Mobility management for handovers between a terrestrial network and a non-terrestrial network
Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication. In some aspects, a network node may receive navigation information associated with a user equipment (UE). The network node may transmit, based at least in part on the navigation information and a handover boundary, an indication for the UE to perform a handover between a terrestrial network (TN) and a non-terrestrial network (NTN). Numerous other aspects are described.
1 . An apparatus for wireless communication at a network node, comprising:
one or more memories; and
one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, which are configured, individually or in any combination, to:
receive location information associated with a user equipment (UE);
identify a trigger event based at least in part on a distance between a location of the UE and a handover boundary satisfying a handover distance threshold, wherein the location of the UE is based on the location information; and
transmit, based at least in part on the identification of the trigger event, an indication for the UE to perform a handover between a terrestrial network (TN) and a non-terrestrial network (NTN).
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, to receive the location information, are configured to:
receive the location information in at least one of:
an application layer message,
a non-access-stratum-layer message, or
an access stratum layer message.
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, to receive the location information, are configured to:
receive updated location information that indicates an updated position of the UE.
4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the one or more processors, to receive the updated location information, are configured to:
receive the updated location information periodically.
5 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the updated location information is based at least in part on global navigation satellite system coordinates.
6 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the updated location information includes at least one of:
a landmark identifier, or
a set of locations.
7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
obtain a handover boundary map that specifies one or more network-selected handover boundaries for performing the handover between the TN and the NTN, wherein the handover boundary is a first network-selected handover boundary of the one or more network-selected handover boundaries, and wherein the handover boundary map is based at least in part on at least a first cell coverage area provided by the TN and a second cell coverage area provided by the NTN.
8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the one or more processors, to obtain the handover boundary map, are configured to:
obtain the handover boundary map from an application server;
obtain the handover boundary map from a core network entity; or
obtain the handover boundary map from a radio access network (RAN) network node.
9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the one or more processors, to obtain the handover boundary map, are configured to:
calculate the handover boundary map based at least in part on at least one of:
a quality-of-service (QoS) flow,
a 5th generation QoS identifier value, or
a coverage quality metric.
10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the coverage quality metric includes at least one of:
an experienced signal metric,
an experienced data throughput, or
an experienced data rate.
11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
calculate, based at least in part on the location information, a distance between an updated position of the UE and the handover boundary; and
determine, as the trigger event, that the distance satisfies the handover distance threshold.
12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, to transmit the indication for the UE to perform the handover, are configured to:
transmit the indication without obtaining a current quality metric associated with a target network node of the handover.
13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the network node is a radio access network (RAN) network node, and wherein identifying the trigger event is further based at least in part on the UE being attached to the RAN network node.
14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the RAN network node is a TN network node, and wherein the handover is from the TN to the NTN.
15 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the RAN network node is an NTN network node, and wherein the handover is from the NTN to the TN.
16 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, to transmit the indication for the UE to perform the handover, are configured to:
transmit a handover request to a core network entity of a source network node attached to the UE.
17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the core network entity is an access and mobility management function (AMF) network entity.
18 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the network node is a core network entity, and wherein the one or more processors, to transmit the indication for the UE to perform the handover, are configured to:
transmit a handover request to a radio access network (RAN) network entity that is a source network node attached to the UE.
19 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive, from a core network entity, a handover boundary indication;
calculate, based at least in part on the location information, a distance between an updated position of the UE and the handover boundary; and
determine that the distance satisfies a handover distance threshold, wherein the one or more processors, to transmit the indication for the UE to perform the handover, are configured to:
transmit, to the core network entity, a handover request that indicates a request to perform the handover between the TN and the NTN.
20 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
obtain a current quality metric associated with a target network node of the handover; and
determine that the current quality metric satisfies a quality threshold, wherein the one or more processors, to transmit the indication for the UE to perform the handover, are further configured to transmit the indication based at least in part on the current quality metric satisfying the quality threshold.
21 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, to transmit the indication for the UE to perform the handover, are further configured to transmit the indication based at least in part on location-based handovers being enabled.
22 . A method of wireless communication performed by a network node, comprising:
receiving location information associated with a user equipment (UE);
identifying a trigger event based at least in part on a distance between a location of the UE and a handover boundary satisfying a handover distance threshold, wherein the location of the UE is based on the location information; and
transmitting, based at least in part on identifying the trigger event, an indication for the UE to perform a handover between a terrestrial network (TN) and a non-terrestrial network (NTN).
23 . The method of claim 22 , further including:
obtaining a handover boundary map that specifies one or more network-selected handover boundaries for performing the handover between the TN and the NTN, wherein the handover boundary is a first network-selected handover boundary of the one or more network-selected handover boundaries, and wherein the handover boundary map is based at least in part on at least a first cell coverage area provided by the TN and a second cell coverage area provided by the NTN.
24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein obtaining the handover boundary map includes at least one of:
obtaining the handover boundary map from an application server;
obtaining the handover boundary map from a core network entity; or
obtaining the handover boundary map from a radio access network (RAN) network node.
25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein obtaining the handover boundary map includes:
calculating the handover boundary map based at least in part on at least one of:
a quality-of-service (QoS) flow,
a 5th generation QoS identifier value, or
a coverage quality metric.
26 . The method of claim 22 , further including:
obtaining a current quality metric associated with a target network node of the handover; and
determining that the current quality metric satisfies a quality threshold;
wherein transmitting the indication for the UE to perform the handover is based at least in part on the current quality metric satisfying the quality threshold.
27 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, the set of instructions comprising:
one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a network node, cause the network node to:
receive location information associated with a user equipment (UE);
identify a trigger event based at least in part on a distance between a location of the UE and a handover boundary satisfying a handover distance threshold, wherein the location of the UE is based on the location information; and
transmit, based at least in part on the identification of the trigger event, an indication for the UE to perform a handover between a terrestrial network (TN) and a non-terrestrial network (NTN).
28 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27 , wherein the one or more instructions, to receive the location information, further cause the network node to:
receive the location information in at least one of:
an application layer message,
a non-access-stratum-layer message, or
an access stratum layer message.
29 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27 , wherein the one or more instructions, to receive the location information, further cause the network node to:
receive updated location information that indicates an updated position of the UE.
30 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
means for receiving location information associated with a user equipment (UE);
means for identifying a trigger event based at least in part on a distance between a location of the UE and a handover boundary satisfying a handover distance threshold, wherein the location of the UE is based on the location information; and
means for transmitting, based at least in part on identifying the trigger event, an indication for the UE to perform a handover between a terrestrial network (TN) and a non-terrestrial network (NTN).