CN106303985B - Method, apparatus and communication system based on machine type communication grouping - Google Patents

Abstract

A method, device and communication system based on machine type communication grouping, the method is used in a communication system, the method comprising the following steps: broadcasting a grouping request to a plurality of user equipments (UE) in a region through a base station; determining through the base station whether there is at least one group leader in the UE; and if the base station determines that there is the group leader in the UE, receiving through the base station a grouping report reported by the group leader; wherein the grouping report records the UE identifiers of all UEs in the group corresponding to the group leader.

Description

Method, apparatus and communication system based on machine type communication grouping

technical field

The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method, device and communication system based on machine type communication (Machine Type Communication, MTC) grouping.

Background technique

For a long time, our daily life has been facilitated by a variety of machines and equipment. Generally speaking, today's machines and equipment are equipped with computing processors and software to provide intelligent services. On the other hand, due to the popularization of wireless communication technology, machine-type communication technology has been developed, enabling remote machines to exchange information through wireless communication and operate without human operation. Especially for major public buildings such as water conservancy facilities, bridges, nature reserves, etc., machine type communication sensors can be used to monitor the operation status or environmental measurement status of public buildings, and the monitoring results can be transmitted wirelessly. The communication technology is reported to the control center. The wireless communication technology includes: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Datarates for Global Evolution, EDGE) technology, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) technology, Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (Code Division Multiple Access 2000, CDMA-2000) technology, Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (Time Division Multiple Access) Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access, TD-SCDMA) technology, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) technology, Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) technology, Long Term Evolution Enhanced (LTE-Advanced) technology, and Time-Division LTE (TD-LTE) technology, etc.

In order to deploy MTC services through mass low mobility and low cost devices, the user/service operator should manage these devices by grouping. Therefore, the command information can be sent to the group in a group mode without transmitting it to each device in batches; or the report information of each device can be received in a group mode without receiving it in multiple times, thus saving the user device side, Network/server-side resources. In addition, according to the specification book TS22.368 developed by The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), MTC systems should be optimized to handle MTC groups. However, in the prior art, it is only defined how to deliver group information to a group of devices (eg, through cell broadcast, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS), IP multicast) etc.), but it is not yet clear how devices are grouped.

Therefore, there is a need for a method, apparatus and communication system based on MTC grouping to solve the above problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method, device and communication system based on machine type communication grouping.

The present invention provides a method based on machine type communication grouping, which is used in a communication system. The method includes the following steps: broadcasting a grouping request to a plurality of user equipment (UE) in an area through a base station; The base station determines whether there is at least one group leader in the user equipment; and if the base station determines that the user equipment has the group leader, receiving a grouping report reported by the group leader through the base station; Wherein, the above-mentioned group report records belong to the user equipment identifiers of all the user equipments in the group corresponding to the above-mentioned group leader.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: starting a first timer by the base station; if the first timer expires and the base station does not receive the grouping report sent by the group leader, judging that The user equipment does not have the group leader; and a local group leader selection process is performed. In some embodiments, the local group leader selection procedure further comprises: broadcasting the group leader selection request information to the user equipment through the base station; after the user equipment receives the group leader selection request information, the above-mentioned use and when the random backoff timer expires, the user equipment corresponding to the random backoff timer unicasts a group leader selection acceptance message to the base station and broadcasts respectively. A group leader chooses to accept information to the remaining user equipments, wherein a first one of the group leader chooses to accept information transmitted from the remaining user equipments has not been received after the corresponding random backoff timer expires. The user equipment becomes the group leader. In some embodiments, the above-mentioned local group leader selection procedure further includes: after the above-mentioned other user equipments receive the above-mentioned group leader selection acceptance information, stop their respective random backoff timers. In some embodiments, the local group leader selection procedure further includes: starting a second timer after the base station receives the group leader selection acceptance information transmitted by the first user equipment; and when the first user equipment When the second timer expires, the base station transmits a group leader selection completion message to the group leader. In some embodiments, after the base station determines that the user equipment has the group leader, it further includes the following steps: starting a third timer through the group leader, and receiving the transmission from the remaining user equipments and when the third timer expires, generate the above-mentioned grouping report according to the above-mentioned grouping response through the above-mentioned group leader, and transmit the above-mentioned The packet is reported to the above-mentioned base station. In some embodiments, before the base station broadcasts the grouping request to the user equipment, the method further includes the following step: receiving, through the base station, a message sent by a Machine Type Communication (MTC) application/a MTC server. A grouping indication of ; wherein the above-mentioned grouping indication is used to request a grouping result report for all UEs in the above-mentioned area. In some embodiments, after the base station receives the group report reported by the group leader, the method further includes the following steps: transmitting the group report to a mobility management entity (MME) through the base station; The above-mentioned mobility management entity transmits the above-mentioned grouping result report to the above-mentioned MTC application/the above-mentioned MTC server according to the above-mentioned grouping report; wherein the above-mentioned grouping result report includes at least one group identifier and an International Mobile Subscriber Identification Code (International Mobile Subscriber Identification Code). , IMSI) list. In some embodiments, the above-mentioned method further includes the following step: transmitting the above-mentioned grouping result report to the above-mentioned base station through the above-mentioned mobility management entity according to the above-mentioned grouping report. In some embodiments, the above-mentioned method further includes the following steps: the above-mentioned base station transmits a group grouping result report to the above-mentioned group leader. In some embodiments, a third user equipment does not start a random backoff timer corresponding to the third user equipment, and directly unicasts a group leader selection acceptance message to the base station and broadcasts the group leader selection acceptance information, respectively. information to the above-mentioned remaining user equipments, wherein the above-mentioned third user equipment was once the above-mentioned group leader.

