Facilitating group handover
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- acquiring, by a network node of a source cell, information that a handover of a plurality of user terminals currently connected to the source cell is needed to a target cell;
determining at least one attribute with respect to each of the plurality of user terminals;
selecting at least some of the plurality of user terminals to form a group of user terminals such that the user terminals in the group share at least one common attribute; and
indicating the at least one common attribute of the group to a target node of the target cell in a group handover request message, wherein;
a specific part of the handover process is performed with only a subset of the group,the subset represents the whole group in the specific part of the handover preparation,at least one parameter value related to the common attribute in the specific part of the handover process is determined and is to be applied in communication between the target cell and the subset, andthe determined at least one parameter is considered as valid also for the rest of the user terminals in the group.
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Abstract
There is provided a method, including acquiring, by a network node of a source cell, information that a handover of a plurality user terminals currently connected to the source cell is needed to a target cell; determining at least one attribute with respect to each of the plurality of user terminals; selecting at least some of the plurality of user terminals to form a group of user terminals such that the user terminals in the group share at least one common attribute; and indicating the at least one common attribute of the group to a target node of the target cell in a group handover request message.
10 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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acquiring, by a network node of a source cell, information that a handover of a plurality of user terminals currently connected to the source cell is needed to a target cell; determining at least one attribute with respect to each of the plurality of user terminals; selecting at least some of the plurality of user terminals to form a group of user terminals such that the user terminals in the group share at least one common attribute; and indicating the at least one common attribute of the group to a target node of the target cell in a group handover request message, wherein; a specific part of the handover process is performed with only a subset of the group, the subset represents the whole group in the specific part of the handover preparation, at least one parameter value related to the common attribute in the specific part of the handover process is determined and is to be applied in communication between the target cell and the subset, and the determined at least one parameter is considered as valid also for the rest of the user terminals in the group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a network node of a target cell, a group handover request message from a source node of a source cell, wherein the request message comprises an indication of at least one common attribute shared by a plurality of user terminals in a group which is to be handed over to the target cell; considering the received at least one common attribute as valid for each of the user terminals in the group; during the transfer of the context of the individual user terminals in the group from the source node as part of a handover process, bypassing the re-reception of the at least one common attribute from the source node, performing a specific part of handover process with only a subset of the group, wherein the subset represents the whole group in the specific part of handover preparation; determining at least one parameter value related to the common attribute in the specific part of the handover process, wherein the at least one parameter value is to be applied in communication between the target cell and the subset; and considering the determined at least one parameter as valid also for the rest of the user terminals in the group. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a user terminal comprised in a group which is to be handed over from a source cell to a target cell, an indication of a timing advance which is to be applied in a communication with the target cell; and detecting that a specific part of the handover process related to acquiring the timing advance is to be bypassed, wherein at least one common attribute is shared by a plurality of user terminals in the group, the at least one common attribute is indicated to the target cell in a group handover request message, the specific part of handover process is performed with only a subset of the group, the subset represents the whole group in the specific part of handover preparation, the timing advance is to be applied in communication between the target cell and the subset, and the timing advance is considered as valid also for the rest of the user terminals in the group.
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17. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one processor; and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to; acquire information that a handover of a plurality user terminals currently connected to a source cell is needed to a target cell; determine at least one attribute with respect to each of the plurality of user terminals; select at least some of the plurality of user terminals to form a group of user terminals such that the user terminals in the group share at least one common attribute; and indicate the at least one common attribute of the group to a target node of the target cell in a group handover request message, wherein a specific part of the handover process is performed with only a subset of the group, the subset represents the whole group in the specific part of the handover preparation, at least one parameter value related to the common attribute in the specific part of the handover process is determined and is to be applied in communication between the target cell and the subset, and the determined at least one parameter is considered as valid also for the rest of the user terminals in the group. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification