WO2016095992A1

WO2016095992A1 - Traffic steering between home wireless local area network and cellular network using andsf

Info

Publication number: WO2016095992A1
Application number: PCT/EP2014/078273
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jari Pekka MUSTAJÄRVI; Gyorgy Tamas Wolfner; Janne Petteri Tervonen; Gabor Ungvari; Anders Jan Olof KÅLL
Original assignee: Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy
Priority date: 2014-12-17
Filing date: 2014-12-17
Publication date: 2016-06-23

Abstract

An apparatus comprising at least one processing circuitry, and at least one memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processing circuitry, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry, cause the apparatus at least: to obtain policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and to execute a communication control considering the policy information, wherein the communication control comprises detecting that the specific network access related to the home wireless local area network of the service provider providing the active routing policy is to be preferred for at least a part of a current data traffic, determining, on the basis of the detection result, whether the preferred specific network access is available and can be used for communication, and in case the preferred specific network access is available, steering a matching part of the data traffic via the preferred specific access network type.

Description

DESCRIPTION

TITLE

TRAFFIC STEERING BETWEEN HOME WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK AND CELLULAR NETWORK USING ANDS F

BACKGROUND Field

The present invention relates to apparatuses, methods, systems, computer programs, computer program products and computer-readable media usable for controlling a communication wherein traffic steering is conducted. Background Art

The following description of background art may include insights, discoveries, understandings or disclosures, or associations, together with disclosures not known to the relevant prior art, to at least some examples of embodiments of the present invention but provided by the invention. Some of such contributions of the invention may be specifically pointed out below, whereas other of such contributions of the invention will be apparent from the related context.

The following meanings for the abbreviations used in this specification apply

3GPP 3^rd Generation Partnership Project

ANDSF: access network detection and selection function

ANQP: access network query protocol

AP: access point

APN: access point name

BS: base station

CPU: central processing unit

DM: device management

EPC: evolved packet core

IARP: inter-APN routing policy IFOM: IP flow mobility

IP: Internet protocol

ISMP: inter-system mobility policy

ISRP: inter-system routing policy

LTE: Long Term Evolution

LTE-A: LTE Advanced

MAPCON: multi access PDN connectivity

MCC: mobile country code

MNC: mobile network code

MO: management object

OMA: open mobile alliance

PDN: packet data network

PLMN: public land mobile network

RAN: radio access network

RAT: radio access technology

UE: user equipment

VNF: virtual network function

WLAN: wireless local area network

XML: extensible markup language

Embodiments of the present invention are related to a communication system in which a procedure can be implemented for steering data traffic via different communication networks in a communication between the networks and a communication element, such as a UE.

SUMMARY

According to an example of an embodiment, there is provided, for example, an apparatus comprising at least one processing circuitry, and at least one memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processing circuitry, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry, cause the apparatus at least: to prepare policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and to provide the policy information to a communication element being connected.

Furthermore, according to an example of an embodiment, there is provided, for example, a method comprising preparing policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and providing the policy information to a communication element being connected.

According to further refinements, these examples may include one or more of the following features:

- the policy information may include a plurality of network access included in a list forming the indication of preference of the specific network accesses;

- the indication of preference of at least one specific network access may indicate at least one the home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy, a partner wireless local area network of a provider having a partnership with a provider of the home wireless local area network, and a cellular mobile communication access network, wherein an order of the specific network accesses may represent an order of preference;

- the policy information may be prepared in the form of a management object of an access network detection and selection function, wherein the indication may be defined in or may represent a subnode of a routing policy node of the management object;

- the indication may be included in a flow distribution container related to one of a for-flow-based traffic steering policy, a for-service-based traffic steering policy and a non-seamless wireless local area network offload traffic steering policy;

- the indication may be included as at least one of a validity condition in a routing criteria node, and at least one value defining an access technology in a routing rules node; - the above processings may be implemented in a communication network control element configured to act as an access network detection and selection function server of the home network of the subscriber of the communication element or of a network being visited by the communication element, wherein the communication element may include at least one of a terminal device or user equipment;

In addition, according to an example of an embodiment, there is provided, for example, an apparatus comprising at least one processing circuitry, and at least one memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processing circuitry, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry, cause the apparatus at least: to obtain policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and to execute a communication control considering the policy information, wherein the communication control comprises detecting that the specific network access related to the home wireless local area network of the service provider providing the active routing policy is to be preferred for at least a part of a current data traffic, determining, on the basis of the detection result, whether the preferred specific network access is available and can be used for communication, and in case the preferred specific network access is available, steering a matching part of the data traffic via the preferred specific network access.

Furthermore, according to an example of an embodiment, there is provided, for example, a method comprising obtaining policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and executing a communication control considering the policy information, wherein the communication control comprises detecting that the specific network access related to the home wireless local area network of the service provider providing the active routing policy is to be preferred for at least a part of a current data traffic, determining, on the basis of the detection result, whether the preferred specific network access is available and can be used for communication, and in case the preferred specific network access is available, steering a matching part of the data traffic via the preferred specific network access.

- the communication control may further comprise in case the preferred specific network access is not available for communication, steering the data traffic via another network access;

- the policy information may include a plurality of network accesses included in a list forming the indication of preference of the specific network access, wherein the other network access may be part of the list;

- the indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses may indicate at least one of the home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy, a partner wireless local area network of a provider having a partnership with a provider of the home wireless local area network, and a cellular mobile communication access network, wherein an order of the specific network accesses may represent an order of preference;

- the policy information may be obtained in the form of a management object of an access network detection and selection function, wherein the indication may be defined in or may represent a subnode of a routing policy node of the management object;

- the indication may be included as at least one of a validity condition in a routing criteria node, and at least one value defining an access technology in a routing rules node;

- the above processing may be implemented in a communication element including at least one of a terminal device or user equipment, wherein the policy information is obtained from a communication network control element configured to act as an access network detection and selection function server of the home network of the subscriber of the communication element or of a network being visited by the communication element.

In addition, according to embodiments, there is provided, for example, a computer program product for a computer, including software code portions for performing the steps of the above defined methods, when said product is run on the computer. The computer program product may include a computer-readable medium on which said software code portions are stored. Furthermore, the computer program product may be directly loadable into the internal memory of the computer and/or transmittable via a network by means of at least one of upload, download and push procedures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the present invention are described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a diagram illustrating a general architecture of a communication system where some examples of embodiments are implementable; Fig. 2 shows a signaling diagram illustrating a data exchange between network elements according to some examples of embodiments;

Fig. 3 shows a diagram illustrating a management object structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments;

Fig. 4 shows a diagram illustrating a management object structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments;

Fig. 5 shows a diagram illustrating a management object structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments;

Fig. 6 shows a diagram illustrating a management object structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments; Fig. 7 shows a diagram illustrating a management object structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments; Fig. 8 shows a diagram illustrating a table of values included in a management object structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments;

Fig. 9 shows a diagram illustrating a management object structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments;

Fig. 10 shows a flow chart of a processing conducted in a communication network control element or function according to some examples of embodiments;

Fig. 1 1 shows a flow chart of a processing conducted in a communication element or function according to some examples of embodiments; Fig. 12 shows a diagram of a network element acting as a communication network control element or function according to some examples of embodiments; and

Fig. 13 shows a diagram of a network element acting as a communication element or function according to some examples of embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the last years, an increasing extension of communication networks, e.g. of wire based communication networks, such as the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), DSL, or wireless communication networks, such as the cdma2000 (code division multiple access) system, cellular 3rd generation (3G) like the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), fourth generation (4G) communication networks or enhanced communication networks based e.g. on LTE or LTE-A, fifth generation (5G) communication networks, cellular 2nd generation (2G) communication networks like the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), the General Packet Radio

System (GPRS), the Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), or other wireless communication system, such as the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Bluetooth or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), took place all over the world. Various organizations, such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Telecoms & Internet converged Services & Protocols for Advanced Networks (TISPAN), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), the WiMAX Forum and the like are working on standards or specifications for telecommunication network and access environments.

