Abstract: LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) at the radio access network level promises significant gain in system capacity and user quality of experience (QoE). In order to support QoS over LWA, there is a need to develop mechanisms to ensure that the access category (AC) classification chosen by a wireless device (AP in the case of downlink, and UE in case of uplink) is consistent with the QoS requirements of the EPS bearer/DRB and/or subscriber profile to which the traffic belongs. The cellular LTE network can provision QoS for both downlink and uplink data flows that are transferred using LWA access.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are provided for LWA uplink routing. In one novel aspect, signaling of an address from the eNB to the UE to enable the UE to populate Address-3 of the MAC header to enable layer-2 forwarding of uplink LWA PDUs from the WLAN AP to an appropriate network entity that implements part or the whole WT functionalities. In one embodiment, the network entity is a WT node, or the eNB or a node aggregating multiple connections to a WT node. In one embodiment, the RRC signaling is used to send the WT node MAC address where the RRC signaling message is a PDCP-Config message or a WLAN-MobilityConfig message. In one embodiment, multiple WT nodes are connected with the WLAN AP. The eNB selects one WT node or the UE selects one WT node to populate the address-3 of the MAC header.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are provided for selection and data aggregation for the LWA. In one novel aspect, the UE connected with a first RAN receives a LWA assistance configuration and selects a second RAN based on the LWA assistance configuration. The UE aggregates data traffic from the first RAN and the selected second RAN. In one embodiment, the information request-and-response procedure is used, which allows the first RAN to query the UE about its second RAN association status. In another embodiment, the selection request-and-response procedure is used, which allows the first RAN to exercise some control over which base station of the second RAN is selected by the UE and for the UE to send relevant information about its second RAN connectivity to the first RAN. In another novel aspect, the UE selects a DRB based on the LWA DRB configuration through either a NAS procedure or an operator configuration.

Abstract: A method of adaptive transmission time interval (TTI) tuning based on TCP information is proposed. First, a procedure for TCP information delivery between eNB and TCP sender/TCP receiver is disclosed. The TCP information comprises TCP status, TCP congestion window (CWND) size, TCP round trip delay, TCP SS threshold, TCP index, and TCP event indication. Second, various methods for eNB to configure TTI with UE TCP information and/or buffer information are disclosed. A first method is saturation detection which includes buffer status based saturation detection and CWND based saturation detection. A second method is Greedy Buffer Clearing. A third method is TCP state based TTI selection method.

Abstract: A tagging mechanism supporting different QoS categories for IP/Port services in a cellular radio network is proposed. Tags are used to differentiate different types of services and corresponding QoS requirements. At the sender side, the sender of the IP packets is able to distinguish different types of services by tagging one or multiple bits for finer QoS control. For downlink IP traffic, the tagging function can be done at the base station. For uplink IP traffic, the tagging function can be done at the UE. At the receiver side, the receiver delivers the IP packets using out-of-sequence delivery for delay sensitive packets. With tagging and out-of-sequence delivery, the delay sensitive packets can reduce CN latency and transmission latency.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are provided for LWA PDU routing. In one novel aspect, LTE PDU packets are routed through a WLAN AP to a UE by encapsulation of the data packets. An adaption layer encapsulate the whole packet as an Ethernet frame by appending the Ethernet MAC header to the payload. In other embodiments, the adaption layer encapsulates LTE PDU as GRE packet, configures VLAN for WLAN AP. In another novel aspect, the LTE PDU is identified by at least one of methods comprising the EtherType value, the source address, the GRE header, and the GTP header. In another embodiment, the default path is always used for LWA routing. In yet another novel aspect, the LTE PDU is forwarded by the MAC address, by the GRE tunnel configuration, or by the GTP tunnel configuration.

Abstract: A method of channel access procedure and QoS provisioning is proposed. When more than one user equipments (UEs) contend uplink transmission for a given time slot in an unlicensed band, uplink listen-before-talk (LBT) scheme should perform in a proper way to reflect service prioritization. The base station first determines the Channel Access Priority (CAP) for uplink LBT, and then signals such CAP to the UE via PDCCH. Upon receiving the CAP, the UE performs LBT procedure with corresponding CAP before uplink transmission. For example, the CAP can be determined based on QoS class identifier (QCI) of the radio bearer or based on the MAC layer logical channel prioritization (LCP).

