Disaster Condition Indication in Serving PLMN
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Solution Overview
Problem
During disasters, cellular networks often become overloaded or unavailable, leading to service denials due to congestion and network failures, as users attempt to contact emergency services simultaneously, and conventional solutions fail to effectively mitigate these issues.
Innovation Solution
A disaster condition indication mechanism is implemented in communication systems, where network nodes transmit control messages to client devices to inform them of a serving PLMN's disaster status, enabling the devices to initiate PLMN selection procedures and switch to alternative networks, even if they are normally forbidden, thereby minimizing service interruptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users remain on the home PLMN during a disaster, then normal service restrictions apply, but service continuity is lost when the network becomes unavailable
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring alternative PLMNs in the UE's forbidden PLMN list before a disaster occurs. When a disaster is detected, the UE already has prepared alternative networks it can switch to, eliminating the need for real-time PLMN selection decisions during the crisis.
Solution Approach 2:
The network provides feedback to the UE about the disaster condition through control messages. This feedback mechanism enables the UE to detect that its serving PLMN is experiencing disaster conditions and automatically initiate PLMN reselection to alternative networks, ensuring service continuity.
2Reliability
If the UE follows normal PLMN selection rules, then forbidden PLMNs are not selected, but service availability is reduced during disasters
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts PLMN selection behavior based on disaster conditions. Under normal conditions, the UE follows standard PLMN selection rules and avoids forbidden PLMNs. When a disaster is detected, the system temporarily modifies the selection criteria to allow access to previously forbidden PLMNs, ensuring service availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of PLMN selection flexibility by modifying the forbidden PLMN list status. During disasters, the UE is configured to treat certain PLMNs as acceptable alternatives, effectively changing the selection parameters to prioritize service availability over normal roaming restrictions.
3Loss of information
If the network does not provide disaster indication, then normal network operation is maintained, but user awareness of network status is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The network provides feedback to users about disaster conditions through control messages sent to the UE. This feedback mechanism ensures users are informed about network status without requiring them to actively monitor or investigate network conditions, maintaining ease of operation while eliminating information loss.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a novel mechanism involving a network node (100) and a client device (300) for indicating that a serving PLMN (610) is in a disaster condition. The network node informs the client device through control signalling (510) that the serving PLMN for the client device is in disaster condition. Thereby, the client device may take suitable measures so as to avoid service interruption, e.g. by registration at a visiting PLMN (620) not in disaster condition by initiating a PLMN selection procedure. Examples of control signalling that may be used in this context is SIB, NAS, RRC messages or paging messages. Furthermore, the invention also relates to corresponding methods and a computer program.