Distributed mobility management technology in a network environment

Abstract

Embodiments contemplate that the transfer of an Internet Protocol (IP) address from one (e.g. a first) Gateway (GW) to another (e.g. a second) Gateway (GW) may improve the Dynamic Mobility Management (DMM) handling in any network environment, including a dense network environment. Embodiments contemplate a dense network may enable a User Equipment (UE or wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU)) to be connected to the closest GW while the IP address transfer may enable the usage of a relatively short data path (e.g. perhaps a “shortest” data path), which may be useful in the context of DMM, perhaps even for existing flows. Using the contemplated capability of moving IP addresses may minimize the number of IP addresses allocated and/or the number of tunnels to be maintained.

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         11 . A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) in communication with a wireless communication network, the WTRU comprising:
 a processor, configured at least to:
 connect to a first node of the wireless communication network; 
 obtain a first Internet Protocol (IP) address from the first node; 
 communicate via the first IP address as connected to the first node; 
 initiate a handover to a second node of the wireless communication network; 
 connect to the second node; 
 obtain a second IP address from the second node; and 
 communicate via the first IP address as connected to the second node upon an occurrence of a condition, the condition including one or more characteristics of the first node and one or more characteristics of the second node. 
   
     
     
         12 . The WTRU of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured such that the condition includes at least one of: a determination of a geographic relationship between the first node and the second node, or a determination of a logical relationship between the first node and the second node. 
     
     
         13 . The WTRU of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured such that the condition includes a determination that a distance between the first node and the second node is within a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         14 . The WTRU of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured such that the condition includes a determination that the first node and the second node are part of a same logical group. 
     
     
         15 . The WTRU of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured such that the condition includes at least one of: a dynamic relationship determination, or a predetermined relationship. 
     
     
         16 . The WTRU of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to at least one of: deprecate the second IP address upon the occurrence of the condition, or logically hide the second IP address from one or more applications configured on the WTRU upon the occurrence of the condition. 
     
     
         17 . The WTRU of  claim 11 , wherein the condition is a first condition, and the processor is further configured to:
 connect to a third node of the wireless communication network;   obtain a third IP address from the third node; and   communicate via the third IP address as connected to the third node upon an occurrence of a second condition, the second condition including the one or more characteristics of the first node and one or more characteristics of the third node.   
     
     
         18 . The WTRU of  claim 17 , wherein the second condition includes at least one of: a determination of a geographic relationship between the first node and the third node, or a determination of a logical relationship between the first node and the third node. 
     
     
         19 . The WTRU of  claim 18 , wherein the determination of the geographic relationship includes a determination that a distance between the first node and the third node exceeds a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         20 . The WTRU of  claim 18 , wherein the determination of the logical relationship includes a determination that the first node and the third node are not part of a same logical group. 
     
     
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         26 . The WTRU of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured such that the communicating via the first IP address as connected to the second node is conducted with a reduced number of tunnels relative to a number of tunnels associated with communication via the first IP address as connected to the second node outside the predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         27 . The WTRU of  claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured such that the communicating via the first IP address as connected to the second node is conducted with a reduced number of tunnels relative to a number of tunnels associated with communication via the first IP address as connected to the second node outside the logical group. 
     
     
         28 . A method for communication in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
 connecting, by a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), to a first node of the wireless communication network;   obtaining, by the WTRU, a first Internet Protocol (IP) address from the first node;   communicating, by the WTRU, via the first IP address as connected to the first node;   initiating, by the WTRU, a handover to a second node of the wireless communication network;   connecting, by the WTRU, to the second node;   obtaining, by the WTRU, a second IP address from the second node; and   communicating, by the WTRU, via the first IP address as connected to the second node upon an occurrence of a condition, the condition including one or more characteristics of the first node and one or more characteristics of the second node.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the condition includes at least one of: a determination of a geographic relationship between the first node and the second node, or a determination of a logical relationship between the first node and the second node. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the condition includes determining that a distance between the first node and the second node is within a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the condition includes determining that the first node and the second node are part of a same logical group. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the condition includes at least one of: determining a dynamic relationship, or determining a predetermined relationship. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising at least one of: deprecating the second IP address upon the occurrence of the condition, or logically hiding the second IP address from one or more applications configured on the WTRU upon the occurrence of the condition. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the communicating via the first IP address as connected to the second node is conducted with a reduced number of tunnels relative to a number of tunnels associated with communication via the first IP address as connected to the second node outside the predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the communicating via the first IP address as connected to the second node is conducted with a reduced number of tunnels relative to a number of tunnels associated with communication via the first IP address as connected to the second node outside the logical group.