Abstract: A method of dynamic spectrum sharing mechanism called listen-before-talk (LBT) is proposed for uplink transmission in Licensed Assisted Access (LAA). A maximum channel occupancy time (MCOT) including downlink (DL) transmission from one eNB and uplink (UL) transmission to the same eNB is introduced. A transmission sequence is defined as a number of subframes including possible partial subframes for DL and/or UL within a MCOT. The transmission in the first subframe among the transmission sequence is conducted after a Category 4 LBT. The transmission sequence within the MCOT can be initiated by either a DL transmission or an UL transmission. After the first subframe in a transmission sequence, LBT for another transmission is a fast DL LBT and/or fast UL LBT. Further, a Category 4 LBT can be converted to a short LBT (e.g., one shot CCA) for more efficient channel access.

Abstract: Methods for LTE-WLAN interworking control and management are proposed. In one novel aspect, a mobile termination (MT) can use an AT command to report radio access network (RAN) assistance parameters of the current serving cell. A terminal equipment (TE) can use the AT command to query the specific RAN assistance parameters and the threshold value provided by the network for making LTE-WLAN interworking decisions. If reporting is enabled by TE, then an unsolicited result code (URC) is sent from MT to TE whenever changes in the current RAN assistance parameters occur.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are provided for user-plane LWA PDU routing. In one novel aspect, LTE PDU packets are routed through a WLAN AP to a UE by encapsulation of the data packets. In one embodiment, a bridge/VLAN architecture is used. The UE identifies one or more Ethernet Frames received the WLAN interface as containing the PDCP PDUs by decoding the EtherType. In another embodiment, the WLAN terminated tunneling is used by decoding the EtherType of indicating the PDCP type. In another novel aspect, an UE-terminated tunneling is created. In one embodiment, the IP tunneling is used. In another embodiment, the GRE tunneling is used. The GRE header contains a KEY field to identify the packets as being the LWA packets. In yet another embodiment, the IPSec tunneling is used. The SPI of the header is used to identify the packets as being the LWA data packets.

Abstract: LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) at the radio access network level promises significant gain in system capacity and user quality of experience (QoE). In order to support QoS over LWA, there is a need to develop mechanisms to ensure that the access category (AC) classification chosen by a wireless device (AP in the case of downlink, and UE in case of uplink) is consistent with the QoS requirements of the EPS bearer/DRB and/or subscriber profile to which the traffic belongs. The cellular LTE network can provision QoS for both downlink and uplink data flows that are transferred using LWA access.

Abstract: LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) at the radio access network level promises significant gain in system capacity and user quality of experience (QoE). In order to support QoS over LWA, there is a need to develop mechanisms to ensure that the access category (AC) classification chosen by a wireless device (AP in the case of downlink, and UE in case of uplink) is consistent with the QoS requirements of the EPS bearer/DRB and/or subscriber profile to which the traffic belongs. The cellular LTE network can provision QoS for both downlink and uplink data flows that are transferred using LWA access.

Abstract: LWA (LTE/WLAN Aggregation) is a tight integration at radio level which allows for real-time channel and load aware radio resource management across WLAN and LTE to provide significant user perceived throughput (UPT) improvement. When enabling LWA, packets are routed to a base station (eNB) for performing PDCP functionalities as an LTE PDU. Afterwards, the eNB can dispatch the PDU either delivered over LTE link or WLAN link. The UPT improvement depends on how the eNB dispatches the PDU over LTE link or WLAN link. In one novel aspect, the eNB can acquire channel information, load information, and throughput estimation regarding with WLAN link and LTE link. As a result, the eNB can optimize UPT and LWA PDU dispatching algorithm.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are provided for finer control for WLAN association. In one novel aspect, an enhanced NCWIK capability negotiation, an UE assistance information exchange, and an enhanced steering command are performed. In one embodiment, the enhanced NCIWK capacity negotiation includes additional UE information for fine selection. In another embodiment, the UE assistance information is sent to the eNB in addition to the measurement report. The UE assistance information is configured by the eNB. In yet another embodiment, the enhanced traffic steering command includes information of a target AP and one or more target channels. In one embodiment, the enhanced traffic steering command further includes channel direction information. In another novel aspect, the UE selects different UL and DL channels based on the received enhanced traffic steering command. In one embodiment, the UL and DL channels for the UE are different channels from the same AP or from different RATS.

