HK1161485B - Network and mobile device initiated quality of service - Google Patents

Description

Network and mobile device initiated quality of service

Cross-referencing of related applications

This patent application claims priority from U.S. provisional application No.61/098,647 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RDETERING AND WHETHERRETERIONS FOR WORKMOBILEDEVICEINITIATESTERALITIATION OF SERVICE (QOS) FOR APPLICATIONS OF UPPROPORTION OF BOTHOPTIONS", filed on 19.9.2008. The entire contents of the above application are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to explicitly indicating a preference for at least one of network-initiated quality of service (QoS) or device-initiated QoS.

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication such as voice and data. A typical wireless system is a multiple-access system capable of communicating with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, and the like. In addition, these systems comply with standards such as the third generation partnership project (3GPP), 3GPP2, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), and the like.

Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems can simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Each mobile multiple device may communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the mobile devices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the mobile devices to the base stations.

Due to the rapid increase in demand for high-speed and multimedia data services, efforts have been directed toward efficient and robust communication systems that achieve performance enhancement. For example, in recent years, users have started to replace fixed line communication with mobile communication, and increasingly demand good voice quality, reliable service, and low charging.

To accommodate the growing demand, the evolution of the core network of wireless communication systems has evolved from the evolution of the radio interface. For example, the 3GPP directed System Architecture Evolution (SAE) is aimed at the evolved global system for mobile communications (GSM)/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) core network. The Evolved Packet Core (EPC) was derived as an Internet Protocol (IP) based multiple access core network, enabling operators to configure and utilize one common packet based core network with multiple radio access technologies. The EPC provides optimized mobility for mobile devices and enables efficient transitions between different radio access technologies (e.g., between LTE and High Rate Packet Data (HRPD)). In addition, standardized roaming interfaces enable operators to provide services to users through different access technologies. In addition, the EPC includes a concept of end-to-end quality of service (QoS), enabling operators to provide enhanced QoS functionality while retaining the ability of the operator to manage and charge for these functions.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all embodiments nor delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In accordance with one or more embodiments and corresponding disclosure thereof, various aspects of the description relate to indicating a preference for network-initiated QoS or mobile device (e.g., User Equipment (UE)) based QoS. For example, some applications may be QoS-unaware such that the core network establishes QoS for communication sessions associated with the applications. Other applications may be QoS aware such that they may access and establish QoS flows with the core network of the wireless communication system using QoS Application Program Interfaces (APIs) of lower protocol layers (e.g., data service layers, etc.). A particular network may not support device-initiated QoS and/or a particular network may prefer to establish QoS at the network side. In such a case, the core network establishes QoS for even QoS-aware applications. Thus, to avoid repeated resource allocation and/or incorrect service charging, QoS initiation preferences may be explicitly indicated. In one aspect, an indication is provided to a mobile device to indicate a preference for network-initiated QoS or a preference for device-initiated QoS. In another aspect, when the core network prefers to establish QoS on its own, the core network responds to any device-initiated QoS request with a reject message. In yet another aspect, the mobile device can compare packet filters associated with network-initiated QoS flows to packet filters associated with device-initiated QoS flows. If the filters match, the mobile device can release the matching device-initiated QoS flow to free up unnecessary resources.

According to one aspect, a method is provided for determining a responsible entity for establishing quality of service. The method includes receiving an indicator specifying a preference of the wireless network for at least one of a network-initiated quality of service or a device-initiated quality of service. The method also includes requesting quality of service for the data flow when the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service. Additionally, the method includes waiting for the wireless network to establish a quality of service when the indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service.

Another aspect relates to an apparatus comprising a memory holding instructions to: receiving an indicator specifying a preference for at least one of network-initiated quality of service or device-initiated quality of service by a wireless network, requesting quality of service for a data flow when the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service, and allowing the wireless network to establish quality of service when the indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service. The apparatus also includes a processor coupled to the memory for executing the instructions stored in the memory.

Yet another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus. The wireless communications apparatus can include means for receiving an indicator specifying a preference of a wireless network for at least one of a network-initiated quality of service or a device-initiated quality of service. The wireless communications apparatus can further include means for requesting quality of service for the data flow when the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service. Additionally, the wireless communications apparatus can include means for allowing the wireless network to establish quality of service when the indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service.

Yet another aspect relates to a computer program product that includes a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium includes code for causing at least one computer to obtain an indicator from a network, wherein the indicator specifies that the network prefers at least one of a device-initiated quality of service or a network-initiated quality of service. Additionally, the computer-readable medium includes code for causing at least one computer to establish a quality of service for the data flow as a function of the indicator.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus that includes a processor configured to obtain an indicator from a network, wherein the indicator specifies that the network prefers at least one of device-initiated quality of service or network-initiated quality of service. The processor is further configured to request quality of service for the data flow when the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service. Additionally, the processor is further configured to accept a network-initiated quality of service for the data flow when the indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service.

According to another aspect, a method for specifying a responsible entity for establishing quality of service using parameters is described. The method includes transmitting an indicator to a mobile device, wherein the indicator specifies a preference for at least one of a network-initiated quality of service or a device-initiated quality of service. The method also includes initiating a quality of service for a data flow of an application on the mobile device when the indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service. Additionally, the method includes accepting a request for quality of service for a data flow from the mobile device when the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service.

Yet another aspect relates to an apparatus comprising a memory. The memory holds instructions for: transmitting an indicator to a mobile device, wherein the indicator specifies a preference for at least one of a network-initiated quality of service or a device-initiated quality of service; initiating a quality of service for a data flow for an application on the mobile device when the indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service; and accepting a request for quality of service for a data flow from the mobile device when the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service. The apparatus also includes a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions in the memory.

Yet another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus. The wireless communications apparatus can include means for transmitting an indicator to a mobile device, wherein the indicator specifies a preference for at least one of network-initiated quality of service or device-initiated quality of service. The wireless communications apparatus can further include means for initiating a quality of service for a data flow of an application on the mobile device when the indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service. Additionally, the wireless communications apparatus can include means for accepting a request for quality of service for a data flow from the mobile device when the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service.

Another aspect relates to a computer program product that includes a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium includes code for causing at least one computer to transmit an indicator to a mobile device, wherein the indicator specifies a preference by a network for at least one of device-initiated quality of service or network-initiated quality of service. The computer-readable medium further includes code for causing at least one computer to establish a quality of service for a data flow associated with the mobile device as a function of the indicator.

