CN101090559A - A network-side user plane entity selection method - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention discloses a selection method for user entities of network side including: a user device sends a service request to network side control entity, which gets the position information of said user device and selects a user entity of the network side to serve the user device, which provides an available service process method based on the network structure of separation of the control entity and user entity.

Description

A network-side user plane entity selection method

technical field

The invention relates to the field of mobile communication, in particular to a method for selecting a network-side user plane entity.

Background technique

The existing General Package Radio Service (General Package Radio Service, GPRS)/Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, UMTS) network structure is shown in Figure 1, which adopts a structure similar to that of the second-generation mobile communication system, including UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UMTS Territorial Radio Access Network, UTRAN), GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network, GERAN), Core Network (Core Network, CN) and User Equipment (UE) . Among them, GERAN/UTRAN is used to implement all wireless-related functions, while CN handles all voice calls and data connections in the GPRS/UMTS system, and is used to implement switching and routing functions with external networks. CN is logically divided into Circuit Switched Domain (CS) and Packet Switched Domain (PS), which support voice and data services respectively.

The CS domain includes nodes such as Mobile Switching Center Server (MSC-Server), Media Gateway (MGW) and Gateway Mobile Services Switching Center Server (GMSC-Server). Among them, the MSC-Server is used to transmit the control plane data of the CS domain, and implement functions such as mobility management, call control, and authentication and encryption. The GMSC-Server is used to implement the control plane functions of the GMSC call control and mobility control. To realize the transmission of user plane data.

The PS domain includes nodes such as the Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node (SGSN) and the Gateway General Packet Radio Service Support Node (GGSN). Among them, the GGSN is mainly responsible for the interface with the external network, and at the same time, the GGSN is also responsible for the transmission of user plane data. The position of the SGSN in the PS domain is similar to that of the MSC Server in the CS domain, and its core functions are to implement functions such as routing and forwarding, mobility management, session management, and user information storage.

The Home Location Register (HLR) is used to store user subscription information, and both the CS and PS domains use this device.

In order to enhance the competitiveness of future networks, 3GPP is studying a new evolved network architecture, including System Architecture Evolution (SAE) and long-term evolution (LTE) of the access network. The evolved access network is called E-UTRAN, which is now An evolved packet core network architecture in the prior art is shown in Figure 2, including a mobility management entity (Mobility Management Entity, ME), a user plane entity (User Plane Entity, UPE) and user plane entities between different access systems. Anchor (Inter Access System Anchor, InterAS Anchor) three logical functional entities. Among them, the MME is responsible for the mobility management of the control plane, including user context and mobility state management, and assigning temporary user IDs, etc., corresponding to the control plane part of the SGSN in the current GPRS/UMTS system; the UPE is responsible for initiating search for downlink data in the idle state Call, manage and save IP bearer parameters and intra-network routing information, etc., corresponding to the data plane part of SGSN and GGSN in the current GPRS/UMTS system; Inter AS Anchor acts as the user plane anchor point between different access systems. Policy and Charging Rule Function entity (Policy and Charging Rule Function, PCRF) is used for policy control decision and flow charging control function. A home network server (Home Subscriber Server, HSS) is used to store user subscription information.

The current 3GPP TR 23.882 protocol stipulates the implementation process of UE attachment in the evolved packet core network, as shown in Figure 3, including:

1. UE selects access system and network (Network Discovery and Access SystemSelection);

2. The UE sends an Attach Request message (Attach Request) to the current MME/UPE;

3. If the attachment request message carries the (previous) registration information of the old side, the current MME/UPE sends a message (Send old registration information) to the MME/UPE of the old side to obtain user information;

4. The old side MME/UPE sends user information (Send user information) to the current MME/UPE;

5. The current MME/UPE authenticates the UE (Authentication);

6. Register the current MME/UPE into the HSS (Register MME/UPE);

7. Delete UE registration information on the old side MME/UPE (Delete UE registration information);

8. HSS confirms the registration of the current MME/UPE (Confirm Registration);

9. The current MME/UPE selects an Inter AS Anchor (Selection of IntersystemMobility Anchor GW);

10. The InterAS Anchor uses the assigned IP address of the UE for IP layer configuration, the user plane between the UE and the InterAS Anchor is established, and the default accounting and policy rules are used;

11. The current MME/UPE provides the QoS configuration of the default IP bearer for the evolved radio access network;

12. The current MME/UPE accepts the UE's Attach Request (Attach Accept) and assigns the UE's temporary identity;

13. The UE confirms that the attachment is successful (Attach Confirm).

It can be seen from the above process that the user attachment process in the existing 23.882 protocol is described based on the MME/UPE being on the same network entity, so how the MME selects the UPE during the user attachment process is not described. If the MME/UPE are not in the same network entity, the MME needs to select a UPE to serve the user in processes such as user attachment or tracking area registration (Tracking Area Registration).

