HK1074952B - Method and apparatus for auto-configuration for optimum multimedia performance - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for automatic configuration of optimal multimedia performance

Cross reference to related applications

This patent application claims priority from co-pending U.S. provisional application No.60/335,682, 10/31/2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

The invention disclosed and claimed herein relates to a method and apparatus for optimizing data transfer between a general purpose terminal or User Equipment (UE) and any one of several different access networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus of the above type in which a UE and corresponding access network are used in conjunction with mobile or wireless computing. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus of the above type in which a generic UE can be easily and automatically configured to use the codec and quality of service (QoS) definitions supported by any one of the access networks selected for use in order to optimize application performance and resource utilization.

Background

It is now possible to foresee a situation where a user will be able to connect to the internet with a generic UE through any one of a number of different access networks, where these networks are quite different in terms of delay, jitter, bandwidth, bit errors, etc. For example, the emerging GPRS (general packet radio service) networks exhibit considerable delays and low bandwidths, while the future generation of UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) and WLAN (wireless local area network) exhibit lower delays and considerably higher bandwidths.

Currently vendors of cellular networks such as UMTS are making a lot of effort to optimize the utilization of the radio link in order to greatly improve the cost efficiency of the network operator. To this end, vendors standardize quality of service (QoS) levels to suit the particular codec and media format selected for use on these networks. The quality of service class is defined such that not only the best media quality delivery is provided, but also the most efficient use of the involved radio resources is made. However, such optimization efforts limit the use of general-purpose wireless UEs, that is, UEs that are not specifically manufactured for use with a particular network. This limitation is due to a mismatch in coding and reservation methods/capabilities that may occur between the generic UE and a specific one of the dedicated access networks. When the UE functionality is vertically integrated into one unit, e.g. a cellular phone, and when the UE is an aggregate of several units, the relevant UE is here e.g. a cellular phone connected to a laptop or PDA, or even a personal area network consisting of a plurality of end user devices like a cellular phone, a digital camera and a PDA.

Furthermore, different access networks may implement different methods to reserve resources and different service definitions or classes. Thus, the UE may need the ability to support different methods and configurations for multiple different access networks and be able to distinguish between all different network types. It may also become necessary to enable the user to manually set up the UE according to the local service definition and the method of the respective different network. For example, a user who subscribes to access UMTS to carrier a may find that when roaming into carrier B's UMTS network, the service levels are quite different and thus the user's applications execute differently.

It is clearly not possible for an application developer to predict the quality of service definition for each access network that an application can use with a generic UE. As a result, there is often a mismatch between the quality of service expected by the user and the service provided by the particular selected network.

Finally, different networks currently have completely different classes of service with resource reservation mechanisms well defined locally, but there is no easy way to switch between different mechanisms and service definitions. None of the existing solutions can use the native or standardized codecs and formats of the respective access networks to optimize data transfer for generic UEs. Such solutions either rely on UEs specifically established for a certain access type, or they use formats that exhibit under-optimized resource utilization. In addition, these solutions may require the UE to pre-install codecs for all possible access networks and media types. Furthermore, there is no method for transparently providing the codec-resource reservation mechanism and/or the coupling of the classes to the UE, thereby overcoming the problem of changing or changing the definitions in different access networks.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides a solution to the above-mentioned problems. More specifically, the present invention enables a generic EU and an access network with a specific set of characteristics to remain adapted to each other. This optimizes resource utilization in the access network while maintaining the general characteristics of the UE. Further, embodiments of the present invention enable a UE device to understand and comply with provider-defined services without the need for manual configuration of the UE. In the method of the present invention, UE devices and applications are provided with runtime support tailored to the operating environment. It is possible to provide media and control components to the UE device if the access network has resource reservation capabilities. The network can provide the UE device with codecs that are appropriate for the available reservation levels and can instruct the device according to these levels. Thus, the UE device can be optimally configured to apply with specific parameters of the access network and its specific optimized media type format.

In a particular embodiment, the invention relates to a method for enhancing data transfer between a generic mobile UE and an access network with specific network parameters, said parameters comprising at least a set of specific codecs and a set of specific service definitions. The method comprises the following steps: operating an access network to implement a configuration node, connecting a UE to the configuration node, and then providing (burn) information identifying the UE and the user to said access network. The user may be UE-related or may self-identify with the data transfer. The user may be, for example, a person or a handler. The method also includes determining the set of specific UE parameters from the UE and the user identity together with from the network parameters, and then configuring the connected UE to the set of specific UE parameters to avoid a mismatch between the access network and the connected UE.

