Granted Patent B2

US 12,513,608 · App. 17/583,752 · Granted Dec 30, 2025

Inventors: Yinghao Jin (Boulogne Billancourt, FR); Haibin Yu (Shenzhen, CN); Chenchen Yang (Ottawa, CA); Wei Tan (Shanghai, CN)

Assignee: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.

H04W48/18H04W36/13H04W36/00222H04W36/087H04W84/042

Abstract

Claims (79)

1 . A handover method, comprising:

receiving, by a core network device, a handover requirement message from a source access network device, wherein the handover requirement message comprises an identifier of a session of a terminal device, and the session is to be handed over from the source access network device to a target access network device;

determining, by the core network device, the second single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) based on the identifier of the session;

sending, by the core network device, the second S-NSSAI to a network slice selection device;

receiving, by the core network device, the first S-NSSAI from the network slice selection device;

sending, by the core network device, a handover request message to the target access network device, wherein the handover request message comprises first S-NSSAI, and a first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves the session; and

receiving, by the core network device, an interface setup request message sent by the target access network device, wherein

the first S-NSSAI is determined based on second S-NSSAI and the first network slice supported by the target access network device, and the second S-NSSAI is of a second network slice of the source access network device and that corresponds to the identifier of the session, and

wherein the interface setup request message comprises the first S-NSSAI, and the first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves each session that is to be handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device; or

the interface setup request message comprises a mapping relationship and S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device, wherein the mapping relationship is a correspondence between S-NSSAI of the second network slice of the source access network device and the S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the handover requirement message further comprises a target identifier, and the method further comprises:

determining, by the core network device, the target access network device based on the target identifier; and at least one of:

determining, by the core network device, the first S-NSSAI based on the second S-NSSAI and a mapping relationship, wherein the mapping relationship is a correspondence between S-NSSAI of the second network slice of the source access network device and S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device; or

determining, by the core network device, the first S-NSSAI based on the second S-NSSAI, wherein the first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves each session that is to be handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein before the determining, by the core network device, the first S-NSSAI based on the second S-NSSAI and the mapping relationship, the method further comprises:

receiving, by the core network device, the handover requirement message from the source access network device, wherein the handover requirement message comprises the second S-NSSAI; or

determining, by the core network device, the second S-NSSAI based on the identifier of the session.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the handover requirement message further comprises third S-NSSAI, and the third S-NSSAI corresponds to the first network slice of the target access network device and that serves the session in response to the session being handed over from the target access network device to the source access network device.

5 . A handover method, comprising:

receiving, by a target access network device, a handover request message from a core network device, wherein the handover request message comprises first single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), and a first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves a session; and

the first S-NSSAI is determined based on second S-NSSAI and the first network slice supported by the target access network device, the second S-NSSAI is of a source access network device and that corresponds to an identifier of the session of a terminal device, the session is to be handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, and the second S-NSSAI is determined based on the identifier of the session;

sending, by the target access network device, a handover response message to the core network device, wherein the handover response message is useable to indicate that the terminal device is able to be handed over to the target access network device; and

sending, by the target access network device, an interface setup request message to the core network device, wherein the interface setup request message comprises:

the first S-NSSAI, or

a mapping relationship and S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the target access network device, configuration information from a management device, wherein the configuration information comprises the first S-NSSAI, and the first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves each session that is to be handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device; or

receiving, by the target access network device, configuration information from the management device, wherein the configuration information comprises a mapping relationship and S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device, and the mapping relationship is a correspondence between S-NSSAI of the second network slice of the source access network device and the S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device.

7 . The method according to claim 5 wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the target access network device, an interface setup response message from the core network device, wherein the interface setup response message comprises the first S-NSSAI, and the first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves each session that is to be handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device; or

receiving, by the target access network device, the interface setup response message from the core network device, wherein the interface setup response message comprises the mapping relationship and the S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device, and the mapping relationship is the correspondence between sS-NSSAI of the second network slice of the source access network device and the S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device.

