CN107113650B - Transmission of congestion control information - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus and a computer program for use in a wireless network are provided. These include the apparatus of the user equipment, comprising: a communication module configured to receive barring information for a plurality of application specific congestion control for data communication (ACDC) categories; and processing circuitry configured to control access to a network by an application configured in a user device based on the received barring information, wherein the received barring information comprises an indication of a category barring type for one or more of the plurality of ACDC categories.

Description

Transmission of congestion control information

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This APPLICATION claims priority and benefit from united states provisional patent APPLICATION serial No. 62/204,228 entitled "METHOD FOR signaling ACDC BARRING INFORMATION (METHODS FOR signaling ACDC BARRING INFORMATION)" filed on 12/8/2015, and united states provisional patent APPLICATION serial No. 62/106,431 entitled "METHOD FOR dedicated CONGESTION CONTROL FOR DATA COMMUNICATIONS (METHOD FOR CONGESTION CONTROL DATA COMMUNICATIONS)" filed on 22/2015.

Technical Field

Embodiments described herein relate generally to wireless communications. More particularly, but not exclusively, embodiments described herein relate generally to methods and apparatus for transmitting congestion control information in a wireless communication network.

Background

In wireless communication networks, it is sometimes desirable to prioritize some applications operating on a User Equipment (UE) over other applications. For example, when the network is congested, it may be desirable to prioritize certain applications over some other applications.

Application specific congestion control for data communication (ACDC) is a new access control mechanism specified in the 3GPP release 13 specifications (3GPP TS 22.011 V13.2.0(2015-06) and 3GPP TS 22.011 V13.3.0 (2015-09)). ACDC is optional for the UE and the network; ACDC is applicable to Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); and ACDC is provided to control or block new access attempts from UEs in idle mode for operator defined applications, e.g., prioritizing certain applications in case of congestion (e.g., Disaster Message Board (DMB) service, disaster voice message service (GMP)), and blocking other types of applications.

According to the ACDC access control mechanism, the UE may be configured through the network to have a plurality of ranked ACDC categories with which applications may then be associated. The least restricted applications should be assigned to the highest ACDC category and the most restricted applications should be assigned to the lowest ACDC category or not assigned to any category at all. The serving network may then broadcast barring information for ACDC categories configured in the cell, and the UE may respond to access attempts from the application based on the barring information and the category configuration in the UE.

Various solutions for broadcasting barring information for ACDC categories have been proposed, but the proposed solutions are not optimal in terms of signalling load, as they rely on separate indications of each ACDC category being broadcast by the serving network. This is not optimal in the case where a large number of ACDC categories are configured and need to be signaled by the serving network.

Drawings

The embodiments described herein are illustrated by way of example (and not by way of limitation) in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication network;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a base station in a network;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a User Equipment (UE) in a network;

fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating some components of a UE;

figure 5 schematically shows a signalling message in a network;

fig. 6 depicts a flowchart of processing operations associated with processing barring information received in a UE;

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart of processing operations associated with processing an access attempt from an application in a UE;

fig. 8 schematically shows how the UE maps the received barring information to configured ACDC categories;

fig. 9 depicts a flowchart of processing operations associated with obtaining and transmitting barring information in a base station;

figure 10 shows signalling within the UE and between the network and the UE; and

fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram illustrating some components of a UE.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a wireless communication network 100. The wireless communication network 100 may provide an access network of a third generation partnership project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) or long term evolution-advanced (LTE-a) network, such as an evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN). The communication network includes a control network 110, a plurality of base stations 120, and a plurality of User Equipments (UEs) 130. The control network 110 may include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and an operator packet data network. Base station 120 may comprise an evolved node base station (eNodeB). They may be fixed or mobile stations/nodes. In fig. 1, three base stations 120, BS a, BS B and BS C, are shown. The plurality of UEs may include one or more mobile devices or terminals. In fig. 1, three UEs 130, UE a, UE B and UE C, are shown. The eNodeB is configured to communicate wirelessly with the UE using signals 140. The network 100 provides radio service coverage through a plurality of cells formed by enodebs. A UE within a cell connects to an associated eNodeB and receives and transmits data, including voice data, from and to the network via the eNodeB to which the UE is connected.

During operation of wireless network 100, UE 130 may move through the area of network coverage. For example, when UE a is within a cell area associated with eNodeB a, UE a will transmit and receive signals 140 to and from the network via eNodeB a. UE a may then move to a different location outside the cell area associated with eNodeB a, but within the area covered by eNodeB B. When UE a moves from a first location to a second location, a handover procedure will be initiated such that the connection of the UE to the wireless network 100 is via signals transmitted to, and received from, eNodeB B (shown in dashed lines). Two or more enodebs may cover overlapping cell areas so that a UE in a cell area may communicate with two or more enodebs. For example, UE C can communicate with eNodeB B and eNodeB C. The eNodeB to which the UE is connected is referred to as the serving base station for the UE.

Portions of network 100 may be used by multiple wireless network operators. Some of the infrastructure provided by the network may be used by only one operator and some of the infrastructure (e.g., some of the enodebs) may be shared by the operators. Each operator controls its own Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), which may or may not share the Radio Access Network (RAN) infrastructure with another PLMN. Each UE has a Home PLMN (HPLMN), which is the PLMN that maintains the subscriber profile of the user. However, when the UE is out of the coverage of the HPLMN, the UE may connect to a PLMN provided by another operator. This is called roaming. For example, if the HPLMN of UE B cannot access eNodeB a and eNodeB C, UE B may need to roam when it moves from the cell area covered by eNodeB B into the cell area covered by eNodeB a or eNodeB C.

The EPC may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a serving gateway (S-GW), a packet data network gateway (P-GW), and a Home Subscriber Server (HSS). The components of the EPC will be known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail herein. The EPC may be connected to external networks including, but not limited to, the IP multimedia core network subsystem (IMS) and the internet.

UE 130 is configured to operate a plurality of applications for interacting with remote servers via network 100. The application may, for example, allow the UE to interact with a remote server over the internet. The UE may be preconfigured with at least some applications. The user of the UE may also control the UE to download new applications. UE 130 (e.g., UE a in fig. 1) may also be configured with a number of dedicated congestion control for data communication (ACDC) categories with which an application of the UE may be associated. The network 100 may configure the UE with these categories. The network 100 may also configure the UE such that applications operating on the UE are assigned a category. The control network 110 and the eNodeB 120 (e.g., eNodeB a in fig. 1) may be configured to broadcast various categories of barring information, and the UE may be configured to match the broadcasted barring information to its configured category and control the associated application according to the broadcasted barring information. The barring information may be different for different cells and the access network may signal the barring information for a particular cell. Alternatively, the same barring information may be signaled in multiple cells. In implementations where multiple networks (e.g., operated by different operators) share the same access network, the access network may be configured to signal different barring information to different networks. In some embodiments, the control network 110 and eNodeB will also broadcast information indicating how the barring information applies to roaming UEs.

In more detail, the 3GPP release 13 specification specifies the details of the new ACDC access control mechanism. The latest stage 1 details of the new ACDC function are specified in 3GPP TS 22.011 V13.2.0(2015-06) and 3GPP TS 22.011 V13.3.0(2015-09), section 4.3.5. According to the phase 1 specification, the UE may be configured by its HPLMN to have multiple ACDC categories (minimum value supported by the standard is 4) to which applications are associated and to which ACDC access control mechanisms in idle mode should be applied. Further, with respect to the configuration of ACDC categories in the UE by their HPLMN, applications should be assigned to ACDC categories according to their desired level of restriction/barring, i.e.,

applications whose usage is expected to be least restricted should be assigned the highest ACDC category;

applications whose usage is expected to be more restricted than applications in the highest category should be assigned a second highest ACDC category, and so on; and

applications whose usage is expected to be most limited should be assigned the lowest ACDC category, or not classified at all.

With respect to the broadcast of ACDC barring information, it is desirable to meet the phase 1 specification and other:

-broadcasting, on the service network side, barring information from the highest ACDC category to the lowest ACDC category when applying ACDC.

The number of ACDC categories configured in the UE may be different from the number of ACDC categories broadcast by the serving network, i.e. the number of categories configured in the UE may be smaller or larger than the number of categories broadcast by the serving network.

If the serving network broadcasts more ACDC categories than the configuration of the UE, the UE should use barring information of matching ACDC categories (i.e. categories with the same rank as the ACDC categories configured in the UE), and should use barring information of the lowest category broadcast by the serving network to bar unclassified applications, and should ignore barring information of unmatched categories.

-if the serving network broadcasts less barring information of ACDC categories than the configuration of the UE, the UE should use the barring information of matching ACDC categories and should use the barring information of the lowest category broadcasted by the serving network to bar other applications.

Support for RAN sharing deployment scenarios, where ACDC barring information may be applied individually, or collectively to all PLMNs sharing the RAN.

