Enhanced voice roaming for UE devices associated with a home network without SRVCC

Some embodiments relate to a cellular network which better utilizes packet-switched (PS) voice technologies, such as VoLTE, for roaming user equipment (UE) devices. When a roaming UE associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support PS to CS handover (SRVCC) desires to make a VoLTE call, the cellular network may determine probability of such a handover during the the call. The cellular network may selectively accept or reject the packet-switched wireless voice call based on the handover probability. If the probability of handover is high, the cellular network may reject the packet-switched wireless voice and trigger the UE to fall back to a circuit-switched network and re-originate the wireless voice call on the circuit-switched network. In the case of a mobile terminated call, the cellular network may provide signaling to the UE to perform a fallback to a circuit-switched network in order to receive the mobile terminated call.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates to wireless devices, and more particularly to an apparatus, system, and method for providing packet-switched voice capabilities from a roaming network to a wireless device associated with a non-SRVCC carrier.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The use of wireless communication systems is rapidly expanding. As wireless communication systems evolve, successive generations of wireless communication technologies tend to be developed. Adoption of a new generation wireless technology may be a gradual process, during which one or more previous generations of a similar technology may co-exist with the new generation technology, e.g., for a period of time until the new generation wireless technology is fully deployed.

One example of a transition to next generation wireless technology is the transition from circuit-switched (CS) technology to packet-switched (PS) technology, such as voice over LTE (VoLTE), for conducting voice calls. VoLTE technology utilizes a fully packet-switched network and may provide benefits such as improved audio quality (e.g., HD voice) and simultaneous voice and data communications for CDMA carriers. Many operators around the world have deployed VoLTE technology and continue to enhance their VoLTE coverage, and operators have also begun to enable VoLTE roaming across their networks. However, LTE coverage is not ubiquitous. In some scenarios, e.g., due to low, lessening, or absent VoLTE service, it may be desirable or necessary to redirect a wireless device from an ongoing call using VoLTE technology to using a 2G/3G network.

Single Radio-Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) provides a transitional mechanism whereby a VoLTE call may be seamlessly handed over to underlying 3G/2G coverage that uses circuit-switched communications. SRVCC is typically deployed by 3GPP carriers but not by 3GPP2 carriers, such as Verizon. Thus, in some scenarios users of 3GPP2 networks may be limited in their use of VoLTE systems due to incompatibility with SRVCC technology. Accordingly, improvements in wireless communications, specifically in the handling of VoLTE services, would be desirable. In particular, it would be desirable to improve the utilization of VoLTE technology in roaming scenarios by wireless device associated with non-SRVCC carriers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the foregoing and other concerns, some embodiments relate to one or more cellular network devices which are configured to better utilize packet-switched voice technologies, such as VoLTE, for roaming user equipment (UE) devices. The methods described herein may be particularly used with UEs associated with a telecom carrier that does not support handover from a packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network, e.g., which does not SRVCC.

In some embodiments, the cellular network may receive, in a wireless manner, a request from a roaming User Equipment (UE) to make a packet-switched wireless voice call, e.g., a VoLTE call. The cellular network may determine whether the UE is associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support handover from a packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network (does not support SRVCC). The cellular network may also determine information regarding probability of a handover of the wireless voice call from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network during the course of the call being set up.

If the cellular network determines that the UE is associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support packet-switched to circuit-switched handover, then the cellular network may selectively accept or reject the packet-switched wireless voice call based on the probability of a handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network during the wireless voice call. The probability of a PS to CS handover (e.g., an SRVCC handover) may be determined in any of various ways, and may be based on the amount or degree of packet-switched coverage in the current cell of the roaming UE as well as neighboring cells, e.g., such as in a tracking area of the UE, the degree of mobility of the roaming UE, etc.

The cellular network may provide wireless signaling to the UE rejecting the packet-switched wireless voice if the probability of a PS to CS handover is greater than a threshold, e.g., is high. The signaling may be configured to trigger the UE to fall back to a circuit-switched network and re-originate the wireless voice call on the circuit-switched network. As one example, the signaling rejecting the packet-switched wireless voice call may comprise a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) cause code. If the probability of a handover of the wireless voice call from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network is low, or less than a threshold, the roaming carrier may provide signaling accepting the packet-switched wireless voice call.

