Multi-rat carrier aggregation for integrated WWAN-WLAN operation

1. An apparatus of a dual mode base station that includes a wireless wide area network (WWAN) access point that is integrated with a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point, the apparatus comprising circuitry configured to:

perform, via the WWAN access point of the dual mode base station, a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 8, 9 or 10 attach procedure with a WWAN radio of a dual mode user equipment (UE);

perform, via the WWAN access point of the dual mode base station, a WLAN carrier aggregation capability exchange with the WWAN radio of the dual mode UE, wherein the WWAN access point receives a WLAN carrier aggregation capability of the dual mode UE during the WLAN carrier aggregation capability exchange;

determine, at the dual mode base station, whether to turn on the WLAN access point that is integrated in the dual mode base station based on the WLAN carrier aggregation capability to enable WLAN carrier aggregation, wherein traffic for the dual mode UE is offloaded from the WWAN access point to the WLAN access point when the WLAN access point is turned on at the dual mode base station; and

obtain information when the WLAN access point is turned on, wherein the information is related to channel interference within a coverage area of the dual mode base station and a number of WLAN deployments.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to periodically determine to turn on the WLAN access point based on a communication load on the WWAN access point, wherein selected data flows are offloaded to the WLAN access point radio access network (RAN) in order to reduce congestion at the WWAN access point.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to periodically determine to turn on the WLAN access point based on a communication load in a core network that includes the dual mode base station.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to determine to not enable WLAN carrier aggregation by not turning on the WLAN access point when a communication load for both the WWAN access point and a core network that includes the dual mode base station is above a defined threshold.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to periodically determine to turn on the WLAN access point based on a number of dual mode UEs that are configured to support WLAN carrier aggregation that are located within a coverage area of the dual mode base station.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein circuitry is configured to periodically determine whether to turn on the WLAN access point based on a quality of service (QoS) for services offered to dual mode UEs within a coverage area of the dual mode base station.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein:

the WLAN access point is not turned on when the services offered to the dual mode UEs are higher than the QoS that is available via the WLAN access point; or

the WLAN access point is turned on when the services offered to the dual mode UEs are lower than the QoS that is available via the WLAN access point.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to send the information to the dual mode UE via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

9. A dual mode wireless device that includes a wireless wide area network (WWAN) radio that is integrated with a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio, the dual mode wireless device comprising one or more processors configured to:

perform, via the WWAN radio of the dual mode wireless device, a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 8, 9 or 10 attach procedure with a WWAN access point of a dual mode eNodeB; and

send, via the WWAN radio of the dual mode wireless device, a WLAN carrier aggregation capability of the dual mode wireless device to the WWAN access point of the dual mode eNodeB,

wherein the dual mode eNodeB is configured to determine whether to turn on a WLAN access point that is integrated in the dual mode eNodeB based on the WLAN carrier aggregation capability to enable WLAN carrier aggregation, wherein traffic for the dual mode wireless device is offloaded from the WWAN access point to the WLAN access point when the WLAN access point is turned on at the dual mode eNodeB,

wherein the dual wireless device is configured to receive information from the dual mode eNodeB via radio resource control (RRC) signaling when the WLAN access point is turned on at the dual mode eNodeB, wherein the information is related to channel interference within a coverage area of the dual mode eNodeB and a number of WLAN deployments.

10. The dual mode wireless device of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to send the WLAN carrier aggregation capability to the WWAN access point to cause the dual mode eNodeB to determine whether to turn on the WLAN access point based on at least one of:

a communication load on the WWAN access point, wherein selected data flows are offloaded to the WLAN access point radio access network (RAN) in order to reduce congestion at the WWAN access point;

a communication load in a core network that includes the dual mode eNodeB;

a number of dual mode UEs that are configured to support WLAN carrier aggregation that are located within a coverage area of the dual mode eNodeB; or

a number of dual mode UEs configured to support WLAN carrier aggregation that are located within a coverage area of the dual mode eNodeB.

11. At least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon for activating a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point that is integrated in a dual mode base station to enable WLAN carrier aggregation, the instructions when executed by at least one processor of the dual mode base station cause the dual mode base station to perform the following:

completing, via a wireless wide area network (WWAN) access point of the dual mode base station, a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 8, 9 or 10 attach procedure with a WWAN radio of a dual mode user equipment (UE);

performing, via the WWAN access point of the dual mode base station, a WLAN carrier aggregation capability exchange with the WWAN radio of the dual mode UE, wherein the WWAN access point receives a WLAN carrier aggregation capability of the dual mode UE during the WLAN carrier aggregation capability exchange;

determining, at the dual mode base station, whether to turn on the WLAN access point that is integrated in the dual mode base station based on the WLAN carrier aggregation capability to enable WLAN carrier aggregation, wherein traffic for the dual mode UE is offloaded from the WWAN access point to the WLAN access point when the WLAN access point is turned on at the dual mode base station; and

obtaining, at the dual mode base station, information when the WLAN access point is turned on, wherein the information is related to channel interference within a coverage area of the dual mode base station and a number of WLAN deployments.

12. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions which when executed by the at least one processor of the dual mode base station performs the following: determining to turn on the WLAN access point based on a communication load on the WWAN access point, wherein selected data flows are offloaded to the WLAN access point radio access network (RAN) in order to reduce congestion at the WWAN access point.

13. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions which when executed by the at least one processor of the dual mode base station performs the following: determining to turn on the WLAN access point based on a communication load in a core network that includes the dual mode base station.

14. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions which when executed by the at least one processor of the dual mode base station performs the following: determining to not enable WLAN carrier aggregation by not turning on the WLAN access point when a communication load for both the WWAN access point and a core network that includes the dual mode base station is above a defined threshold.

15. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions which when executed by the at least one processor of the dual mode base station performs the following: determining to turn on the WLAN access point based on a number of dual mode UEs that are configured to support WLAN carrier aggregation that are located within a coverage area of the dual mode base station.

16. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions which when executed by the at least one processor of the dual mode base station performs the following: determining whether to turn on the WLAN access point based on a quality of service (QoS) for services offered to dual mode UEs within a coverage area of the dual mode base station.

17. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions which when executed by the at least one processor of the dual mode base station performs the following: sending, from the dual mode base station, a WLAN disable offload request from the dual mode eNodeB to the dual mode UE, wherein the WLAN disable offload request is sent based on: a lack of data to transmit on the WLAN access point, a WLAN radio connection link quality lower than a selected threshold, or WLAN quality of service (QoS) less than a desired threshold.

18. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions which when executed by the at least one processor of the dual mode base station performs the following: receiving, at the dual mode base station, a WLAN disable offload response from the dual mode UE, wherein the dual mode UE is configured to dissociate with the WLAN access point of the dual mode base station and turn off a WLAN radio of the dual mode UE to conserve battery power.