User Equipment Handover with Fake Base Station Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rogue base stations can impersonate genuine base stations, leading to handover failures and potential blacklisting of legitimate stations, which existing technologies fail to effectively detect and mitigate.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for user equipment handover that involves providing reference sets of cell measurements, comparing current measurements with these references to identify fake base stations, and performing handover only to confirmed legitimate stations, using detection algorithms to build lists of fake stations and mitigate handover failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If base stations advertise presence by sending connection information over the air, then user equipment can discover and connect to base stations, but rogue base stations can intercept this information and impersonate genuine base stations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by collecting cell measurement information from multiple user equipments before handover decisions are made. This advance data collection creates a reference profile of genuine base station characteristics, enabling detection of rogue base stations before they can cause handover failures or blacklisting events.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring cell measurement reports from user equipments and comparing current measurements against historical reference data. This feedback loop enables real-time detection of deviations that indicate rogue base station presence, allowing the network to adjust handover decisions dynamically.
2Speed
If handover decisions are made based on current cell measurements, then user equipment can quickly switch between base stations, but rogue base stations can cause handover failures and blacklisting
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of cell measurement patterns and builds reference profiles of genuine base stations before handover decisions are triggered. This advance preparation enables rapid handover execution while maintaining reliability, as the authentication check against pre-collected reference data can be performed quickly during the handover process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary authentication mechanism that mediates between the speed requirement for handover and the reliability requirement for detecting rogue base stations. This intermediary layer compares current measurements against historical references, enabling fast handover decisions that are already authenticated against potential rogue base station impersonation.
3Reliability
If reference sets of cell measurements are collected and compared to detect fake base stations, then handover security is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates simplified copies or representations of genuine base station characteristics by collecting cell measurement information from multiple user equipments. These reference profiles serve as authentic templates that can be quickly compared against current measurements, providing secure detection without requiring complex analysis of raw measurement data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a universal detection mechanism that uses the same reference collection and comparison approach across multiple base stations and user equipments. This multi-functional approach allows the network to detect rogue base stations anywhere in the system using a single, standardized method, reducing overall system complexity through consistency.
Data Source
AI summary
The present subject matter relates to an apparatus for handover of a user equipment into a target base station of communication system, the apparatus comprising means, the means being configured for: in response to selecting the target base station for handover of the user equipment to the target base station performing a first handover method by at least: comparing a current set of cell measurements of the user equipment with reference sets of cell measurements for determining whether the target base station is a fake base station; performing a handover of the user equipment based on a determination that the target base station is not a fake base station.