WO2016023165A1

WO2016023165A1 - Holding a call setup request during a location change procedure

Info

Publication number: WO2016023165A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/084153
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xuepan GUAN; Shiau-He Tsai; Tim Tynghuei Liou; Huan Xu; Xiaojian LONG; Chenxi BI; Wei Dong; Peng Wu
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2014-08-12
Filing date: 2014-08-12
Publication date: 2016-02-18

Abstract

The present disclosure presents a method and an apparatus for reducing call set up failures and delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure. For example, the apparatus and method may include receiving a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call; determining that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request; and holding the voice call request until the location change procedure is completed, wherein holding the voice call request prevents a connection request from being transmitted to the first network entity.

Description

HOLDING A CALL SETUP REQUEST DURING A LOCATION CHANGE

PROCEDURE

BACKGROUND

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to reducing call set up failures and delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure.

[0002] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. One example of such a network is the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is the radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies, currently supports various air interface standards, such as Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD- SCDMA). The UMTS also supports enhanced 3G data communications protocols, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), which provides higher data transfer speeds and capacity to associated UMTS networks.

[0003] For example, in TD-SCDMA, when a user equipment (UE) initiates a circuit switched (CS) call while a serving radio network system (SRNS) relocation is in progress, the setting up of the CS call may fail and/or be delayed.

[0004] Therefore, there is a desire for reducing call set up failures and delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure.

SUMMARY

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects not delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0006] The present disclosure presents an example method and apparatus for reducing call set up failures and delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure. For example, the present disclosure presents an example method for receiving a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call; determining that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request; and holding the voice call request until the location change procedure is completed, wherein holding the voice call request prevents a connection request from being transmitted to the first network entity.

[0007] In an additional aspect, an apparatus for reducing call set up failures and delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure is disclosed. The apparatus may include means for receiving a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call; determining that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request; and holding the voice call request until the location change procedure is completed, wherein holding the voice call request prevents a connection request from being transmitted to the first network entity.

[0008] In a further aspect, a computer program product for reducing call set up failures and delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure is described. The computer program product may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code executable by a computer for receiving a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call; determining that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request; and holding the voice call request until the location change procedure is completed, wherein holding the voice call request prevents a connection request from being transmitted to the first network entity.

[0009] Moreover, the present disclosure presents an apparatus for reducing call set up failures and delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure. The apparatus may include a receiving component configured to receive a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call; a determining component configured to determine that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request; and a holding component configured to hold the voice call request until the location change procedure is completed, wherein holding the voice call request prevents a connection request from being transmitted to the first network entity.

[0010] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless system in aspects of the present disclosure;

[0012] Fig. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating aspects of a method of reducing call set up or registration failures as contemplated by the present disclosure;

[0013] Figs. 3A and 3B are flowcharts illustrating aspects of the present disclosure;

[0014] Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating aspects of a logical grouping of electrical components as contemplated by the present disclosure;

[0015] Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating aspects of a computer device according to the present disclosure;

[0016] Fig. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of an access network; and

[0017] Fig. 7 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a NodeB in communication with a UE in a telecommunications system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts. In an aspect, the term "component" as used herein may be one of the parts that make up a system, may be hardware or software, and may be divided into other components.

The present disclosure presents an example method and apparatus for reducing call set up failures and delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure. Specifically, in one non-limiting example, a UE may receive a reconfiguration message which may include a new location area identifier (LAI) that is different from the current LAI that the UE currently uses. The reconfiguration message may cause a Serving Radio Network Subsystem (SRNS) relocation procedure to begin. Afterwards, the UE may begin a voice call request, wherein a mobility management (MM) connection does not currently exist. As such, the UE non-access stratum (NAS) may transmit a connection management (CM) service request to the UE radio resource controller (RRC). However, before a MM connection is established with a network, the SRNS relocation procedure is completed successfully, wherein the LAI changes to the new LAI. As a result, the UE NAS aborts the MM connection establishment procedure because when the MM connection establishment procedure first began the LAI was the current LAI. However, since the LAI has changed to the new LAI, the MM connection establishment procedure is no longer valid. Furthermore, if no other MM connection existed when the UE NAS aborted the MM connection establishment procedure, then the UE NAS requests the UE RRC to transmit a signal connection release indicator message to the network, which causes the network to release the signaling connection. The UE NAS may start a location update request procedure after the MM connection is aborted. After the location update procedure is successfully completed, the previous voice call request may not be transmitted because it corresponds with the previous LAI and not the new LAI. Moreover, even if the location update procedure fails to complete successfully, the UE is required to register with a new network, which causes a delay because a new location update procedure must be initiated. [0020] Accordingly, in some aspects, the present methods and apparatuses may provide an efficient solution, as compared to current solutions, by holding the processing of the voice call request until after a location change procedure has completed, if the voice call request was received while the location change procedure was in process. As a result, an MM connection establishment procedure will not be prematurely started and subsequently aborted due to changes in the LAI of the UE.

