Handover using dual active connections

Abstract

A technique is disclosed to minimize service interruption at a wireless user equipment device during a handover by maintaining dual active connections during the handover. Upon initiating the handover, an initial/first connection with a first access node is maintained while establishing a second connection with a second access node. The user equipment device can receive data over the first connection and second connection during the handover. The first connection may be terminated (by the user equipment device or by timing out due to inactivity) after the handover is completed. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method operational on a user equipment device for facilitating a dual active handover, comprising:
 establishing a first connection with a first access node;   obtaining an indication that a handover to a second access node is to occur;   establishing a second connection with the second access node while the first connection remains established; and   terminating the first connection once the handover is completed.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein obtaining an indication that the handover is to occur includes receiving a message or indicator from the first access node that the handover is to occur. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein obtaining an indication that the handover is to occur includes making an autonomous decision by the user equipment device to initiate the handover. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first connection and second connection are wireless connections over a single radio access network or over different radio access networks. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first connection and second connection are concurrently active during the handover. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first connection and second connection are established by sharing a single receiver at the user equipment device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first connection is established via a first receiver at the user equipment device and the second connection is established via a second receiver at the user equipment device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting packets over the second connection during handover.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a handover completed indication from the first access node or second access node.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the handover completed indication includes at least one of:
 an end marker indicating no more data to be transmitted; and   a radio resource control release from the first access node.   
     
     
         11 . A user equipment device, comprising:
 a wireless communication circuit configured to communicate with a first network; and   a processing circuit coupled to the wireless communication circuit and configured to:
 establish a first connection with a first access; 
 obtain an indication that a handover to a second access node is to occur; 
 establish a second connection with a second access node while the first connection remains established; and 
 terminate the first connection once the handover is completed. 
   
     
     
         12 . The user equipment device of  claim 11 , wherein the first connection and second connection are wireless connections over a single radio access network or over different radio access networks. 
     
     
         13 . The user equipment device of  claim 11 , wherein the first connection and second connection are concurrently active during the handover. 
     
     
         14 . The user equipment device of  claim 11 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
 transmit packets over the second connection during the handover.   
     
     
         15 . A method operational at a first access node for handing over communication services, comprising:
 establishing a first connection between the first access node and a user equipment device via a first network;   determining to handover to a second access node on a second network;   sending a handover request to initiate the handover;   receiving packets intended for the user equipment device even after the handover has started; and   bicasting packets from the first access node to both the user equipment device and the second access node during the handover.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 obtaining information from the user equipment device related to a quality of the first connection; and wherein the handover determination is based at least partially on the obtained information.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 terminating the first connection once the handover is completed.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the handover determination includes:
 receiving an indication that the handover is to occur from the user equipment device.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first network and the second network share a common serving gateway (SGW) and Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (PGW). 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first network and the second network each have a different serving gateway (SGW) and Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (PGW).