Method and system for managing carriers based on simultaneous voice and data communication

1. A method of controlling service of a user equipment device (UE) by a base station, the method comprising:

serving by the base station the UE over an air interface connection;

detecting by the base station simultaneous voice and data communication by the UE; and

responsive to the detecting the simultaneous voice and data communication by the UE, invoking by the base station carrier-aggregation service of the UE,

wherein, in the single-carrier mode, the air interface connection encompasses just one carrier, and in the carrier-aggregation mode, the air interface connection encompasses multiple carriers,

wherein invoking by the base station carrier-aggregation service of the UE comprises transitioning by the base station from serving the UE in a single-carrier mode to serving the UE in a carrier-aggregation mode, and

wherein transitioning from serving the UE in the single-carrier mode to serving the UE in the carrier-aggregation mode comprises modifying the air interface connection to encompass the multiple carriers instead of just the one carrier.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each carrier has a defined frequency bandwidth and defines channels comprising a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the air interface connection comprises engaging in Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling with the UE to inform the UE that the air interface connection encompasses the multiple carriers and to identify each encompassed carrier.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the simultaneous voice and data communication is simultaneous voice-call communication and non-voice-call communication.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the voice-call communication comprises voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call communication.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein detecting the simultaneous voice-call communication and non-voice-call communication is based on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of (i) deep packet inspection of one or more packets flowing to or from the UE and (ii) service level of a bearer over which packets flow to or from the UE.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein invoking by the base station carrier-aggregation service of the UE comprises beginning by the base station to serve the UE in a carrier-aggregation mode, the method further comprising:

after invoking the carrier-aggregation service of the UE, detecting by the base station an absence of simultaneous voice and data communication by the UE; and

responsive to detecting the absence of simultaneous voice can data communication by the UE, transitioning by the base station from serving the UE in the carrier-aggregation mode to serving the UE in a single-carrier mode.

8. The method of claim 7 ,

wherein transitioning from serving the UE in the carrier-aggregation mode to serving the UE in the single-carrier mode comprises modifying the air interface connection to encompass just the one carrier rather than the multiple carriers.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein each carrier has a defined frequency bandwidth and defines channels comprising a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein modifying the air interface connection to encompass just the one carrier rather than the multiple carriers comprises engaging in Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling with the UE to inform the UE that the air interface connection encompasses just the one carrier and to identify the one encompassed carrier.

11. A method of controlling service of a user equipment device (UE) by a base station, the method comprising:

serving, by a base station, the UE over an air interface connection between the base station and the UE;

making a determination by the base station of whether or not the UE engages in simultaneous voice and data communication;

based on the determination of whether or not the UE engages in simultaneous voice and data communication, making a decision by the base station of whether to serve the UE in a single-carrier mode or rather in a carrier-aggregation mode; and

serving by the base station the UE in accordance with the decision,

wherein, if the determination is that the UE engages in simultaneous voice and data communication, then, in response to the determination, the base station responsively configures the air interface connection to encompass multiple carriers rather than just one carrier and the base station serves the UE in the carrier-aggregation mode on the multiple carriers.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein making the decision of whether to serve the UE in the single-carrier mode or rather in the carrier-aggregation mode comprises:

if the determination is that the UE does not engage in simultaneous voice and data communication, then deciding to serve the UE in the single-carrier mode; and

if the determination is that the UE engages in simultaneous voice and data communication, then deciding to serve the UE in the carrier-aggregation mode.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein voice communication is voice-call communication and data communication is non-voice-call communication, and wherein the determination of whether the UE engages in simultaneous voice and data communication is a determination of whether the UE engages in simultaneous voice-call and non-voice-call communication.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein each carrier has a defined frequency bandwidth and defines channels comprising a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the determination of whether or not the UE engages in simultaneous voice and data communication is based on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of (i) deep packet inspection of one or more packets flowing to or from the UE and (ii) service level of a bearer over which packets flow to or from the UE.

16. A base station comprising:

an antenna structure for communicating over a radio-frequency air interface; and

a controller configured to manage communication via the antenna structure over the air interface,

wherein the controller is configured to (i) make a determination of whether a UE served by the base station over the air interface engages in simultaneous voice and data communication, (ii) make a decision, based on the determination of whether the UE engages in simultaneous voice and data communication, of whether the base station should serve the UE in a single-carrier mode or rather in a carrier-aggregation mode, and (iii) cause the base station to serve the UE in accordance with the decision

wherein, if the determination is that the UE engages in simultaneous voice and data communication, then, in response to the determination, the base station responsively configures the air interface connection to encompass multiple carriers rather than just one carrier and the base station serves the UE in the carrier-aggregation mode on the multiple carriers.

17. The base station of claim 16 , wherein the simultaneous voice and data communication is simultaneous voice-call communication and non-voice-call communication.