CN102480714B - Method for inquiring gateway and system thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and system for querying a gateway, which is applied to a network for local access. The network includes: a selection management unit. In the above method, the selection management unit sends a gateway query request to a domain name DNS server, wherein , the gateway query request includes APN information and/or location information, or a combination of at least one of APN information and location information and selection of core network gateway indication information; the selection management unit receives the gateway query response returned from the DNS server, wherein , carrying one or more gateway addresses obtained from the query. According to the technical solution provided by the invention, the modification of the existing mobile management unit by introducing the local access service can be effectively shielded.

Description

Method and system for querying gateway

technical field

The invention relates to the field of mobile communication, in particular to a method and system for querying a gateway.

Background technique

In order to maintain the competitiveness of the third-generation mobile communication system in the communication field, provide users with faster rate, lower delay, and more personalized mobile communication services, and at the same time reduce the operating costs of operators, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3rd Generation Partnership Project, referred to as 3GPP) standard working group is working on the research of the evolved packet system (Evolved Packet System, referred to as EPS).

Fig. 1 shows a schematic structural diagram of an evolved packet domain system. As shown in Fig. 1 , the entire EPS system is divided into two parts, a radio access network and a core network. In the core network, it includes Home Subscriber Server (HSS for short), Mobility Management Entity (MME for short), Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN for short), policy calculator Policy and Charging Rule Function (PCRF for short), Serving Gateway (S-GW for short), PDN Gateway (P-GW for short) and Packet Data Network (Packet Data Network for short) for the PDN). In order to support the intercommunication between the EPS network and the existing gateway, the network elements in the network also support access to the Gateway GPRS Serving Node (Gateway GPRS ServingNode, GGSN for short). The functions of each of the above parts are described in detail below:

The home user server is the permanent storage place of the user subscription data, and is located in the home network of the user subscription.

The mobility management entity is the storage location of user subscription data in the current network, responsible for terminal-to-network non-access layer signaling management, terminal security verification function, terminal mobility management, user tracking and paging in idle mode Administrative functions and bearer management.

The serving GPRS support node is the service support point for GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network, referred to as GERAN) and UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (abbreviated as UTRAN) users to access the core network , which is functionally similar to the mobility management entity, responsible for user location update, paging management, and bearer management.

The service gateway is the gateway from the core network to the wireless system, responsible for the user plane bearer from the terminal to the core network, data caching in the terminal idle mode, the function of initiating service requests on the network side, legal interception, and packet data routing and forwarding functions; the service gateway Responsible for making statistics on the use of wireless networks by user terminals, and generating bills of wireless network use by terminals, and sending them to the billing gateway.

The packet data gateway is the gateway between the evolution system and the external packet data network of the system. It is connected to the Internet and the packet data network and is responsible for the terminal Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol, referred to as IP) address assignment, billing function, and packet filtering. , policy control and other functions.

The gateway GPRS support node is the gateway node in the GPRS network. It is connected to the Internet and the packet data network, and is responsible for the terminal Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol, referred to as IP) address allocation, billing functions, packet filtering, policy control, etc. Function.

The packet data network is the operator's IP service network, which provides IP services to users through the operator's core network.

The policy and charging rule functional entity is the server responsible for providing rules for charging control, online credit control, threshold control, and Quality of Service (QoS) policy in the evolution system.

The radio access network is composed of an evolved base station (E-UTRAN NodeB, referred to as eNB) and a 3G radio network controller (Radio Network Control, referred to as RNC). It is mainly responsible for sending and receiving wireless signals, communicating with terminals through the air interface, and managing Radio resources, resource scheduling, and access control of the air interface.

The above-mentioned serving GPRS support node is an upgraded SGSN, which can support the S4 interface with the serving gateway, and communicate with the mobility management unit using the GTPv2 protocol. However, for the SGSN supporting the 3G core network, the PS domain network architecture is different from that shown in Figure 1. At this time, the SGSN and the MME are connected through the Gn interface, and the GTPv1 protocol is adopted for intercommunication. The SGSN cannot be connected to the service gateway, and is connected to the Gateway GPRS Support Node (Gateway GPRS Support Node, referred to as GGSN) through the Gn interface to directly access the packet data network.

A home base station (Home NodeB, referred to as HNB) or an evolved home base station (Home eNodeN, referred to as HeNB) is a type of small, low-power base station, as a dedicated resource for some users, deployed in families, groups, companies or schools, etc. The use in private places is mainly to provide users with higher service rates and reduce the cost of using high-speed services, while making up for the lack of coverage of existing distributed cellular wireless communication systems. The advantages of femtocells are affordable, convenient, low power output, plug and play, broadband access, and use of single-mode terminals.

The femtocell may be applied in a third generation (3 Generation, 3G for short) or long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE for short) mobile communication network. In order to facilitate the management of the femtocell, a new network element, namely the femtocell gateway, is introduced into the network. The main functions of the femtocell gateway are: verifying the security of the femtocell, maintaining and managing the operation of the femtocell, configuring and controlling the femtocell according to the requirements of the operator, and exchanging data information between the core network and the femtocell.