In the case of a mobile terminated call received by the cellular network and intended for the roaming UE, the cellular network may perform similar operations, e.g., by determining whether the UE is associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support handover from a packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network and determining information regarding probability of such a handover during the voice call. If the UE is associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support PS to CS handover and if the probability of a PS to CS handover is high, the cellular network may provide signaling to the UE to perform a fallback to a circuit-switched network in order to receive the mobile terminated call.

In some embodiments, when a roaming UE first attempts to attach to a packet-switched network or perform a tracking area update (TAU), the cellular network selectively grants or denies access to the packet-switched network based on whether the roaming UE is associated with a home carrier that does not support PS to CS handover (SRVCC) and based on the amount of packet-switched (e.g., LTE) coverage in the tracking area of the roaming UE.

Accordingly, embodiments are presented herein of a method for determining usage of packet-switched networks for voice calls by roaming UEs, and a UE, base station, or other cellular networking hardware configured to implement the method. This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Acronyms

The following acronyms are used in the present Patent Application:

UE: User Equipment

BS: Base Station

GSM: Global System for Mobile Communication

UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

LTE: Long Term Evolution

MME: Mobile Management Entity

MSC: Mobile Switching Center

RNC: Radio Network Controller

RRC: Radio Resource Control

MTRF: Mobile Terminating Roaming Forwarding

Terms

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computer systems or devices which performs wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™, iPhone™), laptops, PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, wearable devices (e.g., smart watch, smart glasses), or other handheld devices, etc. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device” can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) which is capable of wireless communication. UE devices may commonly be mobile or portable and easily transported by a user, though in some cases substantially stationary devices may also be configured to perform wireless communication.

FIG. 1illustrates a simplified example wireless cellular communication system, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the system ofFIG. 1is merely one example of a possible cellular communication system, and embodiments of the invention may be implemented in any of various systems as desired.

The base station102may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site, and may include hardware that enables wireless cellular communication with the UEs106A through106N. The base station102may also be equipped to communicate with a network100. Thus, the base station102may facilitate communication between the UEs and/or between the UEs and the network100. The communication area (or coverage area) of each base station may be referred to as a “cell.” The base station102and the UEs may be configured to communicate over the transmission medium using any of various wireless communication technologies, including cellular radio access technologies (RATs) such as GSM, UMTS, LTE, LTE-Advanced, CDMA, W-CDMA, and any of various 3G, 4G, 5G or future telecom standards. Base station102and other similar base stations operating according to the same or a different cellular communication standard may thus be provided as a network of cells, which may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UE106and similar devices over a wide geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards. Other possible wireless communication technologies include wireless local area network (WLAN or WiFi), WiMAX, etc.

In some embodiments, UE106may be capable of communicating using multiple radio access technologies (RATs). For example, the UE106might be configured to communicate using two or more of GSM, UMTS, LTE, LTE-Advanced CDMA2000, WLAN, Bluetooth, one or more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one and/or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

FIG. 2illustrates user equipment106(e.g., one of the devices106A through106N) in communication with the base station102, according to some embodiments. As defined above, the UE106may be a device with wireless cellular network connectivity such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or a tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device. The base station may be a cellular base station that communicates in a wireless cellular manner with one or more UEs. The base station may include a processing element such as one or more of a processor, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) or some combination thereof.

The base station, such as the processing element in the base station, may perform any of the methods described herein, or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein. Other cellular network devices, described below, may also be configured to perform some or all of the methods described herein, possibly in conjunction with the base station.

The UE may include a processing element such as one or more of a processor, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) or some combination thereof. The UE, such as the processing element in the UE, may perform any of the methods described herein as being performed by a UE.

In some embodiments, the UE106may be configured to communicate using any of multiple wireless communication protocols as described above. The UE106may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols. In some embodiments, the UE106may share one or more parts of a receive and/or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. In other embodiments, the UE106may include separate transmit and/or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. In still other embodiments, the UE106may include one or more radios which are shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radios which are used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, in one set of embodiments, the UE106may include a shared radio for communicating using either of LTE or 1×RTT, and separate radios for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

In some embodiments, the UE106may be configured to communicate using either of a first radio access technology which provides packet-switched (PS) services but not circuit-switched (CS) services and a second radio access technology which provides PS services and CS services. If the UE106is using the first radio access technology and a CS call is initiated or received, the UE106may be capable of switching to use of the second radio access technology in order to establish the call.

