Apparatus and method for supporting handover in a wireless communication system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a pre-5th-Generation (5G) or 5G communication system to be provided for supporting higher data rates Beyond 4th-Generation (4G) communication system such as Long Term Evolution (LTE). The present invention provides a method for supporting handover, comprising the steps of: informing, by a source base station, a core network whether a direct data forwarding path is available; deciding, by the core network, whether to use direct data forwarding or indirect data forwarding; informing, by the core network, a target base station of information about the direct data forwarding or indirect data forwarding; allocating, by the target base station, data forwarding tunnel information, the target base station allocating the data forwarding tunnel information according to the received information about the direct data forwarding or indirect data forwarding; transmitting, by the target base station, the allocated data forwarding tunnel information to the core network; and informing, by the core network, the source base station of the data forwarding tunnel information. With the present invention, different data forwarding methods are supported to prevent data loss and ensure service continuity.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.