Figure 2 is a network architecture diagram of a 3G home base station. As shown in Figure 2, the 3G home base station is connected to the home base station gateway through the newly defined Iuh interface, and the home base station gateway provides IuPS and IuCs interfaces to the core network packet domain and circuit domain. For 3G networks, the femtocell gateway must be deployed to shield the impact on the terminal and the network side after the introduction of the femtocell. For the LTE network, the home base station gateway can be optionally deployed. Therefore, there are two ways to connect the LTE home base station to the core network. One is that the home base station is directly connected to the core network element, and the other is that the home base station is connected to the core network through the gateway. The elements are connected, as shown in Figure 3 and 4. For the scenario where the femtocell gateway is introduced as shown in Figure 4, the femtocell gateway may not integrate the user plane function, and the user plane is directly established between the femtocell and the core network user plane gateway, which can make the user plane flat and reduce the data transmission delay , as shown in Figure 5.

In addition to supporting access through the mobile core network, the home base station can also support the local IP access function. Under the condition that the home base station has the local IP access capability and the user signs a contract to allow local IP access, it can realize the user's access to other information in the home network. Local access to IP devices or the Internet. Through the local access function, the distribution of Internet data services can be realized, the load of the core network can be reduced, and the access to home network devices can be forwarded without going through the core network, and the data transmission is convenient and efficient. The local IP access function can also be used on the macro cell. The main purpose is similar to that of the home base station. It is more used in the scenario of local IP access to the Internet (Internet), with the purpose of reducing the core network load.

FIG. 6 shows the architectures for realizing the above local access functions respectively. Wherein, the local access gateway serves as a network locally connected to an external network (such as the Internet), and provides functions such as address allocation, accounting, packet filtering, and policy control. As a logical unit module, the network element is recommended to be deployed jointly with the existing home base station or base station during actual deployment. For the scenario where the HNB is accessed, there may also be a HNB gateway in the network, and for the scenario where the HNB gateway exists, it may be on the data path.

In related technologies, the process of establishing a PDN connection or PDP activation is shown in FIG. 7 . Here, the UE accessing the GPRS network is taken as an example to illustrate how to deliver the policy. Accessing the EPC network is a similar process. This process mainly includes the following processing:

In step S702, the terminal initiates a PDP activation request, and the non-access stratum message is sent to the SGSN via the base station. Wherein, the message carries the APN information that the terminal wishes to access.

In step S704, the SGSN constructs a Domain Name Server (DNS) query request message according to the Access Point Name (APN) information provided by the terminal, and queries the DNS server for available GGSN addresses. In order to select a local gateway, it is also necessary to include UE access location information when constructing a DNS request, and this information may be a base station identifier or a routing area identifier.

In step S706, the DNS server returns a query response message to the SGSN according to the stored information, wherein the query response message includes available GGSN address information. This information may contain one or more GGSN addresses.

In step S708, the SGSN selects a GGSN from the returned GGSN address or address list.

In step S710, the SGSN sends a PDP activation request to the local gateway node, which carries parameters such as UE identity, PDP type, QoS information, and charging information.

Specifically, if accessing the GPRS network, the local gateway node is the GGSN, and if accessing the EPC network, the core network gateway refers to the SGW and PGW. Different networks have different messages, but the functions are similar. Here we take the description of accessing the GRPS network as an example.

Step S712, the local gateway node verifies the parameters carried in the PDP activation request message, and authorizes the QoS parameters carried in the request. The local gateway returns a PDP activation response to the SGSN, which carries information such as the tunnel end identifier assigned to the UE, authorized QoS parameters, and the like.

In step S714, the SGSN sends a bearer assignment request to the base station, which carries information such as the UE's MSISDN number, APN, and QoS parameters.

In step S716, if the base station accepts the QoS parameters delivered by the local gateway node, the base station initiates a process of establishing an RRC connection.

In step S718, the base station returns a RAB assignment response message to the SGSN. If multiple bearers are established at the same time, the base station will return multiple RAN assignment response messages.

If the base station cannot accept the QoS parameters in the RAB assignment message, it will indicate to the SGSN in the returned RAN assignment response message. According to the indication, the SGSN may choose to issue new QoS parameters.

Step S720, the SGSN judges whether to send a PDP update request to the local gateway node according to whether a direct tunnel is established, and if sent, it carries the tunnel end identifier of the base station. If the QoS is inconsistent with the QoS delivered by the core network gateway, the SGSN notifies the local gateway through the PDP update process.

In step S722, the SGSN returns a PDP activation response to the terminal, wherein the activation response carries authorized QoS parameters and other information.

It can be seen from FIG. 7 that in order to support local access, the existing mobility management unit needs to be improved and upgraded. Therefore, in order to shield the above-mentioned changes to the existing mobility management unit by introducing the local access service, a new network architecture needs to be proposed.

Contents of the invention

In order to support local access in the related art, it is necessary to improve and upgrade the existing mobility management unit, the present invention provides a method and system for querying a gateway, so as to solve at least one of the above problems.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for querying a gateway is provided.

