FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 OF 1970)
AND
THE PATENT RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)
“SYSTEM AND METHOD OF AUTOMATIC WI-FI OFFLOAD”
We, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, an Indian National, of, 101, Saffron, Nr. Centre Point, Panchwati 5 Rasta, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad-380006, Gujarat, India.
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless network and more particularly to automatic Wi-Fi offload procedure in a heterogeneous cellular network to offload consumption of cellular data/voice of a user equipment to a Wi-Fi AP associated a target cell-ID, and discovering and learning of Cell IDs under which network operator’s Wi-Fi coverage is present.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
The following description of the related art is intended to provide background information pertaining to the field of the disclosure. This section may include certain aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section is used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and not as admissions of the prior art.
In a traditional cellular deployment, suitable powered macrocells are being deployed to cover sufficiently large areas. However, this macrocells only deployment, generally suffers from quick capacity degradation as the number of user equipment (UE) operating in the macrocells coverage areas increase. Therefore, operators are now reinforcing their macrocells deployment with one or multiple low powered small cellular cells (generally termed as Femto/Pico/Micro cells) placed at multiple strategic locations within one or more macro coverage areas. This kind of reinforced cellular network is generally termed as Heterogeneous network, in short, HetNet. For a typical HetNet, strategic locations for small cells generally include areas with a high density of users, such as shopping malls, airports, railway/bus stations, colleges, etc. Also, these locations might include an area with dead-spots, or areas with low macro signal strength, such as indoor establishments or peripheral locations of a macro coverage area. Reinforced with small cells placed at multiple strategic locations as described above, Heterogeneous Networks not only provide the increased mobile

data capacity but also provide better mobile coverage, thereby enhancing the overall user’s mobile broadband experience.
Also, in recent years, Wi-Fi technology based on IEEE 802.11 standards has also seen tremendous growth and commercialization. Almost all available UE (user equipment) with cellular capability support have now Wi-Fi capability by default in order to connect to Wi-Fi networks operating in either of the unlicensed frequency bands, 2.4 GHz, or 5 GHz. The fact, therefore, is also motivating cellular operators to use ubiquitous and cost-effective Wi-Fi technology in pursuing their HetNet strategy. Many operators are now deploying low powered Wi-Fi cells along with cellular small cells at multiple strategic locations identified for a HetNet. Further, for ease of maintenance and provision, few operators/network-operators are also using Wi-Fi integrated versions of small cellular cells, wherein a Wi-Fi and cellular small cell technology are made available on common equipment.
Furthermore, an exemplary case of a typical heterogeneous network (HetNet) is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 indicates a heterogeneous network comprising of macro base station (1) providing a wide area coverage in a macro cell (2) to serve various users. Further, within the macro cell (2), several low power nodes are employed in service areas having a higher density of users requiring high data rates. Examples of such low power nodes comprise micro cells/base station (3). Also, micro cell integrated with Wi-Fi radio (4) is also used widely to provide multi-technology hotspot capacity/coverage goals. The operators may also deploy independent & cost-effective Wi-Fi Access points (5) in hotspot areas to offload cellular load, and to meet capacity/coverage requirements of users. Further, in the heterogeneous network, as depicted in the Figure 1, the macro base station (1) coverage could be used for wide-area overlay mobility coverage, while the micro base stations along with Wi-Fi Access points (3, 4, and 5) coverage could be used for a mobile capacity upgrade.
Furthermore, an Access Network Detection and Selection Function (ANDSF) is defined by 3GPP for autonomous LTE/Cellular Network to WLAN (and vice versa) data/voice offload. The client-server architecture of the ANDSF is aimed to realize

seamless Wi-Fi offload for improving customer experience through connection with a good quality Wi-Fi and at the same time as an effective tool for decongestion of operator LTE/Cellular network. Also, the ANDSF provides functionality to operators to define centralized policies for offloading to operator-preferred network connections. The ANDSF server assists the user equipment (UE) to discover operator Wi-Fi networks through an ANDSF client residing on it. The ANDSF client automatically enables a mobile user’s data and voice to be offloaded from LTE/Cellular Network to Wi-Fi and vice-versa based on these defined policies.
Further, a typical policy defined at the server has a list of access technology type for e.g. Wi-Fi, preferred Wi-Fi radio access identifier – the Service Set Identifier (SSID) which is simply the name of the Wi-Fi network and list of mobile operator network cell IDs as a possible source of Wi-Fi offload destination. The ANDSF client makes use of background Wi-Fi scans from an Operating System (OS) of the user device and takes a decision to automatically offload on policy preferred SSID if in an acceptable range. Also, as an alternative, the ANDSF client can periodically check if the user device is in the expected network Cell ID coverage, turns ON Wi-Fi on the user device, and attempts to connect to preferred SSID if in an acceptable range.
Also, currently there are some known ANDSF solutions available, but these currently known solutions have various limitations that make them unfit in certain deployment scenarios. For instance, some of the currently known solutions relate to an enhancement to the access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) with a cell-type management object (“MO”) based on a policy, wherein the policy may include network selection criteria based upon a cell-type and the cell-type may be a small cell cell-type, a macro cell cell-type, or a multi-standard metro cell (“MSMC) cell-type. Such 3GPP based currently known ANDSF solutions comprises of an ANDSF server, which provides ANDSF MO policy to the user device for enabling an ANDSF client to take radio access technology (RAT) offload decisions based on different criteria defined in the MO policy. Also, some other known solutions describe connection with an access point, detecting location of

the access point, detecting accuracy of the detected location of the access point, and in response to detecting the detected location of the access point to be more accurate than an earlier stored location of the access point, updating the detected location to a location database of an apparatus. Yet another known solutions describe automatic learning of Wi-Fi neighbours and network characteristics by monitoring network neighbourhood for a non-cellular access point. Such currently known solutions encompasses use of information passed on by a user equipment (UE) to different network nodes like ANDSF Server, Wi-Fi Controller, or RAN, in order to dynamically create policies such as location-based policies or a network neighbourhood map, to identify access point (AP) proximity or to associate Wi-Fi AP with RAN cell for optimizing mobility. In general, all the above mentioned prior known solution have at least a limitation of not providing an efficient and effective solution to the problem of dynamically identifying Cell IDs from where Wi-Fi access points are reachable, for automatic offloading of a network traffic to a Wi-Fi access point, discovering and learning user’s cellular location to increase the likelihood for automatic Wi-Fi offload on operator network and enhancing customer experience in the heterogeneous network.
Also, currently there is no solution that can dynamically discover service operator Wi-Fi access network in a UE’s vicinity and select a preferred Wi-Fi access network based on dynamically defined policies, in an event where at least one of a location scanning and a background Wi-Fi scanning is in Off state at the UE. More specifically, for an Operating System (OS) to receive Wi-Fi scans in background, there is an option in smart phones/UEs to turn on background scanning even when a Wi-Fi button is turned off (Provided that location of the UE is turned on). While the background scanning option is turned on by default, users of the UEs have an option on user interface to turn it off. Hence in this case (i.e. when the location and/or background scanning is off), the OS application of the UE does not receive the Wi-Fi scans. For example, in some mobile devices/UEs, if the user turns off location, the operating system cannot obtain Wi-Fi scans even if the user has Wi-Fi turned ON. Hence it is necessary that the location on the UE must be turned on for any application to receive Wi-Fi scan information. However, most of the users

tend to switch off the location and turn it on only when they require to access location based applications. Therefore in the above cases there is a requirement to provide an efficient and effective Wi-Fi offload solutions to offload a network traffic of the user device to the network operator’s Wi-Fi AP.
Hence, there is a need for a novel system and method for automatic Wi-Fi offload based on an identification of cell-IDs from where Wi-Fi access points are reachable when location/background scanning is off at a UE to enhance an opportunity for automatic Wi-Fi offload on Cellular and Wi-Fi networks. Furthermore, there is also a requirement for discovering and learning of new Cell IDs under which an operator Wi-Fi coverage is present, for discovering and learning user’s cellular location for increasing the likelihood for automatic Wi-Fi offload on the operator network and enhancing customer experience.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the present invention in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In order to overcome at least some of the drawbacks mentioned in the previous section and those otherwise known to persons skilled in the art, an object of the present invention is to provide a system and method of automatic Wi-Fi offload based on an identification of a target cell-ID. Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a novel method to identify Cell IDs from where Wi-Fi access points are reachable, for discovering and learning user’s cellular location for increasing likelihood for automatic Wi-Fi offload on operator network and enhancing customer experience. Also an object of the present disclosure is to provide a learning-based method, where an ANDSF client automatically reports a Cell ID of a cellular network when it is successfully offloaded and connected to operator managed, learned/collaborated SSID. Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a solution to maximize a Wi-Fi offload opportunity in

operator network even when a user has switched off a location or background scanning option of a user device, by falling back to Cell ID based evaluation for Wi-Fi offload. Also, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a novel mechanism to improve probability of Wi-Fi offload to user’s preferred network for providing data/voice offload. Another object of the present disclosure is to increase Wi-Fi offload during peak consumption hours for offloading LTE/cellular network traffic to Wi-Fi. Further, an another object of the present disclosure is to use service operator SSIDs configured on enterprise Wi-Fi APs with the help of Cell IDs in outdoor locations like Bus Stops, Malls, Schools, and Colleges etc. Another object of the present disclosure is to use service operator SSIDs on standalone Wi-Fi Access points to offload cellular network traffic during day time and night hours, when most of the users are at home with the help of Cell IDs. One other object of the present disclosure is to provide a solution that can dynamically discover service operator’s Wi-Fi access network with the help of Cell IDs in the vicinity of the user device, and select a preferred Wi-Fi access network based on dynamic policies. Also an object of the present disclosure is to provide solution that uses a learning-based method, where an ANDSF client automatically connects to SSIDs with the help of Cell IDs. Another object of the present disclosure is to provide solution that maximizes a Wi-Fi offload opportunity in operator network by evaluating Wi-Fi offload criteria based on both managed SSID defined in ANDSF policy as well as the SSIDs identified by learning method with the help of Cell IDs. Another object of the present disclosure is to provide an efficient and effective novel mechanism of offloading in heterogeneous networks with the help of Cell IDs. Also, an object of the present disclosure is to provide users with an enhanced experience in high density areas, such as shopping malls, airports, railway/bus stations, colleges, etc. situated within a Hetnet coverage area with the help of Cell IDs. Further, an object of the present disclosure is to provide coverage in area with dead-spots, or areas with low macro signal strength, such as indoor establishments or peripheral locations within a Hetnet coverage area with the help of Cell IDs. Also, an object of the present disclosure is to provide users with features and ability to receive seamless services simultaneously or sequentially

consequently without any latency and call drops. Another object of the present disclosure is to provide features and ability to handle high volume calls and sessions concurrently. Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a method that can be used across vendors in a Heterogeneous Network.
In order to achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present invention provides a method and system of automatic Wi-Fi offload.
An aspect of the present invention relates to a method of automatic Wi-Fi offload. The method comprises transmitting, by a transceiver unit to an ANDSF policy server via an ANDSF client installed at a user device, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) detail associated with the user device. The method thereafter comprises receiving, by the transceiver unit via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server, an ANDSF policy comprising of at least a list of Cell IDs, based on the PLMN detail. Further the method encompasses identifying, by an identification unit at the user device, one of an On state and an Off state of at least one of a location capturing unit and a background scanning unit. The method thereafter comprises matching, by a processing unit at the user device, a serving cell ID of the user device with one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs based on at least one of an event when: the Location capturing unit is in the Off state while the background scanning unit is in one of the On state and Off state, and the background scanning unit is in the Off state. Thereafter the method comprises identifying, by the identification unit at the user device, the serving cell ID as a target cell-ID based on a successful matching of the serving cell ID of the user device with a cell ID present in the list of Cell IDs, wherein the target cell-ID is associated with a target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP). The method further comprises automatically offloading, by the processing unit, a network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) based on the identification of the target cell-ID.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a system for automatic Wi-Fi offload. The system comprises a transceiver unit, configured to transmit, to an ANDSF policy server via an ANDSF client installed at a user device, a Public Land

Mobile Network (PLMN) detail associated with the user device. The transceiver unit is further configured to receive, via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server, an ANDSF policy comprising of at least a list of Cell IDs, based on the PLMN detail. The system further comprises an identification unit, configured to identify at the user device, one of an On state and an Off state of at least one of a location capturing unit and a background scanning unit. Also, the system comprises a processing unit, configured to match at the user device, a serving cell ID of the user device with one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs based on at least one of an event when: the Location capturing unit is in the Off state while the background scanning unit is in one of the On state and Off state, and the background scanning unit is in the Off state. Further, the identification unit is configured to identify at the user device, the serving cell ID as a target cell-ID based on a successful matching of the serving cell ID of the user device with a cell ID present in the list of Cell IDs, wherein the target cell-ID is associated with a target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP). Also, the processing unit is further configured to automatically offload, a network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) based on the identification of the target cell-ID.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Some drawings may indicate the components using block diagrams and may not represent the internal circuitry of each component. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that disclosure of such drawings includes disclosure of electrical components, electronic components or circuitry commonly used to implement such components.
Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary case of a typical heterogeneous network (HetNet) [100].

Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram indicating a user device comprising a system, connected to an ANDSF server, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a user device, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram illustrating an implementation of an interconnection between a user device comprising a system, an ANDSF policy server, a push notification server, a cellular/Wi-Fi converged platform and an ANDSF analytics and quality server, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Figure 4(a) illustrates an exemplary diagram of ANDSF ISMP policy, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Figure 4(b) illustrates an exemplary diagram an E-UTRAN Cell Global Identification (ECGI), in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system [500], for automatic Wi-Fi offload, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Figure 6 illustrates an exemplary method flow diagram, depicting a method [600] of automatic Wi-Fi offload, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram, depicting an instance implementation of the process of automatic Wi-Fi offload, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the disclosure.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not address any of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above.
The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth.
Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method,

a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
The term “machine-readable storage medium” or “computer-readable storage medium” includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other mediums capable of storing, containing, or carrying instruction(s) and/or data. A machine-readable medium may include a non-transitory medium in which data can be stored and that does not include carrier waves and/or transitory electronic signals propagating wirelessly or over wired connections. Examples of a non-transitory medium may include, but are not limited to, a magnetic disk or tape, optical storage media such as compact disk (CD) or digital versatile disk (DVD), flash memory, memory or memory devices. A computer-program product may include code and/or machine-executable instructions that may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.
Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks (e.g., a computer-program product) may be stored in a machine-readable medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks.
The word “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or

design described herein as “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive—in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as an open transition word—without precluding any additional or other elements.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
The term "data" as used herein means any indicia, signals, marks, symbols, domains, symbol sets, representations, and any other physical form or forms representing information, whether permanent or temporary, whether visible, audible, acoustic, electric, magnetic, electromagnetic or otherwise manifested.

The term "data" as used to represent predetermined information in one physical form shall be deemed to encompass any and all representations of corresponding information in a different physical form or forms.
The terms "reading" and "read" as used herein mean a process or processes that serve to recover data that has been added to, encoded in, combined with or embedded in, media data.
The terms "first", "second", "primary" and "secondary" are used to distinguish one element, set, data, object, step, process, function, activity or thing from another, and are not used to designate relative position, or arrangement in time or relative importance, unless otherwise stated explicitly. The terms "coupled", "coupled to", and "coupled with" as used herein each mean a relationship between or among two or more devices, apparatus, files, circuits, elements, functions, operations, processes, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, and/or means, constituting any one or more of (a) a connection, whether direct or through one or more other devices, apparatus, files, circuits, elements, functions, operations, processes, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, or means, (b) a communications relationship, whether direct or through one or more other devices, apparatus, files, circuits, elements, functions, operations, processes, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, or means, and/or (c) a functional relationship in which the operation of any one or more devices, apparatus, files, circuits, elements, functions, operations, processes, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, or means depends, in whole or in part, on the operation of any one or more others thereof.
The terms "communicate," and "communicating'' and as used herein include both conveying data from a source to a destination, and delivering data to a communications medium, system, channel, network, device, wire, cable, fiber, circuit and/or link to be conveyed to a destination and the term "communication" as used herein means data so conveyed or delivered. The term "communications"

as used herein includes one or more of a communications medium, system, channel, network, device, wire, cable, fiber, circuit and link.
Moreover, terms like “user equipment” (UE), “electronic device”, “mobile station”, “user device”, “mobile subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “smartphone,” “smart computing device,” “handset,” “device”, and similar terminology refers to any electrical, electronic, electro-mechanical equipment or a combination of one or more of the above devices. Smart computing devices may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, smart phone, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, pager, laptop, a general-purpose computer, desktop, personal digital assistant, tablet computer, mainframe computer, or any other computing device as may be obvious to a person skilled in the art. In general, a smart computing device is a digital, user configured, computer networked device that can operate autonomously. A smart computing device is one of the appropriate systems for storing data and other private/sensitive information. The said device operates at all the seven levels of ISO reference model, but the primary function is related to the application layer along with the network, session and presentation layer with any additional features of a touch screen, apps ecosystem, physical and biometric security, etc. Further, a ‘smartphone’ is one type of “smart computing device” that refers to the mobility wireless cellular connectivity device that allows end-users to use services on 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G and the like mobile broadband Internet connections with an advanced mobile operating system which combines features of a personal computer operating system with other features useful for mobile or handheld use. These smartphones can access the Internet, have a touchscreen user interface, can run third-party apps including the capability of hosting online applications, music players and are camera phones possessing high-speed mobile broadband 4G LTE internet with video calling, hotspot functionality, motion sensors, mobile payment mechanisms and enhanced security features with alarm and alert in emergencies. Mobility devices may include smartphones, wearable devices, smart-watches, smart bands, wearable augmented devices, etc. For the sake of specificity, we will refer to the mobility device to both feature phone and

smartphones in this disclosure but will not limit the scope of the disclosure and may extend to any mobility device in implementing the technical solutions. Furthermore, the foregoing terms are utilized interchangeably in the subject specification and related drawings.
As used herein, a “processor” or “processing unit” includes one or more processors, wherein processor refers to any logic circuitry for processing instructions. A processor may be a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, a low-end microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits, Field Programmable Gate Array circuits, any other type of integrated circuits, etc. Furthermore, the term "processor" as used herein includes, but is not limited to one or more computers, hardwired circuits, signal modifying devices and systems, devices and machines for controlling systems, central processing units, programmable devices and systems, systems on a chip, systems comprised of discrete elements and/or circuits, state machines, virtual machines, data processors, processing facilities and combinations of any of the foregoing. The processor may perform signal coding data processing, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the working of the system according to the present disclosure. More specifically, the processor or processing unit is a hardware processor. The term "processor" as used herein means processing devices, apparatus, programs, circuits, components, systems and subsystems, whether implemented in hardware, tangibly-embodied software or both, and whether or not programmable.
As used herein, “memory unit”, “storage unit” and/or “memory” refers to a machine or computer-readable medium including any mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a computer or similar machine. For example, a computer-readable medium includes read-only memory (“ROM”), random access memory (“RAM”), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices or other types of machine-accessible storage media. The memory

unit as used herein is configured to retain data, whether on a temporary or permanent basis, and to provide such retained data to various units to perform their respective functions.
As used herein the “Transceiver Unit” may include but not limited to a transmitter to transmit data to one or more destinations and a receiver to receive data from one or more sources. Further, the Transceiver Unit may include any other similar unit obvious to a person skilled in the art, to implement the features of the present invention. The transceiver unit may convert data or information to signals and vice versa for the purpose of transmitting and receiving respectively.
As disclosed in the background section, the existing technologies have many limitations and in order to overcome at least some of the limitations of the prior known solutions, the present disclosure provides a solution of automatic Wi-Fi offload in an event where a location and/or background scanning option of a user device is switched off, wherein the automatic Wi-Fi offload is based on an identification of a target cell-ID that is associated with a network operator’s Wi-Fi coverage. Also, the solution disclosed in the current disclosure is an enhancement to the ANDSF but is based on an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based method to identify Cell IDs from where Wi-Fi access points are reachable, for discovering and learning user’s cellular location for increasing the likelihood for automatic Wi-Fi offload on operator network and enhancing customer experience in a heterogeneous network. Also, the current solution is related to a learning-based method, where an ANDSF client automatically reports a Cell ID of a cellular network when the user device is successfully offloaded and connected to operator managed, learned/collaborated SSID, and maximizes the Wi-Fi offload opportunity in the operator network even when the location and/or the background scanning option is switched off at the user device by falling back to Cell ID based evaluation for Wi-Fi offload.
Furthermore, the present solution in order to provide a Cell ID based fall-back mechanism firstly encompasses communicating PLMN details associated with a user device to an ANDSF server via an ANDSF client based on a registration and

authentication of the user device with the ANDSF policy server (i.e. ANDSF server). Thereafter, an ANDSF policy comprising of a list of Cell IDs based on reported PLMN details is received at the user device via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF server, wherein the list of Cell IDs is received along with details like Wi-Fi SSIDs for connection, RSSI, Quality check thresholds and Analytic profile upload configuration. Once, the ANDSF policy is received at the user device via the ANDSF client, if a preferred SSID scan is received, a WLAN offload decision is made based on a signal threshold parameter RSSI received in the ANDSF policy. More specifically, in an event the signal conditions are met, a Wi-Fi option is then automatically switched on via the ANDSF client on the user device and the user device is then connect to the Wi-Fi AP. In an implementation where the background scanning (to search available SSIDs) is turned off but location scanning is turned on at the user device, the ANDSF client relies on matching a current cell ID (i.e. Cell ID which the user device is latched to) with the ANDSF policy received from the ANDSF server. If the current Cell ID is present in the list of cell IDs received in the ANDSF policy, a Wi-Fi option is then automatically switched on via the ANDSF client on the user device to further check for automatic Wi-Fi offloading, a signal strength of preferred (managed or learned) SSID if available. Also, in an implementation where both background scanning and location scanning is turned off at the user device, then a blind offload mechanism is periodically opted via the ANDSF client to the preferred (managed or learned) SSID if available to increase the likelihood of connection to operator Wi-Fi AP.
Furthermore, in an implementation in addition to Wi-Fi signal thresholds, Quality of Experience (QoE) is also measured via the ANDSF client to take appropriate offload decisions. For instance, while on operator Wi-Fi, the ANDSF client measures backhaul quality with a QoE server in the operator network. If the quality conditions become poor, the ANDSF client decides to disconnect and turn off Wi-Fi and connect to LTE/cellular network. In an implementation, the ANDSF client also uploads certain Analytics KPIs on an Analytics server which can be used to monitor a subscriber base with the ANDSF client. In an implementation the Analytics server is integrated with a backend internal sever – the cellular/Wi-Fi