Embodiments as well as principles described below are applicable in connection with any communication element or terminal device, network element, relay node, server, node, corresponding component, and/or to any communication system or any combination of different communication systems that support required functionalities.

The communication systems may be any one or any combination of a fixed communication system, a wireless communication system or a communication system utilizing both fixed networks and wireless networks. The protocols used, the specifications of communication systems, apparatuses, such as nodes, servers and user terminals, especially in wireless communication, develop rapidly. Such development may require extra changes to an embodiment. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, embodiments. In the following, different exemplifying embodiments will be described using, as an example of an access architecture to which the embodiments may be applied, a radio access architecture based on 3GPP standards, such as a third generation or fourth generation (like LTE or LTE-A) communication network, and one or more wireless local area networks (WLAN), without restricting the embodiments to such architectures, however. It is obvious for a person skilled in the art that the embodiments may also be applied to other kinds of communications networks having suitable means by adjusting parameters and procedures appropriately, e.g. WiFi, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), Bluetooth®, personal communications services (PCS), ZigBee®, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), systems using ultra- wideband (UWB) technology, sensor networks, and mobile ad-hoc networks

(MANETs).

The following examples and embodiments are to be understood only as illustrative examples. Although the specification may refer to "an", "one", or "some" example(s) or embodiment(s) in several locations, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference is related to the same example(s) or embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single example or embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments. Furthermore, terms like "comprising" and "including" should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments to consist of only those features that have been mentioned; such examples and embodiments may also contain features, structures, units, modules etc. that have not been specifically mentioned.

A basic system architecture of a communication system where some examples of embodiments are applicable may include an architecture of one or more communication networks including a wired or wireless access network subsystem and a core network. Such an architecture may include one or more communication network control elements, access network elements, radio access network elements, access service network gateways or base transceiver stations, such as a base station (BS), an access point (AP) or an eNB, which control a respective coverage area or cell(s) and with which one or more communication elements, user devices or terminal devices, such as a UE, or another device having a similar function, such as a modem chipset, a chip, a module etc., which can also be part of an element, function or application capable of conducting a communication, such as a UE, an element or function usable in a machine-to-machine communication architecture, or attached as a separate element to such an element, function or application capable of conducting a communication, or the like, are capable to communicate via one or more channels for transmitting several types of data. Furthermore, core network elements such as gateway network elements, policy and charging control network elements, network discovery and selection control elements such as ANDSF, mobility management entities, operation and maintenance elements, and the like may be included.

The general functions and interconnections of the described elements, which also depend on the actual network type, are known to those skilled in the art and described in corresponding specifications, so that a detailed description thereof is omitted herein.

However, it is to be noted that several additional network elements and signaling links may be employed for a communication to or from an element, function or application, like a communication element, such as a UE, a communication network control element, such as an server, and other elements of the same or other communication networks besides those described in detail herein below. A communication network may also be able to communicate with other networks, such as a public switched telephone network or the Internet. The communication network may also be able to support the usage of cloud services. It should be appreciated that network elements of an access system, of a core network etc., and/or respective functionalities may be implemented by using any node, host, server, access node or entity etc. being suitable for such a usage.

Furthermore, the described network elements, such as communication elements, like a UE, access network elements, communication network control elements, like an

ANDSF server, etc., as well as corresponding functions as described herein, and other elements, functions or applications may be implemented by software, e.g. by a computer program product for a computer, and/or by hardware. For executing their respective functions, correspondingly used devices, nodes or network elements may include several means, modules, units, components, etc. (not shown) which are required for control, processing and/or communication/signaling functionality. Such means, modules, units and components may include, for example, one or more processors or processor units including one or more processing portions for executing instructions and/or programs and/or for processing data, storage or memory units or means for storing instructions, programs and/or data, for serving as a work area of the processor or processing portion and the like (e.g. ROM, RAM, EEPROM, and the like), input or interface means for inputting data and instructions by software (e.g. floppy disc, CD-ROM, EEPROM, and the like), a user interface for providing monitor and manipulation possibilities to a user (e.g. a screen, a keyboard and the like), other interface or means for establishing links and/or connections under the control of the processor unit or portion (e.g. wired and wireless interface means, radio interface means including e.g. an antenna unit or the like, means for forming a radio communication part etc.) and the like, wherein respective means forming an interface, such as a radio communication part, can be also located on a remote site (e.g. a radio head or a radio station etc.). It is to be noted that in the present specification processing portions should not be only considered to represent physical portions of one or more processors, but may also be considered as a logical division of the referred processing tasks performed by one or more processors. It should be appreciated that according to some examples, a so-called "liquid" or flexible network concept may be employed where the operations and functionalities of a communication network control element, network function, or of another entity of the communication network, may be performed in different entities or functions, such as in a node, host or server, in a flexible manner. In other words, a "division of labor" between involved network elements, functions or entities may vary case by case.

In many areas, a plurality of networks using (at least partially) different access technologies exists in parallel. For example, cellular wireless or mobile communication systems such as 3GPP based networks using standardized mobile wireless access technologies such as LTE and 3g coexist with other wireless communication systems, such as WLAN mobile wireless access based on IEEE standard 802.1 1 or the like.

Furthermore, a plurality of terminal devices such as UEs ort he like are equipped with a plurality of different wireless (radio) interfaces and are able to communicate for example, via 3GPP RAT, WLAN radio interface, or the like .

Network operators are interested to increase quality and quantity of communications using their networks. On possibility to achieve this is, for example, to use additional access technology, e.g. of unlicensed spectrum, so as to increase capacity and coverage to their current network, e.g. of a 3GPP based network. In this context, it is to be noted that corresponding measures are demanded also by users/subscribers since they expect proper service all the time and at any place. Therefore, solutions are to be provided how operators are able to implement and control access to other networks such as Wi-Fi based or the like, for their purposes.

In order to assist a UE to discover an access network being different to the network, e.g. a 3GPP network, to which the UE is subscribed, mechanisms can be implemented. One example of such a mechanism is e.g. an access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) which is an entity within a packet core network (e.g. EPC) of a 3GPP based network.

The purpose of mechanisms such as ANDSF is to assist the UE to discover e.g. non- 3GPP based access networks - such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX etc., so as be used for data communications in addition to 3GPP access networks. For example, WLAN usage by users on 3GPP operator domain can be controlled. For this purpose, also rules for policing the connection to these networks are provided. That is, for example, a 3GPP operator provides a function for guiding through discovery and selection process of access networks, for example, ANDSF guidance to corresponding (e.g. ANDSF capable) UEs, and the UEs can implement network selection, e.g. WLAN selection, based on ANDSF network selection rules. Furthermore, information (rules, policies) are provided which are used for controlling traffic steering at the UE, e.g. for deciding which access network among e.g. 3GPP and WLAN networks is to be used, which may be also based on ANDSF policies. Thus, for example, some bulk data could be provided via WLAN while sensitive data is delivered via 3GPP. In this context, also other parameters can be considered, such as network coverage and service availability, and also operator value proposition can be considered, e.g. what networks are most efficient for the user or what are cheapest for the operator.