According to some embodiments, the network 100 is configured to meet the phase 1 specification. Furthermore, the network is configured to enable the transmission of barring information in an efficient manner. At least some embodiments discussed herein relate to ACDC barring information for LTE and UMTS. According to an embodiment, a plurality of ACDC categories are defined for a network. For example, in some implementations, the number of network classes is 16. In other implementations, the number of network classes may be up to 256. In some implementations, the minimum number of network categories can be four categories. Different PLMNs may have different numbers of categories. Each operator may set its own barring information for the categories. Alternatively, the serving network may set the same barring information for some or all PLMNs.

The categories are ranked in order of probability of being restricted, such that categories with higher rankings should be associated with applications that are subject to lower access restrictions (as compared to applications associated with lower ranked categories). In some implementations, each category is assigned a category identifier. In some implementations, the identifier can be a ranking of the category. For example, if 16 categories are used, the different categories may be identified by numbers 1 through 16, respectively, with number 1 identifying the highest ranked category and number 16 identifying the lowest ranked category. The eNodeB is configured to determine barring information for at least some of the categories and is configured to transmit the barring information to the UE in an efficient manner. The UE receives barring information and maps the received barring information to its configured category and then controls application access attempts based on the barring information and the category configuration.

The arrangement and processing of the network 100, in particular the enodebs and UEs, for obtaining, transmitting and updating barring information and control applications will be described in more detail below. First, components of the eNodeB and the UE will be described with reference to fig. 2 and 3. As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with, one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, the circuitry may comprise logic that is at least partially operable in hardware. The embodiments described herein may be implemented as a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software.

Fig. 2 illustrates example components of an eNodeB (e.g., eNodeB a in fig. 1) for one embodiment. The eNodeB includes a radio transport block 201 for radio communication with UEs (e.g., UEs a, B, and C described with reference to fig. 1). The transmission block 201 has associated antennas 202 and may have multiple antennas for MIMO operation. A network transport block 203 may be provided that supports network communications, e.g., communications with the control network 110, and backhaul communications with other enodebs (e.g., eNodeB B and eNodeB C, or any other network entity). Thus, the eNodeB may include a network connection 204, e.g., a communication link with the control network 110 described above. A processor 205 is provided for controlling the overall operation of the eNodeB. Processor 205 may include multiple processors, and/or one or more multi-core processors. The processor 205 operates in accordance with software 206 stored in a memory or storage device 207 readable by the processor or accessible to the processor. The software 206 is arranged such that the eNodeB may implement the examples described herein, and in particular, may implement the eNodeB aspects of the flowcharts and flow diagrams described herein. The memory 207 may store data and software defined routines for implementing sensing, inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC), mobility, access control, Radio Resource Management (RRM), and scheduling functions. Memory 207 may also include elements of a protocol stack, such as elements of an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) protocol, including, for example, Physical (PHY) elements, Medium Access Control (MAC) elements, Radio Link Control (RLC) elements, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) elements, and/or Radio Resource Control (RRC) elements.

Fig. 3 illustrates example components of a User Equipment (UE) device 130 for one embodiment. For example, the UE device 130 may be UE a of fig. 1. In some embodiments, the UE device 130 may include application circuitry 302, baseband circuitry 304, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 306, Front End Module (FEM) circuitry 308, and one or more antennas 310 coupled together at least as shown.

The application circuitry 302 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 302 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processor may be coupled with and/or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system. The application circuit 302 will be described in more detail below with reference to fig. 4.

Baseband circuitry 304 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Baseband circuitry 304 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of RF circuitry 106 and to generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 306. Baseband processing circuitry 304 may be connected with the application circuitry 302 for generating and processing baseband signals and for controlling the operation of the RF circuitry 306. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 304 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor 304a, a third generation (3G) baseband processor 304b, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 304c, and/or other baseband processor(s) 304d for other existing, developing, or future development (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). Baseband circuitry 304 (e.g., one or more baseband processors 104a-d) may handle various radio control functions to enable communication with one or more radio networks through RF circuitry 306. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, and the like. In some embodiments, the modulation/demodulation circuitry of baseband circuitry 304 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding/decoding circuitry of baseband circuitry 304 may include convolution, tail convolution, turbo (turbo), Viterbi (Viterbi), and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoding/decoding functions. Embodiments of the modulation/demodulation function and the encoding/decoding function are not limited to these examples, and other suitable functions may be included in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 304 may include elements of a protocol stack, e.g., elements of an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) protocol, including, e.g., Physical (PHY) elements, Medium Access Control (MAC) elements, Radio Link Control (RLC) elements, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) elements, and/or Radio Resource Control (RRC) elements. A Central Processing Unit (CPU)304e of the baseband circuitry 304 may be configured to run elements of a protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) 104 f. The audio DSP(s) 304f may include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.

The baseband circuitry 304 may also include memory/storage 304 g. Memory/storage 304g is used to load and store data and/or instructions for operations performed by the processor of baseband circuitry 304. The memory/storage of one embodiment may comprise suitable volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. Memory/storage 304g may include any combination of various levels of memory/storage, including, but not limited to, Read Only Memory (ROM) with embedded software instructions (e.g., firmware), random access memory (e.g., Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)), cache, buffers, and the like. The memory/storage 304g may be shared among various processors or dedicated to a particular processor.

In some embodiments, the components of the baseband circuitry may be combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or provided on the same circuit board, as appropriate. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 304 and the application circuitry 302 may be implemented together, such as on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 304 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 304 may support communication with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) and/or other Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMANs), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 304 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 306 may enable communication with a wireless network through a non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 106 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and the like to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 306 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from FEM circuitry 308 and provide baseband signals to baseband circuitry 304. RF circuitry 306 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry to upconvert baseband signals provided by baseband circuitry 304 and provide an RF output signal to FEM circuitry 308 for transmission.

In some embodiments, RF circuitry 306 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of RF circuitry 306 may include mixer circuitry 306a, amplifier circuitry 306b, and filter circuitry 306 c. The transmit signal path of RF circuitry 306 may include filter circuitry 306c, and mixer circuitry 306 a. RF circuitry 306 may also include synthesizer circuitry 306d for synthesizing frequencies for use by mixer circuitry 306a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 306a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from FEM circuitry 308 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 306 d. Amplifier circuit 306b may be configured to amplify the downconverted signal, and filter circuit 306c may be a Low Pass Filter (LPF) or a Band Pass Filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the downconverted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuitry 304 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not required. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 306a of the receive signal path may comprise a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 306a of the transmit signal path may be configured to upconvert the input baseband signal based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 306d to generate the RF output signal of FEM circuitry 308. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuitry 304 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 306 c. Filter circuit 306c may include a Low Pass Filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 306a of the receive signal path and mixer circuitry 306a of the transmit signal path may comprise two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 306a of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 306a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 306a of the receive signal path and mixer circuitry 306a of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 306a of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 306a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation (superheterodyne operation).

In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, RF circuitry 306 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and baseband circuitry 304 may include a digital baseband interface for communicating with RF circuitry 306.

In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 306d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N/N +1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. Synthesizer circuit 306d may be, for example, a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase locked loop with a frequency divider.

Synthesizer circuit 306d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by mixer circuit 306a of RF circuit 306 based on the frequency input and the divider control input. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 306d may be a fractional-N/N +1 type synthesizer.

In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by either baseband circuitry 304 or application processor 302 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on the channel indicated by the application processor 302.

Synthesizer circuit 306d of RF circuit 306 may include a frequency divider, a Delay Locked Loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual-mode divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a Digital Phase Accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide an input signal by N or N +1 (e.g., based on the output) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some exemplary embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to decompose the VCO period into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this manner, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 306d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with a quadrature generator (quadrature generator) and a frequency divider circuit to generate a plurality of signals at the carrier frequency having a plurality of different phases relative to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (f)_LO). In some embodiments, RF circuitry 306 may include an IQ/polarity converter.

FEM circuitry 308 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 310, amplify the received signals, and provide amplified versions of the received signals to RF circuitry 306 for further processing. FEM circuitry 308 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals provided by RF circuitry 306 for transmission by one or more of one or more antennas 310.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 308 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode operation and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to RF circuitry 306). The transmit signal path of FEM circuitry 308 may include a Power Amplifier (PA) to amplify an input RF signal (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 106) and one or more filters to generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of one or more antennas 310).

In some embodiments, UE 130 may include additional elements, such as memory/storage, a display, a camera, sensors, and/or input/output (I/O) interfaces.

In some embodiments, UE 130 may be configured to perform one or more of the techniques, processes, and/or methods described herein, or portions thereof. The UE and software may implement the examples described herein, and in particular, may implement the UE aspects of the flowcharts and flow diagrams described herein.

While an embodiment of an eNodeB has been described with reference to fig. 2, and an embodiment of a UE has been described with reference to fig. 3, fig. 3 may instead show example components of an eNodeB or other electronic device in system 100 for one embodiment.

