US-12628054-B2 - Uplink and control channel aware skip handover in advanced networks

US12628054B2US 12628054 B2US12628054 B2US 12628054B2US-12628054-B2

Abstract

The technology described herein is directed towards skipping handover, particularly for ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) devices, based on uplink conditions and other conditions such as control channel capacity and uplink channel performance (e.g., efficiency-related data. In one aspect, a controller monitors UEs, such as URLLC devices, and for each UE evaluates serving cell and neighbor cell data conditions. Based on the conditions, the controller decides whether to allow handover or skip handover. In another aspect, a UE is provided with conditional handover criteria, and the UE skips or starts a handover based on UE state data monitored at the UE with respect to the conditional handover criteria. In another aspect, machine learning can model the relation between the performance data used for handover skip decisions with respect to signal strength data to determine very optimal thresholds for handover skip decisions.

Inventors

Ramy ATAWIA

Assignees

DELL PRODUCTS L.P.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220927

Claims (20)

1 . Network equipment, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising: monitoring uplink performance data representative of a performance of an uplink from a user equipment to a serving cell that is serving the user equipment and first control channel capacity data representative of a first capacity of a first control channel established between the serving cell and the user equipment; monitoring second control channel capacity data representative of second capacities of control channels for respective neighboring cells of a neighboring cell group that is detected by the user equipment; obtaining handover event data representative of a handover event based on the handover event data having been reported by the user equipment; in response to obtaining the handover event data, determining, based on the first uplink performance data and first control channel capacity data, whether the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy a resource sufficiency criterion to communicate data traffic without violating packet delay specification data specifying a limit on packet delay; maintaining skip handover measurement data representative of measurements with respect to previous handovers that were requested and not performed, and machine learning the resource sufficiency criterion based on the skip handover measurement data; and in response to the determining that the serving cell does not have sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion, selecting, based on the second control channel capacity data, a neighboring cell of the neighboring cell group, resulting in a selected neighboring cell, and handing over the user equipment to the selected neighboring cell in a handover operation.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the user equipment comprises an ultra- reliable low latency communications device.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the network equipment comprises a radio access network intelligent controller.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise, in response to the determining that the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion, obtaining instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data representative of instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratios determined for the respective neighboring cells of the neighboring cell group; obtaining time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data representative of time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratios determined for the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group; determining whether the instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group are equal to or greater than the time- averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells; and in response to the instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group being determined to be greater than or equal to the time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells, maintaining a connection the serving cell without performing the handover operation; and in response to the instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group being determined to be less than the time- averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells, performing the selecting of the neighboring cell and the handing over of the user equipment to the selected neighboring cell in the handover operation.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first control channel capacity data comprises physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission data representative of physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission of the serving cell, and wherein the determining of whether the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion comprises determining whether the physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission data satisfies a reliability threshold value associated with a reliability criterion.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first control channel capacity data comprises first control channel element utilization data representative of a utilization of an element of the first control channel between the user equipment and the serving cell, wherein the second control channel capacity data comprises second control channel element utilization data representative of respective utilizations of elements of the second control channels of the respective neighboring cells of the neighboring cell group, and wherein the determining of whether the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion comprises determining whether the first channel element utilization data satisfies a defined function with respect to the second channel element utilization data.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first control channel capacity data comprises physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission data representative of physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission of the serving cell and first control channel element utilization data representative of a utilization of an element of the first control channel between the user equipment and the serving cell, wherein the second control channel capacity data comprises second control channel element utilization data representative of respective utilizations of elements of the second control channels of the respective neighboring cells of the neighboring cell group, and wherein the determining of whether the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion comprises determining whether the physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission data satisfies a reliability threshold value associated with a reliability criterion and determining whether the first channel element utilization data satisfies a defined function with respect to the second channel element utilization data.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the skip handover measurement data comprises at least one of: uplink signal-to-interference plus noise ratio data representative of uplink signal-to-interference plus noise ratios applicable to the previous handovers, control channel element utilization data representative respective utilizations of control channel elements of the previous handovers, or discontinuous transmission ratio data representative of discontinuous transmission ratios applicable to the previous handovers.
9 . A method, comprising: monitoring, by a system comprising at least one processor, uplink performance data representative of a performance of an uplink from a user equipment to a serving cell that is serving the user equipment and first control channel capacity data representative of a first capacity of a first control channel established between the serving cell and the user equipment; monitoring, by the system, second control channel capacity data representative of second capacities of control channels for respective neighboring cells of a neighboring cell group that is detected by the user equipment; obtaining, by the system, handover event data representative of a handover event based on the handover event data having been reported by the user equipment; in response to obtaining the handover event data, determining, by the system and based on the first uplink performance data and first control channel capacity data, whether the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy a resource sufficiency criterion to communicate data traffic without violating packet delay specification data specifying a limit on packet delay; maintaining, by the system, skip handover measurement data representative of measurements with respect to previous handovers that were requested and not performed, and machine learning the resource sufficiency criterion based on the skip handover measurement data; and in response to the determining that the serving cell does not have sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion, selecting, by the system and based on the second control channel capacity data, a neighboring cell of the neighboring cell group, resulting in a selected neighboring cell, and handing over the user equipment to the selected neighboring cell in a handover operation.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the user equipment comprises an ultra- reliable low latency communications device.