The method for querying a gateway according to the present invention is applied to a network that realizes local access, and the network includes a selection management unit. The method includes: the selection management unit sends a gateway query request to a DNS server, wherein the gateway query request Including APN information and/or location information, or a combination of at least one of the APN information and the location information and selection of core network gateway indication information; the selection management unit receives the gateway query returned from the DNS server The response carries one or more gateway addresses obtained from the query.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a system for querying a gateway is provided.

The gateway query system according to the present invention is applied to a network for local access, the gateway query system includes: a selection management unit and a DNS server; wherein, the selection management unit includes: a first sending module, For sending a gateway query request to the DNS server, where the gateway query request includes APN information and/or location information, or at least one of the APN information and the location information and selection core network gateway indication information combination; a first receiving module, configured to receive a gateway query response returned from the DNS server, wherein the gateway query response carries one or more gateway addresses obtained through query. The DNS server includes: a second receiving module, configured to receive the gateway query request from the selection management unit; a query module, configured to use APN information and/or location information, or the APN information and The one or more gateway addresses obtained by combining at least one of the location information and the selected core network gateway indication information; a second sending module, configured to send the one or more gateways to the selection management unit address.

Through the present invention, a selection management unit is newly added in the network for realizing local access, and the selection management unit interacts with the DNS server to query the address of the gateway, thereby realizing local access. The invention solves the problem in the related art that the existing mobility management unit needs to be improved and upgraded in order to support local access, and thus can effectively shield the modification of the existing mobility management unit by introducing the local access service.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings described here are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of the application. The schematic embodiments of the present invention and their descriptions are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute improper limitations to the present invention. In the attached picture:

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an evolved packet domain system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 3G femtocell network architecture.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the first home base station network architecture.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a second home base station network architecture.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a third home base station network architecture.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture for realizing local access in the related art.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of establishing a PDN or activating a PDP context in the related art.

8 is a flowchart of a method for querying a gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a flow chart of implementing local access according to Example 1 of the present invention;

Fig. 10 is a flow chart of implementing local access according to Example 2 of the present invention;

11 is a structural block diagram of a system for querying gateways according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 12 is a structural block diagram of a system for querying gateways according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture for realizing local access according to Example 1 of the present invention;

Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture for implementing local access according to Example 2 of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings and examples. It should be noted that, in the case of no conflict, the embodiments in the present application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of a method for querying a gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention. The above method is mainly applied in the network for realizing local access. In order to shield the modification of the existing mobility management unit by introducing the local access service, it is necessary to add a selection management unit in the network for realizing local access. As shown in Figure 8, the method for querying the gateway in the embodiment of the present invention mainly includes the following processing:

Step S802: The selection management unit sends a gateway query request to the DNS server, wherein the gateway query request includes APN information and/or location information, or at least one of the APN information and the location information and selection core network gateway indication information The combination;

Step S804: The selection management unit receives the gateway query response returned from the DNS server, which carries one or more gateway addresses obtained from the query.

Wherein, the above one or more gateway addresses may be a local gateway address, or a combination of a local gateway address and a core network gateway address.

In the above method, a selection management unit is added in the network for local access, and the selection management unit interacts with the DNS server to query the gateway address, thereby realizing local access. The invention solves the problem in the related art that the existing mobility management unit needs to be improved and upgraded in order to support local access, and thus can effectively shield the modification of the existing mobility management unit by introducing the local access service.

Preferably, the above location information includes but not limited to at least one of the following: routing area identifier, cell identifier, base station identifier, CSG identifier, and access network identifier of the terminal.

Preferably, the above-mentioned DNS server selects the core network gateway according to the first information (that is, APN information and/or location information) or a combination of the first information and second information (that is, at least one of the APN information and the location information) The one or more gateway addresses obtained by querying) further include the following processing:

When the gateway query request includes the first information, the DNS server obtains one or more local gateway addresses according to the first information query;

When the gateway query request includes the first information and the second information, the DNS server searches to obtain one or more local gateway addresses and one or more core network gateway addresses according to the combination of the first information and the second information.

Preferably, before performing the above step S102, the above method may also include the following processing:

(1) The mobile management unit sends a query request to the DNS server to select the management unit;

(2) The mobile management unit receives one or more selected management unit addresses returned from the DNS server;

(3) The mobility management unit determines the selection management unit according to one or more selection management unit addresses.

In the specific implementation process, the DNS server can only query the address of the selected management unit through the APN and/or location information carried in the request for querying the selected management unit sent by the mobile management unit, and then return the queried address of the selected management unit to The selection management unit is responsible for selecting the local gateway or the combination of the local gateway and the core network gateway.

Preferably, after the mobility management unit selects the selection management unit according to one or more selection management unit addresses, before the selection management unit sends a gateway query request to the DNS server, the following processing may also be included: the mobility management unit sends a bearer to the selection management unit An establishment request, wherein the bearer establishment request carries: location information.

Through the above processing, the selection management unit receives the above location information, and then can use the location information to construct a fully qualified domain name (Fully Qualified Domain Name, referred to as FQDN) sent to the DNS server, and use the constructed FQDN as an input parameter for the DNS query. Of course, the selection management unit can also construct the FQDN through the APN information, but the above location information is carried in the label information. The DNS server can query the address of the local gateway according to the received location information.

