Mobile Terminal PDN Connection Merging for EPS Bearer Management
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In mobile communication systems, the processing load increases when multiple terminal equipment (TEs) without wireless interfaces connect to an EPS through a mobile terminal device, leading to limitations in service provision due to the need for individual PDN connections and increased administrative information, which complicates handovers and reduces throughput and battery efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A mobile communication system that combines PDN connections for multiple TEs connected to a common mobile terminal device, using a single IP address and PDN connection, with the mobile terminal device acting as both UE and MT, employing GTP or GRE protocols to manage EPS bearers and allocate addresses, thereby reducing processing load and administrative information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If individual PDN connections are established for each TE connected through a mobile terminal device, then each TE can independently access the PDN, but the processing load and administrative information increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple TEs into a single UE entity for PDN connection purposes. The mobile terminal device acts as a gateway, establishing one PDN connection that serves multiple TEs. This merging approach reduces the number of PDN connections from N (one per TE) to 1, thereby reducing processing load and administrative information while maintaining independent access capability through logical separation of TE identities within the unified connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile terminal device performs multiple functions: it acts as both a UE to the core network and as a gateway/router for multiple TEs. By making the mobile terminal device universal and multi-functional, the system avoids the need for separate PDN connections for each TE, as the mobile terminal device can handle multiple TE traffic flows through its routing and address allocation mechanisms.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple individual PDN connections are maintained, then service diversity can be provided, but handover complexity and battery consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
By merging multiple TEs into a single PDN connection context, the patent reduces handover complexity from managing multiple independent connections to managing a single connection. The mobile terminal device handles internal routing for different services, allowing service diversity to be maintained through logical separation while the physical connection remains unified, thereby reducing handover overhead and battery consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile terminal device acts as an intermediary between the core network and multiple TEs. It maintains a single PDN connection to the core network while providing service-specific routing and address allocation for multiple TEs. This intermediary role allows service diversity to be provided through the mobile terminal device's routing capabilities without requiring multiple independent PDN connections, thus reducing handover complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
A core network includes a PDN connection holding unit that associates and stores information regarding PDN connection with information indicating an address block configured as a set of a plurality of addresses identifying a plurality of the information terminal devices. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in the processing load and a limitation of providable services, even in the case in which an ad-hoc network is formed between a mobile terminal device and a plurality of terminal equipments and a PDN connection is made by the terminal equipments using the mobile terminal device as an MT.