A Method, Network Functions and a Computer Program Product for Supporting the Handing Over of a User Equipment, UE, from a First Type of Radio Access Technology, RAT, to a Second Type of RAT

A method of initiating a handover of a User Equipment (UE) from a first type of Radio Access Technology (RAT) to a second type of RAT, wherein said UE is attached to a Core Network (CN) via an Access Node (AN) in a Radio Access Network (RAN) utilizing said first type of RAT, wherein said method comprises the steps of:

• transmitting, by said UE, to said AN, measurement data relating to qualities of links between said UE and access nodes in said RAN;
• receiving, by said UE, an indicator from said AN, wherein said indicator informs said UE that there is a risk of losing connectivity between said UE and said RAN;
• initiating, by said UE, triggered by said received indicator, a handover in order to access a CN via said second type of RAT, in response to said indicator.

A method of enabling a handover of a User Equipment (UE) from a first type of Radio Access Technology (RAT) to a second type of RAT, wherein said UE is attached to a core network via an Access Node (AN) in a Radio Access Network (RAN) utilizing said first type of RAT, wherein said method comprises the steps of:

• receiving, by said AN, from said UE, measurement data relating to qualities of links between said UE and access nodes in said RAN;
• determining, by said AN, that there is a risk of losing connectivity between said Radio Access Network and said UE based on said measurement data;
• transmitting, by AN, an indicator to said UE, wherein said indicator indicates a risk of losing connectivity such that said UE is to initiate a handover procedure to said second type of RAT.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising, stored thereupon, computer program code that, when executed on a processor of a User Equipment (UE) attached to a Core Network (CN) via an Access Node (AN) in a Radio Access Network (RAN) utilizing a first type of Radio Access Technology (RAT), causes the UE to initiate a handover from the first type of RAT to a second type of RAT by:

• transmitting, by said UE, to said AN, measurement data relating to qualities of links between said UE and access nodes in said RAN;
• receiving, by said UE, an indicator from said AN, wherein said indicator informs said UE that there is a risk of losing connectivity between said UE and said RAN;
• initiating, by said UE, triggered by said received indicator, a handover in order to access a CN via said second type of RAT, in response to said indicator.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising, stored thereupon, computer program code that, when executed on a processor of an Access Node (AN) of a Radio Access Network (RAN) utilizing a first type of Radio Access Technology (RAT), causes the AN to enable a handover of a User Equipment (UE) attached to a core network (CN) via the AN from the first type of RAT to a second type of RAT, by:

• receiving, by said AN, from said UE, measurement data relating to qualities of links between said UE and access nodes in said RAN;
• determining, by said AN, that there is a risk of losing connectivity between said Radio Access Network and said UE based on said measurement data;
• transmitting, by AN, an indicator to said UE, wherein said indicator indicates a risk of losing connectivity such that said UE is to initiate a handover procedure to said second type of RAT.