Dynamic control of uplink communication from a dual-connected device, based on antenna pattern efficiency per connection

1. A method for controlling uplink communication from a user equipment device (UE) that has at least two co-existing air-interface connections including a first air-interface connection with a first access node and a second air-interface connection with a second access node, wherein one of the first and second air-interface connections defines a primary uplink path of the UE to which the UE restricts uplink user-plane data transmission of the UE unless and until a trigger condition causes the UE to split the uplink user-plane data transmission of the UE between the first and second air-interface connections, the method comprising:

comparing a level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the first air-interface connection with a level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the second air-interface connection;

selecting, based at least on the comparing, one of the first and second air-interface connections to be the primary uplink path of the UE; and

configuring the UE in accordance with the selecting,

wherein the first access node has a first antenna structure that radiates to define a first antenna pattern defining a first coverage area in which the first air-interface connection is established, and wherein the level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the first air-interface connection comprises a level of antenna pattern efficiency of the first antenna structure based on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of (i) a sector power ratio of the first antenna pattern and (ii) a front to back ratio of the first antenna pattern, and

wherein the second access node has a second antenna structure that radiates to define a second antenna pattern defining a second coverage area in which the second air-interface connection is established, and wherein the level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the second air-interface connection comprises a level of antenna pattern efficiency of the second antenna structure based on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of (i) a sector power ratio of the second antenna pattern and (ii) a front to back ratio of the second antenna pattern.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is carried out by a given one of the first and second access nodes, and wherein configuring the UE in accordance with the selecting comprises transmitting from the given access node to the UE a directive that causes the UE to operate in accordance with the selecting.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein transmitting the directive to the UE comprises transmitting to the UE a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message defining the directive.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting, based at least on the comparing, one of the first and second air-interface connections to be the primary uplink path of the UE comprises:

determining, based on the comparing, that the level of antenna pattern efficiency of the first access node is greater than the level of antenna pattern efficiency of the second access node; and

based at least on the determining, selecting the first air-interface connection to be the primary uplink path of the UE.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first air-interface connection operates in accordance with a first ratio access technology (RAT) and the second air-interface connection operates in accordance with a second RAT different than the first RAT.

6. A computing system configured to control uplink communication from a user equipment device (UE) when the UE has at least two co-existing air-interface connections including a first air-interface connection with a first access node and a second air-interface connection with a second access node, wherein one of the first and second air-interface connections defines a primary uplink path of the UE to which the UE restricts uplink user-plane transmission from the UE unless and until a trigger condition causes the UE to split the uplink user-plane transmission between the first and second air-interface connections, the computing system comprising:

a processor;

non-transitory data storage; and

program instructions stored in the non-transitory data storage and executable by the processor to cause the computing system to carry out operations including:

comparing a level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the first air-interface connection with a level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the second air-interface connection,

selecting, based at least on the comparing, one of the first and second air-interface connections to be the primary uplink path of the UE, and

configuring the UE in accordance with the selecting,

wherein the first access node has a first antenna structure that radiates to define a first antenna pattern defining a first coverage area in which the first air-interface connection is established, and wherein the level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the first air-interface connection comprises a level of antenna pattern efficiency of the first antenna structure based on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of (i) a sector power ratio of the first antenna pattern and (ii) a front to back ratio of the first antenna pattern, and

wherein the second access node has a second antenna structure that radiates to define a second antenna pattern defining a second coverage area in which the second air-interface connection is established, and wherein the level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the second air-interface connection comprises a level of antenna pattern efficiency of the second antenna structure based on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of (i) a sector power ratio of the second antenna pattern and (ii) a front to back ratio of the second antenna pattern.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the system is implemented at a given one of the first and second access nodes, and wherein configuring the UE in accordance with the selecting comprises transmitting from the given access node to the UE a directive that causes the UE to operate in accordance with the selecting.

8. The computing system of claim 7 , wherein transmitting the directive to the UE comprises transmitting to the UE a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message defining the directive.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein selecting, based at least on the comparing, one of the first and second air-interface connections to be the primary uplink path of the UE comprises:

determining, based on the comparing, that the level of antenna pattern efficiency of the first access node is greater than the level of antenna pattern efficiency of the second access node; and

based at least on the determining, selecting the first air-interface connection to be the primary uplink path of the UE.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the first air-interface connection operates in accordance with a first ratio access technology (RAT) and the second air-interface connection operates in accordance with a second RAT different than the first RAT.

11. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon program instructions executable by at least one processing unit to carry out operations for controlling uplink communication from a user equipment device (UE) when the UE has at least two co-existing air-interface connections including a first air-interface connection with a first access node and a second air-interface connection with a second access node, wherein one of the first and second air-interface connections defines a primary uplink path of the UE to which the UE restricts uplink user-plane transmission from the UE unless and until a trigger condition causes the UE to split the uplink user-plane transmission between the first and second air-interface connections, the operations comprising:

comparing a level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the first air-interface connection with a level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the second air-interface connection;

selecting, based at least on the comparing, one of the first and second air-interface connections to be the primary uplink path of the UE; and

configuring the UE in accordance with the selecting,

wherein the first access node has a first antenna structure that radiates to define a first antenna pattern defining a first coverage area in which the first air-interface connection is established, and wherein the level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the first air-interface connection comprises a level of antenna pattern efficiency of the first antenna structure based on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of (i) a sector power ratio of the first antenna pattern and (ii) a front to back ratio of the first antenna pattern, and

wherein the second access node has a second antenna structure that radiates to define a second antenna pattern defining a second coverage area in which the second air-interface connection is established, and wherein the level of antenna pattern efficiency associated with the second air-interface connection comprises a level of antenna pattern efficiency of the second antenna structure based on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of (i) a sector power ratio of the second antenna pattern and (ii) a front to back ratio of the second antenna pattern.

12. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein selecting, based at least on the comparing, one of the first and second air-interface connections to be the primary uplink path of the UE comprises:

determining, based on the comparing, that the level of antenna pattern efficiency of the first access node is greater than the level of antenna pattern efficiency of the second access node; and

based at least on the determining, selecting the first air-interface connection to be the primary uplink path of the UE.

13. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium is at a given one of the first and second access nodes, and wherein configuring the UE in accordance with the selecting comprises transmitting from the given access node to the UE a directive that causes the UE to operate in accordance with the selecting.

14. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein transmitting the directive to the UE comprises transmitting to the UE a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message defining the directive.

15. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the first air-interface connection operates in accordance with a first ratio access technology (RAT) and the second air-interface connection operates in accordance with a second RAT different than the first RAT.