Relay node mobility support in the LTE-Advanced networks

LTE is backward compatible with 3G/UMTS cellular systems. The LTE specifications define how user equipments (UEs) connect and communicate with base stations (eNBs). The enhanced version, LTE-Advanced, adds a new entity called relay node (RN) to enlarge service coverage. There are two kinds of RN architecture with four different alternatives. The final decision of the fixed RN architecture alternatives is Alternative 2 (Alt2) on the LTE Release 10 standard. However, Alt2 RN has S/P-GW re-location and IP re-allocation problems when RN becomes movable. This manuscript integrates Proxy Mobile IP (PMIP) mechanism with existing LTE Rel-10 relay architecture in order to support mobile relay with minimum standardization impacts. The performance results have shown that the proposed Alt2+PMIP architecture has less handoff delay, and transmission delay than Alt1 and Alt2, in the scenario of High-Speed Rail (HSR).