In accordance with another aspect, a wireless communication apparatus is provided. The wireless communications apparatus can include a processor configured to transmit an indicator to a mobile device, wherein the indicator specifies a preference by a network for at least one of device-initiated quality of service or network-initiated quality of service. The processor is further configured to accept a request for quality of service for a data flow from the mobile device when the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service. Additionally, the processor is configured to establish a quality of service for a data flow of an application on the mobile device when the indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service.

According to another aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises receiving a request from a mobile device to initiate a quality of service for a data flow, issuing a soft reject to the mobile device as a response to the request; and establishing a quality of service for the data flow through a network request.

Yet another aspect relates to a method comprising: waiting for the wireless communication network to establish a quality of service for a set of data flows, wherein waiting comprises starting a timer set to a predetermined period of time; identifying a data flow from the set of data flows for which a quality of service is established, wherein identifying comprises comparing packet filters associated with the established quality of service to identify a corresponding data flow; a quality of service is initiated for a data flow in the set of data flows for which the wireless communication network has not established a quality of service.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more embodiments comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects of the one or more embodiments. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various embodiments may be employed and the described embodiments are intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects presented herein;

fig. 2 illustrates an example wireless communication system that facilitates implementing end-to-end QoS, which can be device-initiated or network-initiated, in accordance with various aspects.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example system that facilitates implementing quality of service functionality in a wireless communication network in accordance with one or more aspects.

Fig. 4 illustrates an example system that facilitates determining whether to use device-initiated QoS or network-initiated QoS in accordance with various aspects.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example call flow that describes a conflict in QoS establishment in accordance with one or more aspects.

Fig. 6 illustrates an example system that facilitates re-establishing QoS flows after switching between disparate wireless communication networks in accordance with various aspects.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example method for signaling network-initiated resource allocation parameters to a mobile device in accordance with various aspects.

Fig. 8 illustrates an example methodology for establishing QoS as a function of parameters in accordance with various aspects.

Fig. 9 illustrates an example methodology for using soft rejection to determine an entity responsible for requesting quality of service (QoS) for a service data flow in accordance with various aspects.

Fig. 10 illustrates an exemplary methodology for utilizing soft reject to indicate a preference for network-initiated QoS in accordance with various aspects.

Fig. 11 illustrates an exemplary system that facilitates determining an entity responsible for establishing quality of service in accordance with various aspects.

Fig. 12 illustrates an exemplary system that facilitates transmitting parameters specifying an entity responsible for quality of service.

Fig. 13-14 are block diagrams of various wireless communication devices that may be used to implement various aspects of the functionality described herein.

Fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless communication system in which various aspects described herein can be implemented.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments are now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may be evident, however, that such embodiment(s) may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing one or more embodiments.

As used in this application, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes in accordance with a signal comprising one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

As used in this application, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution, but are not limited thereto. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an integrated circuit, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes in accordance with a signal comprising one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

Moreover, various aspects are described herein in connection with a wireless terminal and/or a base station. A wireless terminal may refer to a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user. The wireless terminal may be connected to a computing device, such as a laptop or desktop computer, or it may be a self-contained device, such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). A wireless terminal can also be called a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile, remote station, access point, remote terminal, access terminal, user agent, user device, or User Equipment (UE). A wireless terminal may be a subscriber station, wireless device, cellular telephone, PCS telephone, cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless connection capability, or other processing device connected to a wireless modulator. A base station (e.g., an access point, node B, or evolved node B (enb)) may refer to a device in an access network that communicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, with wireless terminals. The base station may act as a router between the wireless terminal and the rest of the access network, including an Internet Protocol (IP) network, by converting received radio interface frames to IP packets. The base station also coordinates management of radio interface attributes.

Further, the functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to load or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Further, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is for use with coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalSubscriber Lines (DSL) or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave are transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source, and coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave are included in the definition of transmission medium. Disk and disc, as used in this application, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray discOptical discs (BD), in which the disc usually reproduces data magnetically, and the disc reproduces data optically with a laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

The various techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), CDMA2000, etc. UTRA includes wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA. In addition, CDMA2000 includes IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. TDMA systems may implement wireless technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM). The OFDMA system may implement wireless technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE802.16(WiMAX), IEEE802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are parts of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a upcoming release that uses E-UTRA, which uses OFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE-A, SAE, EPC and GSM are described in the documents of the "third Generation partnership project" (3GPP) organization. In addition, CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents organized under "third generation partnership project 2" (3GPP 2). In addition, such wireless systems additionally include peer-to-peer (e.g., mobile to mobile) ad hoc network systems that often use unpaired unlicensed spectrum, 802.xx wireless LANs, bluetooth, and any other short-range or long-range wireless communication technology.

Furthermore, the term "or" means an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, the term "X employs A or B" is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, any of the following examples satisfies the term "X employs A or B": x is A; b is used as X; or X employs A and B. In addition, the articles "a" and "an" as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean "one or more" unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.

Given various aspects around a system, the system can include a number of devices, components, modules, and the like. It is to be understood and appreciated that the various systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc. and/or may not include all of the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection with the figures. Combinations of these methods may also be used.

Referring now to fig. 1, a wireless communication system 100 is illustrated in accordance with various embodiments herein. System 100 comprises a base station (e.g., access point) 102 that includes multiple antenna groups. For example, one antenna group can include antennas 104 and 106, another group can include antennas 108 and 110, and an additional group can include antennas 112 and 114. Although two antennas are shown in each antenna group, more or fewer antennas may be used in each group. Base station 102 can additionally include a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which can in turn comprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, etc.), as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.

Base station 102 can communicate with one or more UEs, such as UE116 and UE122, but it is to be appreciated that base station 102 can communicate with substantially any number of UEs similar to UEs 116 and 122. The UEs 116 and 122 may be, for example, cellular phones, smart phones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or any other suitable device for communicating over the wireless communication system 100. As illustrated, UE116 is in communication with antennas 112 and 114, where antennas 112 and 114 transmit information to UE116 over downlink 118 and receive information from UE116 over uplink 120. In addition, UE122 is in communication with antennas 104 and 106, where antennas 104 and 106 transmit information to UE122 over downlink 124 and receive information from UE122 over uplink 126. For example, in a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, downlink 118 may use a different frequency band than uplink 120, and downlink 124 may use a different frequency band than uplink 126. Further, in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, the downlink 118 and uplink 120 use a common frequency band, and the downlink 124 and uplink 126 use a common frequency band.

