RAN Coordination Function for TSN Handover Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
In Time Sensitive Networks (TSN) and Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC), simultaneous handovers on redundant paths in 3GPP cellular wireless networks can disrupt end-to-end service, violating latency and reliability requirements due to uncoordinated actions between redundant User Equipments (UEs).
Innovation Solution
A RAN Coordination Function (RCoF) is implemented to manage a token mechanism across base stations serving redundant UEs, ensuring that only one UE can perform a handover at a time, preventing simultaneous disruptions by tracking UE pairs and controlling token access to prevent concurrent handovers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If simultaneous handovers are allowed on redundant paths, then handover speed and responsiveness are improved, but service disruption and reliability deteriorate due to uncoordinated actions
Solution Approach 1:
A RAN Coordination Function (RCoF) is introduced as an intermediary entity to manage and coordinate handover operations between base stations. The RCoF receives handover requests, grants permission when appropriate, and ensures that redundant UEs do not perform handovers simultaneously, thus maintaining service continuity while enabling timely handovers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary checks and coordination before executing handover actions. Base stations send handover requests to the RCoF in advance, and the RCoF evaluates the current state of redundant UEs before granting permission. This preliminary coordination prevents simultaneous handovers while maintaining fast response times.
2Reliability
If token coordination mechanism is implemented, then handover coordination and reliability are improved, but system complexity increases due to additional signaling and state tracking
Solution Approach 1:
The RCoF performs multiple functions within a single entity: it tracks the state of redundant UEs, manages token distribution, coordinates handover requests, and maintains synchronization between base stations. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate coordination mechanisms and minimizes overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses simple state parameters (token presence/absence) to represent complex coordination states. By changing the state of a single token parameter, the RCoF can efficiently control and coordinate handover operations without requiring complex data structures or multiple tracking variables.
3Reliability
If redundant UEs are deployed for high availability, then service reliability is improved, but the risk of simultaneous handover disruptions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The RCoF takes preliminary anti-action by preventing simultaneous handover requests from being granted. When one UE is in the process of handover or has been granted permission, the RCoF blocks handover requests from other redundant UEs. This preemptive coordination eliminates the harmful effect of simultaneous disruptions before they can occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The RCoF acts as a mediator between redundant UEs and base stations, intercepting and coordinating handover requests. This intermediary function ensures that even though multiple redundant UEs are deployed, their handover actions are serialized and coordinated, preventing simultaneous disruptions while maintaining high availability.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for coordinating actions, such as handovers. In some example embodiment, there may be provided a method to control an action at a group including a first user equipment being served by a first base station and a second user equipment being served by a second base station, each of the first user equipment and the second user equipment configured with a protocol data unit session to carry redundant time sensitive streams, wherein the control includes providing a token to enable at a time the action at a single one of the first user equipment or the second user equipment.