INTER-RAT SYSTEMS ACCESS NETWORK (AN) LOAD BALANCE AND CONGESTION CONTROL MECHANISM

摘要

A system and method to perform load-balancing and congestion control between a primary Radio Access Technology (RAT) and a secondary RAT. A broadcast message is sent to all User Equipments (UEs) operating under the secondary RAT. If the primary RAT is congested, a congestion indicator in the broadcast message prevents the UEs from idle re-selecting or switching to the primary RAT. Even if the primary RAT is not congested, the broadcast message may still include other parameters such as one or more probability values, a group identifier for the UE groups, and a retention timer. The idle UEs in the secondary RAT that generate device-specific random values that are equal to or greater than the applicable probability threshold value(s) are allowed to reselect the primary RAT. If an idle UE fails this probability test, it may not be allowed to reselect the primary RAT again until the retention timer expires.

主权项

1. A method for providing inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) load-balancing and congestion control when a wireless device attempts to attach to a primary RAT while receiving wireless communication over a secondary RAT that is different from the primary RAT, the method comprising performing the following steps using a network entity in a Radio Access Network (RAN) supporting the secondary RAT:
broadcasting a congestion indicator via a broadcast message to all wireless devices receiving wireless communication over the secondary RAT, wherein the wireless devices include:
a set of idle wireless devices, wherein each idle wireless device has no traffic channel established over the secondary RAT, anda set of active wireless devices, wherein each active wireless device has a traffic channel established over the secondary RAT; and through the congestion indicator, disabling a primary RAT re-selection functionality in each idle wireless device receiving the broadcast message, thereby preventing re-selection of the primary RAT by the idle wireless devices.