Using UE environmental status information to improve mobility handling and offload decisions

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

determining, by a user equipment (UE), UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-radio frequency (RF) sensor located in the UE;

generating a control message comprising the UE environmental status information, wherein the control message comprises a location area update directed to a network entity of a wireless communication network;

transmitting the control message to a base station in communication with the UE via a connection with the UE, wherein the UE environmental status information relates to managing the connection with the UE by an associated wireless communication network, wherein the transmitting is performed in response to detecting a change in the UE environmental status information; and

receiving, in response to the control message, an instruction for managing the connection, wherein the instruction is based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control message comprises a radio resource control (RRC) message, the control message comprises a non-access stratum (NAS) message encapsulated in the RRC message, and the NAS message comprises the location area update directed to the network entity of the wireless communication network, and wherein the NAS message further comprises at least one of attach, tracking area update, or routing area update.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the network entity comprises one of:

a mobility management entity (MME); and

a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) service node (SGSN).

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE environmental status information relates to a mobility level of the UE.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the UE environmental status information comprises an estimated duration for the mobility level.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one non-RF sensor is selected from the group comprising:

an accelerometer;

a gyroscope;

a global positioning system (GPS) receiver;

a thermometer;

a camera;

a microphone;

an altimeter;

a heart rate monitor;

a humidity detector;

a photodetector;

a charging indicator; and

a barometer.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

delaying the transmitting when the change is detected within a predetermined time period from transmitting a previous control message.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the UE, application information available from at least one user application operable on the UE,

wherein the UE environmental status information is further determined based, at least in part, on the application information.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the UE environmental status information comprises:

selecting the UE environmental status information from a predetermined set of UE environmental statuses, wherein the selecting is based on input from the at least one non-RF sensor.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the predetermined set of UE environmental statuses comprises:

in transit status;

in vehicle status;

outdoors status; and

indoors status.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the predetermined set of UE environmental statuses further comprises at least one of:

at work status;

at home status;

amount of data traffic; and

UE state.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

maintaining the connection with the wireless communication network when the connection is managed based at least in part of the UE environmental status information.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein receiving the instruction includes one of:

receiving a handover instruction based at least in part on the UE environmental status information from the base station to hand over to a second base station;

receiving instructions based at least in part on the UE environmental status information from the base station to offload data traffic to the second base station while maintaining connection with the base station;

receiving a paging area parameter from the base station defining a paging area for the UE based at least in part on the UE environmental status information;

receiving registration timing from the base station based at least in part on the UE environmental status information, wherein the registration timing defines a frequency at which the UE registers with an associated network; and

receiving a parameter for discontinuous reception from the base station based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second base station comprises one of: a wireless local area network (WLAN) base station, a small cell base station, or a combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the associated wireless communication network is configured to respond to the UE environmental status information by:

establishing a UE-specific handover preference between a small cell layer and a macro layer in a heterogeneous environment;

activating booster cells for Wi-Fi offloading;

controlling simultaneous communication with the macro layer and the small cell layer using multi-flow techniques; or

combinations thereof.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting is also performed in response to an expiration of a timer associated with the UE environmental status information, wherein the timer is a lifespan timer associated with the UE environmental status information, and wherein, when the lifespan timer expires without the UE detecting the change in the UE environmental status information, a new UE environmental status information is determined by taking new readings in response to expiration of the lifespan timer.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the control message is performed further in response to one or more of:

expiration of a timer associated with the UE environmental status information, or

connection establishment to register by the associated UE to the network entity.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control message comprises a non-access stratum (NAS) message encapsulated in a radio resource control (RRC) message, and the NAS message comprises the location area update.

19. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a network entity of a wireless communication network via a connection of an associated user equipment (UE), a control message from the associated UE, wherein the control message comprises UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-radio frequency (RF) sensor located in the associated UE, wherein the control message comprises a location area update directed to a network entity of a wireless communication network, wherein the receiving is in response to an update to the UE environmental status information by the associated UE;

managing the connection of the associated UE with the wireless communication network based at least in part on the UE environmental status information; and

transmitting, to the UE in response to the control message, an instruction for managing the connection, wherein the instruction is based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

determining a network policy applicable to the connection based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein managing the connection comprises one or more of:

determining whether to offload data traffic of the associated UE from the network entity to a first base station;

determining whether to maintain connection with the associated UE when the associated UE is within a coverage area of the first base station;

determining whether to handover the associated UE to the first base station;

determining whether to maintain connection with the associated UE and direct the associated UE to transmit data traffic through the first base station;

determining a paging area for the associated UE;

determining how often to require the associated UE to register for paging; and

determining a discontinuous reception setting for the associated UE, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting a connection management signal to the associated UE in response to the determining.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the first base station comprises one of: a wireless local area network (WLAN) base station, a small cell base station, or a combination thereof.

23. The method of claim 19 , wherein the UE environmental status information comprises:

in transit status;

in vehicle status;

outdoors status; and

indoors status.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the UE environmental status information additionally comprises one or more of:

at work status;

at home status;

amount of data traffic; and

UE state.

25. The method of claim 19 , wherein the network entity comprises one of:

a base station;

a mobility management entity (MME); and

a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) service node (SGSN).

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the network entity comprises a second base station, the method further comprising:

transmitting the UE environmental status information to one of: the MME and the SGSN, associated with the second base station.

27. The method of claim 25 , wherein the network entity comprises one of: the MME and the SGSN, the method further comprising:

transmitting the UE environmental status information to a second base station associated with the associated UE.

28. The method of claim 19 , wherein the UE environmental status information is additionally based on application information available from at least one user application of the UE.

29. The method of claim 19 , wherein the UE environmental status information relates to a mobility level of the UE, and wherein the UE environmental status information comprises an estimated duration for the mobility level.

30. The method of claim 19 , wherein managing the connection of the associated UE includes responding to the UE environmental status information by:

establishing a UE-specific handover preference between a small cell layer and a macro layer in a heterogeneous environment;

activating booster cells for Wi-Fi offloading;

controlling simultaneous communication with the macro layer and the small cell layer using multi-flow techniques; or

combinations thereof.

31. The method of claim 19 , wherein receiving the control message is performed further in response to one or more of:

expiration of a timer associated with the UE environmental status information, or

connection establishment to register by the associated UE to the network entity.

32. The method of claim 19 , wherein the control message comprises a non-access stratum (NAS) message encapsulated in a radio resource control (RRC) message, and the NAS message comprises the location area update.

33. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor,

wherein the at least one processor is configured:

to determine, by a user equipment (UE), UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-radio frequency (RF) sensor located in the UE;

to generate a control message comprising the UE environmental status information, wherein the control message a location area update directed to a network entity of a wireless communication network;

to transmit the control message to a first base station in communication with the UE via a connection with the UE, wherein the UE environmental status information relates to managing the connection with the UE by an associated wireless communication network, wherein the configuration of the at least one processor to transmit is performed in response to detecting a change in the UE environmental status information; and

to receive, in response to the control message, an instruction for managing the connection, wherein the instruction is based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

34. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the control message comprises a radio resource control (RRC) message, the control message comprises a non-access stratum (NAS) message encapsulated in the RRC message, and the NAS message comprises the location area update directed to the network entity of the wireless communication network, and wherein the NAS message further comprises at least one of attach, tracking area update, or routing area update.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 , wherein the network entity comprises one of:

a mobility management entity (MME); and

a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) service node (SGSN).

36. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the UE environmental status information relates to a mobility level of the UE.

37. The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the UE environmental status information comprises an estimated duration for the mobility level.

38. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the at least one non-RF sensor is selected from the group comprising:

an accelerometer;

a gyroscope;

a global positioning system (GPS) receiver;

a thermometer;

a camera;

a microphone;

an altimeter;

a heart rate monitor;

a humidity detector;

a photodetector;

a charging indicator; and

a barometer.

39. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to delay the configuration to transmit when the change is detected within a predetermined time period from transmitting a previous control message.

40. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to determine, by the UE, application information available from at least one user application operable on the UE,

wherein the UE environmental status information is further determined based, at least in part, on the application information.

41. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the configuration of the at least one processor to determine the UE environmental status information comprises configuration:

to select the UE environmental status information from a predetermined set of UE environmental statuses, wherein the selection is based on input from the at least one non-RF sensor.