In a specific implementation process, when the gateway query request includes only APN information or a combination of APN information and label information, the label information also carries information that instructs the DNS server to sort the output multiple gateway addresses.

In the specific implementation process, if the selection management unit only sends the APN information, or APN information and label information to the DNS server, the selection management unit can instruct the DNS server to sort the output multiple gateway addresses in the label information, The DNS server can sort multiple gateway addresses according to the network architecture and output the location information, and the selection management unit selects the gateway addresses from the gateway list.

Preferably, after step S804, one of the following processes may also be included:

Processing (1) The selection management unit selects the address of the local gateway, and sends a bearer establishment request to it, where the bearer establishment request carries the location information;

Processing (2) The selection management unit selects a local gateway address, and sends a bearer establishment request to it, wherein the bearer establishment request carries the location information and one or more core network gateway addresses returned by the DNS server.

Processing (3) The selection management unit selects a local gateway address and a core network gateway address, and sends a bearer establishment request to the selected local gateway address, wherein the bearer establishment request carries the location information and the selected Core network gateway address.

Wherein, for the above processing (1) (2), after the selection management unit sends a bearer establishment request to the local gateway corresponding to the selected local gateway address, the following processing may also be included:

If the bearer establishment request received by the local gateway does not include the core network gateway address, then send a request to the DNS server for querying the core network gateway address, where the request includes: the APN information and the location information At least one and a combination of indication information for selecting a core network gateway; the local gateway receives a query response message returned from the DNS server, wherein the query response message carries one or more core network gateway addresses; the local gateway Select a core network gateway address from one or more core network gateway addresses returned;

If the bearer establishment request received by the local gateway includes one or more core network gateway addresses, the local gateway selects a core network gateway address from the returned one or more core network gateway addresses.

Preferably, for the above processing (1)(2)(3), after the selection management unit sends a bearer establishment request to the local gateway corresponding to the selected local gateway address, the following processing may also be included:

(1) The local gateway determines whether data distribution is required;

(2) If necessary, the local gateway verifies and authorizes the parameters carried in the bearer establishment request;

(3) Otherwise, the local gateway sends a bearer establishment request to the core network gateway.

In the specific implementation process, if the gateway query request sent by the selection management unit to the DNS server carries label information (that is, the above-mentioned second information) for indicating to return the gateway address of the core network, then in step S804, the DNS server sends to the selection The gateway query response returned by the management unit carries one or more core network gateway addresses. The selection management unit selects one of the above-mentioned one or more core network gateway addresses to carry in the bearer establishment request and sends it to the local access gateway. After that, when there is no need for data offloading, the local access gateway sends the address corresponding to the selected core network gateway address to the local access gateway. The core network gateway sends a bearer establishment request.

In the specific implementation process, if the gateway query request sent by the selection management unit to the DNS server does not carry the label information (that is, the above-mentioned second information) for indicating the return of the core network gateway address, then when no data offloading is required, the local access The ingress gateway needs to send a gateway query request to the DNS server again to query the core network gateway address. Then select one of the core network gateway addresses obtained through the query, and send a bearer establishment request to the core network gateway corresponding to the selected core network gateway address.

Preferably, in the process of information interaction, the above-mentioned local gateway or selection management unit can also perform a protocol conversion operation on the received message. That is to complete the conversion of GTPv1 messages and GTPv2 messages. For example, the mobility management unit sends a GTPv1 message to the local gateway/selection management unit, but the local gateway/selection management unit converts the GTPv1 message into a GTPv2 message and sends it out.

In a preferred implementation process, the selection management unit can be a separate physical entity, or it can be set up together with the local gateway or the mobility management unit.

The above-mentioned preferred embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 .

Fig. 9 is a flow chart of implementing local access according to Example 1 of the present invention. As shown in Figure 9, the process mainly includes the following processing:

In step S902, the terminal initiates a PDP activation request, and the non-access stratum message is sent to the SGSN in the mobility management unit via the base station, wherein the message carries the APN information that the terminal wants to access.

In step S904, the SGSN constructs a DNS query request message according to the APN information provided by the terminal, and queries the DNS server for an available GGSN address.

Wherein, the DNS server is set such that if the DNS query request is constructed according to the APN information, only the address of the selection management unit can be queried.

In step S906, the DNS returns a query response message to the SGSN according to the stored information, wherein the query response message includes available address information of the selected management unit. The information may contain one or more selection management unit addresses.

In step S908, the SGSN selects the selected management unit from the returned selected management unit address or address list. The SGSN sends a PDP context creation request to the selection management unit, which carries parameters such as UE identity, PDP type, QoS information, charging information, APN, and terminal location information. Wherein, the above location information may include but not limited to: UE's routing area identifier, cell identifier, CSG identifier, base station identifier, access network identifier (name) and so on.

Step S910, the selection management unit constructs a DNS query request message according to the first information (APN and/or location information) provided by the terminal, or a combination of the first information and the second information (label information), and queries DNS for available local gateways address and/or core network gateway address.