In particular, the present invention provides a method for enhancing data transfer between a User Equipment (UE) and an access network having specific access network parameters, said access network parameters comprising at least a set of specific codecs and a set of specific service definitions for said access network, said method comprising the steps of: operating the access network to implement a configuration node arranged for selective communication with the UE; connecting the UE to the configuration node; providing the access network with information identifying the UE and/or a user associated with the UE, and with other information associated with the UE and/or the user; determining a set of specific UE parameters from the specific access network parameters, the UE identity and/or the user identity information and the further information; and configuring the UE to the particular UE array to avoid a mismatch between the access network and the UE.

The present invention also provides a method for enhancing data transfer between a generic User Equipment (UE) and a radio access network having specific access network parameters including at least a set of specific codecs and a set of specific QoS definitions for said access network, said method comprising the steps of: determining a set of specific UE parameters from the specific access network parameters and from UE identity information; and configuring the UE with a set of specific UE parameters derived from the specific access network parameters and from UE identity information.

In a system including an access network having specific network parameters including at least a set of specific codecs and a set of specific QoS definitions for the access network, the present invention further provides an apparatus for enhancing data transfer between a general User Equipment (UE) and the access network, comprising: a reservation register within the access network storing information relating to a specific UE parameter set of the UE; and a configuration node implemented within the access network for communicating with the UE, for receiving an identity of the UE and/or a user, for providing the identity to the subscription register, and for receiving the information relating to the specific UE parameter set in response to providing the identity.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an access network and a UE configured according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating components used in one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating the corresponding steps of one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1, an access network 10, such as a UMTS network connected to the internet 34, is illustrated. The access network 10 has a particular native or standardized codec and media format. As used herein, the term "codec" ("abbreviation of" encoder/decoder ") refers to a function that typically is implemented in hardware or software to encode or decode signals from one media format to another. The signal may be a digital representation of audio or video, and the manner in which the digital representation is implemented is dictated by the codec algorithm. For example, "media format" as used herein refers to a "codec" in which the media is encoded, and the format refers to the encoding algorithm used. The media used here may be audio or video, but also other presentation types.

The network 10 also has a network-specific resource reservation mechanism, i.e., a method of reserving resources, which is associated with protocols such as RSVP (resource reservation protocol) or GPRS session management as defined in 3GPP TS 24.008. The network 10 is further characterized by a network-specific bearer or transport service definition or level, i.e., a particular value of a set of QoS parameters, like maximum values of bandwidth, delay, jitter, and bit errors. As is well known to those skilled in the art, there is an affinity between the particular codecs, quality of service classes and media formats supported by the access network.

With further reference to fig. 1, there is illustrated a prior art UE12 arranged to be connected to a UMTS network 10 via a Base Station (BS)14 and SGSN (serving GPRS support node) 16. The UE12 may be, for example, a separate cellular telephone, a laptop or PDA connected to a cellular telephone, or other device. The UE12 is a general purpose UE and therefore it is not specifically designed for use with the parameters characterizing the network 10, i.e., the particular codec, media format, and its quality of service (QoS) level. Thus, as described in further detail herein below, in accordance with the present invention, the UE12 is configured with a QoS definition and corresponding codec suitable for use with particular parameters of the network 10, whereby the UE12 is tailored for use with a particular network 10. Data transfer between the UE12 and the network 10 may thus be optimized in terms of, for example, quality and cost, and mismatches therebetween may be avoided.

Configuration of the UE12 is accomplished, in part, by operating the network 10 to effectuate a configuration node 18, which is arranged for communication with the UE 12. The configuration node may be co-located with the SGSN16, but it may alternatively be implemented as a separate node 18 or co-located with another network node. The configuration is further carried out by providing the UE12 with a configuration layer 20 to form a configurable UE12, as shown in fig. 2. The configuration layer 20 may be linked to a configuration node 18 of the network 10, which is coupled to a repository 24 containing codecs and service definitions available to the network 10. Thus, the configurable UE12 is able to understand and conform to provider-defined services without requiring manual configuration of the UE 12. More specifically, the network 10 provides the configurable UE12 with quality of service definitions (QoS definitions) available to the network 10, and further the device provides codecs appropriate to these levels. Thus, the configurable UE12 may be optimally configured for access network specific parameters and media format types using the configuration layer 20. Similarly, the configurable UE12 may be automatically provisioned to be a resource reservation protocol that may be specific to the access network under consideration. With this approach, the network provider has the freedom to configure the environment at will and to utilize any resource reservation mechanism.

