U.S. patent application number 14/210244 was filed with the patent office on 2014-07-10 for controlling transmission resources in mobile radio systemswith dual transfer mode.
This patent application is currently assigned to Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l. The applicant listed for this patent is Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l. Invention is credited to Harri HILTUNEN, Jarkko OKSALA.
Application Number | 20140192751 14/210244 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34957287 |
Filed Date | 2014-07-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140192751 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
OKSALA; Jarkko ; et
al. |
July 10, 2014 |
CONTROLLING TRANSMISSION RESOURCES IN MOBILE RADIO SYSTEMSWITH DUAL
TRANSFER MODE
Abstract
A method includes receiving, at a device, an indication
corresponding to available transmission resources of a client
device for establishing a first connection between the client
device and a network, determining, at the device, allowable
transmission resources for the first connection based at least
partially on a difference between the indication corresponding to
the available transmission resources of the client device and
resources to be used by the client device for a second connection
between the client device and the network, wherein determining the
allowable transmission resources occurs before the second
connection is requested, and providing, from the device, a response
indicating the allowable transmission resources for the first
connection before the second connection is requested.
Inventors: |
OKSALA; Jarkko; (Ylojarvi,
FI) ; HILTUNEN; Harri; (Kempele, FI) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l |
Luxembourg |
|
LU |
|
|
Assignee: |
Core Wireless Licensing
S.a.r.l
Luxembourg
LU
|
Family ID: |
34957287 |
Appl. No.: |
14/210244 |
Filed: |
March 13, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10530256 |
Sep 1, 2005 |
8712423 |
|
|
PCT/IB2004/001099 |
Apr 8, 2004 |
|
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14210244 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
370/329 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 72/00 20130101;
H04W 76/10 20180201; H04W 28/24 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
370/329 |
International
Class: |
H04W 76/02 20060101
H04W076/02 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving, at a device, an indication
corresponding to available transmission resources of a client
device for establishing a first connection between the client
device and a network; determining, at the device, allowable
transmission resources for the first connection based at least
partially on a difference between the indication corresponding to
the available transmission resources of the client device and
resources to be used by the client device for a second connection
between the client device and the network, wherein determining the
allowable transmission resources occurs before the second
connection is requested; and providing, from the device, a response
indicating the allowable transmission resources for the first
connection before the second connection is requested.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the available transmission
resources correspond to data transmission capabilities of the
client device.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the available transmission
resources correspond to a guaranteed bit rate (GBR).
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the available transmission
resources correspond to a maximum number of multislots (MSMax) of
the client device.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the MSMax of the client device is
the number of packet data channels (PDCHs) that the client device
can operate in parallel.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the MSMax comprises a range from
1 to 8.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the available transmission
resources corresponds to a supported bit rate of the client
device.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the available transmission
resources correspond to hardware capabilities of the client
device.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is part of a 2G or 3G
mobile radio system.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first connection and the
second connection are packet-switched and/or circuit-switched
connections.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first connection and the
second connection are used in a Dual Transfer Mode that comprises a
packet-switched connection as the first connection and a
circuit-switched connection as the second connection.
13. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising
instructions operable to cause a processor to: receive an
indication corresponding to available transmission resources of a
client device for establishing a first connection between the
client device and a network; determine allowable transmission
resources for the first connection based at least partially on a
difference between the indication corresponding to the available
transmission resources of the client device and resources to be
used by the client device for a second connection between the
client device and the network, wherein determining the allowable
transmission resources occurs before the second connection is
requested; and provide a response indicating the allowable
transmission resources for the first connection before the second
connection is requested.
14. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim
13, wherein the computer-readable medium is part of a device in a
wireless communication system.
15. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim
14, wherein the wireless communication system comprises a 2G or 3G
mobile radio system.
16. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim
13, wherein the first connection and the second connection are
packet-switched and/or circuit-switched connections.
17. An apparatus comprised in a wireless communication system,
comprising: a processor; and a tangible, non-transitory
computer-readable medium comprising instructions operable to cause
the processor to: receive an indication corresponding to available
transmission resources of a client device for establishing a first
connection between the client device and a network; determine
allowable transmission resources for the first connection based at
least partially on a difference between the indication
corresponding to the available transmission resources of the client
device and resources to be used by the client device for a second
connection between the client device and the network, wherein
determining the allowable transmission resources occurs before the
second connection is requested; and provide a response indicating
the allowable transmission resources for the first connection
before the second connection is requested.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the wireless communication
system comprises a 2G or 3G mobile radio system.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first connection and the
second connection are packet-switched and/or circuit-switched
connections.
20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first connection and the
second connection are used in a Dual Transfer Mode that comprises a
packet-switched connection as the first connection and a
circuit-switched connection as the second connection.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.
10/530,256, filed on 1 Sep. 2005, which is the National Stage of
International Application No. PCT/IB2004/001099, International
Filing Date 8 Apr. 2004, which designated the United States of
America, and which International Application was published under
PCT Article 21 (2) as WO Publication No. WO 2005/099294, the
disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their
entireties.
FIELD
[0002] The disclosed embodiments relate to a method for controlling
the use of transmission resources, wherein transmission resources
of a transmission link between a first entity and a second entity
can be used by at least a first connection and a second
connection.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In packet data systems according to the Third Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP) standard, comprising in particular the
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and its derivatives, Quality of
Service (QoS) mechanisms are used for requesting and guaranteeing
certain Quality of Service (QoS) criteria for packet data
connections, i.e. Packet Data Protocol (PDP) contexts. One example
of such a QoS criterion is the bit rate of a connection, but also
other QoS parameters that are defined in 3GPP standards may be
used.