Each group of antennas and/or the area in which they communicate can be referred to as a sector of base station 102. For example, antenna groups can be designed to communicate to UEs in a sector of the areas covered by base station 102. In communicating over downlinks 118 and 124, the transmitting antennas of base station 102 may use beamforming to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of downlinks 118 and 124 for UEs 116 and 122. Moreover, while base station 102 may use beamforming to transmit to UEs 116 and 122 scattered randomly through an associated coverage, UEs in neighboring cells may be subject to less interference as compared to a base station transmitting through a single antenna to all its UEs. Further, UEs 116 and 122 may communicate directly with each other using peer-to-peer or ad hoc technologies (not shown).

According to an example, system 100 can be a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system. Moreover, system 100 can utilize substantially any type of multiplexing technique to divide communication channels (e.g., downlink, uplink), such as FDD, FDM, TDD, TDM, CDM, and the like. Additionally, the communication channels may be orthogonal to allow simultaneous communication with multiple devices or UEs over the channels, in one example OFDM may be used for this consideration. Thus, a channel may be divided into multiple frequency portions over a time period. Additionally, a frame may be defined as a portion of frequencies over a set of time periods; thus, for example, a frame may include a plurality of OFDM symbols. Base station 102 may communicate with UEs 116 and 122 through channels created for various types of data. For example, a channel may be created to transmit various types of general communication data, control data (e.g., quality information for other channels, acknowledgement indicators for data received over the channel, interference information, reference signals, etc.), and/or the like.

The user may utilize an application (application) on the UE116 and/or 122 to communicate with other applications or servers in the wireless communication network and/or external networks. Some applications may have specific resource requirements (e.g., bandwidth requirements, maximum delay requirements, etc.) to achieve an acceptable end-user experience. Resources in a communication system, such as system 100, are limited. Therefore, it is necessary to reserve resources for an application before initiating a communication session in order to be able to guarantee a minimum quality of service (QoS) during the session. In an aspect, QoS may be negotiated between an application (e.g., an application on UE116 and/or 122) and core network 128.

In one aspect, the core network 128 may be a packet core Evolution (EPC) developed by 3GPP as part of a System Architecture Evolution (SAE). The core network 128 may be all Internet Protocol (IP) networks that utilize packet-switched elements for all data and voice communications. The core network 128 may be used to interact with various external networks such as, but not limited to, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), external IP networks (e.g., the internet, LAN, WAN, etc.), and so forth.

To ensure that applications on UE116 and/or 122 have a minimum QoS, an end-to-end QoS may be negotiated and established with an external network from the mobile device (e.g., UE116 or 122) to the interface in core network 128. In one example, during QoS negotiation, a requestor (e.g., an application for device-initiated QoS and/or the core network 128 for network-initiated QoS) indicates packet filters associated with QoS flows. The packet filter enables a data transmitter (e.g., an application, server, etc.) to identify IP packets that receive a particular QoS treatment. For example, the packet filter can filter packets according to any suitable field in a TCP or IP header (e.g., IP address, port number, protocol type, etc.).

In an aspect, applications on the UE116 and/or 122 may be classified into one of at least three categories. The first category includes applications that always initiate QoS. The second category includes applications that never initiate QoS. The third category includes applications that can initiate QoS but abandon the initiation due to network performance or network capacity. For the first two classes of applications, it can be clear which entity is responsible for initiating QoS. For the third category of applications, the responsible originator may not be clear. According to an example, an operator of system 100 can provide applications to UEs 116 and 122 that rely on network-initiated QoS in a home network (e.g., system 100). However, the UE116 or 122 may roam into a network associated with a different operator (e.g., a non-home network) that does not support network-initiated QoS. In this case, the application on the UE116 or 122 should initiate QoS.

To ensure an acceptable user experience, an application should ensure that a communication session is supported by QoS. A mixed mode application (e.g., an application session capable of initiating QoS while also allowing network-initiated QoS) may determine whether to initiate QoS or allow the network to initiate QoS. In one example, the core network 128 can explicitly send an indication to the UEs 116 and 122 of which portion (e.g., device or network) is responsible for initiating QoS. In another example, the UEs 116 and 122 may attempt to initiate QoS with the core network 128. In the case where the core network 128 prefers to initiate QoS, the core network 128 may send a soft reject to the UEs 116 and 122 upon receiving the QoS request. In yet another example, the UEs 116 and 122 can match packet filters for network-initiated QoS flows to packet filters for device-initiated QoS flows. If the UE116 and 122 identifies a filter match, the UE116 and 122 may request release of the matched device-initiated QoS flow.

Turning to fig. 2, illustrated is a wireless communication system 200 that facilitates implementing end-to-end QoS, which can be device-initiated or network-initiated, in accordance with various aspects. As shown in fig. 2, system 200 includes a Radio Access Network (RAN)210 that provides wireless communication between a UE212 and an evolved node b (enb) (e.g., a base station, access point, etc.). For ease of discussion, fig. 2 depicts one UE212 and one eNB214 in the radio access network 210, but it should be appreciated that the RAN210 may include any number of UEs and/or enbs. In accordance with an aspect, the eNB214 can transmit information to the UE212 over a forward link or downlink channel, and the UE212 can transmit information to the eNB214 over a reverse link or uplink channel. RAN210 may utilize any suitable type of radio access technology such as, but not limited to, LTE-A, HSPA, CDMA, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), evolved HRPD (eHRPD), CDMA-2000, GSM, GPRS, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), UMTS, and so forth.

RAN210, and in particular eNB214, may communicate with a core network 220 that enables charging (e.g., usage of services, etc.), security (e.g., password and integrity protection), user management, mobility management, bearer management, QoS processing, policy control of data flows, and/or interworking with external networks 230. For example, the RAN210 and the core network 220 may communicate over an S1 interface. The core network 220 includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME)222, which may be an endpoint for controlling signaling from the RAN 210. The MME222 provides functions such as mobility management (e.g., tracking), authentication, and security. The MME222 may communicate with the RAN210 through an S1 interface. The core network 220 also includes a Serving Gateway (SGW)224, which is a user plane node that connects the core network 220 to the RAN 210. In an aspect, the MME222 may communicate with the SGW224 over an S11 interface. In another aspect, the MME222 and SGW224 may serve as a single node that provides a single endpoint for users and controls signaling originating from the RAN210 and/or terminating at the RAN 210.