In this step, the selection management unit may query the address of the local gateway according to the location information and/or the APN. Optionally, after the local gateway is selected, the address of the core network gateway is queried according to the APN and label information. The label refers to instructing the DNS server to return the real core network gateway address instead of selecting the address of the management unit through a special instruction. This step can be completed by one or more queries, which is described here only once, but the number of times is not limited.

In step S912, the DNS server queries corresponding address information according to the query request.

In step S914, the DNS server returns a query response message, wherein the query response message includes available selected local gateway information, or a combination of local gateway information and core network gateway information. The addresses in this information may contain one or more gateway addresses.

Step S916, the selection management unit selects the local gateway address from the returned local gateway address or address list. The selection management unit sends a PDP context creation request to the local gateway, which carries parameters such as UE ID, PDP type, QoS information, charging information, APN, and terminal location information. If the core network gateway address is also queried in step 1005, the message also includes core network gateway information.

Step S918, the local gateway decides whether to offload the data on the PDP context according to the static configuration or the dynamically acquired routing policy. If yes, skip steps S920-S922. Otherwise, the local gateway judges whether to execute the DNS query process according to whether the message in step S916 carries the core network gateway address. If it is carried, there is no need to perform the DNS query process, otherwise the local gateway needs to query the core network gateway address, the query process is similar to the description in step S910, and will not be repeated here.

In step S920, the local gateway sends a PDP context creation request to the core network gateway, which carries parameters such as UE ID, PDP type, QoS information, charging information, APN, and terminal location information.

In step S922, the core network gateway verifies the parameters carried in the PDP context creation request message, and authorizes the QoS parameters carried in the request. The core network gateway returns a PDP context creation response to the local gateway, which carries information such as the tunnel end identifier allocated for the UE, authorized QoS parameters, and the like.

In steps S924-S926, if it is judged in step S918 that offloading is required and steps S920-S922 are not executed, the local gateway verifies the parameters carried in the PDP context creation request message, and authorizes the QoS parameters carried in the request. The local gateway returns the create PDP context response to the local gateway by selecting the management unit, which carries information such as the identifier of the tunnel end assigned to the UE, the authorized QoS parameters, and the like.

In step S928, the rest of the PDP activation process is executed, which is similar to the prior art and will not be repeated here.

Fig. 10 is a flow chart of implementing local access according to Example 2 of the present invention. As shown in Figure 10, the process mainly includes the following processing:

Step S1002, the terminal initiates an attach request, or a PDN connection establishment request, and the non-access stratum message is sent to the SGSN via the base station. The message carries the APN information that the terminal wishes to access. If step S1002 occurs during the attach process, the APN information is acquired after the secure connection is established, and this process is a prior art and will not be described here.

Step S1004, the mobility management unit constructs a DNS query request message according to the APN information provided by the terminal, and queries the DNS for an available core network gateway address.

Wherein, the DNS server is set such that if the DNS query request is constructed according to the location information, only the address of the selected management unit can be queried.

Wherein, the above location information includes but not limited to: routing area identifier, cell identifier, base station identifier, and tracking area identifier.

In step S1006, the DNS returns a query response message to the mobility management unit according to the stored information, which includes available address information of the selected management unit, and the information may include one or more addresses of the selected management unit.

Step S1008, the mobility management unit selects the selected management unit from the returned selected management unit address or address list. The mobility management unit sends a session creation request message to the selection management unit, which carries parameters such as UE identity, PDP type, QoS information, charging information, APN, and terminal location information. Wherein, the location information may include but not limited to UE's routing area identifier, cell identifier, base station identifier, CSG identifier, access network name and so on. Optionally, the PGW address of the core network may also be carried.

Step S1010, the selection management unit constructs a DNS query request message according to the first information (APN and/or location information) provided by the terminal, the combination of the first information and the second information (label information), and queries DNS for available local gateway addresses .

In this step, the selection management unit may query the address of the local gateway according to the location information and the APN. This step can be completed by one or more queries, which is described here only once, but the number of times is not limited.

In step S1012, the DNS server queries corresponding address information according to the query request.

In step S1014, the DNS server returns a query response message, which includes information about available selected local gateways. This information can contain one or more addresses.

Step S1016, the selection management unit selects the local gateway address from the returned local gateway address or address list. The selection management unit sends a session creation request to the local gateway, which carries parameters such as UE ID, PDP type, QoS information, charging information, APN, and terminal location information.

In step S1018, the local gateway decides whether to offload the data of the PDN connection according to the static configuration or the dynamically obtained routing policy. If yes, skip steps S1020-S1022. Otherwise, follow-up procedures are performed.

In step S1020, the local gateway sends a session creation request to the core network gateway, which carries parameters such as UE ID, PDP type, QoS information, charging information, APN, and terminal location information.

In step S1022, the core network gateway verifies the parameters carried in the PDP context creation request message, and authorizes the QoS parameters carried in the request. The core network gateway returns a session creation response to the local gateway, which carries information such as the tunnel end identifier assigned to the UE, authorized QoS parameters, and the like.