[0004] The bit rate that can be supported by the packet data system
is dependent on capabilities of both the mobile station and the
network. One of the main limiting factors is the mobile station's
multislot class, which indicates the number of Packet Data Channels
(PDCHs) that a mobile station can handle (in a GPRS system, this
multi-slot class ranges from 1 to 8). Obviously, applications in a
mobile station demanding a certain QoS can request only a bit rate
that is less or equal to the maximum bit rate supported by the
mobile station's multislot class. The network then decides on a
Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) according to the mobile station's
capabilities, but uses also some other network related parameters
in said decision, e.g. the network load.
[0005] The Dual Transfer Mode (DTM) enables simultaneous
Circuit-Switched (CS) and Packet-Switched (PS) connections in
mobile radio networks. Basically this means that part of the air
interface capabilities of the mobile station are being allocated
from pure PS usage also for CS channels. Consequently, the maximum
available bit rate for PS connections is lower during DTM activity
than during PS-only activity. Since PDP contexts, i.e. packet data
connections with a related QoS, are normally reserved for a long
time, DTM activity in parallel needs to be taken into account in
some way when QoS parameters are requested by a mobile station and
guaranteed by the network.
[0006] According to 3GPP standards, currently CS connections are
prioritised over PS connections during parallel connection set-up
(DTM mode establishment). This means also that the applications
operating on PS connections and relying on previously negotiated
QoS for said PS connections can suffer dramatically from parallel
CS connections, because the bit rate of the PS connections may
significantly fall below the guaranteed bit rate when parallel CS
connections are prioritised, and said applications running on top
of said PS connections then may no longer properly function.
[0007] Furthermore, when a CS connection is added to already
established PS connections, the resources of the mobile station
such as processing power and memory limits may be exceeded without
control, thus affecting both the PS and CS connections and the
applications using said connections.
SUMMARY
[0008] The disclosed embodiments are directed to providing a
method, a device, a computer program, a computer program product, a
system, a mobile station and a network element for controlling the
use of transmission resources that overcomes the above-mentioned
problems.
[0009] It is proposed that a method for controlling the use of
transmission resources, wherein transmission resources for a
transmission between a first entity and a second entity can be used
by at least a first connection and a second connection, comprises
checking whether QoS requirements of said first connection can
still be guaranteed when said transmission resources are jointly
used by said first connection and said second connection, and
controlling the use of at least one portion of said transmission
resources by at least one of said first and second connections,
accordingly.
[0010] Said transmission may for instance be a wire-bound or
wireless transmission between a transmitter as a first entity and a
receiver as a second entity. Said entities may for instance be
protocol entities in said transmitter and receiver, and said
transmission may be bound to a logical or a physical link between
said protocol entities. Said transmission may be provided by a
bearer service. Said transmission resources for said transmission
can be used by said at least two connections, which may for
instance be packet-switched or circuit-switched connections between
said transmitter and receiver. It may then be possible that two
packet-switched, two circuit-switched or a packet- and a
circuit-switched connection jointly use the transmission resources.
Also the use of the transmission resources by more than two
connections of the same or different types is possible. It may be
possible that one of said connections already has been established
before said steps of checking. The data transmission capability of
said first and/or second entity may be characterised by said
transmission resources, which may for instance represent a number
of time slots, frequency channels, polarization modes, antenna
beams or similar, that can be supported by said first and/or second
entity. Said transmission resources may be different for different
constellations of connections. Said transmission resources may
further depend on said transmission link between said transmitter
and receiver as well. For instance, said transmission resources may
not be the whole number of time slots available in an up- or
downlink frame, but only a fraction thereof due to the limited
ability of the first entity to process large data rates or large
numbers of time slots, or due to load restrictions imposed by the
second entity. Depending on the QoS requirements of said first
connection, which may for instance be defined by a fixed or minimum
bit rate, it may be possible that said first and second connection
can jointly use the transmission resources for said transmission or
not. If joint usage of said transmission resources is possible,
said first and second connection may share transmission resources,
for instance a couple of time slots per uplink and/or downlink
frame may be used by said first connection and a couple of time
slots per uplink and/or downlink may be used by said second
connection. Joint usage of said transmission resources may not be
possible if the demand for transmission resources of one of said
connections is larger than the available transmission resources, or
if the sum of the demands for transmission resources of both
connections is larger than the available transmission
resources.
[0011] In order to control the use of said transmission resources,
said method first checks whether said transmission resources can be
jointly used by said first and second connection under observation
of the QoS requirements of said first connection. If more than two
connections are involved, it has to be checked whether said
transmission resources can be jointly used by all of said
connections, correspondingly. Said step of checking may comprise
transformation of said QoS requirements of said first connection
into a measure that can be compared to said transmission resources,
or determining the available transmission resources themselves. The
QoS requirements or the demand for transmission resources of said
second connection may be considered in said step of checking as
well. The QoS requirements of the connection that has the lower
priority may be observed, and it may be assumed that the
transmission resources are sufficient to satisfy the QoS
requirements or transmission resource demands of the connection
that has the higher priority.
[0012] According to the outcome of the checking step, the use of at
least one portion of said transmission resources by at least one of
said first and second connection is controlled. Said control may
for instance comprise pausing or releasing of said first
connection, or changing the portion of transmission resources that
said first connection has been assigned before (involving reduction
of the QoS requirements of said first connection and/or changing
the portion of transmission resources that can be used by said
first connection), in order to increase the portion of available
transmission resources for a second connection that is or may be
established, or it may comprise blocking of said second
connection.
[0013] Thus in contrast to prior art, where said second connection
is established regardless of the fact whether the QoS requirements
of said first connection then can still be guaranteed, according to
the presently disclosed embodiments, it is first checked if joint
usage of the transmission resources under observation of the QoS
requirements of said first connection is possible, and, depending
on the outcome of this determination, the use of said transmission
resources by said first and/or second connection is controlled.
This ensures that said first connection always maintains a certain
guaranteed QoS, or alternatively is paused or released in a
controlled manner. This QoS may be smaller than the QoS that was
originally guaranteed to said first connection. However, due to the
negotiation on this QoS, the proper functionality of applications
using said first connection is ensured. The step of checking
considers the transmission resources, that may for instance be
limited by the transmission capabilities of said first entity for
the requested combination of first and second connection, and thus
also ensures that hardware that is used by said first entity is not
overloaded by said first and second connection.
[0014] According to a method of the presently disclosed
embodiments, said step of controlling the use of at least one
portion of said transmission resources by at least one of said
first and second connections may comprise pausing or releasing said
first connection, if it is determined that said QoS requirements of
said first connection can no longer be guaranteed when said
transmission resources are jointly used by said first connection
and said second connection.
[0015] If it is determined in said step of checking that said at
least first and second connections cannot jointly use said
transmission resources, said first connection may be paused or
released, in order to avoid that the application running on top of
said first connection, for instance a streaming application, does
no longer properly work. Whereas pausing means that the paused
connection may be granted access to said transmission resources at
a later time instance, releasing (or deactivating) means that a
connection is completely terminated. Pausing and releasing may
particularly occur for a first connection that has already been
established when there arises a request for a second connection
which may have a higher priority than the already established first
connection, so that it is advantageous to establish the new
connection and to interrupt the already established connection.
Pausing or releasing said first connection may involve signalling
to inform the second entity on said changes.
[0016] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
step of controlling the use of at least one portion of said
transmission resources by at least one of said first and second
connections may comprise blocking said second connection, if it is
determined that said QoS requirements of said first connection can
no longer be guaranteed when said transmission resources are
jointly used by said first connection and said second
connection.
[0017] Blocking may occur if a (possibly low-priority) second
connection has not been established yet and is requesting
transmission resources. If it is determined that said requests for
transmission resources of said second connection and the QoS
requirements of an already established first connection cannot be
satisfied by the available transmission resources, said second
connection is blocked and will not be established.
[0018] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
step of controlling the use of at least one portion of said
transmission resources by at least one of said first and second
connections may comprise reducing the QoS requirements of said
first connection and changing the portion of said transmission
resources that can be used by said first connection, if it is
determined that said QoS requirements of said first connection can
no longer be guaranteed when said transmission resources are
jointly used by said first connection and said second
connection.
[0019] If the application that uses said first connection may still
properly function when the original QoS requirements are reduced,
such a reduction of QoS requirements may be negotiated in said step
of controlling, after it has been determined in said step of
checking that joint usage of said transmission resources by said
first and second connection is not possible and thus said first
connection would otherwise be paused or released in favour of said
second connection. According to the reduced QoS requirements, then
the portion of the transmission resources that can be used by said
first connection are changed. Changing said portion may involve
signalling to inform the second entity on said changes.
[0020] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
step of controlling the use of at least one portion of said
transmission resources by at least one of said first and second
connections may comprise changing the portion of said transmission
resources that can be used by said first connection, if it is
determined that said QoS requirements of said first connection can
still be guaranteed when said transmission resources are jointly
used by said first connection and said second connection.
[0021] It may occur that said first connection has been assigned a
portion of said transmission resources during its establishment
that is larger than actually prescribed by the QoS requirements of
said first connection. Said step of checking then determines that
the joint usage of said transmission resources is possible;
however, in said step of controlling the portion of transmission
resources that is used by said first connection still has to be
changed to the portion that is actually demanded by its QoS
requirements. Changing said portion may involve signalling to
inform the second entity on said changes.
[0022] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
steps of checking and controlling are may be performed before said
first and second connection have been established.
[0023] Said steps of determining and controlling may for instance
be performed prior to or during the establishment phase of said
first connection, regardless if a second connection will ever be
established or not. The advantage of this approach is that, when
the possibility of a future establishment of a second connection
that uses the transmission resources jointly with the first
connection is considered during the establishment of said first
connection, when the QoS requirements of said first connection and
the corresponding portion of transmission resources is negotiated
between the entities that establish said first connection, this
future establishment of said second connection may then take
seamlessly place. This may be of particular importance in cases
where the second connection has a higher priority than the first
connection, so that, when the future possible establishment (and
its consumption of transmission resources) is not considered during
the establishment of said first connection, there may not be enough
transmission resources left when said second connection is to be
established, so that the first connection has to be paused or
released. Similarly, if the first connection has a higher priority,
said second connection may be blocked. In both cases, thus pausing,
releasing or blocking of connections is omitted by performing said
steps of checking and controlling before the establishment of both
connections, so that each connection is assigned a suited portion
of said transmission resources.
[0024] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
steps of checking and controlling may be performed after said first
connection has been established and before said second connection
has been established.
[0025] If said first connection has already been established, it
has been assigned a portion of transmission resources. When a
second connection is requested, it is advantageously checked before
the establishment of said second connection if said first and
second connection can jointly use said transmission resources.
Furthermore, instead of assigning said second connection the
remaining portion of said transmission resources that are not used
by said first connection or blocking said second connection (if
there are no priorities of connections or if said first connection
has a higher priority), said step of controlling the use of said
transmission resources by said first and second connection may
reduce the portion of transmission resources that is used by said
first connection under consideration of its QoS requirements or
under reduction of said QoS requirements, and thus enable an
establishment of a second connection that now may use a
sufficiently large portion of transmission resources. If said
second connection has a higher priority, releasing or pausing of
said first connection can be avoided by reducing the portion of
transmission resources that are used by said first connection,
while still considering its QoS requirements.
[0026] It should be noted that a second connection does not
necessarily have to be established at all. For instance, if one of
said first and second entities is an entity of a mobile station in
a wireless communication system, it may be possible that said first
connection is established in a cell of said wireless communication
system that does not support the joint usage of the transmission
resources by two connections, so that said first connection may be
assigned all transmission resources. When the mobile moves into a
cell that supports the joint usage of the transmission resources by
two connections, the above-described cases where a second
connection is to be established might occur, and pausing, releasing
or blocking of one of said first and second connection then may be
necessary. It thus may be advantageous to perform said steps of
checking and controlling directly upon entry of said mobile station
into said cell that supports joint usage of transmission resources
by two connections, so that the transmission resources assigned to
said first connection are reduced to a degree that allows seamless
addition of a future possible second connection.
