PATH SWITCH METHOD FOR DUAL CONNECTIVITY IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR SAME

• US 20160323805A1
• Filed: 01/14/2015
• Published: 11/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: RYU, Jinsook, KIM, Hyunsook, KIM, Laeyoung, XU, Jian, BYUN, Daewook, KIM, Taehyeon
• Granted Patent: US 10,085,201 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0016 Hand-off preparation specially adapted for end-to-end data sessions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0069 in case of dual connectivity, e.g. decoupled uplink/downlink
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0079 in case of hand-off failure or rejection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/36 due to handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for determining a path switch in a wireless communication system. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method for determining a path switch of a first network entity, the method comprising the steps of: receiving bearer setup information including a bearer type regarding at least one bearer; transmitting a path switch request to a second network entity on the basis of the bearer setup information; receiving a path switch response corresponding to the path switch request from the second network entity; and determining a path switch depending on whether the path switch response indicates admission of a default bearer.

Claims

1. A method of determining a path switch of a first network entity in a wireless communication system, comprising the steps of:

receiving bearer setup information containing a bearer type for at least one or more bearers;

transmitting a path switch request to a second network entity based on the bearer setup information;

receiving a path switch response from the second network entity in response to the path switch request; and

determining a path switch according to whether or not the path switch response indicates admission of a default bearer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the bearer type information indicates a default bearer or a dedicated bearer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network entity corresponds to a source eNB, wherein the second network entity corresponds to a target eNB and wherein the path switch corresponds to handover.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the bearer setup information comprises a QoS (quality of service) parameter and wherein if handover is determined according to the QoS parameter, the path switch request further comprises information on a bearer type.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second network entity is configured to preferentially admit a default bearer prior to a dedicated bearer when admission control is performed and wherein if the default bearer is not admitted, the path switch response indicates a handover failure.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein if the path switch response does not indicate admission of the default bearer, the first network entity terminates handover to the second network entity.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network entity corresponds to a MeNB (master eNB), wherein the second network entity corresponds to a SeNB (secondary eNB), and wherein the path switch corresponds to a path switch procedure for dual connectivity.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the bearer type is contained only when dual connectivity of a user equipment is determined to be performed according to at least one of whether or not the user equipment supports dual connectivity and whether or not an eNB supports dual connectivity.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the path switch request is transmitted to a dedicated bearer only among the at least one or more bearers.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein if the path switch is requested for a default bearer, the second network entity performs admission control to make a resource to be preferentially allocated prior to ARP (allocation and retention priority).

11. The method of claim 7, wherein if the second network entity does not admit a default bearer, the first network entity is configured to maintain a service for the default bearer.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein if a path switch request for a default bearer is received from the second network entity, the first network entity is configured to admit the default bearer.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the bearer setup information is received from an MME (mobility management entity).

14. A first network entity determining a path switch in a wireless communication system, comprising:

a radio frequency unit; and

a processor, the processor configured to receive bearer setup information containing a bearer type for at least one or more bearers, the processor configured to transmit a path switch request to a second network entity based on the bearer setup information, the processor configured to receive a path switch response from the second network entity in response to the path switch request, the processor configured to determine a path switch according to whether or not the path switch response indicates admission of a default bearer.