized by the UE in accessing the service; a frequency resource expected to be utilized by the UE in accessing the service; and a power resource expected to be utilized by the UE in accessing the service.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the first barring factor threshold value associated with the service comprises:
determining a usage level of the service based on a usage model of the service for the UE; and determining the first barring factor threshold value based on the determined usage level of the service.

12 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
transmitting to a network device an indication of switching from the first RAT to the second RAT.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the service comprises a voice over Long-Term Evolution (LTE) service or an LTE video service, or both.

14 . A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:
a radio frequency (RF) interface configured to support at least a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second RAT; a processor coupled to the RF interface, memory coupled with the processor; and a set of executable instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to manipulate the UE to:
selectively switch from use of the first RAT to access a service at the UE to use of the second RAT for use in accessing the service at the UE responsive to a relationship between a barring factor associated with the service for the first RAT and a first barring factor threshold; and
subsequently switch from use of the second RAT back to use of the first RAT to access the service at the UE responsive to the barring factor satisfying a second barring factor threshold.

15 . The UE of claim 14 , wherein selectively switching comprises switching from use of the first RAT to use of the second RAT responsive to the barring factor exceeding the first barring factor threshold.

16 . The UE of claim 14 , wherein the first barring factor threshold is greater than the second barring factor threshold.

17 . The UE of claim 14 , wherein the set of executable instructions further are executable by the processor to manipulate the UE to:
receive a system information message comprising an indication of the barring factor associated with the service; and determine the barring factor based on the indication received in the system information message.

18 . The UE of claim 14 , wherein the set of executable instructions further are executable by the processor to manipulate the UE to:
determine the first barring factor threshold based on at least one of: a service type of the service; a power level of the UE; time resource expected to be utilized by the UE in accessing the service; a frequency resource expected to be utilized by the UE in accessing the service; and a power resource expected to be utilized by the UE in accessing the service.

19 . The UE of claim 14 , wherein the first RAT is fourth generation (4G) and the second RAT is fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR).

20 . The UE of claim 14 , wherein the barring factor satisfies the second barring factor threshold when the barring factor is less than the second barring factor threshold.

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Nayak Shivank
• Ray Siddharth
• Zhang Qin
• Kragten Blake
• Wang Jibing
• Venkata Madhusudan Kinthada
• Vangaru Srinivas

Classifications

• H04W48/02

  Access restriction performed under specific conditions · CPC title

• H04W48/18 Primary

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title