# US 2021/0243670 A1 · Method for Sending End Marker, Device and System > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0243670 A1 - Document ID: US20210243670A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/234,285 - Filed: 2021-04-19 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Earliest claimed: 2016-11-04 - Assignees: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Qianghua Zhu; Chunshan Xiong - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210243670A1 ## CPC - H04W 36/00: Hand-off or reselection arrangements - H04W 40/12: based on transmission quality or channel quality - H04W 36/02: Buffering or recovering information during reselection {; Modification of the traffic flow during hand-off} - H04W 36/12: Reselecting a serving backbone network switching or routing node - H04W 68/005: {Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication} - H04W 76/11: Allocation or use of connection identifiers - H04W 76/12: Setup of transport tunnels - H04W 76/22: Manipulation of transport tunnels - H04W 88/08: Access point devices - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A method for sending an end marker, a device, and a system, where the method includes receiving, by a source access node (AN) through a source path between the source AN and a core-network user-plane device, a first end marker sent by the core-network user-plane device. The method further includes generating, by the source AN, N second end marker(s) based on the first end marker, where N is a number of source data radio bearers (DRBs) corresponding to the source path, and sending, by the source AN, the N second end marker(s) to a target AN through a forwarding path corresponding to the source path. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for sending an end marker, wherein the method comprises: sending, by a core-network user-plane device through a source path between a source access node (AN) and the core-network user-plane device, a first end marker to the source AN, wherein the first end marker indicates that sending downlink data of a user equipment (UE) on the source path is completed; receiving, by the source AN, the first end marker; generating, by the source AN, N second end markers based on the first end marker, wherein N is greater than or equal to 2; and sending, by the source AN, the N second end markers to a target AN through N forwarding paths, wherein the N forwarding paths are for forwarding, to the target AN, data of the UE received through the source path. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein before receiving the first end marker from the core-network user-plane device, the method further comprises sending, by the source AN, a first switching request message to the target AN, wherein the first switching request message carries first information about source data radio bearers (DRBs) of the UE and second information about the source path, and wherein the source DRBs correspond to the source path. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method according to claim 2, wherein the first information comprises: quality of service (QoS) information of the source DRBs, an identifier (ID) of each of the source DRBs, and a data category indicator of each of the source DRBs. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method according to claim 3, wherein the second information comprises: a first Internet Protocol (IP) address and a first tunnel ID of a first portion of the source path on the source AN, and a second IP address and a second tunnel ID of a second portion of the source path on the core-network user-plane device. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein before receiving the first end marker from the core-network user-plane device, the method further comprises sending, by the source AN, a switching request message to a core-network control-plane device, wherein the switching request message carries a number of the N forwarding paths and a first container, wherein the first container comprises the first information about the source DRBs and the second information, and wherein the first information comprises: quality of service (QoS) information of the source DRBs, an identifier (ID) of each of the source DRBs, and a data category indicator of each of the source DRBs. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method according to claim 5, wherein the second information comprises a first Internet Protocol (IP) address and a tunnel ID of a first portion of the source path on the source AN, and a second IP address and a second tunnel ID of a second portion of the source path on the core-network user-plane device. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The method according to claim 5, further comprising receiving, by the source AN, a switching command from the core-network control-plane device, wherein the switching command carries an Internet Protocol (IP) address and a tunnel ID of a forwarding path on the core-network user-plane device. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein generating the N second end markers based on the first end marker comprises generating, by the source AN, the N second end markers based on the first end marker and a correspondence between the N forwarding paths and the source path. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the target AN, the N second end markers through the N forwarding paths. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein N is a number of source data radio bearers (DRBs) corresponding to the source path. ### Claim 11 A communication system, comprising: a core-network user-plane device; and a source access node (AN) configured to: receive, through a source path between the source AN and the core-network user-plane device, a first end marker from the core-network user-plane device, wherein the first end marker indicates that sending downlink data of a user equipment (UE) on the source path is completed; generate N second end markers based on the first end marker, wherein N is greater than or equal to 2; and send the N second end markers to a target AN through N forwarding paths, wherein the N forwarding paths are for forwarding, to the target AN, data of the UE received through the source path. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The communication system according to claim 11, wherein the source AN is configured to generate the N second end markers based on the first end marker and a correspondence between the N forwarding paths and the source path. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The communication system according to claim 11, wherein the source AN is further configured to send a first switching request message to the target AN, wherein the first switching request message carries first information about source data radio bearers (DRBs) of the UE and second information about the source path, and wherein the source DRBs of the UE correspond to the source path. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The communication system according to claim 13, wherein the first information comprises: quality of service (QoS) information of the source DRBs, an identifier (ID) of each of the source DRBs, and a data category indicator of each of the source DRBs. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The communication system according to claim 14, wherein the second information comprises: a first Internet Protocol (IP) address and a first tunnel ID of a first portion of the source path on the source AN, and a second IP address and a second tunnel ID of a second portion of the source path on the core-network user-plane device. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The communication system according to claim 11, wherein the source AN is further configured to send a switching request message to a core-network control-plane device, wherein the switching request message carries a number of the N forwarding paths and a first container, wherein the first container comprises the first information about the source DRBs and the second information about the source path, and wherein the first information comprises: quality of service (QoS) information of the source DRBs, an identifier (ID) of each of the source DRBs, and a data category indicator of each of the source DRBs. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The communication system according to claim 16, wherein the second information comprises: a first Internet Protocol (IP) address and a first tunnel ID of a first portion of the source path on the source AN, and a second IP address and a second tunnel ID of a second portion of the source path on the core-network user-plane device. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The communication system according to claim 16, wherein the source AN is further configured to receive a switching command from the core-network control-plane device, and wherein the switching command carries an Internet Protocol (IP) address and a tunnel ID of a forwarding path on the core-network user-plane device. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The communication system according to claim 16, further comprising the target AN, wherein the target AN is configured to receive the N second end markers. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The communication system according to claim 16, wherein N is a number of the source DRBs corresponding to the source path.