In addition, in the existing UMTS system, a single tunnel (One Tunnel) mechanism is proposed (that is, the data plane in the UMTS system is directly processed between the UTRAN and the GGSN without being processed by the SGSN), under the One Tunnel, GGSN selection is required.

Contents of the invention

The invention provides a method for selecting a user plane entity on the network side, which realizes the improvement and supplement of the prior art.

The inventive method comprises:

A. The user equipment initiates a service request to the network side control plane entity;

B. The control plane entity acquires the location information of the user equipment, and selects a network-side user plane entity to serve the user equipment according to the location information.

According to the above-mentioned method of the present invention, the corresponding relationship between the location information of the user equipment and the user plane entity on the network side that can provide services is stored in advance on the network side;

In the step B, after the control plane entity acquires the location information of the user equipment, it queries the corresponding relationship, and selects a corresponding network-side user plane entity to serve the user equipment.

The corresponding relationship is stored in the control plane entity on the network side or in any functional entity on the network side.

The corresponding relationship between the location information and the user plane entity is:

A piece of location information corresponds to a said user plane entity that can provide a service; or

One piece of location information corresponds to multiple user plane entities that can provide services.

When one piece of location information corresponds to multiple user plane entities that can provide services, one of the user plane entities is selected to serve the user equipment according to the load sharing principle.

According to the above method of the present invention, in the step A, the user equipment initiates a service request to the evolved network; the evolved access network sends the user's service request to the control plane entity of the core network of the evolved network, carrying the tracking area of the user equipment information;

In the step B, the control plane entity of the evolved network core network obtains the tracking area information where the user equipment is located from the service request message, and queries the correspondence between the saved tracking area information and the user plane entity of the evolved network core network, An evolved network core network user plane entity corresponding to the tracking area where the user equipment is located is selected to serve the user equipment.

According to the above method of the present invention, the user equipment initiates an attach request, a tracking area update request or a handover request to the evolved network.

According to the above method of the present invention, in the step A, the user equipment initiates a service request to the serving general packet radio service support node SGSN of the universal mobile telecommunications system UMTS;

In the step B, the SGSN acquires the routing area information where the user equipment is located from the user context, inquires about the corresponding relationship between the saved routing area information and the gateway general packet radio service support node GGSN, and selects a routing area where the user equipment is located. The GGSN corresponding to the routing area serves the user equipment.

According to the above method of the present invention, in the step A, the user equipment initiates a PDP context activation request to the UMTS SGSN.

The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

(1) With the present invention, when the user equipment initiates a service request to the network side control plane entity, the control plane entity obtains the location information of the user equipment, and selects a network side user plane entity as the user according to the location of the user equipment. Device service. Therefore, the present invention provides a feasible service processing method for a network architecture in which control plane entities and user plane entities are separated, which is a perfection and supplement to the prior art.

(2) By adopting the method of the present invention, the corresponding relationship between the location information of the user equipment and the user plane entity on the network side that can provide services can be pre-stored on the network side; after the control plane entity obtains the location information of the user equipment, it can query the stored corresponding relationship , select a corresponding network-side user plane entity to serve the user equipment. Among them, one location information can correspond to multiple user plane entities that can provide services, and one of the user plane entities is selected to serve the user equipment according to the load sharing principle. Not only is the implementation method simple, but it can also achieve user plane entity load sharing and improve Network business processing capability and performance.

(3) The method of the present invention can be applied to an evolved network, and provides a method in which the MME selects a corresponding UPE to serve the user equipment according to the tracking area where the user equipment is located under the MME and UPE separation architecture.

(4) The method of the present invention can also be applied to GGSN selection under the One Tunnel mechanism in the existing UMTS system.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a GPRS/UMTS network structure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an evolved packet core network architecture in the prior art;

Figure 3 is a flow chart of the implementation of UE attachment in the evolved packet core network specified in the 3GPP TR 23.882 protocol;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a UE initiating an attach request in an evolved network according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of UE initiating tracking area registration in an evolved network according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a UE initiating a PDP context activation request in a UMTS system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The method for selecting a network-side user plane entity provided by the present invention includes: a user equipment UE initiates a service request to a network-side control plane entity; the control plane entity acquires location information of the UE, and selects a network-side user-plane entity according to the UE location information as its service.

In practical applications, the corresponding relationship between UE location information and network-side user plane entities that can provide services can be pre-stored on the network side; after the control plane entity obtains the location information of the user equipment, it queries the stored corresponding The network-side user plane entity serves the UE.

The corresponding relationship between the location information of the UE and the user plane entity on the network side that can provide the service can be stored in the control plane entity on the network side, or in any functional entity on the network side. When one piece of location information corresponds to multiple user plane entities that can provide services, one of the user plane entities is selected according to the load sharing principle.

