BACKGROUND

Field

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to using user equipment (UE) environmental status information to improve mobility handling and offload decisions.

Background

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and the like. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources. 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 Universal 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). Examples of multiple-access network formats include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks.

A wireless communication network may include a number of base stations or node Bs that can support communication for a number of user equipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station via downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the base station.

A base station may transmit data and control information on the downlink to a UE and/or may receive data and control information on the uplink from the UE. On the downlink, a transmission from the base station may encounter interference due to transmissions from neighbor base stations or from other wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink, a transmission from the UE may encounter interference from uplink transmissions of other UEs communicating with the neighbor base stations or from other wireless RF transmitters. This interference may degrade performance on both the downlink and uplink.

As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, the possibilities of interference and congested networks grows with more UEs accessing the long-range wireless communication networks and more short-range wireless systems being deployed in communities. Research and development continue to advance the UMTS technologies not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but to advance and enhance the user experience with mobile communications.

SUMMARY

In one aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes determining, by a UE, UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-RF sensor located in the UE. The method further includes generating a control message comprising the UE environmental status information and transmitting the control message to a base station in communication with the UE, wherein the control message relates to managing a connection with the UE by an associated wireless communication network.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes receiving, by a network entity, a control message from an associated UE, wherein the control message comprises UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-RF sensor located in an associated UE. The method further includes managing a connection of the associated UE based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a system of wireless communication that includes means for determining, by a UE, UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-RF sensor located in the UE, means for generating a control message comprising the UE environmental status information, and means for transmitting the control message to a base station in communication with the UE, wherein the control message relates to managing a connection with the UE by an associated wireless communication network.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a system of wireless communication that includes means for receiving, by a network entity, a control message from an associated UE, wherein the control message comprises UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-RF sensor located in an associated UE and means for managing a connection of the associated UE based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a computer program product has a computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. This program code includes code to determine, by a UE, UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-RF sensor located in the UE, code to generate a control message comprising the UE environmental status information, and code to transmit the control message to a base station in communication with the UE, wherein the control message relates to managing a connection with the UE by an associated wireless communication network.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a computer program product has a computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. This program code includes code to receive, by a network entity, a control message from an associated UE, wherein the control message comprises UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-RF sensor located in an associated UE and code to manage a connection of the associated UE based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to determine, by a UE, UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-RF sensor located in the UE, to generate a control message comprising the UE environmental status information, and to transmit the control message to a base station in communication with the UE, wherein the control message relates to managing a connection with the UE by an associated wireless communication network.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to receive, by a network entity, a control message from an associated UE, wherein the control message comprises UE environmental status information based on input from at least one non-RF sensor located in an associated UE and to manage a connection of the associated UE based at least in part on the UE environmental status information.