converged platform which provides inputs about dynamic change in Cell IDs, change in cellular cell-level congestion and/or Wi-Fi AP congestion. Furthermore, dynamic provisioning of information is received from the ANDSF server at the ANDSF client through either PUSH method – ANDSF server initiated session or PULL method – ANDSF client initiated session.
Therefore, the present disclosure provides an efficient and effective solution of automatic Wi-Fi offload. The present disclosure provides a technical advancement over the currently known solutions at least by providing a solution to fall back to a Cell ID based Wi-Fi enablement and connection when a location and/or a background Wi-Fi scanning is switched off at a user device. The present solution also provides a technical advancement over the currently known solutions by providing a solution to capture a Cell ID information when a user device is offloaded to a preferred SSID (managed/learned/collaborated), wherein said capturing is based on at least one of a Cell ID change event and a periodic QoE evaluation. Also, the present solution provides a technical advancement over the currently known solutions by providing a learning based identification of a new Cell ID by comparing a captured Cell ID with the Cell IDs present in ANDSF MO list (i.e. the list of cell IDs received in the ANDSF policy). Furthermore, the present solution also provides a technical advancement over the currently known solutions by providing a solution of incorporation of the new Cell IDs into the list of cell IDs.
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present disclosure.
Referring to Figure 2, an exemplary block diagram [200] indicating a user device [202] comprising of a system [500], connected to an ANDSF server [204] is shown, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention is shown.
The block diagram [200] as provided in Figure 2 indicates, that the user device [202] is connected to the ANDSF server [204], to implement various functions of

the present invention. The user device [202] refers to a mobility wireless cellular connectivity device having a Wi-Fi capability on both 2.4 GHz and 5GHz unlicensed bands (via on board 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios and corresponding chipsets respectively) in addition to a cellular capability. The user device [202] may have an advanced mobile operating system which further combines features of a personal computer operating system with other features useful for mobile or handheld use. The user device [202] can access the Internet, and usually have a touchscreen user interface, also the user device [202] can run third-party applications including the capability of hosting online applications, music players etc. Furthermore, the user device [202] may also be a camera smartphone device, capable of possessing high¬speed mobile broadband internet with video calling functionality, hotspot functionality, motion sensors, mobile-payment mechanisms, enhanced security features with alarm and alert in emergencies and other similar functionalities. Also, mobility devices may include smartphones, wearable devices, smart-watches, smart bands, wearable augmented devices, etc. Furthermore, an exemplary block diagram of the user device [202] is shown in Figure 3, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In Figure 3, the user device [202] is depicted to have a Wi-Fi capability on both 2.4 GHz and 5GHz unlicensed bands (via on-board 2.4 GHz [302] and 5 GHz [304] Wi-Fi radios and corresponding chipsets respectively) in addition to a cellular capability consisting of a cellular stack [306] and a cellular radio [308]. The cellular stack [306] further comprises a cellular event module [306 A] and a cellular measurement module [306 B]. Further, the UE [202] comprises a ‘Wi-Fi measurement’ module [310] as a part of a Wi-Fi stack [312], to carry out one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) measurements on the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz radios. Also, the UE [202] comprises a Wi-Fi Event module [314] as a part of the Wi-Fi stack [312], configured to trigger one or more Wi-Fi attach/detach events based on one or more measurements reports from the ‘Wi-Fi measurement’ module [310]. The attach events and the detach events are triggered automatically from the user device [202] via an ANDSF client. Further, Cellular stack [306] may have the capability to communicate with the Wi-Fi measurement module [310] and the Wi-

Fi Event module [314]. The UE [202] also comprises a processor [316], and a memory [318] for driving one or more modules of the user equipment [202] to perform their respective function. Also, in Fig. 3 only a few units are shown, however, the user device/UE [202] may comprise multiple such units or the user device [202] may comprise any such numbers of said units as required to implement the features of the present disclosure.
Furthermore, the ANDSF server [204] depicted in the Figure 2 is installed at a service provider’s network entity. Also, in an instance, the ANDSF server [204] may further comprise an ANDSF Analytics and Quality Server, an ANDSF Policy server, a notification server such as GCM/FCM/APNS Push Notification Server. Also, the Figure 2 depicts that the user device [202] comprises at least one system [500] to provide a solution of automatic Wi-Fi offloading of a network traffic of the user device based on an identification of a target cell-ID associated with a target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP). More specifically, the at least one system [500] is configured to provide a novel Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solution of discovering and learning Cell IDs under which operator Wi-Fi coverage is present and a Cell ID based fall-back mechanism when a location and/or background Wi-Fi scanning is off at the user device to enhance opportunity for automatic Wi-Fi offload on the target Wi-Fi Access Point. The at least one system [500] receives at the user device [202], from the ANDSF server [204], an ANDSF policy comprising at least of a list of cell IDs. The at least one system [500] is also configured to learn an information related to a new cell ID that is identified based on an absence of said new cell ID in the list of cell IDs present in the ANDSF policy, wherein the information of the new cell ID is further used to update the list of cell IDs. Also, in Fig. 2 only a few units are shown, however, there may be multiple such units or there may be any such numbers of said units as required to implement the features of the present disclosure.
Referring to Figure 4, an exemplary block diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of an interconnection between a user device [202] comprising of a system [500], an ANDSF policy server [402], a push notification server [404], a

cellular/Wi-Fi converged platform [408] and an ANDSF analytics and quality server [406] is shown, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The ANDSF policy server [402], the push notification server [404], the cellular/Wi-Fi converged platform [408] and the ANDSF analytics and quality server [406] may be a part of the ANDSF sever [204] configured at a service provider’s network entity. The ANDSF analytics and quality server [406] further comprises a QoE unit [406 A] and an analytics unit [406 B]. Also, as indicated in the Figure 4, the user device [202] comprising the system [500] is connected to the ANDSF policy server [402], the push notification server [404], the cellular/Wi-Fi converged platform [408] and the ANDSF analytics and quality server [406].
Further, in an instance when an ANDSF client is initiated at the user device [202], one or more unique credentials of the user device [202] for registration and authentication with the ANDSF policy server [402], are transmitted from the user device to the ANDSF policy server [402]. Further, if in an event the registration and authentication are successful, the system [500] via the ANDSF client, fetches one or more public land mobile network (PLMN) details from the user device [102] and thereafter communicates these PLMN details to the ANDSF policy server [402], for fetching one or more policies. Thereafter, the system [500] receives via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server unit [402], the one or more policies (ANDSF policies) comprising of a list of cell IDs based on the reported PLMN details, wherein the list of cell IDs is received along with details like Wi-Fi SSIDs for connection, RSSI and Quality check thresholds and Analytic profile upload configuration. In an example, an ANDSF ISMP policy comprises a list of access technology type for e.g. Wi-Fi, preferred Wi-Fi radio access identifier – a Service Set Identifier (SSID) which is simply a name of a Wi-Fi network and list of mobile operator network cell IDs (EUTRA_CI) as a possible source of Wi-Fi offload destination as provided in the Figure 4(a). Therefore, the Figure 4(a) illustrates an exemplary diagram of the ANDSF ISMP policy, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