A variety of information can be provided by a mechanism such as ANDSF to a UE. For example, one or more of the following information can be provided: network selections rules for a UE with no more than one active access network connection (e.g., either LTE or Wi-Fi), network selection rules for a UE with potentially more than one active access network connection (e.g., both LTE and Wi-Fi). For example, such a UE may employ IP flow mobility, multiple-access PDN connectivity or non-seamless Wi-Fi offload according to operator policy and/or user/operator preferences. Moreover discovery information can be provided, such as a list of networks that may be available in the vicinity of the UE and information assisting the UE to expedite the connection to these networks

With regard to Fig. 1 , a diagram illustrating a general architecture of a communication system is shown where some examples of embodiments are implementable. It is to be noted that the structure indicated in Fig. 1 shows only those devices, network elements and links which are useful for understanding principles underlying some examples of embodiments of the invention. As also known by those skilled in the art there may be several other network elements or devices involved in a communication in the communication system which are omitted here for the sake of simplicity.

In Fig. 1 , a communication network is shown which forms a general basis of the example of a communication system according to some examples of embodiments. Specifically, as one (cellular) network, a (wireless) communication network based for example on a 3GPP specification is provided. Furthermore, it is assumed that at least one additional communication network using another access technology, such as a WLAN, is present in the communication area. It is to be noted that both the number of network elements as well as the type thereof as depicted in Fig. 1 are merely intended to provide a basis for illustrating the principles of the control processing according to some examples of embodiments, while each one of the number and type of the involved network elements and types may be different to those shown in Fig. 1 . According to Fig. 1 , reference sign 10 denotes a communication element, such as a

UE, e.g. of a subscriber which represents one terminal point of a communication, i.e. from which UL data packets are transmitted and to which DL data packets are sent.

Reference sign 20 denotes a communication network control element, such as a server or the like, which provides an access network discovery and selection functionality, such as an ANDSF server, and to which the UE 10 is connectable for exchanging data. It is to be noted that the ANDSF server 20 may be part of a home network of the subscriber of UE 10, i.e. a home (H-) ANDSF server, or part of a network being visited by the UE 10, in which case it is referred to as a visited (V-)ANDSF server. Rules or policies may be provided by both types of ANDSF server to the UE 10, wherein in case rules or policies of both types are available, specific settings for prioritizing one of them (e.g. rules provided by the H-ANDSF server 20) may be provided, e.g. statically set in the UE or by dynamic provisioning of corresponding settings. According to some examples of embodiments, the UE 10 is capable of communicating with a plurality of network types, such as a 3GPP based network represented by a cell 2000 (see dashed line in Fig. 1 ) and a Wi-Fi based network, such as a home WLAN 2100 or another WLAN 2200. For this purpose, a communication connection with at least one corresponding access node or base station, such as an AP, a router, an eNB etc., is established, e.g. by procedures which are known to those skilled in the art and thus not discussed in further detail.

It is to be noted that different type of WLAN networks can be present: for example, so- called residential, venue, enterprise, community, municipal, commercial etc. WLANs are implemented. Furthermore, network operators, such as 3GPP network operators, may deploy their own WLAN networks (also referred to as home WLAN) and provide their customers access to the network. If e.g. the 3GPP operator manages his own WLAN network then the operator has a better possibility to control quality etc. Furthermore, as soon as the home WLAN is installed, costs can be controlled.

According to some examples of embodiments of the invention, the term "home WLAN" is to be understood as representing an access network, such as a wireless local area network, which is provided or operated by a communication network operator from which active policies are received. That is, when a policy provider, e.g. via an ANDSF server, provides the rules to be followed by the UE in the communication control/traffic steering (i.e. active rules), the communication network which is considered by the policy provider as its home network is the network operating/providing the home WLAN. For example, the "home WLAN" is the WLAN of the PLMN providing the active policy rules (e.g. ISRP rules). For example, the network is the home PLMN or a visited PLMN, wherein the policy provider is then e.g. the H-ANDSF server or the V-ANDSF server, respectively. It is also possible that the home WLAN is of the home PLMN e.g. when the UE/subscriber is roaming to a visited PLMN, in case the UE shall follow rules of the home PLMN while roaming. On the other hand, in case the UE shall follow rules of the visited PLMN, then the home WLAN is the WLAN of the visited PLMN, for example. As such, home WLAN can be seen as a service provider (i.e. policy provider) operated WLAN.

As an alternative to a home WLAN, it is possible to establish a partnership with other existing WLAN players so as to form a so-called partner WLAN, for example for limiting costs for installation. Here, of course, the possibility to control services is limited and cost may be increased. Thus, usage of home WLAN (i.e. service provider operated access networks) may be advantageous over usage of partner WLAN (i.e. non-service provider operated networks or other WLAN), e.g. when both are available in same area.

Fig. 2 shows a signaling diagram illustrating a procedure for exchanging data, such as rules or policies, between the UE 10 and the ANDSF server 20. ln S10, a connection between the ANDSF server 20 and the UE 10 is established. For example, a corresponding connection can be established via a 3GPP access connection or a trusted/non-trusted non-3GPP IP access or via any Internet access. In S20, the ANDSF server 20 (V-ANDSF server and/or H-ANDSF server) provides information related to rules and policies regarding the usage of other networks including traffic steering information to the UE 10. For example, traffic steering policies and the like are sent to the UE 10 in order to enable the UE 10 to make decisions regarding which access network can be/is to be used for (part of) data traffic and how the data traffic is to be steered. The provision of information in S20 may be initiated, for example, by the ANDSF server 20, or in reply to a request for corresponding information from the UE 10 (which is indicated in S15), for example in the case that the UE 10 intends to conduct a discover operation for neighboring access networks with the assistance of the network.

In S30, the UE 10 uses the received information related to rules and policies regarding the usage of other networks to the UE 10 for deciding which access network is to be selected for data traffic and how the data traffic is to be steered. For example, the UE 10 selects the most preferable available access network for inter-system mobility based on the inter-system mobility policies and user preferences. A corresponding communication control is then conducted for transmitting the data traffic via the selected access networks.

It is to be noted that the UE 10 can be provided with requested information or information being different to requested ANDSF information during the same ANDSF session.

For selecting an access network for data traffic, ANDSF or the like enables a UE to choose any available network, including at least one of a cellular network (e.g. GPP access network), a home network (e.g. home WLAN) or another equivalent network over 3^rd party networks (e.g. partner WLAN network). However, applications running on the UE 10 may not be aware of this. That is, without further measures, when it decides which network interface is to be used for traffic (i.e. an application) (traffic steering), the UE 10 only chooses between connected WLAN and 3GPP interfaces. That is, considering an approach like ANDSF, an access network (e.g. a specific type thereof like WiFi network, 3GPP network, WCDMA network) is selected (connected to) by a device like the UE and then traffic steering is done by using any of the connected access networks.

According to examples of embodiments, a control mechanism is provided by means of which it is possible that, for example for specific flows or parts of data traffic, one or more specific access networks are considered in traffic steering. That is, for example in case a network operator prefers that certain (kind of) traffic is communicated e.g. only via home WLAN networks over 3GPP network and not partner (or other) WLAN networks (globally or in specific locations), e.g. due to business, security or technical reasons, a control procedure is implemented according to examples of embodiments allowing an accurate control leading to a proper use of such networks. For example, according to some examples of embodiments, it is possible to choose between a home WLAN network or a partner WLAN network or 3GPP specific radio accesses (LTE, WCDMA, etc.) for specific traffic by using ANDSF traffic steering policies.

