Wireless Network Access Point Concentrator for MME Scalability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication systems face limitations in supporting a large number of concurrent connections for small-scale access points, such as femtocells and picocells, due to the limited capacity of mobility management entities (MMEs) at both transport and application layers, which restricts network scalability and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A concentrator component is introduced to facilitate multiplexing connections between multiple access points and a single MME or upstream access point, enabling transparent communication by establishing transport and application layer connections, maintaining routing information, and swapping identifiers in handover commands to manage access points as if they are communicating directly with the MME, thereby overcoming the limitations of MME capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple small-scale access points connect directly to MMEs, then each access point can establish independent connections for session and mobility management, but the MME reaches its connection limit at transport and application layers, restricting network scalability
Solution Approach 1:
A concentrator component is introduced as an intermediary between multiple small-scale access points and the MME. The concentrator establishes a single transport layer connection with the MME while maintaining multiple application layer connections to different access points, effectively mediating the connection limits and enabling more access points to connect than the MME could support directly.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection management function is segmented between the concentrator and the MME. The concentrator handles transport layer connection management with the MME, while the MME focuses on application layer mobility management. This segmentation allows the system to bypass the transport layer connection limit at the MME and achieve higher overall scalability.
2Ease of operation
If a supporting access point provides MME access to other small-scale access points, then hierarchical access is enabled, but the supporting access point has limits on the number of concurrently supportable connections
Solution Approach 1:
The concentrator serves as a mediator that enables hierarchical access without imposing connection limits on supporting access points. Instead of relying on supporting access points to provide MME access (which limits connections), the concentrator provides a dedicated path to the MME, allowing supporting access points to focus on providing access to small-scale access points without connection capacity constraints.
3Reliability
If the concentrator establishes separate transport and application layer connections for each access point, then transparent communication is achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The concentrator merges multiple application layer connections from different access points over a single transport layer connection to the MME. This combining approach maintains transparent communication for each access point while reducing the overall number of transport layer connections, thereby managing device complexity more effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The concentrator performs multiple functions: it acts as a transport layer endpoint for the MME, maintains application layer connections to multiple access points, manages identifier swapping for handover commands, and provides routing information maintenance. This multi-functionality consolidates complexity into a single component rather than distributing it across multiple MME connections.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A method, comprising: receiving a unique identifier in an uplink message related to an access point; inserting the unique identifier in an application layer downlink message to facilitate determining the access point related to the uplink message; transmitting the application layer downlink message to a network component; receiving a handover request message from the network component related to the access point and a target access point; inserting a unique identifier related to the target access point in the handover request message; and forwarding the handover request message to the network component or one or more disparate network components and a corresponding apparatus.