The UE may be associated with, e.g., subscribe to, a cellular carrier. Examples of cellular carries in the United States include Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. In some embodiments, the UE may subscribe to a home carrier that does not support handover from packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network during an ongoing call.

FIG. 3illustrates an example simplified portion of a wireless communication system that may be particularly useful for implementing voice or video over IP communication, such as voice over LTE (VoLTE) in an LTE network, according to some embodiments. As shown, the UE106may include an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) client306, e.g., which may be implemented in various manners, using hardware and/or software. For example, in one embodiment, software and/or hardware may implement an IMS stack that may provide desired IMS functionalities, e.g., including registration, AKA authentication with IPSec support, session setup and resource reservations, etc.

The UE106may be in communication with a cellular network, where the cellular network may comprise a base station102, an evolved packet core (EPC)100and an IMS system350, as shown. The base station is shown in this example embodiment as an eNodeB102. The UE106may communicate in a wireless manner with the base station (eNodeB)102. In turn, the eNodeB102may be coupled to a core network, shown in this example embodiment as an evolved packet core (EPC)100. As shown, the EPC100may include mobility management entity (MME)322, home subscriber server (HSS)324, and serving gateway (SGW)326. The EPC100may include various other devices known to those skilled in the art as well.

The EPC100may be in communication with the IMS350. The IMS350may include call session control function (CSCF)352, which may itself include a proxy CSCF (P-CSCF), interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF), and serving CSCF (S-CSCF), as desired. The IMS350may also include media gateway controller function (MGCF)354and IMS management gateway (IMS-MGW)356. Similar to the EPC100, the IMS350may include various other devices known to those skilled in the art as well.

Operations described herein as being performed by the cellular network may be performed by one or more of the cellular network devices shown inFIG. 3, such as one or more of base station,102, MME322, HSS324, or SGW326in EPC100, or CSCF352, MGCF354or IMS-GW356in IMS system350, among possible others.

FIG. 4—Example Block Diagram of a UE

FIG. 4illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE106, according to some embodiments. As shown, the UE106may include a system on chip (SOC)400, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC400may include a processing element, such as processor(s)402which may execute program instructions for the UE106and display circuitry404which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display460. The processor(s)402may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU)440, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s)402and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory406, read only memory (ROM)450, NAND flash memory410) and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry404, radio430, connector OF420, and/or display460. The MMU440may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU440may be included as a portion of the processor(s)402.

In the embodiment shown, ROM450may include a bootloader, which may be executed by the processor(s)402during boot up or initialization. As also shown, the SOC400may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE106. For example, the UE106may include various types of memory (e.g., including Flash memory410), a connector interface420(e.g., for coupling to the computer system), the display460, and wireless communication circuitry (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, CDMA2000, GSM, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.).

The UE device106may include at least one antenna, and in some embodiments multiple antennas, for performing wireless cellular communication with base stations and/or wireless communication with other devices. For example, the UE device106may use antenna435to perform the wireless cellular communication and may use antenna436for other wireless communication. As noted above, the UE may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards (multiple RATs) in some embodiments.

As described herein, the UE106may include a processing element, e.g., hardware and/or software components for implementing methods according to embodiments of this disclosure.

The processing element of the UE device106may be processor402configured to implement part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the UE processing element may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

FIG. 5illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station102, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the base station ofFIG. 5is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station102may include a processing element, such as processor(s)504which may execute program instructions for the base station102. The processor(s)504may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU)540, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s)504and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory560and read only memory (ROM)550) or to other circuits or devices.

The base station102may include at least one network port570. The network port570may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices106, access to the telephone network as described above.

The base station102may include at least one antenna534. The at least one antenna534may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE devices106via radio530. The antenna534communicates with the radio530via communication chain532. Communication chain532may be a receive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio530may be configured to communicate via various RATs, including, but not limited to, GSM, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, WCDMA, CDMA2000, etc.

