Apparatus and method to reduce denial of service during MME overload and shutdown conditions
View Patent ↗A communication device configured to perform a load balancing procedure in response to a mobility management entity being overloaded and/or shut down. The base station can be configured to generate a radio resource control (RRC) Connection Reject message including a load balancing clause. The communication device can be configured to initiate a load balancing procedure based on the RRC Connection Reject message. The communication device can also be considered to initiate a load balancing procedure after a predetermined wait time has expired and/or after a predetermined number of received RRC Connection Reject messages.
1. A communication device, comprising:
a transceiver configured to communicate with a communication network; and
processor circuitry communicatively coupled to the transceiver, the processor circuitry configured to:
send a connection request message to a base station,
receive a first connection reject message from the base station,
determine a wait time duration associated with the connection request message,
determine a number of connection reject messages, including the first connection rejection message, received by the communication device, and
send a message to the base station to initiate a load balancing procedure in response to determining that:
the number of connection reject messages is greater than or equal to a predetermined connection rejection threshold amount, or
the wait time duration is greater than or equal to a wait time threshold amount.
2. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the wait time duration indicates an elapsed time since the communication device attempted to connect to the base station.
3. The communication device of claim 2 , wherein the message includes a random identifier to initiate the load balancing procedure.
4. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the message is configured to cause the base, station to initiate the load balancing procedure.
5. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the message includes a random number to identify a managing entity.
6. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the first connection reject message is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reject message.
7. A communication device, comprising:
a transceiver; and
processor circuitry coupled to the transceiver, the processor circuitry configured to:
send a first message to a base station to attempt to connect to the base station, wherein the message identifies a first managing entity,
receive a connection reject message from the base station,
determine a wait time duration associated with the first message, and
send a second message to the base station in response to determining that:
a number of connection reject messages that the communication device received is greater than or equal to a predetermined connection rejection threshold amount, wherein the second message does not identify the first managing entity, or
the wait time duration is greater than or equal to a wait time threshold amount.
8. The communication device of claim 7 , wherein the first message comprises information used by the base station to identify that the communication device is registered with the first managing entity.
9. The communication device of claim 7 , wherein the second message includes a random number as a managing entity identifier that does not identify the first managing entity.
10. The communication device of claim 7 , wherein the second message is configured to initiate a load balancing procedure that cause the base station to select a second managing entity that is different from the first managing entity.
11. The communication device of claim 7 , wherein the second message is configured to cause the base station to initiate, a load balancing procedure.
12. The communication device of claim 11 , wherein the second message includes a random number to identify a managing entity to cause the base station to initiate the load balancing procedure.
13. The communication device of claim 7 , wherein the wait time duration indicates an elapsed time since the communication device attempted to connect to the base station.
14. The communication device of claim 7 , wherein the connection reject message is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reject message.
15. A communication device, comprising:
a transceiver; and
processor circuitry coupled to the transceiver, the processor circuitry configured to:
send a first message to a base station to attempt to connect to the base station, wherein the first message identifies a managing entity,
receive a connection reject message from the base station,
determine a wait time duration associated with the first message, and
send a second message to the base station in response to determining that:
a number of connection reject messages that the communication device received is greater than or equal to a predetermined connection rejection threshold amount, or
the wait time duration is greater than or equal to a wait time threshold amount.
16. The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the first message comprises information used by the base station to identify that the communication device is registered with the managing entity.
17. The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the second message includes a random number as a managing entity identifier.
18. The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the second message is configured to cause the base station to initiate a load balancing procedure.
19. The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the wait time duration indicates an elapsed time since the communication device attempted to connect to the base station.
20. The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the connection reject message is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reject message.