Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and the like. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources.
A wireless communication network may include a number of base stations, NodeBs (NBs), or evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs or eNBs) that support communication for a number of user equipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station via downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the base station.
As wireless communications networks become more congested, operators are beginning to look at ways to increase capacity. One approach may be to use Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) to offload some of the traffic and/or signaling. WLANs (or WiFi networks) are attractive because, unlike cellular networks that operate in a licensed spectrum, they generally operate in an unlicensed spectrum. Moreover, a growing amount of spectrum is being allocated for access without a license, making the option of offloading traffic and/or signaling to WLANs more attractive. This approach may only provide a partial solution to the congestion problem, since WLANs tend to use spectrum less efficiently than cellular networks. Moreover, the regulations and protocols involved in WLANs are different from those for cellular networks. Unlicensed spectrum may therefore remain a reasonable option to alleviate congestion if it can be used more efficiently and in accordance with regulatory requirements.