Use of an access node's secondary-node-addition-failure history as a basis to control whether a UE will connect with the access node

1. A wireless communication method performed by an access node comprising:

making a determination of whether the access node has experienced a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failures,

wherein the threshold high extent is a predefined threshold rate deemed to be problematic,

each of the secondary-node-addition failures being an instance where the access node attempted secondary-node-addition for dual-connectivity service and the attempted secondary-node-addition failed,

wherein each instance of the access node attempting secondary-node-addition for dual-connectivity service comprises,

when a user equipment (UE) has a primary connection with the access node,

the access node attempting to add for the UE a secondary connection with another access node so that the UE would have dual connectivity including the primary connection and the secondary connection; and

using the determination as a basis to control whether the UE that is not connected with the access node will connect with the access node as the UE's primary serving access node;

wherein,

if the access node has not experienced a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failures, the UE connects with the access node; and

if the access node has experienced a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failure, the UE does not connect with the access node.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein using the determination as a basis to control whether the UE that is not connected with the access node will connect with the access node comprises:

responsive to at least the determination being that the access node has experienced a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failures, causing the UE to not connect with the access node.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the access node is a first access node, and wherein causing the UE to not connect with the first access node comprises causing the UE to connect with a second access node instead of connecting with the first access node.

4. A 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 carry out operations including:

making a determination of whether the access node has experienced a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failures,

wherein the threshold high extent is a predefined threshold rate deemed to be problematic,

each of the secondary-node-addition failures being an instance where the access node attempted secondary-node-addition for dual-connectivity service and the attempted secondary-node-addition failed,

wherein each instance of the access node attempting secondary-node-addition for dual-connectivity service comprises,

when a user equipment (UE) has a primary connection with the access node, the access node attempting to add for the UE a secondary connection with another access node so that the UE would have dual connectivity including the primary connection and the secondary connection, and

using the determination as a basis to control whether the UE that is not connected with the access node will connect with the access node as the UE's primary serving access node;

wherein,

if the access node has not experienced a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition-failures, the UE connects with the access node; and

if the access node has experienced a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition-failures, the UE does not connect with the access node.

5. The computing system of claim 4 , wherein usmg the determination as a basis to control whether the UE that is not connected with the access node will connect with the access node comprises:

responsive to at least the determination being that the access node has experienced a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failures, causing the UE to not connect with the access node.

6. The computing system of claim 5 , wherein the access node is a first access node, and wherein causing the UE to not connect with the first access node comprises causing the UE to connect with a second access node instead of connecting with the first access node.

7. The computing system of claim 4 , wherein the computing system is at the UE.

8. The computing system of claim 7 , wherein the access node is a target access node, wherein the operations are executable when the UE is connected with a source access node, and wherein using the determination as a basis to control whether the UE that is not connected with the target access node will connect with the target access node comprises using the determination as a basis to control whether the UE will hand over from being connected with the source access node to being connected instead with the target access node.

9. The computing system of claim 7 , wherein making the determination of whether the access node has experienced the threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failures comprises making the determination based on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of (i) secondary-node-addition-failure information broadcast by the access node and (ii) past experience of the UE a subject of secondary-node-addition failure experienced by the access node.

10. The computing system of claim 4 , wherein the access node is a target access node, wherein the computing system is at a source access node with which the UE is currently connected, and wherein using the determination as a basis to control whether the UE that is not connected with the target access node will connect with the target access node comprises using the determination as a basis to control whether to hand over the UE from being connected with the source access node to being connected instead with the target access node.

11. The computing system of claim 10 , wherein making the determination of whether the target access node has experienced the threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failures comprises at least one operation selected from the group consisting of (i) the source access node querying the target access node as a basis to make the determination and (ii) the source access node querying an element management system as a basis to make the determination.

12. An access node comprising:

a wireless communication interface through which the access node is configured to engage in air-interface communication;

a backhaul communication interface; and

a controller configured to carry out operations including

(i) making a determination of whether the target access node has experienced a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failures,

wherein the threshold high extent is a predefined threshold rate deemed to be problematic,

each of the secondary-node-addition failures being an instance where the target access node attempted secondary-node-addition for dual-connectivity service and the attempted secondary-node-addition failed, and

(ii) using the determination as a basis to control whether to hand a user equipment (UE) over from being connected with the access node to being connected instead with the target access node as the UE's primary serving target access node,

wherein each instance of the target access node attempting secondary-node-addition for dual-connectivity service comprises,

when the UE has a primary connection with the target access node,

the target access node attempting to add for the UE a secondary connection with another access node so that the UE would have dual connectivity including the primary connection and the secondary connection;

wherein,

if the target access node does not have a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failures, the UE connects with the target access node; and

if the target access node has a threshold high extent of secondary-node-addition failures, the UE does not connect with the target access node.

13. The access node of claim 12 , wherein the controller comprises (i) a processor and (ii) a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by the processor to carry out the operations.