42. The apparatus of claim 41 , wherein the predetermined set of UE environmental statuses comprises:

in transit status;

in vehicle status;

outdoors status; and

indoors status.

43. The apparatus of claim 42 , wherein the predetermined set of UE environmental statuses further comprises at least one of:

at work status;

at home status;

amount of data traffic; and

UE state.

44. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to maintain the connection when the connection is managed by the wireless communication network based at least in part of the UE environmental status information.

45. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the instruction by being configured to one of:

receive a handover instruction based at least in part on the UE environmental status information from the first base station to hand over to a second base station;

receive instructions based at least in part on the UE environmental status information from the first base station to offload data traffic to the second base station while maintaining connection with the first base station;

receive a paging area parameter from the first base station defining a paging area for the UE based at least in part on the UE environmental status information;

receive registration timing from the first base station based at least in part on the UE environmental status information, wherein the registration timing defines a frequency at which the UE registers with an associated network; and

receive a parameter for discontinuous reception from the first base station based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

46. The apparatus of claim 45 , wherein the second base station comprises one of: a wireless local area network (WLAN) base station, a small cell base station, or a combination thereof.

47. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor,

wherein the at least one processor is configured:

to receive, by a network entity of a wireless communication network via a connection of an associated user equipment (UE), a control message from the associated UE, wherein the control message comprises UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-radio frequency (RF) sensor located in the associated UE, wherein the control message comprises a location area update directed to a network entity of a wireless communication network, wherein the configuration of the at least one processor to receive is in response to an update to the UE environmental status information by the associated UE;

to manage the connection of the associated UE with the wireless communication network based at least in part on the UE environmental status information; and

to transmit, to the UE in response to the control message, an instruction for managing the connection, wherein the instruction is based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to determine a network policy applicable to the connection based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

49. The apparatus of claim 47 , wherein configuration of the at least one processor to manage the connection comprises configuration to one or more of:

determine whether to offload data traffic of the associated UE from the network entity to a second base station;

determine whether to maintain connection with the associated UE when the associated UE is within a coverage area of the second base station;

determine whether to handover the associated UE to the second base station;

determine whether to maintain connection with the associated UE and direct the associated UE to transmit data traffic through the second base station;

determine a paging area for the associated UE;

determine how often to require the associated UE to register for paging; and

determine a discontinuous reception setting for the associate UE, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

transmit a connection management signal to the associated UE in response to the determination.

50. The apparatus of claim 49 , wherein the second base station comprises one of: a wireless local area network (WLAN) base station, a small cell base station, or a combination thereof.

51. The apparatus of claim 47 , wherein the UE environmental status information comprises:

in transit status;

in vehicle status;

outdoors status; and

indoors status.

52. The apparatus of claim 51 , wherein the UE environmental status information additionally comprises one or more of:

at work status;

at home status;

amount of data traffic; and

UE state.

53. The apparatus of claim 47 , wherein the network entity comprises one of:

a base station;

a mobility management entity (MME); and

a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) service node (SGSN).

54. The apparatus of claim 53 , wherein the network entity comprises a first base station the at least one processor further configured:

to transmit the UE environmental status information to one of: the MME and the SGSN, associated with the first base station.

55. The apparatus of claim 35 , wherein the network entity comprises one of: the MME and the SGSN, and the at least one processor is further configured:

to transmit the UE environmental status information to the base station associated with the associated UE.

56. The apparatus of claim 47 , wherein the UE environmental status information is additionally based on application information available from at least one user application of the UE.

57. The apparatus of claim 47 , wherein the UE environmental status information relates to a mobility level of the UE, and wherein the UE environmental status information comprises an estimated duration of the mobility level.

58. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

compiling user equipment (UE) environmental status information based on input from one or more of: at least one sensor located in the UE and separate from a receiver used for radio communication with a serving base station, and at least one user application stored in a memory and executable by a processor of the UE;

generating a control message that includes the UE environmental status information, wherein the control message comprises location area update directed to a network entity of a wireless communication network;

transmitting the control message to the serving base station via a connection between the UE and the serving base station, wherein the UE environmental status information enables management of the connection with the UE by an associated wireless communication network, wherein the transmitting is performed in response to detecting a change in the UE environmental status information; and

receiving, in response to the control message, an instruction for managing the connection, wherein the instruction is based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

59. The method of claim 58 , wherein the associated wireless communication network is configured to respond to the UE environmental status information by:

establishing a UE-specific handover preference between a small cell layer and a macro layer in a heterogeneous environment;

activating booster cells for Wi-Fi offloading;

controlling simultaneous communication with the macro layer and the small cell layer using multi-flow techniques; or

combinations thereof.

60. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

determining, by a user equipment (UE), UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-radio frequency (RF) sensor located in the UE, wherein the UE environmental status information comprises an estimated duration for a mobility level of the UE;

generating a control message comprising the UE environmental status information, wherein the control message comprises a location area update directed to a network entity of a wireless communication network;

transmitting the control message to a base station in communication with the UE via a connection with the UE, wherein the UE environmental status information relates to managing the connection with the UE by an associated wireless communication network, wherein the transmitting is performed in response to one or more of:

expiration of a timer associated with the UE environmental status information,

connection establishment to register by the UE to the base station, and

detecting a change in the UE environmental status information; and

receiving, in response to the control message, an instruction for managing the connection, wherein the instruction is based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

61. The method of claim 60 , wherein transmitting the control message is performed in response to detecting the change in the UE environmental status information, and wherein the control message comprises a radio resource control (RRC) message, the control message comprises a non-access stratum (NAS) message encapsulated in the RRC message, and the NAS message comprises the location area update directed to the network entity of the wireless communication network.

62. The method of claim 60 , wherein the control message comprises a non-access stratum (NAS) message encapsulated in a radio resource control (RRC) message, and the NAS message comprises the location area update.

63. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor,

wherein the at least one processor is configured:

to determine, by a user equipment (UE), UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-radio frequency (RF) sensor located in the UE, wherein the UE environmental status information comprises an estimated duration for a mobility level of the UE;

to generate a control message comprising the UE environmental status information, wherein the control message comprises a location area update directed to a network entity of a wireless communication network;

to transmit the control message to a first base station in communication with the UE via a connection with the UE, wherein the UE environmental status information relates to managing the connection with the UE by an associated wireless communication network, wherein the configuration of the at least one processor to transmit is performed in response to one or more of:

expiration of a timer associated with the UE environmental status information,

connection establishment to register by the UE to the first base station, and

detecting a change in the UE environmental status information; and

to receive, in response to the control message, an instruction for managing the connection, wherein the instruction is based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

64. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a network entity of a wireless communication network via a connection of an associated user equipment (UE), a control message from the associated UE, wherein the control message comprises UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-radio frequency (RF) sensor located in the associated UE, wherein the UE environmental status information comprises an estimated duration for a mobility level of the associated UE, wherein the control message comprises a location area update directed to a network entity of a wireless communication network, wherein the receiving is in response to one or more of:

expiration of a timer associated with the UE environmental status information,

connection establishment to register by the associated UE to the network entity, and

an update to the UE environmental status information by the associated UE;

managing the connection of the associated UE with the wireless communication network based at least in part on the UE environmental status information; and

transmitting, to the UE in response to the control message, an instruction for managing the connection, wherein the instruction is based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

65. The method of claim 64 , wherein receiving the control message is in response to the update to the UE environmental status information by the associated UE, and wherein the control message comprises a radio resource control (RRC) message, the control message comprises a non-access stratum (NAS) message encapsulated in the RRC message, and the NAS message comprises the location area update directed to the network entity of the wireless communication network.

66. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor,

wherein the at least one processor is configured:

to receive, by a network entity of a wireless communication network via a connection of an associated user equipment (UE), a control message from the associated UE, wherein the control message comprises UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-radio frequency (RF) sensor located in the associated UE, wherein the UE environmental status information comprises an estimated duration for a mobility level of the associated UE, wherein the control message comprises a location area update directed to a network entity of a wireless communication network, wherein the configuration of the at least one processor to receive is in response to one or more of:

expiration of a timer associated with the UE environmental status information,

connection establishment to register by the associated UE to the network entity, and

an update to the UE environmental status information by the associated UE;

to manage the connection of the associated UE with the wireless communication network based at least in part on the UE environmental status information; and

to transmit, to the UE in response to the control message, an instruction for managing the connection, wherein the instruction is based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.