Patent ID: 11871327
Assignee: SK TELECOM CO., LTD.
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A terminal apparatus including a processor and a memory within the terminal apparatus comprising:
an access unit configured to access a first network through access to a first access device and access a second network, which is different from the first network, through access to a second access device, so as to maintain dual connectivity to the first network and the second network;
a determination unit configured to:
average current radio environment information and past radio environment information for the first network to calculate first radio environment information, and average current radio environment information and past radio environment information for the second network to calculate second radio environment information, the first radio environment information and the second radio environment information including at least one of transmission intensity information, a signal-to-noise ratio, or downlink bandwidth information for, respectively, the first network and the second network, and determine whether to switch a data transmission path for transmitting user data, based on the first radio environment information of the first network and the second radio environment information of the second network; and
a switching unit configured to, based on determining to switch the data transmission path, switch the data transmission path from the first network to the second network so that the user data, which is to be transmitted through the first network, is transmitted through the second network,
wherein the switching unit is configured to switch the data transmission path from the first network to the second network without a link between a core configuration of the first network and a core configuration of the second network by transmitting a packet making a request for activating the second network to the second network and without transmitting the packet to the first network;
wherein the first network is fourth-generation 4G) wireless network, and the second network is a fifth-generation (5G) wireless network;
wherein the determination unit is further configured to: estimate a first expected throughput of the first network according to the first radio environment information of the first network and a second expected throughput of the second network according to the second radio environment information of the second network;
determine to switch the data transmission path from the first network to the second network when the second expected throughput of the second network is greater than the first expected throughput of the first network,
wherein the first expected throughput of the first network and the second expected throughput of the second network are identified from mapping data that maps the first expected throughput to the first radio environment information of the first network and the second expected throughput to the second radio environment information of the second network; and
wherein the determination unit is configured to: after the estimated of the first expected throughput of the first network according to the first radio environment information of the first network and the second expected throughput of the second network according to the second radio environment information of the second network, the determination unit is further configured to: determine to switch the data transmission path from the first network to the second network when a difference between the first expected throughput of the first network and the second expected throughput of the second network is greater than or equal to a threshold value.