That is, according to some examples of embodiments, an access network discovery and selection mechanism, such as ANDSF, is used to control traffic routing in a UE in an improved manner, so that it is possible to consider, for steering or routing certain traffic of flows, a specific network access, such as a home WLAN network or the like which is operated by a 'home' operator of the active (ANDSF) policy provider or by some partner. For example, in case an operator A provides traffic steering policies, e.g. by means of ANDSF policies, for the UE, then WLAN networks indicated as belonging to operator A (e.g. in a domain name ANQP) are home WLAN networks to be used for specific traffic. For this purpose, according to examples of embodiments, it is checked, for traffic steering purpose, whether the network access (e.g. a WLAN network) being selected beforehand is the specific home WLAN network, and as a result thereof, traffic steering decisions are made in a suitable manner.

It is to be noted that in the following the term "network access", "access network type", "wireless local area network" etc. are used for defining one or more communication technologies, methods or elements by means of which a communication element like a UE is able to communicate with another party or network, wherein different communication technologies are applicable. According to examples of embodiments, information provided by e.g. the ANDSF server allows identifying of the home WLAN as a target for traffic steering decision. Thus, traffic steering can be done in an improved manner separated from any generic WLAN, so that steering preference like Lhome WLAN, 2.LTE, 3. other WLANs, 4. WCDMA or the like can be considered. According to further examples of embodiments, information like traffic steering policies is used to indicate a list of prioritized network accesses. When the prioritized network accesses comprises home WLAN or the like, as defined above, and one of the selected network accesses is the home WLAN (i.e. it is available and can be used), traffic steering is conducted so as to use the home WLAN. Otherwise, in case home WLAN is not available, different network accesses being less or equally prioritized like the home WLAN network in the traffic steering policy (information) are considered correspondingly.

One example control procedure according to some examples of embodiments may thus include, for example, that a UE selects (at least one) WLAN network being available, wherein here one or both of a home or partner or other WLAN network can be selected. Based on the operator policy, it is possible to actually set e.g. for specific traffic (application, flow or the like) whether a cellular (e.g. 3GPP type) network is to be chosen in a traffic steering procedure in favor of e.g. partner Wi-Fi networks or home Wi-Fi network.

In other words, according to some examples of embodiments, specific traffic can be assigned either to home WLAN, partner WLAN or some 3GPP access network, wherein an operator may defined a correspondent preference order in the rules or policies. That is, after a WLAN network selection, it is checked what WLAN network was selected; depending on whether the selected WLAN is the home WLAN or another WLAN (e.g. partner WLAN), traffic steering is decided in a manner as defined in a corresponding rule being active. Consequently, traffic can be routed differently, for example by indicating that 3GPP bearer is preferred before partner WLAN, or the like.

In the following, the control procedure according to examples of embodiments of the invention is further described under consideration of a network structure as shown in Fig. 1 , wherein an ANDSF mechanism as introduced in connection with Fig. 2 is implemented. However, it is to be noted that embodiments of the invention are not limited to such a scenario, and that other examples of embodiments may be based on different network structures and control procedures allowing an access network discovery and selection.

ANDSF is presented, for example, as an OMA DM managed object (MO) which is, for example, an XML object and consists of relevant parameters for intersystem mobility policy- and access network discovery information that can be managed by the ANDSF. For example, the ANDSF server 20 communicates with the UE 10 over a reference point in order to synchronize of the OMA DM MO specific to the ANDSF. Fig. 3 shows a diagram illustrating a management object structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments.

As indicated in Fig. 3, the ANDSF MO 300 comprises several leaves and nodes used to manage, for example, inter-system mobility policy 310, a node indicating a UE location 320, inter-system routing policy (ISRP) 330 and inter-APN routing policy (IARP) 340. It is to be noted that the ANDSF MO 300 may comprise additional nodes or rules which are omitted here for the sake of illustration, for example, rule selection information, access network discovery information, home operator preference policy and the like. For example, the policy node 310 (i.e. ISMP) is used to prioritize access networks when the UE is not capable to connect to the EPC through multiple accesses. The UE location node 320 is used to indicate the position of the UE (updated e.g. in case the UE has changed its position). The ISRP node 330 is used to indicate how to distribute traffic among available accesses when the UE is capable to connect to the EPC through multiple accesses (i.e. the UE is configured for a for flow based control, a for service based control, a non-seamless WLAN offload or any combination thereof). The IARP node 340 is used to indicate which traffic should be routed across different PDN connections and which traffic should be non-seamlessly offloaded to WLAN. It is to be noted that in the following an empty node indicates a node which is present in the ANDSF MO with no internal node or leaf object(s) being present therein. Furthermore, instances of the respective rules, which may consists of one or more flow distribution containers, are e.g. <X>/ISRP/<X> (for ISRP), <X>/IARP/<X> (for IARP), etc., wherein a flow distribution container may denotes a node <X>/ISRP/<X>/ForFlowBased etc. Furthermore, the ANDSF MO 300 may define validity areas, position of the UE and availability of access networks in terms of geographical coordinates (e.g. GPS based coordinates).

It is to be noted that each of the nodes depicted in Fig. 3 may have a set of one or more rules (or subnodes). The rule being applied is referred to as the 'active' rule. According to examples, there may zero or one 'active' rule.

The rules have a number of validity conditions (e.g. current access technology and location) where one or more may be present and set to a value. The rules also have a number of results (e.g. preferred access technology and restricted access technology) to be used whenever a rule is 'active'.

Fig. 4 indicates further details of the ISRP node 330 which comprises a set of one or more ISRP rules (it is to be noted that Fig. 4 shows only a subset of possible examples of rules/nodes which can be part of ISRP node 330). Reference sign 331 indicates an address element (<X>) to be added for obtaining the respective further instances (see above).

ISRP rules contain an indication on traffic distribution for UEs that are configured for IFOM, MAPCON or non-seamless WLAN offload. That is, node 332 ,for flow based' (IFOM service), node 333 ,for service based' (MAPCON) and node 334 ,for non- seamless offload' (for non-seamless WLAN offload) are contained. The node 332 (for flow based) is used, for example, to steer traffic between WLAN and 3GPP nodes. The node 333 (for service based) is used, for example, to distribute traffic between WLAN and 3GPP nodes based on APN. The node 333 (for non-seamless offload) is used, for example, to guide traffic (e.g. directly to the Internet) from the WLAN without routing the traffic to any EPC interface.

Furthermore, the ISRP rule 330 may have a PLMN leaf and an optional Roaming leaf for determining if an ISRP rule is valid, for example.

For example, at any point in time, there is at most one ISRP rule used for routing (referred to as the 'active' ISRP rule). There can be multiple valid ISRP rules at the same time. A UE evaluates only the supported flow distribution containers of the 'active' ISRP rule. A flow distribution container can have one or more flow distribution rules. With regard to node 333, it is possible to classify traffic for APN by using instructions provided under rules indicated in IARP node 334, which is illustrated in Fig. 5.

As shown in Fig. 5, the IARP node 340 comprises a set of one or more IARP rules (it is to be noted that Fig. 5 shows only a subset of possible examples of rules/nodes which can be part of IARP node 340). Reference sign 341 indicates an address element

(<X>) to be added for obtaining the respective further instances (see above).

The IARP rules contain an indication on traffic distribution for UEs that selects an APN associated with an existing PDN connection or non-seamless WLAN offload for routing the traffic matching specific IP flows. That is, node 342 ,for inter APN routing' (IFOM service), and node 343 (similar to node 334) ,for non-seamless offload' (for non- seamless WLAN offload) are contained. Furthermore, the IARP rule 340 may have a PLMN leaf and an optional Roaming leaf for determining if an IARP rule is valid, for example.