[0021] Referring to Fig. 1, a wireless communication system 100 is illustrated that facilitates reducing call set up failures and delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure. For example, system 100 includes user equipment (UE) 102 that may communicate with one or more network entities (e.g., source network entity 130 and/or target network entity 140) via one or more over-the-air link 136 and/or 146. In an aspect, for example, source network entity 130 may communicate with UE 102 via source radio network controller (RNC) 132 and cell 134 in a first location area 135, and/or target network entity 140 may communicate with UE 102 via target radio network controller (RNC) 142 and cell 144 in a second location area 145 different from first location area 135. In an aspect, source RNC 132, cell 134, target RNC 142, and cell 144 reside in radio access network (RAN) 150. Moreover, in an aspect, source network entity 130 and target network entity 140 may reside in core network (CN) 160. In certain instances, network entities 130 and/or 140 may correspond to general packet radio service (GPRS) support nodes (GSNs) and/or serving GSNs (SGSNs).

[0022] For example, in an aspect, UE 102 may be camped on cell 134 (e.g., cell 134 is serving cell of UE 102) which is supported by (or connected to) source RNC 132. When radio frequency (RF) conditions at cell 134 deteriorate, UE 102 may perform a cell reselection to cell 144. If UE 102 performs a cell reselection to cell 144, a serving radio network subsystem (SRNS) relocation may be triggered, transparent to UE 102, as cell 144 in second location area 145 is supported by target RNC 142, which is different from source RNC 132 supporting cell 134 in first location area 135. For example, a SRNS relocation procedure is used to move RAN 150 to CN 160 connection point at the RAN 150 side from the source RNC (e.g., RNC 132) to the target RNC (e.g., 142). In such a procedure, the Iu links are relocated.

[0023] In an aspect, source network entity 130 and/or target network entity 140 may include, but are not limited to, an access point, a base station (BS) or Node B or eNodeB, a macro cell, a small cell such as a femtocell or a pico cell, a relay, a peer-to-peer device, an authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) server, a mobile switching center (MSC), etc. Additionally, source network entity 130 and/or target network entity 140 may include one or more of any type of network components that can enable UE 102 to communicate and/or establish and maintain link 136 with source network entity 130 and/or link 146 with target network entity 140. In an example aspect, network entity 120 may operate according to Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE) or Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard as defined in 3GPP Specifications.

[0024] In an aspect, UE 102 may be a mobile apparatus and may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0025] According to the present aspects, UE 102 may include voice call manager 104, which may be configured to manage voice call requests made by the UE 102 during execution of a location change procedure 112 and reducing call set up failures and delays at UE 102 during location change procedure 112. For example, the voice call manager 104 may facilitate preventing a voice call request 107 from being transmitted while a location change procedure 112 is in process. Preventing the voice call request 107 from being processed, e.g., initiating the sending of a connection request to the network to carry the voice call, prevents UE 102 from wasting resources and/or being delayed since the voice call request 107 is not processed after the location change procedure 112 completes, thereby allowing the connection request to be made to the cell in the new location area. As such, voice call manager 104 may be configured to receive a mobile originated voice call request 107 to initiate a voice call, and to determine that a location change procedure 112 corresponding to moving the UE 102 from a cell 134 in first location area 135 to a cell 144 in second location area 145 of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request 107. As a result, voice call manager 104 may hold the processing of voice call request 107 until the location change procedure 112 is completed. Thus, operation of the present aspects reduces voice call set up failures and/or delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure.

[0026] In an aspect, voice call manager 104 may include voice call request receiving component 106, which may be configured to receive a mobile originated voice call request 107 to initiate a voice call. For example, upon receiving mobile originated voice call request 107, voice call request receiving component 106 may be configured to initiate a voice call, e.g., to transmit a CM service request from the NAS layer to the RRC layer and to the network. In an aspect, UE 102 and/or voice call request receiving component 106 may be configured to attempt to connect to a cell in the current LAI even if a location change procedure 112 is in process.

[0027] In an aspect, voice call manager 104 may include location change determining component 108, which may be configured to determine that a location change procedure 112 corresponding to moving the UE 102 from a cell 134 to a cell 144 of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request 107. As used herein, the location change procedure 112 may include one or both of a state in which location change determining component 108 identifies an on-going SRNS procedure, e.g., based on receipt of a reconfiguration message including a new LAI, and, optionally, a location area update (LAU) procedure performed between the UE and the network, e.g., after the SRNS procedure. For example, location change determining component 108 may determine that a location change procedure 112 corresponding to moving the UE 102 from a cell 134 to a cell 144 of the network is in process at the time of receiving the voice call request 107 when the UE 102 has previously or concurrently received a reconfiguration message with a new location area identifier (LAI). That is, the reconfiguration message with the new LAI indicates that the network has initiated a Serving Radio Network Subsystem (SRNS) procedure 114 to move support of the UE 102 from source network entity 130 and/or source RNC 132 to target network entity 140 and/or target RNC 142. In this case, location change determining component 108 detects that the reconfiguration message includes a new LAI that is different from a current LAI. As such, location change determining component 108 may determine that the location change procedure 112, e.g., the SRNS relocation procedure being executed by the network, is in process by identifying the new LAI in the reconfiguration message. [0028] Further, in an aspect, voice call manager 104 may include voice call holding component 110, which may be configured to hold, e.g., delay processing of, the voice call request until the location change procedure 112 is completed. For example, voice call holding component 110 may prevent a connection request from being transmitted to source network entity 130 in response to the voice call request 107 until the location change procedure 112 is completed. Voice call manager 104 and/or voice call holding component 110 hold the voice call request 107 in order for the location change to be determined. If the voice call request 107 is processed and a connection request (e.g., CM service request) is transmitted while the location change procedure is in process, then the UE 102 may be forced to abort the MM connection establishment procedure that the CM service request initializes, which causes the voice call to fail. As such, voice call holding component 110 holds the voice call request 107 until the location change procedure is completed (either successfully or failed) in order for the location to be established properly prior to the voice call request 107 being processed and prior to transmitting the connection request to the network.

[0029] Moreover, in an aspect, UE 102 may perform location change procedure 112, which as noted above may include an SR S procedure 114 being performed, in part, by UE 102 to update the LAI, and in part by the network (e.g., an SRNS relocation procedure) to move support of the UE 102 to target network entity 140 and/or target RNC 142. Further, location change procedure 112 may additionally include a location area update (LAU) procedure 116 being performed by UE 102 with the network subsequent to SRNS procedure 114. For example, the network may initiate the SRNS procedure 114 when the network transmits a reconfiguration message comprising a new LAI that is different from the current LAI that UE 102 is using. In an aspect, SRNS procedure 114 causes the UE 102 to change its LAI to the new LAI, and once the SRNS procedure 114 has successfully completed, UE 102 may transmit an indication to the network indicating that the SRNS procedure 114 successfully completed and that the LAI is changed. After the SRNS procedure 114 completes successfully, UE 102 may perform the LAU procedure 116. LAU procedure 116 may include transmitting a LAU request to initialize the LAU procedure 116 and, in an aspect, which may include setting a follow-on request to 1 (e.g., meaning "on" as opposed to "off) due to the pending voice call request 107. As such, the follow-on request is used to indicate the presence of voice call request 107 during the processing of location change procedure 112. In response, the network may send a location area accept message to UE 102, and after the LAU procedure completes, the UE 102 has successfully registered with a cell in the new location area, e.g., target cell 144 in second location area 145. In certain instances, UE 102 may transmit the connection request for the voice call, in response to voice call request 107, to the second network entity (e.g., target network entity 140) when the LAU procedure 116 has successfully completed. In other instances, UE 102 may transmit the connection request for the voice call, in response to voice call request 107, to the first network entity (e.g., source network entity 130) when the LAU procedure 116 has failed to successfully complete.

[0030] Referring to Fig. 2, in operation of the present aspects, method 200 may reduce call set up failures and/or delays at a user equipment (UE) when receiving a voice call request during performance of a location change procedure. Method 200 may operate on a UE, such as UE 102 (Fig. 1), via execution of voice call manager 104 and/or its components (Fig. 1). While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the method is are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the method is not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more aspects, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, it is to be appreciated that the method 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 step in accordance with one or more features described herein.

[0031] In an aspect, at block 202, method 200 may include receiving a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call. For example, in an aspect, UE 102, voice call manager 104, and/or voice call request receiving component 106 may receive a mobile originated voice call request 107 from a user of UE 102, e.g., receiving a telephone number and an indication to make a call to the telephone number, to initiate a voice call.

