User Plane Session Handover With Buffered Uplink Continuity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing communication networks face challenges in seamlessly changing user plane components for mobile terminals without causing packet loss, particularly in applications like Edge Computing where mobility is high and packet loss is critical, such as in platooning of vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A communication network arrangement that includes a mechanism for transferring user plane configuration information from a source SMF to a target SMF during a user plane change, ensuring seamless transition by buffering data and maintaining quality of service, using mechanisms like SSC modes SSC#2 and SSC#3 to manage SMF changes and UPF relocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If user plane components are changed to serve mobile terminals with resources close to the terminal in Edge Computing, then service quality and resource efficiency are improved, but packet loss risk increases during the change process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by establishing a second PDU session with a target UPF before releasing the first PDU session with the source UPF. The second session is set up in advance with all necessary configuration information transferred, ensuring that the mobile terminal already has a valid communication path ready before the old path is disconnected, thus preventing packet loss during the transition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent ensures continuity of useful action by maintaining both the first and second PDU sessions temporarily during the transition period. Data can flow through both sessions simultaneously, ensuring uninterrupted communication service while the user plane components are being changed, thereby maintaining service quality without packet loss.
2Reliability
If seamless user plane change is implemented to avoid packet loss, then communication reliability is improved, but system complexity increases due to multiple SMF and UPF coordination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) as an intermediary to facilitate communication and coordination between the source and target SMFs during the user plane change. The AMF receives the trigger from the source SMF, selects the target SMF, and manages the information exchange between them, simplifying the overall system architecture by providing a centralized coordination point rather than requiring direct peer-to-peer communication between multiple SMFs and UPFs.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If user plane configuration information is transferred between SMFs during PDU session change, then service continuity is improved, but information transfer overhead and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by transferring all necessary user plane configuration information from the source SMF to the target SMF before the actual PDU session switch occurs. This includes UPF addresses, tunnel endpoint information, and QoS parameters. By completing the information transfer in advance, the actual session switch can execute quickly without delays, minimizing information transfer overhead during the critical transition moment.
Data Source
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AI summary
According to one embodiment, a communication network arrangement (100) of a communication network comprising: a first user plane component (601, 111, 204) configured to provide a first communication session (203) for a communication service used by a mobile terminal (102, 201); a first control plane component (602, 110) configured to manage the first communication session (203) and configured to, upon a trigger for a user plane change for the communication service, transmit user plane configuration information to an information relaying component (603, 101); a second user plane component (604, 113, 207) configured to provide a second communication session (206) for the communication service; a second control plane component (605, 112) configured to manage the second communication session (206) and configured to receive the user plane configuration information from the information relaying component (603, 101); and a quality policy requesting component (105, 304) configured to transmit at least a part of the user plane configuration information to the first control plane component (602, 110). The first control plane component (602, 110) and the second control plane component (605, 112) are session management functions. The information relaying component (603, 101) is a third control plane component configured to request the establishment of the second communication session (412, 511) and configured to include the user plane configuration information in the request for establishment of the second communication session (412, 511) transmitted to the second control plane component (407, 507). The user plane configuration information includes: information about the provision of the communication service before the user plane change; and an indication (308) that uplink traffic should be buffered by the second user plane component (604, 113, 207) until a receiver (208) of the second user plane component (604, 113, 207) is ready to receive the uplink traffic (314).