Abstract: A method and system to help facilitate communication between a user equipment device (UE) and an access node that is serving the UE, in a scenario where a bearer is configured for the UE, the bearer having a defined set of quality-of-service (QoS) requirements for communication of user-plane data on the bearer. When wireless coverage of the UE from the access node is threshold poor, the access node and a supporting core network could interwork to loosen the set of QoS requirements of the bearer in an effort to avoid loss of the bearer. And upon loosening of the set of QoS requirements, the access node could invoke Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) duplication for the communication between the UE and the access node on the bearer, to help improve quality of the communication between the UE and the access node in presence of the threshold poor wireless coverage.

Abstract: A method and system for controlling connectivity of a user equipment device (UE), the UE being dual-connectivity capable. The UE detects that the UE has ping-ponged at a threshold high rate between standalone connectivity and dual connectivity. And responsive to at least detecting that the UE has ping-ponged at the threshold high rate between standalone connectivity and dual connectivity, the UE transmits, to an access node serving the UE, a report including an indication that the UE is not dual-connectivity capable, even though the UE is dual-connectivity capable. The access node could then use the indication in the report as a basis to forgo configuring of dual connectivity for the UE, which could thereby help discontinue the ping-ponging.

Abstract: When a first coverage area will use a first TDD configuration and a second coverage area will use a second TDD configuration that is different than the first TDD configuration, a guard band operatively separating the first and second coverage areas (in frequency and/or in space) will be configured with an enhanced TDD configuration that is specially structured to be consistent with both the first and second TDD configurations. Namely, the enhanced TDD configuration could be downlink just when both the first and second TDD configurations are downlink and uplink just when both the first and second TDD configurations are uplink, and can unused at other times.

Abstract: A method and system for dynamically controlling service capability configuration in a system in which a UE is served concurrently on at least two air-interface connections including a first air-interface connection with a first access node and a second air-interface connection with a second access node and in which the UE applies a dynamic power sharing to control uplink transmit power of the UE respectively on each connection. In an example method, the UE's power headroom on the first connection is determined and is used as a basis to control service capability configuration for service of the UE on the second connection. For instance, based on the UE's power headroom on the first connection, second-connection capabilities data of the UE could be reconfigured to add or remove a service feature capability.

Abstract: A method and system for controlling wireless transmission to a user equipment device (UE) while the UE is served on a plurality of carriers each having a respective downlink bandwidth. An example method includes determining that a first carrier of the plurality of carriers has a wider downlink bandwidth than a second carrier of the plurality of carriers. And the method then includes, based at least on the determining, causing transmission to the UE on the first carrier to use a greater quantity of multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) layers than transmission to the UE on the second carrier.

Abstract: A method and system for blindly triggering handover based on past failures to trigger handover of beamforming-served devices. A computing system identifies a geolocation area where wireless communication devices (WCDs) that are served with beamforming by a first access node tend to experience radio link failure after having reported to the first access node being within threshold weak coverage of the first access node and threshold strong coverage of a second access node. And, based on the identifying, the computing system then blindly triggers handover of a given WCD from the first access node to the second access node in response to determining that the given WCD is served with beamforming by the first access node while positioned in the identified geolocation area.

Abstract: When a first access node is considering setup of dual-connectivity service for a UE, the first access node could take into consideration the MU-MIMO grouping efficiency respectively of each of one or more candidate second access nodes, in order to decide whether to set up the dual-connectivity service for the UE and/or to decide which of the multiple second access nodes to use for the UE's dual-connectivity service. MU-MIMO grouping efficiency of a given access node could be a representative count of UEs that the access node has provided with MU-MIMO service per unit time. Thus, for instance, the first access node may decide to use a given candidate second access node for the dual-connectivity service of the UE, with the decision being based on the given candidate second access node having a higher MU-MIMO grouping efficiency than one or more other candidate second access nodes.

Abstract: A mechanism to help control connectivity of a user equipment device (UE). When the UE is served by a master node (MN) that does not support VOP service, the MN will cause the UE to not have a secondary connection with a secondary node (SN) that would engage in control-plane signaling with the UE via the UE's master connection with the MN. For instance, in that situation, the MN could avoid setting up the secondary connection for the UE in the first place. Or if the secondary connection exists already, the MN could tear down that secondary connection. By causing the secondary connection to not exist, the mechanism may help to avoid problems with operation of the secondary connection as a result of the UE tuning away to facilitate voice service.

Abstract: A method and system for dynamically controlling coverage measurement in a system in which a UE is served concurrently on at least two air-interface connections including a first air-interface connection with a first access node and a second air-interface connection with a second access node and in which the UE applies a dynamic power sharing to control uplink transmit power of the UE respectively on each connection. In an example method, the UE's power headroom on the first connection is determined and is used as a basis to control a handover measurement threshold to be applied by the UE for evaluation of coverage strength for the second connection.

Abstract: A method and system to help control connectivity of a UE served with dual connectivity by a master node and a plurality of secondary nodes. An intermediary that is disposed between a core-network gateway system and the secondary nodes tracks data flow between the gateway system and the secondary nodes and provides the master node with a data-flow report, which the master node could use as a basis to trigger release of the UE's RRC connection, and/or to control addition or removal of one or more secondary nodes for the UE's dual-connectivity service.

