Lower-Layer Mobility Data Forwarding for Handover Delay Tradeoffs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lower-layer mobility mechanisms in mobile communication systems, such as L1/L2 centric mobility, face conflicts between reducing service interruption time and signaling overhead, with on-time data forwarding causing long interruptions and early data forwarding leading to increased signaling overhead.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method and apparatus for lower-layer entities to obtain configurations from higher-layer control plane entities, initiate data forwarding to target cells based on these configurations, and notify higher-layer user plane entities of the initiation, allowing for on-time or early data forwarding decisions based on serving cell changes or candidate target cell preparations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If on-time data forwarding is implemented, then service interruption time is reduced, but signaling overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by preparing candidate target cells in advance and configuring lower-layer entities to forward data to these pre-prepared cells. This allows the network to reduce service interruption time by having target cells ready before actual handover is needed, while the configuration mechanism ensures signaling overhead is managed through targeted preparation rather than comprehensive pre-setup of all possible cells.
2Loss of time
If early data forwarding is implemented, then service interruption time is reduced, but signaling overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating between candidate target cells and actual target cells. The system prepares data forwarding configurations locally at candidate cells based on handover decisions, but only activates full data forwarding to the selected target cell after final handover confirmation. This localized approach reduces service interruption time while minimizing unnecessary signaling overhead by avoiding premature data forwarding to all candidate cells.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If data forwarding is delayed until after handover completion, then signaling overhead is reduced, but service interruption time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by preparing target cells and configuring data forwarding paths before the actual handover execution. The lower-layer entities are pre-configured with the capability to forward data to candidate target cells, and the network prepares necessary forwarding information in advance. This allows data forwarding to be activated sooner without requiring complete handover finalization, thus reducing service interruption time while managing signaling overhead through efficient preparation mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
There are provided measures for enabling/realizing efficient/favorable data forwarding in lower-layer mobility in/for a mobile communication system, namely a radio access network of a mobile communication system, such as L1/L2 centric mobility. Such measures exemplarily comprise that a lower-layer entity in a radio access network of a mobile communication system obtains a configuration of lower-layer mobility and data forwarding in lower-layer mobility from a higher-layer control plane entity, initiates data forwarding to at least one target cell of lower-layer mobility in accordance with the configuration, and notifies a higher-layer user plane entity of initiation of data forwarding, wherein the at least one target cell of lower-layer mobility is identified. The configuration may indicate on-time data forwarding, wherein data forwarding to a target cell is triggered when a serving cell change decision is completed, or ay indicate early data forwarding upon preparation of candidate target cells for lower-layer mobility, wherein data forwarding to at least one of one or more candidate target cells is triggered when candidate target cells preparation is completed.