UE Mobility Context at Non-RT RIC for Timely Public Warnings
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Solution Overview
Problem
In Open RAN (ORAN) and 5G networks, maintaining UE context across access nodes is temporary, leading to challenges in policy enforcement and network efficiency, especially for applications requiring mobility and location tracking, and existing systems fail to provide timely alerts to users moving within the network.
Innovation Solution
Implement a semi-permanent UE context management system at the edge, leveraging the Non-RT RIC to maintain UE context across access nodes, enabling real-time policy enforcement and mobility tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If UE context is maintained temporarily at access nodes, then network resource usage is reduced, but policy enforcement and mobility tracking experience overhead and delays
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the UE context management by creating a dedicated mobility context structure at the access node that is separate from the full UE context at the core network. This mobility context contains only the essential elements needed for mobility tracking and policy enforcement (current location, cell information, trajectory data), allowing fast local access without burdening the core network while avoiding the overhead of maintaining complete UE contexts at all access nodes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a mobility context as an intermediary data structure that mediates between the core network's full UE context and the access node's operational needs. This mobility context acts as a local cache or summary that enables rapid policy enforcement and mobility tracking at the access node without requiring continuous communication with the core network, thus reducing both resource usage and delay.
2Reliability
If UE context is maintained at core nodes, then policy enforcement is centralized and secure, but processing overhead and delays increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential mobility-related elements from the complete UE context and places them in a dedicated mobility context at the access node. This extraction allows the access node to perform mobility tracking and policy enforcement operations locally without requiring core network involvement for every operation, thereby improving processing efficiency while the core network retains security control over the full UE context.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension to the architecture by introducing a distributed mobility context at the access node layer, complementing the centralized UE context at the core network. This creates a two-layer context management system where routine mobility operations occur at the access node level while core network maintains overall control, effectively distributing the processing load without compromising security.
3Ease of manufacture
If UE mobility is tracked using temporary contexts at access nodes, then context deletion upon node change is simple, but mobility tracking continuity is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-establishing the mobility context structure at the access node before handover occurs. The mobility context is designed with all necessary fields (current location, cell information, trajectory) populated in advance, and includes mechanisms for predicting future locations. This preparation ensures that when handover occurs, the target access node can immediately continue mobility tracking without interruption or information loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the mobility context continuously updates trajectory information and location data as the UE moves. This feedback loop allows the system to maintain accurate mobility tracking across handovers by using the updated context information to predict and prepare for future UE locations, ensuring continuity even as contexts are transferred between access nodes.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is disclosed of providing user equipment (UE) mobility context creation in 4G and 5G systems, comprising: downloading, by a non-real time (non-RT) Radio Intelligent Controller (RIC), a policy to connected centralized units (CUs) that whenever a User Equipment (UE) attaches to a CU and the UE's location changes, the Non-RT RIC be updated about UE's mobility; allocating, by the Non RT RIC, a fresh UE identifier (ID) and creating a context with parameters including Current Location, UE ID allotted by RIC, Current cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), and cell information; sending the fresh UE ID to the CU that the CU maintains as part of the UE context information; determining whenever the UE moves within the CU served distributed units (DUs), and updating the Non-RT RIC about UEs mobility.