For example, at any point in time, there is at most one IARP rule used for routing (referred to as the 'active' IARP rule). There can be multiple valid IARP rules at the same time. As described above, by using rules like those indicated the nodes 332 (for flow based),

333 (for service based) and 334 (or 343) (for non-seamless offload), traffic steering between different access networks, such as WLAN and 3GPP, can be decided in the UE. Consequently, by defining or preparing suitable rules/policies in the ANDSF server, communication control can be executed. For this purpose, for example, the flow distribution containers are provided with one or more flow distribution rules. For example, according to some examples of embodiments, routing rules or routing criteria for the respective nodes 332, 333, 334 (343) can be set, which are further described below. Fig. 6 shows a diagram illustrating further details of the MO structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments. Specifically, Fig. 6 shows details regarding the 'for flow based' node 332. As shown in Fig. 6, the flow distribution container of the 'for flow based' node 332 comprises a set of one or more flow distribution rules (it is to be noted that Fig. 6 shows only a subset of possible examples of rules/nodes which can be part of node 332). Reference signs 332a, 332c, 332e, 332j indicate an address element (<X>) to be added for obtaining the respective instances (see above).

Node 332b indicates the flow description for a particular flow distribution rule. A flow distribution rule as depicted in the example of Fig. 6 has a validity condition defined by the routing criteria node 332d. The validity of the flow distribution rule takes into account, for example, Validity Area 332f, Time Of Day 332g, RAN Validity Condition 332h and corresponding references (not shown).

It is to be noted that according to examples of embodiments each existing non-empty node has to match in order to make the rule valid. In addition, a flow distribution rule without any validity conditions is considered valid, i.e. validity condition is fulfilled. A flow distribution rule may be applied only if the validity condition is fulfilled and if the flow distribution rule is contained by the 'active' rule.

The flow distribution rule has a number of results (e.g. preferred access technology or restricted access technology) defined in the routing rule node 332i to be used whenever the flow distribution rule is applied. Each flow distribution rule has also a mandatory node identifying the data traffic (e.g. based on IP flow description of the sent traffic) to which the results contained in routing rule node 332i apply.

In addition to conditions, results and IP flow description, there is a rule priority that shall be set for each flow distribution rule. The rule priority is encoded in rule priority leaf, and it enables the UE to determine which flow distribution rule, out of potentially several matching flow distribution rules, of the 'active' ISRP rule, it should apply to an IP flow matching the data traffic description of the multiple flow distribution rules. As described above, the routing rule node 332i defines traffic steering decision for matching traffic. Specifically, according to examples of embodiments, a prioritized list of preferred access technology nodes 332k is provided. According to some examples of embodiments, the access technology type comprises values being related to the home WLAN network and/or the partner WLAN network. For example, a value 'HomeWLAN' and/or a value 'PartnerWLAN' is included into the access technology type list 332k. According to some examples of embodiments, a communication device such as the UE is configured to recognize home operated WLAN networks (home WLAN), for example, on the basis of a domain name ANQP element that the Wi-Fi network will provide to the UE on request (e.g. as defined in Wi-Fi Alliance Hotspot2 Technical Specification). Furthermore, the UE is configured to create a home domain name from an identifier, e.g. the PLMN identifier of a policy rule, such as an ISRP rule, which the UE is following (i.e. an active ISRP rule or the like). For this purpose, for example, a formula like 'wlan.mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC>.3gppnetwork.org' is used. It is to be noted that a PLMN identifier consists of MCC and MNC components. If a MNC length is 2 digits, then MNC may be prepended with additional Ό' digit to comply with a <MNC> rule which has to have 3 digits. MCC is always 3 digits. The home domain name being created in this way is compared to domain names received from the WLAN network. In case the home domain name is present (suffix match) in any of the received domain names, then the UE is in home WLAN network. According to some examples of embodiments, information related to policies, such as an ANDSF MO, may include fields for identifying other home domain suffixes. It is to be noted that the home domain name may refer to a visited PLMN or to a home PLMN, which depends, for example, on the fact whose rules (e.g. ANDSF ISRP rule) is active.

It is to be noted that according to examples of embodiments, similar to the flow distribution container related to the 'for flow based' node 332, a corresponding structure is also usable in connection with the 'for service based' node 333.

Fig. 7 shows a diagram illustrating further details of the MO structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments. Specifically, Fig. 7 shows details regarding the 'for service based' node 333. As shown in Fig. 7, the flow distribution container of the 'for service based' node 333 comprises a set of one or more flow distribution rules (it is to be noted that Fig. 7 shows only a subset of possible examples of rules/nodes which can be part of node 333). Reference signs 333a, 333c, 332h indicate an address element (<X>) to be added for obtaining the respective instances (see above).

The APN leaf indicates the APN for which a particular flow distribution rule is valid. Furthermore, a flow distribution rule as depicted in the example of Fig. 7 has a validity condition defined by the routing criteria node 333b. The validity of the flow distribution rule takes into account, for example, Validity Area 333d, Time Of Day 333e, RAN Validity Condition 333f and corresponding references (not shown).

The flow distribution rule of Fig. 7 has a number of results (e.g. preferred access technology or restricted access technology) defined in the routing rule node 333g to be used whenever the flow distribution rule is applied. Each flow distribution rule has also a mandatory node identifying the data traffic (e.g. based on APN associated with the sent traffic) to which the results contained in routing rule node 333g apply.

In addition to conditions, results and IP flow description, there is a rule priority that shall be set for each flow distribution rule. The rule priority is encoded in rule priority leaf, and it enables the UE to determine which flow distribution rule, out of potentially several matching flow distribution rules, of the 'active' ISRP rule, it should apply to an IP flow matching the data traffic description of the multiple flow distribution rules.

As described above, the routing rule node 333g defines traffic steering decision for matching traffic. Specifically, according to examples of embodiments, a prioritized list of preferred access technology nodes 333i is provided.

That is, according to some examples of embodiments, the access technology type comprises values being related to the home WLAN network and/or the partner WLAN network. For example, a value 'HomeWLAN' and/or a value 'PartnerWLAN' is included into the access technology type list 333i.

It is to be noted that a recognition of a home operated WLAN network by the UE may be executed as described above in connection with Fig. 6, for example. Fig. 8 shows a diagram illustrating a table of values included in the MO structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments. Specifically, Fig. 8 shows an example of a list related of an access technology type 332k or 333i described above.

As indicated in Fig. 8, a value 1 indicates as the access technology type to be used for traffic steering a 3GPP access. A value 3 indicates as the access technology type to be used for traffic steering an

(arbitrary) WLAN access.

A value 4 indicates as the access technology type to be used for traffic steering an (arbitrary) WiMAX access.

A value 5 indicates as the access technology type to be used for traffic steering a specific type of WLAN access, for example a home WLAN access.

On the other hand, a value 6 indicates as the access technology type to be used for traffic steering another (specific) WLAN access, for example a partner WLAN access.

Values 0, 2 and 7 to 255 are, for example, reserved values.

It is to be noted that the structure and contents of the table shown in Fig. 8 are merely for illustrative purposes, and any other order or value may be used instead for indicating the access technology related to the specific access, such as the home WLAN and partner WLAN networks.

