US-20260129542-A1 - METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND DEVICES FOR PREVENTING AND PERFORMING HANDOVERS BETWEEN LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE) AND MOBILE NETWORKS BASED ON SERVICE AWARENESS

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, communicatively coupling to a first communication device over an LTE mobile network, and determining a first handover to a first target base station, the first target base station is part of a 5G (or next generation) mobile network. Further embodiments can include determining that the first communication device is performing a first type of service resulting in a first determination, and preventing the first handover to the first target base station based on the first determination. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Inventors

• Hongyan Lei
• Zhi Cui
• Ye Chen

Assignees

• AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241107

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A serving base station, comprising: a processing system including a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising: communicatively coupling to a first communication device over an LTE mobile network; determining a first handover to a first target base station, wherein the first target base station is part of a 5G mobile network; determining that the first communication device is performing a first type of service resulting in a first determination; and preventing the first handover to the first target base station based on the first determination.
2. 2 . The serving base station of claim 1 , wherein the first type of service comprises an emergency voice call.
3. 3 . The serving base station of claim 1 , wherein the operations comprise: determining a first metric associated with the first target base station; and determining that the first metric does not satisfy a first metric threshold resulting in a second determination, wherein the preventing of the first handover to the first target base station comprises preventing the first handover to the first target base station based on the second determination.
4. 4 . The serving base station of claim 3 , wherein the determining of the first metric does not satisfy the first metric threshold comprises determining the first metric does not satisfy the first metric threshold utilizing a machine learning software application.
5. 5 . The serving base station of claim 3 , wherein the first metric comprises one of a network key performance indicator (KPI), service KPI, network loading, or a combination thereof.
6. 6 . The serving base station of claim 1 , wherein the operations comprise: communicatively coupling to a second communication device over the LTE mobile network; determining a second handover to a second target base station, wherein the second target base station is part of the 5G mobile network; determining that the second communication device is performing a second type of service resulting in a third determination; and performing the second handover to the second target base station based on the third determination.
7. 7 . The serving base station of claim 6 , wherein the first target base station and the second target base station are a same base station.
8. 8 . The serving base station of claim 6 , wherein the second type of service is carried by a network slice.
9. 9 . The serving base station of claim 6 , wherein the second communication device comprises a reduced capability (RedCap) device.
10. 10 . The serving base station of claim 6 , wherein the operations comprise: determining a second metric associated with the second target base station; and determining that the second metric satisfies a second metric threshold resulting in a fourth determination, wherein the performing of the second handover to the second target base station comprises performing the second handover to the second target base station based on the fourth determination.
11. 11 . The serving base station of claim 10 , wherein the determining of the second metric satisfies the second metric threshold comprises determining the second metric satisfies the second metric threshold utilizing a machine learning software application.
12. 12 . The serving base station of claim 10 , wherein the second metric comprises one of a network key performance indicator (KPI), service KPI, network loading, or a combination thereof.
13. 13 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (RIC) comprising processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising: identifying that a serving base station is communicatively coupled to a first communication device over an LTE mobile network; determining a first handover to a first target base station, wherein the first target base station is part of a 5G mobile network; determining that the first communication device is performing a first type of service resulting in a first determination; and providing instructions to the serving base station based on the first determination, wherein the instructions indicate to the serving base station to prevent performing the first handover to the first target base station.
14. 14 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the first type of service comprises an emergency call.
15. 15 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , determining a first metric associated with the first target base station; and determining that the first metric does not satisfy a first metric threshold resulting in a second determination, wherein the providing of the instructions comprise providing instructions to the serving base station based on the second determination.
16. 16 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the determining of the first metric does not satisfy the first metric threshold comprises determining the first metric does not satisfy the first metric threshold utilizing a machine learning software application.
17. 17 . A method, comprising: identifying, by a service management and orchestration (SMO) platform comprising a processing system including a processor, that a serving base station is communicatively coupled to a first communication device over an LTE mobile network; determining, by the SMO platform, a first handover to a first target base station, wherein the first target base station is part of a 5G mobile network; determining, by the SMO platform, that the first communication device is performing a first type of service resulting in a first determination; and providing, by the SMO, instructions to the serving base station based on the first determination, wherein the instructions indicate to the serving base station to perform the first handover to the first target base station.
18. 18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the first type of service is carried by a network slice.
19. 19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the first communication device comprises a reduced capability (RedCap) device.
20. 20 . The method of claim 17 , comprising: determining, by the SMO platform, a first metric associated with the first target base station; and determining, by the SMO platform, that the first metric satisfies a first metric threshold resulting in a second determination, wherein the providing of the instructions comprise providing, by the SMO, the instructions to the serving base station based on the second determination.

Description

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The subject disclosure relates to methods, systems, and devices for preventing and performing handovers between Long Term Evolution (LTE) and mobile networks based on service awareness. BACKGROUND In the current state of the art, 5G technology in mobile network has been deployed in phases—5G Non-Stand-Alone (NSA), 5G Stand-Alone (SA), and 5G Voice over New Radio (NR) (VoNR). When VoNR is deployed, the deployment comes in clusters (e.g., looks like popcorn sprouting up on a map), then gradually forms nationwide coverage. During a VoNR rollout, VoNR is enabled within the cluster and falls back to Voice of LTE (VoLTE) at the cluster edge. As a user associated with user equipment (e.g., communication device) within the cluster moves to the VoNR cluster edge, it is expected that a VoNR to VoLTE handover will occur to ensure the voice communication continuity. Moreover, when a user associated with user equipment (e.g., communication device) moves from an LTE mobile network to the VoNR cluster edge, a VoLTE to VoNR will occur to ensure voice communication continuity as well. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a communications network in accordance with various aspects described herein. FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of a system functioning within the communication network of FIG. 1 in accordance with various aspects described herein. FIG. 2B is an exemplary automatic neighbor relation (ANR) table in accordance with various aspects described herein. FIG. 2C depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects described herein. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of a virtualized communication network in accordance with various aspects described herein. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of a computing environment in accordance with various aspects described herein. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of a mobile network platform in accordance with various aspects described herein. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of a communication device in accordance with various aspects described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION One or more embodiments address the problem of whether to perform a handover of user equipment (e.g., communication device) from a serving base station that is part of an LTE mobile network to a target base station that is part of a 5G or next generation mobile network to provide service continuity of the service being performed by the communication device accordingly. Further embodiments include the serving base station determining the type of service being performed by the communication device and either preventing or performing the handover accordingly. In other embodiments, a radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (RIC) and/or a service management and orchestration (SMO) platform may provide instructions or otherwise facilitate the prevention or performance of the handover, accordingly. The subject disclosure describes, among other things, illustrative embodiments for communicatively coupling to a first communication device over an LTE mobile network, and determining a first handover to a first target base station, the first target base station is part of a 5G or next generation mobile network. Further embodiments can include determining that the first communication device is performing a first type of service resulting in a first determination, and preventing the first handover to the first target base station based on the first determination. Other embodiments are described in the subject disclosure. One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include a serving base station, comprising a processing system including a processor, and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations. The operations can comprise communicatively coupling to a first communication device over an LTE mobile network, and determining a first handover to a first target base station, the first target base station is part of a 5G or next generation mobile network. Further operations can comprise determining that the first communication device is performing a first type of service resulting in a first determination, and preventing the first handover to the first target base station based on the first determination. One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include a non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (RIC) comprising processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations. The operations can c