The configuration layer 20 is a logical hierarchy of codecs and quality of service processing functions residing on the configurable UE 12. As used herein, the term "quality of service definition (QoS definition)" is defined to mean numerical values/parameters, protocols, levels, software modules, native language definitions, and algorithms. Usefully, the configuration layer 20 is implemented as a software structure with a set of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) that select between the layers. The layer 20 is installed in the UE12 as an alternative to the pre-installed codec function currently used, which is not basically adapted to different codec and service definition requirements. However, the layer 20 can implement the configuration by inserting modules at runtime to respond to requests on the API. This functionality is similar to the insertion in technology, such as used in web browsers, except that the configuration layer 20 operates at the system and application level. By providing the configurable UE12 with access network specific parameters, the configuration layer 20 can be operated to configure the UE to the respective UE parameters, as described above, to avoid mismatch with such network specific parameters.

The configuration node 18 implemented by the access network communicates with the UE12 when the UE connects to the network or when an application requests the use or insertion of a codec as required. Once connected, the UE provides information about its and end user identities to the SGSN 16. With continued reference to fig. 1, an SGSN16 linked to the home subscriber service register (HSS)26 to enable the HSS26 to receive UE and user identities from the SGSN16 is illustrated. The HSS26 stores information about the subscriptions that the user has, such as QoS-related subscriptions.

Based on the UE and user subscription data returned from the HSS26, in the example embodiment depicted in fig. 1, the SGSN16 will consult the co-located configuration node 18 to retrieve UE configuration information related to coding and QoS levels. The configuration node makes appropriate decisions regarding codec and QoS definition based on UE information, user subscription information and access network specific information. The access network specific information includes for example codec usage policies, associated service levels and specific bearer parameters. The access network specific information may be stored locally, e.g. in the configuration node, or may be retrieved from the codec and service definition repository 24. Based on the above decision, the configuring node will obtain the actual access network related QoS definitions and codecs from the codec and service definition repository 24, transmit these to the SGSN16, which further transmits the information to the UE 12. The UE will configure itself in receiving this signal with the appropriate QoS definition and corresponding codec using the codec insertion layer 20 described earlier and shown in figure 2.

As further shown in fig. 1, the operator of the access network 10 may also provide a media or content adaptation node 28 coupled to the SGSN16 through a GGSN (gateway GPRS support node) 30. Adaptation node 28 converts the media from its original codec format, e.g., as delivered by a content server, to the native codec format supported by access network 10 (e.g., MP3 to the native AMR audio codec) for the particular media type. Fig. 1 shows a content server 32 connected to the adaptation node 28 via the internet 34.

Client-side implementations on the UE12 may be implemented in a variety of ways. In one alternative, as noted above, the UE may have an API for an application programmer to request codec instances or media output from the codec in a system native format. Another alternative is that the UE12 provides a device interface for the application being used, such as the UNIX/dev system. In this case, the application can only open (open) resources, e.g./dev/acodec for audio and/dev/vcdec for video, where the format will be presented to the application in a standard format (e.g. PCM for audio).

Referring to fig. 3, step 40 is the connection of the UE to the access network. Step 40 comprises transmitting the UE and the user identifier. Step 42 is for the UE to signal the configuration node through the access network, which may also include the UE and the user identifier. This step may occur as part of the connection handling process or at a later stage when an application within the UE wishes to require media support that is automatically configured outside the UE.

Step 44 is to configure the node to obtain the necessary information details about the UE (e.g. UE capabilities, software support/release etc.) and also to obtain any relevant subscription information, e.g. subscription information on QoS. This may be retrieved from a consistent or several registers in the network (e.g., a subscription register) based on the access network type, etc.

Step 46 is the step where the information is received back by the configuration node.

Step 48 is the configuration node deciding what QoS definition to use and what type of codec to use based on access network specific information.

Step 50 is configuring the node to assemble the appropriate QoS definition and codec based on the decision made. These definitions and codecs may be retrieved from a suitable repository (e.g., 24).

Step 52 is for the configuration node to return the QoS definition and codec to the UE to enable the UE to perform the necessary self-configuration at the configuration level.

Embodiments of the present invention allow a generic UE to always use the codec and QoS definitions that are inherently supported by the access network. Since the access network and these codecs are coordinated, an optimization of the radio resource utilization can be made. Embodiments of the invention also enable optimization to be done transparently to the application, so that the use of the system becomes very flexible and manageable. Further benefits include simplifying the use of temporary network access, such as prepaid access to a temporary visited network, since the UE may operate without updating or installing software. Moreover, other embodiments of the invention can involve employing other protocol functions, such as mobility management protocols. That is, the specific protocols used in the access network may be automatically installed on the UE, thereby avoiding manual configuration and software updates.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, which represents a more general case, the UE12 may have distributed functionality, for example within a Personal Area Network (PAN). An example of a PAN is the combined functionality of a laptop or PDA and a cellular phone, where the cellular phone is capable of providing wide area connectivity for the laptop or PDA. In this example, the "device auto-configuration function" may be divided between two parts of the PAN, e.g. the QoS function may go to a cell phone, while the (corresponding) video codec function will go to a laptop/PDA. It is anticipated that more complex PANs will involve more than two devices. Basically, a configuration layer may be distributed over several devices.