Besides the definition of the values for specific access technology in an access technology type list, as described above, also another approach is conceivable. This is in particular implemented in a case where dedicated information regarding different types of access technology is not provided. For example, according to some examples of embodiments, with regard to the flow distribution container related to the 'for non- seamless offload' node 334, the following configuration is implemented. In this context, it is to be noted that an access technology type is not defined in 'for non-seamless offloao" nodes as they are automatically assumed to be offloaded to a specific access type, such as WLAN.

Fig. 9 shows a diagram illustrating further details of the MO structure for managing a communication control according to some examples of embodiments. Specifically, Fig.

9 shows details regarding the 'for non-seamless offload' node 334.

As shown in Fig. 9, the flow distribution container of the 'for non-seamless offload' node 334 (or 343) comprises a set of one or more flow distribution rules (it is to be noted that Fig. 9 shows only a subset of possible examples of rules/nodes which can be part of node 334). Reference signs 334a, 334c, 334e, 334k indicate an address element (<X>) to be added for obtaining the respective instances (see above).

Node 334b indicates the flow description for a particular flow distribution rule. A flow distribution rule as depicted in the example of Fig. 9 has a validity condition defined by the routing criteria node 334d. The validity of the flow distribution rule takes into account, for example, Validity Area 334g, Time Of Day 334h, RAN Validity Condition 334i and corresponding references (not shown). In addition, in order to benefit from a separation of access types, such as of home and partner WLANs, a further validity condition is added. For example, a node 334f 'Home WLAN' is included under the routing criteria node 334d.

According to examples of embodiments, the node 334f may not have any value; that is, the presence of the node 334f in the policies provided to the UE 10 is an indication that non-seamless offloading is executed only when selected WLAN is home WLAN, for example.

As further indicated in Fig. 9, the flow distribution rule has a number of results (e.g. preferred access technology or restricted access technology) defined in the routing rule node 334j to be used whenever the flow distribution rule is applied. Each flow distribution rule has also a mandatory node identifying the data traffic (e.g. based on APN associated with the sent traffic or IP flow description of the sent traffic) to which the results contained in routing rule node 334j apply. ln addition to conditions, results and IP flow description, there is a rule priority that shall be set for each flow distribution rule. The rule priority is encoded in rule priority leaf, and it enables the UE to determine which flow distribution rule, out of potentially several matching flow distribution rules shall be applied to an IP flow matching the data traffic description of the multiple flow distribution rules.

It is to be noted that according to some further examples of embodiments, as a modification of the procedure related to the for non-seamless WLAN offload node 334 (343), the following procedure may be used. Specifically, according to some examples of embodiments, the routing rule 334j is set to be in line with e.g. routing rule nodes

332i of Fig. 6 or 333g of Fig. 7. That is, an access technology node like that shown in Fig. 8 is added. In this case, the node 334f can be omitted. It is to be noted that according to some examples of embodiments, only either HomeWLAN or PartnerWLAN value is be used. This value indicates that the non-seamless WLAN offload is applicable only in home WLAN or in partner WLAN (a default setting may be to use both).

Fig. 10 shows a flow chart of a processing conducted in a communication network control element, such as an ANDSF server, according to some examples of embodiments. Specifically, the example according to Fig. 10 is related to a control procedure conducted by a communication network control element, function or node acting as a Home or Visited ANDSF server 20 (or 25) in the communication network as depicted e.g. in Fig. 1 . In S100, policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic from a communication element like UE 10 is prepared, wherein the policy information includes an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information (such as a home WLAN of a PLMN providing active traffic routing rules, such as ISRP rule). According to some examples of embodiments, wherein the policy information includes a plurality of network access included in a list forming the indication of preference of the specific network accesses. Furthermore, according to some examples of embodiments, the indication of preference of at least one specific network access indicates at least one the home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy, a partner wireless local area network of a provider having a partnership with a provider of the home wireless local area network, and a cellular mobile communication access network (such as a 3GPP network), wherein an order of the specific network accesses represents an order of preference

According to some examples of embodiments, the policy information is prepared in the form of a management object (MO) of an access network detection and selection function (e.g. ANDSF), wherein the indication is defined in or represents a subnode of a routing policy node of the management object.

Furthermore, according to some examples of embodiments, the indication is included in a flow distribution container related to one of a for-flow-based traffic steering policy, a for-service-based traffic steering policy and a non-seamless wireless local area network offload traffic steering policy. Moreover, according to examples of embodiments, the indication is included as at least one of a validity condition in a routing criteria node, and at least one value defining an access technology in a routing rules node.

In S1 10, the policy information is provided to a communication element (e.g. UE 10) being connected.

Fig. 1 1 shows a flow chart of a processing conducted in a communication element, such as UE 10, according to some examples of embodiments. Specifically, the example according to Fig. 1 1 is related to a control procedure conducted by the communication element, function or node acting as the UE 10 in the communication network as depicted e.g. in Fig. 1 . ln S200, policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic is obtained and processed. The policy information includes an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic. The at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information (such as a home WLAN of a PLMN providing active traffic routing rules, such as ISRP rule). According to some examples of embodiments, the indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses indicates at least one of the home WLAN of a service provider providing an active routing policy, a partner wireless local area network of a provider having a partnership with a provider of the home WLAN, and a cellular mobile communication access network (such as a 3GPP based network), wherein an order of the specific network accesses represents an order of preference.

Moreover, according to some examples of embodiments, the policy information is obtained in the form of a management object (MO) of an access network detection and selection function (e.g. ANDSF), wherein the indication is defined in or represents a subnode of a routing policy node of the management object.

In addition according to some examples of embodiments, the indication is included in a flow distribution container related to one of a for-flow-based traffic steering policy, a for- service-based traffic steering policy and a non-seamless wireless local area network offload traffic steering policy. Moreover, according to some examples of embodiments, the indication is included as at least one of a validity condition in a routing criteria node, and at least one value defining an access technology in a routing rules node. In S210, a communication control considering the policy information is conducted for data communication. According to some examples of embodiments, the communication control comprises detecting that the specific network access related to the home WLAN of the service provider providing the active routing policy is to be preferred for at least a part of a current data traffic (i.e. that an application or data traffic has to use the home WLAN, for example). Then, it is determine, on the basis of the detection result, whether the preferred specific network access is available and can be used for communication (i.e., for example, whether a selected network access, such as a WLAN, is the home WLAN indicated in the rules).

In S220, in case the preferred specific network access is available, a traffic steering as part of the communication control in S210 is conducted. That is, a matching part of the data traffic is steered via the preferred specific network access.

For example, according to some examples of embodiments, from the processing of the policy information, it is detected whether for at least a part of a current data traffic the local area network of the specific provider is to be used. In case the detection results in that the local area network of the specific provider is to be used, it is determined whether the local area network of the specific provider can be used, i.e. is available for communication. In case the local area network of the specific provider is determined to be usable, steering of a matching part of the data traffic by using the local area network of the specific provider is conducted. Otherwise, remaining network accesses being equally or less highly prioritized in the traffic steering policies (e.g. a list) are considered for traffic steering decision. That is, in case the preferred specific network access is not available for communication, the data traffic is steered via another network access. For this purpose, the policy information may include a plurality of network accesses included in a list forming the indication of preference of the specific network access, wherein the other network access is part of the list.

Fig. 12 shows a diagram of a communication network control element according to some examples of embodiments, which is configured to implement a control procedure as described in connection with some of the examples of embodiments. It is to be noted that the communication network control element, like the ANDSF server 20, which is shown in Fig. 12, may include further elements or functions besides those described herein below. Furthermore, even though reference is made to a communication network control element or node, the element or node may be also another device or function having a similar task, such as a chipset, a chip, a module, an application etc., which can also be part of a communication network control element or attached as a separate element to a communication network control element, or the like. It should be understood that each block and any combination thereof may be implemented by various means or their combinations, such as hardware, software, firmware, one or more processors and/or circuitry.

The communication network control element shown in Fig. 12 may include a processing circuitry, a processing function, a control unit or a processor 21 , such as a CPU or the like, which is suitable for executing instructions given by programs or the like related to the control procedure. The processor 21 may include one or more processing portions or functions dedicated to specific processing as described below, or the processing may be run in a single processor or processing function. Portions for executing such specific processing may be also provided as discrete elements or within one or more further processors, processing functions or processing portions, such as in one physical processor like a CPU or in one or more physical or virtual entities, for example. Reference signs 22 and 23 denote transceiver or input/output (I/O) units or functions (interfaces) connected to the processor or processing function 21 . The I/O units 22 may be used for communicating with a communication element, such as the UE 10. The I/O units 23 may be used for communicating with a core network or the like. The I/O units 22 and 23 may be a combined unit including communication equipment towards several network elements, or may include a distributed structure with a plurality of different interfaces for different network elements. Reference sign 24 denotes a memory usable, for example, for storing data and programs to be executed by the processor or processing function 21 and/or as a working storage of the processor or processing function 21 . It is to be noted that the memory 24 may be implemented by using one or more memory portions of the same or different type of memory.

The processor or processing function 21 is configured to execute processing related to the above described control procedure. In particular, the processor or processing circuitry or function 21 includes one or more of the following sub-portions. Sub-portion 210 is a processing portion which is usable for preparing policy information. The portion 210 may be configured to perform processing according to S100 of Fig. 10. Furthermore, the processor or processing circuitry or function 21 may include a sub- portion 21 1 usable as a portion for providing the policy information. The portion 21 1 may be configured to perform a processing according to S210 of Fig. 10. Fig. 13 shows a diagram of a communication element according to some examples of embodiments, which is configured to implement a control procedure as described in connection with some of the examples of embodiments. It is to be noted that the communication element, like the UE 10, which is shown in Fig. 13, may include further elements or functions besides those described herein below. Furthermore, even though reference is made to a communication element or node, the element or node may be also another device or function having a similar task, such as a chipset, a chip, a module, an application etc., which can also be part of a communication element or attached as a separate element to a communication element, or the like. It should be understood that each block and any combination thereof may be implemented by various means or their combinations, such as hardware, software, firmware, one or more processors and/or circuitry.

The communication element shown in Fig. 13 may include a processing circuitry, a processing function, a control unit or a processor 1 1 , such as a CPU or the like, which is suitable for executing instructions given by programs or the like related to the control procedure. The processor 1 1 may include one or more processing portions or functions dedicated to specific processing as described below, or the processing may be run in a single processor or processing function. Portions for executing such specific processing may be also provided as discrete elements or within one or more further processors, processing functions or processing portions, such as in one physical processor like a CPU or in one or more physical or virtual entities, for example. Reference sign 12 denotes transceiver or input/output (I/O) units or functions (interfaces) connected to the processor or processing function 1 1 . The I/O units 12 may be used for communicating with a communication network control element, such as an

ANDSF server. The I/O units 12 may be a combined unit including communication equipment towards several network elements, or may include a distributed structure with a plurality of different interfaces for different network elements. Reference sign 14 denotes a memory usable, for example, for storing data and programs to be executed by the processor or processing function 1 1 and/or as a working storage of the processor or processing function 1 1 . It is to be noted that the memory 14 may be implemented by using one or more memory portions of the same or different type of memory. The processor or processing function 1 1 is configured to execute processing related to the above described control procedure. In particular, the processor or processing circuitry or function 1 1 includes one or more of the following sub-portions. Sub-portion 1 10 is a processing portion which is usable for obtaining and processing policy information. The portion 1 10 may be configured to perform processing according to

S200 of Fig. 1 1 . Furthermore, the processor or processing circuitry or function 1 1 may include a sub-portion 1 1 1 usable as a portion for conducting a communication control and/or traffic steering. The portion 1 1 1 may be configured to perform a processing according to at least one of S210 and S220 of Fig. 1 1 .

It is to be noted that some or all of the examples of embodiments described above may be applied to a partly or fully virtualized environment comprising one or more VNFs.

Furthermore, it is to be noted that even though in the above described examples of embodiments reference is made to an ANDSF server or the like as the element providing the information related to policies etc., examples of embodiments of the invention are not limited to an explicit server. For example, instead of a server node or element, it is possible that also another node or element or function acts as an ANDSF server, such as a RAN node which is configured to provide ANDSF type of service, wherein in this case such another element is to be understood as the ANDSF server.

Furthermore, according to some other examples of embodiments, the above defined apparatus may further comprise means for conducting at least one of the processings defined in the above described methods, for example a method according that described in connection with Fig 10.

In addition, according to another example of embodiments, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for preparing policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and means for providing the policy information to a communication element being connected. Furthermore, according to some other examples of embodiments, the above defined apparatus may further comprise means for conducting at least one of the processings defined in the above described methods, for example a method according that described in connection with Fig 10.

Moreover, according to another example of embodiments, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for obtaining policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and means for executing a communication control considering the policy information, wherein the communication control comprises detecting that the specific network access related to the home wireless local area network of the service provider providing the active routing policy is to be preferred for at least a part of a current data traffic, determining, on the basis of the detection result, whether the preferred specific network access is available and can be used for communication, and in case the preferred specific network access is available, steering a matching part of the data traffic via the preferred specific network access.

Furthermore, according to some other examples of embodiments, the above defined apparatus may further comprise means for conducting at least one of the processings defined in the above described methods, for example a method according that described in connection with Fig 1 1 .

It should be appreciated that

- an access technology via which traffic is transferred to and from a network element may be any suitable present or future technology, such as WLAN (Wireless Local

Access Network), WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), LTE, LTE-A, Bluetooth, Infrared, and the like may be used; additionally, embodiments may also apply wired technologies, e.g. IP based access technologies like cable networks or fixed lines. - a user device (also called UE, user equipment, user terminal, terminal device, etc.) illustrates one type of an apparatus to which resources on the air interface may be allocated and assigned, and thus any feature described herein with a user equipment may be implemented with a corresponding apparatus, such as a relay node. An example of such a relay node is a layer 3 relay (self-backhauling relay) towards a base station or eNB. The user device typically refers to a portable computing device that includes wireless mobile communication devices operating with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of devices: a mobile station (mobile phone), smart phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), handset, device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurement device, etc.), laptop and/or touch screen computer, tablet, game console, notebook, and multimedia device. It should be appreciated that a user device may also be a nearly exclusive uplink only device, of which an example is a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network, or a nearly exclusive downlink only device, such as a portable video player. Also equipment used for measuring certain values, such as sensors which can measure a temperature, a pressure etc., can be used as a corresponding user device. It should be appreciated that a device may be regarded as an apparatus or as an assembly of more than one apparatus, whether functionally in cooperation with each other or functionally independently of each other but in a same device housing.

- embodiments suitable to be implemented as software code or portions of it and being run using a processor or processing function are software code independent and can be specified using any known or future developed programming language, such as a high-level programming language, such as objective-C, C, C++, C#, Java, Python, Javascript, other scripting languages etc., or a low-level programming language, such as a machine language, or an assembler.