The core network 220 also includes a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (GW)226 that facilitates communication between the core network 220 (and the RAN210) and an external network 230. PDNGW226 provides packet filtering, QoS management, charging, IP address assignment and traffic routing to external network 230. In one example, the SGW224 and the PDNGW226 may communicate over an S5 interface. Although shown as distinct nodes in fig. 2, it should be appreciated that SGW224 and PDNGW226 may function as a single network node in order to reduce user plane nodes in core network 220.

As shown in fig. 2, the core network 220 may communicate with an external network 230 through a PDNGW 226. The external network 230 includes networks such as, but not limited to, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)232, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)234, and/or an IP network 236. The IP network 236 may be the internet, a local area network, a wide area network, an intranet, or the like.

According to one aspect, the UE212 includes an application 216 that is capable of initiating and utilizing a communication session to send and receive data. In one example, the communication session may be between application 216 and an application or server 238 associated with IP network 236. Accordingly, data exchanged during the communication session is routed through radio access network 210 and core network 220. The application 216 may specify the resource requirements needed to ensure an acceptable user experience. Resource requirements may be guaranteed by initiating a QoS flow and associating the communication session with the QoS flow. The QoS flow may be an end-to-end QoS across the RAN210 and the core network 220.

Turning to fig. 3, illustrated is a system 300 that facilitates implementing quality of service (QoS) functionality in a wireless communication network in accordance with one or more aspects. Communication between applications may occur through protocols at the application layer 302. For example, a communication session between application 216 and application/server 238 may occur through application layer 302, such as through Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). While the interaction between applications may form a concept at the application layer 302 level, the actual data is exchanged through the transport, data and/or physical layers provided by the radio access network and/or the core network as described in fig. 3.

In an aspect, QoS parameters may be applied to information flows (e.g., data exchanged between applications during a communication session) to provide an acceptable end user experience by ensuring that resources meet requirements. In one example, an EPS bearer may be used to apply QoS parameters to an information flow. An EPS bearer is a logical concept applied between a mobile device (e.g., UE316) and the PDNGW 322. The EPS bearer may include sub-bearers, such as radio bearer 310 between UE316 and eNB 318. The radio bearer 310 may be a Radio Link Control (RLC) connection between the UE316 and the eNB318 over a radio interface. In an aspect, one RLC connection may be associated with one radio bearer. Another sub-bearer of the EPS bearer may be the S1 bearer 312, which tunnels packets between the eNB318 and the SGW 320. In addition, the S5 bearer 314 may tunnel packets between the SGW320 and the PDNGW 322.

The EPS bearer encapsulates one or more data flows between the UE316 and the PDNGW 322. For example, service data flow 304 originating at the application layer 302 of the UE316 and/or service data flow 306 associated with the application layer or external application of the PDNGW322 may be encapsulated into an EPS bearer. It should be appreciated that one or more EPS bearers may be established between the UE316 and the PDNGW 322. Although fig. 3 depicts two EPS bearers, it should be appreciated that there may be N bearers, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. As shown in the dashed portion of fig. 3, a portion 324 of the EPS bearer is shown.

According to an example, each EPS bearer can be associated with a single QoS context. For example, each EPS bearer may be represented by a set of parameters that specify QoS. The set of parameters may include an Allocation Retention Priority (ARP), a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), a Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), and a QoS Class Identifier (QCI). Data flows receiving similar QoS treatment may be grouped or encapsulated into the same EPS bearer. In one example, the dashed portion of fig. 3 depicts a portion 324 of an EPS bearer. The EPS bearer 324 is shown encapsulating a plurality of data flows 326. Since the multiple data flows 326 are collectively associated with the EPS bearer 324, the multiple data flows 326 receive similar QoS treatment, wherein the QoS treatment is defined at least in part by the set of parameters representing the EPS bearer 324.

Turning back to fig. 2, an EPS bearer or QoS may be established to communicate data flows between the application 216 of the UE212 and the application/server 238 in the IP network. The EPS bearer or QoS context is extended from the UE212 to the PDNGW226 at which point the PDNGW226 routes packets from the UE212 to the IP network 236. In addition, the PDNGW226 takes packets from the IP network 236 and routes these packets to the UE212 according to the QoS parameters of the EPS bearer encapsulating the data flow.

In an aspect, the EPS bearer or QoS may be initiated by the application 216 or UE 212. The QoS may be identified as a device-initiated QoS when initiated by an application or UE 212. In another aspect, the EPS bearer or QoS may be initiated by the network (e.g., by the PDNGW226, MME222, and/or SGW 224). The case where QoS is device-initiated and the case where QoS is network-initiated may be distinguished based at least in part on preferences for applications, preferences for networks, capabilities of applications, and/or capabilities of networks, as discussed below.

Turning to fig. 4, illustrated is a system 400 that facilitates determining whether to utilize device-initiated QoS or network-initiated QoS in accordance with various aspects. System 400 includes a UE410 connected to a wireless communication network 420. The UE410 may include multiple applications and/or application types.

According to an example, application 412 may be a third party application that supports only device-initiated QoS (e.g., not provided by the operator of network 420). Application 414 may be an application provided by an operator that supports both device-initiated QoS and network-initiated QoS. However, as an operator-provided application, application 414 prefers network-initiated QoS. Application 416 may be a QoS-unaware application that is provided with QoS by network 420. Application 418 may be a QoS-unaware application for which network 420 does not provide QoS. The entity responsible for QoS initiation is explicit to the applications 412, 416, and 418. However, for applications 414 that support both device-initiated and network-initiated QoS, inefficient resource allocation can occur when the entity responsible for QoS is ambiguous.

By way of example, fig. 5 depicts an example call flow 500 that describes conflicts in QoS establishment in accordance with one or more aspects. Call flow 500 includes application 510, UE520, network 520, and application server 540. According to this example, application 510 is able to initiate QoS while also supporting network-initiated QoS. A communication session may be initiated with a connection negotiation between application 510 and application server 540. The connection negotiation may be a SIP negotiation, however, it should be appreciated that any suitable protocol may be used. After connection negotiation, both application 510 and application server 540 request establishment of QoS (e.g., application 510 starts device-initiated QoS, while application server 540 requests network-initiated QoS). After processing the request and the bearer establishment procedure is completed, multiple dedicated bearers (e.g., QoS contexts) may be created for the same communication session or data flow. Therefore, resources are doubly allocated to a single data stream, resulting in a waste of resources.