Abstract: A method and system for controlling configuration of dual-connectivity service for a user equipment device (UE), where the dual-connectivity service would involve the UE being served concurrently by a first access node over a first connection according to a first radio access technology (RAT) and by a second access node over a second connection according to a second RAT. An example method includes selecting the second access node to be used in the dual-connectivity service of the UE, with the selecting being based cooperatively on (i) a power class of the UE and (ii) a quantity of receive antennas of the second access node. And the example method further includes, based on the selecting, configuring the dual-connectivity service for the UE.

Abstract: When a first access node is considering setup of dual-connectivity service for a UE, the first access node could take into consideration a group delay variation of each of one or more candidate second access nodes, in order to decide whether to set up the dual-connectivity service for the UE and/or to decide which of the multiple second access nodes to use for the UE's dual-connectivity service. For instance, the first access node may decide to use a given candidate second access node for the dual-connectivity service of the UE, with the decision being based on the given candidate second access node having a lower group delay variation than one or more other candidate second access nodes.

Abstract: Disclosed is a mechanism to help reconfigure the geographic coverage area of a second access node so as to better cover UEs that experienced connection-addition failures with the second access node. In accordance with the disclosure, a computing system could determine geolocations where UEs that experienced connection-addition failures with the second access node were located when the UEs experienced the connection-addition failures with the second access node. The computing system could then reconfigure the antenna configuration of the second access node in an effort to have the geographic coverage area of the second access node better cover the determined geolocations.

Abstract: A method and system for controlling operation of a first access node that supports operation according to a first radio access technology (RAT) but does not support dual-connectivity operation according to the first RAT and a second RAT. A controller detects a high extent of occurrences of dual-connectivity-capable user equipment devices (UEs) being connected with the first access node when the dual-connectivity-capable UEs could instead connect with a second access node that supports the dual-connectivity operation. And in response, the controller suppresses coverage of the first access node, such as by reducing a maximum signal delay that the first access node applies for determining whether to accept random-access requests from UEs and/or (ii) reducing reference-signal transmission power of the first access node.

Abstract: Disclosed is a mechanism to help control which of multiple carriers a base station will serve a UE on—perhaps which carrier should be the UE's primary component carrier for carrier-aggregation service. The disclosed mechanism can apply in a scenario where a base station is configured to provide service on multiple carriers including at least a first carrier and a second carrier, and when the base station is serving one or more relays respectively on each carrier. In that scenario, the selection of a carrier on which the base station should serve a UE could be made based at least on a consideration of how many UEs are served in total by the one or more relays that the base station serves respectively on each carrier, such as by selecting the carrier having the fewest such relay-served UEs.

Abstract: A mechanism for controlling a measurement threshold used for triggering transition of a user equipment device (UE) from being connected with a first access node on a first carrier to being connected with the first access node instead on a second carrier. A determination is made as to whether the first carrier on which the UE is connected with the first access node is an anchor carrier for dual-connectivity service of the UE. And responsive to at least the determination being that the first carrier on which the UE is connected with the first access node is the anchor carrier for dual-connectivity service of the UE, the measurement threshold is adjusted from a default level to an adjusted level to help facilitate transition of the UE from being connected with the first access node on the first carrier to being connected with the first access node instead on the second carrier.

Abstract: A timeout period for a base station to wait for a UE's response to bearer-setup messaging from the base station will be set based on an evaluation of how often the UE (or a class of UEs of which the UE is a member) has experienced bearer-setup failures. For instance, the base station could generally apply a default timeout period for waiting to receive bearer-setup response messaging from UEs. But for a given UE that has recently experienced a high rate of bearer-setup failures, the base station could apply a longer timeout period, to help cope with that UE's tendency to be slower to respond to the base station's bearer-setup messaging.

Abstract: When an access node is providing a UE with carrier-aggregation service on a PCell in combination with one or more SCells and the UE engages in a voice call including uplink voice communication on the PCell, the access node will determine that there is a threshold high level of IMD on the uplink resulting from concurrent downlink transmissions, and the access node will responsively swap the UE's PCell with one of the UE's one or more SCells. In a representative implementation, the decision to swap these carriers in the UE's connection could be based on a further determination that the level of IMD on the uplink of the SCell is not threshold high.

Abstract: A method and system for controlling wireless connectivity between a user equipment device (UE) and an access node, where the access node supports operation on an FDD carrier and a TDD carrier, where FDD carrier has an uplink bandwidth, and where the TDD carrier has an effective uplink bandwidth that is defined based on an actual bandwidth of the TDD carrier limited by how often the TDD carrier is uplink (e.g., per a frame configuration). A method includes detecting, when the UE is connected with the access node on the TDD carrier, that the UE will engage in a threshold great extent of uplink data communication to the access node and, responsive to at least the detecting, reconfiguring the UE's connection by replacing the TDD carrier with the FDD carrier, based on the uplink bandwidth of the FDD carrier being greater than the effective uplink bandwidth of the TDD carrier.

Abstract: A mechanism for controlling a measurement threshold used for triggering handover of a user equipment device (UE) when the UE is connected with a first access node, the first access node operating on a first frequency band and a second frequency band, and a second access operating on the second frequency band. A determination is made as to whether the UE supports inter-band dual-connectivity service with the UE being connected with the first access node on the first band and with the second access node on the second band. And responsive to the determination being that the UE does not support the inter-band dual-connectivity service, the measurement threshold is adjusted from a default level to an adjusted level to help facilitate handover of the UE from being connected with the first access node on the first band to being connected with the first access node instead on the second band.