Handover with postponed path switch
AssigneeNokia Technologies Oy
InventorsDiomidis Michalopoulos, Ingo Viering, Andreas Maeder
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An exemplary embodiment provides an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause said apparatus to determine that a path switch can be initiated during a handover of a user equipment from a first access node to a second access node, determine at least one condition for initiating the path switch, postpone the initiation of the path switch until the at least one condition has been met, and in response to determining that the at least one condition has been met, indicate the initiation of the path switch to the first access node or the second access node.
Claims13
An apparatus comprising:
- at least one processor;
- and
- at least one memory including computer program code, said at least one memory and said computer program code being configured, with said at least one processor, to cause said apparatus at least to:
- determine, during a handover of a user equipment from a first access node to a second access node, that a path switch can be initiated;
- determine at least one condition for initiating the path switch;
- postpone the initiation of the path switch until the at least one condition has been met;
- in response to determining that the at least one condition has been met, indicate the initiation of the path switch to the second access node;
- and
- maintain a connection between the first access node and a mobility management entity or a connection between the first access node and a serving gateway at least until the at least one condition is met,
- wherein the at least one condition comprises at least one of:
- an empty buffer for the user equipment,
- a congested interface between the first access node and the second access node,
- a congested interface between one of the first or the second access node and one of a mobility management entity or a serving gateway,
- an expiry of a path switch postponement timer set to a value dependent on one of channel measurements or channel frequency,
- a processing limitation at the first access node, or
- a condition requiring a handover from the second access node to a third access node, and
- wherein the apparatus comprises the first access node.
A method comprising:
- determining, during a handover of a user equipment from a first access node to a second access node, that a path switch can be initiated;
- determining at least one condition for initiating the path switch;
- postponing the initiation of the path switch until the at least one condition has been met;
- in response to determining that the at least one condition has been met, indicating the initiation of the path switch to the second access node;
- and
- maintaining a connection between the first access node and a mobility management entity or a connection between the first access node and a serving gateway at least until the at least one condition is met,
- wherein the at least one condition comprises at least one of:
- an empty buffer for the user equipment,
- a congested interface between the first access node and the second access node,
- a congested interface between one of the first or the second access node and one of the mobility management entity or the serving gateway,
- an expiry of a path switch postponement timer set to a value dependent on one of channel measurements or channel frequency,
- a processing limitation at the first access node, or
- a condition requiring a handover from the second access node to a third access node,
- wherein the method is performed by a network node, the network node comprising the first access node.
A non-transitory computer readable medium tangibly encoded with a computer program executable by a processor to perform actions comprising:
- determining, during a handover of a user equipment from a first access node to a second access node, that a path switch can be initiated;
- determining at least one condition for initiating the path switch;
- postponing the initiation of the path switch until the at least one condition has been met;
- in response to determining that the at least one condition has been met, indicating the initiation of the path switch to the second access node;
- and
- maintaining a connection between the first access node and a mobility management entity or a connection between the first access node and a serving gateway at least until the at least one condition is met,
- wherein the at least one condition comprises at least one of:
- an empty buffer for the user equipment,
- a congested interface between the first access node and the second access node,
- a congested interface between one of the first or the second access node and one of the mobility management entity or the serving gateway,
- an expiry of a path switch postponement timer set to a value dependent on one of channel measurements or channel frequency,
- a processing limitation at the first access node, or
- a condition requiring a handover from the second access node to a third access node,
- wherein the method is performed by a network node, the network node comprising the first access node.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.