Channel-type switching control

Claim 3

The method in claim 1 , wherein the channel types include a dedicated type of radio channel temporarily allocated to support one mobile radio connection and a common type of radio channel that can be shared by plural mobile radio connections.

Claim 4

The method in claim 1 , wherein the channel type switching decision is made to avoid undesirable channel type switching.

Claim 5

The method in claim 3 , wherein the undesirable channel type switching includes cyclic back and forth channel type switching.

Claim 6

The method in claim 1 , wherein the information includes a requested quality of service.

Claim 7

The method in claim 1 , wherein the information includes an amount of data to be transmitted over the mobile radio connection.

Claim 8

The method in claim 6 , wherein if the data amounts are below a threshold during all of the number of time intervals while the mobile user connection is being supported by a first, higher capacity channel, the mobile user connection is switched to a second, lower capacity type of channel.

Claim 9

The method in claim 6 , wherein if the data amounts are above a threshold during all of the number of time intervals while the mobile user connection is being supported by a first, lower capacity channel, the mobile user connection is switched to a second, higher capacity type of channel.

Claim 10

The method in claim 6 , wherein the channel types include a first type of radio channel having a first capacity and a second type of radio channel having a second capacity less than the first capacity, the method further comprising: if the mobile radio connection is supported by the second channel and the amount of data to be transmitted for the mobile radio connection exceeds a threshold for a predetermined number of time intervals, switching the mobile radio connection to the first channel.

Claim 11

The method in claim 9 , further comprising: if the mobile radio connection is supported by the second channel and the amount of data to be transmitted for the mobile radio connection does not exceed a threshold for a predetermined number of time intervals, maintaining mobile radio connection on the second channel.

Claim 12

The method in claim 9 , further comprising: if the mobile radio connection is supported by the first channel and the amount of data to be transmitted for the mobile radio connection does not exceed a threshold for a predetermined number of time intervals, switching the mobile radio connection to the second channel.

Claim 15

The method in claim 12 , further comprising: if a decision is made to switch the mobile radio connection up from the third channel, switching the mobile radio connection to the second intermediate channel, and then if another decision is made to switch the mobile radio connection up from the second channel, switching the mobile radio connection to the first channel.

Claim 18

The method in claim 14 , wherein the predetermined time period is associated with an amount of time required to perform a channel switch.

Claim 21

The method in claim 16 , further comprising: storing the channel types and data amounts in the sliding time window in an array; and at the end of a next time interval, shifting data in the array so that the channel type and data amount in a last position in the array are removed and a most recently determined the channel type and data amount are stored in a first position in the array, wherein the decision is made using the information stored in the array.

Claim 22

The method in claim 16 , further comprising: storing the channel types in the sliding time window in a first array; storing the amounts of data in the sliding time window in a second array; and at the end of a next time interval, shifting data in the first and second arrays so that the channel type and data amount in a last position in the first and second arrays are removed and a most recently determined channel type and data amount are stored in a first position in the first and second arrays, wherein the decision is made using the information stored in the first and second arrays.

Claim 23

The method in claim 16 , wherein the amount of data is indicated in the sliding window using plural data amount categories.

Claim 24

The method in claim 19 , wherein the categories include above a high threshold category, an intermediate amount category, and below a low threshold category.

Claim 25

The method in claim 16 , further comprising: establishing another, longer sliding time window divided into a second number of time intervals greater than the first number; determining for each time interval in the longer sliding time window a type of channel supporting the mobile radio connection and an amount of data to be currently transmitted for the mobile radio connection; analyzing the channel types and data amounts in the longer sliding time window; and making another decision based on the longer sliding time window analysis.

Claim 26

The method in claim 21 , wherein the other decision relates to power regulation.

Claim 27

The method in claim 21 , wherein the other decision relates to channel type switching.

Claim 28

The method in claim 16 , wherein if the sliding window contains different channel types, the mobile user connection is maintained on only one type of channel for a predefined number of time intervals.

Claim 29

The method in claim 16 , wherein if the data amounts are below a threshold during the entire sliding window while the mobile user connection is being supported by a first, higher capacity channel, the mobile user connection is switched to a second, lower capacity type of channel.

Claim 30

The method in claim 16 , wherein if the data amounts are above a threshold during the entire sliding window while the mobile user connection is being supported by a first, lower capacity channel, the mobile user connection is switched to a second, higher capacity type of channel.

Claim 31

Apparatus for use in a mobile radio communications system to select a type of channel to support a mobile radio connection, comprising: a memory, and data processing circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to perform the following tasks: establish a sliding time window divided into a first number of time intervals; determine for each time interval a type of channel supporting the mobile radio connection and an amount of data to be currently transmitted for the mobile radio connection; store the channel type and data amount in the memory, analyze the channel types and data amounts in the sliding time window, and make a channel type switching decision based on the analysis.

Claim 32

Apparatus for use in a mobile radio communications system to select a type of channel to support a mobile radio connection, comprising: a memory, and data processing circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to perform the following tasks: establish a sliding time window divided into a first number of time intervals; determine for each time interval a type of channel supporting the mobile radio connection and an amount of data to be currently transmitted for the mobile radio connection; store the channel type and data amount in the memory, analyze the channel types and data amounts in the sliding time window, and make a channel type switching decision based on the analysis.

Claim 33

The apparatus in claim 27 , wherein the data processing circuitry is further configured to determining over a first number of time intervals information associated with a type of channel, the information including a requested quality of service.

Claim 34

The apparatus in claim 27 , wherein the channel types include a dedicated type of radio channel temporarily allocated to support one mobile radio connection and a common type of radio channel that can be shared by plural mobile radio connections.

