MBS Shared Tunnel Binding for Seamless Radio Handover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mobile communication technologies face challenges in ensuring service continuity for multicast and broadcast services during handovers between radio access nodes, particularly in 5G systems, due to the complexity of managing shared tunnels and multicast sessions.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves techniques for managing multicast sessions by binding shared tunnels for multicast and broadcast services during handovers, including the establishment of shared tunnels for existing sessions and allocating new tunnels when necessary, using methods like Xn-based and N2-based processes to ensure seamless service continuity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multicast sessions are managed during handover between radio access nodes, then service continuity is improved, but device complexity increases due to shared tunnel management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a target radio access node as an intermediary that receives handover requests with multicast context information and coordinates the binding of shared tunnels between source and target nodes. This intermediary approach simplifies the overall management complexity by centralizing the handover coordination function at the target node rather than requiring complex distributed management across multiple nodes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary binding of shared tunnels between the source radio access node and target radio access node before the actual handover occurs. The handover request message includes pre-established tunnel binding information, allowing the multicast service to be seamlessly transferred without requiring complex real-time tunnel management during the handover execution phase.
2Reliability
If shared tunnels are bound for existing MBS sessions during handover, then packet loss is reduced, but handover processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the binding of shared tunnels for multicast broadcast service sessions as a preliminary action during the handover preparation phase. The target radio access node receives the handover request message that already contains the multicast context information and tunnel binding details, so the binding is established before the handover executes, preventing packet loss without adding significant processing time during the actual handover.
Solution Approach 2:
The target radio access node autonomously processes the binding of shared tunnels using the multicast context information received in the handover request. The node independently determines whether to bind existing tunnels or allocate new ones based on the session status, eliminating the need for additional signaling rounds and reducing handover processing time while ensuring packet loss prevention.
3Reliability
If MBS session establishment is checked at target radio access node, then service quality is maintained, but signaling overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the MBS session establishment check from separate signaling messages and integrates it directly into the handover request message flow. The target radio access node checks the multicast context information that is already included in the handover request, eliminating the need for additional dedicated signaling messages for session verification and thus reducing signaling overhead while maintaining service quality.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, apparatus, and systems for providing multicast handover are disclosed. In one example aspect, the method includes receiving, by a target radio access node (T-RAN) from a source radio access node (S-RAN) or from an access and mobility management function (AMF), a handover request including a multicast or broadcast context for a handover of a multicast and broadcast service (MBS) to the T-RAN. The method further includes binding a shared tunnel for the MBS and a flow in a unicast protocol data unit (PDU) session in a case that an MBS session identified in the multicast or broadcast context has already been established at the T-RAN, and sending, to an AMF, a message including a handover request acknowledgment or a path switch.