Network node and method therein for handover in wireless communication network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10575227-B2
Application number	US-201816221685-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2018
Priority date	Jun 2, 2015
Publication date	Feb 25, 2020
Grant date	Feb 25, 2020

Abstract

A network node and method therein for assisting a communication device to perform handover from a serving cell to a target cell in a communication network are disclosed. The network node is configured to obtain a first round trip time between the network node and a server and obtain a second round trip time between a target node in the target cell and the server. The network node is further configured to instruct the communication device to perform handover from the serving cell to the target cell based on at least the first round trip time and the second round trip time.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method performed in a network node for assisting a communication device to perform handover from a serving cell to a target cell in a communication network, wherein the network node is a serving node for the communication device in the serving cell, the method comprising:
obtaining a first round trip time between the network node and an application server that provides, to the communication device, one or both of an application and control loop functionality;
obtaining a second round trip time between a target node in the target cell and the application server;
instructing the communication device to perform handover from the serving cell to the target cell based on at least the first round trip time and the second round trip time,
wherein instructing the communication device to perform handover from the serving cell to the target cell comprises:
instructing the communication device to perform handover from the serving cell to the target cell if the first round trip time is longer than the second round trip time.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein obtaining a first round trip time comprises sending a ping signal to the application server and measuring the first round trip time by the network node.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein obtaining a first round trip time comprises:
instructing the application server to perform a ping test for measuring the first round trip time; and
receiving information about the first round trip time measurement from the application server.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein obtaining a second round trip time comprises:
sending information on Internet Protocol (IP) address of the application server from the network node to the target node;
instructing the target node to do a ping test for measuring the second round trip time;
receiving information about the second round trip time measurement from the target node.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein obtaining a second round trip time comprises:
sending information on IP address or a cell identity of the target node to the application server;
instructing the application server to perform a ping test for measuring the second round trip time;
receiving information about the second round trip time measurement from the application server.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein obtaining a second round trip time between the target node and the application server comprises:
configuring a measurement gap for the communication device to measure the second round trip time by sending a ping signal from the communication device to the application server via the target node;
receiving information about the second round trip time measurement from the communication device.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein instructing the communication device to perform handover from the serving cell to the target cell comprises:
instructing the communication device to perform handover from the serving cell to the target cell if the second round trip time is longer than the first round time but shorter than a pre-determined threshold and a signal quality of the target cell is better than the serving cell.

8. A network node for assisting a communication device to perform handover from a serving cell to a target cell in a communication network, wherein the network node is a serving node for the communication device in the serving cell, the network node is configured to:
obtain a first round trip time between the network node and an application server that provides, to the communication device, one or both of an application and control loop functionality;
obtain a second round trip time between a target node in the target cell and the application server; and
instruct the communication device to perform handover from the serving cell to the target cell based on at least the first round trip time and the second round trip time,
wherein the network node is further configured to:
instruct the communication device to perform handover from the serving cell to the target cell if the first round trip time is longer than the second round trip time.

9. The network node according to claim 8 , wherein the network node is further configured to send a ping signal to the application server and measuring the first round trip time.

10. The network node according to claim 8 , wherein the network node is further configured to:
instruct the application server to perform a ping test for measuring the first round trip time;
receive information about the first round trip time measurement from the application server.

11. The network node according to claim 8 , wherein the network node is further configured to:
send information on Internet Protocol (IP) address of the application server to the target node;
instruct the target node to do a ping test for measuring the second round trip time; and
receive information about the second round trip time measurement from the target node.

12. The network node according to claim 8 , wherein the network node is further configured to:
send information on IP address or a cell identity of the target node to the application server;
instruct the application server to perform a ping test for measuring the second round trip time;
receive information about the second round trip time measurement from the application server.

13. The network node according to claim 8 , wherein the network node is further configured to:
configure a measurement gap for the communication device to measure the second round trip time by sending a ping signal from the communication device to the application server via the target node; and
receive information about the second round trip time measurement from the communication device.

14. The network node according to claim 8 , wherein the network node is further configured to:
instruct the communication device to perform handover from the serving cell to the target cell if the second round trip time is longer than the first round time but shorter than a pre-determined threshold and a signal quality of the target cell is better than the serving cell.

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Lindoff Bengt
• Astrom Magnus
• Eker Johan
• Nilsson Johan

Classifications

• H04L43/10

  Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route · CPC title

• H04W36/0016 Primary

  Hand-off preparation specially adapted for end-to-end data sessions · CPC title

• H04W36/0094 Primary

  Definition of hand-off measurement parameters · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• H04L43/16

  Threshold monitoring · CPC title