[0032] Additionally, at block 204, method 200 may include determining that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request. For example, in an aspect, UE 102, voice call manager 104, and/or location change determining component 108 may determine that a location change procedure 112 corresponding to moving the UE 102 from a first network entity (e.g., cell 134 and source R C 132) in a first location area 135 to a second network entity (e.g., cell 144 and target RNC 142) in a second location area 145 of the network (e.g., RAN 150) is in process when the voice call request is received.

[0033] Further, at block 206, method 200 may include holding the voice call until the location change procedure is completed. For example, in an aspect, UE 102, voice call manager 104, and/or voice call holding component 110 may hold, e.g., delay the processing or execution of, voice call request 107 until the location change procedure 112 is completed.

[0034] In an optional aspect, at block 208, method 200 may include determining whether the location change procedure successfully completed. For example, in an aspect, UE 102, voice call manager 104, and/or location change determining component 108 may determine whether the location change procedure 112 successfully completed. In some instances, the location change procedure 112 may include SRNS procedure 114 and LAU procedure 116. LAU procedure 116 may include transmitting a LAU request to initialize the LAU procedure 116 and, in an aspect, which may include setting a follow- on request to 1 (e.g., meaning "on" as opposed to "off) due to the pending voice call request 107. As such, the follow-on request is used to indicate the presence of voice call request 107 during the processing of location change procedure 112. In response, the network may send a location area accept message to UE 102, and after the LAU procedure completes, the UE 102 has successfully registered with a cell in the new location area, e.g., target cell 144 in second location area 145.

[0035] In an additional optional aspect, at block 210, method 200 may include transmitting a connection request to the first network entity when the location change procedure is not successful. For example, in an aspect, UE 102, voice call manager 104, and/or voice call holding component 110 may transmit the connection request to the first network entity (e.g., cell 134 and source RNC 132), in response to the voice call request 107, subsequent to the performing of the location change procedure 112, and upon determining that the location change procedure 112 is not successful. In some instances, the connection request may be a MM connection request and/or a CM service request.

[0036] In an additional optional aspect, at block 212, method 200 may include transmitting the connection request to the second network entity when the location change procedure is successful. For example, in an aspect, UE 102, voice call manager 104, and/or voice call holding component 110 may transmit the connection request to the second network entity (e.g., cell 44 and target R C 142)), in response to the voice call request 107, subsequent to the performing of the location change procedure 112, and upon determining that the location change procedure 112 is successful.

[0037] Referring to FIGs. 3A and 3B, in operation of a specific case of the present aspects, flowcharts 300A and 300B illustrate a method of reducing voice call set up failures and/or delays at a user equipment (UE) during a location change procedure. Method 300A and method 300B may operate on a UE, such as UE 102 (Fig. 1), via execution of voice call manager 104 and/or its components (Fig. 1). While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the steps herein are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the steps are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more aspects, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, it is to be appreciated that the steps 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 step in accordance with one or more features described herein.

[0038] Referring to Fig. 3A, flowchart 300A may be performed by a UE, or one or more components thereof, such as a UE network access stratum (NAS) entity 302 and a UE radio resource controller (RRC) entity 304, and a network (NW) 306. In some instances, UE NAS 302 and UE RRC 304 may be included as part of UE 102 (Fig. 1), and NW 306 may include RAN 150 and CN 160. In an aspect, NW 306 may transmit a reconfiguration message, which may include a new LAI that is different from the current LAI that UE 102 uses. In certain instances, the reconfiguration message may be configured to initialize an SRNS procedure 114 at UE 102, and may correspond to an SRNS relocation procedure performed by network 306. Further, UE NAS 302 may initiate a circuit switched (CS) call (e.g., voice call). However, UE NAS 302 may determine that the SRNS relocation procedure is in process and that the LAI will change if the SRNS relocation procedure successfully completes. As a result, UE NAS 302 determines not to transmit the CM service request corresponding to the CS call until the SRNS relocation procedure has either completed successfully or failed. Once the SRNS relocation procedure has completed successfully, UE RRC 304 may transmit an indication that the SRNS relocation procedure has successfully completed along with the new LAI to NW 306. UE NAS 302 may then transmit a LAU request corresponding to a LAU procedure and set the follow-on request to 1 (e.g., on) due to the pending CS Call. In response, NW 306 may send a location area accept message to UE NAS 302, and after the LAU procedure completes the UE 102 has successfully registered. Once registration has completed successfully (e.g., the location area accept message is received), UE 102 may reinitialize the previously pending CS call. As such, since NW 306 transmitted the location area accept message, UE NAS 302 may transmit the CM service request to start the CS call on the current connection. In instances where the registration failed (e.g., the location area accept message is not received), the previously pending CS call does reinitialize.

