HK1149145A - Quality of service continuity - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate supporting Quality of Service (QoS) continuity during an inter-base station mobility procedure. Layer 2 (L2) protocol configuration information for QoS (e.g., uplink, downlink, ) and/or uplink QoS configuration information set by a source base station can be transmitted via an interface (e.g., X2 interface, ) to a target base station during an inter-base station mobility procedure. Further, the target base station can select whether to reuse at least a portion of the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS and/or uplink QoS configuration information received from the source base station. Moreover, L2 protocol configuration information for QoS and/or uplink QoS configuration information not selected to be reused can be reconstructed.

Description

Quality of service continuity

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/027,777 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING QOS CONTINUITY IN LTE (METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING QOS CONTINUITY IN LTE" filed on 11/2/2008. The foregoing application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Technical Field

The following description relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to providing quality of service (QoS) continuity related to mobility procedures in a wireless communication system.

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication; for example, voice and/or data may be provided via these wireless communication systems. A typical wireless communication system or network may provide multiple users with access to one or more shared resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, … …). For example, a system may use multiple access techniques such as frequency division multiple access (FDM), time division multiple access (TDM), code division multiple access (CDM), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM), and so on.

In general, a wireless multiple-access communication system may simultaneously support communication for multiple access terminals. Each access terminal may communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to access terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from access terminals to base stations. This communication link may be established via a single-input single-output, multiple-input single-output, or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system.

MIMO systems typically use multiple (N)_TMultiple) transmitting antenna and multiple (N)_RMultiple) receive antennas for data transmission. From N_TA transmitting antenna and N_RMIMO channel formed by multiple receiving antennas can be decomposed into N_SA separate channel, which may be referred to as a spatial channel, where N_S≤{N_T，N_R}。N_SEach of the independent channels corresponds to a dimension. Furthermore, MIMO systems may provide improved performance (e.g., increased spectral efficiency, higher throughput, and/or greater reliability) if the additional dimensionalities created by the multiple transmit and receive antennas are utilized.

MIMO systems may support various duplexing techniques to divide forward and reverse link communications over a common physical medium. For example, a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system may utilize disparate frequency regions for forward link and reverse link communications. Further, in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, forward link communications and reverse link communications may use a common frequency region, such that the reciprocity principle allows estimation of the forward link channel from the reverse link channel.

Wireless communication systems often use one or more base stations that provide a coverage area. A typical base station can transmit multiple data streams for broadcast, multicast, and/or unicast services, wherein a data stream can be a stream of data that can be independently received by an access terminal. One, more than one, or all the data streams carried by the multiplexed stream may be received using an access terminal within the coverage area of such base station. Likewise, an access terminal can transmit data to the base station or another access terminal.

As part of a typical quality of service (QoS) model, a central node within the core network often manages a subset of QoS-related parameters. For example, the central node may be a packet data network gateway (PDN GW). The PDN GW may provide a description parameter to a serving base station, the description parameter indicating a type of traffic (e.g., uplink traffic and/or downlink traffic) to be communicated between two endpoints (e.g., between the PDN GW and an access terminal, …) via one or more intermediate nodes (e.g., serving base station, serving gateway (S-GW), …). For example, the description parameter may be a QoS level index (QCI) that describes a traffic type (e.g., voice, streaming video, …). The serving base station may receive and utilize the descriptive parameters to identify the traffic type, and may initialize and/or control disparate subsets of parameters related to QoS (e.g., layer 2(L2) parameters, logical channel priority, Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), …).

Due generally to the mobile nature of an access terminal, the access terminal may move from under the coverage of a first base station (e.g., source base station, …) to under the coverage of a second base station (e.g., target base station, …). Accordingly, a mobility process (e.g., handover, handoff, …) may be effectuated to transition the access terminal from being served by a source base station to being served by a target base station. However, conventional mobility procedures typically fail to communicate the subset of QoS parameters set by the source base station to the target base station. When a mobility procedure is used, the description parameters may be provided from the PDN GW to the target base station, and thus, the target base station may identify the traffic type. However, the target base station typically reconstructs a disparate subset of parameters related to QoS (e.g., previously constructed by the source base station, …), as these parameters typically cannot be communicated from the source base station to the target base station (e.g., related to inter-base station handover, …), which can result in interruption of traffic, increased exchange of over-the-air signaling messages, etc. occurring.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all embodiments nor delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In accordance with one or more embodiments and corresponding disclosure thereof, various aspects are described relating to facilitating support of quality of service (QoS) continuity during an inter-base station mobility procedure. Layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information (e.g., uplink, downlink, …) and/or uplink QoS configuration information for QoS set by a source base station may be transmitted to a target base station via an interface (e.g., X2 interface, …) during an inter-base station mobility procedure. In addition, the target base station may select whether to reuse at least a portion of the L2 protocol configuration information and/or uplink QoS configuration information for QoS received from the source base station. Furthermore, L2 protocol configuration information and/or uplink QoS configuration information for QoS that are not selected for reuse may be reconstructed.

According to related aspects, a method that facilitates providing quality of service (QoS) continuity during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment is described herein. The method may include identifying layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information set by a source base station for quality of service (QoS). Additionally, the method may include transmitting L2 protocol configuration information for QoS from the source base station to a target base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus. The wireless communications apparatus can include a memory that retains instructions related to: initializing layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) for each radio bearer (radio bearer); and communicating the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS to a target base station via an X2 interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure. Additionally, the wireless communications apparatus can include a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the instructions retained in the memory.

Yet another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus that enables supporting quality of service (QoS) continuity in a wireless communication environment. The wireless communications apparatus can include means for initializing layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) at a source base station. Further, the wireless communications apparatus can include means for communicating the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS initialized at the source base station to a target base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure.

Yet another aspect relates to a computer program product, which may include a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include code stored on the medium for initializing layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) at a source base station. Additionally, the computer-readable medium may include code stored on the medium for sending the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS initialized at the source base station to a target base station via an X2 interface during inter-base station handover.

According to another aspect, an apparatus in a wireless communication system may comprise a processor, wherein the processor may be configured to recognize layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information set by a source base station for quality of service (QoS). Additionally, the processor may be configured to recognize uplink QoS configuration information set by the source base station. Further, the processor can be configured to transmit the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS and the uplink QoS configuration information from the source base station to a target base station via an X2 interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure.

According to other aspects, a method that facilitates maintaining quality of service (QoS) during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment is described herein. The method may include receiving, from a source base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure, layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) set by the source base station. Additionally, the method may include selecting whether to reuse at least a portion of the received L2 protocol configuration information for QoS. Further, the method may include reconstructing a remaining portion of the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS that is not selected for reuse.

Yet another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus that can comprise a memory that retains instructions related to: obtaining layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) set by a source base station from the source base station via an X2 interface during inter-base station handover; selecting whether to reuse at least a portion of the obtained L2 protocol configuration information for QoS; and rebuilding the remaining unselected for reuse portion of the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS. Additionally, the wireless communications apparatus can include a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the instructions retained in the memory.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus that enables maintaining quality of service (QoS) throughout a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment. The wireless communications apparatus can include means for obtaining layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) from a source base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure. Further, the wireless communications apparatus can include means for determining whether to reuse at least a portion of the obtained L2 protocol configuration information for QoS. Additionally, the wireless communication device may include means for utilizing the L2 protocol configuration information obtained from the base station determined to be reused.

Yet another aspect relates to a computer program product, which may include a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include code stored on the medium for obtaining layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) from a source base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure. Additionally, the computer-readable medium may include code stored on the medium for determining whether to reuse at least a subset of the obtained L2 protocol configuration information for QoS. Further, the computer-readable medium may include code stored on the medium for utilizing the L2 protocol configuration information obtained from the base station determined to be reused. The computer-readable medium may also include code stored on the medium for reconstructing the L2 protocol configuration information determined to be no longer to be used.

According to another aspect, an apparatus in a wireless communication system may comprise a processor, wherein the processor may be configured to receive at least one of uplink layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS), downlink L2 protocol configuration information for QoS, or QoS configuration information from a source base station via an X2 interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure. Further, the processor may be configured to select whether to reuse at least one of uplink layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS), downlink L2 protocol configuration information for QoS, or QoS configuration information received from the source base station.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more embodiments comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth herein in detail certain illustrative aspects of the one or more embodiments. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various embodiments may be employed and the described embodiments are intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an illustration of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects set forth herein.

Fig. 2 is an illustration of an example system that provides QoS continuity in a wireless communication environment.

Fig. 3 is an illustration of an example system that exchanges QoS-related parameters between base stations over an interface in a wireless communication environment.

Fig. 4 is an illustration of an example methodology that facilitates providing quality of service (QoS) continuity during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment.

Fig. 5 is an illustration of an example methodology that facilitates maintaining quality of service (QoS) during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment.

Fig. 6 is an illustration of an example access terminal that may be used in conjunction with various aspects of the claimed subject matter.

Fig. 7 is an illustration of an example system that maintains QoS continuity during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment.

Fig. 8 is an illustration of an example wireless network environment that can be employed in conjunction with the various systems and methods described herein.

Fig. 9 is an illustration of an example system that enables supporting quality of service (QoS) continuity in a wireless communication environment.

Fig. 10 is an illustration of an example system that enables maintaining quality of service (QoS) throughout mobility in a wireless communication environment.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments are now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may be evident, however, that such embodiment(s) may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing one or more embodiments.

As used in this application, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity (either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution). For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), CDMA2000, etc. UTRA includes wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system may implement a radio technology such as global system for mobile communications (GSM). The OFDMA system may implement radio technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16(WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is an upcoming release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA, which uses OFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink.

Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) utilizes single carrier modulation and frequency domain equalization. SC-FDMA has performance similar to that of OFDMA systems and has an overall complexity substantially the same as that of OFDMA systems. The SC-FDMA signal has a lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) due to its inherent single carrier structure. SC-FDMA may be used, for example, in uplink communications, where a lower PAPR greatly benefits access terminals in terms of transmit power efficiency. Thus, SC-FDMA may be implemented as an uplink multiple access scheme in 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) or evolved UTRA.

Moreover, various embodiments are described herein in connection with an access terminal. An access terminal can also be called a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile (mobile), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, user device, or User Equipment (UE). An access terminal may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless connection capability, a computing device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. Moreover, various embodiments are described herein in connection with a base station. A base station may be utilized for communicating with access terminal(s) and may also be referred to as an access point, node B, evolved node B (eNodeB, eNB), or some other terminology.

Various aspects or features described herein may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computer-readable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips, etc.), optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk (CD), Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., EPROM, card, stick, key drive, etc.). In addition, various storage media described herein can represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" can include, without being limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s) and/or data.

Referring now to fig. 1, a wireless communication system 100 is illustrated in accordance with various embodiments presented herein. System 100 includes a base station 102 that can include multiple antenna groups. For example, one antenna group may include antennas 104 and 106, another group may include antennas 108 and 110, and an additional group may include antennas 112 and 114. Two antennas are illustrated for each antenna group; however, more or fewer antennas may be used for each group. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, base station 102 can additionally comprise a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which in turn can comprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, etc.).

Base station 102 may communicate with one or more access terminals, such as access terminal 116 and access terminal 122; however, it is to be appreciated that base station 102 can communicate with substantially any number of access terminals similar to access terminals 116 and 122. Access terminals 116 and 122 can be, for example, cellular phones, smart phones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or any other suitable device for communicating over wireless communication system 100. As depicted, access terminal 116 is in communication with antennas 112 and 114, where antennas 112 and 114 transmit information to access terminal 116 over forward link 118 and receive information from access terminal 116 over reverse link 120. Further, access terminal 122 is in communication with antennas 104 and 106, where antennas 104 and 106 transmit information to access terminal 122 over forward link 124 and receive information from access terminal 122 over reverse link 126. In a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, forward link 118 can utilize a different frequency band than that used by reverse link 120, and forward link 124 can employ a different frequency band than that employed by reverse link 126, for example. Further, in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, forward link 118 and reverse link 120 can utilize a common frequency band and forward link 124 and reverse link 126 can utilize a common frequency band.