In steps S1024-S1026, if it is determined in step 1109 that offloading is required and steps S1020-S1022 are not executed, the local gateway verifies the parameters carried in the session creation request message and authorizes the QoS parameters carried in the request. The local gateway returns a session creation response to the local gateway by selecting the management unit, which carries information such as the tunnel end identifier assigned to the UE, authorized QoS parameters, and the like.

Step S1028, execute PDN connection establishment, or the remaining process of attach, which is similar to the prior art, and will not be repeated here.

Fig. 11 is a structural block diagram of a system for querying gateways according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system is applied to a network for local access. As shown in Fig. 11, the system for querying gateways includes: a selection management unit 1 and a DNS server 2 ;

Select snap-in 1, including:

The first sending module 10 is configured to send a gateway query request to the DNS server, where the gateway query request includes first information or a combination of first information and second information, and the first information includes: APN information and/or location provided by the terminal information, the second information includes: label information used to indicate the return address of the core network gateway;

Preferably, the above location information includes but not limited to at least one of the following: routing area identifier, cell identifier, base station identifier, CSG identifier, and access network identifier of the terminal.

The first receiving module 12 is configured to receive a gateway query response returned from the DNS server, wherein the gateway query response carries one or more gateway addresses obtained through query.

DNS server 2, including:

The second receiving module 20 is configured to receive a gateway query request from the selection management unit;

A query module 22, configured to query one or more gateway addresses obtained according to the first information or a combination of the first information and the second information;

The second sending module 24 is configured to send one or more gateway addresses to the selection management unit.

Wherein, the above one or more gateway addresses may be a local gateway address, or a combination of a local gateway address and a core network gateway address.

The selection management unit in the above system interacts with the DNS server to query the gateway address, thereby realizing local access. The invention solves the problem in the related art that the existing mobility management unit needs to be improved and upgraded in order to support local access, and thus can effectively shield the modification of the existing mobility management unit by introducing the local access service.

Preferably, as shown in Figure 12, the query module 22 may further include: a first query sub-module 220, configured to query one or more local gateway addresses according to the first information; a second query sub-module 222, configured to query according to the first information Combining the first information and the second information, one or more local gateway addresses and one or more core network gateway addresses are obtained through query.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 12 , the above-mentioned system for querying the gateway may further include: a mobile management unit 3, and the mobile management unit includes: a third sending module 30, configured to send a request for querying and selecting a management unit to the DNS server, and the third receiving Module 32, for receiving one or more selection management unit addresses returned from the DNS server; a first determination module 34, for determining the selection management unit according to one or more selection management unit addresses; and a fourth sending module 36, It is used to send a bearer establishment request to the selection management unit, where the bearer establishment request carries: the location information.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 12, the selection management unit 1 may further include: a first processing module 14, configured to select a local gateway address and send a bearer establishment request to it, wherein the bearer establishment request carries the location information; the second processing module 16 is configured to select a local gateway address and send a bearer establishment request to it, wherein the bearer establishment request carries the location information and one or more core network gateway addresses returned by the DNS server a third processing module 18, configured to select a local gateway address and a core network gateway address, and send a bearer establishment request to the selected local gateway address, wherein the bearer establishment request carries the location information and the selected Core network gateway address.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 12 , the system for querying the gateway may further include: a local gateway 4, and the local gateway 4 may further include: a second determining module 40, configured to determine whether data distribution is required; a verification and authorization module 42, It is used to verify and authorize the parameters carried in the bearer establishment request when the output of the second determination module is yes; the fifth sending module 44 is used to send the bearer establishment request to the core network gateway when the output of the second determination module is no. ask.

The architecture of a network (the network includes a query gateway system) for realizing local access is described below in conjunction with FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 .

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture for implementing local access according to Example 1 of the present invention. This architecture is applicable to terminals accessing EPC network from GERAN/UTRAN/EUTRAN. The process described above in FIG. 9 or FIG. 10 may be based on this architecture. This embodiment does not limit the type of the base station, that is, the home base station or the common base station. For UTRAN/GERAN access, the home base station/ordinary base station is HNB/RNC, and the mobility management unit is mainly composed of SGSN and MME. Here, SGSN is taken as an example. For EUTRAN access, the home base station/base station is HeNB/eNB, and the mobility management unit is MME. For the HNB scenario, there may be a HNB gateway in the network. If there is a HNB gateway, all messages between the HNB and the MMU need to pass through the HNB gateway. Further messages between the HNB and the local gateway may or may not pass through the HNB gateway. For the scenario where the message is forwarded through the HNB gateway, the HNB gateway transparently transmits the passing message. The process of transparent transmission is irrelevant to the present invention, and will not be described here. The core network gateway node in this embodiment refers to SGW and PGW, or PGW.

Compared with the related technology, a newly added selection management unit is used to shield the modification of the existing mobility management unit by introducing the local connection service.

For the mobility management unit, the selection management unit is a core network gateway, and the mobility management unit can only select the selection management unit through APN and/or location information. The selection management unit is responsible for selecting a local gateway, or a combination of a local gateway and a core network gateway.

