Credit-Based Access Point Selection in Mobility Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobility management in 3GPP and non-3GPP access networks only considers connectivity criteria and service quality, neglecting user profiles and credit usage, which limits optimal network selection based on available credits.
Innovation Solution
An access point discovery server retrieves a credit usage profile from a credit management server to generate a list of access points prioritized by user credits, allowing the mobile terminal to select the most suitable network for continued service access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If mobility management is based only on connectivity criteria and service quality, then the system complexity remains low, but the ability to optimize network selection based on user credit usage is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an ANDSF (Access Network Discovery and Selection Function) server as an intermediary component that bridges the gap between basic mobility management and credit-based optimization. The ANDSF server receives credit usage information from the credit management system and generates optimized access point lists, thereby enabling advanced network selection without directly complicating the terminal's mobility management architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobility management function is segmented into multiple independent components: the terminal's basic mobility management, the ANDSF server's optimization logic, and the credit management system's credit tracking. This segmentation allows each component to operate independently with well-defined interfaces, reducing overall system complexity while enabling sophisticated credit-based network selection.
2Reliability
If the terminal continuously monitors credit usage to optimize access point selection, then service continuity is improved, but the signaling overhead and network load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The ANDSF server proactively retrieves credit usage information and prepares optimized access point lists in advance, before the terminal actually needs to perform mobility. This preliminary action ensures that when the terminal does need to switch networks, the optimal path is already determined, maintaining service continuity while minimizing real-time signaling overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of continuous monitoring, the system uses periodic credit usage updates from the credit management system. The ANDSF server receives these periodic updates and regenerates access point lists accordingly, reducing signaling frequency while still maintaining adequate service continuity and credit-based optimization.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method of managing roaming of a mobile terminal in a communication network comprising a plurality of access points and an access points discovery server adapted for providing the mobile terminal with a list of network access points to which the mobile terminal can connect, the method comprising the following steps, implemented by the access points discovery server: recovery, from a credits management server, of a credits usage profile associated with the mobile terminal; generation of the list of access points as a function of said credits usage profile.