Each group of antennas and/or the area in which they are designated to communicate can be referred to as a sector of base station 102. For example, antenna groups can be designed to communicate to access terminals in a sector of the areas covered by base station 102. In communication over forward links 118 and 124, the transmitting antennas of base station 102 can utilize beamforming to improve signal-to-noise ratio of forward links 118 and 124 for access terminals 116 and 122. Also, when base station 102 utilizes beamforming to transmit to access terminals 116 and 122 scattered randomly through an associated coverage, access terminals in neighboring cells can experience less interference as compared to a base station transmitting via a single antenna to all its access terminals.

The system 100 enables providing quality of service (QoS) continuity in relation to mobile procedures (e.g., handover, handoff, …) in a wireless communication environment. More particularly, for inter-base station handover, the base station 102 may send layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for QoS to and/or receive L2 protocol configuration information for QoS from a disparate base station (not shown). The L2 protocol configuration information may be uplink L2 protocol configuration information and/or downlink L2 protocol configuration information. Additionally, uplink QoS configuration information may additionally or alternatively be communicated between base station 102 and the disparate base station. The L2 protocol configuration information and/or the uplink QoS configuration information may be exchanged between the base station 102 and the disparate base station via an interface (e.g., an X2 interface, …).

Pursuant to an illustration, base station 102 can be a source base station that can serve an access terminal (e.g., access terminal 116, access terminal 122, …) prior to handing over to the disparate base station. Pursuant to this illustration, the base station 102 can obtain a description parameter (e.g., QoS Class Index (QCI), …) from a core network (e.g., packet data network gateway (PDN GW), …) that identifies a traffic type. In addition, the base station 102 may configure various parameters related to QoS. During the inter-base station mobility procedure, the base station 102 may communicate QoS-related parameters to a target base station (not shown) via an interface (e.g., X2 interface, …). Thus, the target base station may use QoS-related parameters, thereby minimizing over-the-air signaling message exchanges while maintaining QoS throughout the course of movement (e.g., before, during, and after the course of movement, …).

By way of another example, base station 102 can be a target base station that can serve an access terminal (e.g., access terminal 116, access terminal 122, …) after handover from a disparate base station. For example, the base station 102 may obtain QoS related parameters configured by a source base station (not shown) from the source base station via an interface (e.g., X2 interface, …). In addition, the base station 102 can evaluate whether to reuse the received QoS-related parameters (or a subset thereof) or to re-establish the QoS-related parameters (or a subset thereof). By reusing the received QoS-related parameters, traffic and/or over-the-air signaling interruptions related to inter-base station mobility procedures may be mitigated.

Referring to fig. 2, illustrated is a system 200 that provides QoS continuity in a wireless communication environment. The system 200 includes a packet data network gateway (PDN GW)202, a source base station 204, a target base station 206, and an access terminal 208. The PDN GW202 may interface with an external Packet Data Network (PDN) (not shown), such as the internet, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), …. For example, the PDN GW202 may handle address allocation, policy enforcement, packet classification and routing, and so on. Further, source base station 204 and target base station 206 may transmit and/or receive information, signals, data, instructions, commands, bits, symbols, and the like. It is to be appreciated that the term "base station" can also be referred to as an access point, a node B, an evolved node B (eNodeB, eNB), or some other terminology. In addition, access terminal 208 can transmit and/or receive information, signals, data, instructions, commands, bits, symbols, and the like. Moreover, although not shown, it is contemplated that any number of base stations similar to source base station 204 and/or target base station 206 can be included in system 200 and/or any number of access terminals similar to access terminal 208 can be included in system 200. Also, although not shown, it will be appreciated that source base station 204 and target base station 206 may be substantially similar. Pursuant to an illustration, system 200 can be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) based system; however, claimed subject matter is not so limited.

A virtual connection between two endpoints may be established in system 200; specifically, such a virtual connection can be formed between the PDN GW202 and the access terminal 208 (e.g., the PDN GW202 or the access terminal 208 can trigger establishment of the virtual connection, …). The virtual connection may be referred to as an Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer and may include a plurality of intermediate nodes (e.g., base stations, serving gateways (S-GWs), …). Each EPS bearer may provide a bearer service and may be associated with specific QoS attributes. The QoS attributes corresponding to a given EPS bearer may be described, at least in part, by a QoS Class Index (QCI) that indicates the type of service that utilizes this virtual connection.

Additionally, each EPS bearer may comprise a radio bearer; thus, a one-to-one mapping between EPS bearers and radio bearers may be utilized (e.g., before, during, or after a mobility procedure, …). A Radio Bearer (RB) may be an information path of defined capacity, delay, error rate, etc. The radio bearer may be associated with an over-the-air connection belonging to a corresponding EPS bearer between the source base station 204 and the access terminal 208 (or between the target base station 206 and the access terminal 208). In addition, for example, a radio bearer may correspond to a logical channel.

Pursuant to an illustration, a mobility procedure (e.g., handover, handoff, …) between base stations can be effectuated. Pursuant to this illustration, the access terminal 208 can be served by the source base station 204 (e.g., the source base station 204 can be an intermediate node associated with one or more EPS bearers between the PDN GW202 and the access terminal 208, …). A mobility process may be triggered (e.g., based on radio measurements obtained by the source base station 204 from the access terminal 208, …), which may result in a transition to the target base station 206 serving the access terminal 208 (e.g., the target base station 206 may replace the source base station 204 with an intermediate node associated with at least one of the one or more EPS bearers between the PDN GW202 and the access terminal 208, …). For example, the moving process may be carried out in response to the access terminal 208 moving from under the coverage of the source base station 204 to under the coverage of the target base station 206. Additionally, it should be understood that the definition of EPS bearers between the PDN GW202 and the access terminal 208 may remain unchanged (e.g., by the PDN GW202, …) during the inter-base station mobility procedure.