The above-mentioned method of the present invention will be described in detail below with specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment one:

The UE initiates an attach request in the evolved network, and the MME selects a UPE to serve the UE.

The specific signaling process is shown in Figure 4, including:

1. UE selects access system and network (Network Discovery and Access SystemSelection);

2. The UE sends an Attach Request message (Attach Request) to the current MME of the evolved network; the evolved radio access network (Evolved RAN) carries the UE's Trace Area (Trace Area) information when sending the UE's Attach Request message to the current MME ;

3. If the attach request message carries the registration information of the old side (before the UE), the current MME sends a message (Send old registration information) to the old side MME to obtain user information;

4. The old side MME sends user information (Send user information) to the current MME;

5. Perform authentication (Authentication) on the UE in the current MME;

6. Register the current MME to the HSS (Register MME);

7. Delete user information on the old side MME (Delete UE registration information);

8. HSS confirms the registration of the current MME (Confirm Registration);

9. The current MME selects a UPE (Selection of UPE) used by the user according to the location information of the user; the specific method is:

The current MME obtains the tracking area information of the UE from the attach request message sent by the Evolved RAN, and then queries which UPEs can serve the tracking area (the correspondence between the tracking area and the UPE can be configured in the MME or on other network sides Entity configuration, if the corresponding relationship between the tracking area and UPE is configured in other network-side entities, the current MME queries the corresponding entity to obtain the UPE corresponding to the tracking area);

According to the query results, the MME selects a UPE to process the user plane of the UE; if a tracking area can be served by multiple UPEs, the MME selects one of the UPEs according to load sharing principles; specific load sharing principles (such as selecting the current The UPE with the least load, etc.) the present invention is not limited to this;

10. Establish the user plane between UE and UPE, InterAS Anchor, the default charging and policy rules are used (User Plane Route Configuration);

This step includes:

The MME sends an activation request message to the selected UPE;

UPE selects an Inter AS Anchor;

The UPE returns an activation response message to the MME;

11. The current MME provides the QoS configuration of the default IP bearer for the evolved wireless access network (Configure IP Bearer QoS);

12. The MME accepts the UE's Attach Request (AttachAccept) and assigns the UE's temporary identity;

13. The UE confirms that the attachment is successful (Attach Confirm).

In the above process, UPE and InterAS Anchor are taken as an example as independent network entities, but the present invention does not limit other network architectures, for example, UPE and InterAS Anchor are in one network entity.

The main difference between the flow shown in FIG. 4 using the method of the present invention and the attachment flow in the prior art is reflected in step 9 in FIG. 4 , where the MME selects the UPE.

Embodiment two:

The UE initiates a tracking area registration request in the evolved network, and the MME selects a UPE to serve the UE.

The specific signaling process is shown in Figure 5, including:

1. When the tracking area changes or the periodic tracking area update timer expires, the UE sends a tracking area registration message to the MME of the core network of the evolved network; Evolved RAN carries the tracking area information of the UE when sending the tracking area registration message of the UE to the MME ;

2. The MME selects a UPE (Selection of UPE) used by the user according to the location information of the user; the specific method is:

The MME obtains the tracking area information of the UE from the tracking area registration message sent by the Evolved RAN, and then queries which UPEs can serve the tracking area (the correspondence between the tracking area and the UPE can be configured in the MME or on other network sides Entity configuration, if the correspondence between the tracking area and the UPE is configured in other network-side entities, the MME queries the corresponding entity to obtain the UPE corresponding to the tracking area);

According to the query results, the MME selects a UPE to process the user plane of the UE; if a tracking area can be served by multiple UPEs, the MME selects one of the UPEs according to load sharing principles; specific load sharing principles (such as selecting the current The UPE with the least load, etc.) the present invention is not limited to this;

3. If the selected UPE is inconsistent with the UPE in the original user context, the MME sends an activation context request message to the selected UPE (ie, the destination UPE);

4. The MME sends a Delete Context Request message to the source UPE;

5. Establish a user plane between the destination UPE and the Inter AS Anchor;

6. The destination UPE sends an activation context response message to the MME;

7. The source UPE sends a delete context response message to the MME;

8. The MME verifies the tracking area registration of the user.

Embodiment three:

The UE initiates a PDP context activation request in the UMTS system, and the SGSN selects the GGSN to serve the UE.

