Providing special radio provisions to link budget limited user equipment at activation
System and methods for providing special radio provisions to link budget limited devices. Before establishing a cellular connection with a cellular network, a user equipment device (UE), such as a link budget limited UE, may negotiate the special radio provisions with the network by presenting requested profile information to the network, and receiving back approved profile information from the network. The UE may perform these communications either directly, via a non-cellular communication connection with the network, or indirectly, via a companion or proxy device. When the UE initiates a cellular connection with the network, both entities may use information specified in the approved profile information, which may improve efficiency of the connection. In some scenarios, the approved profile information may identify a class of devices to which the UE belongs. The approved profile information may also be used in establishing connections with other devices of the same class.
1. A user equipment device (UE) comprising:
a cellular radio configured to communicate with a base station of a cellular communication network using a cellular communication protocol;
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the cellular radio; and
at least one memory storing:
a device class identifier indicating that the UE belongs to a first device class; and
software instructions executable by the at least one processor, wherein the software instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to:
communicate, to the cellular communication network, prior to transmitting a connection initiation request to the cellular communication network, requested values of one or more cellular settings associated with a profile of the first device class;
receive, from the cellular communication network, approved values of the one or more cellular settings, wherein the approved values of the one or more cellular connection settings are configured to improve efficiency of establishing a cellular connection between the base station and a device belonging to the first device class, wherein the approved values are based on the requested values; and
transmit a connection initiation request comprising the device class identifier to the base station to establish a cellular connection using cellular settings based on the approved values of the one or more cellular settings previously received from the cellular communication network.
2. The UE of claim 1 , further comprising:
a non-cellular radio communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the non-cellular radio configured to communicate with the cellular communication network using a non-cellular communication protocol, wherein the receiving the approved values of one or more cellular settings is performed via the non-cellular radio.
3. The UE of claim 2 , wherein, in communicating the requested values of the one or more cellular settings, the software instructions are further executable to cause the UE to:
transmit, to the cellular communication network, via the non-cellular radio, the requested values of the one or more cellular connection settings.
4. The UE of claim 3 ,
wherein at least one of the approved values for a first cellular setting is the same as the requested value for the first cellular setting.
5. The UE of claim 3 ,
wherein at least one of the approved values for a first cellular setting is different than the requested value for the first cellular connection setting.
6. The UE of claim 1 , further comprising:
a non-cellular radio communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the non-cellular radio configured to communicate, using a non-cellular communication protocol, with a companion device associated with the UE, wherein the companion device is configured to obtain the approved values of the one or more cellular settings from the cellular communication network, wherein the receiving the approved values of one or more cellular settings is performed via the companion device.
7. The UE of claim 6 , wherein, in communicating the requested values of the one or more cellular settings, the software instructions are further executable to cause the UE to:
transmit, to the companion device, via the non-cellular radio, the requested values of the one or more cellular connection settings.
8. A method for establishing a cellular network connection for a link budget limited cellular communication device, the method comprising:
by the link budget limited cellular communication device:
communicating to a cellular communication network, prior to transmitting a connection initiation request to the cellular communication network, requested values of one or more cellular settings for a cellular connection between the cellular communication network and the link budget limited cellular communication device;
receiving from the cellular communication network, prior to transmitting the connection initiation request to the cellular communication network, approved values for the one or more cellular settings; and
transmitting, after said communicating the requested values and after said receiving the approved values, the connection initiation request to the cellular communication network to establish a cellular connection using cellular settings based on the approved values.
9. The method of claim 8 ,
wherein the approved values are determined by the cellular communication network in response to the cellular communication network receiving the requested values of the one or more cellular settings from the link budget limited cellular communication device.
10. The method of claim 8 ,
wherein at least one of the approved values for a first cellular setting is the same as the requested value for the first cellular setting.
11. The method of claim 8 ,
wherein at least one of the approved values for a first cellular setting is different than the requested value for the first cellular setting.
12. The method of claim 8 ,
wherein said communicating to the cellular communication network comprises:
communicating the requested values of the one or more cellular settings to a provisioning server; and
the provisioning server communicating the requested values of the one or more cellular settings to a Home Subscriber Server (HSS);
wherein the approved values are determined by the HSS.
13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the requested values are selected to improve efficiency of establishing the cellular connection between the cellular communication network and the link budget limited cellular communication device.
14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the communicating to the cellular communication network and the receiving from the cellular communication network are performed over a non-cellular connection.
15. The method of claim 8 , wherein the communicating to the cellular communication network and the receiving from the cellular communication network are performed via a mobile device acting as a proxy for the link budget limited device, wherein the mobile device has a previously established cellular connection with the cellular communication network.
16. A non-transitory computer-readable memory medium storing software instructions executable by a processor of a link budget limited cellular communication device to cause the link budget limited cellular communication device to:
communicate to a cellular communication network, prior to transmitting a connection initiation request to the cellular communication network, requested values of one or more cellular settings for a cellular connection between the cellular communication network and the link budget limited cellular communication device;
receive from the cellular communication network, prior to transmitting the connection initiation request to the cellular communication network, approved values for the one or more cellular settings; and
transmit, after said communicating the requested values and after said receiving the approved values, the connection initiation request to the cellular communication network to establish a cellular connection using cellular settings based on the approved values.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 16 ,
wherein the approved values are determined by the cellular communication network in response to the cellular communication network receiving the requested values of the one or more cellular settings from the link budget limited cellular communication device.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 16 ,
wherein the requested values are selected to improve efficiency of establishing the cellular connection between the cellular communication network and the link budget limited cellular communication device.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 16 ,
wherein the communicating to the cellular communication network and the receiving from the cellular communication network are performed over a non-cellular connection.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 16 ,
wherein the communicating to the cellular communication network and the receiving from the cellular communication network are performed via a mobile device acting as a proxy for the link budget limited device, wherein the mobile device has a previously established cellular connection with the cellular communication network.