Referring to fig. 4, a circuit 400 is schematically shown comprising a processing module 410 and a memory 420, the memory 420 for storing data and programs for implementing some processes and mechanisms according to embodiments described herein. The circuit 400 may include, for example, one or more of the processors of the application circuit 302, and one or more of the processors 304 a-304 f of the baseband circuit 304. Memory 420 may include, for example, some of the memory or storage of application circuitry 302 and some of the memory or storage 304g of baseband circuitry 304. The memory 420 may also include a memory area on a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) or a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM).

The memory 420 may store a plurality of applications 421. The UE may be caused to interact with one or more external servers when the processing module runs an application. The application may send data to the eNodeB via the baseband circuitry 304, RF circuitry 306, FEM circuitry 308, and antenna 310, which in turn sends the data to an external server via the control network 110 and an external network. Accordingly, data for an application may be received by antenna 310 through network 110 and eNodeB 120 and passed to the application through FEM circuitry 308, RF circuitry 306, and baseband circuitry 304. For example, the applications 421 may include a plurality of core applications, such as a telephony application. The applications can also include disaster message board service applications and/or disaster voice message services as well as gaming or social networking applications.

Memory 420 may also include an access manager 422, where access manager 422 manages access attempts by applications 421. For example, access manager 422 may include software that, when invoked by processing module 410, may manage access attempts by applications. The access manager may include elements forming part of the RRC layer and the Access Stratum (AS). In some embodiments, the access manager may include a random access generator (random access generator), described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 5. Further, the memory 420 may store barring information 423 for ACDC categories configured in the UE. In more detail, it may store all categories of barring information associated with applications in the UE. The barring information may include identifiers (e.g., rankings) of all categories associated with applications in the UE, and associated access control information. The number of ACDC categories configured in the UE may be less than the full set of ACDC categories supported by the network. Additionally, memory 420 may store data 424 that links the application to ACDC categories. Some applications may not be associated with a category. The data 424 may include an indication of all applications operating on the UE, and a field indicating, for each application, an associated category. For applications not associated with a category, this field may be null. The memory may also store an algorithm 425 for mapping received barring information to configured ACDC categories and for associating ACDC categories with applications. The processing module 410 may access and run the algorithm 425 directly or through the access manager 421 to implement access control.

In some implementations, the data 424 linking the application to the ACDC category is stored as an ACDC-specific Management Object (MO). Alternatively, it may be stored on the USIM, for example in a "basic file". The application's link to ACDC categories will be determined by the specific network implementation. For example, it may be preconfigured in the UE by the HPLMN. For example, when a message disaster board is installed in the UE, the HPLMN may map the message disaster board application to the highest category of ACDC categories in the ACDC MO. The processing module 410 may invoke the algorithm 425 to implement any mapping information received from the HPLMN.

When a new application attempts to access the network in idle mode, the non-access stratum (NAS) may request the AS to initiate RRC connection establishment and may indicate from the data linking the application and ACDC category 425 the ACDC category associated with the new application. In some implementations, the access manager 422 then checks which of the barring information 424 in the memory 420 is applicable to RRC connection establishment and applies the barring information to access attempts. An example of a process for handling an access attempt from an application in a UE will be described in more detail below with reference to fig. 8.

Referring to fig. 5, the network sends a signaling message 500 to the UE, the signaling message 500 having barring information 510 for the UE for controlling access attempts from applications operating on the UE. In some embodiments, the barring information is transmitted using four different fields including a ranking of the category (511), a type of the category (512), a barring factor (513), and a barring time (514). The RRC protocol may be modified to define these fields. In some implementations, the fields are given the following labels:

acdc-CategoryRank (acdc-CategoryRank)

Acdc-blocking (acdc-Barring)

Acdc-blocking factor (acdc-BarringFactor)

Acdc-blocking time (acdc-Barrringtime)

The field may be included in an RRC information element for barring information defining the category, and the RRC information element may be included in a signaling message to the UE.

The acdc-category rank field corresponds to a category rank, which may be a number indicating the location of the category in the rank. In some implementations, the ranking serves as an identifier for the category. The acdc-barring field corresponds to a class type. In some embodiments, there are three types of categories, namely, a category associated with applications that should not have restrictions imposed, a category associated with applications that should have some restrictions imposed, and a category associated with applications that are blocked from accessing the network. The value of the category type field for an unrestricted category may be "unblocked," or another value indicating that the category is not blocked. The value of the category type field for a category that is not allowed to access the network may be "blocked," or another value that indicates that the category is blocked from accessing the network.

The fields acdc-blocking factor and acdc-blocking time, corresponding to the blocking factor and blocking time, respectively, may be used to indicate a restriction on a category that should have some restriction imposed on it. The blocking factor is a number between the minimum blocking factor (e.g., zero) and the maximum blocking factor (e.g., 1). The access manager 422 is configured to generate a random number and compare it to a barring factor. If the random number is below the specific barring factor, the access manager 422 allows access attempts of applications assigned with a category associated with barring information that includes the specific barring factor. Thus, a lower blocking factor corresponds to a higher level of access restriction, since random numbers below the lower blocking factor will only be generated with a lower probability. The barring time indicates a time period after the first access attempt during which the access manager 422 will prevent the application from accessing the network again. After the time period set by the barring time has elapsed, the access manager may generate a new random number and compare the barring factor to the new random number if the barring information for the category is not updated by the new barring factor or other barring information.

As mentioned above, the blocking factor is typically a number between 0 and 1. The blocking time is typically in seconds. In one example, the value of the acdc-blocking factor may be one of a set of values, such as 0.05, 0.10, …, 0.95. In other words, the possible blocking factor values may be increased in 0.05 increments. In other examples, it may be any number within the range. However, it will be appreciated that the barring factor may be any value that allows the UE to determine the level at which it needs to restrict access attempts for applications associated with a particular category. Further, as a specific example, the value of the acdc-blocking time field may be enumerated and may be one of 3s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, 128s, and 256 s. Alternatively, the barring time field may have an alternative value. It may be, for example, any number within a range.

According to some embodiments, by including a barring type, it will not be necessary to indicate a barring factor and a barring time for some categories. If the category is associated with an unlimited or fully blocked application, there is no need to indicate a blocking factor or blocking time. In these embodiments, the barring factor field and barring time field may have no value for some categories. Conversely, the barring type field has a value indicating that the category is barred or not barred. However, in some implementations, a barring time may optionally be provided for a category that is completely barred, indicating to the access manager 422 that the access manager will bar an application from accessing the network for a period of time indicated by the barring time. Further, it should be appreciated that, according to some embodiments, the barring factor field and barring time field are sufficient for the category for which some restrictions apply, and do not necessarily include the value of the barring type field. For example, the barring type field may be empty or have a "null" value. Therefore, according to some embodiments, it is possible to reduce the amount of barring information actually transmitted to the UE and improve the signaling load. An in-memory algorithm 425 may be used to determine all necessary barring information from the reduced barring information data set (which is received from the network).

According to an embodiment, the amount of information sent from the network to the UE is further reduced by including only some categories of information. More specifically, in some embodiments, the setting of ACDC barring information for ACDC categories in respective signaling messages should follow the following rules:

1. there may be at most one entry with a ranking value k (where k ≧ 1), where the field acdc-barring is set to "unblocked". For such entries, the fields acdc-blocking factor and acdc-blocking time may not be present. The value "unblocked" means that all ACDC categories 1 to k are fully allowed to access the cell.

2. There may be zero or more entries with ranking values (k +1) through (k + n), where the field acdc-barring is not present. For these entries, there are fields acdc-blocking factor and acdc-blocking time. The entries should be provided in order according to the limit level (minimum blocking factor < acdc-blocking factor < maximum blocking factor).

3. There may be zero or more entries with a ranking value of m (where m > k + n), where the field acdc-barring is set to "barred". The value "barred" means that the associated ACDC category (k + n +1) to m is completely blocked and access to the cell is not allowed. For these entries, the field acdc-blocking time is optionally present, while the field acdc-blocking factor is not present. If the field ACDC-barring time is not present, it means "infinitely long", i.e. the associated ACDC category is then barred without any time restriction.

In some embodiments, only zero entries can be provided for either rule 2) or rule 3). This means that if there are zero entries according to rule 2), then there must be non-zero entries according to rule 3) and vice versa.

As shown in fig. 5, signaling message 500 provides five categories of information. The first entry indicates the lowest category rank without access restrictions. In other words, it indicates the threshold where the category without access restrictions ends and the category with access restrictions begins. For example, if k is equal to 5, the barring information would implicitly indicate that categories 1 to 4 should not also be associated with any access restrictions. In other words, the UE will be able to infer that all categories with ranking values less than k (i.e., categories with higher rankings) are not blocked. Three of five categories in the signaling message (where x k +1, y k +2, and z k + n) are associated with a barring factor and a barring time, indicating that these categories have some access restrictions. Furthermore, the last entry has only a blocking type, which will have a value indicating that category m is completely blocked using the rules listed above. In some embodiments, all categories of access control information having a ranking between k and m will be included in the signaling message. As described above, the signaling message may include more than one entry, each indicating a category that is completely blocked. Different fully blocked categories may for example have different blocking times. As a specific example, one fully blocked category may have an access time of 256 seconds, and another fully blocked category may have an "infinitely long" access time.

