US 2015/0030002 A1 · PACKET DATA PROTOCOL CONTEXT MANAGEMENT FOR HANDOVER FROM CELLULAR NETWORK TO A FEMTO CELL

Abstract

Packet data protocol (PDP) contexts are managed upon cellular-to-femto handover, wherein femto network has disparate capabilities to support applications with distinct access point names (APNs) and quality of service (QoS) profiles. Based at least on activity factors of applications associated with PDP contexts, a QoS-based ranking of PDP contexts, and subscriber input, cellular network platform selects active PDP contexts to retain and suspend upon handover. A group of active PDP contexts is handed off in accordance with femto coverage capability, with remaining active PDP contexts suspended during handover. When a suspended PDP context, and application associated therewith, is resumed through femto coverage, a PDP context modification is conducted with a new APN and the application is routed to a corresponding femto gateway node and application server. Additionally, femto network platform performs a radio access bearer reconfiguration to meet QoS requirements of the resumed PDP context.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system, comprising:

a processor;
and
a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
comparing a set of activity levels corresponding to a set of active packet data protocol contexts and ranking a subset of the set of active packet data protocol contexts based on a quality of service requirement of an application associated with the subset of the set of active packet data protocol contexts;
facilitating a transfer, from cellular device coverage to femtocell network device coverage, of an active packet data protocol context of the subset of active packet data protocol contexts with a defined level of the quality of service requirement in response to receiving a selection of the active packet data protocol context;
suspending another active packet data protocol context of the set of active packet data protocol contexts that was not transferred;
signaling a cellular network device to modify a highest ranking suspended packet data protocol context;
and
resuming the highest ranking suspended packet data protocol context after a transferred active packet data protocol context has been released.

6 more elements

A method, comprising:

ranking, by a system comprising a processor, quality of service requirements of active packet data protocol contexts based on other quality of service requirements of an application associated with the active packet data protocol contexts;
facilitating, by the system, transferring a set of active packet data protocol contexts selected from the active packet data protocol contexts from cellular device coverage to femtocell device coverage in response to receiving a selection of the set of active packet data protocol contexts;
suspending, by the system, a second set of packet data protocol contexts that are not in the set of active packet data protocol contexts resulting in suspended packet data protocol contexts;
in response to a release of the set of active packet data protocol contexts, requesting, by the system, packet data protocol context modification of a suspended packet data protocol context of the suspended packet data protocol contexts that is determined to satisfy a defined criterion;
and
resuming, by the system, a highest ranking active packet data protocol context of the active packet data protocol contexts in response to completion of the packet data protocol context modification.

3 more elements

A computer-readable storage device comprising executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a device comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:

ranking quality of service characteristics of active packet data protocol contexts based on a quality of service requirement of an application associated with the active packet data protocol contexts;
in response to receiving a confirmation of a selection of a set of active packet data protocol contexts of the active packet data protocol contexts having a ranked quality of service characteristic that satisfies a defined ranking criterion for applications associated with the active packet data protocol contexts, facilitating transferring, from a cellular network device to a femtocell network device, the set of active packet data protocol contexts;
suspending an active packet data protocol context of the active packet data protocol contexts that was not transferred resulting in the active packet data protocol context being included in suspended packet data protocol contexts;
signaling the cellular network device to modify a highest ranking suspended packet data protocol context of the suspended packet data protocol contexts;
and
resuming the highest ranking suspended packet data protocol context after a transferred active packet data protocol context has been determined to have been released.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Packet data protocol context management for handover from cellular network to a femto cell

Life of this patent

Packet data protocol context management for handover from cellular network to a femto cell

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20