Also, in an implementation, the current disclosure is extended to include 5G/4G/3G/2G to identify the Cell IDs with the below identifiers.
• AMF Identifier (AMF ID): It is used to identify an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) in 5G
• NR Cell Global Identifier (NCGI): It is used to identify NR cells globally. The NCGI is constructed from a PLMN identity a cell belongs to and a NR Cell Identity (NCI) of the cell in 5G. It can be assumed equivalent to CGI in LTE system
• ECGI: PLMN-ID + ECI in in 4G
• CGI: PLMN-ID + LA code + CID in 3G/2G.
As per 3GPP TS 23.003, Section 19.6, an E-UTRAN Cell Global Identification (ECGI) is composed of a concatenation of a PLMN Identifier (PLMN-Id) and an E-UTRAN Cell Identity (ECI), where ECI is a fixed length of 28 bits as shown in Figure 4(b). The Figure 4(b) therefore illustrates an exemplary diagram the E-UTRAN Cell Global Identification (ECGI), in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Furthermore, the system [500] encompasses the use of the one or more policies for providing automatic Wi-Fi offloading and for leaning new cell IDs to update the list of cell IDs, in accordance with the implementation of the features of the present invention. Also, in an implementation the system [500] may be configured to use via the ANDSF client, an authentication mechanism that can either be EAP-AKA based in case of an enterprise managed Wi-Fi AP or can typically be WPA2 based in case of a user saved preferred SSID.
Also, in addition to Wi-Fi signal thresholds, the system [500] also monitors Quality of Experience (QoE) via the ANDSF client, to take appropriate offload decisions. While on an operator Wi-Fi, the system [500] is configured to measure backhaul quality with the QoE unit [406 A] via the ANDSF client, in operator network/parent

service provider’s network. Also, in an event, if the quality conditions become poor, the system [500] disconnects a Wi-Fi connection by turning off a Wi-Fi module at the user device [202], and thereafter the system [500] connects the user device [202] to an LTE/cellular network. In an implementation, the system [500] via the ANDSF client also uploads certain Analytics KPIs on an Analytics unit [406 B] which can be used to monitor a subscriber base. The Analytics unit [406 B] can also be integrated with a backend internal sever – the cellular/Wi-Fi converged platform [408] connected to cellular/WiFi operator network. The cellular/Wi-Fi converged platform [408] provides inputs about dynamic change in Cell IDs, change in cellular cell-level congestion and/or Wi-Fi AP congestion. Furthermore, the push notification server [404], such as GCM/FCM/APNS server, is integrated with ANDSF policy server [402] and is configured to push one or more silent notifications to the system [500] via the ANDSF client, to dynamically update policies (i.e. ANDSF policies) for the ANDSF client and/or the system [500].
Referring to FIG. 5, an exemplary block diagram of a system [500], for automatic Wi-Fi offload is shown, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
The system [500] comprises at least one transceiver unit [502], at least one identification unit [504], at least one processing unit [506] and at least one storage unit [508]. In an implementation, the system [500] resides in a user device and is connected to a server unit (i.e. an ANDSF server) residing at a service provider’s network entity. Also, all of the components/ units of the system [500] are assumed to be connected to each other unless otherwise indicated below. Also, in Fig. 5 only a few units are shown, however, the system [500] may comprise multiple such units or the system [500] may comprise any such numbers of said units, as required to implement the features of the present disclosure.
The system [500] is configured for automatic Wi-Fi offloading of a network traffic of the user device to a target Wi-Fi AP, with the help of the interconnection between the components/units of the system [500].

The transceiver unit [502] of the system [500] is firstly configured to transmit, to an ANDSF policy server (the ANDSF policy server is a part of the server unit/ANDSF server) via an ANDSF client installed at a user device, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) detail associated with the user device. Once the PLMN detail is transmitted to the ANDSF policy server, the transceiver unit [502] is further configured to receive, via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server, an ANDSF policy comprising of at least a list of Cell IDs, based on the PLMN detail. Also, the transceiver unit [502] is configured to receive via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server, details such as including but not limited to one or more Wi-Fi SSIDs, one or more received signal strength indicators (RSSIs), one or more quality check thresholds and one or more analytic profile upload configurations, along with the list of Cell IDs.
The transceiver unit [502] of the system is connected to the identification unit [504], the processing unit [506] and the storage unit [508]. Once the transceiver unit [502] receives the ANDSF policy comprising of details such as the list of Cell IDs, the one or more Wi-Fi SSIDs, the one or more received signal strength indicators (RSSIs), the one or more quality check thresholds and the one or more analytic profile upload configurations etc., the same is provided by the transceiver unit [502] to the identification unit [504]. Further the identification unit [504] is configured to identify at the user device, one of an on state and an off state of at least one of a location capturing unit and a background scanning unit. More specifically, in order to offload the network traffic (such as cellular data and/or voice traffic) to a network operator’s Wi-Fi AP, the location capturing unit (such as GPS module) of the user device should be in power on state as if the location capturing unit is in off state an operating system of the user device cannot obtain Wi-Fi scans even if a Wi-Fi module (or the background scanning unit configured to receive Wi-Fi scans) of the user device is in power on state. Therefore, the identification unit [504] is configured to identify at the user device, one of the on state and the off state of the location capturing unit. Also, in order to offload the network traffic to a Wi-Fi AP, the background scanning unit (i.e. the unit configured to receive Wi-Fi scans) of the user device should be in power on state as if the

background scanning unit is in off state the operating system of the user device cannot obtain Wi-Fi scans. Therefore, the identification unit [504] is also configured to identify at the user device, one of the on state and the off state of the background scanning unit.
Further, the identification unit [504] is connected to the processing unit [506] and the storage unit [508]. Once the identification unit [504] identifies one of the on state and the off state of at least one of the location capturing unit and the background scanning unit, the details of such on an/or off states are provided to the processing unit [506] by the identification unit [504]. The processing unit [506] is thereafter configured to match at the user device, a serving cell ID of the user device with one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs based on at least one of an event when: the location capturing unit is in the off state while the background scanning unit is in one of the On state and Off state, and the background scanning unit is in the off state. More specifically, in at least one of the event when the location capturing unit is in the off state (where at the same time the background scanning unit is in one of the On and Off state), and the background scanning unit is in the off state, no Wi-Fi scans will be received at the user device. Therefore, the processing unit [506] in the events where the location capturing unit is in the off state and/or the background scanning unit is in the off state, is configured to match at the user device, the serving cell ID of the user device with the one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs. In an example, if a GPS unit of a user device is identified in an off state. Also, if in the given example a serving cell ID of the user device is ‘AB1’ and a list of cell IDs received in an ANDSF policy encompasses 3 cell IDs ‘C2A’, ‘AZ9’ and ‘AB1’. The processing unit [506] in the given example is configured to match the serving cell ID ‘AB1’ of the user device with the cell IDs ‘C2A’, ‘AZ9’ and ‘AB1’.
Once the serving cell ID of the user device is matched with the one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs, the matching results are provided by the processing unit [506] to the identification unit [504]. The identification unit [504] thereafter identifies one of a successful matching and an unsuccessful matching

of the serving cell ID of the user device with the one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs based on the matching results. Also, the identification unit [504] is further configured to identify at the user device, the serving cell ID as a target cell-ID based on the successful matching of the serving cell ID of the user device with a cell ID present in the list of Cell IDs, wherein the target cell-ID is associated with a target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP). More specifically, as the list of cell IDs is received with the details such as including but not limited to details of Wi-Fi APs associated with the one or more cell IDs, details of the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) is also received along with the target cell-ID in the ANDSF policy. Further, considering the above example, where the processing unit [506] is configured to match the serving cell ID ‘AB1’ of the user device with the cell IDs ‘C2A’, ‘AZ9’ and ‘AB1’. In the given example based on a successful matching of the serving cell ID ‘AB1’ of the user device with the cell ID ‘AB1’ present in the list of cell IDs, the identification unit [504] is configured to identify at the user device, the serving cell ID ‘AB1’ as a target cell-ID, wherein the target cell-ID ‘AB1’ is associated with a target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP).
Also, the processing unit [506] is further configured to automatically offload, the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) based on the identification of the target cell-ID. Considering the above example, where the serving cell ID ‘AB1’ is identified as the target cell-ID, the processing unit [506] in the given example is further configured to automatically offload, the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) of the target cell ID ‘AB1’ based on the identification of the target cell-ID ‘AB1’. More specifically, in the event when the location capturing unit is in the Off state, the processing unit [506] is configured to perform a blind Wi-Fi offload to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) associated with the target cell-ID, to automatically offload the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi AP. In the given event of powered off state of the location capturing unit, the Wi-Fi module of the user device is firstly switched on when the serving Cell ID of the user device matches with the Cell ID present in the list of cell IDs. Since, no Wi-Fi scans are received at the user device, the blind offload procedure is performed to connect with the target Wi-Fi Access

