IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,739,709
Granted Patent B2
US 12,739,709 · App. 18/252,218 · Granted Sep 15, 2026

Handover processing method and apparatus, and communication device

Inventors: Yuexia Fu (Beijing, CN); Song Guo (Beijing, CN); Xiaohui Shi (Beijing, CN); Hanyu Ding (Beijing, CN); Liang Geng (Beijing, CN)
Assignees: China Mobile Communication Co., Ltd Research Institute; China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd.
H04W36/0011H04L67/142H04W8/26
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,739,709
App. No.
18/252,218
Granted
Sep 15, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed in the embodiments of the present application are a switching processing method and apparatus, and a communication device. The method comprises: when determining that a pre-defined condition is met, a user equipment transmitting, to an edge dispatch node, a domain name system (DNS) resolution request carrying first information, wherein the first information comprises user identifier information, application identifier information, and service continuity demand information; and receiving a DNS resolution response from the edge dispatch node, wherein the DNS resolution response comprises the updated address information of a second edge application server.

Claims (36)

1 . A handover processing method, comprising:

receiving, by a user equipment (UE), user plane function (UPF) handover information transmitted by a first edge application server before updating;

determining, by the UE, whether a pre-defined condition is met, wherein the pre-defined condition comprises that the UE has been switched from a UPF to another UPF;

transmitting, by the UE, a domain name system (DNS) resolution request carrying first information, to an edge dispatch node, in response to determining by the UE that the pre-defined condition is met, wherein the first information includes user identification information, application identification information and service continuity needs; and

receiving a DNS resolution response from the edge dispatch node, wherein the DNS resolution response includes address information of an updated second edge application server, which is updated in accordance with user identification information, application identification information and service continuity needs included in the first information,

wherein the UPF handover information is transmitted after the first edge application server receives a notification message from a session management function (SMF), which indicates that accessing UPF of the UE changes.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further includes:

obtaining, by the UE, a connection status parameter between the UE and a first edge application server;

when the connection status parameter reaches a preset threshold, determining that the pre-defined condition is met.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein an extension field in the DNS resolution request carries the user identification information.

4 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising a computer program stored thereon; wherein the program is executed by a processor to perform the steps of the method according to claim 1 .

5 . A handover processing method, comprising:

receiving, by an edge dispatch node, a domain name system (DNS) resolution request from a user equipment (UE); wherein the DNS resolution request carries first information, and the first information includes user identification information, application identification information and service continuity needs;

reselecting a second edge application server (EAS), which is updated in accordance with user identification information, application identification information and service continuity needs included in the first information, for the UE based on the service continuity needs and the user identification information, and transmitting a DNS resolution response to the UE, wherein the DNS resolution response carries address information of the second edge application server,

wherein the method further includes:

storing, by the edge dispatch node, a domain name resolution record; wherein the domain name resolution record includes at least mapping relationship between multiple sets of user identification information and address information of a first EAS and the second EAS.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein before transmitting, by the edge dispatch node, the synchronization instruction to the first edge application server and the second edge application server, respectively, the method further includes:

querying, by the edge dispatch node, the domain name resolution record, based on the user identification information, and determining address information of the first edge application server and the address information of the second edge application server.

7 . A communication device, comprising: a memory, a processor and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor; wherein the processor executes the program to perform the steps of the method according to claim 5 .

8 . The communication device according to claim 7 , wherein before transmitting the synchronization instruction to the first edge application server and the second edge application server, respectively, the processor executes the program to perform:

querying the domain name resolution record, based on the user identification information, and determining address information of the first edge application server and the address information of the second edge application server.

9 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising a computer program stored thereon; wherein the program is executed by a processor to perform the steps of the method according to claim 5 .

10 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the method further includes:

transmitting, by the edge dispatch node, a synchronization instruction to a first edge application server and the second edge application server, respectively; wherein the first edge application server is an edge application server before updating, and the synchronization instruction includes: user identification information, application identification information and service continuity needs; which instructs the first edge application server (EAS) to synchronize service data corresponding to the user identification information to the second EAS.

