SDN Controller Session Continuity Across Mixed Wireless Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cellular mobility management approaches are complex and costly, particularly when dealing with billions of IoT and M2M devices that rarely move, and they do not effectively manage session continuity across different radio access technologies and networks, leading to inefficiencies in 5G network management.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a connection-less native IP-based protocol within software-defined networks (SDN) to manage device mobility and session continuity across various radio access technologies, enabling collaboration between SDN-controlled and non-SDN-controlled networks for seamless handovers and session maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional cellular mobility management is used to handle all devices uniformly, then existing smart devices can be supported, but the system becomes costly and inefficient for IoT/M2M devices that rarely move
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating mobility management approaches based on device characteristics. Static IoT devices receive simplified management without full mobility protocols, while mobile devices receive comprehensive mobility management. This allows the system to adapt control mechanisms to local device needs, reducing overall complexity while maintaining versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the device population into mobile and static categories, applying different management protocols to each segment. This segmentation allows the system to avoid imposing complex mobility management overhead on static IoT devices while maintaining full functionality for mobile devices, thereby reducing overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If connection-oriented control procedures are used for session management, then session continuity can be maintained, but the protocol layer complexity increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex connection-oriented control procedures from the device protocol stacks and relocates them to the network core. The device simply maintains IP connectivity, while the network handles session management, mobility, and handover coordination. This extraction significantly reduces device protocol complexity while maintaining session continuity through network-side control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces the network core as an intermediary that mediates between devices and external networks. The core network entities (MME, SGW, PGW) act as intermediaries that manage session state, coordinate handovers, and maintain connectivity, eliminating the need for complex connection-oriented protocols at the device level while ensuring session continuity.
3Device complexity
If SDN-based management is deployed, then simplified mobility control is achieved, but compatibility with non-SDN networks is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements universality by designing the SDN-based mobility management system to work across multiple network types. The SDN controller can manage both SDN-controlled and non-SDN-controlled base stations through standardized interfaces, allowing a single system to provide simplified mobility control while maintaining compatibility with diverse network infrastructures including legacy non-SDN networks.
Data Source
AI summary
Concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to session continuity between software-defined network (“SDN”) controlled and non-SDN controlled wireless networks. In one embodiment, an SDN controller can determine that a handover of a user equipment (“UE”) from a base station operating under control of the SDN-controlled network to a further base station operating under control of a non-SDN-controlled network has occurred. The SDN controller can establish over an interface between the SDN controller and a packet gateway (“P-GW”), a tunnel through which to exchange handover data associated with the handover and a session IP address for a session in which the UE is involved. The SDN controller can provide, over the interface and through the tunnel, the handover data and the session IP address to the P-GW.