Enhancements in channel reliability in scenarios operating on shared band
View Patent ↗The present invention proposes methods and devices for mobile communication deployed on shared bands, which enhance reliability of channels such as control channels. According to an aspect thereof, at a communication terminal, a list of channels useable for communication is maintained, information on the usability of a currently used channel is obtained, and it is switched to one of the channels of the list of useable channels if the currently used channel becomes unusable. The invention encompasses also corresponding computer products as well as methods, devices and computer products residing at a network node.
1. A method, comprising maintaining, at a communication terminal, a list of channels useable for communication, wherein the maintaining comprises updating the list of channels from a network node in case an update criterion is fulfilled, wherein said update criterion comprises an expiry timer indicating when the list of channels is valid, and wherein the updating comprises pulling, from the network node, the updated list of channels, obtaining, at the communication terminal, information on usability of a currently used channel, and switching, at the communication terminal, to one of the channels of the updated list of channels if the currently used channel becomes unusable; wherein prior to a threshold of the expiry timer an incremental update of the list is pulled from the network node, and following the threshold of the expiry timer a complete update of the list is pulled from the network node.
2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising re-connecting to the network node via the channel to which switching was performed.
3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising switching, at the communication terminal, to another one of the channels of the list of channels, if the re-connecting via the channel to which switching was performed was unsuccessful.
4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising re-establishing a connection to the network node via a predetermined channel or blindly via an arbitrary channel, in the event that the re-connecting failed for each channel of the list.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the list of channels further comprises per-channel attributes including a carrier ID, a center frequency, a bandwidth and a priority for each channel, and further comprising re-establishing a connection to the network node via a predetermined channel or blindly via an arbitrary channel, in the event that the expiry timer has expired and the currently used channel becomes unusable.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said update criterions further comprises, for each of the channels of the list, a validity attribute being a number of occasions on which the respective channel was used or attempted to be used.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the obtaining further comprises receiving a request from the network node to switch to one of the channels of the list, or detecting at the communication terminal that a connection to the network node is lost.
8. A device, comprising: a memory configured to maintain a list of channels useable for communication, and a processor, configured to obtain information on usability of a currently used channel, and configured to switch to one of the channels of the list of channels if the currently used channel becomes unusable, wherein the processor is further configured to update the list of channels from a network node in case an update criterion is fulfilled and to pull, from the network node, the updated list of channels, wherein said update criterion comprises an expiry timer indicating when the list of channels is valid; and wherein prior to a threshold of the expiry timer an incremental update of the list is pulled from the network node, and following the threshold of the expiry timer a complete update of the list is pulled from the network node.
9. The device according to claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to re-connect to the network node via the channel to which switching was performed.
10. The device according to claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to switch to another one of the channels of the list of channels, if the re-connecting via the channel to which switching was performed was unsuccessful.
11. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to re-establish a connection to the network node via a predetermined channel or blindly via an arbitrary channel, in the event that the re-connecting failed for each channel of the list.
12. The device according to claim 8 , wherein
the list of channels further comprises per-channel attributes including a carrier ID, a center frequency, a bandwidth and a priority for each channel, and
wherein the processor is further configured to re-establish a connection to the network node via a predetermined channel or blindly via an arbitrary channel, in the event that the expiry timer has expired and the expires used channel becomes unusable.
13. The device according to claim 8 , wherein said update criterion further comprises, for each of the channels of the list, a validity attribute being a number of occasions on which the respective channel was used or attempted to be used.
14. The device according to claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive, from the network node, a pushed list of channels.
15. The device according to claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a request from the network node to switch to one of the channels of the list, or detect that a connection to the network node is lost.
16. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable components which, when run on a computer, are configured to maintain, at a communication terminal, a list of channels useable for communication, wherein the computer-executable components are configured to maintain the list of channels by updating the list of channels from a network node in case an update criterion is fulfilled, wherein said update criterion comprises an expiry timer indicating when the list of channels is valid, and wherein the computer-executable components are configured to update the list of channels by pulling, from the network node, the updated list of channels, obtain, at the communication terminal, information on usability of a currently used channel, and switch, at the communication terminal, to one of the channels of the updated list of channels if the currently used channel becomes unusable; wherein prior to a threshold of the expiry timer an incremental update of the list is pulled from the network node, and following the threshold of the expiry timer a complete update of the list is pulled from the network node.
17. A method, comprising constructing, at a network node, a list of channels useable for communication, wherein the constructing further comprises updating the list of channels in case an update criterion is fulfilled, wherein said update criterion comprises an expiry timer indicating when the list of channels is valid, obtaining, at the network node, information on usability of a currently used channel, instructing to switch to one of the channels of the updated list of channels if the currently used channel becomes unusable, and distributing the updated list of channels to communication terminals using a pull model in which a communication terminal causes the updated list of channels to be pulled from the network node, the updated list comprising an incremental update of the list of channels when the updating is prior to a threshold of the expiry timer and comprising a complete update of the list of channels when the updating follows the threshold of the expiry timer.
18. The method according to claim 17 , further comprising re-connecting to the communication terminal via the channel to which it was instructed to be switched, and/or optionally wherein the obtaining further comprises detecting at the network node that a connection to a communication terminal is lost.
19. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the list of channels further comprise per-channel attributes including a carrier ID, a center frequency, a bandwidth and a priority for each channel, and further comprising re-establishing a connection to the communication terminal via a predetermined channel or blindly via an arbitrary channel, in the event that the expiry timer has expired and the currently used channel becomes unusable.
20. The method according to claim 17 , wherein said update criterion further comprises, for each of the channels of the list, a validity attribute being a number of occasions on which the respective channel was used or attempted to be used.
21. A device, comprising a processor configured to construct, at a network node, a list of channels useable for communication, and a memory configured to store the constructed list of channels, the processor further configured to obtain, at the network node, information on usability of a currently used channel, and to instruct a communication terminal to switch to one of the channels of the list of channels if the currently used channel becomes unusable, wherein the processor is further configured to update the list of channels in case an update criterion is fulfilled and to distribute the updated list of channels to communication terminals using a pull mode in which the communication terminal causes the updated list of channels to be pulled from the network node, wherein said update criterion comprises an expiry timer indicating when the list of channels is valid and the updated list comprises an incremental update of the list of channels when the updating is prior to a threshold of the expiry timer and comprises a complete update of the list of channels when the updating follows the threshold of the expiry timer.
22. The device according to claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to re-connect to a communication terminal via the channel to which said communication terminal was instructed to switch, and/or to detect at the network node that a connection to the communication terminal is lost.
23. The device according to claim 21 , wherein the list of channels stored in the memory further comprise per-channel attributes including a carrier ID, a center frequency, a bandwidth and a priority for each channel, and the processor is further configured to re-establish a connection to the communication terminal via a predetermined channel or blindly via an arbitrary channel, in the event that the expiry timer has expired and the currently used channel becomes unusable.
24. The device according to claim 21 , wherein said update criterion further comprises, for each of the channels of the list, a validity attribute being a number of occasions on which the respective channel was used or attempted to be used.
25. The device according to claim 24 , wherein the processor is further configured to distribute the list of channels to communication terminals using a push mode.