Transient Handover for Packet Offloading in Cellular Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile networks face challenges in efficiently handling handovers between cellular and wireless local area networks, leading to network congestion and complex procedures, especially when user equipment (UE) needs to switch from a wireless local area network back to a cellular network, requiring a restart of the handover attachment process.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for transient handover in a communications system, where a mobility management entity (MME) identifies qualified user equipment (UE) and initiates a handover request, allowing the UE to access a wireless local area network, transmit an acknowledgment, and then release bearer resources while retaining information, thereby simplifying the handover process and reducing congestion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the UE switches from cellular network to WLAN and then back to cellular network, then the UE can access different networks to maintain communication quality, but the handover attachment procedure needs to be restarted which takes a lot of time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a transient handover state where the UE's bearer context is preserved in the network before actual handover execution. This preliminary preservation of context information allows the UE to quickly reattach to the cellular network without restarting the entire attachment procedure, thus reducing handover time while maintaining communication quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the handover process into distinct states: a transient handover state where context is preserved, and a completed handover state. This segmentation allows the system to maintain bearer context during the transition phase, enabling faster reattachment without requiring full procedure restart.
2Productivity
If the UE hands over from cellular network to WLAN, then packet offloading can be performed, but all bearers are deleted and resources are released which complicates the procedure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a transient handover state where the bearer context is preserved in the network (MME and serving gateway) before the UE actually switches to WLAN. This preliminary context preservation simplifies the handover procedure by avoiding complete bearer deletion and re-creation, reducing procedural complexity while enabling packet offloading.
Solution Approach 2:
The transient handover state acts as an intermediary mechanism between the cellular network and WLAN. It allows the network to maintain bearer context information during the transition, serving as a mediator that simplifies the handover procedure while enabling packet offloading to WLAN.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of a transient handover for performing packet offloading is disclosed. The method is used in a cellular network and includes: finding at least one qualified user equipment according to a determining method, and transmitting a handover-transient request to the qualified UE; finding and transmitting an access request to a wireless local area network after the UE receives the handover-transient request; transmitting a handover-transient ACK to a mobility management entity when the qualified user equipment accesses the wireless local area network; and releasing a bearer resource of the qualified user equipment when the MME receives the handover-transient ACK, retaining bearer information of the qualified user equipment, and handing over the qualified user equipment from the cellular network to the wireless local area network.