Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy

Nokia Technologies Oy

Provenance Asset Group LLC

Nokia Telecommunications Oy

Jari Pekka Mustajarvi

Janne Petteri Tervonen

Mika Kasslin

Janne Marin

Mika Forssell

Gyorgy Tamas Wolfner

Mika Petri Olavi Rinne

Olli Alanen

Subramanya Chandrashekar

Maximilian Riegel

Hans Thomas Hoehne

There is provided a method in an access point, the method comprising: grouping a plurality of terminal devices that are within certain radio distance from each other into same group; selecting a single terminal device of the group to reply to a transmission request message on behalf of the group; transmitting the transmission request message, wherein the transmission request message indicates the single selected terminal device of the group that should reply to the transmission request message on behalf of the group; and in response to the transmitting the transmission request message, initiating receiving a transmission response message from the single selected terminal device on behalf of the group.

Selecting transmission response message transmitter

A control-plane interface is established between a cellular radio access node and an anchor for at least first and second non-cellular radio access nodes (such as API and AP); and thereafter during mobility of a user equipment (UE) from API to AP, the anchor relocates a user-plane interface for a radio link allocated to the UE from API to APwhile maintaining the established control-plane interface for the radio link. When implemented for LTE-WLAN Aggregation (LWA), the control-plane interface is Xw-C with a corresponding control plane wireless termination (WT-C), the user-plane interface is Xw-U with a corresponding user plane wireless terminations (WT-U); the cellular radio access node is an eNB, the APs belong to the anchor and have BSSs that belong to a same mobility set that is configured for the UE by the eNB; the anchor is the WT-C, and the APs are WT-Us.

WLAN termination U-plane relocation without C-plane relocation

The present invention addresses a method, apparatus and computer program product for accessing a local area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures, such as a MuLTEfire network, which implement identifying an available access point of the local area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures, transmitting a message to the access point, indicating a request for retrieving network information, wherein the information are queried from the network before authorization and actually connecting to the network, selecting a service provider of the network based on received network information for binding the network identity to the selected service provider for accessing, and conveying a Non-Access Stratum service request to the network to cause authentication of the user equipment for connecting to the network.

Method, apparatus and computer program product for accessing a local area scoped network having non-access-stratum procedures

Various communication systems may benefit from traffic steering. For example, radio access network based traffic steering can be used to benefit of communications by steering traffic to Wi-Fi leveraging Hotspot 2.0. A method can include determining that an off-load condition exists in an area of a radio access network. The method can also include commanding a user equipment to off-load to non-cellular radio access based on the determining.

Radio access network based traffic steering to non-cellular access

A first node () of a first network using a first radio access technology signals (SI) a second node () of a second network using a second radio access technology start and stop of a test data session and to send test data packets to a UE () in an aggregation mode via the second node () in the test data session. The UE () is associated with the second node (). The test data packets comprise payload and an aggregation header including an indication that the payload comprises test data. The first node () determines (S) a service level of the UE () with respect to the second node () based on a report on a throughput of the test data packets sent by the second node () in the test data session.

Communication network aggregation test payload

A method and apparatus may be configured to determine a network identity that is valid for the first network and a second network. The method may also include assigning the network identity to a user equipment. The method may also providing the network identity to one of the second network and a user equipment. The first network and the second network may be based on different technologies.

User equipment identity valid for heterogeneous networks

There are provided measures for subscriber group based cell broadcast. Such measures exemplarily comprise receiving a broadcast service message, said broadcast service message comprising at least first information indicative of a target subscriber group, and second information relating to network selection, comparing said first information with a preconfigured identifier indicative of an own subscriber group membership, and processing said broadcast service message based on a comparison result.

Subscriber group based cell broadcast

When a user of a mobile communication device is roaming in a visited network, an active network selection policy is formed of one or more partial policies. The partial policies typically include the network selection rules of the visited network, but may also include user home network rules, global network selection rules of the home network and/or further network selection rules of the home network. At least some of the partial policies, such as the network selection policy of the visited network, may be in accordance with Automatic Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) mechanisms.

Network selection mechanisms

There is provided a method comprising estimating bit rate information for first traffic if said first traffic were to be routed between a user equipment which is attached to a first network and a network access point of a second network and determining if said first traffic is to be routed between said user equipment and said network access point in dependence on said estimated bit rate information.

Methods and apparatus for managing communications network loading

There are provided measures for dynamic control of network selection. Such measures exemplarily comprise receiving a network list, said network list comprising at least one network discovery element, each of said at least one network discovery elements represents a particular network and comprises at least connection information for connecting to said network and a category assigned to said network, receiving a control signaling comprising at least one desired category, and selecting said network based on said at least one desired category and the category assigned to said network.

Dynamic control of network selection

An operator identity for an ANDSF management object is described. The operator identity identifies the server that originally provided the data concerned to the management object. In this way, it is possible to determine the operators that are responsible for different branches of an ANDSF management object. The operator identity may take the form of a PLMN identity.

A mechanism for updating network selection information (such as ANDSF information) as stored at a user device is described. An ANDSF server requests network selection policy signatures from a user device and compares those signatures with signatures calculated at the server. The ANDSF server instructs the user device to delete any policy whose signature is not found at the ANDSF server and instructs the user device to add any policy whose signature is found at the ANDSF server, but is not stored at the user device.

Updating of network selection information

In a packet radio system (e.g. a GPRS), a network (BSS) has two different alternatives for allocating a radio resource to a mobile station (MS). In a first allocation alternative the radio resource is allocated using an uplink counter block identifier (USF) transmitted with downlink blocks. In a second allocation alternative the radio resource is allocated in a separate signalling message. A corresponding downlink block then also has an uplink counter block identifier (USF) which can acquire only a limited number of possible values. If all identifiers (USF) are allocated to different mobile stations, allocation alternative cannot be used. In the invention the network leaves at least one identifier (USF) unallocated to any mobile station. In addition, the network either (1) uses the identifier in downlink blocks corresponding to blocks reserved using the second allocation alternative; or (2) at least one uplink counter block identifier (USF) is separately determined, said identifier denoting a reserved uplink block which the mobile station cannot use for transmission without a separate authorisation.

Growing community of inventors

Espoo, Finland

Jari Pekka Mustajarvi