Point (a preferred SSID) without any RSSI based quality checks. In an implementation when both the background scanning unit and location scanning unit are in off state, the blind offload procedure is periodically performed to the preferred SSID (managed or learned SSID of the target Wi-Fi Access Point) if available to increase the likelihood of connection to operator Wi-Fi AP. Also, in the event when the background scanning unit is in the Off state and the location capturing unit is in On state, the processing unit [506] is further configured to enable a connection with the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) associated with the target cell-ID based on one or more RSSI based quality checks, to automatically offload the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi AP.
Also, in an implementation, the processing unit [506] is further configured to capture at the user device, a cell ID based on the automatic Wi-Fi Offloading, wherein the capturing of said cell ID is further based on at least one of a Cell ID change event, and each periodic QoE (quality of experience) evaluation. More specifically, once the offloading of the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) is successful, the processing unit [506] is further configured to capture at the user device, the cell ID based on the successful offloading, wherein the processing unit [506] is further configured to capture said cell ID based on at least one of the cell change event associated with the user device and at every periodic QoE evaluation.
Once the cell ID is captured, the same is provided to the identification unit [504] by the processing unit [506]. Further, the identification unit [504] is configured to identify at the user device, the captured cell ID as a new cell ID based on an absence of the captured cell ID in the list of cell IDs. For example if a captured cell ID is ‘SS2’ and the same is not identified in the list of the cell IDs received in the ANDSF policy, the identification unit [504] is configured to identify at the user device, the cell ID ‘SS2’ as a new cell ID.
Also, the processing unit [506] is further configured to learn at the user device, the new cell ID. Thereafter, the transceiver unit [502] is further configured to transmit form the user device to an ANDSF Analytics server, one or more details of the new

cell ID. Considering the above example where the ‘SS2’ is identified as the new cell ID, the processing unit [506] in the given example is further configured to learn the new cell ID and once the new cell ID ‘SS2’ is learned at the user device, details of the learned cell ID ‘SS2’ are then provided to the transceiver unit [502] from the processing unit [506]. The transceiver unit [502] is then configured to transmit the details of the learned new cell ID ‘SS2’ form the user device to the ANDSF Analytics server. Further, the one or more details related to the new cell ID are further transmitted to the ANDSF Policy Server from the ANDSF Analytics server and the ANDSF Policy at the ANDSF Policy Server is further updated based on an addition of the one or more details of the new cell ID in the list of cell IDs. More specifically, in an implementation the addition of the one or more details of the new cell ID in the list of cell ID may be done by providing by the ANDSF Analytics server to the ANDSF Policy Server the new Cell ID related information tagged with PLMN information on a periodic basis, wherein at the ANDSF Policy Server the new Cell ID related information may be further tabulated in reported PLMN wise Cell IDs and then merged with the already available list of cell IDs to update the list of cell IDs. Also, in another implementation the addition of the one or more details of the new cell ID in the list of cell ID may be done by firstly sending by the ANDSF Analytics server to a converged platform, the new Cell ID related information tagged with PLMN information. The converged platform thereafter consolidates the list of Cell IDs and sends the updated list of Cell IDs (PLMN wise) to the ANDSF policy server.
Furthermore, the transceiver unit [502] is also configured to receive via the ANDSF client, one of a dynamic and a periodic provisioning of the updated ANDSF Policy (i.e. the ANDSF policy with updated details and list of cell IDs), from the ANDSF server. The dynamic provisioning of the updated ANDSF policy may be passed from the ANDSF policy server to the user device via the ANDSF client through one of a PUSH method (i.e. ANDSF server initiated session), a PULL method (i.e. ANDSF Client initiated session) and a periodic basis when the ANDSF policy is scheduled to get updated.

Referring to Figure 6 an exemplary method flow diagram [600], for automatic Wi-Fi offload is shown, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In an implementation the method is performed by the system [500]. Further, in an implementation, the system [500] may resides in a user device and is connected to a server unit (i.e. an ANDSF server) residing at a service provider’s network entity, to implement the features of the present invention. Also, as shown in Figure 6, the method starts at step [602].
At step [604] the method comprises transmitting, by a transceiver unit [502] to an ANDSF policy server (the ANDSF policy server is a part of the server unit/ANDSF server) via an ANDSF client installed at the user device, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) detail associated with the user device. Once the PLMN detail is transmitted to the ANDSF policy server, the method at step [606] comprises receiving, by the transceiver unit [502] via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server, an ANDSF policy comprising of at least a list of Cell IDs, based on the PLMN detail. Also, the method comprises receiving, by the transceiver unit [502] via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server, details such as including but not limited to one or more Wi-Fi SSIDs, one or more received signal strength indicators (RSSIs), one or more quality check thresholds and one or more analytic profile upload configurations, along with the list of Cell IDs.
Once the transceiver unit [502] receives the ANDSF policy comprising of details such as the list of Cell IDs, the one or more Wi-Fi SSIDs, the one or more received signal strength indicators (RSSIs), the one or more quality check thresholds and the one or more analytic profile upload configurations etc., the method encompasses providing the same by the transceiver unit [502] to an identification unit [504]. Further, at step [608] the method comprises identifying, by the identification unit [504] at the user device, one of an on state and an off state of at least one of a location capturing unit and a background scanning unit. More specifically, in order to offload the network traffic (such as cellular data and/or voice traffic) to a network operator’s Wi-Fi AP, the location capturing unit (such as GPS module) of the user device should be in power on state as if the location

capturing unit is in off state an operating system of the user device cannot obtain Wi-Fi scans even if a Wi-Fi module (or the background scanning unit configured to receive Wi-Fi scans) of the user device is in power on state. Therefore, the method encompasses identifying by the identification unit [504] at the user device, one of the on state and the off state of the location capturing unit. Also, in order to offload the network traffic to a Wi-Fi AP, the background scanning unit (i.e. the unit configured to receive Wi-Fi scans) of the user device should be in power on state as if the background scanning unit is in off state the operating system of the user device cannot obtain Wi-Fi scans. Therefore, the method also encompasses identifying by the identification unit [504] at the user device, one of the on state and the off state of the background scanning unit.
Once the identification unit [504] identifies one of the on state and the off state of at least one of the location capturing unit and the background scanning unit, the details of such on an/or off states are provided to a processing unit [506] by the identification unit [504]. Next, at step [610] the method comprises matching, by the processing unit [506] at the user device, a serving cell ID of the user device with one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs based on at least one of an event when the location capturing unit is in the Off state while the background scanning unit is in one of the On state and Off state, and the background scanning unit is in the Off state. More specifically, in at least one of the event when the location capturing unit is in the off state (and where at the same time the background scanning unit is in one of the On and Off state), and the background scanning unit is in the off state, no Wi-Fi scans will be received at the user device. Therefore, the method in the events where the location capturing unit is in the off state and/or the background scanning unit is in the off state, encompasses matching by the processing unit [506] at the user device, the serving cell ID of the user device with the one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs. In an example, if a Wi-Fi scanning unit (i.e. the background scanning unit) of a user device is identified in an off state. Also, if in the given example a serving cell ID of the user device is ‘9AQ’ and a list of cell IDs received in an ANDSF policy encompasses 4 cell IDs ‘AC1’, ‘Z92’, ‘9AQ’ and ‘B1A’. The method in the given

