SCTP-Based Data Migration for Seamless TCP Handover
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Solution Overview
Problem
TCP connections are frequently broken during handover between base stations due to packet loss, leading to service interruptions, as cached data packets are not effectively migrated to the target base station.
Innovation Solution
The source base station uses the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) to migrate unacknowledged data packets to the target base station by sending context information, including sequence numbers, to ensure seamless handover and maintain TCP proxy continuity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a TCP proxy is added to the eNB to improve data transmission control, then the ability to cache and manage downlink TCP data packets is improved, but the TCP connection is easily broken during handover due to packet loss
Solution Approach 1:
The source base station performs preliminary actions by determining which downlink TCP data packets have been acknowledged by the UE before handover. It identifies unacknowledged packets and proactively migrates them to the target base station before the handover occurs, preventing packet loss and TCP connection breakdown.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a migration mechanism as an intermediary process between the source and target base stations. The source base station acts as a mediator that identifies, packages, and transfers unacknowledged TCP data packets to the target base station through a handover request message, ensuring continuous data transmission during handover.
2Reliability
If the source base station migrates unacknowledged data packets to the target base station using SCTP, then packet loss is prevented and TCP connection integrity is maintained, but the complexity of the handover process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the TCP proxy functionality with the base station's existing handover procedures. The determination of acknowledged and unacknowledged packets, the identification of packets for migration, and the actual migration process are all integrated into the existing handover signaling flow between source and target base stations, avoiding the need for separate complex migration protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The handover request message is designed to serve multiple functions: it conveys handover authorization information, transfers user context data, and migrates unacknowledged TCP data packets. This multi-functional approach reduces the need for additional specialized messages and procedures, simplifying the overall process despite the added functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A data migration method is disclosed. The method includes: performing, by a source base station, a TCP proxy for user equipment; learning, by the source base station, that the user equipment is to be handed over to a target base station; sending, by the source base station to the target base station, context information including a sequence number of a data packet, and the sequence number of the data packet is a largest sequence number of data packets that have been acknowledged by the user equipment or a smallest sequence number of data packets that have not been acknowledged by the user equipment; and migrating, by the source base station by using the SCTP, the data packets that have not been acknowledged by the user equipment to the target base station.