The present invention provides a method based on MTC grouping for use in a user equipment. The method includes the following steps: receiving a group leader selection request message transmitted by a base station; enabling a random backoff timer; and when the random backoff timer expires and a group leader selection acceptance message has not been received from at least one second user equipment, respectively unicasting the group leader selection acceptance message to the base station and broadcasting the above Group leader selection acceptance information is sent to the second user equipment, wherein the user equipment becomes a group leader; and a group leader selection completion message transmitted by the base station is received.

In some embodiments, the above-mentioned method further includes: after the above-mentioned second user equipment receives the above-mentioned group leader selection acceptance information, stopping the respective random backoff timers.

The present invention provides a communication system based on machine type communication grouping, including: a base station and multiple user equipments (User Equipment, UE). The above-mentioned base station broadcasts a grouping request in an area; the above-mentioned multiple user equipments (User Equipment, UE) receive the above-mentioned grouping request respectively; wherein, the above-mentioned base station determines whether there is at least one group leader in the above-mentioned user equipment; if the above-mentioned base station When it is judged that there is the above-mentioned group leader in the above-mentioned user equipment, the grouping report reported by the above-mentioned group leader is received through the above-mentioned base station; wherein, the above-mentioned grouping report record belongs to all users in the group corresponding to the above-mentioned group leader The user device identifier of the device.

The present invention provides a communication device based on machine type communication packets, the communication device includes: a control circuit, a processor and a memory. The above-mentioned processor is arranged in the above-mentioned control circuit. The above-mentioned memory is arranged in the above-mentioned control circuit and is coupled to the above-mentioned processor; wherein the above-mentioned processor is configured to execute an instruction stored in the above-mentioned memory to execute: receive a group leader selection request information transmitted by a base station; enabling a random backoff timer; and when the random backoff timer expires and a group leader selection acceptance message has not been received from at least one second user equipment, respectively unicasting the group leader selection Receiving information to the base station and broadcasting the group leader selection acceptance information to the second user equipment, wherein the communication device becomes a group leader; and receiving a group leader selection completion message transmitted by the base station.

In order to make the above-mentioned and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, preferred embodiments are given below, and are described in detail as follows in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) service model supporting Machine Type Communication (MTC).

Figure 2A shows a mode in which communication is performed directly without a machine type communication server.

Figure 2B shows a mode in which a machine type communication server (eg, SCS) is located outside the 3GPP network.

Figure 2C shows a mode in which the MTC server is located inside a 3GPP network.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary schematic diagram of a machine type communication architecture.

