INTEGRATION OF CELLULAR AND WLAN SYSTEMS

摘要

A cellular-WLAN integration capability is presented herein. The cellular-WLAN integration capability provides an integration of a cellular network and a WLAN network that supports more efficient routing of downlink and uplink bearer traffic via cooperation of the cellular and WiFi interfaces in both the radio access network and at the end user device. The cellular-WLAN integration capability provides an integration of a cellular network and a WLAN network in which downlink bearer transmissions to an end user device may be selectively distributed between the cellular and WLAN networks and, similarly, uplink bearer transmissions from an end user device may be selectively distributed between the cellular and WLAN networks. The cellular-WLAN integration capability provides an integration of a cellular network and a WiFi network that tends to increase capacity for downlink bearer traffic while providing a reliable and efficient path for uplink bearer traffic.

主权项

1. A user device, comprising:
an interface configured for communication via a cellular link; an interface configured for communication via a contention-based wireless link; and a processor configured to:
receive downlink bearer traffic via at least one of the interface configured for communication via the cellular link or the interface configured for communication via the contention-based wireless link; andselectively distribute uplink bearer traffic between the interface configured for communication via the cellular link and the interface configured for communication via the contention-based wireless link.