Edge Cloud Session Status Maintenance During Handovers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems face challenges in maintaining user-plane session status information at the edge cloud during handovers, leading to potential interruptions in legal interception and charging functions due to the need for reliable data forwarding to the network core.
Innovation Solution
Modifying conventional X2 and S1 handover signaling chains by incorporating a status-information-acquisition mechanism to ensure seamless transfer of user-plane session status information from the source to the target gateway during handovers, allowing local maintenance without additional core-edge communications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If user-plane session status information is stored at the edge cloud during handovers, then continuity of legal interception and charging functions is improved, but device complexity increases due to the need for status-information-acquisition mechanisms in handover signaling chains
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring the status-information-acquisition mechanism in the handover signaling chain before handovers occur. The MME is pre-programmed to extract user-plane session status information from source gateways and transfer it to target gateways during handover procedures, ensuring continuity of legal interception and charging functions without requiring complex real-time processing during actual handovers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the MME as an intermediary mediator between source gateways and target gateways during handovers. The MME extracts user-plane session status information from the source gateway and transfers it to the target gateway, simplifying the overall system architecture by centralizing the information transfer function in a single network element rather than requiring direct complex interactions between multiple gateways.
2Loss of information
If status information is transferred during handovers using existing signaling chains, then additional core-edge communications are avoided, but information loss occurs without reliable extraction mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by enabling the MME to automatically extract user-plane session status information from source gateways using existing signaling messages during handovers. The extraction mechanism leverages already-available handover signaling chains, allowing the system to transfer necessary information without requiring new dedicated communication paths or complex additional protocols between core and edge networks.
3Device complexity
If conventional handover signaling chains are used without modification, then device complexity is minimized, but functional interruptions occur in legal interception and charging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by separating the user-plane session status information transfer function from the control-plane handover signaling. The MME extracts specific user-plane status information (such as packet copying status for legal interception and charging parameters) from the source gateway and transfers it independently to the target gateway, allowing this critical information to be handled separately from general handover procedures and ensuring its reliable transmission.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods and apparatuses maintain user-plane session status information of user equipment in an edge cloud. Upon determining that a handover of UE at a network edge has occurred, a status-information-acquisition mechanism is added to a handover signaling chain. The status-information-acquisition mechanism triggers providing UP session status information of the UE to a target gateway, which intermediates traffic between the target base station and a network device outside the edge cloud. The UP session status information of the UE is then used by the target gateway to determine UE-related data to be reported to the network device for execution of a function such as legal interception or charging.