Barring information 510 may also include an indication of whether access control information applies to roaming UEs. For example, the barring information may include a roaming flag 515 that, when set to "true," indicates to the UE that the barring information is relevant even though the UE is roaming.

Referring to fig. 4 and 5, if the UE determines that the barring information applies to the UE, it stores the information locally in the memory 420. The processing module 410 of the application circuitry may, upon receiving the information of the barring information 510, invoke an algorithm 425 stored in the memory 420 to map the barring information to the configured category in the UE. Using algorithm 425, the processing module determines that all categories configured in UEs with ranks higher than k are not barred.

The barring information may be determined for a particular cell and broadcast to all UEs in the cell. In some implementations, ACDC barring information may be provisioned in a new System Information Block (SIB) or alternatively in a conventional SIB (e.g., SIB2 in LTE or SIB3 in UMTS). In the case of a new ACDC SIB, it will be updated in LTE based on the System Information (SI) modification period or dynamically based on dedicated paging. ACDC barring information may be sent in the system information and, in addition, paging may be used to indicate to UEs in idle mode that new system information is available. For example, if dedicated paging is used, a new "acdc-procedure modification (acdc-ParamModification)" indication should be sent in the paging message. The "ACDC-program modification" may be a flag that is set to true if new ACDC system information is available in the new SIB. In UMTS, the update mechanism for the new ACDC SIB may be based on the cell value tag. The Master Information Block (MIB) may include a tag indicating that the SIB with barring information includes updated information and should be read by the UE.

The ACDC barring information may be signaled jointly for all PLMNs or separately for each PLMN sharing the RAN. Thus, in some examples, the ACDC barring information may be common for all PLMNs using the RAN. In other examples, each PLMN may determine its own ACDC barring information. In some implementations, the RRC information element in the SIB may be configured to allow the network to selectively signal ACDC barring information either collectively for all PLMNs or individually for each PLMN sharing the RAN.

Further, as illustrated with reference to fig. 5, the roaming flag may be used to indicate whether ACDC is applicable to UEs not in its HPLMN. The roaming flag may be included in the SIB. If the roaming flag is set to true, it means that the ACDC barring information is also applicable to UEs that are not in their HPLMN. If the roaming flag is set to false (false), it means that the ACDC barring information is only applicable to UEs in their HPLMN.

Instead of using an explicit roaming flag, ACDC barring information can be split into barring information relating to roaming UEs and UEs in their HPLMNs, and barring information relating only to UEs in their HPLMNs. The barring information may be provided in two different data sets or blocks, or information elements including a ranking, a barring type, a barring factor and a barring field value may be referenced from different information elements based on whether the barring information is related to a roaming UE. As a specific example, ACDC barring information may be provisioned separately in two different configurations:

acdc-common configuration (acdc-ConfigCommon): including all ACDC categories that are the same in the HPLMN and the serving network. In this case, the associated ACDC barring information also applies to UEs that are not in their HPLMN.

Acdc-dedicated configuration (acdc-ConfigDedicated): including all ACDC categories that are distinct between the HPLMN and the serving network. In this case, the associated ACDC barring information can only be applied to UEs in their HPLMN.

At least some embodiments described herein allow blocking information to be transmitted with a smaller data set than known proposed solutions. At least some known solutions rely on a separate indication for each ACDC category defined by the service network.

A process 600 for receiving barring information from a network and setting the barring information for a configured category will now be described with reference to fig. 6. The UE receives (601) a signaling message, e.g. with the information shown in fig. 5. The signaling message may be received as part of the system information, e.g., as part of a SIB as described herein. The processing module 410 of the UE then checks (602) whether the system information is related to the UE. The barring information is relevant if the system information indicates that the barring information is for all PLMNs using the RAN or if the system information indicates an identity of a PLMN and the PLMN is a serving PLMN of the UE. If the barring information is not relevant, the UE ignores (603) the barring information. The UE may then wait for the next system information update, or a paging message indicating that updated system information is available.

If the system information is indicated as being relevant to the UE, the UE determines (604) whether it is roaming. If it is not roaming, the UE determines that all barring information indicated in the system information is relevant and extracts (605) all barring information. If the UE is not in its HPLMN, it may determine that only some barring information (or no barring information) is relevant to the UE, and it may extract (606) only relevant barring information (or not extract any barring information). For example, it may determine whether the barring information is relevant by checking whether the roaming flag is set to true. Alternatively, as described above, the signaling message may divide the barring information into a first data set or information element comprising barring information common to all PLMNs and a second data set or information element comprising barring information different for the serving network and the home network of the roaming UE. In this case, the UE may extract only the barring information in the first data set or information element. It should be understood that in other implementations, the UE may extract and store all barring information even though the UE is roaming. However, it may not use all information. The processing module 410 may determine whether the UE is roaming, extract relevant barring information, and store the extracted or relevant information locally in the memory 420.

The UE then updates (607) barring information for the configured category in the UE. If the category rank for which the access control information has been indicated in the signaling message matches an arbitrarily configured category rank in the UE, the UE updates the barring information 423 in the memory 420 with the barring information in the received signaling message for the matching category for these configured categories. Further, the UE updates the stored barring information for all configured categories ranked equal to or above the category ranking indicated as not barred in the signaling message to not barred. The UE also ignores barring information for non-matching categories. The processing module 410 of the UE may invoke the algorithm 425 in the memory 420 to map the received barring information to the configured category and store the updated barring information in the memory 420. If the UE has configured categories for which barring information is not indicated in the message, it may delete the barring information stored in the barring information 423 in memory for these categories or update these categories with barring information for a default category (e.g., the category with the lowest rank in the signaling message). An example of how the received barring information may be mapped to configured categories will be described below with reference to fig. 8.

An example of a process for handling an access attempt from an application in a UE will now be described with reference to fig. 7. When an attempt is made to use the application, the application may trigger a connection request for connecting to the network. Access manager 424 receives (701) a connection establishment request and an indication of an ACDC category associated with an application attempting to access a network. For example, this information may be obtained from an ACDC MO in the UE, where the data 424 links applications and categories. The access manager then matches (702) the stored barring information 423 with the indicated ACDC category and applies (703) the barring information to the connection establishment request. For example, if the stored barring information 423 indicates that the application associated with the category should be barred from accessing the network, the access manager prevents the application from accessing the network. Instead, the access manager may determine that the category is not barred and allow the application to access the network, or generate a random number that is compared to the barring factors indicated for the category, as has been described herein. The UE may use barring information for the lowest ranked category if the application attempting to access the network does not have an associated category or the barring information for the category is not stored in memory.

More specifically, in particular implementations, the RRC layer in the UE may receive an RRC connection establishment request from the NAS layer when an application attempts to access the network. The RRC layer also receives an indication made by the NAS layer for which ACDC class the corresponding RRC connection establishment request has been triggered. The RRC layer then matches the stored barring information with the indicated ACDC category and applies the barring information for the matched ACDC category to the RRC connection establishment request.

In some embodiments, the setting of ACDC barring information for ACDC categories may be implemented by including the information in a new ACDC-category configuration-r 13(ACDC-category config-r13) Information Element (IE) in the SIB, as shown below for code sample 1 and code sample 2.

The non-limiting code listed in code sample 1 below illustrates the data structure defined in the (abstract syntax notation 1) (asn.1) code, which may be used to include barring information and roaming information in the system information. The code includes ACDC-category configuration-r 13IE, which includes fields ACDC-category rank-r13 (ACDC-category rank-r13), ACDC-Barring-r 1(ACDC-Barring-r1), ACDC-Barring factor-r13 (ACDC-Barring factor-r13), and ACDC-Barring time (ACDC-Barring time), corresponding to the field category rank, category type, Barring factor, and Barring time, respectively, described with reference to fig. 5. Some fields will have values when used to transmit blocking information. As can be seen from the code, the blocking type, the blocking factor and the blocking time are optional fields, depending on the category to which the blocking information relates. The code defines which IE a field belongs to and the characteristics and/or possible values of each field. In some embodiments, a data structure may be used to signal and store the barring information. The data structure may be included in an RRC message in the system information.

