Abstract: When a first access node is considering setup of dual-connectivity service for a UE, the first access node could determine that the UE supports dual-band dual-connectivity service in which the UE would be served concurrently by a first access node, under a first radio access technology (RAT) over a first connection on a first frequency band and by a second access node, under a second RAT over a second connection on a second frequency band. To help optimize service when faced with the ability to set up either single-band dual-connectivity for the UE or dual-band dual-connectivity for the UE, the first access node will set up single-band dual connectivity for the UE.

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: A method and system to control configuration of dual-connectivity service a user equipment device (UE), wherein the dual-connectivity service including the UE being served concurrently by a master node (MN) over a first connection and by a secondary node (SN) over a second connection. An example method includes (i) identifying multiple pairs of access nodes as candidate pairs of access nodes to be the MN and SN for the dual-connectivity service, (ii) for each identified pair, determining an inter-access-node communication delay, (iii) comparing the determined inter-access-node communication delays of the identified pairs and, based on the comparing, selecting one of the identified pairs to be the MN and SN for the dual-connectivity service, and (iv) causing the dual-connectivity service to be set up for the UE with the selected pair of access nodes being the MN and SN for the dual-connectivity service.

Abstract: A method and system for enabling MMS message delivery to a recipient device. An MMSC receives and stores MMS message content to be delivered to the recipient device, and the MMSC responsively sends to the recipient device an MMS-notification message carrying an address of the MMS message content stored at the MMSC and then receives a reply indicating that the recipient device received the MMS-notification message. The MMSC then detects that, after the MMSC received the reply, (i) at least a predefined threshold amount of time has passed and (ii) the MMSC has not yet received from the recipient device a request to download the MMS message content. And responsive to at least the detecting, the MMSC then sends to the recipient device a data-service-trigger message that triggers turning on data service of the recipient device, thus enabling MMS-message delivery to the recipient device.

Abstract: A method and system for controlling application of MU-MIMO. The disclosure provides for considering a device's power class as a basis to decide whether to provide the device with MU-MIMO service. For instance, a base station could determine which of the base station's served devices that are threshold distant from the base station are each a high power device rather than a lower power device. And on at least that basis, the base station could select each such device to receive MU-MIMO service. Or faced with a choice between devices to receive MU-MIMO service, the base station could compare the devices' power classes and could select the devices that have higher power class to receive MU-MIMO service.

Abstract: A method and system for controlling air-interface connectivity of a user equipment device (UE). A computing system detects, when the UE has dual connectivity including a first air-interface connection with a first access node and a second air-interface connection with a second access node, and when the first air-interface connection is defined on a first carrier, that the UE is moving toward a geographic area where UEs that were served by the first access node on the first carrier as part of dual connectivity lost their dual connectivity due to their having insufficient aggregate dual-connectivity throughput. And based at least on the detecting, the computing system reconfigures the first air-interface connection of the UE's dual connectivity to be defined on a lower-frequency second carrier, to help avoid having the UE lose its dual connectivity.

Abstract: A method for controlling configuration of an air interface between an access node and at least one user equipment device (UE), where the air interface is divided over time into frames and the frames are further divided at least into subframes, where the air interface operates in accordance with a time-division-duplex (TDD) configuration that defines at least a number of uplink subframes per frame for communication over the air interface. An example method includes (i) detecting at least a threshold high rate of uplink voice muting on the air interface, and (ii) responsive to at least the detecting, changing the TDD configuration to increase the number of uplink subframes per frame over the air interface.

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 responding to a processing failure of an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). An example method includes a computing system detecting the processing failure of the IMS and responsively causing one or more user equipment devices (UEs) to forgo using the IMS for voice over IP (VoIP) call placement and to instead use an alternate VoIP calling service for VoIP call placement. For instance, a given UE may be configured by default to use the IMS for VoIP call placement, but the UE may detect an IMS processing failure and may responsively instead make a next VoIP call placement attempt using an alternate VoIP calling service, such as a third party VoIP calling application running on the UE.