[0039] Referring to Fig. 3B, flowchart 300B may similarly be performed by a UE network access stratum (NAS) 302, UE radio resource controller (RRC) 304, and network (NW) 306. In an aspect, NW 306 may transmit a reconfiguration message, which may include a new LAI that is different from the current LAI that UE 102 uses. In certain instances, the reconfiguration message may be configured to initialize an SRNS relocation procedure at UE 102. Further, UE NAS 302 may initiate a circuit switched (CS) call (e.g., voice call). However, UE NAS 302 may determine that the SRNS relocation procedure is in process and that the LAI will change if the SRNS relocation procedure successfully completes. As a result, UE NAS 302 determines not to transmit the CM service request corresponding to the CS call until the SRNS relocation procedure has either completed successfully or failed. Once the SRNS relocation procedure has failed to complete successfully, UE RRC 304 may transmit an indication to NW 306 that UE 102 will remain with the current RNC (e.g., source RNC 132) and that the LAI will not change to the new LAI. As such, UE 102 may reinitialize the previously pending CS call. Since the SRNS relocation procedure failed, UE NAS 302 may transmit the CM service request to start the CS call on the original connection.

[0040] Referring to Fig. 4, an example system 400 is displayed for reducing call set up or registration failures at a user equipment (UE) during serving radio network subsystem (SRNS) relocation. For example, system 400 can reside at least partially within a user equipment, for example, UE 102 (Fig. 1) and/or voice call manager 104 (Fig. 1). It is to be appreciated that system 400 is represented as including functional blocks, which can be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (for example, firmware). System 400 includes a logical grouping 402 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. For instance, logical grouping 402 may include an electrical component 404 configured to receive a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call. For example, in an aspect, electrical component 404 may comprise voice call request receiving component 106 (Fig. 1).

[0041] Additionally, logical grouping 402 may include an electrical component 406 configured to determine that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request. For example, in an aspect, electrical component 406 may comprise location change determining component 108 (Fig. 1).

[0042] Further, logical grouping 402 may include an electrical component 408 configured to hold the voice call until the location change procedure is completed. For example, in an aspect, electrical component 408 may comprise voice call holding component 110 (Fig.

1).

[0043] Furthermore, in an optional aspect, logical grouping 402 may optionally include an electrical component 410 configured to determine whether the location change procedure is successfully completed. In an aspect, electrical component 410 may comprise location change determining component 108 (Fig. 1).

[0044] Additionally, in an optional aspect, logical grouping 402 may optionally include an electrical component 410 configured to transmit the connection request to the first network entity. In an aspect, electrical component 410 may comprise voice call holding component 110 (Fig. 1).

[0045] In an optional aspect, logical grouping 402 may optionally include an electrical component 410 configured to transmit the connection request to the second network entity. In an aspect, electrical component 410 may comprise voice call holding component 110 (Fig. 1).

[0046] Additionally, system 400 can include a memory 416 that retains instructions for executing functions associated with the electrical components 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, and 414, stores data used or obtained by the electrical components 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, and 414, etc. While shown as being external to memory 416, it is to be understood that one or more of the electrical components 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, and 414 can exist within memory 416. In one example, electrical components 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, and 414 can comprise at least one processor, or each electrical component 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, and 414 can be a corresponding module of at least one processor. Moreover, in an additional or alternative example, electrical components 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, and 414 can be a computer program product including a computer readable medium, where each electrical component 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, and 414 can be corresponding code.

[0047] Referring to Fig. 5, in an aspect, UE 102 and/or voice call manager 104 may be represented by a specially programmed or configured UE 102. In one aspect of implementation, UE 102 may include UE 102 and voice call manager 104 and its components, including voice call request receiving component 106, location change determining component 108, and/or voice call holding component 110 (Fig. 1), such as in specially programmed computer readable instructions or code, firmware, hardware, or some combination thereof. UE 102 includes a processor 502 for carrying out processing functions associated with one or more of components and functions described herein. Processor 502 can include a single or multiple set of processors or multi-core processors. Moreover, processor 502 can be implemented as an integrated processing system and/or a distributed processing system.

[0048] For example, in an aspect, voice call manager 104 may be implemented or executed using one or any combination of processor 502, memory 504, communications component 506, and/or data store 508. For example, voice call manager 104 may be defined or otherwise programmed as one or more processor modules of processor 502. Further, for example, voice call manager 104 may be defined as a computer-readable medium stored in memory 504 and/or data store 508 and executed by processor 502. Moreover, for example, inputs and outputs relating to operations of voice call manager 104 may be provided or supported by communications component 506, which may provide a bus between the components of UE 102 or an interface to communication with external devices or components."