In the proposed asn.1 structure shown below, ACDC barring information may selectively signal notifications either collectively for all PLMNs or individually for each PLMN sharing a RAN. The IE ACDC-ConfigPerPLMN-r13 is used to indicate PLMNs when signaled separately for each PLMN, and references the IE ACDC-configuration-r 13(ACDC-Config-r13), which ACDC-configuration-r 13 in turn references ACDC-category configuration-r 13IE with access control information for the PLMN. In addition, the Roaming flag "ACDC-Roaming-r 13(ACDC-Roaming-r 13)" in IE ACDC-configuration-r 13 is used to indicate whether ACDC is applicable to UEs not in its HPLMN. As described above, the priority setting of ACDC categories in the UE and the association of applications with ACDC categories may be given by a new Management Object (MO) dedicated to ACDC. When the UE is in idle mode, the UE may extract barring information from the system information and control a new access attempt of the application using the extracted information and the ACDC MO. As can be seen in the code, assume that the maximum number of ACDC categories that can be configured is 256.

Specific examples of the setting and use of ACDC barring information will now be described. In this example, ACDC barring information may be signaled in common for all PLMNs sharing the RAN. In this example, the ACDC-roam-r 13 flag indicated in code sample 1 is set to true, i.e., the ACDC barring information also applies to UEs that are not in their HPLMN. Therefore, the UE extracts all barring information from the signaling message. The extracted barring information is shown in fig. 8. In addition, the categories configured in the UE are also shown in fig. 8.

Based on the configuration of the HPLMN, a total of 4 ACDC categories are configured in the UE, as shown in fig. 8, and ranked in the following order, with category 1 as the highest category with the lowest restriction level, and category 32 as the lowest category with the highest restriction level:

ACDC Category 1

ACDC Category 5

ACDC Category 25

ACDC class 32

Code sample 1

The UE may be camped on a cell operated by its HPLMN. The service network may signal a total of 6 ACDC categories in order according to ACDC-common PLMN-List-r13 (ACDC-common PLMN-List-r13), and the 6 ACDC categories have the following settings of ACDC barring information according to ACDC-category configuration-r 13.

ACDC category 28: the field acdc-category rank is set to 28; the field acdc-barring is set to "unblocked".

ACDC category 29: the field acdc-category rank is set to 29; the field acdc-blocking factor is set to "p 10"; the field acdc-blocking time is set to "s 4", i.e., 4 seconds.

ACDC category 30: the field acdc-category rank is set to 30; the field acdc-category factor is set to "p 20"; the field acdc-blocking time is set to "s 16", i.e., 16 seconds.

ACDC category 31: the field acdc-category rank is set to 31; the field acdc-category factor is set to "p 30"; the field acdc-blocking time is set to "s 16", i.e., 16 seconds.

ACDC category 32: the field acdc-category rank is set to 32; the field acdc-category factor is set to "p 75"; the field acdc-blocking time is set to "s 64", i.e., 64 seconds.

ACDC category 48: field acdc-category rank set to 48; the field acdc-barring is set to "disabled"; the field acdc-blocking time is set to "s 128", i.e., 128 seconds.

Fig. 8 illustrates how the UE performs mapping of ACDC categories configured in the UE according to the ACDC categories broadcast by the serving network: ACDC categories 1, 5, 25 are mapped to ACDC category 28 because category 28 is indicated as "unblocked," and categories 1, 5, and 25 have a higher ranking than category 28. ACDC categories 29, 30, 31 broadcast by the serving network are ignored by the UE because no categories with matching rankings are configured in the UE. ACDC categories 32 are mapped to ACDC categories 32 because the rank of the category 32 configured in the UE matches the rank of the category 32 in the received barring information. All unclassified applications in the UE are mapped to ACDC category 48. Access manager 422 may also apply the access control information of category 48 to access attempts of unclassified applications.

In code sample 2, an alternative asn.1 structure for provisioning ACDC barring information is shown, where instead of using an explicit roaming flag, the ACDC barring information is provisioned in two different configurations, respectively: the IE ACDC-common configuration-r 13 includes all ACDC categories that are the same in the HPLMN and the serving network. In this case, the associated ACDC barring information also applies to UEs that are not in their HPLMN. The IE ACDC-specific configuration-r 13 includes all ACDC categories that are different at the HPLMN and the serving network. In this case, the associated ACDC barring information can only be applied to UEs in their HPLMN.

In the case where ACDC barring information should be signaled in common for all PLMNs sharing the RAN and ACDC barring information should also apply to UEs not in their HPLMNs, the serving network signals ACDC barring information for each category configured in the radio cell according to ACDC-common PLMN-list-r13 and ACDC-common configuration-r 13 in the same way as described in the first example above.

Code sample 2

In contrast, assume that a UE having an HPLMN corresponding to PLMN a roams in PLMN B and receives signaling information including updated barring information. Referring again to fig. 8, if the restrictions on categories 30 and 32 are different in PLMN a and PLMN B, and the network does not want the barring information of categories 30 and 32 defined for PLMN a to be used by UEs roaming in PLMN a, the barring information of categories 30 and 32 is included in the information element acdc-dedicated configuration-r 13 of acdc-common configuration PLMN-r 13. The UE extracts the IE acdc-common configuration-r 13 and maps the barring information for class 28 to the configured classes 1, 5 and 25. It also determines that the barring information for category 48 should be applicable to unclassified applications. However, it does not map barring information for category 32 to configured ACDC categories 32 because barring information for category 32 is not in ACDC-co-configured PLMN-r13 IE. In some embodiments, it may still extract the blocking information for category 32 in acdc-specific configuration-r 13, but it may not use it. If the UE is not roaming it will use barring information from acdc-dedicated configuration-r 13IE and barring information from acdc-co-configured PLMN-3 and map barring information for class 32 to configured class 32.

The structure described herein for provisioning ACDC barring information in new SIBs is applicable to both LTE and UMTS.

With reference to fig. 9, an example of a procedure 900 for an eNodeB to obtain barring information and signal the barring information to a UE will now be described. The eNodeB determines (901) barring information for the cell and generates (902) a barring information message comprising a reduced data set for transmitting the barring information for the cell to UEs in the cell. In some implementations or cases, the eNodeB may determine the barring information locally based on, for example, the current load situation in the cell. In other cases, e.g. in a disaster situation, the eNodeB may receive barring information from the control network 110. The eNodeB may receive the barring information in a simplified form and send the barring information to the UE in a simplified form. In other embodiments, the eNodeB receives all barring information for all classes set in the network, and the eNodeB has to decide which barring information to include in the reduced data set, as described above with reference to fig. 5, which will allow the UE to determine the barring information for all classes configured by the network for the cell.

Generating the blocking information message may include generating a plurality of information elements including the blocking information, as described with reference to code sample 1 and code sample 2. The eNodeB may set a flag indicating whether the access control information is related to a roaming UE, or it may include access control information common to all PLMNs in a separate information element to access different control information for the serving PLMN and other PLMNs. The eNodeB may also indicate whether the ACDC barring information is included in the system information for all PLMNs using the RAN or for a particular PLMN. The eNodeB may have received such information from the network.

The eNodeB then sends (903) system information with the barring information message to the UE at a predetermined time. In some implementations, the eNodeB may also send a dedicated paging message to UEs in idle mode to let them know that updated system information is available.

Fig. 10 shows one example of how messages are exchanged within the UE and between the UE and the network. As shown in fig. 10, the RRC layer of the UE receives the barring information in the SIB message from the network and stores it locally. Further, when a user attempts to use an application and the application attempts to access the network, the NAS will identify a category associated with the application from data stored in memory (e.g., from the ACDC MO) and send a connection request with the associated ACDC category to the RRC layer. The RRC layer will then determine whether to establish a connection based on the barring information associated with the relevant ACDC category.

Some embodiments herein relate to solutions that fully satisfy the ACDC phase 1 specification specified in 3GPP TS 22.011 V13.2.0(2015-06) and 3GPP TS 22.011 V13.3.0(2015-09) section 4.3.5, and provide advantages in terms of signaling load requirements in cases where a large number of ACDC classes are configured and need to be signaled by the serving network.

It should be understood that the UE may be implemented in other ways than described with reference to fig. 3 and 4, and may include alternative or additional components. Additional components of a UE that may be used in the network described herein and that may receive and apply ACDC barring information are shown in fig. 11. For example, a UE may include one or more user interfaces, one or more peripheral component interfaces, and one or more sensors. In various embodiments, the user interface may include, but is not limited to, a display 1102 (e.g., a liquid crystal display, a touch screen display, etc.), a speaker 1104, a microphone 1106, one or more cameras 1108 (e.g., still and/or video cameras), a flashlight (e.g., a light emitting diode flash), and a keypad 1110, in any and all arrangements, in association or in columns. In various embodiments, the peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, an audio jack, and a power interface. In various embodiments, the sensors may include, but are not limited to, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may interact with a receiver chain of the UE to receive signals from components of a positioning network, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. In various embodiments, the UE may be a mobile computing device, such as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, a netbook, a mobile phone, and the like. In various embodiments, the UE may have more or less components and/or different architectures.

