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EP-4213579-B1 - 5G AVOIDANCE DURING LTE-BASED REAL-TIME COMMUNICATIONS

EP4213579B1EP 4213579 B1EP4213579 B1EP 4213579B1EP-4213579-B1

Inventors

  • SHAHID, Wafik Abdel
  • KWOK, MING SHAN

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20201116

Claims (15)

  1. A radio access network, comprising: a processor; a Long-Term Evolution, LTE, transceiver coupled to the processor and configured to send and receive at least real-time communications and data transmissions; a new radio, NR, transceiver coupled to the processor and configured to send and receive at least data transmissions; and memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the radio access network to perform operations comprising: receiving (302) a request for a real-time communication session; upon receiving the request, determining (304) whether a data transmission session over a NR connection is active; when the data transmission session is active, ceasing (308) to allocate traffic to the NR connection for downlink; characterized in that the radio access network performs the ceasing if a data transmission buffer size is less than a threshold.
  2. The radio access network of claim 1, wherein ceasing to allocate the traffic to the NR connection for the downlink comprises ceasing to allocate the traffic to the NR connection for the downlink for a threshold amount of time, optionally wherein the threshold amount of time comprises an amount of time sufficient to cause a release of the NR connection.
  3. The radio access network of any preceding claim, wherein the operations further comprise reconfiguring the data transmission session to send data over an LTE connection after ceasing to allocate traffic to the NR connection for downlink.
  4. The radio access network of claim 1 or 2, wherein the operations further comprise establishing the real-time communication session after ceasing to allocate traffic to the NR connection for downlink, optionally wherein the operations further comprise reconfiguring the data transmission session to utilize the NR connection after completing the real-time communication session.
  5. The radio access network of any preceding claim, wherein the operations further comprise, when the data transmission session is not active, utilizing the NR connection to service the request for the real-time communication session.
  6. A method comprising: receiving (302), by a radio access network, RAN, a request to for a real-time communication session; upon receiving the request, determining (304), by the RAN, whether a data transmission session over a new radio, NR, connection is active; and when the data transmission session is active, characterized by ceasing (308), by the RAN, to allocate traffic to the NR connection for downlink if a data transmission buffer size is less than a threshold.
  7. The method of claim 6, wherein the real-time communication session is one of a voice over Long-Term Evolution, VoLTE, communication session or a video over Long-Term Evolution, ViLTE, communication session, optionally the method further comprising utilizing a Long-Term Evolution, LTE, connection to service the request for the real-time communication session.
  8. The method of any one of claims 6 to 7, wherein ceasing to allocate the traffic to the NR connection for the downlink comprises ceasing to allocate the traffic to the NR connection for the downlink for a threshold amount of time, optionally the method further comprising reconfiguring the data transmission session to send data over the NR connection after ceasing to allocate the traffic to the NR connection for the downlink for the threshold amount of time.
  9. The method of any one of claims 6 to 8, further comprising releasing the NR connection after ceasing to allocate the traffic to the NR connection for the downlink for a threshold amount of time.
  10. The method of any one of claims 6 to 9, further comprising when the data transmission session is not active, utilizing the NR connection to service the request for the real-time communication session.
  11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having programming instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computing device of a radio access network, RAN, cause the radio access network to perform operations comprising: receiving (302), by the RAN, a request to for a real-time communication session; upon receiving the request, determining (304), by the RAN, whether a data transmission session over a new radio, NR, connection is active; and when the data transmission session is active, characterized by ceasing (308), by the RAN, to allocate traffic to the NR connection for downlink if a data transmission buffer size is less than a threshold.
  12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise, when the data transmission session is not active, utilizing a Long-Term Evolution, LTE, connection to service the request for the real-time communication session.
  13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 or 12, wherein the operations further comprise reconfiguring the data transmission session to utilize the NR connection after completing the real-time communication session.
  14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein ceasing to allocate the traffic to the NR connection for the downlink comprises ceasing to allocate the traffic to the NR connection for the downlink for a threshold amount of time.
  15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the operations further comprise reconfiguring the data transmission session to send data over an LTE connection after ceasing to allocate traffic to the NR connection for downlink, optionally wherein the operations further comprise releasing the NR connection and establishing the real-time communication session.

Description

BACKGROUND Concurrent transmission of voice, video, or other real-time communications along with control messaging, such as radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration messages can negatively impact the quality of the voice, video, or other real-time communications. When a radio access network (RAN) provides, for example, voice or video services over a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) connection and provides data transmission separately over a New Radio (NR) connection, the characteristics of NR connections may lead to increased RRC reconfiguration messaging. Networks offering LTE connections are often referred to as fourth generation (4G) networks, and network offering NR connections are often referred to as fifth generation (5G) networks. Patent documents EP 3 769 565 A1, EP 3 780 757 A1, and EP 3 782 429 A1 are representative of the available art under Article 54(3) EPC. SUMMARY Accordingly there is provided a radio access network, method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium as detailed in the claims that follow. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical items or features. FIGs. 1a-1b illustrate an example overview of a RAN configured to avoid impact of control messaging on real-time communications.FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of an example process for handling a request for a data transmission received during an established real-time communication session.FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of one example process for handling a request for a real-time communication received while a data transmission session is active.FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of another example process for handling a request for a real-time communication received while a data transmission session is active.FIG. 5 illustrates an example architecture of a computing device of a RAN. DETAILED DESCRIPTION When a RAN receives a request for a data transmission and a real-time communication session over an LTE connection is already established, the RAN utilizes the LTE connection, not a NR connection, for the data transmission. Additionally, when a request for a further real-time communication is received and there is an active data transmission session over the NR connection, the RAN may cease allocating traffic to the NR connection for downlink. Also, or instead, the RAN may reconfigure the data transmission session to send data over the LTE connection. In various implementations, the RAN may perform a series of operations responsive to receiving a request for a data transmission session. First, upon receiving the request for a data transmission session, the RAN may determine if A) a real-time communication session is established and B) a NR connection between the RAN and the request-making user equipment (UE) is absent or idle. If the answer to A) and B) is "yes," the RAN may utilize a LTE connection between the RAN and UE to support the data transmission session. If the answer to either A) or B) is "no", the RAN may utilize the NR connection to support the data transmission session. The RAN may also be configured to take one of two different approaches to handling a request for a real-time communication. Under a first approach, upon receiving a request for a real-time communication session, the RAN may determine if a data transmission session over a NR connection is active. If the data transmission session over the NR connection is active, the RAN may cease allocating traffic to the NR connection for downlink and, following that, may establish the real-time communication session over a LTE connection. As a result of ceasing to allocate traffic to the NR connection, the NR connection will eventually be released. Alternatively, before that release happens, the RAN may reconfigure the data transmission session to utilize the LTE connection. Further, in some implementations, after determining that the data transmission session is active, the RAN may determine if a data transmission buffer size is less than a threshold. If less than the threshold, the RAN may perform the ceasing, as described above. If the data transmission buffer size meets or exceeds the threshold, the RAN may instead reconfigure the data transmission session to utilize the LTE connection. Under a second of the two different approaches, upon receiving the request for a real-time communication session, the RAN may determine if a data transmission session over a NR connection is active. If the data transmission session over the NR connection is active, the RAN may reconfigure the data transmission session to utilize a LTE connection and, following that, may establish the real-time communication session over the LTE connection. Overview FIGs. 1a-1b illustrate an example overview of a RA