[0049] UE 102 further includes a memory 504, such as for storing data used herein and/or local versions of applications being executed by processor 502. Memory 504 can include any type of memory usable by a computer, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), tapes, magnetic discs, optical discs, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof.

[0050] Further, UE 102 includes a communications component 506 that provides for establishing and maintaining communications with one or more parties utilizing hardware, software, and services as described herein. Communications component 506 may carry communications between components on UE 102, as well as between UE 102 and external devices, such as devices located across a communications network and/or devices serially or locally connected to UE 102. For example, communications component 506 may include one or more buses, and may further include transmit chain components and receive chain components associated with a transmitter and receiver, respectively, or a transceiver, operable for interfacing with external devices. In an additional aspect, communications component 506 may be configured to receive one or more pages from one or more subscriber networks. In a further aspect, such a page may correspond to the second subscription and may be received via the first technology type communication services.

[0051] Additionally, UE 102 may further include a data store 508, which can be any suitable combination of hardware and/or software, that provides for mass storage of information, databases, and programs employed in connection with aspects described herein. For example, data store 508 may be a data repository for applications not currently being executed by processor 502 and/or any threshold values or finger position values.

[0052] UE 102 may additionally include a user interface component 510 operable to receive inputs from a user of UE 102 and further operable to generate outputs for presentation to the user. User interface component 510 may include one or more input devices, including but not limited to a keyboard, a number pad, a mouse, a touch-sensitive display, a navigation key, a function key, a microphone, a voice recognition component, any other mechanism capable of receiving an input from a user, or any combination thereof. Further, user interface component 510 may include one or more output devices, including but not limited to a display, a speaker, a haptic feedback mechanism, a printer, any other mechanism capable of presenting an output to a user, or any combination thereof.

[0053] Referring to Fig. 6, an access network 600 in a UTRAN architecture is illustrated, and may include one or more user equipment (UE) configured to include a voice call manager 104 (Fig. 1). The multiple access wireless communication system includes multiple cellular regions (cells), including cells 602, 604, and 606, each of which may include one or more sectors and which may be network entity 120 of Fig. 1. The multiple sectors can be formed by groups of antennas with each antenna responsible for communication with UEs in a portion of the cell. For example, in cell 602, antenna groups 612, 614, and 616 may each correspond to a different sector. In cell 604, antenna groups 618, 620, and 622 each correspond to a different sector. In cell 606, antenna groups 624, 626, and 628 each correspond to a different sector. The cells 602, 604 and 606 may include several wireless communication devices, e.g., User Equipment or UEs, for example, including UE 102 of Fig. 1, which may be in communication with one or more sectors of each cell 602, 604 or 606. For example, UEs 630 and 632 may be in communication with NodeB 642, UEs 634 and 636 may be in communication with NodeB 644, and UEs 636 and 640 can be in communication with NodeB 646. Here, each NodeB 642, 644, 646 is configured to provide an access point for all the UEs 630, 632, 634, 636, 638, 640 in the respective cells 602, 604, and 606. Additionally, each NodeB 642, 644, 646 may be network entity 120 of Fig. 1, and/or each UE 630, 632, 634, 636, 638, 640 may be UE 102 of Fig. 1, and may perform the methods outlined herein.

As the UE 634 moves from the illustrated location in cell 604 into cell 606, a serving cell change (SCC) or handover may occur in which communication with the UE 634 transitions from the cell 604, which may be referred to as the source cell, to cell 606, which may be referred to as the target cell. Management of the handover procedure may take place at the UE 634, at the Node Bs corresponding to the respective cells, at an Enhanced Packet Core, or at another suitable node in the wireless network. For example, during a call with the source cell 604, or at any other time, the UE 634 may monitor various parameters of the source cell 604 as well as various parameters of neighboring cells such as cells 606 and 602. Further, depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE 634 may maintain communication with one or more of the neighboring cells. During this time, the UE 634 may maintain an Active Set, that is, a list of cells that the UE 634 is simultaneously connected to (i.e., the UTRA cells that are currently assigning a downlink dedicated physical channel DPCH or fractional downlink dedicated physical channel F-DPCH to the UE 634 may constitute the Active Set). In any case, UE 634 may execute IRAT Handover Manager 104 to perform the reselection operations described herein.