The processing element, such as processor(s)504, of the base station102may be configured to implement part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processing element may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof.

Improved Voice Roaming

The UE may be associated with, e.g., subscribe to, a cellular carrier. Examples of cellular carries in the United States include Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. In some embodiments, the UE may subscribe to a home carrier that does not support handover from packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network during an ongoing call. More specifically, as one example the UE may subscribe to a home carrier that does not support SRVCC (Single Radio Voice Call Continuity). For example, some carriers, e.g., 3GPP2 carriers such as Verizon, may not support SRVCC technology. SRVCC is a process that enables handover of an existing phone call from use of packet data (or a packet-switched network) to circuit-switched data (or a circuit-switched network). For example, Single Radio Voice Call Continuity is a level of functionality that may be implemented within systems to enable packet domain calls on LTE to be handed over to legacy circuit-switched voice systems like GSM, UMTS and CDMA 1x in a seamless manner.

In some scenarios, a UE associated with such a non-SRVCC carrier (i.e., the home carrier) may be roaming, where the UE (referred to as the roaming device) may seek service from another carrier network (i.e., the roaming carrier), which may deploy packet-switched voice capabilities, such as LTE and VoLTE capabilities. Commonly in these scenarios the roaming device may be limited in its ability to utilize the VoLTE capabilities of the roaming carrier (the cellular network of the roaming carrier), as the roaming device, whose home carrier may not support SRVCC, may lack an efficient mechanism for transitioning ongoing voice calls from a packet-switched service, such as VoLTE, to a circuit-switched service. In some embodiments, the roaming carrier may not provide VoLTE roaming service to the roaming device unless certain stringent conditions are met to assure an optimal connection. These restrictions on the non-SRVCC device may serve to avoid scenarios wherein the VoLTE connection fails during an active voice call, which, because in this event the roaming device may be unable to use SRVCC to transition it to circuit-switched service, may cause the call to be dropped. These conditions or related limitations may keep the UE device of the non-SRVCC home carrier from enjoying the benefits of VoLTE while roaming. Thus, improved methods may be desired for determining when, whether, and/or how to provide VoLTE service to roaming UE devices associated with non-SRVCC home carriers. These methods may aim to improve the efficient utilization of VoLTE technology, which may provide benefits such as improved audio quality (e.g., HD voice) and simultaneous voice and data communications for CDMA carriers.

FIG. 6—Providing Roaming VoLTE based on LTE Coverage

FIG. 6illustrates an example method by which a carrier network, i.e., the roaming carrier, may determine to provide VoLTE service to a roaming device that is associated with a home non-SRVCC carrier, according to some embodiments. The steps inFIG. 6may be performed by any of various devices in the cellular network of the roaming carrier, such as in the MME, base station, etc., or may be performed by some combination of these devices.

At602the roaming device (roaming UE) may attempt to perform a connection procedure, such as a packet-switched network attach (e.g., an LTE attach) or tracking area update (TAU) procedure, with the roaming carrier for the purpose of establishing a packet-switched connection with the roaming carrier. The requested packet-switched connection may be an LTE connection, an LTE-Advanced connection, or other similar type of packet based network. At602, the roaming carrier may receive this communication from the roaming device. In other words, in602the roaming carrier may receive a packet-switched voice call attach or TAU procedure from the roaming UE.

At604the roaming carrier may determine whether the home carrier of the roaming device is capable of performing handover of active voice calls from a packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network. For example, the roaming carrier may determine whether the home carrier of the roaming device is compatible with (capable of) SRVCC. For example, the roaming carrier may examine an identifier value previously received from the roaming device, where this identifier value may specify the device's home carrier. The roaming carrier may use the identifier, possibly in conjunction with a stored data structure which indicates which carriers support SRVCC. This operation may be performed my any of various devices in the carrier network, such as an MME, a base station, or other network device.