11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the network equipment comprises a radio access network intelligent controller.
12 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising, in response to the determining that the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion, obtaining, by the system, instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data representative of instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratios determined for the respective neighboring cells of the neighboring cell group; obtaining, by the system, time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data representative of time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratios determined for the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group; determining, by the system, whether the instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group are equal to or greater than the time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells; and in response to the instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group being determined to be greater than or equal to the time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells, maintaining, by the system, a connection the serving cell without performing the handover operation; and in response to the instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group being determined to be less than the time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells, performing, by the system, the selecting of the neighboring cell and the handing over of the user equipment to the selected neighboring cell in the handover operation.
13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the first control channel capacity data comprises physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission data representative of physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission of the serving cell, and wherein the determining of whether the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion comprises determining whether the physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission data satisfies a reliability threshold value associated with a reliability criterion.
14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the first control channel capacity data comprises first control channel element utilization data representative of a utilization of an element of the first control channel between the user equipment and the serving cell, wherein the second control channel capacity data comprises second control channel element utilization data representative of respective utilizations of elements of the second control channels of the respective neighboring cells of the neighboring cell group, and wherein the determining of whether the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion comprises determining whether the first channel element utilization data satisfies a defined function with respect to the second channel element utilization data.
15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the first control channel capacity data comprises physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission data representative of physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission of the serving cell and first control channel element utilization data representative of a utilization of an element of the first control channel between the user equipment and the serving cell, wherein the second control channel capacity data comprises second control channel element utilization data representative of respective utilizations of elements of the second control channels of the respective neighboring cells of the neighboring cell group, and wherein the determining of whether the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion comprises determining whether the physical downlink control channel discontinuous transmission data satisfies a reliability threshold value associated with a reliability criterion and determining whether the first channel element utilization data satisfies a defined function with respect to the second channel element utilization data.
16 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the skip handover measurement data comprises at least one of: uplink signal-to-interference plus noise ratio data representative of uplink signal-to-interference plus noise ratios applicable to the previous handovers, control channel element utilization data representative respective utilizations of control channel elements of the previous handovers, or discontinuous transmission ratio data representative of discontinuous transmission ratios applicable to the previous handovers.
17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising: monitoring uplink performance data representative of a performance of an uplink from a user equipment to a serving cell that is serving the user equipment and first control channel capacity data representative of a first capacity of a first control channel established between the serving cell and the user equipment; monitoring second control channel capacity data representative of second capacities of control channels for respective neighboring cells of a neighboring cell group that is detected by the user equipment; obtaining handover event data representative of a handover event based on the handover event data having been reported by the user equipment; in response to obtaining the handover event data, determining, based on the first uplink performance data and first control channel capacity data, whether the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy a resource sufficiency criterion to communicate data traffic without violating packet delay specification data specifying a limit on packet delay; maintaining skip handover measurement data representative of measurements with respect to previous handovers that were requested and not performed, and machine learning the resource sufficiency criterion based on the skip handover measurement data; and in response to the determining that the serving cell does not have sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion, selecting, based on the second control channel capacity data, a neighboring cell of the neighboring cell group, resulting in a selected neighboring cell, and handing over the user equipment to the selected neighboring cell in a handover operation.
18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise, in response to the determining that the serving cell has sufficient resources to satisfy the resource sufficiency criterion, obtaining instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data representative of instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratios determined for the respective neighboring cells of the neighboring cell group; obtaining time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data representative of time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratios determined for the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group; determining whether the instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group are equal to or greater than the time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells; and in response to the instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group being determined to be greater than or equal to the time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells, maintaining a connection the serving cell without performing the handover operation; and in response to the instantaneous uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells of the neighboring cell group being determined to be less than the time-averaged uplink signal interference plus noise ratio data of the respective neighbor cells, performing the selecting of the neighboring cell and the handing over of the user equipment to the selected neighboring cell in the handover operation.
19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the skip handover measurement data comprises at least one of: uplink signal-to-interference plus noise ratio data representative of uplink signal-to-interference plus noise ratios applicable to the previous handovers, control channel element utilization data representative respective utilizations of control channel elements of the previous handovers, or discontinuous transmission ratio data representative of discontinuous transmission ratios applicable to the previous handovers.
20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the user equipment comprises an ultra-reliable low latency communications device, or a radio access network intelligent controller.