Figure 4 presents another simplified functional block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a simplified functional block diagram illustrating the execution program code of FIG. 4 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a message sequence diagram of a MTC-based packet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a message sequence diagram of a MTC-based packet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a message sequence diagram of a local group leader selection procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a method for grouping based on machine type communication according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a method for grouping based on machine type communication according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Among them, the reference numerals are described as follows:

400 Communication devices;

402 Input device;

404 Output device;

406 control circuit;

408 CPU;

410 memory;

412 Execute program code;

414 transceiver;

500 application layers;

502 third floor;

504 second floor;

506 first floor;

600 information sequence diagram;

S602, S604, S606, S608, S610, S612, S614 steps;

700 information sequence diagram;

S702, S704, S706, S708, S710, S712, S714, S716, S718, S720 steps;

800 message sequence diagram;

S802, S804, S806, S808, S810, S812 steps;

900 method flow chart;

Steps S905, S710, S915;

1000～information flow chart;

Steps S1005, S1010, S1015, S1020.

Detailed ways

In order to make the objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, preferred embodiments are given below, and are described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10 of the accompanying drawings. This specification provides different embodiments to illustrate the technical features of different implementations. Wherein, the configuration of each element in the embodiments is for illustration, and not for limiting the present invention. And some of the reference numerals in the embodiments are repeated for the purpose of simplifying the description, and do not mean the correlation between different embodiments.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project, also known as "3GPP" is a cooperative agreement to define technical specifications and technical reports for third and fourth generation wireless communication systems worldwide . The Third Generation Partnership Program defines the specifications for the next generation of mobile networks, systems and devices.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (LTE) is used to improve the standard of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) handsets or mobile devices to meet future demands. In one aspect, the Universal Mobile Communications System has been modified to provide support and support for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRA) -UTRAN) specifications.

At least some parts of the description of the communication systems and methods of the present invention may be relevant to 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (LTE), Long Term Evolution (LTE Advanced, LTE-A) and other standards (eg, Version 8, 9, 10 and/or 11 of the 3rd Generation Partnership Program). However, the scope of the present invention should not be limited in these respects. At least in some aspects, the communication systems and methods disclosed herein may be used in other types of wireless communication systems.

A wireless communication device may be an electronic device for communicating voice and/or transmitting data to a base station, which can communicate with a network device (eg, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Internet) Wait). In the communication system and method described in the present invention, the wireless communication device may be referred to as a mobile station, a user equipment (User Equipment, UE), an access terminal, a subscriber station (SubscriberStation), a mobile terminal, and a user terminal. , terminal, user use unit, etc. For example, the wireless communication device may be a cellular handheld device, an intelligent handheld device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a notebook computer, a Netbook, an e-reader, a wireless modem, etc. device. In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project specification, wireless communication devices are commonly referred to as user equipment (UE). However, as the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project standard, the terms "user equipment (UE)" and "wireless communication device" may be used interchangeably in the present invention, and both are expressed as "wireless communication device". "communication device" is a common term.

In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project specification, base stations are often referred to as "Node B", evolved Node B (eNB), enhanced Node B (enhanced eNB), home evolved Node B (home Node B). evolved Node B, HeNB), home enhanced Node B (home enhanced Node B, HeNB) or other similar terms. Since the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project standard, the terms "base station", "Node B", "base station" and "home base station" are used interchangeably and are all denoted as "base station" in the present invention ” in common terms. Additionally, the term "base station" may be used to denote an access point. An access point may be an electronic device that provides a device for wireless communication with access to a network (eg, Local Area Network (LAN), Internet, etc.). A wireless communication device and/or base station may also be referred to using the term "communication device".

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) service model supporting Machine Type Communication (MTC). The MTC architecture defined in 3GPP may include MTC devices, MTC servers, and MTC users as shown in FIG. 1 . Furthermore, the MTC server may be connected to the radio network via a 3GPP bearer service, Short Message Service (SMS) or Message Service (MS) (bearer service means an end-to-end messaging service from a network point of view, unlike end-to-end connection from the user's point of view). The MTC server performs communication with the radio network or with the MTC device via the radio network, and may correspond to a MTC service platform for providing an access interface to MTC users. A MTC user can access the MTC server via an Application Programming Interface (API).

