The present disclosure relates to a communication method and system for converging a 5th-Generation (5G) communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4th-Generation (4G) system with a technology for Internet of Things (IoT). The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services based on the 5G communication technology and the IoT-related technology, such as smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car, connected car, health care, digital education, smart retail, security and safety services. According to an aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for supporting handover is provided, comprising: receiving a message from a central unit control plane entity of a target base station; receiving a data packet from a source base station; and discarding a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) service data unit (SDU) including the PDCP sequence number (SN) in the received data packet according to the indication of the message.

A method, apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium are provided for NG based context release and data forwarding for multi-hop mobility. In an example implementation, the method may include a core network entity receiving a first message from a first network node, the first message including at least one of a user equipment context release request and a data forwarding request and detecting the at least one of the user equipment context release request and the data forwarding request from the first message. The method may further include sending a second message including at least one of a user equipment context release command and data forwarding information to a second network node based at least on the detected at least one of the user equipment context release request and the data forwarding request.

The present application relates to devices and components including apparatus, systems, and methods for integrated access and backhaul radio link failure and handover scenarios in wireless communication systems.

Various example embodiments relate to relate to network nodes (20A; 20B), methods and computer program products configured to hand over a communication link between a cell and user equipment (10) in a wireless communication network from a source cell (40A) to a target cell (40B; 40C). According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided a node (20A), comprising: means configured to establish a communication link between a source cell (40A) and user equipment (10); means configured to transmit a series of data packets to the user equipment (10), each data packet comprising an associated sequence identifier; means to receive an acknowledgement of successful receipt of a data packet of the series by user equipment (10), the acknowledgement comprising an indication of the successfully received data packet sequence identifier; means configured to receive an indication of an identified handover target cell (40B; 40C); means configured to request handover of the user equipment (10) to the identified handover target cell (40B; 40C); means configured to receive an acknowledgement of handover request from the identified handover target cell (40B; 40C); and means to forward data packets to be transmitted to user equipment (10) to the identified target cell (40B; 40C), the forwarded data packets comprising the indication of associated sequence identifier and the most recent successfully received data packet sequence identifier. Also provided is a node (20B), comprising: means configured to receive a request for handover of user equipment (10) from a source cell (40A) to a target cell (40B; 40C); means configured to transmit an acknowledgement of handover request to the source cell (40A); and means to receive forwarded data packets forming a series of data packets to be transmitted to user equipment (10), the forwarded data packets comprising an indication of a sequence identifier associated with each forwarded data packet and an indication of a most recent successfully received data packet sequence identifier. Arrangements recognise that one way to mitigate some of the negative effects associated with early data forwarding, for example, the increased use of network memory and the risk of duplicate transmissions, is by providing a mechanism supported by a source (20A) and target node (20B) to allow a target access node (20B) to perform efficient data discarding.

The invention relates to a method for efficiently performing a Se NB change for a UE in dual connectivity. When reconfiguring a data radio bearer going via the Se NB to another target base station, the UE may compile a PDCP status report comprising status information for all of the data radio bearer going via the Se NB, accompanied respectively by a radio bearer ID to identify the radio bearer to which the status report information pertains. Further, the PDCP status report is directly transmitted by the UE to the Me NB to avoid the backhaul delay between the Se NB and the Me NB; this may be done by using a signaling radio bearer (e.g. RRC message), or data radio bearer to the Me NB (e.g. PDCP control PDU), or by using a physical channel transmission to the Me NB (e.g. MAC CE).

Techniques for sending packets and maintaining synchronization during handover is described. A user equipment (UE) may be handed over from a source base station to a target base station. The source base station may forward packets for the UE to the target base station, which may receive the packets out of order. In one design, the target base station may determine whether each packet can be sent in order to the UE, send the packet if it can be sent in order, and discard the packet otherwise. In another design, the target base station may re-order packets received within a re-ordering window and may send the re-ordered packets to the UE. In yet another design, the target base station may process each packet received out of order as if the packet is in order, e.g., by incrementing a hyper-frame number (HFN) or re-assigning the packet with a later sequence number.

An apparatus and method for performing procedures (protocols) of a PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) layer and an RLC (radio layer in an E-UMTS (Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) which has evolved from UMTS, among radio protocols of a mobile communication system. The PDCP layer performs ciphering on data (i.e., PDCP SDU) received from an upper layer, generates an indicator discriminating ciphered data and non-ciphered data (i.e., an ROHC feedback packet directly generated by the PDCP layer), and transmits the same to a lower layer (i.e., MAC layer). A PDCP SN (Sequence Number) is defined as an algorithm for ciphering the data in the PDCP layer to perform ciphering in the PDCP layer.

A method of communication for a terminal in a content-centric network is provided. The method includes suspending a data message associated with a content from being provided to a face before a handover when the handover is expected to occur in the terminal that requests the content, and transmitting, to a hub, a new interest message after the handover associated with the content so that the hub may provide the data message associated with the content to the face after the handover.

An apparatus and method for performing procedures (protocols) of a PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) layer and an RLC (radio layer in an E-UMTS (Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) which has evolved from UMTS, among radio protocols of a mobile communication system. The PDCP layer performs ciphering on data (i.e., PDCP SDU) received from an upper layer, generates an indicator discriminating ciphered data and non-ciphered data (i.e., an ROHC feedback packet directly generated by the PDCP layer), and transmits the same to a lower layer (i.e., MAC layer). A PDCP SN (Sequence Number) is defined as an algorithm for ciphering the data in the PDCP layer to perform ciphering in the PDCP layer.

A method performed by a UE in a wireless communication network includes receiving a configuration for a conditional handover (CHO) from a source node to a candidate target node, executing the CHO to the candidate target node, and in connection with executing the CHO, and providing to the candidate target node a session status indication for an application session of the UE. A method performed by a target node in a wireless communication network includes receiving a CHO of a UE from a source node to the target node. In connection with the CHO, the target node receives a session status indication indicating a status for an application session of the UE, and handles the application session in accordance with the session status indication.