[0027] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
transmission resources may characterise the data transmission
capabilities of said first and/or second entity.
[0028] The amount of data that can be transmitted between said
first entity and said second entity may be characterised by the
number of units in an orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal transmission
space that said connections can use, for instance by the number of
time slots, frequency channels, polarization states, antenna beams
or code channels assigned to said connections. If said first and
second entity are located in a mobile station and a network of a
mobile radio system, for instance a mobile radio network comprising
a radio access network and/or a core network of said mobile radio
system, usually not all time slots, frequency channels, codes, etc.
will be allocated by the network to one mobile station, in order to
allow for multiple access of several mobile stations. Thus the
resources that are available for connections between said first and
second entity are limited by the network. Furthermore, the data
processing power and memory of the mobile station further reduces
the amount of data said mobile station can transmit and receive, so
that the resources that can be used by said connections may be
further reduced.
[0029] The transmission resources that can be used by said
connections for transmission between said first and second entity
thus may be understood to be limited by both said first and second
entity.
[0030] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
step of checking may be at least partially performed by a
transmission resources control instance that interacts with said
first and/or second entity.
[0031] Said transmission resources control instance may for
instance at least partially perform or initiate said step of
checking whether the QoS requirements of a first connection may
still be guaranteed when the transmission resources are jointly
used by said first and a second connection.
[0032] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
step of checking may comprise the step of checking capabilities of
hardware that is used by said first or second entity.
[0033] In said step of checking, it is advantageous that
information on the QoS requirements of said first connection, on
the consumption of transmission resources by said second connection
and on the transmission resources themselves is available, in order
to be able to determine whether joint usage of the transmission
resources is possible. Knowledge of said transmission resources may
be based on knowledge on the capabilities of hardware that is used
by said first and/or second entity, for instance information on the
maximum processing power or the maximum memory capacity. Such
knowledge may be available in the form of profiles for different
constellations of connections, to account for the different
processing power and memory requirements of different mixes of
different-type connections.
[0034] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
entities may be included in a mobile station and in a network of a
wireless communication system, in particular a 2G or 3G mobile
radio system. Said network may for instance be a mobile radio
network comprising a radio access network and/or a core network of
said wireless communication system. Said wireless communication
system may for instance operate at least partially according to the
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) standard, the Enhanced GPRS
(EGPRS) standard, the Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
standard, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Standard (UMTS),
or any other telecommunications standard. Furthermore, said
wireless communication system may operate according to Wireless
Local Area Network (W-LAN) standards such as HiperLAN, HiperLAN/2
or IEEE 802.11 and its derivatives.
[0035] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
connections may be packet-switched and/or circuit-switched
connections between said entities in said mobile station and said
network. Said wireless communication system then may for instance
support two or more packet-switched connections jointly using the
same transmission resources, or a mix of packet-switched and
circuit-switched connections.
[0036] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said QoS
requirement of said first connection may be a minimum bit rate.
Such a QoS requirement may for instance stem from a higher-layer
application, as for instance a streaming application, or a
downloading application. Other QoS parameters such as for instance
mean or maximum delay of packets, or combinations of QoS parameters
in the form of QoS profiles may be applied as well.
[0037] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
wireless communication system may be capable of operating a Dual
Transfer Mode (DTM) that comprises a packet-switched connection, in
particular a connection according to the General Packet Radio
Service (GPRS) or the Enhanced General Packet Radio Service
(EGPRS), as said first connection and a circuit-switched connection
as said second connection, and wherein said step of checking
determines whether bit rate requirements of said packet-switched
connection can still be guaranteed when said transmission resources
are jointly used by said packet-switched and said circuit switched
connection.
[0038] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
packet-switched and circuit-switched connections may be provided by
a radio bearer, and that in said step of checking, said
transmission resources control instance may inform said bearer on
the availability of said transmission resources.
[0039] Said bearer, for instance a GPRS bearer, then may use the
services of said transmission resources control instance to check
the actual availability of transmission resources, which may for
instance represent the portion of transmission resources that is
not assigned to a connection yet, so that it may be determined if
said packet-switched and circuit-switched connections may share
said transmission resources by determining if said available
transmission resources are sufficient for said circuit-switched
connection.
[0040] According to a method of the disclosed embodiments, said
transmission resources control instance may monitor the connections
provided by said bearer and, based at least on said monitored
connections and on hardware profiles of said mobile station, may
determine the availability of said transmission resources.
[0041] Said transmission resources control instance may monitor the
number and type of connections that are already active with said
mobile station and may consult mobile-station-specific hardware
profiles that may have been stored in said transmission resources
control instance to determine the present portion of available
transmission resources. Said hardware profile may be developed for
said mobile station during R&D and may consider the different
charge of the mobile station concerning processing power and memory
usage depending on the composition of packet-switched and/or
circuit-switched connections.
[0042] It is further proposed a computer program with instructions
operable to cause a processor to perform the above-mentioned method
steps.
[0043] It is further proposed a computer program product comprising
a computer program with instructions operable to cause a processor
to perform the above-mentioned method steps.
[0044] It is further proposed a wireless communication system,
comprising at least one mobile station, and at least one network,
wherein transmission resources for a transmission between a first
entity and a second entity can be used by at least a first
connection and a second connection, wherein it is checked whether
QoS requirements of said first connection can still be guaranteed
when said transmission resources are jointly used by said first
connection and said second connection, and wherein the use of at
least one portion of said transmission resources by at least one of
said first and second connections is controlled, accordingly.
[0045] Said wireless communication system may for instance be a 2G
or 3G mobile radio system supporting DTM of packet-switched and
circuit switched connections and guarantees QoS at least for the
packet-switched connections. Said network may comprise a radio
access network and/or a core network of said wireless communication
system.
[0046] It is further proposed a device for controlling the use of
transmission resources, wherein transmission resources for a
transmission between a first entity and a second entity can be used
by at least a first connection and a second connection, the device
comprising means for checking whether QoS requirements of said
first connection can still be guaranteed when said transmission
resources are jointly used by said first connection and said second
connection, and means for at least partially controlling the use of
at least one portion of said transmission resources by at least one
of said first and second connections, accordingly.
[0047] Said device may be part of a mobile station or of a network
of a wireless communication system, wherein said network may
comprise a radio access network and/or a core network. Said device
may for instance be embodied as an Application Specific Integrated
Circuit (ASIC) that implements said means for checking and
controlling.
[0048] It is further proposed a mobile station in a wireless
communication system, wherein transmission resources for a
transmission between a first entity in said mobile station and a
second entity in a network of said wireless communication system
can be used by at least a first connection and a second connection,
said mobile station comprising means for checking whether QoS
requirements of said first connection can still be guaranteed when
said transmission resources are jointly used by said first
connection and said second connection, and means for controlling
the use of at least one portion of said transmission resources by
at least one of said first and second connections, accordingly.
Said network may comprise a radio access network and/or a core
network of said wireless communication system.
[0049] According to the mobile station of the disclosed
embodiments, said transmission resources may characterise the data
transmission capabilities of said mobile station and/or
network.
[0050] According to the mobile station of the disclosed
embodiments, said means for checking whether QoS requirements of
said first connection can still be guaranteed when said
transmission resources are jointly used by said first connection
and said second connection comprises a transmission resources
control instance that interacts with said first entity in said
mobile station.
[0051] According to the mobile station of the disclosed
embodiments, said means for checking whether QoS requirements of
said first connection can still be guaranteed when said
transmission resources are jointly used by said first connection
and said second connection comprises means for checking
capabilities of hardware that is used by said first or second
entity.
[0052] According to the mobile station of the disclosed
embodiments, said wireless communication system may be capable of
operating a Dual Transfer Mode (DTM) that comprises a
packet-switched connection, in particular a connection according to
the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) or the Enhanced General
Packet Radio Service (EGPRS), as said first connection and a
circuit-switched connection as said second connection, and that
said means for checking determines whether bit rate requirements of
said packet-switched connection can still be guaranteed when said
transmission resources are jointly used by said packet-switched and
said circuit switched connection. Packet-switched connections
according to other types of third generation (3G) radio
communication standards or future radio communication standards, as
well as packet-switched connections according to present and future
Wireless Local Area Network (W-LAN) standards are envisaged here as
well.
[0053] According to the mobile station of the disclosed
embodiments, said packet-switched and circuit-switched connections
may be provided by a radio bearer, and that said transmission
resources control instance comprises means for informing said
bearer on the availability of said transmission resources.
[0054] According to the mobile station of the disclosed
embodiments, said transmission resources control instance may
comprise means for monitoring the connections provided by said
bearer and for determining the availability of said transmission
resources, wherein said determining is at least based on said
monitored connections and an on hardware profiles of said mobile
station.
[0055] It is further proposed a network element in a wireless
communication system, wherein transmission resources for a
transmission between a first entity in a mobile station and a
second entity in a network of said wireless communication system
can be used by at least a first connection and a second connection,
said network element comprising means for checking whether QoS
requirements of said first connection can still be guaranteed when
said transmission resources are jointly used by said first
connection and said second connection, and means for controlling
the use of at least one portion of said transmission resources by
at least one of said first and second connections, accordingly.
Said network element may for instance be a part of said network, or
may co-operate with said network.
[0056] These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent
from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described
hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0057] In the following, the disclosed embodiments will be
described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings,
in which:
[0058] FIG. 1 shows a message sequence chart of a method according
to the disclosed embodiments, wherein a packet-switched connection
is established under consideration of a further possible
circuit-switched connection;
[0059] FIG. 2 shows a message sequence chart of a method according
to the disclosed embodiments, wherein an established
packet-switched connection is downgraded in favor of a
circuit-switched connection when said circuit-switched connection
is actually requested;
[0060] FIG. 3 shows a message sequence chart of a method according
to the disclosed embodiments, wherein an established
packet-switched connection is downgraded in favor of a
circuit-switched connection when Dual Transfer Mode (DTM) becomes
available;
[0061] FIG. 4 shows a message sequence chart of a method according
to the disclosed embodiments, wherein an established
packet-switched connection is paused in favor of a circuit-switched
connection when said circuit-switched connection is actually
requested;
[0062] FIG. 5 shows a message sequence chart of a method according
to the disclosed embodiments, wherein an established
packet-switched connection is released in favor of a
circuit-switched connection when said circuit-switched connection
is actually requested;
[0063] FIG. 6 shows a message sequence chart of a method according
to the disclosed embodiments, wherein an established
packet-switched connection is configured by the network so that DTM
with guaranteed QoS is possible;
[0064] FIG. 7 shows a representation of the logical components that
are required to implement DTM with guaranteed QoS in the mobile
station embedded software environment according to the disclosed
embodiments; and
[0065] FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a possible embodiment of a
method according to the disclosed embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0066] FIG. 1 represents a message sequence chart of a method
according to the disclosed embodiments, wherein a packet-switched
(PS) connection is established under consideration of a further
possible circuit-switched (CS) connection. A mobile radio system
with a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) radio bearer and the
capability to support both PS and circuit-switched connections in a
Dual Transfer Mode (DTM) is exemplarily considered here. It is
readily seen that, by exchanging the radio bearer, the following
embodiments of the disclosed embodiments also apply to 3G systems
as for instance the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
(UMTS).