The source base station 204 may further include a configuration initializer 210, a handover module 212, and a configuration migrator 214. Configuration initializer 210 can configure QoS related parameters for utilization in connection with uplink transmissions and/or downlink transmissions. According to an example, the configuration initializer 210 can set QoS related parameters based on the traffic type indicated by the PDN GW 202. The PDN GW202 may generally describe the traffic type and may allow the source base station 204 to configure the parameters related to QoS based thereon. For example, configuration initializer 210 may generate layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for QoS. The L2 protocol configuration information may include Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameters, Medium Access Control (MAC) parameters, combinations thereof, and the like for each radio bearer. The L2 protocol configuration information may include uplink L2 protocol configuration information and/or downlink L2 protocol configuration information. Further, configuration initializer 210 may set QoS parameters such as logical channel priority, Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), combinations thereof, and the like. The QoS parameters generated by configuration initializer 210 may include uplink QoS parameters and/or downlink QoS parameters.

Additionally, the handover module 212 may prepare the target base station 206 and/or the access terminal 208 for a mobility procedure (e.g., handover, handoff, ….) from the source base station 204 to the target base station 206. For example, the handover module 212 may forward data queued for transmission, timing information or other synchronization data, acknowledgement or retransmission data, and/or any other information suitable for assisting in the transition from the source base station 204 to the target base station 206. Additionally, the handover module 212 may disconnect the connection between the source base station 204 and the access terminal 208 upon handover to the target base station 206.

Further, the configuration migrator 214 may send the QoS-related parameters set by the source base station 204 (or a disparate base station if an inter-base station mobility procedure has been previously carried out) to the target base station 206. The configuration migrator 214 may communicate the QoS related parameters configured by the source base station 204 via an interface (e.g., X2 interface 216, …). The X2 interface 216 may be an interface for interconnection of two base stations (e.g., the source base station 204 and the target base stations 206, …) within an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) architecture. The X2 interface 216 may support the exchange of signaling information between the source base station 204 and the target base station 206. Additionally, the X2 interface 216 may support forwarding of Packet Data Units (PDUs) to the respective tunnel endpoints. Furthermore, from a logical standpoint, the X2 interface 216 may be a point-to-point interface between the source base station 204 and the target base station 206 within E-UTRAN; however, this logical point-to-point X2 interface 216 need not utilize a direct physical connection between the source base station 204 and the target base station 206.

The target base station 206 may further include a handover module 218 and a configuration maintainer 220. The handover module 218 may prepare the target base station 206 for the mobility procedure. The handover module 218 may obtain information related to the mobility procedure from the source base station 204 (e.g., forwarded, … by the handover module 212). Such information may include, for example, data queued for transmission, timing information or other synchronization data, acknowledgement or retransmission data, and/or any other information suitable for assisting the transition. In addition, the handover module 218 may establish a connection between the target base station 206 and the access terminal 208.

The configuration maintainer 220 may receive and utilize QoS-related parameters configured by the source base station 204 and sent via the X2 interface 216. Pursuant to an example, the configuration migrator 214 (e.g., the source base station 204, …) can communicate QoS-related parameters set by the source base station 204 to the configuration maintainer 220 (e.g., the target base station 204, …) via the X2 interface 216. The QoS-related parameters configured by the source base station 204 may include uplink L2 protocol configuration information, downlink L2 protocol configuration information, and/or uplink QoS parameters. The configuration maintainer 220 may reuse the received parameters related to QoS set by the source base station 204. By reusing such parameters, the target base station 206 is not required to perform a reconstruction of the parameters (or a portion thereof); thus, QoS continuity during inter-base station handover may be enhanced while over-the-air signaling may be reduced. In contrast, conventional techniques typically re-establish QoS-related parameters with the target base station 206, which may result in traffic disruption, potential changes in QoS, and so forth.

Turning now to fig. 3, illustrated is a system 300 that exchanges QoS-related parameters between base stations via an interface in a wireless communication environment. System 300 includes source base station 204 and target base station 206. The source base station 204 may include a configuration initializer 210, a handover module 212, and a configuration migrator 214, as described herein. The target base station 206 may include a handover module 218 and a configuration maintainer 220, as described herein. Additionally, the source base station 204 and the target base station 206 may exchange QoS related parameters via an X2 interface 216.

Moreover, the configuration maintainer 220 of the target base station 206 may further include a selector 302, which selector 302 may evaluate QoS-related parameters constructed by the source base station 204 and received via the X2 interface 216. Additionally or alternatively, selector 302 may analyze target base station 206 and source base station 204 (e.g., compare vendors of such base stations). Based on the foregoing, the selector 302 can select whether to utilize the received QoS-related parameters (or a subset thereof) configured by the source base station 204.

The target base station 206 may further include a configuration initializer 304, which may be substantially similar to the configuration initializer 210 of the source base station 204. When the selector 302 determines to forgo use of QoS-related parameters set by the source base station 204, the configuration initializer 304 can reestablish such parameters (e.g., based on traffic type information obtained from the PDN GW, …).

On the downlink, QoS may be provided to a bearer of a single access terminal through various mechanisms. These mechanisms may include one-to-one mapping between EPS bearers and radio bearers. Additionally, the mechanism may include configuring PDCP, RLC, HARQ, and MAC parameters for each radio bearer (e.g., downlink L2 protocol configuration information, …). Further, the mechanism can include applying a base station scheduling policy to prioritize between different bearers of a single access terminal.

For example, the configuration of downlink L2 protocols (e.g., PDCP, RLC, HARQ, MAC, …) may be base station specific, and different base station vendors may use different techniques for providing QoS related parameters based on information obtained from the PDN GW. Furthermore, the application of base station scheduling policies may vary from vendor to vendor. In addition, base station scheduling policies may be associated with the configuration of the L2 protocol. Thus, different base station vendors may implement different schedules, which may result in different L2 configurations. If the L2 protocol and the configuration of the scheduling policy can be determined at the base station and can be dependent on each other, the downlink L2 parameters (e.g., possibly causing an interruption in the handling of radio bearers, …) can be re-established during inter-base station handover between different base station vendors. Thus, the selector 302 may recognize inter-base station handover between base stations from different vendors and, therefore, may choose to have the configuration initializer 304 reconstruct the L2 parameters.