When the selection management unit is set to only select the local gateway, the selection management unit selects the local gateway according to the location information provided by the terminal. and route related messages to the local gateway. The local gateway decides whether to offload the data of the PDP context/PDN connection according to the offload policy. If it is decided to offload, there is no need to further select the core network gateway, otherwise the local gateway selects the core network gateway according to the APN and/or the location information of the user.

When the selection management unit is set to select the local gateway and the core network gateway, the selection management unit selects the core network gateway and the local gateway according to the location information and APN information provided by the terminal. And route relevant messages to the local gateway, which contains relevant information of the core network gateway. The local gateway decides whether to offload the data of the PDP context/PDN connection according to the offload policy. If it is decided to offload, there is no need to further select a core network gateway, otherwise, relevant messages will be forwarded to the core network gateway.

For the core network gateway, the way the local gateway sends messages is similar to that of the mobility management unit, so there is no impact on the core network gateway and the existing mobility management unit.

In a specific implementation process, the aforementioned selection management unit may be a separate physical entity, or may be co-established with a local gateway or a mobility management unit.

Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture for implementing local access according to Example 2 of the present invention. This architecture is suitable for terminals accessing GPRS network from GERAN/UTRAN. The process described above in FIG. 9 may be based on this architecture.

This embodiment does not limit the type of the base station, that is, the home base station or the common base station. For UTRAN/GERAN access, the home base station/base station is HNB/RNC, and the mobility management unit is SGSN. For the HNB scenario, there may be a HNB gateway in the network. If there is a HNB gateway, all messages between the HNB and the MMU need to pass through the HNB gateway. Further messages between the HNB and the local gateway may or may not pass through the HNB gateway. For the scenario where the message is forwarded through the HNB gateway, the HNB gateway transparently transmits the passing message. The process of transparent transmission is irrelevant to the present invention, and will not be described here. The core network gateway in this embodiment refers to the GGSN.

Compared with the related technology, a newly added selection management unit is used to shield the modification of the existing mobility management unit by introducing the local connection service.

For the mobility management unit, the selection management unit is a core network gateway, and the mobility management unit can only select the selection management unit through the APN and/or location information. The selection management unit is responsible for selecting a local gateway or a combination of a local gateway and a core network gateway.

When the selection management unit is set to only select the local gateway, the selection management unit selects the local gateway according to the location information provided by the terminal. and route related messages to the local gateway. The local gateway decides whether to offload the data of the PDP context/PDN connection according to the offload policy. If it is decided to offload, there is no need to further select the core network gateway, otherwise the local gateway selects the core network gateway according to the APN and/or the location information of the user.

When the selection management unit is set to select the local gateway and the core network gateway, the selection management unit selects the core network gateway and the local gateway according to the location information and APN information provided by the terminal. And route relevant messages to the local gateway, which contains relevant information of the core network gateway. The local gateway decides whether to offload the data of the PDP context/PDN connection according to the offload policy. If it is decided to offload, there is no need to further select a core network gateway, otherwise, relevant messages will be forwarded to the core network gateway.

In addition, the local gateway or the selection management unit can also complete the protocol conversion function, that is, complete the conversion of GTPv1 messages and GTPv2 messages, that is, the SGSN sends GTPv1 messages to the local gateway/selection management unit, but the selector does not limit GGSN or PGW when selecting the core network gateway .

For the core network gateway, the way the local gateway sends messages is similar to that of the mobility management unit, so there is no impact on the core network gateway and the existing mobility management unit.

In a preferred implementation process, the selection management unit may be a separate physical entity, or it may be co-located with the local gateway or the mobility management unit.

To sum up, with the help of the above embodiments provided by the present invention, a selection management unit is added in the network for local access, and the selection management unit interacts with the DNS server to query the gateway address, thereby realizing local access. By adopting the above solution, the modification of the existing mobility management unit by introducing the local access service can be effectively shielded, a large number of network equipment upgrades can be avoided, and the local connection service can be well introduced.

Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that each module or each step of the above-mentioned present invention can be realized by a general-purpose computing device, and they can be concentrated on a single computing device, or distributed in a network formed by multiple computing devices Alternatively, they may be implemented in program code executable by a computing device so that they may be stored in a storage device to be executed by a computing device, and in some cases in an order different from that shown here The steps shown or described are carried out, or they are separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or multiple modules or steps among them are fabricated into a single integrated circuit module for implementation. As such, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and changes. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (14)