Although specific embodiments and implementations have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the specific embodiments and implementations shown and described without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that embodiments of the present disclosure be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

It should be appreciated that although implementations of enodebs, UEs and signaling messages with barring information have been described with reference to the specific examples shown in the drawings, other implementations are possible. It should be understood that although the base station in the network has been described as an eNodeB, the description relates to any base station that can implement the described processes and methods. It should be understood that the eNodeB may also be an eNB. Furthermore, although fig. 2 and 3 are described with reference to particular UEs and base stations in the network of fig. 1, it should be understood that the description may apply to any base station or eNodeB in the network.

Although embodiments are described with reference to an LTE network, some embodiments may be used with other types of radio access networks.

In an embodiment, the implemented wireless network may be a third generation partnership project Long Term Evolution (LTE) advanced wireless communication standard, which may include, but is not limited to, release 13 or a later release of the 3GPP LTE-a standard.

As used herein, the term module may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware instructions and/or programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality.

Although examples and embodiments have been described separately with reference to the drawings thereof, the embodiments are not limited thereto. Embodiments may be implemented in which the embodiments or examples associated with the figures are combined and separated in any and all permutations. For example, the features of fig. 1 and/or the features described for fig. 1 may be used with the features of fig. 2 or the description for fig. 2, etc.

Where examples or variations of embodiments have been presented as at least members of an enumerated list, whether or not with the accompanying language "joined or listed in any and all permutations", it should be apparent that all permutations of such enumerated list members are possible, which are emphasized by the accompanying language "joined and listed in any and all permutations" or "joined and listed in any and all combinations" as appropriate.

Embodiments may be implemented in accordance with any of the following clauses and/or examples, combined and/or listed in any and all permutations:

clause 1. an apparatus for a user equipment for use in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a communication module configured to receive barring information for a plurality of application specific congestion control for data communication (ACDC) categories; and

a processing circuit configured to control access to a communication network by an application configured in a user equipment based on the received barring information,

wherein the received barring information comprises an indication of a category barring type for one or more of the plurality of ACDC categories.

Clause 2. the apparatus of clause 1, wherein the barring information indicates a barring factor for one or more other categories of the plurality of categories, the one or more other categories being different from the one or more categories for which the barring information includes an indication of a type of barring.

Clause 3. the apparatus of clause 1 or clause 2, wherein the indication of the barring type indicates whether the application associated with the category should be allowed to access the network or should be barred from accessing the network.

Clause 4. the apparatus according to any of the preceding clauses, wherein the barring information is received in the form of a plurality of information elements, each information element comprising a field for indicating a category ranking, a field for indicating a category barring type, a field for indicating a barring factor, and a field for indicating a barring time.

Clause 5. the apparatus of clause 4, wherein, for each of the plurality of categories, the category rank field has a value indicating a rank of the category, and either the barring type field or the barring factor field has a value.

Clause 6. the apparatus of clause 4, wherein, for at least one category, the category rank field has a value indicating a rank, the category type field has a value indicating a type, and the barring factor field and the barring time field have no values.

Clause 7. the apparatus of any one of clauses 4 to clause 6, wherein the information element is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) information element.

Article 8. the apparatus of any of the preceding articles, further comprising a memory configured to store information related to one or more user device ACDC categories with which one or more applications operating in the user device are associated.

The apparatus of clause 9. the apparatus of clause 8, wherein the indication of the category barring type for the one or more of the plurality of categories comprises an indication that an application associated with the indicated category should be allowed to access the network, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine whether a category of the one or more user equipment ACDC categories has a ranking higher than or equal to the indicated category and, in response to a positive determination, update information stored for the category to indicate that the application associated with the determined category should be allowed to access the network.

Clause 10 the apparatus of clause 8 or clause 9, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine, in response to the access attempt by the application, a category associated with the application, and to respond to the access attempt from the application based on the barring information of the associated category.

Clause 11. the apparatus of clause 10, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine that the application is associated with a default category if the application is not associated with a category.

Clause 12. the apparatus of clause 11, wherein the default category is the category with the lowest ranking in the received barring information.

Clause 13. the apparatus of clause 4, 5, 6 or 7, wherein the plurality of information elements comprises:

at most one information element having a category ranking field value k, where k ≧ 1, and the information element includes a blocking type field value indicating that the associated application is not blocked from accessing the network;

zero or more information elements having a ranking field value x, where k +1 ≦ x ≦ k + n, and the information element includes a blocking factor field value and a blocking time value; and

zero or more information elements having a ranking field value m, wherein m > k + n, and the information elements include a blocking type field value indicating that an associated application is blocked from accessing the network.

Item 14 the apparatus of any of the preceding items, wherein the communication module is further configured to receive information indicating whether the barring information is for all Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs) sharing the radio access network or for a particular PLMN of the PLMNs sharing the radio access network.

Clause 15. the apparatus according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the barring information further comprises an indication indicating whether the barring information is applicable to user equipment not in its Home Plmn (HPLMN), and the processing circuitry is configured to control access of the application based on the received barring information only in response to determining that the barring information is applicable to user equipment not in its HPLMN when the user equipment is not in its HPLMN.

Clause 16. the apparatus of clause 15, wherein the indication is a flag.

Clause 17. the apparatus according to clause 15, wherein the indication is in the form of barring information provided in two parts, a first part having barring information applicable to user equipment and roaming user equipment in its HPLMN and a second part having barring information not applicable to roaming user equipment.

Clause 18. the apparatus according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the barring information is transmitted in a System Information Block (SIB).

Clause 19. the apparatus of any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the barring information is defined for the radio cell.

Item 20. the apparatus of any of the preceding items, wherein the user equipment is for use in a network implementing a Long Term Evolution (LTE) advanced wireless communication standard of the third generation partnership project.

Clause 21. the apparatus according to any one of the preceding clauses, further comprising one or more of: a screen, a speaker, a keypad, multiple antennas, and/or a speaker.

Clause 22. a user equipment comprising the apparatus according to any one of the preceding clauses.

Clause 23. an apparatus for an eNodeB for use in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

a communication module configured to transmit a wireless signal to at least one user equipment in a radio cell; and

a processing circuit coupled to the communication module and configured to:

determining multiple application specific congestion control for data communication (ACDC) classes for a cell

Other barring information, the barring information comprising a category for one or more of the plurality of categories

An indication of a barring type; and

causing the communication module to send barring information to the at least one user equipment.

Clause 24. the apparatus of clause 23, wherein the barring information indicates a barring factor for one or more other categories of the plurality of categories, the one or more other categories being different from the one or more categories for which the barring information includes an indication of a type of barring.

Clause 25. the apparatus of clause 23 or 24, wherein the indication of the barring type indicates whether the application associated with the category should be allowed to access the network or should be barred from accessing the network.

Clause 26 the apparatus according to clause 23, 24 or 25, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to transmit the barring information in the form of a plurality of information elements, each information element comprising a field for indicating a category ranking, a field for indicating a category barring type, a field for indicating a barring factor, and a field for indicating a barring time.

Clause 27. the apparatus of clause 26, wherein, for at least one category, the category rank field has a value indicating a rank, the category type field has a value indicating a type, and the barring factor field and the barring time field have no values.

Clause 28. the apparatus of clause 26, wherein the barring information comprises, for only a single category, an indication of a barring type indicating that applications associated with the category should be allowed to access the network.

Clause 29. the apparatus according to any one of clauses 23-28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to locally determine the barring information based on a current load situation in the cell.

Clause 30. the apparatus of any one of clauses 23-27, wherein the barring information comprises:

at most one information element having a category ranking value k, where k ≧ 1, and the information element includes a barring type value indicating that the associated application is not barred from accessing the network;

zero or more information elements having a ranking value of x, wherein k +1 ≦ x ≦ k + n, and the information elements include a blocking factor value and a blocking time value; and

zero or more information elements having a ranking value of m, wherein m > k + n, and the information elements include a barring type value indicating that the associated application is barred from accessing the network.

Clause 31 the apparatus according to any one of clauses 23-30, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the communication module to transmit information indicating whether the barring information is for all public land mobile network PLMNs of the shared radio access network or for a particular PLMN of the PLMNs of the shared radio access network.

Clause 32. the apparatus according to any of clauses 23-31, wherein the barring information further comprises an indication indicating whether the barring information is applicable to user equipment not in its Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN).

Clause 33. the apparatus according to any one of clauses 23-32, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the communication module to transmit the barring information in a System Information Block (SIB).

Clause 34. an eNodeB comprising the apparatus according to any one of clauses 23-33.

Clause 35. an eNodeB according to clause 34, the eNodeB for use in a network implementing a Long Term Evolution (LTE) advanced wireless communication standard of the third generation partnership project.

