Communication class aware idle mode cell reselection
A system may include an access node to deploy a radio air interface to provide wireless services to one or more wireless devices. The access node may include processing circuitry configured to periodically transmit a system information broadcast. The system information broadcast may include idle-mode cell reselection thresholds, which may include a set of general cell reselection thresholds and a set of communication-class-specific cell reselection thresholds. The processing circuitry may also periodically transmit a paging broadcast including paging messages for pending communications. One of the paging messages may include information identifying a class of the corresponding pending communication. During cell reselection, a device may determine which of the idle-mode cell reselection thresholds should be used based on which class (if any) is specified in a corresponding paging message.
1 . A wireless communication system, comprising:
an access node configured to deploy a radio air interface to provide wireless services including voice-over-LTE (VoLTE),
wherein the access node comprises processing circuitry configured to:
periodically transmit a system information broadcast comprising idle-mode cell reselection thresholds including:
a set of general cell reselection thresholds, and
a set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds; and
periodically transmit a paging broadcast including one or more paging messages for pending communications for wireless devices connected to the access node, the paging messages indicating whether the corresponding pending communication is a VoLTE communication;
wherein a wireless device connected to the access node is configured to, when in an idle-mode:
in response to the paging broadcast including a paging message indicating there is a pending communication for the wireless device which is not a VoLTE communication, perform cell reselection using the set of general cell reselection thresholds; and
in response to the paging broadcast including a paging message indicating there is a pending communication for the wireless device which is a VoLTE communication, perform cell reselection using the set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds, wherein the cell reselection using the set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds comprises selecting a cell that avoids a subsequent cell handover for the VoLTE communication.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the paging messages includes a field for identifying whether the corresponding pending communication is a VoLTE communication.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to, for each of the paging messages whose corresponding pending communication is a VoLTE communication, include information in the field of the respective paging message identifying the corresponding pending communication as a VoLTE communication.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the field of the respective paging message comprises a field for indicating a Quality-of-Service Class Index (QCI), and the information identifying the corresponding pending communication as a VoLTE communication comprises a QCI associated with VoLTE communications.
5 . The system of claim 4 ,
wherein the idle-mode cell reselection thresholds include one or more additional sets of QCI-specific cell reselection thresholds corresponding, respectively, to additional QCI besides the QCI associated with VoLTE, and
wherein the wireless device is configured to, when in an idle-mode, in response to the paging broadcast including a paging message indicating there is a pending communication for the wireless device which is associated with one of the additional QCI, perform cell reselection using the corresponding set of QCI-specific cell reselection thresholds.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds are analogous to the set of general cell reselection thresholds.
7 . A method, comprising:
periodically transmitting, by an access node configured to deploy a radio air interface to provide wireless services including voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) to one or more wireless devices, a system information broadcast that includes idle-mode cell reselection thresholds including a set of general cell reselection thresholds and a set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds;
periodically transmitting, by the access node, a paging broadcast including one or more paging messages for pending communications for wireless devices connected to the access node, the paging messages indicating whether the corresponding pending communication is a VoLTE communication;
in response to the paging broadcast including a paging message indicating there is a pending communication for a first wireless device which is not a VoLTE communication, causing the first wireless device to perform cell reselection using the set of general cell reselection thresholds; and
in response to the paging broadcast including a paging message indicating there is a pending communication for a second wireless device which is a VoLTE communication, causing the first wireless device to perform cell reselection using the set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds, wherein the cell reselection using the set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds comprises selecting a cell that avoids a subsequent cell handover for the VoLTE communication.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein each of the paging messages includes a field for identifying whether the corresponding pending communication is a VoLTE communication.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising, for each of the paging messages whose corresponding pending communication is a VoLTE communication, including information in the field of the respective paging message identifying the corresponding pending communication as a VoLTE communication.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the field of the respective paging message comprises a field for indicating a Quality-of-Service Class Index (QCI), and the information identifying the corresponding pending communication as a VoLTE communication comprises a QCI associated with VoLTE communications.
11 . The method of claim 10 ,
wherein the idle-mode cell reselection thresholds include one or more additional sets of QCI-specific cell reselection thresholds corresponding, respectively, to additional QCI besides the QCI associated with VoLTE, and
wherein the method further comprises, in response to the paging broadcast including a paging message indicating there is a pending communication for a third wireless device which has a given QCI, causing the third wireless device perform cell reselection using the corresponding set of QCI-specific of cell reselection thresholds.
12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds are analogous to the set of general cell reselection thresholds.
13 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executed by a processor to perform operations comprising:
periodically transmitting, by an access node configured to deploy a radio air interface to provide wireless services including voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) to one or more wireless devices, a system information broadcast that includes idle-mode cell reselection thresholds including a set of general cell reselection thresholds and a set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds;
periodically transmitting, by the access node, a paging broadcast including one or more paging messages for pending communications for wireless devices connected to the access node, the paging messages indicating whether the corresponding pending communication is a VoLTE communication;
in response to the paging broadcast including a paging message indicating there is a pending communication for a first wireless device which is not a VoLTE communication, causing the first wireless device to perform cell reselection using the set of general cell reselection thresholds; and
in response to the paging broadcast including a paging message indicating there is a pending communication for a second wireless device which is a VoLTE communication, causing the first wireless device to perform cell reselection using the set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds, wherein the cell reselection using the set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds comprises selecting a cell that avoids a subsequent cell handover for the VoLTE communication.
14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein each of the paging messages includes a field for identifying whether the corresponding pending communication is a VoLTE communication.
15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , further comprising, for each of the paging messages whose corresponding pending communication is a VoLTE communication, including information in the field of the respective paging message identifying the corresponding pending communication as a VoLTE communication.
16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the field of the respective paging message comprises a field for indicating a Quality-of-Service Class Index (QCI), and the information identifying the corresponding pending communication as a VoLTE communication comprises a QCI associated with VoLTE communications.
17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 ,
wherein the idle-mode cell reselection thresholds include one or more additional sets of QCI-specific cell reselection thresholds corresponding, respectively, to additional QCI besides the QCI associated with VoLTE, and
wherein the method further comprises, in response to the paging broadcast including a paging message indicating there is a pending communication for a third wireless device which has a given QCI, causing the third wireless device perform cell reselection using the corresponding set of QCI-specific of cell reselection thresholds.
18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the set of VoLTE-specific cell reselection thresholds are analogous to the set of general cell reselection thresholds.