1. A method for querying a gateway, which is applied to a network for local access, wherein the network includes: a selection management unit, and the method includes: The mobile management unit sends a request to query and select the management unit to the domain name DNS server; The mobility management unit receives one or more selection management unit addresses returned from the DNS server; The mobility management unit determines the selection management unit according to the one or more selection management unit addresses; The selection management unit sends a gateway query request to the DNS server, wherein the gateway query request includes access point name APN information and/or location information, or at least one of the APN information and the location information and a combination of indication information for selecting a core network gateway; The selection management unit receives the gateway query response returned from the DNS server, which carries one or more gateway addresses obtained from the query. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the DNS server comprises according to one or more gateway addresses returned: The DNS server obtains one or more local gateway addresses according to the APN information and/or location information query; or The DNS server queries and obtains one or more local gateway addresses and one or more core network gateway addresses according to a combination of at least one of the APN information and the location information and indication information for selecting a core network gateway. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the mobility management unit selects the selection management unit according to the addresses of the one or more selection management units, the selection management unit sends a DNS server Before the gateway query request, also include: The mobility management unit sends a bearer establishment request to the selection management unit, where the bearer establishment request carries: the location information. 4. The method according to claim 2, further comprising one of the following after the selection management unit receives the gateway query response returned from the DNS server: The selection management unit selects a local gateway address, and sends a bearer establishment request to its corresponding local gateway, where the bearer establishment request carries the location information; The selection management unit selects a local gateway address, and sends a bearer establishment request to its corresponding local gateway, wherein the bearer establishment request carries the location information and one or more core network gateway addresses returned by the DNS server. 5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: after the selection management unit sends a bearer establishment request to the local gateway corresponding to the selected local gateway address: If the bearer establishment request received by the local gateway does not include the core network gateway address, then send a request to the DNS server for querying the core network gateway address, where the request includes: the APN information and the location information At least one and a combination of indication information for selecting a core network gateway; the local gateway receives a query response message returned from the DNS server, wherein the query response message carries one or more core network gateway addresses; the local gateway Select a core network gateway address from one or more core network gateway addresses returned; If the bearer establishment request received by the local gateway includes one or more core network gateway addresses, the local gateway selects a core network gateway address from the returned one or more core network gateway addresses. 6. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: after the selection management unit receives the gateway query response returned from the DNS server: The selection management unit selects a local gateway address and a core network gateway address, and sends a bearer establishment request to the selected local gateway address, wherein the bearer establishment request carries the location information and the selected core network gateway address . 7. The method according to claim 4 or 6, characterized in that, after the selection management unit sends a bearer establishment request to the local gateway corresponding to the selected local gateway address, further comprising: The local gateway determines whether data distribution is required; If necessary, the local gateway verifies and authorizes the parameters carried in the bearer establishment request; Otherwise, the local gateway sends a bearer establishment request to the core network gateway. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the location information includes at least one of the following: routing area identifier, cell identifier, base station identifier, closed subscriber group CSG identifier, access Network access ID. 9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: the local gateway or the selection management unit executing a protocol on the received bearer setup message and the sent bearer setup message Transform operation. 10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, When the accessed network is an evolved packet switching core network EPC network, the mobility management unit is a mobility management entity MME or a serving general packet radio service support node SGSN, and the bearer establishment request is a session creation request; When the accessed network is a general packet radio service GPRS network, the mobility management unit is an SGSN, and the bearer establishment request is a packet data protocol PDP context creation request. 11. A system for inquiring about a gateway, which is applied to a network for local access, wherein the system for inquiring about a gateway comprises: a mobile management unit, a selection management unit and a domain name DNS server; The mobility management unit includes: A first sending module, configured to send a request for querying and selecting a management unit to the DNS server; A first receiving module, configured to receive one or more selection management unit addresses returned from the DNS server; A first determining module, configured to determine the selection management unit according to the address of the one or more selection management units; The second sending module is configured to send a bearer establishment request to the selection management unit, where the bearer establishment request carries: location information; The selection management unit includes: A third sending module, configured to send a gateway query request to the DNS server, where the gateway query request includes access point name APN information and/or location information, or, the APN information and the location information At least one and a combination of indication information for selecting a core network gateway; The second receiving module is configured to receive a gateway query response returned from the DNS server, wherein the gateway query response carries one or more gateway addresses obtained through query; The DNS server includes: A third receiving module, configured to receive the gateway query request from the selection management unit; A query module, configured to query the one or more gateway addresses obtained according to APN information and/or location information, or a combination of at least one of the APN information and the location information and the selected core network gateway indication information; A fourth sending module, configured to send the one or more gateway addresses to the selection management unit. 12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the query module comprises: The first query submodule is used to query and obtain one or more local gateway addresses according to the APN information and/or location information; The second query submodule is used to query and obtain one or more local gateway addresses and one or more core network gateway addresses according to at least one of the APN information and the location information and the combination of selecting the core network gateway indication information . 13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the selection management unit further comprises one of the following: The first processing module is configured to select a local gateway address and send a bearer establishment request to it, wherein the bearer establishment request carries the location information; The second processing module is configured to select a local gateway address and send a bearer establishment request to it, where the bearer establishment request carries the location information and one or more core network gateway addresses returned by the DNS server; A third processing module, configured to select a local gateway address and a core network gateway address, and send a bearer establishment request to the selected local gateway address, wherein the bearer establishment request carries the location information and the selected core network gateway address. 14. The system according to claim 13, further comprising: a local gateway, the local gateway comprising: The second determination module is used to determine whether data distribution is required; A verification and authorization module, configured to verify and authorize the parameters carried in the bearer establishment request when the output of the second determination module is Yes; The fifth sending module is configured to send a bearer establishment request to the core network gateway when the output of the second determining module is no.