Service steering method, related device and computer storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016183159-A1
Application number	US-201414910357-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 25, 2014
Priority date	Aug 9, 2013
Publication date	Jun 23, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The embodiment of the present disclosure discloses service steering methods and devices. One service steering method includes that: User Equipment (UE) judges whether it meets a service steering condition or not; and when the UE meets the service steering condition, the UE initiates a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection establishment according to a principle that preferred processing is for service steering , and steers services to a WLAN. Another service steering method includes that: whether UE meets a service steering condition or not is judged; and when the UE meets the service steering condition, a source network controls the UE to initiate a WLAN connection establishment according to a principle that preferred processing is for service steering , and steers services to a WLAN. The embodiment of the present disclosure correspondingly discloses UE and a source network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A service steering method, comprising:
judging, by User Equipment (UE), whether the UE meets a service steering condition or not; and when the UE meets the service steering condition, initiating, by the UE, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection establishment according to a principle that preferred processing is for service steering, and steering services to a WLAN.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
when a service steering decision is to steer all the services to the WLAN, not executing, by the UE, a handover after receiving from a source network a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message with a mobility control Information Element (IE).

3 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
not sending, by the UE, a handover related measurement report to the source network within a first preset time when the service steering decision is to steer all the services to the WLAN, or, a measurement result of the UE meets a condition of triggering a service steering process, or, the UE sends a service steering related measurement report.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , when the service steering decision is to steer all the services to the WLAN, after steering the services to the WLAN, the method further comprising: releasing, by the UE, an RRC connection.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , when the service steering decision is to steer part of the services to the WLAN, after steering the part of the services to the WLAN, the method further comprising: executing a handover according to an existing protocol specification.

6 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the service steering related measurement report and the handover related measurement report are sent using newly defined RRC signalling or measurement report signalling in an existing protocol.

7 . A service steering method, comprising:
judging whether User Equipment (UE) meets a service steering condition or not; and when the UE meets the service steering condition, controlling, by a source network, the UE to initiate a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection establishment according to a principle that preferred processing is for service steering, and steering services to a WLAN.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , further comprising:
when a service steering decision is to steer all the services to the WLAN, terminating, by the source network, a current handover.

9 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein, when the service steering decision is to steer all the services to the WLAN, controlling, by the source network, the UE to initiate the WLAN connection establishment is:
controlling, by the source network, the UE to initiate the WLAN connection establishment by sending a steering command message to the UE.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , after sending, by the source network, the steering command message, the method further comprising:
releasing, by the source network, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection.

11 . The method according to claim 9 , after sending, by the source network, the steering command message, the method further comprising:
not executing, by the source network, a handover within a second preset time.

12 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the steering command message is:
a newly defined RRC message; or, a steering add list Information Element (IE) and/or steering release list IE that are/is added into an RRC connection reconfiguration message, wherein the steering add list IE is for representing that an established bearer is configured to load a service steered from the WLAN to a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network and the steering release list IE is for representing that the services are steered from the 3GPP network to the WLAN.

13 . User Equipment (UE), comprising:
a first condition judgment unit, configured to judge whether the UE meets a service steering condition or not; and a steering unit, configured to, when the UE meets the service steering condition, initiate a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection establishment according to a principle that preferred processing is for service steering , and steer services to a WLAN.

14 . The UE according to claim 13 , further comprising:
a connection establishment control unit, configured to, when a service steering decision is to steer all the services to the WLAN, not execute a handover after receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message with a mobility control Information Element (IE) from a source network.

15 . The UE according to claim 13 , further comprising:
a measurement report control unit, configured to not send a handover related measurement report to the source network within a first preset time when the service steering decision is to steer all the services to the WLAN, or, a measurement result of the UE meets a condition of triggering a service steering process, or, the UE sends a service steering related measurement report.

16 . A source network, comprising:
a second condition judgment unit, configured to judge whether User Equipment (UE) meets a service steering condition or not; and a steering control unit, configured to, when the UE meets the service steering condition, control the UE to initiate a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection establishment according to a principle that preferred processing is for service steering , and steers services to a WLAN.

17 . The source network according to claim 16 , further comprising:
a handover control unit, configured to, when a service steering decision is to steer all the services to the WLAN, terminate a current handover.

18 . A computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions which are configured to execute the method according to claim 1 .

19 . A computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions which are configured to execute the method according to claim 2 .

20 . A computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions which are configured to execute the method according to claim 7 .

Assignees

• Zte Corp

Inventors

• Cui Yunpeng
• Dai Qian
• Yao Jun

Classifications

• H04W36/0055

  Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link · CPC title

• H04W40/02 Primary

  Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing · CPC title

• H04W76/02

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W36/30

  by measured or perceived connection quality data · CPC title

• H04W36/0058 Primary

  Transmission of hand-off measurement information, e.g. measurement reports · CPC title