Turning to fig. 4, UE410 and/or network 420 may use a mechanism to explicitly indicate the responsible party for the QoS establishment. According to one aspect, network 420 may signal a preference indicator to UE410 when UE410 connects with network 420 and registers with network 420. The preference indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated QoS, a preference for device-initiated QoS, an indication that network-initiated QoS is supported, and/or an indication that network-initiated QoS is not supported. The signal may be conveyed through technology-specific control plane signaling (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) and/or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling). In another example, the preference indicator may be conveyed by a technology independent control plane signal (e.g., protocol configuration options transmitted during setup of a default bearer). In yet another example, the preference indicator may be provided to the UE410 through user plane signaling. For example, the preference indicator may be included during connection establishment (e.g., SIP signaling, etc.). The UE410 may evaluate the preference indicator to determine whether an application with device-initiated and network-initiated QoS should request QoS and/or wait for the network 420 to establish QoS. For example, the preference indicator may specify support and/or preference for network-initiated QoS. Thus, application 414 does not request QoS and is compliant with network 420. In another example, the preference indicator may specify that device-initiated QoS is preferred and/or that network-initiated QoS is not supported. In such a case, application 414 would initiate QoS.

In accordance with another aspect, network 420 may use a soft reject mechanism to reduce duplicate resource allocations. Application 414 may initiate QoS and network 420 responds with a soft reject when network-initiated QoS is supported and/or preferred. Unlike a normal rejection, a soft rejection informs the UE410 to wait for network-initiated QoS. However, a normal rejection may trigger the UE410 to drop the connection and/or re-request QoS with lower requirements.

Under the soft reject mechanism, both the UE410 and the network 420 attempt to initiate QoS. The respective attempts may occur simultaneously or at different times. In one example, UE410 may request QoS before network 420. In general, the UE410 checks that QoS has been established for a particular packet filter used by an application (e.g., application 414). When there is no matching filter, the UE410 initiates QoS. When network 420 prefers to establish QoS, network 420 may send a soft reject as a response to the QoS request from UE 410. After receiving the soft reject, the UE410 may wait until the network 420 initiates QoS. In an aspect, the UE410 uses a timer mechanism. For example, the UE410 may start a timer upon receiving a soft reject. When the timer expires and network 420 has not initiated QoS, application 414 may be notified of the QoS failure.

According to another example, network 420 may initiate QoS before UE 410. According to this example, the UE410, upon checking for a packet filter match, may discover the QoS flow established by the network 420. Therefore, the UE410 does not attempt to initiate QoS. In another example, UE410 and network 420 attempt to initiate QoS at the same time. Even if the UE410 attempts to initiate QoS, the UE410 may receive a network-initiated QoS request before receiving a soft reject. Thus, the UE410 may abort the device-initiated QoS request and continue the network-initiated request.

Turning now to fig. 6, illustrated is a system 600 that facilitates re-establishing QoS flows when switching between disparate wireless communication networks in accordance with various aspects. System 600 includes a UE610 connected to a network 620 and registered with network 620. In one example, UE610 may have one or more active service data flows when attempting to handover to network 630 (e.g., UE610 roams from network 620 to network 630). According to this example, networks 620 and 630 may utilize different radio access technologies. For example, network 620 may use E-UTRA, while network 630 uses eHRPD. After the handoff, the QoS associated with one or more service data flows may be re-established.

In one aspect, when the preference indicator is used to inform a party responsible for QoS establishment, the entity that originally requested QoS may re-request QoS as it moves through the radio access technology. In one example, network 620 may send an indication to indicate that network-initiated QoS is supported and/or preferred. The initial network 620 tracks the QoS flows associated with the UE610 and identifies which are network-initiated and which are device-initiated. Upon handover from network 620 to network 630, a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) of network 620 provides a list of QoS flows and an identification of each flow (e.g., network-initiated or device-initiated) to network 630. Network 630 may establish a dedicated bearer (bearer) for the network-initiated QoS flow from the list. UE610 similarly keeps track of which QoS flows are network-initiated and which are device-initiated. Thus, the UE610 may re-establish QoS for flows identified as being device-initiated. It should be appreciated that if networks 620 and/or 630 do not support network-initiated QoS and/or prefer device-initiated QoS, UE610 requests QoS for all active flows after the handover.

In accordance with another aspect, UE610 can utilize a timer mechanism 612 to facilitate re-establishing QoS. After the handover, network 630 may immediately establish all network-initiated QoS flows that exist between UE610 and network 620. In one example, all network-initiated QoS flows may be established simultaneously during the establishment of the default bearer. In another example, network-initiated QoS flows may be established sequentially. A timer 612 is started when a default bearer is established. When the timer expires, the UE610 requests QoS for all remaining flows.

Referring to fig. 7-10, methodologies are described regarding determining which one to use when an application supports both network-initiated QoS and device-initiated QoS simultaneously. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with one or more embodiments.

Turning to fig. 7, illustrated is a methodology 700 for transmitting network-initiated resource allocation parameters to a mobile device, in accordance with various aspects. At reference numeral 702, an indicator is transmitted to a mobile device. The indicator may specify a network that prefers network-initiated quality of service (QoS) (e.g., a network-initiated request for QoS associated with a service data flow). In another example, the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated QoS (e.g., a device or application-initiated request for QoS associated with a service data flow). In another aspect, the indicator informs the mobile device that the network supports or does not support network-initiated QoS.

At reference numeral 704, QoS is initiated for the service data flow when the indicator specifies that network-initiated QoS is preferred and/or supported. At reference numeral 706, when the indicator specifies that device-initiated QoS is preferred or network-initiated QoS is not supported, QoS for the service data flow is established in accordance with a request from the mobile device.

Referring to fig. 8, a methodology 800 for establishing QoS as a function of parameters is illustrated. At reference numeral 802, a preference indicator is received from a network. According to one example, the preference indicator is transmitted by the network when the mobile device connects to and registers with the network. For example, the preference indicator may be included in protocol configuration options received from the network when the default bearer is established. In another example, the preference indicator may be received via control plane signaling during establishment of a data connection via the radio access network.

At reference numeral 804, QoS is requested for a service data flow when the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated QoS or the indicator specifies that network-initiated QoS is not supported. In another case, at reference numeral 806, when the indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated QoS, the mobile device can wait for the network to establish QoS for the service data flow.

