US 8,804,667 B2 · Method, system and evolved NodeB apparatus for implementing inter-evolved NodeB handover

Abstract

A method, a system and an evolved NodeB (eNB) apparatus for implementing inter-eNB switch are disclosed in the present invention. The method includes: when a user equipment switches from a source-side eNB to a target-side eNB, if the target-side eNB acquires via the Mobility Management Entity (MME) that the Serving Gateway (S-GW) has changed, the target-side eNB adds the new route relation of the S-GW and then updates the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunnelling Protocol User Plane (GTP-U) entity. The present invention can effectively solve the problem of the uplink data packet loss due to the time difference existing between the update to the Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) and the routing table by the eNB when inter-eNB switch is performed via X2 and the S-GW has changed, thus enhancing the user experience during the switch.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A method for implementing inter-eNB switch, comprising the following steps of:

when a user equipment switches from a source-side eNB to a target-side eNB, the target-side eNB, after the switch is completed, sending to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) a PATH SWITCH REQUEST message to indicate that the eNB side has changed;
the MME, after completing update of the S-GW, sending to the target-side eNB a PATH SWITCH REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message for indicating whether a Serving Gateway(S-GW) has changed or not;
if the target-side eNB acquires via the MME that the S-GW has changed, the target-side eNB adding a new routing relation of the S-GW and then updating a General Packet Radio Service(GPRS) Tunnelling Protocol User Plane (GTP-U) entity;
and
the target-side eNB deleting an old routing relation of the S-GW after successfully completing update of the GTP-U entity.

2 more elements

A system for implementing inter-eNB switch, comprising a target-side eNB and a Mobility Management Entity (MME), wherein:

the target-side eNB is configured to, after completing a switch of a user equipment (UE) from a source-side eNB, send to the MME a message for notifying that the eNB side has changed;
when acquiring via the MME that a Serving Gateway(S-GW) has changed, add a new routing relation of the S-GW and then update a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunnelling Protocol User Plane (GTP-U) entity, and delete an old routing relation of the S-GW after successfully completing update of the GTP-U entity;
the MME is configured to, after completing update of the S-GW, send to the target-side eNB a message to inform the target-side eNB of whether the S-GW has changed or not.

An evolved NodeB (eNB) apparatus for implementing inter-eNB switch, comprising a control-plane sub-system, a user-plane sub-system and a route sub-system, wherein,

the control-plane sub-system is configured to, after completing a switch of a user equipment (UE) from a source-side eNB, when acquiring via a Mobility Management Entity (MME) that a Serving Gateway(S-GW) has changed, notify the route sub-system to add a new routing relation and then notify the user-plane sub-system to update a General Packet Radio Service(GPRS) Tunnelling Protocol User Plane (GTP-U) entity;
the route sub-system is configured to add new routing information of the S-GW according to a notification of the control-plane sub-system;
the user-plane sub-system is configured to update the GTP-U entity according to a notification of the control-plane sub-system, and
wherein,
the user-plane sub-system is further configured to return an update result to the control-plane sub-system after completing update of the GTP-U entity;
the control-plane sub-system is further configured to notify the route sub-system to delete old routing information of the S-GW if judging that the update result returned by the user-plane sub-system is “successful”;
and notify the route sub-system to delete added new routing information of the S-GW if judging that the update result is “unsuccessful”;
the route sub-system is further configured to delete old routing information of the S-GW or add new routing information of the S-GW in a routing information record.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method, system and evolved NodeB apparatus for implementing inter-evolved NodeB handover

Life of this patent

Method, system and evolved NodeB apparatus for implementing inter-evolved NodeB handover

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims11