Serving Gateway Bearer Retention for Mobile Network Restart
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Solution Overview
Problem
In next-generation mobile network systems, when a mobility management node (MME/SGSN) restarts, the existing systems release all bearer contexts, leading to a communication service outage until the mobile station re-registers, which can take up to 45 minutes, causing a significant delay in delivering incoming packet data to users.
Innovation Solution
A communication method and system where a bearer management node maintains at least one specific bearer for restoring communication services after a mobility management node restarts, and sends a notification message with mobile station identification and location registration area information to the mobility management node for selective paging, allowing immediate restoration of services.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the mobility management node restarts and all bearer contexts are released, then the system reliability is improved by ensuring clean state recovery, but the service continuity deteriorates causing up to 45 minutes communication outage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the bearer management node retain specific bearer contexts before the mobility management node restarts. This pre-retention of essential bearer information allows the system to quickly restore services after restart without requiring complete re-registration, thus resolving the contradiction between reliable state recovery and service continuity.
2Loss of time
If the bearer management node maintains all bearers after restart, then the service continuity is improved, but the device complexity increases due to maintaining unnecessary bearer contexts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by having the bearer management node selectively retain only specific essential bearer contexts rather than all bearers. This selective retention focuses resources on maintaining only the critical bearer information needed for service restoration, reducing overall complexity while still achieving fast service recovery.
3Reliability
If the mobility management node performs paging over the entire tracking area, then the mobile station can be located reliably, but the loss of time increases due to extensive paging duration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the tracking area into smaller paging areas based on retained location information. Instead of paging across the entire tracking area, the system segments the search space using previously stored location data, which maintains reliable mobile station location while significantly reducing the time required for paging operations.
Data Source
AI summary
A serving gateway includes a memory storing instructions, and at least one processor configured to process the instructions to, if a mobility management node performs restarting thereof, maintain at least one specific S5/S8 bearer between the serving gateway and a packet data network gateway eligible for restoration of network initiated communication services and release all other S5/S8 bearers.