The reference point of FIG. 1 is described below, the reference point MTCu provides access to the 3GPP network by the machine type communication device for the transmission of user plane and control plane traffic. The MTCu interface can be based on Uu (the interface between the user equipment and the Node B in WCDMA), Um (the interface between the mobile station (MS) and the base transceiver station (BTS) in GSM), and Ww (the interface between the US and the WLAN access network). interface) and the LTE-Uu interface (the interface between UE and ENodeB in LTE). MTCi is the reference point used by MTC servers to connect to 3GPP networks and communicate with MTC devices via 3GPP Bearer Services/IMS. MTCi can be based on Gi, Sgi and Wi interfaces. The MTCsp is the reference point used by the MTC server to communicate information with the 3GPP network. MTCsms is a reference point for MTC servers to connect to 3GPP networks and communicate with MTC devices via 3GPP SMS.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the machine type communication network architecture defined in the current 3GPP standard, a method for utilizing the existing 3GPP bearer service is proposed. Furthermore, a method using SMS for data exchange between a MTC device and a MTC server is proposed. This takes into account the characteristics of machine type communication applications for the purpose of transmitting/receiving small amounts of data such as metering information or product information. Existing SMS methods and IMS-based SMS methods can be used. In the example of FIG. 1, MTCsms is a data exchange interface using an existing SMS method and MTCi indicates a data exchange interface using an IMS-based SMS method.

2A-2C are schematic diagrams showing machine type communication modes.

The MTC applications are executed in the MTC device and the MTC application server, respectively, to interact via the use of network communication. In this case, various modes of MTC services can be implemented depending on what is involved in the communication between the MTC application and the 3GPP network. Figure 2A shows a mode in which communication is performed directly without a machine type communication server. Figure 2B shows a mode in which a machine type communication server (eg, SCS) is located outside the 3GPP network. Figure 2C shows a mode in which the MTC server is located inside a 3GPP network. Furthermore, FIG. 2A corresponds to a direct communication scheme controlled by a 3GPP operator, FIG. 2B corresponds to a communication scheme controlled by a service provider, and FIG. 2C corresponds to a communication scheme controlled by a 3GPP operator.

The direct mode of FIG. 2A shows the MTC application as an over-the-top (OTT) application performing communication with the user equipment (or MTC device) directly with respect to the 3GPP network.

The indirect modes of FIGS. 2B and 2C illustrate that the MTC application uses the supplementary services provided by the 3GPP network to indirectly perform communication with the user equipment (or MTC). More specifically, in the example of Figure 2B, the MTC application may use the MTC server to obtain supplementary services provided by third party service providers (ie, service providers not responsible for 3GPP). The MTC server may perform communication with the 3GPP network through various interfaces. In the example of Figure 2C, the MTC application may use the MTC server for supplementary services provided by a 3GPP operator (which corresponds to a service provider). Communication between the MTC server and the 3GPP network is performed within the PLMN.

Since the indirect modes of Figures 2A and 2B are complementary, 3GPP operators can combine the above indirect modes for different applications. That is, although not shown in FIGS. 2A-2B, the machine type communication module may be implemented in a hybrid mode in which the direct mode and the indirect mode are used simultaneously. For example, user plane connections may use direct mode and control plane signaling may use indirect mode.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary schematic diagram 300 of a machine type communication architecture.

The point-to-point application between the user equipment (or MTC device) for MTC and the MTC application may use the services provided by the 3GPP system and the optional services provided by the MTC server. The 3GPP system may provide transport and communication services (including 3GPP bearer services, MS, and SMS) including various optimized services that facilitate machine type communication. In Figure 3, a user equipment for machine type communication is connected to a 3GPP network (UTRAN, E-UTRAN, GERAN, 1-WLAN, etc.) through the Um/Uu/LTE-Uu interface. The architecture of FIG. 3 includes the various machine type communication modes described with reference to FIG. 1 .

First, the entities shown in FIG. 3 will be described.

In Figure 3, the MTC application server is a server on the network on which the MTC application is executed. Techniques for implementing various MTC applications are applicable to MTC application servers, and detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted. In addition, in FIG. 3 , the MTC application server can access the MTC server through the reference point API, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. Alternatively, the MTC application server may be co-located with the MTC server.

The MTC server is a server on the network for managing MTC devices, and can be connected to the 3GPP network to communicate with nodes of the PLMN and user equipment for MTC.

A machine type communication function (MTC-interworking function, IWF) can control the interaction between the machine type communication server and the operator core network and act as a proxy for the machine type communication operation. To support MTC indirect or hybrid modes, one or more MTC interworking functions may exist in a Home PLMN (HPLMN). The MTC interworking function may relay and interpret the signal protocol on the reference point MTCsp to enable the PLMN to perform specific functions. Before the MTC server establishes communication with the 3GPP network, the MTC interaction function may perform functions for authentication to the MTC server, functions for requesting authentication from the control plane from the MTC server, in relation to trigger indications described below various functions of the connection.