Claim 35

Apparatus for use in a mobile radio communications system and implemented in a radio network control node, comprising: a memory, and data processing circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to perform the following tasks: determine over a first number of time intervals information associated with a type of channel supporting a mobile radio connection between a mobile radio and a mobile radio network for each of the time intervals; store the determined information in the memory, analyze the determined information for a trend; and make a channel type switching decision based on the analysis a channel switching mechanism, wherein the information is the type of channel supporting the mobile radio connection during each of the time intervals, and wherein if the first number of time intervals contains different channel types, the data processing circuitry is configured to control the channel switching mechanism so that the mobile user connection is maintained on only one type of channel for a predefined number of time intervals.

Claim 36

Apparatus for use in a mobile radio communications system and implemented in a radio network control node, comprising: a memory, and data processing circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to perform the following tasks: determine over a first number of time intervals information associated with a type of channel supporting a mobile radio connection between a mobile radio and a mobile radio network for each of the time intervals; store the determined information in the memory, analyze the determined information for a trend; and make a channel type switching decision based on the analysis a channel switching mechanism, wherein the information is the type of channel supporting the mobile radio connection during each of the time intervals, and wherein if the first number of time intervals contains different channel types, the data processing circuitry is configured to control the channel switching mechanism so that the mobile user connection is maintained on only one type of channel for a predefined number of time intervals.

Claim 37

The apparatus in claim 27 implemented in a radio network control node further including a channel switching mechanism, wherein if the data amounts are below a threshold during all of the first number of time intervals while the mobile user connection is being supported by a first, higher capacity channel, the data processing circuitry is configured to control the channel switching mechanism so that the mobile user connection is switched to a second, lower capacity type of channel.

Claim 38

The apparatus in claim 31 , wherein if the data amounts are above a threshold during all of the first number of time intervals while the mobile user connection is being supported by a first, lower capacity channel, the data processing circuitry is configured to control the channel switching mechanism so that the mobile user connection is switched to a second, higher capacity type of channel.

Claim 39

Apparatus for use in a mobile radio communications system, comprising: a memory, and data processing circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to perform the following tasks: determine over a first number of time intervals information associated with a type of channel supporting a mobile radio connection between a mobile radio and a mobile radio network for each of the time intervals, the information including the type of channel supporting the mobile radio connection during each of the time intervals and an amount of data to be transmitted over the mobile radio connection; store the determined information in the memory; analyze the determined information for a trend; and make a channel type switching decision based on the analysis, wherein the first number of time intervals corresponds to a sliding time window and the channel types and data amounts in the sliding time window are stored in the memory in an array, wherein the data processing circuitry, at the end of a next time interval, is configured to shift data in the array so that the channel type and data amount in a last position in the array are removed and a most recently determined channel type and data amount are stored in a first position in the array, and wherein the data processing circuitry is configured to make the decision using the information stored in the array.

Claim 40

Apparatus for use in a mobile radio communications system, comprising: a memory, and data processing circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to perform the following tasks: determine over a first number of time intervals information associated with a type of channel supporting a mobile radio connection between a mobile radio and a mobile radio network for each of the time intervals, the information including the type of channel supporting the mobile radio connection during each of the time intervals and an amount of data to be transmitted over the mobile radio connection; store the determined information in the memory; analyze the determined information for a trend; and make a channel type switching decision based on the analysis, wherein the first number of time intervals corresponds to a sliding time window and the channel types and data amounts in the sliding time window are stored in the memory in an array, wherein the data processing circuitry, at the end of a next time interval, is configured to shift data in the array so that the channel type and data amount in a last position in the array are removed and a most recently determined channel type and data amount are stored in a first position in the array, and wherein the data processing circuitry is configured to make the decision using the information stored in the array.

Claim 41

The apparatus in claim 33 , wherein the channel types in the sliding time window are stored in a first array in memory and the amounts of data in the sliding time window are stored in a second array in the memory.

Claim 42

Apparatus for use in a mobile radio communications system, comprising: a memory, and data processing circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to perform the following tasks: determine over a first number of time intervals information associated with a type of channel supporting a mobile radio connection between a mobile radio and a mobile radio network for each of the time intervals; store the determined information in the memory, analyze the determined information for a trend; and make a channel type switching decision based on the analysis, wherein the first number of time intervals corresponds to a sliding time window and the data processing circuitry is configured to establish another, longer sliding time window divided into a second number of time intervals greater than the first number, to determine for each time interval in the longer sliding time window a type of channel supporting the mobile radio connection and an amount of data to be currently transmitted for the mobile radio connection, to analyze the channel types and data amounts in the longer sliding time window, and to make another decision based on the longer sliding time window analysis.

Claim 43

Apparatus for use in a mobile radio communications system, comprising: a memory, and data processing circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to perform the following tasks: determine over a first number of time intervals information associated with a type of channel supporting a mobile radio connection between a mobile radio and a mobile radio network for each of the time intervals; store the determined information in the memory, analyze the determined information for a trend; and make a channel type switching decision based on the analysis, wherein the first number of time intervals corresponds to a sliding time window and the data processing circuitry is configured to establish another, longer sliding time window divided into a second number of time intervals greater than the first number, to determine for each time interval in the longer sliding time window a type of channel supporting the mobile radio connection and an amount of data to be currently transmitted for the mobile radio connection, to analyze the channel types and data amounts in the longer sliding time window, and to make another decision based on the longer sliding time window analysis.

Claim 44

The apparatus in claim 35 , wherein the other decision relates to power regulation.

Claim 45

The apparatus in claim 35 , wherein the other decision relates to channel type switching.