[0067] The four vertical lines in FIG. 1 may be considered as
service access points of a client (mobile station) 100, a GPRS
bearer 101, a QoS & DTM control instance 102 and a network 103,
and the arrows between said vertical lines represent service
primitives that are exchanged between said service access
points.
[0068] As indicated by step 105 in FIG. 1, the mobile radio system
is initially in an idle state. When a Packet Data Protocol (PDP)
Context Create Request 106 is generated by client 100, which
requests the establishment of a PS connection with a certain
Quality of Service (QoS), the GPRS bearer 101 responds with a
Context Create Response 107 that carries a Context Identifier as
parameter.
[0069] According to the disclosed embodiments, said client 100 then
sends a Context Modify Request 108 to GPRS bearer 101, carrying the
parameter Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR). Said GBR parameter is set to
its maximum value, which corresponds to the maximum number of
Multislots (MSMax), wherein the number of multislots identifies the
number of Packet Data Channels (PDCHs) that a mobile station in a
GPRS system can handle in parallel (ranging from 1 to 8). If said
bearer 101 was a 3G bearer instead of a GPRS bearer, the supported
bit rate instead of the number of multislots may be used as a basis
for the negotiation of the GBR.
[0070] Said GPRS bearer 101 then sends a Check Request 109 to said
QoS & DTM control instance 102, which first determines the
available transmission resources that can be granted to said PS
connection when considering a possible future establishment of a
circuit-switched connection. Said available transmission resources
that are determined in step 110 are represented by the allowed GBR,
which is the difference between MSMax and the parameter CSConn,
which indicates how many time slots are required by said possible
future circuit-switched connection. The QoS & DTM control
instance 102 responds with a Check Response 111 that carries said
allowable GBR as parameter, and said allowable GBR is then sent to
said client 100 via a Context Modify Response 112 that corresponds
to said Context Modify Request 108. At the client side, it has no
to be determined in a step 113 whether said allowed GBR is large
enough to satisfy the QoS requirements of said PS connection that
is requested by an application at said client side.
[0071] According to the example of FIG. 1, said allowed GBR is
indeed large enough to satisfy the QoS requirements of said PS
connection, so that, as seen from the client side, the joint usage
of the transmission resources by said PS connection and said future
possible circuit-switched connection is possible.
[0072] Said client 100 then sends a Context Activate Request 114
with said allowable GBR or a smaller GBR that still matches its QoS
requirements as parameter "new GBR" to the GPRS bearer 101, which
sends a corresponding Activate PDP Context Request that includes
QoS parameters comprising said new GBR to the network 103. The
network 103 determines if said new GBR can be guaranteed, for
instance based on the network load or further parameters, and
responds with an Activate PDP Context Accept 116 with the granted
GBR as a parameter. The GPRS bearer 101 determines in a step 117 if
the GBR as granted by the network is acceptable with respect to the
new GBR parameter that was sent by the client in step 114, and if
said QoS is acceptable, responds to the client with a Context
Activate Response 118 including the granted GBR as parameter. Said
PS data connection thus has be established, and data transfer on
said PS data connection can start in step 119.
[0073] It can be readily seen that, according to the example of
FIG. 1, the steps of checking and controlling have been performed
before the PS connection and the circuit-switched connection have
been established. Said step of checking may be identified as a
combination of steps 110 and 113, and said step of controlling is
initiated in step 114.
[0074] FIG. 2 depicts a message sequence chart of a method
according to the disclosed embodiments, wherein an established PS
connection is downgraded in favor of a circuit-switched connection
when said circuit-switched connection is actually requested. In
addition to the client 200, GPRS bearer 202, QoS & DTM control
instance 203 and network 204 service access points, there further
exists a call instance 201 service access point for the reception
of a CS Connection Request 206.
[0075] In the example of FIG. 2, a PS connection with a GBR
equaling the maximum number of multislots MSMax has already been
established and is in use, as indicated by step 205. Said PS
connection thus uses all available transmission resources. If a CS
connection is requested in step 206, said call instance 201 sends a
Check Request service primitive 207 with an identifier of the
requested CS connection type to said QoS & DTM control instance
203, which again determines the allowable GBR as the difference of
MSMax and CSConn in a step 208. To check whether both said PS and
CS connection may use the transmission resources (MSMax) jointly,
said QoS & DTM control instance 203 determines whether the PS
connection can still meet its QoS requirements when its GBR is
reduced from MSMax to the allowed GBR of MSMax-CSConn. To this end,
said QoS & DTM control instance 203 sends said allowable GBR to
the GPRS bearer 202 with a Context Configure Request 209, that
further includes said Context ID of said PS connection. This
Configure Request 209 is forwarded to said client side 200 via a
Context Configure Notification 210 with the allowable GBR as
parameter. The client checks whether said allowable GBR meets the
QoS requirements of said PS connection, finds this to be true and
initiates a Context Modify procedure that comprises the steps
212-216 that corresponds to the Context Activation procedure of
FIG. 1. To inform the call instance 201 on the success of the
request to establish a CS call, said GPRS bearer 202 further has to
send a Context Configure Response 217 with said granted GBR as a
parameter to said QoS & DTM control instance 203, which then
sends a Check Response service primitive with the parameter OK to
said call instance 201, and the CS connection in DTM mode can be
established in step 219.
[0076] In this example, thus an already established PS connection
is re-configured when the establishment of a CS connection is
requested. Before the establishment of said CS connection, it is
checked in steps 208 and 211 whether the QoS requirements of said
PS connections can be guaranteed when the CS connection and the PS
connection share the transmission resources, and in step 212 a
control of the use of the transmission resources that are used by
said PS connection is initiated.
[0077] FIG. 3 depicts a message sequence chart of a method
according to the disclosed embodiments, wherein an established PS
connection is downgraded in favor of a circuit-switched connection
when Dual Transfer Mode (DTM) becomes available.
[0078] The set-up of FIG. 3 is basically the same as in FIG. 2.