[0055] Further, the modulation and multiple access scheme employed by the access network 600 may vary depending on the particular telecommunications standard being deployed. By way of example, the standard may include Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB). EV-DO and UMB are air interface standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) as part of the CDMA2000 family of standards and employs CDMA to provide broadband Internet access to mobile stations. The standard may alternately be Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) employing Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA, such as TD-SCDMA; Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) employing TDMA; and Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, and Flash-OFDM employing OFDM A. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE Advanced, and GSM are described in documents from the 3GPP organization. CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from the 3GPP2 organization. The actual wireless communication standard and the multiple access technology employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0056] Fig. 7 is a block diagram of a NodeB 710 in communication with UE 750, where the NodeB 710 may be network entity 120 and where UE 750 may be UE 102 that may include a SRNS Relocation Manager 104 (Fig 1). In the downlink communication, a transmit processor 720 may receive data from a data source 712 and control signals from a controller/processor 740. The transmit processor 720 provides various signal processing functions for the data and control signals, as well as reference signals (e.g., pilot signals). For example, the transmit processor 720 may provide cyclic redundancy check (CRC) codes for error detection, coding and interleaving to facilitate forward error correction (FEC), mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), and the like), spreading with orthogonal variable spreading factors (OVSF), and multiplying with scrambling codes to produce a series of symbols. Channel estimates from a channel processor 744 may be used by a controller/processor 740 to determine the coding, modulation, spreading, and/or scrambling schemes for the transmit processor 720. These channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal transmitted by the UE 750 or from feedback from the UE 750. The symbols generated by the transmit processor 720 are provided to a transmit frame processor 730 to create a frame structure. The transmit frame processor 730 creates this frame structure by multiplexing the symbols with information from the controller/processor 740, resulting in a series of frames. The frames are then provided to a transmitter 732, which provides various signal conditioning functions including amplifying, filtering, and modulating the frames onto a carrier for downlink transmission over the wireless medium through antenna 734. The antenna 734 may include one or more antennas, for example, including beam steering bidirectional adaptive antenna arrays or other similar beam technologies.

At the UE 750, a receiver 754 receives the downlink transmission through an antenna 752 and processes the transmission to recover the information modulated onto the carrier. The information recovered by the receiver 754 is provided to a receive frame processor 760, which parses each frame, and provides information from the frames to a channel processor 784 and the data, control, and reference signals to a receive processor 770. The receive processor 770 then performs the inverse of the processing performed by the transmit processor 720 in the NodeB 710. More specifically, the receive processor 770 descrambles and de-spreads the symbols, and then determines the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the NodeB 710 based on the modulation scheme. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by the channel processor 784. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data, control, and reference signals. The CRC codes are then checked to determine whether the frames were successfully decoded. The data carried by the successfully decoded frames will then be provided to a data sink 772, which represents applications running in the UE 750 and/or various user interfaces (e.g., display). Control signals carried by successfully decoded frames will be provided to a controller/processor 780. When frames are unsuccessfully decoded by the receiver processor 770, the controller/processor 780 may also use an acknowledgement (ACK) and/or negative acknowledgement (NACK) protocol to support retransmission requests for those frames. [0058] In the uplink, data from a data source 778 and control signals from the controller/processor 780 are provided to a transmit processor 779. The data source 778 may represent applications running in the UE 750 and various user interfaces (e.g., keyboard). Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission by the NodeB 710, the transmit processor 779 provides various signal processing functions including CRC codes, coding and interleaving to facilitate FEC, mapping to signal constellations, spreading with OVSFs, and scrambling to produce a series of symbols. Channel estimates, derived by the channel processor 784 from a reference signal transmitted by the NodeB 710 or from feedback contained in the mid- amble transmitted by the NodeB 710, may be used to select the appropriate coding, modulation, spreading, and/or scrambling schemes. The symbols produced by the transmit processor 779 will be provided to a transmit frame processor 782 to create a frame structure. The transmit frame processor 782 creates this frame structure by multiplexing the symbols with information from the controller/processor 780, resulting in a series of frames. The frames are then provided to a transmitter 756, which provides various signal conditioning functions including amplification, filtering, and modulating the frames onto a carrier for uplink transmission over the wireless medium through the antenna 752.