If the roaming carrier determines that the roaming device subscribes to a home network which does not support packet-switched to circuit-switched voice handover (e.g., does not support SRVCC), then at606the roaming carrier may assess the tracking area of the roaming device and determine the degree of packet-switched coverage in the tracking area. For example, the roaming carrier may determine if the tracking area has packet-switched coverage greater than a certain threshold. Where the packet-switched network is LTE, the roaming carrier may determine if the tracking area has a degree of LTE coverage greater than a threshold. In one embodiment, the threshold may be set high, e.g., at 99% or even 100%, to determine if the tracking are has complete coverage. Other thresholds are also contemplated, e.g., such as any value between 90% and 100% inclusive. The carrier network may store information regarding packet-switched coverage in various tracking areas, such as in the MME or another device in the carrier network.

In response to the packet-switched attach or TAU procedure attempt received at602, the roaming carrier may respond with an attach accept message (if the roaming device initiated a packet-switched, or LTE, attach procedure) or a TAU accept message (if the roaming device initiated a TAU procedure). This message may include information indicating whether the packet-switched network can be used, based on the determinations in604and606, as discussed below.

If as determined in606the tracking area does not have sufficient packet-switched coverage, e.g., does not have complete LTE coverage in one embodiment, then at608the response of the roaming carrier (e.g., the attach accept or TAU accept message) may contain a voice over packet-switched (VoPS) bit of 0, which may indicate no provision of packet-switched service, e.g., no VoLTE service. Thus, for example, if the tracking area has LTE coverage lower than a desired threshold, e.g., if the LTE coverage does not entirely or sufficiently overlap with underlying 3G/2G coverage, the roaming carrier may determine not to provide VoLTE service and may respond with a VoPS bit of 0, as shown at608. By necessitating complete or nearly complete LTE coverage prior to sending an affirmative VoPS indication, this method may limit the employment of VoLTE service to areas where handover to a circuit-switched network is unlikely. This may reduce the likelihood of such a handover in situations where a packet-switched to circuit-switched handover is not supported, thereby reducing the possibility of dropped voice calls.

If the tracking area has a high level of LTE coverage, e.g., near complete, complete or 100% LTE coverage, as determined in606, the roaming carrier may determine to provide VoLTE service to the roaming device. In this case operation proceeds to610, wherein the response of the roaming carrier (e.g., the attach accept or TAU accept message) may contain a voice over packet-switched (VoPS) bit of 1, which may indicate the provision of VoLTE service. Thus where the tracking area has sufficient packet-switched (LTE) coverage, the roaming carrier may allow the UE to attach or perform a TAU using the packet-switched (LTE) network.

If the roaming carrier determines at604that the roaming device subscribes to a home network which supports packet-switched to circuit-switched voice handover (SRVCC), then at610the roaming carrier may respond with an attach accept message or a TAU accept message voice over packet-switched (VoPS) bit of 1, which may indicate the provision of VoLTE service. Here the carrier of the roaming UE may support handover from a packet-switched to circuit-switched network, so the roaming UE can attach or perform a TAU with the packet-switched network. In this instance it may not be necessary for the carrier network to check the tracking area for packet-switched coverage.

In other embodiments alternative methods may be implemented to increase the utilization of VoLTE technology, as discussed below with respect toFIGS. 7 and 8.

FIGS. 7 and 8—Providing Roaming VoLTE and CS Service for Voice Calls

FIGS. 7 and 8illustrate example alternative methods whereby a roaming carrier may selectively provide packet-switched voice service (e.g., VoLTE service) to a roaming device associated a non-SRVCC home network, according to some embodiments. Upon the initiation of a voice call, the roaming carrier may determine whether to conduct the voice call with the roaming device over packet-switched (VoLTE) or circuit-switched (CS) service.FIG. 7portrays a method for handling a VoLTE call originated by the roaming device, i.e., a mobile originated (MO) VoLTE call, whileFIG. 8portrays a method for handling a mobile terminated (MT) call targeting the roaming device. The following methods are described where the packet-switched network is an LTE network, but of course the methods described herein apply to any of various packet-switched networks, such as LTE, LTE-Advanced, etc.

The roaming device may first attempt to receive LTE service from the roaming carrier, e.g., from a carrier network of the roaming carrier. At702ofFIG. 7, the roaming carrier may receive communications from the roaming device associated with an attempt to establish a connection, such as an LTE attach or TAU procedure.

At704the roaming carrier may respond accordingly, e.g., with an attach accept message (if the roaming device initiated an LTE attach procedure) or a TAU accept message (if the roaming device initiated a TAU procedure). The response may comprise an indication of VoLTE capabilities, e.g., a voice over packet-switched (VoPS) bit of 1. Thus, in some embodiments the roaming network may indiscriminately provide VoLTE service to the roaming device initially. In other words in the method ofFIG. 7the roaming carrier initially decides to provide access to the packet-switched network without making the determinations described in604and606ofFIG. 6.

At706the roaming device may initiate a VoLTE call, i.e., a mobile originated (MO) voice call, which may be received by the roaming carrier. The roaming carrier may then determine whether to continue to use VoLTE to establish the call or otherwise to transition to using circuit-switched (CS) service.

As shown at708the roaming carrier may calculate and/or examine the probability of the roaming device experiencing a packet-switched to circuit-switched (e.g., SRVCC) handover during an ongoing voice call to decide whether to set up the call over VoLTE or CS service. The roaming carrier may assess or determine the probability of a SRVCC handover in a number of different ways. In some embodiments the roaming carrier may first determine if the roaming UE is associated with (e.g., subscribed to) a home network that does not support SRVCC as described above in604ofFIG. 6. In one embodiment the roaming carrier may make the determinations described in both604and606ofFIG. 6to determine the probability of a SRVCC handover. If the amount of LTE coverage in the tracking area of the roaming device is less than a certain threshold, then the roaming device may be considered to have a high probability of SRVCC handover.

In some embodiments the determination in708may consider the packet-switched (e.g., LTE) coverage in the current cell in which the roaming UE is located as well neighboring cells in the UE's tracking area, and may weight the importance of the LTE coverage in these various cells based on certain factors. For example, cells farther away from the current cell in which the roaming UE is located may be weighted as less important in terms of LTE coverage than cells neighboring the current cell in determining the probability of SRVCC handover. Thus the degree or amount of packet-switched coverage in cells of the tracking area may be less important of a factor (may be weighted less in the determination) as the distance of these cells from the current location of the UE increases.

In some embodiments, the roaming carrier may consider the degree of mobility of the roaming UE device in weighting these neighboring cells. For example, for a highly mobile (fast moving) UE the neighboring cells may be weighted with greater importance with respect to their LTE coverage, whereas for a slow moving or stationary UE the neighboring cells may be weighted with less importance with respect to their LTE coverage. This difference in weighting may be based on the notion that a fast moving UE is more likely to cross over to a neighboring cell within the relevant time period, and thus the LTE coverage of these neighboring cells should be given more importance in assessing the probability of SRVCC handover, whereas a slow moving or stationary UE is less likely to cross over to a neighboring cell within the relevant time period, and thus for a slow moving UE the LTE coverage of neighboring cells is less important of a factor in the determination.

In some embodiments, the roaming carrier may consider both the degree of mobility of the roaming UE device as well as the direction of movement of the UE in weighting the packet-switched coverage of the neighboring cells. For example, for a fast moving UE that is known to be traveling in a specific direction (e.g., the UE is traveling on a highway), the neighboring cells that are this direction of movement may be weighted with greater importance with respect to their LTE coverage than other neighboring cells. Thus here the roaming carrier may factor in both the speed and direction of movement of the UE to estimate which cells the roaming UE is likely to enter, and may weight those cells higher, e.g., much higher, in terms of the importance of their LTE coverage, relative to other cells that are less likely entry points.

In some embodiments, the roaming carrier may also consider an estimated length of the voice call, which may be based on past statistics or heuristics. If the voice call is being placed with a called party where in the past such calls are typically short in duration, then this may lower the probability of an SRVCC handover.

Thus the determination of the probability of a packet-switched to circuit-switched handover (e.g., an SRVCC handover) may be based on a number of different factors, such as those described above, and/or may be based on other factors as well, such as time of day, network congestion, etc.

If SRVCC handover is determined to be unlikely or to have a probability lower than a threshold according to the determination in708, then at710the roaming carrier may proceed to establish the call over VoLTE service. Thus, VoLTE capabilities may be leveraged if the roaming device is determined to be unlikely to lose VoLTE service during the call.

Conversely, if there is determined to be a high probability of SRVCC handover, e.g., the probability of SRVCC handover is greater than a certain threshold, operation proceeds to712, wherein the roaming carrier may reject the MO call. In this instance the roaming device may be deemed likely to lose VoLTE coverage during the course of the voice call. This rejection message may comprise an SIP cause code, and may trigger the roaming device to fall back to CS service and re-originate the call using CS service rather than VoLTE service.

At714the roaming carrier may receive the new MO call attempt and proceed to establish the call over CS service. Thus, in some scenarios the roaming device may be provided with LTE service until a voice call is made; then, under (or lacking) certain conditions, the roaming device may fall back to CS service to conduct a desired voice call. If certain conditions are met such that the roaming device originating the voice call has a low probability of SRVCC handover, then the roaming device may be allowed to continue to use LTE service (VoLTE) to place the call.

FIG. 8illustrates a similar example method by which the roaming carrier may provide VoLTE service to the roaming device and then determine whether to use VoLTE or CS service when an incoming call targeting the roaming device, i.e., a mobile terminated (MT) call, is received. In the method ofFIG. 8, steps702and704may be performed as described above with respect toFIG. 7. At806, after establishing a VoLTE connection with the roaming device (as described above in relation to702and704), the roaming carrier may receive an indication of a mobile terminated (MT) call addressed for the roaming device. For example, the user of a second wireless UE may have initiated a voice call intended for the user of the roaming device.

The roaming carrier may then determine whether to establish the MT call over VoLTE service or to fall back to CS service. For example, at808the roaming carrier may examine the LTE cell in which the roaming device is determined to be operating, e.g., according to information earlier stored by the roaming carrier regarding its LTE cell. For example, the roaming carrier may solely examine the LTE cell in which the roaming device was last seen in determining the probability of SRVCC handover. Alternatively, the roaming carrier may also consider the cells in the tracking area of the roaming device, for example, using any of the various factors discussed with respect to step708ofFIG. 7.

If the voice call being placed to the roaming device is determined to have a low probability of SRVCC handover (probability less than a threshold), then at810the roaming carrier may set up the call over VoLTE. However, if a high probability of SRVCC handover is determined (probability greater than a threshold), e.g., due to properties or conditions associated with the LTE cell, neighboring cells and/or the roaming device, then operation proceeds to812. Here the roaming carrier may page the roaming device, indicating CS fallback. The MT call may then be established with the roaming UE over CS service.

The following paragraphs describe other embodiments:

In some embodiments, a cellular network system comprises: at least one base station comprising an antenna and a radio for performing cellular communications, wherein the at least one base station is configured to receive a request from a user equipment (UE) to make a packet-switched wireless voice call; at least one cellular network device coupled to the at least one base station, wherein the at least one cellular network device is configured to: determine that the UE is associated with a home carrier that does not support handover from a packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network; and determine information regarding probability of the handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network. The at least one base station is configured to provide signaling to the UE rejecting the packet-switched voice call, wherein said providing signaling to the UE rejecting the packet-switched voice call is performed in response to: 1) a determination by the at least one cellular network device that the UE is associated with the home carrier that does not support handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network; and 2) a determination that the probability of the handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network is greater than a threshold.

In some embodiments of the cellular network system, the signaling is configured to trigger the UE to fall back to the circuit-switched network and re-originate the wireless voice call on the circuit-switched network.

In some embodiments of the cellular network system, the at least one cellular network device comprises one or more of a mobile management entity (MME) or an IMS server.

In some embodiments, a method is performed by a cellular network, the method comprising: receiving, in a wireless manner, a mobile terminated call intended for a user equipment (UE), wherein the mobile terminated call is on a packet-switched wireless network; determining that the UE is associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support handover from a packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network; determining information regarding probability of a handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network; providing, in a wireless manner, signaling to the UE to perform a fallback to a circuit-switched network in order to receive the mobile terminated call, wherein said providing signaling to the UE to perform the fallback to the circuit-switched network is performed in response to said determining that the UE is associated with the home cellular carrier that does not support handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network and is based on the probability of the handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network during the wireless voice call.