In yet another embodiment, the access network may rely on other access network technologies than GPRS/UMTS, such as WLAN and GSM, etc. In such an arrangement, the configuration node may be coupled to an access router in said access network or to another access network specific node depending on the access type.

Obviously, many other modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the disclosed concept, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Claims (27)

1. A method for enhancing data transfer between a User Equipment (UE) and an access network having specific access network parameters including at least a set of specific codecs and a set of specific service definitions for the access network, the method comprising the steps of:

operating the access network to implement a configuration node arranged for selective communication with the UE;

connecting the UE to the configuration node;

providing the access network with information identifying the UE and/or a user associated with the UE, and with other information associated with the UE and/or the user;

determining a set of specific UE parameters from the specific access network parameters, the UE identity and/or the user identity information and the further information; and

configuring the UE to the particular UE parameter set to avoid a mismatch between the access network and the UE.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the method comprises the step of providing the UE with the set of UE specific parameters.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the UE providing step comprises operating the configuration node of the access network to provide the UE with the set of UE-specific parameters.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

providing a configuration layer to the UE; and

configuring the configuration layer according to the specific UE parameter set to avoid a mismatch between the access network and the UE.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the configuration layer can insert a module and a set of numerical values/parameters as part of the specific UE parameter set.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the UE distributes functionality across multiple physical devices.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the configuration layer is distributed over the plurality of physical devices.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the modules and the digital value/parameter sets are distributed over the plurality of physical devices in their respective configurations.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the UE identification information is transmitted from the configuration node to a subscription register within the access network and, in response, the subscription register provides UE information and subscriber subscription information associated with the UE to the configuration node for use in determining the particular UE parameter set.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the specific UE parameter set comprises a specific codec and QoS definition of the UE stored in the access network and is accessible to the configuration node for use in configuring the UE.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein:

communicating between the access network and the UE after the UE is connected to the access network.

12. The method of claim 3, wherein:

communicating between the UE and the access network when an application request requires functional support for configuring the set of UE-specific parameters in the connected UE.

13. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the access network comprises a UMTS network and the configuration node is co-located with an SGSN node of the access network.

14. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the access network comprises a GPRS network or a CDMA2000 network or a WLAN.

15. A method for enhancing data transfer between a generic User Equipment (UE) and a radio access network having specific access network parameters including at least a set of specific codecs and a set of specific QoS definitions for the access network, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a set of specific UE parameters from the specific access network parameters and from UE identity information; and

configuring the UE with a set of specific UE parameters derived from the specific access network parameters and from UE identity information.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the specific UE parameter set is further derived from a user identity related to the UE or to the data transfer.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

operating the access network to implement a configuration node for selective communication with the UE; and

operating the configuration node to provide the set of UE-specific parameters to a configuration layer residing in the UE.

18. In a system including an access network having specific network parameters including at least a set of specific codecs and a set of specific QoS definitions for the access network, an apparatus for enhancing data transfer between a general User Equipment (UE) and the access network, comprising:

a reservation register within the access network storing information relating to a specific UE parameter set of the UE; and

a configuration node implemented within the access network for communicating with the UE, for receiving an identity of the UE and/or a user, for providing the identity to the subscription register, and for receiving the information relating to the specific UE parameter set in response to providing the identity.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein:

the configuration node determines the set of specific UE parameters from the information stored in the reservation register.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

means corresponding to the specific UE parameter set arranged for transmission to the UE to enable the UE to insert the means into a configuration layer.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein:

further linking the configuration node of the access network to a configuration layer residing in the UE to provide the specific UE parameter set to the configuration layer.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein:

in response to the configuration node transmitting the UE identity and/or the subscriber identity to the subscription register, the subscription register providing the configuration node with UE information and subscriber subscription information for use in determining the specific UE parameter set.

23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein:

the specific UE parameter set comprises a specific codec and QoS definition for the UE stored in the access network and is accessible to the configuration node for use in configuring the UE.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein:

the access network communicates with the UE when the UE connects to the access network.

25. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein:

when an application requests functionality support that requires the module and/or one of the digital value/parameter sets to be inserted into the connected UE, the UE communicates with the access network.

26. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein:

the access network comprises a GPRS network or a CDMA2000 network or a WLAN.

27. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein:

the access network comprises a UMTS network and the configuration node is co-located with an SGSN node of the access network.