- implementation of embodiments is hardware independent and may be implemented using any known or future developed hardware technology or any hybrids of these, such as a microprocessor or CPU (Central Processing Unit), MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor), CMOS (Complementary MOS), BiMOS (Bipolar MOS), BiCMOS (Bipolar CMOS), ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic), and/or TTL (Transistor-Transistor

Logic).

- embodiments may be implemented as individual devices, apparatuses, units, means or functions, or in a distributed fashion, for example, one or more processors or processing functions may be used or shared in the processing, or one or more processing sections or processing portions may be used and shared in the processing, wherein one physical processor or more than one physical processor may be used for implementing one or more processing portions dedicated to specific processing as described,

- an apparatus may be implemented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module including such chip or chipset;

- embodiments may also be implemented as any combination of hardware and software, such as ASIC (Application Specific IC (Integrated Circuit)) components, FPGA (Field-programmable Gate Arrays) or CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) components or DSP (Digital Signal Processor) components.

- embodiments may also be implemented as computer program products, including a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to execute a process as described in embodiments, wherein the computer usable medium may be a non-transitory medium. Although the present invention has been described herein before with reference to particular embodiments thereof, the present invention is not limited thereto and various modifications can be made thereto.

Claims

1 . An apparatus comprising

at least one processing circuitry,

and

at least one memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processing circuitry, wherein

the at least one memory and the instructions are configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry, cause the apparatus at least:

to prepare policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and

to provide the policy information to a communication element being connected.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the policy information includes a plurality of network access included in a list forming the indication of preference of the specific network accesses.

3. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 and 2, wherein the indication of preference of at least one specific network access indicates at least one the home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy, a partner wireless local area network of a provider having a partnership with a provider of the home wireless local area network, and a cellular mobile communication access network, wherein an order of the specific network accesses represents an order of preference.

4. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry, cause the apparatus at least:

to prepare the policy information in the form of a management object of an access network detection and selection function, wherein the indication is defined in or represents a subnode of a routing policy node of the management object.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry, cause the apparatus at least:

to include the indication in a flow distribution container related to one of a for- flow-based traffic steering policy, a for-service-based traffic steering policy and a non- seamless wireless local area network offload traffic steering policy.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry, cause the apparatus at least:

to include the indication as at least one of

a validity condition in a routing criteria node, and

at least one value defining an access technology in a routing rules node.

7. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the apparatus is included in a communication network control element configured to act as an access network detection and selection function server of the home network of the subscriber of the communication element or of a network being visited by the communication element, wherein the communication element includes at least one of a terminal device or user equipment.

8. A method comprising

preparing policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and

providing the policy information to a communication element being connected.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the policy information includes a plurality of network access included in a list forming the indication of preference of the specific network accesses.

10. The method according to any of claims 8 and 9, wherein the indication of preference of at least one specific network access indicates at least one the home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy, a partner wireless local area network of a provider having a partnership with a provider of the home wireless local area network, and a cellular mobile communication access network, wherein an order of the specific network accesses represents an order of preference.

1 1 . The method according to any of claims 8 to 10, further comprising

preparing the policy information in the form of a management object of an access network detection and selection function, wherein the indication is defined in or represents a subnode of a routing policy node of the management object.

12. The method according to claim 1 1 , further comprising

including the indication in a flow distribution container related to one of a for- flow-based traffic steering policy, a for-service-based traffic steering policy and a non- seamless wireless local area network offload traffic steering policy.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising

including the indication as at least one of

a validity condition in a routing criteria node, and

at least one value defining an access technology in a routing rules node.

14. The method according to any of claims 8 to 13, wherein the method is implemented in a communication network control element configured to act as an access network detection and selection function server of the home network of the subscriber of the communication element or of a network being visited by the communication element, wherein the communication element includes at least one of a terminal device or user equipment.

15. An apparatus comprising

at least one processing circuitry,

and

at least one memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processing circuitry, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry, cause the apparatus at least:

to obtain policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and

to execute a communication control considering the policy information, wherein the communication control comprises

detecting that the specific network access related to the home wireless local area network of the service provider providing the active routing policy is to be preferred for at least a part of a current data traffic,

determining, on the basis of the detection result, whether the preferred specific network access is available and can be used for communication, and

in case the preferred specific network access is available, steering a matching part of the data traffic via the preferred specific network access.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the communication control further comprises

in case the preferred specific network access is not available for communication, steering the data traffic via another network access.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the policy information includes a plurality of network accesses included in a list forming the indication of preference of the specific network access, wherein the other network access is part of the list.

18. The apparatus according to any of claims 15 to 17, wherein the indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses indicates at least one of the home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy, a partner wireless local area network of a provider having a partnership with a provider of the home wireless local area network, and a cellular mobile communication access network, wherein an order of the specific network accesses represents an order of preference.

19. The apparatus according to any of claims 15 to 18, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry, cause the apparatus at least:

to obtain the policy information in the form of a management object of an access network detection and selection function, wherein the indication is defined in or represents a subnode of a routing policy node of the management object.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the indication is included in a flow distribution container related to one of a for-flow-based traffic steering policy, a for- service-based traffic steering policy and a non-seamless wireless local area network offload traffic steering policy.

21 . The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the indication is included as at least one of

a validity condition in a routing criteria node, and

at least one value defining an access technology in a routing rules node.

22. The apparatus according to any of claims 15 to 21 , wherein the apparatus is included in a communication element including at least one of a terminal device or user equipment, wherein the policy information is obtained from a communication network control element configured to act as an access network detection and selection function server of the home network of the subscriber of the communication element or of a network being visited by the communication element.

23. A method comprising

obtaining policy information related to traffic steering of data traffic, the policy information including an indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses for steering at least a part of the data traffic, wherein the at least one preferred specific network access is to be used as preferred target for steering a matching part of the data traffic and is related to a home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy including the policy information, and

executing a communication control considering the policy information, wherein the communication control comprises detecting that the specific network access related to the home wireless local area network of the service provider providing the active routing policy is to be preferred for at least a part of a current data traffic,

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the communication control further comprises

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the policy information includes a plurality of network accesses included in a list forming the indication of preference of the specific network access, wherein the other network access is part of the list.

26. The method according to any of claims 23 to 25, wherein the indication of preference of at least one specific network access over other network accesses indicates at least one of the home wireless local area network of a service provider providing an active routing policy, a partner wireless local area network of a provider having a partnership with a provider of the home wireless local area network, and a cellular mobile communication access network, wherein an order of the specific network accesses represents an order of preference.

27. The method according to any of claims 23 to 26, further comprising

obtaining the policy information in the form of a management object of an access network detection and selection function, wherein the indication is defined in or represents a subnode of a routing policy node of the management object.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the indication is included in a flow distribution container related to one of a for-flow-based traffic steering policy, a for- service-based traffic steering policy and a non-seamless wireless local area network offload traffic steering policy.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the indication is included as at least one of

a validity condition in a routing criteria node, and

at least one value defining an access technology in a routing rules node.

30. The method according to any of claims 23 to 29, wherein the method is implemented in a communication element including at least one of a terminal device or user equipment, wherein the policy information is obtained from a communication network control element configured to act as an access network detection and selection function server of the home network of the subscriber of the communication element or of a network being visited by the communication element.

31 . A computer program product for a computer, including software code portions for performing the steps of any of claims 8 to 14 or any of claims 23 to 30 when said product is run on the computer.

32. The computer program product according to claim 31 , wherein

the computer program product includes a computer-readable medium on which said software code portions are stored, and/or

the computer program product is directly loadable into the internal memory of the computer and/or transmittable via a network by means of at least one of upload, download and push procedures.