11 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the method further includes:

transmitting, by the edge dispatch node, a notification message to a session management function (SMF) through a network exposure function (NEF) or a policy control function (PCF); wherein the notification message includes the user identification information and information of the second edge application server, the notification message is used to enable the SMF to configure a corresponding traffic offloading rule for a service corresponding to the user identification information.

12 . A communication device, comprising: a memory, a processor and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor; wherein the processor executes the program to perform:

receiving user plane function (UPF) handover information transmitted by a first edge application server before updating;

determining whether a pre-defined condition is met, wherein the pre-defined condition comprises that a user equipment (UE) has been switched from a UPF to another UPF;

transmitting a domain name system (DNS) resolution request carrying first information, to an edge dispatch node, in response to determining by the UE that the pre-defined condition is met, wherein the first information includes user identification information, application identification information and service continuity needs; and

receiving a DNS resolution response from the edge dispatch node, wherein the DNS resolution response includes address information of an updated second edge application server, which is updated in accordance with user identification information, application identification information and service continuity needs included in the first information,

wherein the UPF handover information is transmitted after the first edge application server receives a notification message from a session management function (SMF), which indicates that accessing UPF of the UE changes.

13 . The communication device according to claim 12 , wherein the processor executes the program to perform:

obtaining a connection status parameter with a first edge application server;

when the connection status parameter reaches a preset threshold, determining that the pre-defined condition is met.

14 . The communication device according to claim 12 , wherein an extension field in the DNS resolution request carries the user identification information.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 9, 2023
From: FU, YUEXIA; GUO, SONG; SHI, XIAOHUI; DING, HANYU; GENG, LIANG
To: CHINA MOBILE COMMUNICATION CO., LTD RESEARCH INSTITUTE; CHINA MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 063578/0017 →
Priority Claims (1)
CN 202011309650.6 · Nov 20, 2020 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230403611A1 · Dec 14, 2023
References Cited (33)
US 20100054222A1 · Rune · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20100284367A1 · Koo · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20180270720A1 · Shi et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190058767A1 · Chandramouli et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190098118A1 · Utama · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20200068448A1 · Byun et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200120549A1 · Sun et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200178198A1 · Ding et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200252367A1 · Yang et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200329008A1 · Dao · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200329403A1 · Yuan et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200389531A1 · Lee · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200396652A1 · Decarreau · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20210368397A1 · Sun et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20220124147A1 · Ge · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220264690A1 · Zhu · 2022 [cited by examiner]
CN 108028783A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
CN 109640319A · 2019 [cited by applicant]
CN 109788513A · 2019 [cited by applicant]
CN 109981316A · 2019 [cited by applicant]
CN 109995723A · 2019 [cited by applicant]
CN 111491013A · 2020 [cited by applicant]
EP 3177075A1 · 2017 [cited by applicant]
WO 2018232759A1 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
WO 2020223364A1 · 2020 [cited by applicant]
WO 2020226454A1 · 2020 [cited by applicant]
“3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Study on enhancement of support for Edge Computing in 5G Core network (5GC) (Release 17)”, 3GPP TR 23.748 V1.1.0 (Oct. 2020… [cited by applicant]
Damas et al., “Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNS (0))”, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), RFC 6891, Apr. 2013, Geneva, Switzerland. [cited by applicant]
Yuexia Fu et al., “Draft new Recommendation ITU-T Y.FMC-AAEC-req: Use Cases and Technical requirements for supporting application addressing in edge computing for future networks including IMT-2020 network”, SG13-TD631/… [cited by applicant]
Yuexia Fu et al., “Draft new Recommendation ITU-T Y.FMC-AAEC-req: Application addressing in edge computing in IMT-2020 network and beyond”, SG13-TD683/WP1, Study Period 2022-2024, Geneva, Mar. 4-15, 2024. [cited by applicant]
3GPP, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Study on enhancement of support for Edge Computing in 5G Core network (5GC) (Release 17); 3GPP TR 23.748 V0.3.0 (Jan. … [cited by applicant]
“3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; System architecture for the 5G System (5GS); Stage 2 (Release 16)”, 3GPP TS 23.501 V16.6.0 (Sep. 2020), Valbonne—France. [cited by applicant]
First Singaporean Office Action for Singaporean Patent Application No. 11202303781X, dated Mar. 12, 2026, 8 pages. [cited by applicant]