[0079] A PS connection is already established that uses all
available transmission resources MSMax. During the establishment of
said PS connection, the mobile station (client) was associated with
a cell that did not support DTM, so that a future possible DTM mode
with joint usage of the transmission resources by a PS and a CS
connection was not possible.
[0080] However, according to the example of FIG. 3, the mobile
station now moves into a cell that supports DTM, as indicated by
step 300. A call instance 201 becomes aware of this in step 301 and
sends a DTM availability indication 302 to said QoS & DTM
control instance 203. The QoS & DTM control instance 203 now
performs a Context Configure procedure comprising the steps 303-311
that corresponds to the Context Configure procedure 209-217 in FIG.
2. In brief, the allowable GBR is determined, signaled to the
client who determines if it is acceptable for its PS connection,
and, if this is the case, changes its GBR accordingly. After said
Context Configure procedure, said QoS & DTM control instance
203 set an internal DTM state to OK in order to indicate that an
establishment of a future CS connection now is possible jointly to
the already existing PS connection. This may happen in a step
313.
[0081] According to this example, the portion of transmission
resources used by a PS connection was changed after the
establishment of the PS connection, but before the establishment of
the CS connection, which does not necessarily have to take place at
all. Said step of checking may be identified in step 303 and 305,
and said step of controlling may be initiated in step 306.
[0082] Note that, in contrast to the GPRS system that is
exemplarily used in the embodiment of FIG. 3, in a 3G system, as
for instance the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),
parallel usage of PS and CS connections is supported in every cell,
so that it may not be required to detect if DTM is available upon
entry into a cell.
[0083] FIG. 4 depicts a message sequence chart of a method
according to the disclosed embodiments, wherein an established PS
connection is paused in favor of a circuit-switched connection when
said circuit-switched connection is actually requested.
[0084] The set-up and steps 205-210 in FIG. 4 are basically the
same as in FIG. 2, i.e. a PS connection using all available
transmission resources MSMax is already established, a CS
connection is requested, and said QoS & DTM control instance
203 has started a Context Configure procedure to check whether the
QoS requirements of said PS connection can still be met when said
CS connection is established.
[0085] However, when comparing the allowed GBR against the minimum
acceptable QoS requirements of the PS connection in step 405, it is
decided at the client side 200 that the PS connection cannot be
maintained with a QoS that allows the application that uses said PS
connection to function properly, so that the PS connection and the
application running on top of it have to be paused. The pausing of
the application is signaled to the network 204 with a message 406
and acknowledged by the network in step 407. Then the pausing of
the PS connection is signaled between client 200 and GPRS bearer
202 in steps 408 and 409. After the PS connection is paused, the
GPRS bearer 202 can respond to the Context Configure Request 209 of
the QoS & DTM control instance 203 in a step 410, and the QoS
& DTM control instance 203 then responds to the Check Request
207 of the call instance 201 with an OK in step 411, so that the CS
connection now can be established in step 412.
[0086] When the CS connection has terminated, the PS connection can
be resumed by client/GPRS bearer signaling in steps 413 and 414,
and the application running on top of the PS connection is
continued by signaling between client and network in steps 415 and
416.
[0087] According to this example, it was decided after the
establishment of a PS connection that said PS connection and a
requested CS connection may not jointly use the available
transmission resources, and said PS connection was paused. Checking
may be identified to be performed in steps 208 and 405, and
controlling the use of the transmission resources was initiated in
step 408.
[0088] FIG. 5 depicts a message sequence chart of a method
according to the disclosed embodiments, wherein an established PS
connection is released in favor of a circuit-switched connection
when said circuit-switched connection is actually requested.
[0089] The set-up of FIG. 5, as well as the steps 205-210 and 405,
are equal to FIG. 4, i.e. there is an established PS connection
that uses all available transmission resources, a CS connection
request and the decision of the client that the allowable GBR does
not satisfy the QoS requirements of the PS connection. In contrast
to the example of FIG. 4, the PS connection now is deactivated
instead of being paused and later resumed. Deactivation takes place
between client 200 and GPRS bearer 203 in steps 500 and 503 and
between GPRS bearer 203 and network 204 in steps 501 and 502. In
step 504, deactivation (or release) of the application is stated,
in step 505, the Context Configure procedure initiated by the QoS
& DTM control instance 203 with step 209 is terminated, and in
step 506, finally the Check Request initiated by the call instance
201 in step 207 is responded with an OK, so that the CS connection
can be established in step 507.
[0090] According to this example, it was decided after the
establishment of a PS connection that said PS connection and a
requested CS connection may not jointly use the available
transmission resources, and said PS connection was deactivated.
Checking may be identified to be performed in steps 208 and 405,
and controlling the use of the transmission resources was initiated
in step 500.
[0091] FIG. 6 depicts a message sequence chart of a method
according to the disclosed embodiments, wherein an established PS
connection is configured by the network so that DTM with guaranteed
QoS is possible.
[0092] In the set-up of FIG. 6, there are depicted service access
points of a mobile station 600, of a Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
601, of a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 602 and a Gateway GPRS
Support Node (GGSN) 603.
[0093] The GPRS system with DTM capabilities is initially in an
idle state 604. In a step 605, a PS data connection (PDP context)
is established similar to the procedure of FIG. 1, i.e. there take
place a Context Create Procedure and a Context Modify Procedure,
but without the steps involving the QoS & DTM control instance.
In a step 606, the activation of the PDP context with a new GBR is
requested from the SGSN 602, which sends a Create PDP Context
Request 607 to the GGSN 603. In the GGSN 603, the transmission
resources (for instance the mobile stations DTM capabilities and
the multislot class of the mobile station), as far as they are
characterised by the mobile station, are considered when deciding
on the grant of the requested new GBR. In step 608, a GBR is
granted to said PS connection that allows for the seamless
establishment of a future possible CS connection. This granted GBR
is signaled between GGSN 603 and SGSN 602 in step 609 and between
SGSN 602 and BSS 601 in step 610. The acknowledgment of the granted
GBR by the BSS 601, which may decide if the granted GBR matches the
QoS requirements of the PS connection that is requested by said
mobile station 600, then is signaled back to the SGSN 602 in step
611 and to the GGSN 603 in step 612. The GGSN 603 then sends a
Create PDP context Response 613 to the SGSN 602, and the SGSN 602
sends an Activate PDP Context Accept 614 with the acknowledged
granted GBR as parameter back to the mobile 600 that requested the
activation of the PDP context. Finally, the data transfer on said
PS connection is started in step 615, and a future seamless
establishment of a CS connection without conflicting with the
transmission resources used by said PS connection is possible.
[0094] According to the example of FIG. 6, the step of checking
whether the QoS requirements of said PS connection are still
guaranteed when a CS connection is additionally established may be
identified in steps 608 and between steps 610 and 611, and said
step of controlling the use of said transmission resource may be
initiated in steps 608 and 613.
[0095] FIG. 7 describes the logical components that are required to
implement DTM with guaranteed QoS in the mobile station embedded
software environment according to the disclosed embodiments.
[0096] Three clients 700-1 . . . 700-3 may request PS connections
from a bearer 701. When a PS connection is actually requested by
one of said clients 700-1 . . . 700-3 (cf. for instance step 108 in
FIG. 1), the bearer 701 consults the QoS & DTM control instance
702 (cf. step 109 in FIG. 1), which in turn consults the resource
monitor 703 that monitors the hardware capabilities of the mobile
station the respective client 700-1 . . . 700-3 is housed in (cf.
step 110 in FIG. 1) and monitors connections that are already
provided by said bearer 701. Hardware capabilities may be defined
during R&D, where processing power and behavior of the mobile
station is defined as hardware profile.
[0097] The resource monitor 703 thus compares existing used
resources to hardware capabilities, and collects resource critical
parameters from the bearer 701, for instance the number of used
time slots, the used coding scheme, the used packet size and, based
on critical parameters, defines the current resource state of the
platform.
[0098] Every time when some resource is requested from the bearer
701, the requested resource may be checked using services of the
Qos & DTM control instance 702. In the examples of FIGS. 1-6,
this may for instance result in the "allowable GBR" that is
determined by said QoS & DTM control instance (cf. step 110 in
FIG. 1). The Qos & DTM control instance 702 may keep record of
existing used resources, like CS connections and possible
simultaneous active PS connections, as it is possible with DTM in
GPRS/EGPRS mobile stations.
[0099] For example, if there is a CS connection active and a new
PDP with streaming QoS is requested by one of the clients 700-1 . .
. 700-3, the Qos & DTM control instance 702 checks if the
mobile station is able to handle the requested service. If there
are enough resources still available, the request can be continued
and appropriate signalling made to the network, as illustrated in
FIGS. 1-6.
[0100] The Qos & DTM control instance 702 might also give the
response to the bearer 701 that the requested service can not be
handled by the mobile station, in this case the requested QoS
parameters may be downgraded and services from the network may be
requested using appropriate parameters. For example, the multislot
class for DTM can be changed based on information from the QoS
& DTM control instance 702.
[0101] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a possible embodiment of a method
according to the disclosed embodiments. The flowchart relates to a
scenario wherein a PS connection already has been established and
uses a certain portion of the available transmission resources
(step 800). In step 801, a CS connection request is received.
According to the invention, it is then determined in step 802
whether joint usage of the transmission resources by said PS
connection and said CS connection is possible. If this is decided
to be false, it is checked if the priority of the PS connection is
lower than the priority of the CS connection (step 803). If this is
not the case, the CS connection is simply blocked in a step 804. If
the priority of the CS connection is higher than that of the PS
connection, it is determined in a step 805 if the QoS requirements
of the PS connection can be reduced, so that joint usage of the
transmission resources becomes possible. If this is not the case,
the PS connection is released or paused in a step 806, and the CS
connection is established. If this is not the case, the QoS of the
PS connection is reduced, and the portion of transmission resources
that is assigned to said PS connection is changed (reduced) in a
step 808. Finally, said CS connection is established in a step 809.
If it is determined in step 802 that joint usage of the
transmission resources by both connections is possible, it is
checked in step 810 if the portion of the transmission resources
that are assigned to said PS connection have to be reduced (the QoS
requirements of the PS connection then allow joint usage of the
transmission resources by both connection, but the PS connection
was assigned a larger portion of transmission resources than is
actually required, so that this state has to be altered first). If
this is the case, this portion is in fact reduced in step 808, and
the CS connection is established in step 809. If this is not the
case, the CS connection may directly be established in step
809.
[0102] The invention has been described above by means of exemplary
embodiments. It should be noted that there are alternative ways and
variations which are obvious to a skilled person in the art and can
be implemented without deviating from the scope and spirit of the
appended claims. In particular, the step of checking can be
initiated by instances in the mobile station or in the network.
Joint usage of the transmission resources by PS connections only,
or by CS connection only, or by a mixture of PS and CS connections
is possible, and there may be more than two connections jointly
using the transmission resources or at least requesting for them.
For instance, two PS connections already may have been established,
and their usage of transmission resources may be jointly or
separately re-negotiated when a further PS or CS connection is to
be established. According to the disclosed embodiments, the QoS
requirements of the connection that has the lower priority may be
observed in said step of checking, for instance the QoS
requirements of a PS connection may be observed when checking
whether a PS and a CS connection may use the transmission resources
jointly. However, also the QoS requirements or demands for
transmission resources of the connection with the higher priority
may be observed, or QoS requirements of both connections may be
observed in said step of checking, in particular if no priorities
are defined or if the connections are of the same type, for
instance two or more PS connections. Alternately, the QoS
requirements of the connection that was established first may be
considered, which may be either the first or the second
connection.
* * * * *