In some embodiments of the method, said providing signaling to the UE to perform the fallback to the circuit-switched network is performed in response to determining that the UE was last identified on the packet-switched cell that has a high probability of handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network during the wireless voice call.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: establishing the mobile terminated call with the UE over the packet-switched network in response to determining that the UE was last identified on a packet-switched cell that has a low probability of handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network during the wireless voice call.

In some embodiments of the method, the handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network comprises a single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC) handover.

In some embodiments, a cellular network system comprises: at least one cellular network device, wherein the at least one cellular network device is configured to receive, in a wireless manner, a mobile terminated voice call intended for a user equipment (UE), wherein the mobile terminated voice call is received on a packet-switched network; at least one base station coupled to the at least one cellular network device, wherein the at least one base station comprises an antenna and a radio for performing cellular communications, wherein the at least one base station is configured to provide, in a wireless manner, signaling to the UE to perform a fallback to a circuit-switched network to receive the mobile terminated voice call, wherein said providing signaling to the UE to perform the fallback to the circuit-switched network is performed in response to a determination that the UE is associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network and is based on the probability of a handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network during the wireless voice call.

In some embodiments of the cellular network system, the at least one cellular network device is further configured to: determine that the UE is associated with the home cellular carrier that does not support handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network; and determine information regarding probability of handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network.

In some embodiments of the cellular network system, the at least one base station is further configured to: determine that the UE is associated with the home cellular carrier that does not support handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network; and determine information regarding probability of handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network.

In some embodiments of the cellular network system, the handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network comprises a single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC) handover.

In some embodiments, a base station comprises: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna for performing wireless cellular communications; and at least one processing element coupled to the at least one radio; wherein the base station is configured to: provide, in a wireless manner, signaling to a user equipment (UE) to perform a fallback to a circuit-switched network to receive a mobile terminated wireless voice call, wherein said providing signaling to the UE to perform the fallback to the circuit-switched network is performed in response to a determination that the UE is associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support handover from a packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network and is based on the probability of handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network during the mobile terminated wireless voice call.

In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) comprises: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna for performing wireless cellular communications; and at least one processing element coupled to the at least one radio; wherein the UE is associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support handover from a packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network; wherein the UE is configured to: receive, from a base station, signaling to perform a fallback to the circuit-switched network to receive a wireless voice call, wherein said signaling to perform the fallback to the circuit-switched network is received by the UE in response to a determination that the UE is associated with the home cellular carrier that does not support handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network and is in response to a high probability of handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network during the wireless voice call; and receive, from a base station, a mobile terminated call on the packet-switched network in response to a determination of a low probability of handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network during the wireless voice call.

In some embodiments, a method is performed by a cellular network, the method comprising: receiving a request from a user equipment (UE) to attach to a packet-switched network, wherein the UE is in a first tracking area; determining that the UE is associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support handover from the packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network; determining an amount of packet-switched network coverage in the first tracking area; and providing signals to the UE indicating that the voice call should not be performed over the packet-switched network in response to the amount of the packet-switched network coverage in the tracking area being less than a threshold.

In some embodiments, a base station comprises: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna for performing wireless cellular communications; and at least one processing element coupled to the at least one radio; wherein the base station is configured to: receive a request from a user equipment (UE) to attach to a packet-switched network, wherein the UE is in a first tracking area; providing signals to the UE indicating that the voice call should not be performed over the packet-switched network in response to a determination that the UE is associated with a home carrier that does not support handover from the packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network and in response to a determination that an amount of the packet-switched network coverage in the tracking area is less than a threshold.

In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) comprises: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna for performing wireless cellular communications; at least one processing element coupled to the at least one radio; wherein the UE is associated with a home cellular carrier that does not support handover from a packet-switched network to a circuit-switched network; wherein the UE is configured to: transmit a request to a base station to attach to a first packet-switched network to place a wireless voice call, wherein the UE is in a first tracking area; receive signals from the base station indicating that the wireless voice call should not be performed over the first packet-switched network in response to a determination that the UE is associated with the home cellular carrier that does not support handover from the packet-switched network to the circuit-switched network and in response to a determination that an amount of the packet-switched network coverage in the tracking area is less than a threshold.