Description

BACKGROUND Ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) are required to have a very low packet drop rate (e.g., <0.0001) as well as being bounded by a short end-to-end delay (e.g., less than one millisecond latency). In order to meet such challenging requirements during mobility, an advanced new radio (e.g., fifth generation, or ‘5G’, and beyond) network typically triggers handovers to ensure that the URLLC device is connected to the best serving cell. However, URLLC handover results in significant network overhead (often comparable to the URLLC traffic load) which deteriorates the network key performance indicators (KPIs, e.g., spectral efficiency). The network densification in private 5G and beyond 5G (B5G) will further increase such overhead, to the point where it can make the handover gains insignificant. In addition, handover is always associated with the risk of connection interruption due to switching the data connection path from the core network to the RAN or within RAN (between the different central units, which might be managed by different vendors). This can cause momentary packet drops and thereby violate the URLLC quality of service (QoS) requirements, especially with respect to very high mobility scenarios anticipated in private 5G networks (e.g., mobile robots and drones). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The technology described herein is illustrated by way of example and not limited in the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements and in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram representation of a system of example components by which handover can be skipped when appropriate, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 2 is an example representation of a mobile device path through multiple cells, along with control channel performance indicators for each cell, which can be used to determine handover or handover skip, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 3 is an example flow diagram showing example operations related to achieving uplink-aware and physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)-aware skip handover, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 4 is an example component and signaling diagram showing example dataflow sequences related to conditionally skipping or triggering mobile device handover, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 5 is an example flow diagram showing example operations related to conditionally skipping or triggering mobile device handover, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 6 is an example component and signaling diagram showing example dataflow sequences related to conditionally skipping or triggering mobile device handover based on uplink performance indicators, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 7 is an example flow diagram showing example operations related to conditionally skipping or triggering mobile device handover based on uplink performance indicators, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 8A is an example representation of learning handover decision thresholds, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIGS. 8B-8D are example graphical representations of adapting event thresholds and neighbor data for handover skipping decisions, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 9 is a flow diagram showing example operations related to determining whether to skip handover of a user equipment based on various data including uplink-related data, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing example operations related to a user equipment obtaining and using conditional handover criterion data to make a handover decision, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing example operations related to controlling handover based on handover-related condition data of a serving cell and neighboring cells, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. FIG. 12 is a block diagram representing an example computing environment into which aspects of the subject matter described herein may be incorporated. FIG. 13 depicts an example schematic block diagram of a computing environment with which the disclosed subject matter can interact/be implemented at least in part, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of the subject disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Various aspects of the technology described herein are generally directed towards determining handover operations based on condition data, including for ultra-reliability, low latency communic