SGW-C Partitioning for Tracking Area Coordination
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Solution Overview
Problem
In cellular communications systems with separated user plane and control plane functionalities, the Mobility Management Entity (MME) faces challenges in determining whether a new Tracking Area (TA) is served by the current Serving Gateway User Plane (SGW-U) entity, leading to issues with TA List management and SGW-U relocation.
Innovation Solution
The system partitions the Serving Gateway Control Plane (SGW-C) into virtual SGW-Cs corresponding to SGW-UP service areas, with each SGW-UP pool serving a respective area, allowing the MME to manage TA lists and initiate SGW-U relocations based on TA updates and service requests, using mechanisms like DNS queries to determine SGW-U identities and perform relocations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If user plane functionality is separated from control plane functionality in SGW/PGW, then resource utilization and scalability are improved, but the MME's ability to assess TA List management and determine SGW-U allocation is deteriorated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces SGW-C as an intermediary between MME and SGW-Us. SGW-C receives TAU requests from MME, determines whether the new TA is served by the current SGW-U, and manages TAI List information. This intermediary resolves the information loss problem by centralizing the logic that was previously distributed, allowing MME to offload complex determination tasks while maintaining accurate TA List management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the TAI List management and SGW-U determination logic from MME and places it in SGW-C. By taking out these specific functions, the system improves resource utilization at MME while SGW-C maintains the necessary information to assess TA List management and make accurate SGW-U allocation decisions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple SGW-Us are controlled by a single SGW-C, then system scalability is improved, but the MME's ability to determine if a new TA is served by the current SGW-U is deteriorated
Solution Approach 1:
SGW-C acts as the intermediary that maintains the mapping relationships between multiple SGW-Us and TAs. When MME needs to determine if a new TA is served by the current SGW-U, it queries SGW-C, which has the centralized information about which SGW-U serves which TAs. This allows the system to scale to multiple SGW-Us while maintaining accurate TA-SGW-U mapping detection.
Solution Approach 2:
SGW-C is designed as a universal entity that can manage multiple SGW-Us simultaneously. It provides multi-functional capabilities including TAI List management, SGW-U determination, and coordination across multiple user plane entities. This universal design enables system scalability while maintaining the ability to detect and measure TA-SGW-U mapping relationships through centralized query mechanisms.
3Reliability
If SGW-C is partitioned into virtual SGW-Cs corresponding to SGW-UP service areas, then service area coordination is improved, but system complexity is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments SGW-C into multiple virtual SGW-Cs, where each virtual SGW-C corresponds to a specific SGW-UP service area. This segmentation improves service area coordination by ensuring that each virtual SGW-C manages only the SGW-Us and TAs within its designated area, reducing cross-area coordination complexity. The segmentation is logical rather than physical, maintaining reliability while managing complexity through clear boundary definitions.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods relating to a cellular communications system having an architecture in which Serving Gateway (SGW) user plane functionality is separated from SGW control plane functionality are disclosed. In some embodiments, a cellular communications system having an architecture in which SGW user plane functionality is separated from SGW control plane functionality comprises a Serving Gateway Control plane entity (SGW-C) partitioned into a plurality of virtual SGW-Cs that correspond to a respective plurality of SGW User Plane (SGW-UP) service areas. The cellular communications system further comprises a plurality of SGW-UP pools each comprising one or more SGW User entities (SGW-Us), wherein each SGW-UP pool serves a respective one of the plurality of SGW-UP service areas. In this manner, the coordination problem between Tracking Areas (TAs) and the SGW-UP service areas is avoided.