According to another example, scheduling policies may be similar for inter-base station handovers between base stations having a common base station vendor, which may result in similar L2 protocol configurations. In this case, the selector 302 may choose to use the L2 protocol configuration information obtained from the source base station 204 via the X2 interface 216 instead of re-establishing such parameters (e.g., using the configuration initializers 304, …).

Thus, to handle the foregoing example using a common procedure that can minimize downlink QoS disruption before and after inter-base station handover, the source base station 204 may communicate downlink L2 configuration information to the target base station 206 (e.g., via the X2 interface 216, …). The target base station 206 (e.g., the selector 302, …) may then decide to reuse or not reuse the downlink L2 protocol configured by the source base station 204 for the access terminal.

On the uplink, QoS may be provided to a bearer of a single access terminal through various mechanisms. The mechanism may include a one-to-one mapping between EPS bearers and radio bearers. Additionally, the mechanism may include configuring PDCP, RLC, HARQ, and MAC parameters for each radio bearer (e.g., uplink L2 protocol configuration information, …). Further, the mechanism may include configuring uplink QoS configuration information, such as logical channel priority, Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), and the like.

The configuration of the uplink L2 protocol may be handled in a substantially similar manner as compared to the downlink L2 protocol described above. In addition, uplink QoS configurations for logical channel priorities, PBR, MBR, GBR, etc. may be standardized and may be handled in a substantially similar manner as compared to downlink L2 protocol configuration information. Accordingly, during inter-base station handover, the source base station 204 may communicate uplink L2 protocol configuration information and QoS configuration information (e.g., logical channel priority, PBR, MBR, GBR, …) to the target base station 206 (e.g., via the X2 interface 216, …). Thus, the selector 302 may interpret whether to reuse the uplink L2 protocol configuration information (or a subset thereof) and/or the uplink QoS configuration information obtained from the source base station 204. In addition, configuration initializer 304 may reconstruct uplink L2 protocol configuration information and/or uplink QoS configuration information that was selected by selector 302 to be no longer used.

Various information regarding the L2 configuration may be sent from the source base station 204 to the target base station 206. An example of a PDCP parameter that may be swapped is a robust header compression (ROHC) profile used by the source base station 204. According to another illustration, the transmittable RLC parameters can be an indicator corresponding to an RLC mode (e.g., acknowledged mode, unacknowledged mode, …) utilized by the source base station 204. Further, if acknowledgement mode is utilized, the L2 configuration information sent via the X2 interface 216 can further include a number of Negative Acknowledgements (NAKs), the type of timer to be used in evaluating whether a packet is lost, the manner in which an access terminal is polled to request a report, and so forth. Additionally, if unacknowledged mode is used, the L2 configuration information passed via the X2 interface 216 may relate to the length of time that a user or packet cannot be scheduled. Pursuant to another example, the exchangeable MAC parameter can be an indicator that specifies the type of scheduling utilized by the source base station 204 (e.g., dynamic, semi-static, …).

Referring to fig. 4-5, methodologies relating to providing QoS continuity during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment are illustrated. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with one or more embodiments.

Referring to fig. 4, illustrated is a methodology 400 that facilitates providing quality of service (QoS) continuity during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment. At 402, layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information set by a source base station for quality of service (QoS) may be identified. For example, the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS may include uplink L2 protocol configuration information. According to another example, the L2 protocol configuration information may comprise downlink L2 protocol configuration information. In addition, the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS may be initialized and/or controlled by the source base station for each radio bearer. Further, the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS may include Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameters, Medium Access Control (MAC) parameters, combinations thereof, and the like for each radio bearer. According to another example, uplink QoS configuration information set by the source base station may be recognized. The uplink QoS configuration information may include, for example, logical channel priority, Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), combinations thereof, and so forth.

At 404, the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS may be transmitted from the source base station to the target base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure. For example, the interface may be an X2 interface. According to another example, uplink QoS configuration information set by a source base station may additionally or alternatively be transmitted to a target base station via the interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure.

Turning now to fig. 5, illustrated is a methodology 500 that facilitates maintaining quality of service (QoS) during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment. At 502, layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) set by a source base station may be received from the source base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure. For example, the interface may be an X2 interface. In addition, the L2 protocol configuration information may include uplink L2 protocol configuration information and/or downlink L2 protocol configuration information. Further, the L2 protocol configuration information may be configured by the source base station for each radio bearer. The L2 protocol configuration information for QoS may include Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameters, Medium Access Control (MAC) parameters, combinations thereof, and the like for each radio bearer. According to another example, uplink QoS configuration information set by a source base station may additionally or alternatively be received from the source base station via the interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure. The uplink QoS configuration information may include, for example, logical channel priority, Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), combinations thereof, and so forth.

At 504, a selection may be effectuated as to whether to reuse at least a portion of the received L2 protocol configuration information for QoS. According to another example, a selection can be performed regarding whether to reuse at least a portion of the received uplink QoS configuration information. Further, the received L2 protocol configuration information for QoS and/or the received uplink QoS configuration information selected for reuse may be used when communicating with an access terminal via the uplink and/or downlink. Pursuant to an illustration, the selection can be based on a comparison of the vendors of the source base station and the target base station.

At 506, the remaining portion of the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS that cannot be selected for reuse may be reconstructed. Additionally or alternatively, a remaining portion of the uplink QoS configuration information that cannot be selected for reuse may be reconstructed.

It will be appreciated that, in accordance with one or more aspects described herein, inferences can be made regarding maintaining QoS continuity in a wireless communication environment. As used herein, the term to "infer" or "inference" refers generally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured via events and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate a probability distribution over states, for example. The inference can be probabilistic-that is, the computation of a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Whether or not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and data come from one or several event and data sources, this inference results in the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data.

According to an example, one or more methods presented above can include making inferences pertaining to selecting L2 protocol configuration information and/or uplink QoS configuration information to exchange via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure. By way of another illustration, inferences can be made regarding determining whether to reuse or reestablish the L2 protocol configuration information and/or uplink QoS configuration information. It will be appreciated that the foregoing examples are illustrative in nature and are not intended to limit the number of inferences that can be made or the manner in which such inferences are made in conjunction with the various embodiments and/or methods described herein.

