Method and user equipment for selecting network and performing traffic routing

1. A method for performing network selection and traffic routing, the method comprising:

receiving, by a user equipment (UE), an Inter-System Routing Policy (ISRP) rule;

receiving, by the UE from a base station, radio access network (RAN) assistance information,

wherein the received RAN assistance information is used to evaluate the ISRP rule;

evaluating, by the UE, whether the ISRP rule is valid or not by using the received RAN assistance information; and

selecting, by the UE, one of the received ISRP rule and the received RAN assistance information to be utilized for performing network selection and traffic routing.

2. The method claim 1 , wherein if the received ISRP rule is not valid, the received RAN assistance information is selected to be utilized for performing network selection and traffic routing.

3. The method claim 1 , wherein if the ISRP rule is valid, the ISRP rule is selected to be utilized for performing network selection and traffic routing.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a user configuration takes precedence over the received RAN assistance information and the received ISRP rule.

5. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the receiving of the RAN assistance information includes:

receiving first RAN assistance information; and

receiving second RAN assistance information,

wherein the method further includes:

using either the received first RAN assistance information or the received second RAN assistance information for network selection and the traffic routing, and

wherein if the first RAN assistance has been received in a first public land mobile network (PLMN), if the second RAN assistance information has been received in a second PLMN, and if the UE is registered in the second PLMN, the second RAN assistance information is used in the second PLMN.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the base station is in an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) or a UTRAN.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE is configured to use third generation partnership project (3GPP) access and wireless local area network (WLAN) access.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the RAN assistance information includes at least one of:

a third generation partnership project (3GPP) access threshold,

a wireless local area network (WLAN) access threshold, and

an Offload Preference Indication (OPI) value.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving of the ISRP rule includes:

receiving a first ISRP rule in a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN); and

receiving a second ISRP rule in a second PLMN.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ISRP rule is included in an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) rule, and

wherein the ANDSF rule further includes an Inter-Access Point Name (Inter-APN) Routing Policy (IARP) rule.

11. A user equipment (UE) for performing network selection and traffic routing, the UE comprising:

a transceiver configured to:

receive an Inter-System Routing Policy (ISRP) rule, and

receive, from a base station, radio access network (RAN) assistance information,

wherein the received RAN assistance information is used to evaluate the ISRP rule; and

a processor configured to:

evaluate whether the received ISRP rule is valid or not by using the received RAN assistance information, and

select one of the received ISRP rule and the received RAN assistance information to be utilized for performing network selection and traffic routing.

12. The UE of claim 11 , wherein if the received ISRP rule is not valid, the received RAN assistance information is selected to be utilized for performing network selection and traffic routing.

13. The UE of claim 11 , wherein if the received ISRP rule is valid, the received ISRP rule is selected to be utilized for performing the network selection and traffic routing.

14. The UE of claim 11 , wherein a user configuration takes precedence over the received RAN assistance information and the received ISRP rule.

15. The UE of claim 11 ,

wherein the transceiver receives the RAN assistance information by receiving first RAN assistance information, and receiving second RAN assistance information,

wherein the processor is further configured to: use either the received first RAN assistance information or the received second RAN assistance information for network selection and the traffic routing, and

wherein if the first RAN assistance has been received in a first public land mobile network (PLMN), if the second RAN assistance information has been received in a second PLMN, and if the UE is registered in the second PLMN, the second RAN assistance information is used in the second PLMN.

16. The UE of claim 11 , wherein the base station is in an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) or a UTRAN.

17. The UE of claim 11 , wherein the UE is configured to use third generation partnership project (3GPP) access and wireless local area network (WLAN) access.

18. The UE of claim 11 , wherein the RAN assistance information includes at least one of:

a third generation partnership project (3GPP) access threshold,

a wireless local area network (WLAN) access threshold, and

an Offload Preference Indication (OPI) value.

19. The UE of claim 11 , wherein the transceiver receives the ISRP rule by receiving a first ISRP rule in a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and receiving a second ISRP rule in a second PLMN.

20. The UE of claim 11 , wherein the ISRP rule is included in an Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) rule, and

wherein the ANDSF rule further includes an Inter-Access Point Name (Inter-APN) Routing Policy (IARP) rule.