Clause 36. a user equipment for use in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a communication module configured to receive barring information for a subset of a set of ranked application specific congestion control for data communication (ACDC) categories for an area associated with a user device; and

processing circuitry configured to set barring information for one or more ACDC categories configured in a user equipment based on the received barring information,

wherein the received barring information indicates a category in which the associated application should be allowed to access the network, and the processing circuitry is configured to determine one or more categories having a higher ranking than the indicated category, and to set the barring information to indicate that the application associated with the one or more determined categories should be allowed to access the network.

Clause 37 the user device of clause 36, wherein, for one or more first categories of the subset of the set of ranked ACDC categories, the barring information comprises a parameter indicating a category type, and wherein a value of the parameter indicates that applications associated with a category of the one or more first categories should be allowed to access the network or should be barred from accessing the network.

Clause 38. the user device of clause 37, wherein the barring information comprises a barring factor for one or more second categories of the subset of the set of ranked categories, the one or more second categories being different from the one or more first categories.

Clause 39. the user equipment according to any of clauses 36-38, wherein the barring information is received in a System Information Block (SIB) of a radio cell in which the user equipment is located.

Clause 40. the user device according to any of clauses 36-39, further comprising a memory for storing barring information for one or more categories configured in the user device and information indicative of applications associated with the one or more categories, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to, in response to an access attempt by an application, determine a category associated with the application based on the information in the memory, and respond to the access attempt based on the barring information for the determined category.

Clause 41. a user equipment for use in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a communication module configured to receive a message including barring information for a plurality of control categories, the barring information for controlling access to a network by applications associated with the categories; and

processing circuitry configured to set barring information for one or more congestion control categories configured in a user equipment based on the received barring information, wherein the message comprises a plurality of Radio Resource Control (RRC) information elements, each information element comprising a category ranking field to indicate a category ranking, a barring type field to indicate a type of a category, a barring factor field to indicate a barring factor for a category, and a barring time field to indicate a barring time for a category.

Clause 42. the user device of clause 41, wherein, for each of the plurality of categories, the category rank field has a value indicating a rank of the category, and either the barring type field or the barring factor field has a value.

Clause 43 the user equipment according to clause 41 or 42, wherein the barring type information comprises, for one of the plurality of congestion control categories, a barring type field indicating that an application associated with the category should be allowed to access the network.

Clause 44. the user equipment according to clause 41, 42 or 43, wherein the barring type information comprises, for at least one of the plurality of congestion control categories, a barring type field indicating that an application associated with the category should be barred from accessing the network.

Clause 45. a user equipment for use in a wireless communication network, comprising:

means for receiving barring information for a plurality of control classes of radio cells;

means for storing barring information based on the received barring information; and

means for controlling access to a network by an application in a user device based on stored barring information, wherein the barring information is received in the form of a plurality of information elements, each information element comprising a field for indicating a ranking of categories, a field for indicating a type of category, a field for indicating a barring factor for a category, and a field for indicating a barring time for a category.

Clause 46. the user equipment according to clause 45, wherein the barring type information comprises, for one of the plurality of control categories, a barring type field value indicating that an application associated with the category should be allowed to access the network.

Clause 47, a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed on one or more processors of a user equipment in a wireless communication network, cause the one or more processors to control access to the communication network by an application in the user equipment based on received barring information for a plurality of application specific congestion control for data communications (ACDC) categories, the received barring information comprising an indication of a category barring type for at least one of the plurality of categories.

Clause 48. the computer program of clause 47, wherein the computer program instructions comprise instructions to process a Radio Resource Control (RRC) information element comprising a field to indicate a ranking of categories, a field to include an indication of a category barring type, a field to indicate a barring factor, and a field to indicate a barring time.

Clause 49. a computer program comprising computer program instructions that, when executed on one or more processors of a base station, cause the one or more processors to perform the following operations:

determining barring information for a plurality of application specific congestion control for data communication (ACDC) categories for an associated cell, the barring information comprising an indication of a category barring type for one or more of the plurality of categories; and

causing a communication module of the base station to send barring information to the at least one user equipment.

Clause 50. the computer program according to clause 49, wherein the computer program instructions comprise instructions for causing the communication module to transmit barring information in a plurality of Radio Resource Control (RRC) information elements, each information element comprising a field for indicating a ranking of categories, a field for including a category barring type, a field for indicating a barring factor, and a field for indicating a barring time.

Clause 51. a computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program according to any one of clauses 47-50.

Clause 52. a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a computer program according to any one of clauses 47-50.

Clause 53. a method of processing congestion control information in a wireless communication network, comprising:

receiving, in a user equipment, barring information for a plurality of application specific congestion control (ACDC) categories for data communication; and

controlling access to the network by an application in the user equipment based on the received barring information, wherein the received barring information comprises an indication of a category barring type for at least one of the plurality of categories.

Clause 54. the method of clause 53, wherein the barring information indicates a barring factor for one or more other categories of the plurality of categories, the one or more other categories being different from the one or more categories for which the barring information includes an indication of a type of barring.

Clause 55. the method according to clause 53 or clause 54, wherein the indication of the barring type is arranged to indicate whether the application associated with the category should be allowed to access the network or should be barred from accessing the network.

Clause 56. the method according to clause 53, 54 or clause 55, further comprising processing the received barring information, wherein processing the received barring information comprises processing a plurality of information elements, each information element comprising a field for indicating a ranking of the category, a field for indicating a category barring type, a field for indicating a barring factor, and a field for indicating a barring time.

Clause 57. the method of clause 56, wherein, for each of the plurality of information elements, the category rank field has a value indicating a rank of the category and either the barring type field or the barring factor field has a value.

Clause 58. the method according to clause 56 or clause 57, wherein the plurality of information elements are Radio Resource Control (RRC) information elements.

Clause 59. a method according to any of clauses 53-58, further comprising storing information relating to one or more user device ACDC categories with which one or more application programs operating in the user device are associated, wherein the indication of the category barring type of the one or more of the plurality of categories comprises an indication that applications associated with the indicated category should be allowed to access the network, and further comprising determining that the category of the one or more user device ACDC categories has a ranking that is higher than or equal to the ranking of the indicated category, and updating the information stored for the determined category to indicate that applications associated with the determined category should be allowed to access the network.

Clause 60. a method of processing congestion control information in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

determining, in a base station, barring information for a plurality of application specific congestion control for data communication (ACDC) categories for an associated cell, the barring information comprising an indication of a category barring type for one or more of the plurality of categories; and

causing barring information to be sent to the at least one user equipment.

Clause 61. the method of clause 60, wherein the barring information indicates a barring factor for one or more other categories of the plurality of categories, the one or more other categories being different from the one or more categories for which the barring information includes an indication of a category barring type.

Clause 62. the method according to clause 60 or 61, wherein the indication of the barring type is arranged to indicate whether the application associated with the category should be allowed to access the network or should be barred from accessing the network.

Clause 63. the method according to clause 60, 61 or clause 62, wherein determining the barring information comprises locally determining the barring information based on a current load situation of the associated cell.

Clause 64. the method according to any one of clauses 60-63, wherein causing the barring information to be transmitted comprises causing the communication module to transmit the barring information in a plurality of Radio Resource Control (RRC) information elements, each information element comprising a field for indicating a ranking of categories, a field for including a category barring type, a field for indicating a barring factor, and a field for indicating a barring time.

Clause 65. the method according to clause 64, wherein the barring information comprises:

at most one information element having a category ranking value k, where k ≧ 1, and the information element includes a barring type value indicating that the associated application is not barred from accessing the network;

zero or more information elements having a ranking value of x, wherein k +1 ≦ x ≦ k + n, and the information elements include a blocking factor value and a blocking time value; and

zero or more information elements having a ranking value of m, wherein m > k + n, and the information elements include a barring type value indicating that the associated application is barred from accessing the network.

Clause 66. an apparatus comprising means for implementing the method of any one of clauses 53-65.

Clause 67, a machine executable instruction arranged, when executed by at least one processor, for implementing the method of any one of clauses 53-65.

Clause 68 a machine-readable storage device storing machine-executable instructions according to clause 67.

Clause 69. an apparatus, UE, method, eNodeB as described herein with reference to and/or as illustrated by any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

Example 1 may include a method comprising: sending, by the network, a broadcast message to the UE located in the radio cell, the broadcast message including an indication relating to barring information for each ACDC category defined in the radio cell; receiving, by a UE supporting access control of an ACDC type, a broadcast message; determining, by the UE, whether the application is subject to ACDC-type access control; and using barring information for ACDC categories associated with applications subject to ACDC type access control.

Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other method herein, wherein the indication related to barring information for each ACDC category defined in the radio cell comprises information related to ACDC-category ranking, ACDC-barring flag, ACDC-barring factor, and ACDC-barring time.