[0059] The uplink transmission is processed at the NodeB 710 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 750. A receiver 735 receives the uplink transmission through the antenna 734 and processes the transmission to recover the information modulated onto the carrier. The information recovered by the receiver 735 is provided to a receive frame processor 736, which parses each frame, and provides information from the frames to the channel processor 744 and the data, control, and reference signals to a receive processor 737. The receive processor 737 performs the inverse of the processing performed by the transmit processor 779 in the UE 750. The data and control signals carried by the successfully decoded frames may then be provided to a data sink 738 and the controller/processor, respectively. If some of the frames were unsuccessfully decoded by the receive processor, the controller/processor 780 may also use an acknowledgement (ACK) and/or negative acknowledgement (NACK) protocol to support retransmission requests for those frames. [0060] The controller/processors 740 and 780 may be used to direct the operation at the NodeB 710 and the UE 750, respectively. For example, the controller/processors 740 and 780 may provide various functions including timing, peripheral interfaces, voltage regulation, power management, and other control functions. The computer readable media of memories 742 and 762 may store data and software for the NodeB 710 and the UE 750, respectively. A scheduler/processor 746 at the NodeB 710 may be used to allocate resources to the UEs and schedule downlink and/or uplink transmissions for the UEs.

[0061] Several aspects of a telecommunications system have been presented with reference to a W-CDMA system. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures and communication standards.

[0062] By way of example, various aspects may be extended to other UMTS systems such as TD-SCDMA, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) and TD-CDMA. Various aspects may also be extended to systems employing Long Term Evolution (LTE) (in FDD, TDD, or both modes), LTE- Advanced (LTE-A) (in FDD, TDD, or both modes), CDMA2000, Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra- Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and/or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and/or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0063] In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented with a "processing system" that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionality described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A non-transitory computer-readable medium includes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., card, stick, key drive), random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, a removable disk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and/or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer.

[0064] The computer-readable medium may also include, by way of example, a carrier wave, a transmission line, and any other suitable medium for transmitting software and/or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium may be resident in the processing system, external to the processing system, or distributed across multiple entities including the processing system. The computer- readable medium may be embodied in a computer-program product. By way of example, a computer-program product may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0065] It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed is an illustration of exemplary processes. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically recited therein.

[0066] The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless specifically so stated, but rather "one or more." Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more. A phrase referring to "at least one of a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, "at least one of: a, b, or c" is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b and c. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase "step for."

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method of communication between a user equipment (UE) and a network, comprising:

receiving a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call;

determining that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request; and

holding the voice call request until the location change procedure is completed, wherein holding the voice call request prevents a connection request from being transmitted to the first network entity.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the location change procedure is successfully completed;

transmitting the connection request to the second network entity when the location change procedure is successfully completed; and

transmitting the connection request to the first network entity when the location change procedure failed to successfully complete.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a reconfiguration message that initiates a Serving Radio Network Subsystem (SRNS) procedure, wherein the reconfiguration message includes a new location area indicator (LAI) different from a current LAI; and

wherein determining that the location change procedure is in process includes identifying the new LAI in the reconfiguration message.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising maintaining a connection with the first network entity while the location change procedure is in process.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: transmitting a location change success message when the SRNS procedure successfully completes, wherein the location change success message includes an indication a change to the new LAI; and

performing a location area update (LAU) procedure, wherein the LAU procedure is imitated based on a LAU request.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining that the LAU procedure successfully completed, wherein the connection with the first network entity is released based on the LAU procedure successfully completing; and

transmitting the connection request for the voice call to the second network entity in response to receiving the LAU procedure successfully completed.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining that the LAU procedure fails to successfully complete, wherein the UE maintains the current LAI; and

transmitting the connection request for the voice call to the first network entity in response to the LAU procedure failing to successfully complete.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the location change procedure is initialized in response to receiving a reconfiguration message from the second network entity.

9. An apparatus for communication between a user equipment (UE) and a network, comprising:

means for receiving a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call;

means for determining that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request; and

means for holding the voice call request until the location change procedure is completed, wherein holding the voice call request prevents a connection request from being transmitted to the first network entity.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising means for performing the method of any of claims 2-8.

11. A computer-readable medium storing computer executable code for communication between a user equipment (UE) and a network, comprising:

code executable to receive a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call; code executable to determine that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request; and

code executable to hold the voice call request until the location change procedure is completed, wherein holding the voice call request prevents a connection request from being transmitted to the first network entity.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising code executable to cause a computer to perform the method of any of claims 2-8.

13. An apparatus for communication between a user equipment (UE) and a network, comprising:

a receiving component configured to receive a mobile originated voice call request to initiate a voice call;

a determining component configured to determine that a location change procedure corresponding to moving the UE from a first network entity to a second network entity of the network is in process upon receiving the voice call request; and

a holding component configured to hold the voice call request until the location change procedure is completed, wherein holding the voice call request prevents a connection request from being transmitted to the first network entity.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising components for performing the method of any of claims 2-8.