Home Base Station Gateway Resource Release During Cross-Gateway Handover
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Solution Overview
Problem
In mobile telecommunication networks, especially those following 3GPP standards, the handover process between home base stations (HeNBs) connected through different gateways leads to unresolved UE contexts and resources, as the X2 interface does not transmit release messages through the HeNB gateway, causing resource allocation issues.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a connection management module in base stations to perform handovers and send indications to the gateway when the handover is complete, ensuring that UE contexts and resources are released even when the target base station is not connected through the same gateway, using X2 based handover procedures and messages like X2 UE Context Release.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If X2 based handover is used between HeNBs connected through different gateways, then handover speed and efficiency are improved, but UE context release at the gateway fails causing resource leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The source HeNB acts as an intermediary to transmit the UE context release indication message through the gateway. Since the X2 interface message between source and target HeNB does not automatically traverse the gateway, the source HeNB explicitly sends a release indication through the S1 interface via the gateway, ensuring the gateway is informed of the handover completion and can properly release resources.
2Productivity
If the HeNB gateway aggregates traffic from multiple HeNBs, then network resource utilization is improved, but tracking mobile device handovers becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by having the source HeNB send a UE context release indication message to the gateway after handover completion. This feedback mechanism ensures the gateway is continuously informed of handover events, allowing it to maintain accurate tracking of mobile devices across multiple HeNBs without increasing operational complexity.
3Reliability
If context and resources are allocated at both HeNB and HeNB gateway, then service reliability is improved, but resource management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway pre-allocates UE context and resources before handover occurs. When handover is initiated, the gateway already has the necessary context established, eliminating the need for complex real-time resource negotiation during handover. The source HeNB simply needs to trigger the release of pre-allocated resources, simplifying the overall resource management process while maintaining service reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A communication system is described in which a handover procedure is provided to allow a mobile device to transfer from a home base station connected to a core network via a home base station gateway to another base station not coupled via the home base station gateway. A novel extension to the handover procedure is provided in which the home base station gateway is informed of the transfer of the mobile device, allowing context and resources assigned to the mobile device at the base station gateway to be released.