Wireless Network Context Record Preservation During Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
The typical process of releasing context records during network-entity maintenance in cellular wireless networks leads to signaling overload, both during the shutdown and subsequent reattachment of UEs, due to the flooding of context release messages within the network core.
Innovation Solution
The method involves detecting a trigger condition, such as a threshold number of context release messages or a network entity beginning a shut-down process, and instead of deleting context records, preserving them, which reduces signaling congestion during shutdown and reattachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If context records are released during network-entity maintenance, then network resources are freed for maintenance operations, but signaling overload occurs due to flooding of context release messages
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detaching UEs and preserving their context records before the actual maintenance shutdown occurs. This preliminary detachment prevents the need for mass context release messages during shutdown, as the UEs are already in a detached state and will simply reattach after maintenance without triggering context release flooding.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of the conventional approach of releasing context records during maintenance, the patent inverts the logic by preserving context records while detaching UEs beforehand. This inversion changes the sequence and nature of operations: rather than maintaining connections and then releasing contexts, the system detaches first and maintains contexts, thereby avoiding the signaling overload that would result from mass context release messages.
2Quantity of substance
If context records are deleted during shutdown, then storage resources are freed, but service quality deteriorates due to increased message exchange during reattachment
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the detachment action preliminarily before shutdown, which preserves context records. When UEs reattach after maintenance, the preserved context records enable faster service restoration without requiring extensive message exchange to re-establish bearers and services, thus maintaining service quality while still freeing storage resources through the detachment process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the state parameter of context records from 'deleted' to 'preserved' during maintenance operations. This parameter change allows the system to maintain context information in a suspended state, reducing the signaling required during reattachment while still managing storage resources effectively through the preliminary detachment of UEs.
3Productivity
If UEs are detached during maintenance, then network entity load is reduced, but signaling congestion occurs during subsequent reattachment
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detachment of UEs before maintenance, which reduces the processing load on the network entity during maintenance operations. By preserving context records during this preliminary detachment, the system ensures that when UEs reattach after maintenance, the preserved contexts enable rapid service restoration without triggering additional signaling congestion, thus resolving the contradiction between load reduction and signaling congestion.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for preserving context records is disclosed. The method is operable in a communication system including a wireless network serving user equipment devices (UEs), where the wireless network stores, for each UE served by the wireless network, a context record for the UE. The method involves the wireless network detecting a trigger condition comprising a condition selected from the group consisting of (i) a threshold number of context release messages being transmitted between at least two network entities in the wireless network, wherein the threshold number is greater than one and (ii) a network entity beginning a shut-down process. The method further involves, in response to detecting the trigger condition, the wireless network (i) detaching from the wireless network each UE being served by the wireless network at the time of detecting the trigger condition but (ii) preserving the context records for the detached UEs.