Dual Connectivity Handover Context Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless networks, dual connectivity user equipment (UE) experiences connection disruptions and resource inefficiencies during handovers between base stations supporting different radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G and LTE, due to the need for resource release and re-provisioning.
Innovation Solution
Maintaining and transferring context information between base stations during handovers, allowing the UE to reconnect to a secondary base station without releasing and re-provisioning resources, thereby minimizing connection disruptions and conserving network resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If resource release and re-provisioning is performed during handover between base stations supporting different RATs, then connection reliability is improved, but network resource efficiency deteriorates and connection disruption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-establishing context information storage mechanisms at base stations before handover occurs. The source base station retains and prepares context information (including radio resource control parameters, security credentials, and bearer configurations) in advance, enabling the target base station to quickly acquire and activate these resources without requiring release and re-provisioning operations during the actual handover execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces context information as an intermediary element that mediates between source and target base stations during handover. This context information package acts as a portable resource descriptor that travels with the handover request, allowing the target base station to directly utilize pre-configured resources without needing to re-establish connections or re-provision network resources, thereby eliminating the release-reprovision cycle.
2Reliability
If resource release and re-provisioning is performed during handover, then connection stability is improved, but handover time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring and storing context information at the source base station before handover is triggered. This context information includes all necessary radio resource control parameters, security credentials, and bearer configurations that would otherwise need to be re-established during handover. By having these resources prepared in advance, the actual handover execution time is significantly reduced while maintaining connection stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables continuity of useful action by ensuring that context information and associated network resources remain active and available throughout the handover process. Instead of releasing resources at the source base station and then re-provisioning them at the target base station, the system maintains continuous resource availability through context information transfer, allowing the UE to seamlessly switch base stations without interruption to data bearers or security contexts.
3Productivity
If context information is maintained and transferred during handover, then network resource efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a standardized context information structure that can be universally applied across different base stations and radio access technologies. The context information package serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a resource descriptor, a configuration template, a security credential container, and a bearer configuration set. This multi-functional approach allows the same mechanism to improve resource efficiency across diverse network scenarios without requiring technology-specific implementations at each base station.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating a portable context information package that replicates the essential resource descriptors and configuration parameters from the source base station. Instead of maintaining complex real-time resource state synchronization between base stations, the system creates a copy of the relevant context information that can be independently processed and activated at the target base station. This copying mechanism simplifies the handover process while maintaining network resource efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A system described herein may provide a technique for maintaining and transferring context information for a Dual Connectivity (“DC”)-capable User Equipment (“UE”) and a secondary Next Generation Node B (“gNB”) in situations where the UE is connected to a primary gNB and the secondary gNB and is handed over to an evolved Node B (“eNB”). The context information may be provided to the eNB without releasing resources or tearing down bearers at the secondary gNB, such that the UE may seamlessly continue communicating with the secondary gNB while a primary connection associated with the UE is handed over from the primary gNB to the eNB.