Handover Method, Communication Device and Communication System

• US 20130100929A1
• Filed: 10/01/2012
• Published: 04/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2010
• 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: Liu, Jing, Peng, Yan, Chang, Ningjuan
• Granted Patent: US 8,913,588 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/331
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0005 Control or signalling for completing the hand-off
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0016 Hand-off preparation specially adapted for end-to-end data sessions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/08 Reselecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/045 between access point and backbone network device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/20 between access points

Abstract

The present invention provides a handover method. An access node obtains mobility management entity pool MME pool information which is sent by a donor station of the access node and is used for identifying a mobility management entity MME to which a user equipment UE is attached. The access node initiates handover for the UE according to the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached. The present invention further provides a communication device and a communication system.

Claims

1. A handover method, comprising:

obtaining, by an access node, mobility management entity (MME) pool information which is sent by a donor station of the access node and is used for identifying a MME to which a user equipment (UE) in coverage of the access node is attached; and

initiating, by the access node, handover for the UE according to the obtained MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached;

wherein,

the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached is comprised in an S1 application protocol (S1AP) message or an initial context setup request message sent by the donor station to the access node in an initial context setup procedure;

or

when the UE enters the coverage of the access node through an S1 handover procedure, the access node is a target access node in the S1 handover procedure, and the donor station is a target donor station in the S1 handover procedure, the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached is comprised in a handover request message or an MME status transfer message or an S1 application protocol (S1AP) message sent by the target donor station to the target access node.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached is a globally unique MME identifier (GUMMEI) or a globally unique group ID (GU Group ID).

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the UE enters the coverage of the access node through an S1 handover procedure, the access node is a target access node in the S1 handover procedure, and the donor station is a target donor station in the S1 handover procedure;

and

wherein the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached is comprised in a handover request message or an MME status transfer message or an S1 application protocol (S1AP) message sent by the target donor station to the target access node.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached is comprised in an S1AP message or an initial context setup request message sent by the donor station to the access node in an initial context setup procedure.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the access node is a relay node and the donor station is an evolved node B (eNB).

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the access node is a home evolution node B (HeNB) and the donor station is a home evolution node B gateway (HeNB GW).

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein initiating the handover for the UE comprises:

determining, by the access node, a handover type according to the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached; and

initiating the handover according to the determined handover type.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein determining the handover type comprises:

determining, by the access node, the handover type according to the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached and MME pool information of a target access node of the handover.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the MME pool information of the target access node is notified by the donor station to the access node through a setup procedure of an X2 interface between the access node and the donor station or an eNB configuration update procedure.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the MME pool information of the target access node is a GUMMEI or a GU Group ID of the target access node.

27. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, wherein the computer readable storage medium comprises a program, and the program enables a computer to execute the handover method according to claim 1 when the program is run in the computer.

11. A communication device, comprising:

an obtaining unit, configured to obtain mobility management entity (MME) pool information which is sent by a donor station of the communication device and is used for identifying a MME to which a user equipment (UE) in coverage of the communication device is attached; and

a handover unit, configured to initiate handover for the UE according to the MME pool information that is obtained by the obtaining unit and is used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached, when the UE is required to be handed over;

wherein the obtaining unit is configured to obtain an S1 application protocol (S1AP) message or an initial context setup request message sent by the donor station in an initial context setup request procedure, the S1AP message and the initial context setup request message comprising the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached;

or

wherein, when the UE enters the coverage of the communication device through an S1 handover procedure, the communication device is a target access node in the S1 handover procedure, and the donor station is a target donor station in the S1 handover procedure, the obtaining unit is configured to obtain a handover request message or an MME status transfer message or an S1 application protocol (S1AP) message sent by the target donor station, and the handover request message, the MME status transfer message and the S1AP message comprise the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached.

12. The communication device according to claim 11, wherein the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached is a globally unique MME identifier (GUMMEI) or a globally unique group ID (GU Group ID).

13. The communication device according to claim 11, wherein the UE enters the coverage of the communication device through an S1 handover procedure, the communication device is a target access node in the S1 handover procedure, and the donor station is a target donor station in the S1 handover procedure;

wherein the obtaining unit is configured to obtain a handover request message or an MME status transfer message or an S1 application protocol (S1AP) message sent by the target donor station; and

wherein the handover request message, the MME status transfer message and the S1AP message comprise the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached.

14. The communication device according to claim 11, wherein the obtaining unit is configured to obtain an S1AP message or an initial context setup request message sent by the donor station in an initial context setup request procedure, the S1AP message and the initial context setup request message comprising the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached.

15. The communication device according to claim 11, wherein the communication device is a relay node and the donor station is an evolved node B (eNB).

16. The communication device according to claim 11, wherein the communication device is a home evolution node B (HeNB) and the donor station is a home evolution node B gateway (HeNB GW).

17. The communication device according to claim 11, wherein the handover unit further comprises:

a determining subunit, which is configured to determine a handover type according to the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached; and

a handover subunit, which is configured to initiate the handover according to the handover type determined by the determining subunit.

18. The communication device according to claim 17, wherein the determining subunit is further configured to determine the handover type according to the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached and MME pool information of a target access node of the handover.

19. The communication device according to claim 18, wherein the MME pool information of the target access node is obtained by the communication device through a setup procedure of an X2 interface between the communication device and the donor station or an eNB configuration update procedure.

20. The communication device according to claim 18, wherein the MME pool information of the target access node is a GUMMEI or a GU Group ID of the target access node.

21. A communication device, comprising:

a control unit, configured to control a sending unit to send information; and

the sending unit associated with the control unit and configured to send, according to control of the control unit, mobility management entity (MME) pool information used for identifying a MME to which a user equipment (UE) in coverage of an access node is attached to the access node;

wherein the communication device is a donor station of the access node; and

wherein the sending unit is further configured to send the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached to the access node through a handover request message, an MME status transfer message, an S1 application protocol (S1AP) message, or an initial context setup request message in an initial context setup procedure.

22. The communication device according to claim 21, wherein the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached is a globally unique MME identifier (GUMMEI) or a globally unique group ID (GU Group ID).

23. The communication device according to claim 21, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached to the access node through a handover request message or an MME status transfer message or an S1 application protocol (S1AP) message.

24. The communication device according to claim 21, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send the MME pool information used for identifying the MME to which the UE is attached to the access node through an S1AP message or an initial context setup request message in an initial context setup procedure.

25. The communication device according to claim 21, wherein the access node is a relay node and the communication device is an evolved node B (eNB).

26. The communication device according to claim 21, wherein the access node is a home evolution node B (HeNB) and the communication device is a home evolution node B gateway (HeNB GW).