example encompasses matching by the processing unit [506], the serving cell ID ‘9AQ’ of the user device with the cell IDs ‘AC1’, ‘Z92’, ‘9AQ’ and ‘B1A’.
Once the serving cell ID of the user device is matched with the one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs, the matching results are provided by the processing unit [506] to the identification unit [504]. The method thereafter encompasses identifying by the identification unit [504] one of a successful matching and an unsuccessful matching of the serving cell ID of the user device with the one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs based on the matching results. Thereafter, at step [612] the method comprises identifying, by the identification unit [504] at the user device, the serving cell ID as a target cell-ID based on the successful matching of the serving cell ID of the user device with a cell ID present in the list of Cell IDs, wherein the target cell-ID is associated with a target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP). More specifically, as the list of cell IDs is received with the details such as including but not limited to details of Wi-Fi APs associated with the one or more cell IDs, details of the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) is also received along with the target cell-ID in the ANDSF policy. Further, considering the above example, where the serving cell ID ‘9AQ’ of the user device is matched with the cell IDs ‘AC1’, ‘Z92’, ‘9AQ’ and ‘B1A’. In the given example based on a successful matching of the serving cell ID ‘9AQ’ of the user device with the cell ID ‘9AQ’ present in the list of cell IDs, the method comprises identifying by the identification unit [504] at the user device, the serving cell ID ‘9AQ’ as a target cell-ID, wherein the target cell-ID ‘9AQ’ is associated with a target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP).
Next, at step [614] the method comprises automatically offloading, by the processing unit [506], the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) based on the identification of the target cell-ID. Considering the above example, where the serving cell ID ‘9AQ’ is identified as the target cell-ID, the method in the given example comprises automatically offloading by the processing unit [506], the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) of the target cell ID ‘9AQ’ based on the identification of the

target cell-ID ‘9AQ’. More specifically in the event when the location capturing unit is in the off state, the process of automatically offloading, by the processing unit [506], the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) comprises performing, a blind Wi-Fi offload to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) associated with the target cell-ID. In the given event of powered off state of the location capturing unit, the Wi-Fi module of the user device is firstly switched on when the serving Cell ID of the user device matches with the Cell ID present in the list of cell IDs. Since, no Wi-Fi scans are received at the user device, the blind offload procedure is performed to connect with the target Wi-Fi Access Point (i.e. a preferred SSID) without any RSSI based quality checks. In an implementation when both the background scanning unit and location scanning unit are in off state, the blind offload procedure is periodically performed to the preferred SSID (i.e. managed or learned SSID of the target Wi-Fi Access Point) if available to increase the likelihood of connection to operator Wi-Fi AP. Also, in the event when the background scanning unit is in the Off state and the location capturing unit is in On state, automatically offloading, by the processing unit [506], the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) comprises enabling a connection with the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) associated with the target cell-ID based on one or more RSSI based quality checks.
Also, in an implementation, the method further comprises capturing, by the processing unit [506] at the user device, a cell ID based on the automatic Wi-Fi offloading, wherein the capturing of said cell ID is further based on at least one of a Cell ID change event, and each periodic QoE (quality of experience) evaluation. More specifically, once the offloading of the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) is successful, the method further encompasses capturing by processing unit [506] at the user device, the cell ID based on the successful offloading, wherein said capturing of said cell ID is further based on at least one of the cell change event associated with the user device and at every periodic QoE evaluation.

Once the cell ID is captured, the same is provided to the identification unit [504] by the processing unit [506]. Further, the method comprises identifying by the identification unit [504] at the user device, the captured cell ID as a new cell ID based on an absence of the captured cell ID in the list of cell IDs. For example if a captured cell ID is ‘AAZ’ and the same is not identified in the list of the cell IDs received in the ANDSF policy, the method encompasses identifying by the identification unit [504] at the user device, the cell ID ‘AAZ’ as a new cell ID.
The method thereafter comprises learning, by the processing unit [506] at the user device, the new cell ID. The method thereafter leads to transmitting, by the transceiver unit [502] form the user device to an ANDSF Analytics server, one or more details of the new cell ID. Considering the above example where the cell ID ‘AAZ’ is identified as the new cell ID, the method in the given example encompasses learning by the processing unit [506], the new cell ID. Once the new cell ID ‘AAZ’ is learned at the user device, details of the learned cell ID ‘AAZ’ are then provided to the transceiver unit [502] from the processing unit [506]. The method thereafter comprises transmitting by the transceiver unit [502], the details of the learned new cell ID ‘AAZ’ form the user device to the ANDSF Analytics server. The one or more details related to the new cell ID are further transmitted to the ANDSF Policy Server from the ANDSF Analytics server and the ANDSF Policy at the ANDSF Policy Server is further updated based on an addition of the one or more details of the new cell ID in the list of cell IDs. More specifically, in an implementation the addition of the one or more details of the new cell ID in the list of cell ID may be done by providing by the ANDSF Analytics server to the ANDSF Policy Server the new Cell ID related information tagged with PLMN information on a periodic basis, wherein at the ANDSF Policy Server the new Cell ID related information may be further tabulated in reported PLMN wise Cell IDs and then merged with the already available list of cell IDs to update the list of cell IDs. Also, in another implementation the addition of the one or more details of the new cell ID in the list of cell ID may be done by firstly sending by the ANDSF Analytics server to a converged platform, the new Cell ID related information tagged with PLMN

information. The converged platform thereafter consolidates the list of Cell IDs and sends the updated list of Cell IDs (PLMN wise) to the ANDSF policy server.
Furthermore, the method also comprises receiving at the user device by the transceiver unit [502] via the ANDSF client, one of a dynamic and a periodic provisioning of the updated ANDSF Policy, from the ANDSF server. The dynamic provisioning of the updated ANDSF policy may be passed from the ANDSF policy server to the user device via the ANDSF client through one of a PUSH method (i.e. ANDSF server initiated session), a PULL method (i.e. ANDSF Client initiated session) and a periodic basis when the ANDSF policy is scheduled to get updated.
After automatically offloading the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP), the method terminates at step [616].
Referring to Figure 7 an exemplary flow diagram, depicting an instance implementation of the process of automatic Wi-Fi offload is shown, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Also, as shown in Figure 7, the method starts at step [702].
At step [704] the method comprises identifying if a location capturing unit of a user device is off. In case the location capturing unit is in off state the method leads to step [706], otherwise the method leads to step [708].
Next, the method at step [706] comprises enabling a Wi-Fi module of the user device based on a successful matching of a serving Cell ID of the user device with a Cell ID present in a list of cell IDs received at the user device in an ANDSF policy.
Since the location capturing unit of the user device is off, an ANDSF client at the user device will not receive any Wi-Fi scans, therefore a blind Wi-Fi offload process is initiated at the user device to offload a network traffic of the user device to a preferred SSID (i.e. an SSID associated with a target/serving Wi-Fi AP) without any RSSI based quality checks.
Further, at step [708] the method comprises identifying if a background scanning unit of the user device is in off state, wherein the background scanning unit is

configured to receive Wi-Fi scans. In case the background scanning unit is in off state the method leads to step [712], otherwise the method leads to step [710].
Next, at step [710] the method comprises automatically enabling the Wi-Fi module of the user device. Further, after the enablement of the Wi-Fi module, a connection is established with a preferred Wi-Fi AP based on preferred SSID and RSSI checks and there is no need of cell ID based fall back mechanism (i.e. automatic Wi-Fi offloading based on identification of target cell ID).
Next, at step [712] the method comprises enabling the Wi-Fi module of the user device based on the successful matching of the serving Cell ID of the user device with the cell ID present in the list of cell IDs received at the user device in the ANDSF policy. Further, after the enablement of the Wi-Fi module a connection is established with a preferred SSID based on preferred SSID and RSSI checks.
Next, at step [714] the method comprises successfully offloading the network traffic of the user device to the preferred SSID.
Further, once the Wi-Fi offload on the preferred SSID is successful, at step [716] a cell ID is captured at the user device based on a cell ID change event and/or on every periodic QoE evaluation.
Further, at step [718] the method comprises checking the captured cell ID in the list of cell IDs. If the captured cell ID is found as new cell ID (i.e. if the captured cell ID is not present in the list of cell IDs), the new cell ID is learnt at the user device. Thereafter, at step [720] the new cell ID is uploaded to an analytics server to update the ANDSF policy.
Thereafter, the method terminates at step [722].
As is evident from the above disclosure, the present invention provides a novel solution for automatic Wi-Fi offload based on an identification of a preferred Wi-Fi AP. The present disclosure also provides a technical advancement over the currently known solutions at least by providing a solution to fall back to a cell ID based Wi-Fi enablement and connection when a location and/or a background Wi-