The Short Message Service-Service Center (SMS-SC)/Internet Protocol Short Message Gateway (IP-SM-GW) can manage the transmission and reception of SMS. The SMS-SC is used to relay short messages between a Short Message Entity (SME) (an entity for transmitting or receiving short messages) and mobile stations and to store and forward the short messages. The IP-SM-GW can be used to perform protocol interaction between the IP-based user equipment and the SMS-SC.

The Charging Data Function (CDF)/Charging Gateway Function (CGF) may perform charging operations.

The HLR/HSS serves to store subscriber information (MSI, etc.), routing information, configuration information, etc. and provide it to the MTC interaction function.

The SGSN/MME may perform control functions such as mobility management, authentication, resource allocation, etc. in order to connect user equipment to the network. In association with the triggering described below, the SGSN/MME may be used to receive a trigger indication from the MTC interaction function and process the trigger indication into a form of information provided to the MTC device.

Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN)/Serving Gateway (S-GW) and Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) can be used as gateways connecting the core network to external networks.

The main points of reference for Figure 3 are described below. The MTCsms is the reference point used by entities outside the 3GPP system to communicate via SMS with user equipment for machine type communications. The MTCsp is the reference point used by entities outside the 3GPP system to communicate with control plane signals related to the machine type communication interaction function. T4 is the reference point used by the MTC interaction function to route device triggers to the HPLMN SMS-SC. T5a is the reference point used between the MTC interaction function and the serving SGSN. T5b is the reference point used between the MTC interaction function and the serving MME. S6m is the reference point used by the MTC Interworking Function to query the HSS/HLR for the E.164 MSISDN or External Identifier mapped to the IMSI, and to collect User Equipment Completability and Configuration information.

User plane communication with MTC servers in indirect and mixed mode cases and MTC application server communication in direct and mixed mode cases may be performed through Gi and SGi using conventional protocols.

For details related to that described in Figures 1-3, reference is made to 3GPP TS23.887, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Next, referring to FIG. 4 , FIG. 4 shows another simplified functional block diagram of a communication device 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the communication device 300 can be used to embody the user equipment (UE) and the base station in FIG. 3, and the communication device can be used in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) ), or other systems similar to the above two are preferred. The communication device 400 may include an input device 402 , an output device 404 , a control circuit 406 , a central processing unit (CPU) 408 , a memory 410 , a program code 412 , and a transceiver 414 . The control circuit 406 executes the program code 412 in the memory 410 through the central processing unit 408 , and thereby controls the operations performed in the communication device 400 . The communication device 400 can use the input device 402 (such as a keyboard or numeric keys) to receive user input signals; it can also use the output device 404 (such as a screen or a speaker) to output images and sounds. The transceiver 414 is used here to receive and transmit wireless signals, send received signals to the control circuit 406 , and wirelessly output signals generated by the control circuit 406 . In another embodiment, the communication device 400 may further include a timer or a random backoff timer (not shown) for timing to perform subsequent actions.

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified functional block diagram of the execution code 412 of FIG. 4 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the execution code 412 includes an application layer 500 , a third layer 502 , a second layer 504 , and is coupled to the first layer 506 . The third layer 502 generally performs radio resource control. The second layer 504 generally performs link control. The first layer 506 is generally responsible for physical connections.

FIG. 6 shows a message sequence diagram 600 based on a machine type communication packet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S602, the MTC server/MTC application transmits a group indication to a base station through a Mobility Management Entity (MME) server, wherein the group indication is used to request information about all users in an area Device grouping result report. In step S604, after receiving the grouping indication, the base station sends back a grouping confirmation to the MTC server/MTC application server. Then, in step S606, the base station broadcasts the grouping request to a plurality of user equipments in this area. Please note that after the base station broadcasts the grouping request to a plurality of user equipments, in step S608, the base station determines whether there is at least one group leader among all the user equipments. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the base station determines that all UEs have at least one group leader. Therefore, in step S610, at least one group leader in the user equipment reports respective grouping reports to the base station, wherein the grouping reports record the users belonging to all the user equipments in the group corresponding to the group leader Device identifier. After the base station receives the grouping reports reported by all the above-mentioned group leaders, in step S612, the base station transmits the above-mentioned grouping reports to the mobility management entity. In step S614, the mobility management entity generates a grouping result report according to the grouping report, and transmits the grouping result report to the MTC application/MTC server, wherein the grouping result report includes at least a group identifier and an international mobile subscriber identity Code (International Mobile SubscriberIdentification, IMSI) list. In step S616, the mobility management entity transmits the grouping result report to the base station. In step S618, the base station receives the grouping result report, and transmits a grouping result report to the group leader in the user equipment according to the grouping result report.