Abstract: LWA (LTE-WLAN Aggregation) is a tight integration at radio level which allows for real-time channel and load aware radio resource management across WLAN and LTE to provide significant capacity and quality of experience (QoE) improvements. When enabling LWA, packets are routed to a base station (eNB) for performing PDCP functionalities as an LTE PDU. Afterwards, the eNB can schedule the PDU either translated over LTE link or WLAN link. The eNB can acquire packet delay information regarding the WLAN link or obtain PDCP layer performance feedback from the UE. As a result, the eNB can adjust PDCP parameter setting and LWA scheduling accordingly.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are provided for LWA PDU routing. In one novel aspect, LTE PDU packets are routed through a WLAN AP to a UE by encapsulation of the data packets. An adaption layer encapsulate the whole packet as an Ethernet frame by appending the Ethernet MAC header to the payload. In other embodiments, the adaption layer encapsulates LTE PDU as GRE packet, configures VLAN for WLAN AP. In another novel aspect, the LTE PDU is identified by at least one of methods comprising the EtherType value, the source address, the GRE header, and the GTP header. In another embodiment, the default path is always used for LWA routing. In yet another novel aspect, the LTE PDU is forwarded by the MAC address, by the GRE tunnel configuration, or by the GTP tunnel configuration.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are provided for selection and data aggregation for the LWA. In one novel aspect, the UE connected with a first RAN receives a LWA assistance configuration and selects a second RAN based on the LWA assistance configuration. The UE aggregates data traffic from the first RAN and the selected second RAN. In one embodiment, the information request-and-response procedure is used, which allows the first RAN to query the UE about its second RAN association status. In another embodiment, the selection request-and-response procedure is used, which allows the first RAN to exercise some control over which base station of the second RAN is selected by the UE and for the UE to send relevant information about its second RAN connectivity to the first RAN. In another novel aspect, the UE selects a DRB based on the LWA DRB configuration through either a NAS procedure or an operator configuration.

Abstract: Methods for LTE-WLAN interworking control and management are proposed. In one novel aspect, a mobile termination (MT) can use an AT command to report radio access network (RAN) assistance parameters of the current serving cell. A terminal equipment (TE) can use the AT command to query the specific RAN assistance parameters and the threshold value provided by the network for making LTE-WLAN interworking decisions. If reporting is enabled by TE, then an unsolicited result code (URC) is sent from MT to TE whenever changes in the current RAN assistance parameters occur.

Abstract: Methods for LTE-WLAN interworking control and management are proposed. In one novel aspect, a terminal equipment (TE) can use an AT command to query the WLAN offloadability of a packet data network (PDN) connection. A mobile termination (MT) can store the WLAN offloadability indication in its memory and return the value to TE upon receiving the AT command. In one example, a new field <WLAN_Offload> can be added to an existing AT command.

Abstract: Methods for LTE-WLAN interworking control and management are proposed. In one novel aspect, a mobile termination (MT) can use an AT command to report the change of a RAN rule and/or a RAN condition match. A terminal equipment (TE) can use the AT command to query a list of matches and current RAN measurement values. A RAN rule match means one or more than one of RAN rules satisfy the threshold provided by the network according to TS36.304 description, or change from satisfied to unsatisfied. A RAN condition match means all RAN rules within a RAN condition are all satisfied according to TS36.604 description, or if any of the RAN condition change from satisfied to unsatisfied. If the reporting is enabled by TE, an unsolicited result code (URC) is sent from MT to TE whenever changes in the current RAN rule or RAN condition match occur.