RAN-Controlled Selective Handover Between First and Second RAN:S

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016127964-A1
Application number	US-201414894578-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 28, 2014
Priority date	May 30, 2013
Publication date	May 5, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method, in a mobility function (MF) node. The method comprises receiving (S1) information about a mapping to a property, of each of a plurality of radio bearers of a radio device for carrying data traffic between the radio device and a first radio access network (RAN). The method also comprises determining (S2) based on the received (S1) information, that at least one of the radio bearers can be handed over to a second RAN. The method also comprises initiating (S3) a handover command to the radio device instructing the radio device to hand over the at least one radio bearer to the second RAN.

First claim

1 - 23 . (canceled)

24 . A method, in a mobility function (MF) node, in a communication network, the method comprising:
receiving information about a mapping to a property, of each of a plurality of radio bearers of a radio device for carrying data traffic between the radio device and a first radio access network (RAN); determining, based on the received information, that at least one of the radio bearers can be handed over to a second RAN; and initiating a handover command to the radio device instructing the radio device to hand over the at least one radio bearer to the second RAN.

25 . The method of claim 24 , further comprising:
receiving measurement data of the mobile terminal, said measurement data relating to measurements made by the mobile terminal on the first and/or second RAN; wherein the determining that the at least one radio bearer between the radio device and a first RAN can be handed over to a second RAN is based also on said received measurement data in combination with policies predefined in the MF node.

26 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the information about mapping to a property comprises information about to which Access Point Name (APN) each of the radio bearers is mapped, and wherein the radio bearers comprise at least one radio bearer mapped to a first APN and at least one radio bearer mapped to a second APN, wherein said determining comprises determining that the at least one radio bearer mapped to the first APN should be handed over to the second RAN.

27 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the information about mapping to a property comprises information about to which PDN connection each of the radio bearers is mapped, and wherein the radio bearers comprise at least one radio bearer mapped to a first PDN connection and at least one radio bearer mapped to a second PDN connection, wherein said determining comprises determining that the at least one radio bearer mapped to the first PDN connection should be handed over to the second RAN.

28 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the received information comprises IP addresses associated with each of the radio bearers, and/or the linked bearer identification (LBI) associated with each of the radio bearers.

29 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the information about mapping to a property comprises bearer IDs for each of the radio bearers, and wherein said determining comprises determining that at least one of the radio bearers as identified by its bearer ID should be handed over to the second RAN.

30 . The method of claim 24 , further comprising:
receiving quality-of-service class indicator (QCI) information for each of the radio bearers, wherein said determining is also based on said QCI information.

31 . The method of claim 30 , wherein said determining comprises determining that bearers associated with a specific QCI or range of QCIs can be handed over to the second RAN.

32 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the first RAN is a cellular RAN and the second RAN is a wireless local-area network (WLAN).

33 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the information about mapping to a property is received from a CN node via a base station in the first RAN.

34 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the first RAN is a WLAN and the second RAN is a cellular RAN.

35 . The method of claim 34 , wherein the information about the mapping is received from a trusted wireless access gateway (TWAG) associated with the WLAN.

36 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the handover command is configured to instruct the radio device to hand over at least one but fewer than all of the radio bearers of the radio device.

37 . The method of claim 24 , wherein said handover command comprises a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection Reconfiguration message comprising one or more parameters used for the hand over.

38 . A method, performed in a base station of a cellular RAN, the method comprising:
receiving information about a mapping to a property, of each of a plurality of radio bearers of a radio device for carrying data traffic between the radio device and the cellular RAN; and forwarding the mapping information to an MF node for use in determining that at least one of the radio bearers can be handed over to a WLAN RAN.

39 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the mapping information is received from a core network node.

40 . A mobility function (MF) node for a communication network, the MF node comprising:
a communication interface configured for communicating with one or more nodes of at least a first radio access network (RAN); processing circuitry; and a storage unit storing instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said MF node is operative to:
receive information about a mapping to a property, of each of a plurality of radio bearers of a radio device for carrying data traffic between the radio device and the first RAN;
determine, based on the received information, that at least one of the radio bearers can be handed over to a second RAN; and
initiate a handover command to the radio device instructing the radio device to handover the at least one radio bearer to the second RAN.

41 . A base station for a cellular RAN, the base station comprising:
a radio communication interface for communication with a radio device; processing circuitry; and a storage unit storing instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said base station is operative to:
receive information about a mapping to a property, of each of a plurality of radio bearers of the radio device for carrying data traffic between the radio device and the cellular RAN; and
forward the mapping information to an MF node for use in determining that at least one of the radio bearers can be handed over to a WLAN RAN.

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Roeland Dinand
• Rommer Stefan
• Bergström Mattias
• Teyeb Oumer

Classifications

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W36/14 Primary

  Reselecting a network or an air interface · CPC title

• H04W36/30

  by measured or perceived connection quality data · CPC title

• H04W36/302

  due to low signal strength · CPC title

• H04W36/0027

  for a plurality of data sessions of end-to-end connections, e.g. multi-call or multi-bearer end-to-end data connections · CPC title