Control device, handover control method and mobile communication system

• US 7,684,801 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2007
• Issued: 03/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Okura, Akihito, Kawakami, Hiroshi, Yabusaki, Masami, Suzuki, Toshihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng; George
• Assistant Examiner(s): FARAGALLA, MICHAEL A
• Application Number:
  US11/858,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20080051089A1
• Time in Patent Office: 915 Days
• Field of Search: 370/331, 455/436, 455/561
• US Class Current: 455/436
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/24 Reselection being triggered by specific parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/32 by location or mobility data, e.g. speed data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to avoid packet loss and implement a seamless handover by minimizing the handover latency when a handover is implemented by a multihomed moving network (MN) or a mobile host (MH). The present invention is a mobile communication system that is constituted comprising an MN, a plurality of AI each constituting an interface for the connection to a core network at the MN, and a control device (MMF), wherein the MMF dynamically changes the AI adopted as the connection interface when a predetermined condition is satisfied on the basis of the connection status to the core network at each AI or the prediction information for a subsequent handover. In so doing, the control device continues the transmission and receipt of data with respect to an appropriate AI capable of maintaining a predetermined communication quality, and maintains the connection to the core network of another AI while causing this AI to enter a closed state in which the transmission and receipt of data is disabled.

Claims

1. A control device, which constitutes a moving network including a plurality of mobile hosts, and a plurality of mutually connectable access interfaces each constituting a connection interface for a connection to a core network from a mobile host, and which serves to control a handover relating to the connection to the core network at the access interfaces, comprising:

connection status acquiring means for acquiring information on a connection status to the core network at each access interface, from each access interface;

handover predicting means for predicting a subsequent handover on a basis of the information on the connection status to the core network at each access interface; and

changing means for dynamically changing a first access interface adopted as the connection interface for the mobile host to a second access interface in accordance with predetermined logic when a predetermined condition is satisfied on a basis of the information on the connection status to the core network at each access interface or prediction information for a subsequent handover,

wherein, upon dynamically changing the first access interface to the second access interface, the mobile host remains connected to the first access interface that is not capable of maintaining a predetermined communication quality and is connected to the second access interface which is capable of maintaining the predetermined communication quality, the changing means issues an instruction for establishing a mutual communication connection between the first access interface and the second access interface, and the changing means continues to transmit and receive data to and from the first access interface through the second access interface via a communication link created in response to the instruction for establishing the mutual communication connection.

2. The control device according to claim 1, further comprising:

downlink control means that performs control so that downlink data from the core network is transmitted via an access router that is connected to the second access interface, among the access routers in the core network.

3. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the connection status acquiring means further comprises:

locational relationship tracking means for tracking the locational relationship of all the access interfaces connected to the plurality of mobile hosts and the moving network; and

information receiving means for receiving information on the connection status between each access interface and the core network, and switching information that includes identification information for identifying a previous access router and a destination access router at a time switching occurs, as well as switching end time information; and

wherein the handover predicting means further comprises;

velocity tracking means for tracking at least velocity information pertaining to the plurality of mobile hosts and the moving network in accordance with a predetermined tracking logic, on a basis of the locational relationship of each access interface thus tracked and the connection status information and switching information thus received; and

predicting means for predicting subsequent movement and changes in a field strength based on the at least velocity information tracked by the velocity tracking means.

4. The control device according to claim 3, wherein, for the mobile host and the moving network that are multihomed by use of two access interfaces, upon recognizing, on a basis of the switching information from each access interface, that adjacent switchings are executed by a same access router, the control device tracks a value obtained by dividing a distance x by a switching time difference t, as a velocity pertaining to the mobile host and moving network.

5. The control device according to claim 3, wherein, for the mobile host and the moving network that are multihomed by means of three or more access interfaces, upon recognizing, on a basis of the switching information from each access interface, that adjacent switchings are executed by a same access router, the control device tracks, based on a plurality of combinations of a switching time difference t and a distance x between access interfaces for the adjacent switchings, a direction which links the three or more access interfaces and where a first-switched access interface lies foremost as a direction of movement, and a value obtained by dividing the distance x by the switching time difference t as the velocity, with respect to each combination;

and

the control device finds a vector sum of velocity vectors for each combination and tracks a direction of movement and velocity of the mobile host and moving network by means of the vector sum thus obtained.

6. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is that a field strength between the first access interface and the core network should be less than a predetermined threshold value.

7. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is that a predicted value for a field strength between the access interface and the core network which is predicted on a basis of subsequent movement prediction should be less than a predetermined threshold value.

8. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined logic is that of selecting the second access interface that corresponds with a maximum-value field strength from among field strengths between each access interface and the core network.

9. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined logic is that of selecting the second access interface that corresponds with a predicted value for a maximum-value field strength from among predicted values for field strengths between each access interface and the core network, which are predicted on a basis of subsequent movement prediction.

10. A handover control method by a mobile communication system that includes a moving network comprising a plurality of mobile hosts, a plurality of mutually connectable access interfaces each constituting a connection interface for a connection to a core network from a mobile host, and a control device for controlling a handover relating to the connection to the core network at the access interfaces, the method comprising:

acquiring, with an acquisition unit in the control device, information on a connection status to the core network at each access interface, from each access interface;

predicting, with an handover prediction unit in the control device, a subsequent handover on a basis of the information on the connection status to the core network at each access interface;

dynamically changing, with a change unit in the control device, a first access interface adopted as the connection interface for the mobile host to a second access interface device in accordance with predetermined logic when a predetermined condition is satisfied on a basis of the information on the connection status to the core network at each access interface or prediction information for a subsequent handover,

wherein, upon dynamically changing the first access interface to the second access interface, the mobile host remains connected to the first access interface that is not capable of maintaining a predetermined communication quality and that is connected to the second access interface which is capable of maintaining the predetermined communication quality,

the changing includes issuing an instruction for establishing a mutual communication connection between the first access interface and the second access interface; and

controlling the control device to continue to transmit and receive data to and from the first access interface through the second access interface via a communication link created in response to the instruction for establishing the communication connection.

11. A communication system, comprising:

a moving network including a plurality of mobile hosts, and a plurality of mutually connectable access interfaces each constituting a connection interface to a core network from a mobile host; and

a control device configured to control a handover relating to the connection to the core network at the access interfaces, said control device including

connection status acquiring means for acquiring information on a connection status to the core network at each access interface, from each access interface,

handover predicting means for predicting a subsequent handover on a basis of the information on the connection status to the core network at each access interface, and

changing means for dynamically changing a first access interface adopted as the connection interface for the mobile host to a second access interface in accordance with predetermined logic when a predetermined condition is satisfied on a basis of the information on the connection status to the core network at each access interface or prediction information for a subsequent handover,

wherein, upon dynamically changing the first access interface to the second access interface, the mobile host remains connected to the first access interface that is not capable of maintaining a predetermined communication quality and that is connected to the second access interface which is capable of maintaining the predetermined communication quality, the changing means issues an instruction for establishing a mutual communication connection between the first access interface and the second access interface, and the changing means continues to transmit and receive data to and from the first access interface through the second access interface via a communication link created in response to the instruction for establishing the mutual communication connection.

12. A control device, which constitutes a moving network including a plurality of mobile hosts, and a plurality of mutually connectable access interfaces each constituting a connection interface for a connection to a core network from a mobile host, and which serves to control a handover relating to the connection to the core network at the access interfaces, comprising:

a connection status acquiring unit configured to acquire information on a connection status to the core network at each access interface, from each access interface;

a handover predicting unit configured to predict a subsequent handover on a basis of the information on the connection status to the core network at each access interface; and

a changing unit configured to dynamically change a first access interface adopted as the connection interface for the mobile host to a second access interface in accordance with predetermined logic when a predetermined condition is satisfied on a basis of the information on the connection status to the core network at each access interface or prediction information for a subsequent handover,

wherein, upon dynamically changing the first access interface to the second access interface, the mobile host remains connected to the first access interface that is not capable of maintaining a predetermined communication quality and that is connected to the second access interface which is capable of maintaining the predetermined communication quality, the changing unit issues an instruction for establishing a mutual communication connection between the first access interface and the second access interface, and the changing unit is configured to continue to transmit and receive data to and from the first access interface through the second access interface via a communication link created in response to the instruction for establishing the mutual communication connection.