Fig. 9 illustrates a methodology 900 for using soft reject to determine an entity responsible for requesting quality of service (QoS) for a service data flow. At reference numeral 902, a request for QoS for a service data flow is sent. At reference numeral 904, a soft reject is received from the network. At reference numeral 906, network-initiated QoS is suspended. Fig. 10 illustrates a methodology 1000 for facilitating soft reject to indicate a preference for network-initiated QoS. At reference numeral 1002, a request for QoS for a service data flow is received. At reference numeral 1004, a soft reject is sent. At reference numeral 1006, a network-initiated QoS for the service data flow is established.

It should be appreciated that, in accordance with one or more embodiments and/or methodologies described herein, inferences can be made regarding determining a preference for network-initiated QoS or device-initiated QoS, identifying a service data flow for which QoS is to be requested after handoff, and/or the like. As used herein, the term to "infer" or "inference" refers generally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured via events and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate a probability distribution over states, for example. Such inference can be probabilistic-that is, the computation of a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and data come from one or several event and data sources.

Referring to fig. 11, illustrated is a system 1100 that facilitates determining an entity responsible for establishing quality of service in accordance with various aspects. By way of example, system 1100 can reside at least partially within a user equipment unit. It is to be appreciated that system 1100 is represented as including functional blocks, which can be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 1100 includes a logical grouping 1102 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. For instance, logical grouping 1102 can include an electrical component for receiving an indicator 1104. Further, logical grouping 1102 can include an electrical component for requesting QoS for the data flow when the indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated QoS 1106. Moreover, logical grouping 1102 can include an electrical component for allowing the network to establish QoS when the indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated QoS 1108. Logical grouping 1102 further includes an electrical component for identifying whether a QoS associated with one or more data flows is network initiated or device initiated 1110. Optionally, logical grouping 1102 includes an electrical component for requesting QoS for one or more data flows associated with the QoS identified as being device-initiated after the handoff 1112. Additionally, system 1100 includes a memory 1114 that stores instructions for performing functions associated with electrical components 1104, 1106, 1108, 1110, and 1112. While shown as being external to memory 1114, it is to be understood that one or more of electrical components 1104, 1106, 1108, 1110 and 1112 can exist in memory 1114.

Referring to fig. 12, illustrated is a system 1200 that facilitates communicating parameters specifying an entity responsible for quality of service. By way of example, system 1200 can reside at least partially within a user equipment unit. It is to be appreciated that system 1200 is represented as including functional blocks, which can be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 1200 includes a logical grouping 1202 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. For instance, logical grouping 1202 can include an electrical component for transmitting an indicator to a mobile device 1204. Further, logical grouping 1202 can include an electrical component for initiating QoS for data flows for an application on the mobile device 1206. Moreover, logical grouping 1202 can include an electrical component for accepting the QoS request from the mobile device 1208. Logical grouping 1202 also includes an electrical component for incorporating 1210 the indicator into a set of protocol configuration options. Optionally, logical grouping 1202 can include an electrical component for transmitting the set of protocol configuration options during activation of a default bearer associated with the mobile device 1212. Further, logical grouping 1202 includes an electrical component for identifying whether the QoS for each data flow is network initiated or device initiated 1214. Moreover, logical grouping 1202 can include an electrical component for sending a list of data streams to a disparate network after the handoff. Additionally, system 1200 includes a memory 1218 that stores instructions for executing functions associated with electrical components 1204, 1206, 1208, 1210, 1212, 1214, and 1216. While shown as being external to memory 1218, it is to be understood that one or more of electrical components 1204, 1206, 1208, 1210, 1212, 1214, and 1216 can exist within memory 1218.

Fig. 13 is a block diagram of another system 1300 for implementing various aspects of the functionality described herein. In one example, system 1300 includes a mobile device 1302. As shown, mobile device 1302 can receive signal(s) from one or more base stations 1304 and transmit signal(s) to one or more base stations 1304 via one or more antennas 1308. Additionally, mobile device 1302 can comprise a receiver 1310 that receives information from antenna 1308. In one example, the receiver 1310 is operatively coupled to a demodulator (Demod)1312 that demodulates received information. Demodulated symbols can then be analyzed by a processor 1314. Processor 1314 is connected to memory 1316, which stores data and/or program codes related to mobile device 1302. Mobile device 1302 also includes a modulator 1318 that can be employed to multiplex signals for transmission by a transmitter 1320 through antennas 1308.

Fig. 14 is a block diagram of a system 1400 for implementing various aspects of the functionality described herein. In one example, system 1400 can include one base station or multiple base stations 1402. As shown, base station 1402 can receive signal(s) from one or more UEs 1404 via one or more receive (Rx) antennas 1406 and transmit to the one or more UEs 1404 via one or more transmit (Tx) antennas 1408. Additionally, base station 1402 can comprise a receiver 1410 that receives information from receive antenna 1406. In one example, receiver 1410 is operatively associated with a demodulator (Demod)1412 that demodulates received information. Demodulated symbols can then be analyzed by a processor 1414. The processor 1414 is coupled with a memory 1416 that stores information regarding code clusters, access terminal assignments, correlation lookup tables, unique scrambling code sequences, and/or other suitable types of information. Base station 1402 can also include a modulator 1418 that can be employed to multiplex the signals for transmission by transmitter 1420 through transmit antenna(s) 1408.

A wireless multiple-access communication system may simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless access terminals. As described above, each terminal can communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. This communication link may be established through a single-input single-output system, a multiple-input multiple-output ("MIMO") system, or some other type of system.

MIMO systems using multiple (N)_T) Transmitting antenna and a plurality of (N)_R) And the receiving antenna is used for data transmission. From N_TA transmitting antenna and N_RThe MIMO channel formed by the receiving antennas can be divided into N_SIndividual channels, which may also be referred to as spatial channels, where N_S≤min{N_T，N_R}。N_SIs independent ofEach of the channels corresponds to a dimension. The MIMO system may provide improved performance (e.g., higher throughput and/or better reliability) if the additional dimensionalities created by the multiple transmit and receive antennas are utilized.

MIMO systems support time division duplexing ("TDD") and frequency division duplexing ("FDD"). In a TDD system, the forward and reverse link transmissions are on the same frequency region, so that the reciprocity principle allows the estimation of the forward link channel from the reverse link channel. This enables the access point to extract transmit beamforming gain on the forward link when multiple antennas are available at the access point.

Fig. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 1500. For simplicity of illustration, the wireless communication system 1500 depicts one base station 1510 and one access terminal 1550. However, it is to be appreciated that system 1500 can include more than one base station and/or more than one access terminal, wherein additional base stations and/or access terminals can be substantially similar or different from example base station 1510 and access terminal 1550 described below. In addition, it is to be appreciated that base station 1510 and/or access terminal 1550 can employ the systems (fig. 1-6 and 11-12) and/or methods (fig. 7-10) described herein for wireless communication there between.

At base station 1510, traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from a data source 1512 to a Transmit (TX) data processor 1514. In accordance with one example, each data stream is transmitted over a respective antenna. TX data processor 1514 formats, codes, and interleaves the traffic data stream based on a particular coding scheme selected for that data stream to provide coded data.

The coded data for each data stream may be multiplexed with pilot data using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) techniques. Additionally or alternatively, the pilot symbols may be Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), Time Division Multiplexed (TDM), or Code Division Multiplexed (CDM). The pilot data is typically a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner and can be used at access terminal 1550 to estimate the channel response. The multiplexed pilot and coded data for each data stream is modulated (e.g., symbol mapped) based on a particular modulation scheme (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), etc.) selected for that data stream to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream can be determined by instructions provided or executed by processor 1530.

The modulation symbols for the data streams are provided to a TXMIMO processor 1520, which may further process the modulation symbols (e.g., for OFDM). The TXMMIMO processor 1520 then forwards to N_TA number of transmitters (TMTR)1522a through 1522t provide N_TA stream of modulation symbols. In various embodiments, the TXMIMO processor 1520 applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which the symbol is being transmitted.

Each transmitter 1522 receives and processes a respective symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel. In addition, N from transmitters 1522a through 1522t_TEach modulated signal being from N_TThe antennas 1524a to 1524t are transmitted.

At access terminal 1550, the transmitted modulated signal is represented by N_RThe antennas 1552a through 1552r receive and provide received signals from each antenna 1552 to a respective receiver (RCVR)1554a through 1554 r. Each receiver 1554 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and downconverts) a respective signal, digitizes the conditioned signal to provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide a corresponding "received" symbol stream.

RX data processor 1560 from N_RN is received by receiver 1554_RA stream of symbols and processing the stream of symbols according to a particular receiver processing method to provide N_TA "detected" symbol stream. The RX data processor 1560 demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes each detected symbol stream to recover the traffic data for the data stream. RX data processingThe processing by processor 1560 is complementary to that performed by TX mimo processor 1520 and TX data processor 1514 at base station 1510.

The processor 1570 periodically determines available technologies to use as described above. Processor 1570 can also generate a reverse link message comprising a matrix index portion and a rank value portion.

The reverse link message may comprise various types of information regarding the communication link and/or the received data stream. The reverse link message is processed by a TX data processor 1538, which also receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a data source 1536, modulated by a modulator 1580, conditioned by transmitters 1554a through 1554r, and transmitted back to base station 1510.

At base station 1510, the modulated signals from access terminal 1550 are received by antennas 1524, conditioned by receivers 1522, demodulated by a demodulator 1540, and processed by a RX data processor 1542 to extract the reverse link message transmitted by access terminal 1550. Processor 1530 also processes the extracted message to determine which precoding matrix to use for determining the beamforming weights.

Processors 1530 and 1570 can direct (e.g., control, coordinate, manage, etc.) operation at base station 1510 and access terminal 1550, respectively. Processors 1530 and 1570 can be associated with memory 1532 and 1572, respectively, that store program codes and data. Processors 1530 and 1570 can also perform computations to obtain frequency and impulse response estimates for the uplink and downlink, respectively.

In one aspect, logical channels are divided into control channels and traffic channels. Logical control channels include a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), i.e., a DL channel for broadcasting system control information. In addition, the logical control channel may include a Paging Control Channel (PCCH), i.e., a DL channel that transmits paging information. Further, the logical control channels may include a Multicast Control Channel (MCCH), i.e., a point-to-multipoint DL channel used for transmitting Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS) scheduling and control information for one or more MTCHs. Generally, this channel is only used by UEs receiving MBMS (e.g. old MCCH + MSCH) after establishing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection. In addition, the logical control channels may include a Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH), i.e., a point-to-point bi-directional channel that transmits dedicated control information and is used by UEs having an RRC connection. In one aspect, the logical traffic channels include a Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH), i.e., a point-to-point bi-directional channel dedicated to one UE for transmitting user information. The logical traffic channels also include a Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH) for a point-to-multipoint DL channel for transmitting traffic data.

In one aspect, the transport channels are divided into DL and UL. DL transport channels include a Broadcast Channel (BCH), a downlink shared data channel (DL-SDCH) and a Paging Channel (PCH). These resources may be used for other control/traffic channels by broadcasting and mapping to physical layer (PHY) resources over the entire cell, which PCH is used to support UE power saving (e.g., Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycles indicated to the UE by the network, etc.). The UL transport channels include a Random Access Channel (RACH), a request channel (REQCH), an uplink shared data channel (UL-SDCH), and a plurality of PHY channels.

These PHY channels include a set of DL channels and UL channels. For example, the DLPHY channels include: common pilot channel (CPICH), Synchronization Channel (SCH), Common Control Channel (CCCH), Shared DL Control Channel (SDCCH), Multicast Control Channel (MCCH), Shared UL Allocation Channel (SUACH), acknowledgement channel (ACKCH), DL physical shared data channel (DL-PSDCH), UL Power Control Channel (UPCCH), call indicator channel (PICH), and/or Load Indicator Channel (LICH). By way of further example, the ULPHY channels include: a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), a Channel Quality Indicator Channel (CQICH), an acknowledgement channel (ACKCH), an Antenna Subset Indicator Channel (ASICH), a shared request channel (SREQCH), a UL physical shared data channel (UL-PSDCH), and/or a broadband pilot channel (BPICH).

The various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Further, at least one processor includes one or more modules for performing one or more of the steps and/or actions described above.

The steps and/or actions of a method or algorithm described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be integral to the processor. In addition, in some aspects, the processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. Additionally, the ASIC may reside in a user terminal. Of course, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal. Further, in some aspects, the steps and/or actions of a method or algorithm may be one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a machine readable medium and/or computer readable medium, which may be integrated into a computer program product.