Determining the user plane entity used by the UE according to the location information of the UE can also be applied to GGSN selection under the One Tunnel mechanism in the UMTS system of the prior art. The specific signaling process is shown in Figure 6, including:

1. The UE sends the "Activate PDP Context Request" message to the SGSN;

2. The SGSN selects the GGSN to be used according to the location information of the UE, as follows:

SGSN obtains the routing area (Route Area, RA) information where the user is located from the user context it saves;

The SGSN queries which GGSN services this routing area can be served by (the correspondence between the routing area and the GGSN can be configured in the SGSN or in other network entities, if the corresponding relationship between the routing area and the GGSN is configured in other network side entities , the SGSN queries the corresponding network entity to obtain the GGSN corresponding to the routing area);

According to the query result, the SGSN selects a GGSN to process the user plane of the UE. If a routing area can be served by multiple GGSNs, then the SGSN selects one of the GGSNs according to principles such as load sharing, and the specific load sharing principles (such as selecting the GGSN with the smallest current load, etc.) are not limited by the present invention;

3. The SGSN sends a "Create PDP Context Request" message to the selected GGSN;

4. The GGSN returns a "Create PDP Context Response" message to the SGSN;

5. The SGSN establishes a radio access bearer through the radio access bearer assignment procedure (RAB Assignment);

6. The SGSN sends a "Modify PDP Context Request" message to the GGSN;

7. The GGSN returns a "Modify PDP Context Response" message to the SGSN;

8. The SGSN returns an "Activate PDP Context Accept" message to the UE.

The present invention uses specific embodiments to disclose a method in which the MME selects the corresponding UPE to serve the UE according to the tracking area where the UE is located under the evolved network architecture where the MME and UPE are separated.

The method of the invention also discloses a method for the SGSN to select the GGSN to serve the UE under the One Tunnel mechanism in the existing UMTS system.

To sum up, with the present invention, when the user equipment initiates a service request to the network side control plane entity, the control plane entity obtains the location information of the user equipment, and selects a network side user plane entity as The user equipment service. Therefore, the present invention provides a feasible service processing flow for a network architecture in which control plane entities and user plane entities are separated, which is a perfection and supplement to the prior art.

By adopting the method of the present invention, the corresponding relationship between the location information of the user equipment and the user plane entity on the network side that can provide services can be stored in advance on the network side; after the control plane entity obtains the location information of the user equipment, it can select the A corresponding network-side user plane entity serves the user equipment. Among them, one location information can correspond to multiple user plane entities that can provide services, and one of the user plane entities is selected to serve the user equipment according to the load sharing principle. Business processing power and performance.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalent technologies, the present invention also intends to include these modifications and variations.

Claims (9)

1, a kind of network side user entity selection method is characterized in that, comprising:

A, subscriber equipment are initiated service request to network controls face entity;

B, described chain of command entity obtain the positional information of described subscriber equipment, and select a network side user entity to be this subscriber equipment service according to described positional information.

2, the method for claim 1 is characterized in that, preserves the positional information and the corresponding relation that the network side user entity of service can be provided of subscriber equipment in advance at network side;

Among the described step B, after described chain of command entity obtains the positional information of subscriber equipment, inquire about described corresponding relation, the network side user entity of selecting a correspondence is this subscriber equipment service.

3, method as claimed in claim 2 is characterized in that, described corresponding relation is kept in the network controls face entity or in any functional entity of network side.

4, method as claimed in claim 2 is characterized in that, the corresponding relation of described positional information and described user entity is:

The corresponding described user entity that service can be provided of positional information; Perhaps

The corresponding a plurality of described user entities that service can be provided of positional information.

5, method as claimed in claim 4 is characterized in that, when positional information is corresponding a plurality of when the described user entity of service can be provided, selects one of them user entity according to the load sharing principle and is this subscriber equipment service.

As the described method of any claim of claim 2-5, it is characterized in that 6, in the described steps A, described subscriber equipment is initiated service request to evolvement network; The evolution Access Network sends the chain of command entity of service request from user to the evolvement network core net, the tracking area information of carrying this subscriber equipment;

Among the described step B, the chain of command entity of described evolvement network core net obtains the tracking area information at subscriber equipment place from described business request information, the tracking area information that inquiry is preserved and the corresponding relation of evolvement network core net user entity are selected an evolvement network core net user entity corresponding with this subscriber equipment place tracking area and are this subscriber equipment service.

7, method as claimed in claim 6 is characterized in that, in the described steps A, described subscriber equipment initiates to adhere to request, tracing section updating request or handoff request to evolvement network.

As the described method of any claim of claim 2-5, it is characterized in that 8, in the described steps A, described subscriber equipment is initiated service request to the service universal grouping wireless business supporting node SGSN of universal mobile telecommunications system UMTS;

Among the described step B, described SGSN obtains the route district information at this subscriber equipment place from user's context, route district information that inquiry is preserved and the corresponding relation of ggsn GGSN are selected a GGSN corresponding with this route district, subscriber equipment place and are this subscriber equipment service.

9, method as claimed in claim 8 is characterized in that, in the described steps A, described subscriber equipment initiates to activate the PDP Context request to the SGSN of UMTS.

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