As in deba3ae066 ("Reset CU-UP E1 UE contexts after E1 Setup
Response"), the CU-CP should reset the E1 UE contexts after E1 Setup
Response. 38.463 sec. 8.2.3 says
> This procedure also re-initialises the E1AP UE-related contexts (if
> any) and erases all related signalling connections in the two nodes like
> a Reset procedure would do.
In the case of CU-CP, this is a bit more complicated. More precisely, we
need to wait for the CU-UP to be available again before informing the DU
about the loss (implemented via an F1 Reset message), because otherwise,
the UE might reconnect immediately, before the CU-UP is online again.
Hence, on connection loss, we mark affected UEs (by setting their E1
association ID to 0); as long as the CU-UP does not connect, nothing
will happen (but UEs don't have user plane). Upon CU-UP connecting
again, we request release of the UEs via NGAP (similarly to what is done
if the DU goes offline, see invalidate_du_connections()), free the UE
contexts locally, and send an F1 Reset message to the DU, because
38.473 sec 8.2.1.2.1 says
> a failure at the gNB-CU [...] has resulted in the loss of some or
> all transaction reference information [...] a RESET message shall be
> sent to the gNB-DU.
The core should accept and send an NGAP release command message; since
no UE contexts are to be found (already deleted), the CU-CP will just
send a release complete (together with some warnings).
It might be possible to more gracefully handle the situation (e.g., as
described in 38.401 section 8.9.5 "Change of gNB-CU-UP"), but
- we lack the PDCP SN exchange
- the current procedure has the advantage of being equivalent to
"restart of the entire gNB", with less downtown.
Robert Schmidt
e8661f5ae5