Method and apparatus for seamless handover in a wireless communication network

US8265628B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Publ) · SE

Inventors

• Magnus Lindström · Spånga, SE
• Michael Meyer · Aachen, DE
• Janne Peisa · Espoo, FI
• Ghyslain Pelletier · Laval, CA
• Mats Sågfors · Liljendal, FI
• Per Johan Torsner · Söderkulla, FI
• Henning Wiemann · Aachen, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 23, 2008
• Grant date: Sep 11, 2012
• Expiry date: Oct 2, 2029

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04W36/02
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

In a wireless communication network where base stations receive protocol data units (PDUs) from mobile stations for decompression and deciphering for ordered, sequential transfer as service data units (SDUs) to an associated core network, the teachings presented herein provide a method of supporting seamless handover of a mobile station from a source base station to a target base station. By way of example, the teachings herein apply to a network based on the E-UTRA specifications, as promulgated by the 3GPP. However, that example is non-limiting, as the teachings herein apply to any network that employs in-sequence data delivery and duplicate data detection at handover. Broadly, the source base station forwards out-of-sequence SDUs and corresponding sequence number information to the target base station in support of seamless handover, and the target base station uses that information to request retransmissions as needed for packet reordering.