8 . A handover apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor, and configured to store non-transitory instructions, and the at least one processor is configured to execute the non-transitory instructions that cause the handover apparatus to:

receive a handover requirement message from a source access network device, wherein the handover requirement message comprises an identifier of a session of a terminal device, and the session is to be handed over from the source access network device to a target access network device;

determine the second single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) based on the identifier of the session;

send the second S-NSSAI to a network slice selection device;

receive the first S-NSSAI from the network slice selection device;

send a handover request message to the target access network device, wherein the handover request message comprises first S-NSSAI, and a first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves the session; and

receive an interface setup request message sent by the target access network device,

wherein the first S-NSSAI is determined based on second S-NSSAI and the first network slice supported by the target access network device, and the second S-NSSAI is of a second network slice of the source access network device and that corresponds to the identifier of the session, and

wherein the interface setup request message comprises the first S-NSSAI, and the first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves each session that is to be handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device; or

the interface setup request message comprises a mapping relationship and S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device, wherein the mapping relationship is a correspondence between S-NSSAI of the second network slice of the source access network device and the S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device.

9 . The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the non-transitory instructions thereby causing the handover apparatus to:

determine the target access network device based on the target identifier, and at least one of:

determine the first S-NSSAI based on the second S-NSSAI and a mapping relationship, wherein the mapping relationship is a correspondence between S-NSSAI of the second network slice of the source access network device and S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device; or

determine the first S-NSSAI based on the second S-NSSAI, wherein the first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves each session that is to be handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device.

10 . The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein at least one processor is further configured to execute the non-transitory instructions thereby causing the handover apparatus to:

receive the handover requirement message from the source access network device, wherein the handover requirement message comprises the second S-NSSAI; or

determine the second S-NSSAI based on the identifier of the session.

11 . A handover apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor, and configured to store non-transitory instructions, and the at least one processor is configured to execute the non-transitory instructions that cause the handover apparatus to:

send a handover requirement message to a core network device, wherein the handover requirement message comprises an identifier of a session of a terminal device, the session is to be handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device, and second single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) corresponding to the identifier of the session a second network slice of the source access network device and that serves the session, and the second S-NSSAI is determined based on the identifier of the session;

receive a handover command message from the core network device, wherein the handover command message is usable to indicate the terminal device is able to be handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, S-NSSAI of a first network slice of the target access network device and that serves the session is first S-NSSAI, and the first S-NSSAI is determined based on the second S-NSSAI and the second network slice supported by the target access network device; and

sending, by the target access network device, an interface setup request message to the core network device, wherein the interface setup request message comprises:

the first S-NSSAI, or

a mapping relationship and S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device.

12 . The handover apparatus of claim 11 , wherein

the handover requirement message further includes the second S-NSSAI.

13 . The handover apparatus of claim 11 , wherein

the handover requirement message further includes first indication information, and the first indication information is useable to indicate a type of handover of the terminal device from the source access network device to the target access network device.

14 . The handover apparatus of claim 11 , wherein

the source access network device is configured to support a non-standalone (NSA) non-public network (NPN), and the target access network device is configured to support a land public mobile network (PLMN); or

the target access network device is configured to support an NSA NPN, and the source access network device is configured to support a PLMN.

15 . A handover method, comprising:

receiving, by a core network device, a handover requirement message from a source access network device, wherein the handover requirement message comprises an identifier of a session of a terminal device, and the session is to be handed over from the source access network device to a target access network device;

determining, by the core network device, the second single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) based on the identifier of the session;

sending, by the core network device, the second S-NSSAI to a network slice selection device;

receiving, by the core network device, the first S-NSSAI from the network slice selection device;

sending, by the core network device, a handover request message to the target access network device, wherein the handover request message comprises first S-NSSAI, and a first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves the session;

sending, by the core network device, an interface setup response message to the target access network device; and

one of:

determining, by the core network device, the first S-NSSAI based on a preset policy, wherein the first network slice of the target access network device and that corresponds to the first S-NSSAI serves each session that is to be handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device; or

determining, by the core network device, a mapping relationship and S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device based on the preset policy, wherein the mapping relationship is a correspondence between S-NSSAI of the second network slice of the source access network device and the S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device,

wherein the first S-NSSAI is determined based on second S-NSSAI and the first network slice supported by the target access network device, and the second S-NSSAI is of a second network slice of the source access network device and that corresponds to the identifier of the session, and

wherein the interface setup request message comprises:

the first S-NSSAI, or

the mapping relationship and the S-NSSAI of the first network slice of the target access network device.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (28)