FIG. 7 shows a message sequence diagram 700 based on a machine type communication packet according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the base station determines that all UEs do not have at least one group leader.

In step S702, the MTC server/MTC application server transmits a grouping indication to a base station, wherein the grouping indication is used to request a grouping result report on all UEs in an area. In step S704, after receiving the grouping indication, the base station sends back a grouping confirmation to the MTC server/MTC application server. Then, in step S706, the base station broadcasts the grouping request to a plurality of user equipments in this area. In step S708, the base station starts a first timer. If the first timer expires and the base station does not receive a group report transmitted by at least one group leader, it is determined that there is no group leader among the UEs. In step S710, the base station instructs all UEs in the area to perform a local group leader selection procedure. The detailed flow of this local group leader selection procedure will be illustrated in FIG. 8 later.

Next, after at least one group leader is selected, in step S712, the group leader starts a third timer and receives respective group responses sent by the other user equipments, wherein the group responses at least include corresponding A user equipment identifier of the user equipment itself. When the third timer expires, in step S714, the group leader generates the grouping report according to the grouping response. In step S716, the group leader transmits the grouping report to the base station, wherein the grouping report records the user equipment identifiers of all the user equipments belonging to the group corresponding to the group leader. After the base station receives the group report reported by the group leader, in step S718, the base station transmits the group report to the mobility management entity. In step S720, the mobility management entity generates a grouping result report according to the grouping report, and transmits the grouping result report to the MTC application/the above-mentioned MTC server, wherein the grouping result report includes at least one group identifier and an international mobile subscriber Identification code (International MobileSubscriber Identification, IMSI) list. In step S722, the mobility management entity transmits the grouping result report to the above-mentioned base station. In step S724, the base station receives the grouping result report, and transmits a grouping result report to the group leader according to the grouping result report. In addition, the base station may store the grouping report and/or the grouping result report in the memory.

FIG. 8 shows a message sequence diagram 800 of the local group leader selection procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S802, the base station broadcasts the group leader selection request information to a plurality of user equipments. In step S804, after receiving the group leader selection request information, the plurality of user equipments each activate a random backoff timer. In step S806, when the random backoff timer expires, the UE corresponding to the random backoff timer unicasts a group leader selection acceptance message to the base station and broadcasts a group leader selection acceptance message to other users equipment. It is worth noting that, in this step, a first user equipment that has not received the group leader selection acceptance information transmitted from the other user equipments becomes the group leader when the corresponding random backoff timer expires . In other words, the UE with the random backoff timer that expires first is the group leader.

After the remaining user equipments receive the group leader selection acceptance information, in step S808, stop their respective random backoff timers. After the base station receives the group leader selection acceptance information transmitted by the first user equipment, in step S810, a second timer is started. Finally, when the second timer expires, in step S812, the base station transmits a group leader selection completion message to the group leader, indicating that the local group leader selection procedure is completed.

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart 900 of a method for grouping based machine type communication, used in a communication system, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In step S905, the grouping request is broadcast to a plurality of user equipments in an area through a base station. In step S910, the base station determines whether there is at least one group leader in the user equipment. In step S915, if the base station determines that the user equipment has the group leader, the base station receives the grouping report reported by the group leader, wherein the grouping report record belongs to the group leader corresponding to the group leader The user device identifiers of all user devices in the group of .

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart 1000 of a method 1000 of a MTC packet based method used in a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. In step S1005, the user equipment receives a group leader selection request message transmitted by a base station. In step S1010, the user equipment enables a random backoff timer. Next, in step S1015, when the random backoff timer expires and a group leader selection acceptance message has not been received from at least one second user equipment, the user equipment unicasts the group leader selection respectively. Receiving the information to the base station and broadcasting the group leader to choose to receive the information to the second user equipment, wherein the user equipment becomes a group leader. Finally, in step S1020, the user equipment receives a group leader selection completion message transmitted by the base station. In one embodiment, since the second user equipment also receives the group leader selection request message sent by the base station and starts its own random backoff timer, when the second user equipment receives the group When the leader chooses to accept the message, it stops their respective random backoff timers.

In one embodiment, the value of the random backoff timer of the third user equipment that once became the group leader can be set to 0, that is, when the base station broadcasts the group leader selection request information, the third user equipment can immediately Unicast a group leader selection acceptance information to the base station and broadcast a group leader selection acceptance information to the remaining user equipments. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the base station can further compare a grouping report or a grouping result report stored in the memory. When the base station determines that the third user equipment broadcasting the group leader selection acceptance information has become the group leader, the base station directly uses the third user equipment as the group leader. On the other hand, if the third user equipment has never become the group leader, the base station can choose to perform the local group leader selection procedure for all user equipments, or to perform local group leader selection only for the ungrouped user equipments program.

In addition, the central processing unit 308 can also execute the program code 312 to perform the actions and steps described in the above embodiments, or other descriptions in the specification.

The above embodiments are described using various perspectives. It is evident that the teachings herein may be presented in a variety of ways and that any particular architecture or functionality disclosed in the examples is merely a representative case. Based on the teachings herein, any person skilled in the art should appreciate that what is presented herein may be presented differently in some other form alone or in a combination of forms. For example, it can be implemented by a certain device or a certain method in any manner mentioned above. The implementation of an apparatus or a manner of performance may be implemented in one or more of the forms discussed above with any other architecture, or functionality, or architecture and functionality.

Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, all data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced in the above description may be volts, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or light particles, or Presented in any combination of the above.

Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, and algorithmic steps described herein and the various electronic hardware (eg, source-coded or otherwise) available to the various situations disclosed above. digital implementation of technical design, analog implementation, or a combination of the two), various forms of programming or design code linked with instructions (referred to herein for convenience as "software" or "software modules"), or both. combination of . To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative elements, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally based on their functionality. Whether this functionality is presented in hardware or software will depend on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in various different ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as departing from the scope of this disclosure.

Furthermore, the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits, and the various aspects disclosed herein, may be implemented in integrated circuits (ICs), access terminals, access points; or by integrated circuits , access terminal, and access point. Integrated circuits can be made of general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable Logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic, discrete hardware elements, electronic elements, optical elements, mechanical elements, or any combination of the above are designed to perform the functions described herein; and may perform the existence of Execution code or instructions within an integrated circuit, outside an integrated circuit, or both. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but it may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may consist of a combination of computer equipment, such as a digital signal processor (DSP) and a microcomputer, multiple sets of microcomputers, one or more sets of microcomputers and a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

Any specific order or layering of steps of the procedures disclosed herein is by way of example only. Based on design preferences, it is understood that any specific order or hierarchy of steps in the procedure may be rearranged within the scope disclosed in this document. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are therefore not to be limited by the specific order or hierarchy presented.

The use of ordinal numbers such as "first", "second", "third", etc., which are used to modify elements in the claims, do not in themselves imply any priority, order of precedence, order between elements, or method performed. order of steps, and is only used as an indicator to distinguish different elements with the same name (with different ordinal numbers).

Although the present invention has been disclosed above with examples, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection of the present invention The scope is to be determined by the appended claims.

Claims (18)

1. A method for machine-type-based communication grouping in a communication system, the method comprising the steps of:

broadcasting packet requests to a plurality of user equipments in an area through a base station;

determining, by the base station, whether the user equipment has at least one group leader; and

if the base station determines that the user equipment has the group leader, receiving, by the base station, a grouping report reported by the group leader;

wherein the grouping report records ue identifiers of all ues in a group corresponding to the group leader;

wherein the judging step further comprises:

starting a first timer through the base station;

determining that the ue does not have the group leader if the first timer expires and the base station does not receive the packet report transmitted by the group leader; and

executing a local group leader selection procedure, wherein the local group leader selection procedure comprises:

broadcasting a group leader selection request message to the ue through the bs;

after the ue receives the group leader selection request message, the ue starts a random backoff timer; and

when the random backoff timer expires, the ue corresponding to the random backoff timer unicasts a group leader election acceptance message to the base station and broadcasts a group leader election acceptance message to other ues, wherein a first ue which has expired the corresponding random backoff timer and has not received the group leader election acceptance message transmitted from the other ues becomes the group leader.

2. The method for machine-type-communication-packet-based communication according to claim 1, wherein said local group leader selection procedure further comprises:

and stopping the respective random backoff timers when the other ues receive the group leader election acceptance message.

3. The method for machine-type-communication-packet-based communication according to claim 1, wherein said local group leader selection procedure further comprises:

starting a second timer when the base station receives the group leader election acceptance message transmitted from the first ue; and

when the second timer expires, the base station transmits a group leader selection completion message to the group leader.

4. The method of machine-type-communication-packet-based communication according to claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

starting a third timer by the group leader and receiving respective packet responses transmitted by the remaining ues, wherein the packet responses at least include ue identifiers of corresponding ues; and

when the third timer expires, generating the packet report according to the packet response by the group leader, and transmitting the packet report to the base station.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of, before said base station broadcasts said packet request to said ue:

receiving, by the base station, a packet indication transmitted by a mtc application/mtc server;

wherein the grouping indication requests a grouping result report for all ues in the area.

6. The method for machine-type-based communication grouping of claim 5 wherein after the base station receives the grouping report reported back by the group leader, the method further comprises the steps of:

transmitting the packet report to a mobility management entity through the base station; and

transmitting the grouping result report to the mtc application/mtc server through the mobility management entity according to the grouping report;

the grouping result report includes at least one group identifier and an international mobile subscriber identity list.

7. The method of machine-type-based communication grouping of claim 6 further comprising the steps of:

and transmitting the grouping result report to the base station through the mobile management entity according to the grouping report.

8. The method for machine-type-based communication grouping of claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

the base station transmits a group grouping result report to the group leader.

9. The method for machine-type-based communication grouping of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

the value of the random backoff timer of the group leader is set to 0.

10. A communication system based on machine type communication packets, comprising:

a base station broadcasting a grouping request in an area;

a plurality of user equipments, each receiving the grouping request;

wherein the base station determines whether the user equipment has at least one group leader; if the base station determines that the user equipment has the group leader, receiving, by the base station, a grouping report reported by the group leader; wherein the grouping report records ue identifiers of all ues in a group corresponding to the group leader;

wherein the base station further comprises:

a first timer;

wherein if the first timer expires and the base station does not receive the packet report transmitted by the group leader, it is determined that the user equipment does not have the group leader; and the base station executing a local group leader selection procedure, wherein the local group leader selection procedure further comprises:

the base station broadcasts a group leader selection request message to the ue;

after the ue receives the group leader selection request message, the ue starts a random backoff timer; and

when the random backoff timer expires, the ue corresponding to the random backoff timer unicasts a group leader election acceptance message to the base station and broadcasts a group leader election acceptance message to other ues, wherein a first ue which has expired the corresponding random backoff timer and has not received the group leader election acceptance message transmitted from the other ues becomes the group leader.

11. The machine-type-communication-packet-based communication system of claim 10, wherein said local group leader selection procedure further comprises:

and stopping the respective random backoff timers when the other ues receive the group leader election acceptance message.

12. The machine-type-communication-packet-based communication system of claim 10, wherein said local group leader selection procedure further comprises:

starting a second timer when the base station receives the group leader election acceptance message transmitted from the first ue; and

when the second timer expires, the base station transmits a group leader selection completion message to the group leader.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein after said base station determines that said group leader is present in said ue, said group leader starts a third timer and receives respective packet responses transmitted by said remaining ues, wherein said packet responses include at least ue identifiers of corresponding ues; and when the third timer expires, generating the grouping report according to the grouping response through the group leader, and transmitting the grouping report to the base station.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein after said base station receives respective packet reports reported back by said group leader, said base station transmits said packet result report to a mtc application/mtc server based on said packet reports;

the grouping result report includes at least one group identifier and an international mobile subscriber identity list.

15. The machine-type-communication-packet-based communication system of claim 14, further comprising:

a mobility management entity;

wherein after the base station receives the packet report reported back by the group leader, the base station transmits the packet report to the mobility management entity; the mobility management entity transmits the grouping result report to the mtc application/mtc server according to the grouping report;

the grouping result report includes at least one group identifier and an international mobile subscriber identity list.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the mobility management entity transmits the packet result report to the base station according to the packet report.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said base station transmits a group grouping result report to said group leader.

18. The machine-type-communication-packet-based communication system of claim 10, further comprising:

the value of the random backoff timer of the group leader is set to 0.

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