Network handover method, apparatus, device, and system

• US 10,080,170 B2
• Filed: 01/29/2016
• Issued: 09/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Jin, Weisheng
• Primary Examiner(s): Chery, Dady
• Application Number:
  US15/009,975
• Publication Number:
  US 20160165508A1
• Time in Patent Office: 963 Days
• Field of Search: 370330-337, 455436-444
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0011 for data sessions of end-to-end connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0033 with transfer of context information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/144 over a different radio air interface technology
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/38 by fixed network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Embodiments provide a network handover method, apparatus, device, and system and relate to the communications field. The method is used in a control node and include: acquiring first state information of a WLAN AP that UE accesses and second state information of a cellular network corresponding to a location of the UE. If it is determined that the first state information and the second state information meet a preset first handover condition, the method includes generating first handover information, and sending the first handover information to a handover node, so that the handover node sends, to the UE, a first handover command that is generated according to the first handover information, and the UE attaches to the cellular network indicated by the first handover command, receives an IP address of the UE in the cellular network, and implements a handover from a WLAN to the cellular network.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a user equipment (UE), a first handover command that is generated according to first handover information by a handover node, wherein the first handover information is generated when a control node acquires first state information of a wireless local area network access point (WLAN AP) that the UE accesses and second state information of a cellular network corresponding to a location of the UE, and when the control node determines that the first state information and the second state information meet a preset first handover condition, wherein the WLAN AP belongs to a wireless local area network (WLAN), and wherein the handover node and the control node are network-side nodes;

attaching, by the UE, to the cellular network indicated by the first handover command;

receiving, by the UE, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the UE in the cellular network, and implementing a handover from the WLAN to the cellular network; and

adding a UE identity into radio resource control (RRC) information and sending the RRC information to the control node, or receiving an identity request sent by the control node and feeding back the UE identity to the control node according to the identity request.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the first handover command that is generated according to first handover information by the handover node comprises:

receiving, by the UE using user plane signaling, the first handover command generated by the handover node;

or

receiving, by the UE using Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) protocol, Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol, Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), or dedicated control signaling, the first handover command generated by the handover node.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cellular network is a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, and the first handover command comprises a packet data network (PDN) identity, and the method further comprises:

before receiving the IP address of the UE in the cellular network, sending, to the control node, the PDN identity, or both the PDN identity and a preset parameter that carries a UE identity, so that after finding a cellular network handover preparation context corresponding to the UE identity, the control node sets a first handover instruction and sends the first handover instruction to a mobility management device, and the mobility management device instructs a PGW to allocate the IP address of the UE in the cellular network to the UE, wherein the preset parameter is an access point name (APN) or a protocol configuration option (PCO), and the IP address of the UE in the cellular network is the same as an IP address of the UE in the WLAN.

4. A method, comprising:

acquiring, by a control node, first state information of a wireless local area network access point (WLAN AP) corresponding to a location of user equipment (UE) and second state information of a cellular network that the UE accesses, wherein the control node is a network-side node;

in response to determining that the first state information and the second state information meet a preset second handover condition, generating, by the control node, second handover information, wherein generating the second handover information comprises;

acquiring a UE identity, an identifier of the WLAN AP, and a packet data network (PDN) identity; and

adding the UE identity, the identifier of the WLAN AP, and the PDN identity into the second handover information, wherein the UE identity and the PDN identity are used to generate notification information; and

instructing, by the control node, a preset node to send, to the UE, a second handover command that is generated according to the identifier of the WLAN AP, so that the UE accesses the WLAN AP indicated by the second handover command, receives an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the UE in a WLAN, and implements a handover from the cellular network to the WLAN.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein acquiring first state information of the WLAN AP corresponding to a location of the UE and second state information of the cellular network that the UE accesses comprises:

acquiring the location of the UE;

searching for an access controller (AC)/a broadband network gateway (BNG) of a WLAN AP that corresponds to a coverage area to which the location belongs, or that corresponds to a coverage area adjacent to a coverage area to which the location belongs, and acquiring the first state information of the WLAN AP from the AC/BNG; and

acquiring the second state information of the cellular network that the UE accesses.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein after generating the second handover information, the method further comprises:

adding, into the notification information, the UE identity and the PDN identity that are carried in the second handover information; and

sending the notification information to a trusted gateway (TGW);

or sending the notification information to a mobility control function-wireless local area network (MCF-W) and forwarding, by the MCF-W, the notification information to the TGW, so that the TGW establishes a WLAN handover preparation context according to the UE identity and the PDN identity, and after finding a WLAN handover preparation context corresponding to a UE identity of UE that performs WLAN AP access authentication, determines a packet data network gateway (PGW) according to the WLAN handover preparation context and subscription information of the UE and sends a handover instruction to the PGW, and the PGW returns, to the TGW according to the handover instruction, the IP address that is of the UE in the WLAN and allocated to the UE, wherein the IP address of the UE in the WLAN is the same as an IP address of the UE in the cellular network.

7. A method, comprising:

reporting, by a user equipment (UE), a location of the UE to a control node, so that after acquiring the location, the control node acquires first state information of a wireless local area network access point (WLAN AP) corresponding to the location of the UE and second state information of a cellular network that the UE accesses;

receiving, by the UE, a second handover command that is generated according to second handover information, wherein the second handover information is generated when the control node acquires the first state information of the WLAN AP corresponding to the location of the UE and the second state information of the cellular network that the UE accesses, and when the control node determines that the first state information and the second state information meet a preset second handover condition, wherein the WLAN AP belongs to a wireless local area network (WLAN), and wherein the control node is a network-side control node;

accessing, by the UE, the WLAN AP indicated by the second handover command; and

receiving, by the control node, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the UE in the WLAN, and implementing a handover from the cellular network to the WLAN.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein before receiving the second handover command, the method further comprises:

reporting a UE identity to the control node, wherein the UE identity is added into notification information and sent to a trusted gateway (TGW) by the control node, so that the TGW establishes a WLAN handover preparation context according to the UE identity and a packet data network (PDN) identity that is added by the control node into the notification information, and after finding a WLAN handover preparation context corresponding to a UE identity of UE that performs WLAN AP access authentication, determines a packet data network gateway (PGW) according to the WLAN handover preparation context and subscription information of the UE and sends a handover instruction to the PGW, and the PGW returns, to the TGW according to the handover instruction, the IP address that is of the UE in the WLAN and allocated to the UE, wherein the IP address of the UE in the WLAN is the same as an IP address of the UE in the cellular network.

9. A user apparatus, comprising:

a receiver, configured to receive a first handover command that is generated according to first handover information by a handover node, wherein the first handover information is generated when a control node acquires first state information of a wireless local area network access point (WLAN AP) that the user apparatus accesses and second state information of a cellular network corresponding to a location of the user apparatus, and when the control node determines that the first state information and the second state information meet a preset first handover condition, wherein the WLAN AP belongs to a wireless local area network (WLAN), and wherein the handover node and the control node are network-side nodes;

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium storing a program to be executed by the processor, the program including instructions for;

attaching to the cellular network indicated by the first handover command received by the receiver;

wherein the receiver is further configured to, after the user apparatus attaches to the cellular network indicated by the first handover command, receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the user apparatus in the cellular network and implement a handover from the WLAN to the cellular network; and

wherein the receiver is further configured to;

receive, using user plane signaling, the first handover command generated by the handover node;

or receive, using Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) protocol, Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol, Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), or dedicated control signaling, the first handover command generated by the handover node.

10. The user apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the cellular network is a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, the first handover command comprises a packet data network (PDN) identity, and the user apparatus further comprises:

a transmitter, configured to;

before the receiver receives the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the user apparatus in the cellular network, send, to the control node, the PDN identity or both the PDN identity and a preset parameter that carries a user apparatus identity, so that after finding a cellular network handover preparation context corresponding to the user apparatus identity, the control node sets a first handover instruction and sends the first handover instruction to a mobility management device, and the mobility management device instructs a PGW to allocate the IP address of the user apparatus in the cellular network to the user apparatus, wherein the preset parameter is an access point name (APN) or a protocol configuration option (PCO), and the IP address of the user apparatus in the cellular network is the same as an IP address of the user apparatus in the WLAN.

11. The user apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the user apparatus further comprises:

a transmitter, configured to;

add a user apparatus identity into radio resource control (RRC) information and send the RRC information to the control node;

or

wherein the receiver is further configured to receive an identity request sent by the control node and feed back the user apparatus identity to the control node according to the identity request.

12. A user apparatus, comprising:

a receiver, configured to;

report a location of the user apparatus to a control node, so that after acquiring the location, the control node acquires first state information of a wireless local area network access point (WLAN AP) corresponding to the location and second state information of a cellular network that the user apparatus accesses;

receive a second handover command that is generated according to second handover information, wherein the second handover information is generated when the control node acquires the first state information of the WLAN AP corresponding to the location of the user apparatus and the second state information of the cellular network that the user apparatus accesses, and when the control node determines that the first state information and the second state information meet a preset second handover condition, and wherein the control node is a network-side node;

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium storing a program to be executed by the processor, the program including instructions for;

accessing the WLAN AP indicated by the second handover command received by the receiver;

wherein the receiver is further configured to;

after the user apparatus accesses the WLAN AP indicated by the second handover command, receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the UE in a wireless local area network (WLAN), and implement a handover from the cellular network to the WLAN.

13. The user apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the program further includes instructions for:

before the receiver receives the second handover command that is generated according to the second handover information, reporting a user apparatus identity to the control node;

wherein the user apparatus identity is added into notification information and sent to a trusted gateway (TGW) by the control node, so that the TGW establishes a WLAN handover preparation context according to the user apparatus identity and a packet data network (PDN) identity that is added by the control node into the notification information, and after finding a WLAN handover preparation context corresponding to a user apparatus identity of user apparatus that performs WLAN AP access authentication, determines a packet data network gateway (PGW) according to the WLAN handover preparation context and subscription information of the user apparatus and sends a handover instruction to the PGW, and the PGW returns, to the TGW according to the handover instruction, the IP address that is of the user apparatus in the WLAN and allocated to the user apparatus, wherein the IP address of the user apparatus in the WLAN is the same as an IP address of the user apparatus in the cellular network.

14. A user apparatus, comprising:

a receiver, configured to receive a first handover command that is generated according to first handover information by a handover node, wherein the first handover information is generated when a control node acquires first state information of a wireless local area network access point (WLAN AP) that the user apparatus accesses and second state information of a cellular network corresponding to a location of the user apparatus, and when the control node determines that the first state information and the second state information meet a preset first handover condition, wherein the WLAN AP belongs to a wireless local area network (WLAN), and wherein the handover node and the control node are network-side nodes; and

a processor, configured to attach to the cellular network indicated by the first handover command received by the receiver;

wherein the receiver is further configured to, after the processor attaches to the cellular network indicated by the first handover command, receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the user apparatus in the cellular network, and implement a handover from the WLAN to the cellular network; and

wherein the receiver is further configured to receive, using user plane signaling, the first handover command generated by the handover node;

or receive, using Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) protocol, Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol, Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), or dedicated control signaling, the first handover command generated by the handover node.