Fig. 6 is an illustration of an access terminal 600 that may be used in conjunction with various aspects of the claimed subject matter. Access terminal 600 comprises a receiver 602 that receives a signal from, for instance, a receive antenna (not shown), and performs typical actions thereon (e.g., filters, amplifies, downconverts, etc.) the received signal and digitizes the conditioned signal to obtain samples. Receiver 602 can be, for example, an MMSE receiver, and can comprise a demodulator 604 that can demodulate received symbols and provide them to a processor 606 for channel estimation. Processor 606 can be a processor dedicated to analyzing information received by receiver 602 and/or generating information for transmission by a transmitter 612, a processor that controls one or more components of access terminal 600, and/or a processor that both analyzes information received by receiver 602, generates information for transmission by transmitter 612, and controls one or more components of access terminal 600.

Access terminal 600 may additionally comprise memory 608, memory 608 operatively coupled to processor 606 and may store data to be transmitted, received data, and any other suitable information related to performing the various actions and functions set forth herein.

It will be appreciated that the data store (e.g., memory 608) described herein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include Read Only Memory (ROM), programmable ROM (prom), electrically programmable ROM (eprom), electrically erasable prom (eeprom), or flash memory. Volatile memory can include Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM may be used in many forms, such as Synchronous RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The memory 608 of the subject systems and methods is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Access terminal 600 still further comprises a modulator 610 and a transmitter 612 that transmits data, signals, etc. to the base stations 612. Although depicted as being separate from the processor 606, it is to be understood that the modulator 610 may be part of the processor 606 or several processors (not shown).

Fig. 7 is an illustration of a system 700 that maintains QoS continuity during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment. System 700 includes a base station 702 (e.g., access point, …) having: a receiver 710 that receives signals from one or more access terminals 704 through multiple receive antennas 706; and a transmitter 724 that transmits through transmit antenna 708 to the one or more access terminals 704. Receiver 710 can receive information from receive antennas 706 and is operatively associated with a demodulator 712 that demodulates received information. Demodulated symbols are analyzed by a processor 714, which processor 714 can be similar to that described above with respect to fig. 6 and which is coupled to a memory 716, which memory 716 stores data to be transmitted to or received from access terminal 704 and/or any other suitable information related to performing the various acts and functions set forth herein. Processor 714 is further coupled to a configuration migrator 718, which configuration migrator 718 may communicate uplink and/or downlink L2 protocol configuration information and/or uplink QoS configuration information to disparate base stations (not shown). Further, base station 702 may include a configuration maintainer 720 that can receive uplink and/or downlink L2 protocol configuration information and/or uplink QoS configuration information set by a disparate base station (not shown) from the disparate base station. The configuration migrator 718 and configuration maintainer 720 may exchange configuration information with disparate base stations via interfaces (e.g., X2 interfaces, …) (not shown). It should be appreciated that the configuration migrator 718 may be substantially similar to the configuration migrator 214 of FIG. 2 and/or the configuration maintainer 720 may be substantially similar to the configuration maintainer 220 of FIG. 2. Further, although not shown, it is contemplated that the base station 702 can include a configuration initializer (which can be substantially similar to the configuration initializer 210 of fig. 2 and/or the configuration initializer 304 of fig. 3), a handover module (which can be substantially similar to the handover module 212 of fig. 2 and/or the handover module 218 of fig. 2), and/or a selector (which can be substantially similar to the selector 302 of fig. 3). Base station 702 may further comprise a modulator 722. A modulator 722 can multiplex the frame for transmission by a transmitter 724 through antenna 708 to access terminals 704 as described supra. Although depicted as being separate from the processor 714, it is to be understood that the delay budget feedback evaluator 718, the scheduler 720 and/or the modulator 722 may be part of the processor 714 or several processors (not shown).

Fig. 8 shows an example wireless communication system 800. Wireless communication system 800 depicts one base station 810 and one access terminal 850 for sake of brevity. However, it is to be appreciated that system 800 can include more than one base station and/or more than one access terminal, wherein additional base stations and/or access terminals can be substantially similar or different from example base station 810 and access terminal 850 described below. In addition, it is to be appreciated that base station 810 and/or access terminal 850 can employ the systems (fig. 1-3, 6-7, and 9-10) and/or methods (fig. 4-5) described herein to facilitate wireless communication there between.

At base station 810, traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from a data source 812 to Transmit (TX) data processor 814. According to an example, each data stream can be transmitted via a respective antenna. TX data processor 814 formats, codes, and interleaves the traffic data stream based on a particular coding scheme selected for that data stream to provide coded data.

The coded data for each data stream may be multiplexed with pilot data using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) techniques. Additionally or alternatively, the pilot symbols may be Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), Time Division Multiplexed (TDM), or Code Division Multiplexed (CDM). The pilot data is typically a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner and can be used at access terminal 850 to estimate channel response. The multiplexed pilot and coded data for each data stream can be modulated (e.g., symbol mapped) based on a particular modulation scheme (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), etc.) selected for that data stream to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream can be determined by instructions performed or provided by processor 830.

The modulation symbols for the data streams can be provided to a TX MIMO processor 820, which TX MIMO processor 820 can further process the modulation symbols (e.g., for OFDM). TX MIMO processor 820 then compares N_TOne modulation symbol stream is provided to N_TA plurality of transmitters (TMTR)822a through 822 t. In various embodiments, TX MIMO processor 820 applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which the symbol is being transmitted.

Each transmitter 822 receives and processes a respective symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel. In addition, from N respectively_TN from transmitters 822a through 822t are transmitted by antennas 824a through 824t_TA modulated signal.

At access terminal 850, by N_REach antenna 852a through 852r receives a transmitted modulated signal and provides a received signal from each antenna 852 to a respective receiver (RCVR)854a through 854 r. Each receiver 854 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and down)Frequency convert) the respective signals, digitize the conditioned signals to provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide a corresponding "received" symbol stream.

RX data processor 860 may receive data from N_RN of one receiver 854_ROne received symbol stream and processing the N based on a particular receiver processing technique_RA stream of received symbols to provide N_TA stream of "detected" symbols. RX data processor 860 can demodulate, deinterleave, and decode each detected symbol stream to recover the traffic data for the data stream. The processing by RX data processor 860 is complementary to that performed by TX MIMO processor 820 and TX data processor 814 at base station 810.

Processor 870 may periodically determine which available technology will be utilized (as discussed above). Further, processor 870 can formulate a reverse link message comprising a matrix index portion and a rank value portion.

The reverse link message may comprise various types of information regarding the communication link and/or the received data stream. The reverse link message may be processed by a TX data processor 838, which also receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a data source 836, modulated by a modulator 880, conditioned by transmitters 854a through 854r, and transmitted back to base station 810.

At base station 810, the modulated signals from access terminal 850 are received by antennas 824, conditioned by receivers 822, demodulated by a demodulator 840, and processed by a RX data processor 842 to extract the reverse link message transmitted by access terminal 850. In addition, processor 830 can process the extracted message to determine which precoding matrix to use for determining the beamforming weights.

Processors 830 and 870 can direct (e.g., control, coordinate, manage, etc.) operation at base station 810 and access terminal 850, respectively. Respective processors 830 and 870 can be associated with memory 832 and 872 that store code and data. Processors 830 and 870 can also perform computations to derive frequency and impulse response estimates for the uplink and downlink, respectively.

In an aspect, logical channels are classified into control channels and traffic channels. Logical control channels may include a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), which is a DL channel used to broadcast system control information. Further, the logical control channel may include a Paging Control Channel (PCCH), which is a DL channel that conveys paging information. Further, the logical control channels may include a Multicast Control Channel (MCCH), which is a point-to-multipoint DL channel used for transmitting Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS) scheduling and control information for one or several MTCHs. Typically, this channel is only used by UEs receiving MBMS (e.g. the original MCCH + MSCH) after establishing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection. In addition, the logical control channels may include a Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH), which is a point-to-point bi-directional channel that transmits dedicated control information and may be used by UEs having an RRC connection. In an aspect, the logical traffic channels may include a Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH), which is a point-to-point bi-directional channel dedicated to one UE for communicating user information. Also, the logical traffic channels may include a Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH) for a point-to-multipoint DL channel for transmitting traffic data.

In an aspect, transport channels are classified as DL and UL. DL transport channels include a Broadcast Channel (BCH), a downlink shared data channel (DL-SDCH) and a Paging Channel (PCH). The PCH may support UE power saving by being broadcast over the entire cell and mapped to physical layer (PHY) resources that may be used for other control/traffic channels (e.g., Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycles may be indicated to the UE by the network, … …). The UL transport channels may include a Random Access Channel (RACH), a request channel (REQCH), an uplink shared data channel (UL-SDCH), and a plurality of PHY channels.

The PHY channels may include a set of DL channels and UL channels. For example, DL PHY channels may include: a common pilot channel (CPICH); a Synchronization Channel (SCH); common Control Channel (CCCH) Shared DL Control Channel (SDCCH); multicast Control Channel (MCCH); a Shared UL Assignment Channel (SUACH) acknowledgement channel (ACKCH); DL physical shared data channel (DL-PSDCH), UL Power Control Channel (UPCCH); a Paging Indicator Channel (PICH); and/or a Load Indicator Channel (LICH). By way of further illustration, the UL PHY channels may include: physical Random Access Channel (PRACH); a Channel Quality Indicator Channel (CQICH); acknowledgement channel (ACKCH); an Antenna Subset Indicator Channel (ASICH); shared request channel (SREQCH); UL physical shared data channel (UL-PSDCH); and/or a wideband pilot channel (BPICH).

It is to be understood that the embodiments described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing unit may be implemented within: one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

When the embodiments are implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, program code or code segments, they can be stored in a machine-readable medium, such as a storage component. A code segment may represent a program, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted using any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

For a software implementation, the techniques described herein may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in memory units and executed by processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor, in which case it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means as is known in the art.

Referring to fig. 9, illustrated is a system 900 that enables supporting quality of service (QoS) continuity in a wireless communication environment. For example, system 900 can reside at least partially within a base station. It is to be appreciated that system 900 is represented as including functional blocks, which can be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 900 includes a logical grouping 902 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. For example, logical grouping 902 can comprise an electrical component for initializing layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) at the source base station 904. Further, logical grouping 902 can comprise an electrical component for communicating L2 protocol configuration information for QoS initialized at the source base station to the target base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure 906. Further, logical grouping 902 can optionally include an electrical component for setting uplink QoS configuration information 908 at the source base station. Logical grouping 902 can also optionally include an electrical component for communicating uplink QoS configuration information set at the source base station to the target base station via the interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure 910. Additionally, system 900 can include a memory 912, memory 912 holding instructions for executing functions associated with electrical components 904, 906, 908, and 910. While shown as being external to memory 912, it is to be understood that one or more of electrical components 904, 906, 908, and 910 can exist within memory 912.

Referring to fig. 10, illustrated is a system 1000 that enables maintaining quality of service (QoS) throughout mobility in a wireless communication environment. For example, system 1000 can reside at least partially within a base station. It is to be appreciated that system 1000 is represented as including functional blocks, which can be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 1000 includes a logical grouping 1002 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. For example, logical grouping 1002 can include an electrical component for obtaining layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) from a source base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure 1004. Further, logical grouping 1002 can include an electrical component for determining whether to reuse at least a portion of the obtained L2 protocol configuration information for QoS 1006. Further, logical grouping 1002 can include an electrical component for utilizing L2 protocol configuration information obtained from the source base station that is determined to be reused 1008. Logical grouping 1002 can also optionally include an electrical component for reconstructing L2 protocol configuration information that is determined to be no longer in use 1010. Additionally, system 1000 can include a memory 1012 that retains instructions for executing functions associated with electrical components 1004, 1006, 1008, and 1010. While shown as being external to memory 1012, it is to be understood that one or more of electrical components 1004, 1006, 1008, and 1010 can exist within memory 1012.

