Full Configuration Handover in Wireless Networks

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Solution Overview

Problem

Wireless communication networks face interference and handover challenges due to varying radio access technologies and configurations, leading to potential handover failures and degraded user experience as demand for mobile broadband access increases.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a method where a first base station requests a full configuration from a second base station during handover or secondary node addition, ensuring the exchange of initial parameters rather than delta configurations to maintain accurate and up-to-date settings, thereby reducing handover and secondary node addition failures.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If delta configuration is used during handover to reduce signaling overhead, then message size is reduced, but configuration accuracy deteriorates leading to handover failures

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesignaling overheadVSAvoidhandover success rate
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The source base station prepares the full target configuration in advance and includes it in the handover request message to the target base station. This preliminary action ensures that the target configuration is validated and ready before handover execution, preventing configuration errors during the actual handover process while maintaining efficient signaling through selective usage of full vs. delta configuration.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a configuration type indicator parameter that can switch between full configuration and delta configuration modes. This parameter change allows the system to adaptively select the appropriate configuration method based on network conditions and requirements, resolving the contradiction by enabling full configuration when accuracy is critical and delta configuration when overhead reduction is prioritized.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If full configuration is requested during handover to ensure accuracy, then configuration reliability is improved, but signaling overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveconfiguration accuracyVSAvoidsignaling overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The full target configuration is prepared and included in the handover request message in advance. This allows the target base station to validate the configuration before committing resources, ensuring accuracy while enabling the source base station to make an informed decision about whether to proceed with handover based on configuration validity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The target base station autonomously validates the received configuration and sends back a validation result. This self-service mechanism allows the system to ensure configuration accuracy without requiring additional manual intervention or complex coordination between base stations, thereby limiting the increase in signaling overhead to only the essential validation exchange.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If target base station validates configuration before acceptance to prevent errors, then handover reliability is improved, but handover execution time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehandover success rateVSAvoidhandover execution time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The configuration validation is performed in advance during the handover preparation phase, before the handover execution phase. By moving the validation action to preliminary stage, the patent ensures that configuration errors are detected early, preventing failed handovers during execution and actually reducing the critical handover execution time while maintaining high reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The target base station sends a validation result feedback message to the source base station indicating whether the configuration is acceptable. This feedback mechanism enables the source base station to make informed decisions about handover proceeding or aborting based on validation outcomes, ensuring high reliability while keeping the feedback loop efficient and time-bound.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP4000311B1Full configuration handover techniques
Publication Date: 2023.07.26 QUALCOMM INC
  • EP4000311B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4000311B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4000311B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Various aspects and techniques for facilitating handovers in communication networks are disclosed. In a particular implementation, a method of wireless communication includes transmitting, from a first base station to a second base station, a handover request message corresponding to a user equipment (UE) associated with the first base station. The handover request message includes a request for full configuration. The method further includes receiving, from the second base station, a handover response message. The handover response message includes an indicator of acceptance of the full configuration. Other aspects and features are also claimed and described.