Abstract: A method and system to control anchor carrier configuration for dual-connectivity service of a user equipment device (UE), the dual-connectivity service including the UE being served concurrently by a master node (MN) over a first connection and by a secondary node (SN) over a second connection. An example method includes determining, when the UE has the first connection with the MN, that the UE is within threshold poor coverage of the MN. And the method includes selecting as the anchor carrier one of multiple carriers on which the MN provides service. Further, the method includes, based at least on determining that the UE is within the threshold poor coverage of the MN, basing the carrier selection on a transmission mode that the MN supports using on the selected carrier. And the method includes causing the selected carrier to be the anchor carrier for the dual-connectivity service of the UE.

Abstract: A method and system for dynamically controlling random-access-request transmission in a cell provided by an access node, the access node supporting access attempts by user equipment devices (UEs). An example method includes (i) determining an extent to which the cell has experienced access blocks due to connection-request communication failure after successful random-access transmission and (ii) using the determined extent as a basis to dynamically set a physical random access channel (PRACH) format of the cell, wherein the PRACH format defines one or more configuration settings for random-access-request transmission by UEs in the cell and correlates with an effective radius of the cell.

Abstract: A method and system for controlling carrier load in a wireless communication system that supports multiple user equipment devices (UEs) each being primarily connected with a first access node on a first carrier and each having a respective secondary connection for dual-connectivity service. An example method includes (i) monitoring a distribution of the respective secondary connections of the UEs among being on a second carrier and being on a third carrier, the third carrier having wider bandwidth than the second carrier, (ii) based on the monitoring, determining that at least a predefined threshold portion of the UEs have their secondary connections on the third carrier rather than on the second carrier, and (iii) based at least on the determining, taking action to control load on the first carrier, such as limiting a maximum number of UEs allowed to be concurrently connected with the first access node on the first carrier.

Abstract: A method and system to control selection of a serving cell for a UE. An example method includes determining respectively for each candidate cell of multiple candidate cells a maximum backhaul bit rate of the candidate cell, determining that a given one of the candidate cells has a highest determined maximum backhaul bit rate among the candidate cells, and based at least on the determining that the given candidate cell has the highest determined maximum backhaul bit rate among the candidate cells, selecting the given candidate cell to be the serving cell for the UE. Further, the method could also include basing the selection on consideration of a backhaul packet-drop rate of the given cell. In example implementations, the selection of a serving cell could be a selection of a PCell for carrier-aggregation service, an anchor cell for dual-connectivity service, or a secondary cell for dual-connectivity service, among other possibilities.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for dynamically changing a channel state information (CSI) reporting protocol by adjusting CSI reporting frequency for a wireless device communicating with an access node within a wireless network. The methods and systems identify a power headroom (PHR) value at a particular wireless device and adjust the CSI reporting frequency when the PHR satisfies a predetermined threshold. The method changes the CSI reporting frequency for the wireless device to enable more frequent CSI reporting over a primary path to the access node to facilitate reallocation of resources.

Abstract: A mechanism 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 system 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 first access node blocks dual-connectivity-capable UEs from being connected with the first access node while allowing UEs that are not dual-connectivity capable to be connected with the first access node.

Abstract: A method and system to facilitate session continuity where a user-plane function (UPF) serves user-equipment devices (UEs) and communicates with a transport network by default through a first firewall. As each of various ones of the UEs establishes a respective TCP session via the first firewall, the UPF determines if the UE is likely to engage in latency-sensitive communication, such as if the UE is a Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) device and if so causes the first firewall to record the UE's TCP session 5-tuple to a centralized data storage. Thereafter when the UPF switches to use a second firewall instead of the first firewall (e.g., because the first firewall goes out of service), the UPF causes the second firewall to get from the centralized data store the TCP session 5-tuple of each such UE, for access-control use by the second firewall, to help provide session continuity.

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 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: 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 method and system to help prevent legacy devices that do not support a service feature such as uplink-downlink subcarrier shifting from connecting with an access node on a carrier where the service feature should be applied. An example method involves use of Network Signaling (NS) values that are used for spectral emission control. Per the disclosure, the access node could broadcast an NS value that legacy device are not configured to understand but that newer devices are configured to understand as relating to both spectral emission limitation and also the service feature at issue. Responsive to the broadcast of that NS value, the legacy devices will therefore not connect with the access node, while the newer devices may connect with the access node and apply the service feature.