What has been described above includes examples of one or more embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the described embodiments are intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

Claims (42)

1. A method that facilitates providing quality of service (QoS) continuity during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment, comprising:

identifying layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information set by a source base station for quality of service (QoS); and

transmitting the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS from the source base station to a target base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information comprises downlink L2 protocol configuration information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information comprises uplink L2 protocol configuration information.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising initializing the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS for each radio bearer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information includes at least one of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameters, or Medium Access Control (MAC) parameters.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the interface is an X2 interface.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying uplink QoS configuration information set by the source base station; and

transmitting the uplink QoS configuration information set by the source base station to the target base station via the interface during the inter-base station mobility procedure.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the QoS configuration information comprises one or more of a logical channel priority, a Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), a Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), or a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR).

9. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a memory holding instructions related to: initializing layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) for each radio bearer; and communicating the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS to a target base station via an X2 interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute the instructions retained in the memory.

10. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information comprises downlink L2 protocol configuration information.

11. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information comprises uplink L2 protocol configuration information.

12. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 9, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information comprises at least one of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameter, a Radio Link Control (RLC) parameter, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameter, or a Medium Access Control (MAC) parameter.

13. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to: setting uplink QoS configuration information; and sending the uplink QoS configuration information to the target base station via the X2 interface during the inter-base station mobility procedure.

14. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 13, wherein the QoS configuration information comprises one or more of a logical channel priority, a Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), a Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), or a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR).

15. A wireless communications apparatus that enables supporting quality of service (QoS) continuity in a wireless communication environment, comprising:

means for initializing layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) at a source base station; and

means for communicating the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS initialized at the source base station to a target base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure.

16. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information comprises at least one of downlink L2 protocol configuration information or uplink L2 protocol configuration information.

17. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information includes at least one of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameters, or Medium Access Control (MAC) parameters.

18. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

means for setting uplink QoS configuration information at the source base station; and

means for sending the uplink QoS configuration information set at the source base station to the target base station via the interface during the inter-base station mobility procedure.

19. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the QoS configuration information comprises one or more of a logical channel priority, a Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), a Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), or a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR).

20. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising:

code stored on the medium for initializing layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) at a source base station; and

code stored on the medium for sending the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS initialized at the source base station to a target base station via an X2 interface during inter-base station handover.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information includes at least one of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameters, or Medium Access Control (MAC) parameters.

22. The computer program product of claim 20, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

code stored on the medium for initializing uplink QoS configuration information at the source base station; and

code stored on the medium for sending the uplink QoS configuration information set at the source base station to the target base station via the interface during the inter-base station handover.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the QoS configuration information comprises one or more of a logical channel priority, a Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), a Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), or a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR).

24. In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to:

recognizing layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information set by a source base station for quality of service (QoS);

identifying uplink QoS configuration information set by the source base station; and is

Transmitting the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS and the uplink QoS configuration information from the source base station to a target base station via an X2 interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure.

25. A method that facilitates maintaining quality of service (QoS) during a mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment, comprising:

receiving layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) set by a source base station from the source base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure;

selecting whether to reuse at least a portion of the received L2 protocol configuration information for QoS; and

reconstructing the remaining portion of the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS that was not selected for reuse.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the interface is an X2 interface.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information includes at least one of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameters, or Medium Access Control (MAC) parameters.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising selecting whether to reuse at least the portion of the received L2 protocol configuration information for QoS based on a comparison of vendors of the source and target base stations.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising using the received L2 protocol configuration for QoS selected for reuse when communicating with an access terminal.

30. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

receiving uplink QoS configuration information set by the source base station from the source base station via the interface during the inter-base station mobility procedure;

selecting whether to reuse at least a portion of the received QoS configuration information; and

reconstructing a remaining portion of the QoS configuration information that was not selected for reuse.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the QoS configuration information comprises one or more of a logical channel priority, a Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), a Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), or a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR).

32. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a memory holding instructions related to: obtaining layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) set by a source base station from the source base station via an X2 interface during inter-base station handover; selecting whether to reuse at least a portion of the obtained L2 protocol configuration information for QoS; and rebuilding the remaining unselected for reuse portion of the L2 protocol configuration information for QoS; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute the instructions retained in the memory.

33. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 32, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information includes at least one of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameters, or Medium Access Control (MAC) parameters.

34. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 32, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to: utilizing the received L2 protocol configuration for QoS selected for reuse when communicating with an access terminal.

35. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 32, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to: obtaining uplink QoS configuration information set by the source base station from the source base station via the X2 interface during the inter-base station handover; selecting whether to reuse at least a portion of the obtained QoS configuration information; using the obtained QoS configuration information selected for reuse; and re-establishing a remaining portion of the QoS configuration information that was not selected for re-use.

36. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 35, wherein the QoS configuration information comprises one or more of a logical channel priority, a Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), a Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), or a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR).

37. A wireless communications apparatus that enables maintaining quality of service (QoS) throughout an entire mobility procedure in a wireless communication environment, comprising:

means for obtaining layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) from a source base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure;

means for determining whether to reuse at least a portion of the obtained L2 protocol configuration information for QoS; and

means for utilizing the L2 protocol configuration information obtained from the base station determined to be reused.

38. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 37, further comprising means for rebuilding the L2 protocol configuration information determined to no longer be used.

39. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 37, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information includes at least one of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameters, or Medium Access Control (MAC) parameters.

40. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising:

code stored on the medium for obtaining layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS) from a source base station via an interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure;

code stored on the medium for determining whether to reuse at least a subset of the obtained L2 protocol configuration information for QoS;

code stored on said medium for utilizing said L2 protocol configuration information obtained from said base station determined to be reused; and

code stored on the medium for reconstructing the L2 protocol configuration information determined to no longer be used.

41. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the L2 protocol configuration information includes at least one of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) parameters, or Medium Access Control (MAC) parameters.

42. In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to:

receiving at least one of uplink layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS), downlink L2 protocol configuration information for QoS, or QoS configuration information from a source base station via an X2 interface during an inter-base station mobility procedure; and

selecting whether to reuse the at least one of uplink layer 2(L2) protocol configuration information for quality of service (QoS), downlink L2 protocol configuration information for QoS, or QoS configuration information received from the source base station.