When the embodiments are implemented in software, firmware, middleware, microcode, program code or code segments, they may be stored in a machine-readable medium, such as a storage component. A code segment may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

For a software implementation, the techniques described herein may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in memory units and executed by processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor, in which case it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means as is known in the art.

The above description includes examples of one or more embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments described in this application are intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

Claims (25)

1. A method for explicitly indicating a responsible entity for establishing quality of service, comprising:

receiving a preference indicator specifying a preference of a wireless network for at least one of a network-initiated quality of service or a device-initiated quality of service;

requesting quality of service for a data flow when the preference indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service;

waiting for the wireless network to establish a quality of service when the preference indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service;

tracking and identifying whether quality of service for one or more data flows is network-initiated or device-initiated; and

requesting the quality of service for the identified device-initiated data flow from a new wireless network after switching from the wireless network to the new wireless network, wherein the wireless network and the new wireless network use different radio access technologies.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference indicator is received via a protocol configuration option obtained during establishment of a default bearer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference indicator is obtained through radio resource control plane signaling.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference indicator is received through user plane signaling during communication session establishment for an application.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting a quality of service for the data flow; and

receiving a soft reject in response, wherein the soft reject informs the device to wait for a network-initiated quality of service.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

waiting for the wireless network to establish a quality of service for a set of data flows;

identifying a data flow from the set of data flows for which a quality of service is established, wherein identifying comprises evaluating a packet filter associated with the established quality of service to identify a corresponding data flow; and

a quality of service is initiated for data flows in the set of data flows for which a quality of service is not established by the wireless network.

7. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a processor configured to:

receiving a preference indicator specifying a preference of a wireless network for at least one of a network-initiated quality of service or a device-initiated quality of service,

when the preference indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service, requesting quality of service for the data flow,

when the preference indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service, allowing the wireless network to establish quality of service,

tracking and identifying whether quality of service for one or more data flows is network-initiated or device-initiated, an

Requesting the quality of service for the identified device-initiated data flow from a new wireless network after switching from the wireless network to the new wireless network, wherein the wireless network and the new wireless network use different radio access technologies; and a memory coupled with the processor.

8. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 7, wherein the preference indicator is received via a protocol configuration option obtained during establishment of a default bearer.

9. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 7, wherein the preferred indicator is obtained through radio resource control plane signaling.

10. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 7, wherein the preference indicator is received through user plane signaling during communication session establishment for an application.

11. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving a preference indicator specifying a preference of a wireless network for at least one of a network-initiated quality of service or a device-initiated quality of service;

means for requesting quality of service for a data flow when the preference indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service;

means for allowing the wireless network to establish a quality of service when the preference indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service;

means for tracking and identifying whether quality of service for one or more data flows is network-initiated or device-initiated; and

means for requesting the quality of service for the identified device-initiated data flow from a new wireless network after switching from the wireless network to the new wireless network, wherein the wireless network and the new wireless network use different radio access technologies.

12. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the preference indicator is received via a protocol configuration option obtained during establishment of a default bearer.

13. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the preferred indicator is obtained through radio resource control plane signaling.

14. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the preference indicator is received through user plane signaling during communication session establishment for an application.

15. A method for utilizing parameters to explicitly specify an entity responsible for establishing quality of service, comprising:

transmitting a preference indicator to a mobile device, wherein the preference indicator specifies a preference for at least one of a network-initiated quality of service or a device-initiated quality of service;

initiating a quality of service for a data flow for an application on the mobile device when the preference indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service;

accepting a request from the mobile device for quality of service for the data flow when the preference indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service; and

providing a list of data flows to a different network after the mobile device switches to the different network, wherein the list specifies whether each data flow is network-initiated or device-initiated.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein transmitting the preference indicator comprises:

incorporating the preference indicator into a set of protocol configuration options; and

the set of protocol configuration options is sent during activation of a default bearer associated with the mobile device.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

the quality of service for each data flow is tracked and it is identified whether the quality of service for each data flow is network-initiated or device-initiated.

18. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a processor configured to:

transmitting a preference indicator to a mobile device, wherein the preference indicator specifies a preference for at least one of a network-initiated quality of service or a device-initiated quality of service,

initiating quality of service for a data flow for an application on the mobile device when the preference indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service,

accepting a request for quality of service for a data flow from the mobile device when the preference indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service, an

Providing a list of data flows to a different network after the mobile device switches to the different network, wherein the list specifies whether each data flow is network-initiated or device-initiated; and

a memory coupled with the processor.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to: the preference indicator is incorporated into a set of protocol configuration options and the set of protocol configuration options is sent during activation of a default bearer associated with the mobile device.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to: the quality of service for each data flow is tracked and it is identified whether the quality of service for each data flow is network-initiated or device-initiated.

21. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

means for transmitting a preference indicator to a mobile device, wherein the preference indicator specifies a preference for at least one of a network-initiated quality of service or a device-initiated quality of service;

means for initiating a quality of service for a data flow for an application on the mobile device when the preference indicator specifies a preference for network-initiated quality of service;

means for accepting a request from the mobile device for quality of service for a data flow when the preference indicator specifies a preference for device-initiated quality of service; and

means for providing a list of data flows to a different network after the mobile device switches to the different network, wherein the list specifies whether each data flow is network-initiated or device-initiated.

22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 21, further comprising:

means for incorporating the preference indicator into a set of protocol configuration options; and

means for transmitting the set of protocol configuration options during activation of a default bearer associated with the mobile device.

23. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 21, further comprising:

means for identifying whether a quality of service for each data flow is network-initiated or device-initiated.

24. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

receiving a request from a mobile device to initiate a quality of service for a data flow;

issuing a soft reject to the mobile device as a response to the request, wherein the soft reject informs the mobile device to wait for a network-initiated quality of service; and

establishing a quality of service for the data flow via a network request.

25. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

waiting for a wireless communication network to establish a quality of service for a set of data flows after receiving a soft reject from the wireless communication network, wherein waiting comprises starting a timer set to a predetermined period of time, and wherein the soft reject notification waits for a network initiated quality of service;

identifying a data flow from the set of data flows for which a quality of service is established, wherein identifying comprises comparing packet filters associated with the established quality of service to identify a corresponding data flow; and

a quality of service is initiated for a data flow in the set of data flows for which the wireless communication network has not established a quality of service.