Apparatus and method providing efficient drx operation for high mobility user equipment over 4g/5g network(s)

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, detecting a transit speed of a device, resulting in a detected transit speed; responsive to the detected transit speed satisfying a first threshold, including information in a message related to a handover request between a first access point of a network and a second access point of the network, the information being indicative of an amount of time that the device has been in a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode; and sending, to the first access point with which the device communicates and is transitioning away from, the message including the information that is indicative of the amount of time that the device has been in the DRX mode. Other embodiments are disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a processing system including a processor, a message from a mobile communication device, the message related to a handover request between a first portion of a network and a second portion of the network, the message including first information indicative of a first amount of time that the mobile communication device has been in a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode;   determining, by the processing system, a second amount of time based on an initial DRX inactivity timer value;   generating, by the processing system, second information, the second information based on a difference between the second amount of time and the first amount of time; and   sending, by the processing system, the second information to the second portion of the network.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the handover request is associated with a video streaming service. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the network and the second portion of the network respectively comprise a first access point and a second access point. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the mobile communication device communicates with the first access point and, in accordance with the handover request, transitions away from the first access point to the second access point. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first access point and the second access point respectively comprise a first evolved node B (eNB) and a second eNB. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the second information is sent to the second eNB, and wherein the sending the second information to the second eNB facilitates sending an updated DRX timer inactivity value to the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message related to the handover request is a Handover Request message, and wherein the first information is included in the Handover Request message via a first field of the Handover Request message. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network comprises a 4G network, a 5G network, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sending the second information further comprises sending user equipment information associated with the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         10 . A device comprising:
 a processing system including a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:   receiving a message from a mobile communication device, the message related to a handover request between a first portion of a network including a first access point and a second portion of the network including a second access point, the message including first information indicative of a first amount of time that the mobile communication device has been in a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode;   determining a second amount of time based on an initial DRX inactivity timer value;   generating second information based on a difference between the second amount of time and the first amount of time; and   sending the second information to the second portion of the network.   
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the mobile communication device communicates with the first access point and, in accordance with the handover request, transitions away from the first access point to the second access point. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the first access point and the second access point respectively comprise a first evolved node B (eNB) and a second eNB. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 12 , wherein the second information is sent to the second eNB, and wherein the sending the second information to the second eNB facilitates sending an updated DRX timer inactivity value to the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the network comprises a 4G network, a 5G network, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise sending user equipment information associated with the mobile communication device to the second portion of the network. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system of a first portion of a network including a processor, facilitate performance of operations comprising:
 receiving a message from a mobile communication device, the message related to a handover request between the first portion of the network and a second portion of the network, the message including first information indicative of a first amount of time that the mobile communication device has been in a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode;   determining a second amount of time based on an initial DRX inactivity timer value;   generating second information based on a difference between the second amount of time and the first amount of time; and   sending the second information to the second portion of the network.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the first portion of the network and the second portion of the network respectively comprise a first access point and a second access point, wherein the mobile communication device communicates with the first access point and, in accordance with the handover request, transitions away from the first access point to the second access point. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the first access point and the second access point respectively comprise a first evolved node B (eNB) and a second eNB, wherein the second information is sent to the second eNB, and wherein the sending the second information to the second eNB facilitates sending an updated DRX timer inactivity value to the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the network comprises a 4G network, a 5G network, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise sending user equipment information associated with the mobile communication device to the second portion of the network.