Example 3 may include the method of example 2 or some other method herein, wherein the setting of the barring information for the ACDC category follows the following rule: there is at most one entry with a ranking value k (where k ≧ 1), where the field acdc-barring is set to "unblocked". For such entries, the fields acdc-blocking factor and acdc-blocking time are not present. There may be zero or more entries with ranking values (k +1) through (k + n), where the field acdc-barring is not present. For these entries, there are fields acdc-blocking factor and acdc-blocking time. These entries are provided in order according to a limit level (0< acdc-blocking factor < 1). There may be zero or more entries with a ranking value of m (where m > k + n), where the field acdc-barring is set to "barred". For these entries, the field acdc-blocking time is optionally present, while the field acdc-blocking factor is not present.

Example 4 may include the method of example 2 or some other method herein, wherein the barring information is signaled either collectively for all PLMNs or individually for each PLMN sharing the RAN.

Example 5 may include the method of example 4 or some other method herein, wherein the barring information signaled for the PLMN comprises an indication of whether ACDC is applicable to UEs not in their HPLMN.

Example 6 may include the method of example 1 or some other method herein, wherein the broadcast message is transmitted in the radio cell on a system information block.

Example 7 may include the method of example 6 or some other method herein, wherein the update of the system information block is notified in accordance with a dedicated paging indication.

Example 8 may include the method of example 1 or some other method herein, wherein the broadcast message is transmitted in a radio cell operating according to an LTE radio access technology.

Example 9 may include the method of example 1 or some other method herein, wherein the broadcast message is transmitted in a radio cell operating according to a UMTS radio access technology.

Example 10 may include a network comprising transmitter circuitry to transmit a broadcast message to a UE located in a radio cell, the broadcast message including an indication related to barring information for each ACDC category defined in the radio cell.

Example 11 may include the network of example 10 or some other method herein, wherein the indication related to barring information for each ACDC category defined in the radio cell comprises information related to an ACDC-category ranking, an ACDC-barring flag, an ACDC-barring factor, and an ACDC-barring time.

Example 12 may include the network of example 11 or some other method herein, wherein the setting of the barring information for the ACDC category follows the following rules: there is at most one entry with a ranking value k (where k ≧ 1), where the field acdc-barring is set to "unblocked". For such entries, the fields acdc-blocking factor and acdc-blocking time are not present. There may be zero or more entries with ranking values (k +1) through (k + n), where the field acdc-barring is not present. For these entries, there are fields acdc-blocking factor and acdc-blocking time. These entries are provided in order according to a limit level (0< acdc-blocking factor < 1). There may be zero or more entries with a ranking value of m (where m > k + n), where the field acdc-barring is set to "barred". For these entries, the field acdc-blocking time is optionally present, while the field acdc-blocking factor is not present.

Example 13 may include the network of example 11 or some other method herein, wherein the barring information is signaled either collectively for all PLMNs or individually for each PLMN sharing the RAN.

Example 14 may include the network of example 13 or some other method herein, wherein the barring information signaled for the PLMN comprises an indication of whether ACDC is applicable to UEs not in their HPLMN.

Example 15 may include the network of example 10 or some other method herein, wherein the broadcast message is transmitted in the radio cell on a system information block.

Example 16 may include the network of example 15 or some other method herein, wherein the update of the system information block is notified in accordance with a dedicated paging indication.

Example 17 may include a UE supporting access control of an ACDC type, the UE comprising receiver circuitry to receive a broadcast message comprising an indication relating to barring information for each ACDC category defined in a radio cell; a storage medium for storing a broadcast message; processing circuitry for determining whether the application is subject to an ACDC type of access control, and for using barring information for ACDC categories associated with applications subject to an ACDC type of access control.

Example 18 may include the UE of example 17 or some other method herein, wherein the indication related to barring information for each ACDC category defined in the radio cell comprises information related to an ACDC-category ranking, an ACDC-barring flag, an ACDC-barring factor, and an ACDC-barring time.

Example 19 may include the UE of example 17 or some other method herein, wherein the barring information is received jointly for all PLMNs or individually for each PLMN sharing the RAN.

Example 20 may include the UE of example 19 or some other method herein, wherein the barring information received for the PLMN includes an indication of whether ACDC is applicable to UEs not in their HPLMN.

Example 21 may include the UE of example 17 or some other method herein, wherein the broadcast message is received in the radio cell on a system information block.

Example 22 may include the UE of example 21 or some other method herein, wherein the notification of the update of the system information block is received in accordance with a dedicated paging indication.

Embodiment 23 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of a method described in or associated with any of embodiments 1-22, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 24 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of embodiments 1-22, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 25 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and/or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or relating to any of embodiments 1-22, or any other method or process described herein.

Embodiment 26 can include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of embodiments 1-22 (or portions thereof).

Example 27 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example 28 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Example 29 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Claims (25)

1. An apparatus for use in a user equipment of a wireless communication network, the apparatus comprising:

a communication module configured to receive barring information for a plurality of application specific congestion control for data communication (ACDC) categories; and

at least one processor configured to control access to the communication network by an application configured in the user equipment based on the received barring information,

wherein the received barring information comprises an indication of a category barring type for one or more of the plurality of ACDC categories.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the barring information indicates barring factors for one or more other categories of the plurality of categories that are different from the one or more categories for which the barring information includes an indication of a barring type.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indication of a barring type indicates whether an application associated with a category should be allowed to access the network or barred from accessing the network.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the barring information is received in a plurality of information elements, each information element comprising a field to indicate a category ranking, a field to indicate a category barring type, a field to indicate a barring factor, and a field to indicate a barring time.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein, for each category of the plurality of categories, a category rank field has a value indicating a rank of the category and either a barring type field or a barring factor field has a value.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory configured to store information relating to one or more user device ACDC categories with which one or more applications operating in the user device are associated, wherein the indication of a category barring type for one or more of the plurality of categories comprises an indication that the applications associated with the indicated category should be allowed to access the network, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine whether a category of the one or more user device ACDC categories has a ranking higher than or equal to the indicated category, and in response to a positive determination, update the information stored for that category to indicate that the applications associated with the determined category should be allowed to access the network.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a category associated with the application in response to the access attempt by the application, and to respond to the access attempt from the application based on barring information of the associated category.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of information elements comprises:

at most one information element having a category ranking field value k, where k ≧ 1, and which includes a blocking type field value indicating that the associated application is not blocked from accessing the network;

zero or more information elements having a ranking field value x, where k +1 ≦ x ≦ k + n, and the information element includes a blocking factor field value and a blocking time value; and

zero or more information elements having a ranking field value m, wherein m > k + n, and which information elements comprise a blocking type field value indicating that an associated application is blocked from accessing the network.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the communication module is further configured to receive information indicating whether the barring information is for all Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs) sharing a radio access network or for a particular PLMN of the PLMNs sharing a radio access network.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the barring information further comprises an indication indicating whether the barring information is applicable to user equipment not in its Home Plmn (HPLMN), and the at least one processor is configured to control access of applications based on the received barring information only in response to determining that the barring information is applicable to user equipment not in its HPLMN when the user equipment is not in its HPLMN.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the indication is a flag.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the indication is in the form of barring information provided in two parts, a first part having barring information applicable to user equipment and roaming user equipment in its HPLMN and a second part having barring information not applicable to roaming user equipment.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the barring information is defined for a radio cell.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising one or more of: a screen, a speaker, a keypad, multiple antennas, and/or a speaker.

15. A user equipment comprising the apparatus of any preceding claim.

16. An apparatus for use in a base station of a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

a communication module configured to transmit a wireless signal to at least one user equipment in a radio cell; and

at least one processor coupled to the communication module and configured to:

determining barring information for a plurality of application specific congestion control for data communication (ACDC) categories for the cell, the barring information comprising an indication of a category barring type for one or more of the plurality of categories; and

causing the communication module to send the barring information to the at least one user equipment.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the barring information indicates barring factors for one or more other categories of the plurality of categories that are different from the one or more categories for which the barring information includes an indication of a barring type.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the indication of a barring type indicates whether an application associated with a category should be allowed to access a network or should be barred from accessing the network.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is configured to send the barring information in a plurality of information elements, each information element comprising a field to indicate category ranking, a field to indicate category barring type, a field to indicate barring factor, and a field to indicate barring time.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein for at least one category, the category rank field has a value indicating a rank, the category type field has a value indicating a type, and the barring factor field and the barring time field have no values.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the barring information comprises, for only a single category, an indication of a barring type indicating that applications associated with the category should be allowed to access the network.

22. The apparatus of claim 16, in which the at least one processor is configured to determine the barring information locally based on current load conditions in the cell.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the barring information comprises:

at most one information element having a category ranking value k, where k ≧ 1, and the information element includes a barring type value indicating that the associated application is not barred from accessing the network;

zero or more information elements having a ranking value of x, wherein k +1 ≦ x ≦ k + n, and the information elements include a blocking factor value and a blocking time value; and

zero or more information elements having a ranking value of m, wherein m > k + n, and the information elements include a barring type value indicating that an associated application is barred from accessing the network.

24. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the communication module to transmit the barring information in a System Information Block (SIB).

25. A base station comprising the apparatus of any of claims 16-24.

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