WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM WITH SIPTO CONTINUITY

摘要

A communication system network element includes a Local Gateway co-located with a Home eNodeB. The Local Gateway has an open flow switch and a flow table, and provides service continuity of active SIPTO (selective IP traffic offload) sessions using open flow/software defined networking. An operator-controlled Open flow controller manages sessions at the Local Gateway. A flow modification feature is used to modify an existing flow in the flow table, which provides a means for interception and handover from a source Home eNodeB to a target Home eNodeB.

主权项

1. A method for communicating data packets between network devices in a wireless communication system, wherein the system comprises an open flow controller and a network element, wherein the network element comprises an open flow switch including at least one flow table, the method comprising:
at the network element, on receipt of a first data packet from a wireless communication unit, sending the first packet to the open flow controller in a message that includes an identifier; at the open flow controller, returning the first data packet to the network element and sending a modification message to the network element for creating a session in a flow table and for programming the open flow switch with rules for forwarding packets to either a core network or a local network; and at the network element, forwarding the first data packet and subsequent packets from the wireless communication unit in accordance with the programmed rules.