Fi scanning is switched off at a user device. The present solution also provides a technical advancement over the currently known solutions by providing a solution to capture a cell ID information when a user device is offloaded to a preferred SSID (managed/learned/collaborated), wherein said capturing is based on at least one of a cell ID change event and a periodic QoE evaluation. Also, the present solution provides a technical advancement over the currently known solutions by providing a learning based identification of a new cell ID by comparing a captured cell ID with the cell IDs present in ANDSF MO list (i.e. the list of cell IDs received in the ANDSF policy). Furthermore, the present solution also provides a technical advancement over the currently known solutions by providing a solution of incorporation of the new cell IDs into the list of cell IDs. The new cell IDs further enables discovering and learning of users’ cellular location for increasing the likelihood for automatic Wi-Fi offload on operator network and enhancing customer experience to dynamically offload a user equipment.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter to be implemented merely as illustrative of the invention and not as limitation.

We Claim:
1. A method of automatic Wi-Fi offload, the method comprising:
- transmitting, by a transceiver unit [502] to an ANDSF policy server via an ANDSF client installed at a user device, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) detail associated with the user device;
- receiving, by the transceiver unit [502] via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server, an ANDSF policy comprising of at least a list of Cell IDs, based on the PLMN detail;
- identifying, by an identification unit [504] at the user device, one of an On state and an Off state of at least one of a location capturing unit and a background scanning unit;
- matching, by a processing unit [506] at the user device, a serving cell ID of the user device with one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs based on at least one of an event when:
the Location capturing unit is in the Off state and the background scanning unit is in one of the On state and Off state, and
the background scanning unit is in the Off state;
- identifying, by the identification unit [504] at the user device, the serving cell ID as a target cell-ID based on a successful matching of the serving cell ID of the user device with a cell ID present in the list of Cell IDs, wherein the target cell-ID is associated with a target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP); and
- automatically offloading, by the processing unit [506], a network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) based on the identification of the target cell-ID.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, the method comprises receiving, by the transceiver unit [502] via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server, one or more Wi-Fi SSIDs, one or more received signal strength indicators (RSSIs), one or more quality check thresholds and one or more analytic profile upload configurations, along with the list of Cell IDs.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the event when the Location capturing unit is in the Off state, automatically offloading, by the processing unit [506], a network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) comprises:
- performing, a blind Wi-Fi offload to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP)
associated with the target cell-ID.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the event when the
background scanning unit is in the Off state and the location capturing unit
is in On state, automatically offloading, by the processing unit [506], a
network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP)
comprises:
enabling a connection with the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) associated with the target cell-ID based on one or more RSSI based quality checks.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, the method further comprises capturing,
by the processing unit [506] at the user device, a cell ID based on the
automatic Wi-Fi Offloading, wherein the capturing of said cell ID is further
based on at least one of:
- a Cell ID change event, and
- each periodic QoE (quality of experience) evaluation.
6. The method as claimed in claim 5, the method further comprises
identifying by the identification unit [504] at the user device, the captured

cell ID as a new cell ID based on an absence of the captured cell ID in the list of cell IDs.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, the method further comprises:
- learning, by the processing unit [506] at the user device, the new cell ID, and
- transmitting, by the transceiver unit [502] form the user device to an ANDSF Analytics server, one or more details of the new cell ID, wherein:
the one or more details related to the new cell ID are further transmitted to the ANDSF Policy Server from the ANDSF Analytics server, and
the ANDSF Policy at the ANDSF Policy Server is further updated based on an addition of the one or more details of the new cell ID in the list of cell IDs.
8. The method as claimed in claim 7, the method further comprises receiving at the user device by the transceiver unit [502] via the ANDSF client, one of a dynamic and a periodic provisioning of the updated ANDSF Policy, from the ANDSF server.
9. A system of automatic Wi-Fi offload, the system comprising:
- a transceiver unit [502], configured to:
transmit, to an ANDSF policy server via an ANDSF client installed at a user device, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) detail associated with the user device, and
receive, via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server, an ANDSF policy comprising of at least a list of Cell IDs, based on the PLMN detail;

- an identification unit [504], configured to identify at the user device, one of an On state and an Off state of at least one of a location capturing unit and a background scanning unit; and
- a processing unit [506], configured to match at the user device, a serving cell ID of the user device with one or more cell IDs present in the list of Cell IDs based on at least one of an event when:
the Location capturing unit is in the Off state and the background scanning unit is in one of the On state and Off state, and
the background scanning unit is in the Off state, wherein:
the identification unit [504] is further configured to identify at the user device, the serving cell ID as a target cell-ID based on a successful matching of the serving cell ID of the user device with a cell ID present in the list of Cell IDs, wherein the target cell-ID is associated with a target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP), and
the processing unit [506] is further configured to automatically offload, a network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) based on the identification of the target cell-ID.
10. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the transceiver unit [502] is configured to receive via the ANDSF client from the ANDSF policy server, one or more Wi-Fi SSIDs, one or more received signal strength indicators (RSSIs), one or more quality check thresholds and one or more analytic profile upload configurations, along with the list of Cell IDs.
11. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein in the event when the Location capturing unit is in the Off state, the processing unit [506] is further configured to perform a blind Wi-Fi offload to the target Wi-Fi Access Point

(AP) associated with the target cell-ID, to automatically offload the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi AP.
12. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein in the event when the background scanning unit is in the Off state and the location capturing unit is in On state, the processing unit [506] is further configured to enable a connection with the target Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) associated with the target cell-ID based on one or more RSSI based quality checks, to automatically offload the network traffic of the user device to the target Wi-Fi AP.
13. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the processing unit [506] is further configured to capture at the user device, a cell ID based on the automatic Wi-Fi Offloading, wherein the capturing of said cell ID is further based on at least one of:

- a Cell ID change event, and
- each periodic QoE (quality of experience) evaluation.

14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the identification unit [504] is further configured to identify at the user device, the captured cell ID as a new cell ID based on an absence of the captured cell ID in the list of cell IDs.
15. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the processing unit [506] is further configured to learn at the user device, the new cell ID.
16. The system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the transceiver unit [502] is further configured to transmit form the user device to an ANDSF Analytics server, one or more details of the new cell ID, wherein:
the one or more details related to the new cell ID are further transmitted to the ANDSF Policy Server from the ANDSF Analytics server, and

the ANDSF Policy at the ANDSF Policy Server is further updated based on an addition of the one or more details of the new cell ID in the list of cell IDs.
17. The system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the transceiver unit [502] is further configured to receive via the ANDSF client, one of a dynamic and a periodic provisioning of the updated ANDSF Policy, from the ANDSF server.