KR20040016480A - Method for apn management for network-requested pdp context activation procedure in mobile communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for managing an access point name (APN) for a packet incoming service in a mobile communication system, and includes a network prefix from an IP packet transmitted to a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) in a predetermined external network. A first search process of searching for an APN information object including information on a sub-network using the network prefix as a key value, and source IP when at least one sub-network information exists in the searched APN information object. Calculating a new network prefix by calculating an address and a subnet mask included in the APN information object, a second search process of re-searching the APN information object using the calculated network prefix as a key value; APN value included in the searched APN information object when the subnetwork information does not exist in the searched APN information object The final decision as to the APN for the external network.

Description

APPN management method for packet incoming service in mobile communication system {METHOD FOR APN MANAGEMENT FOR NETWORK-REQUESTED PDP CONTEXT ACTIVATION PROCEDURE IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to an APN management method for a packet incoming service in a mobile communication system for identifying an external network by retrieving APN information using an IP packet in a GGSN.

In a network request packet service procedure in a mobile communication system, an APN (Access Point Name) information, which is a network identifier, is loaded in a packet data unit (PDU) notification message in order to distinguish which network requires an access to a terminal.

As described in the present invention, the APN means a network identifier for distinguishing a network that transmitted a packet. Alternatively, the APN may refer to a network classification service or may be used in a comprehensive sense as connected GGSN information or ISP distinguishing information. do.

Meanwhile, in order to determine from which network a GPGS Support Node (GGSN) has transmitted a packet arriving toward a specific terminal, an APN is extracted from the transmitted packet. In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), an external network is identified. It does not specifically mention how.

Meanwhile, a process of activating a network request packet data protocol (PDP) context in WCDMA according to the prior art described in 3GPP will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

First, when a packet data protocol (PDP) packet data unit (PDU) packet is transmitted from the external PDN (Packet Data Network) to the GGSN 40 (S100), the GGSN 40 is a terminal to which the transmitted packet should arrive. In order to grasp the information of the terminal to obtain the IP of the terminal by extracting the International Mobile Subscribe Identity (IMSI) information contained in the packet (S100).

IMSI information of the terminal is transmitted to a Home Location Register (HLR) 30 (S110) to retrieve the location information of the current terminal, and the HLR is a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 20 connected to the terminal by the search. The address of the GGSN 40 is transmitted (S120).

The GGSN 40 transmits network information, for example, APN information, to the SGSN 20 corresponding to the address of the SGSN 20 (S130). The SGSN 20 transmits a response signal indicating that data information has been normally received to the GGSN 40 (S140). Thereafter, PDP context activation request information for connecting to the corresponding packet transmission target terminal with a predetermined APN is transmitted (S150).

Finally, according to the activation request, the PDP context activation process is performed between the GGSN 40 and the MS 10 (S160).

In the course of the procedure, the PDP Notification Request messages in steps S130 and S140 include APN information indicating which network the request came from, and the APN can be extracted from the source address of the incoming packet.

That is, when the IP packet arrives from the external network to the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the GGSN may check the network ID region of the source address in the packet and determine from which network the packet comes from. Meanwhile, the network ID can be obtained through the class area of the source IP address.

By the above method, a specific external network is identified by one APN. Therefore, when one or more sub-networks exist in a predetermined external network, there is a problem that it is impossible to identify each sub-network by only the network ID information.

2 is a diagram illustrating an APN configuration when a network is classified by using an address band for each class according to the related art.

As shown in FIG. 2, when a packet is transmitted from an external network, the GGSN 40 distinguishes an external network PDN A 50, a PDN B 60, and a PDN C 70. As the information, the APN value may be determined based on the information of the external network included in the packet.

For example, an external network may be set as pdn1.net as an APN value for PDN A (50), pdn2.net as an APN value for PDN B (60), and pdn3.net as an APN value for PDN C (70). It is possible to distinguish by APN.

Meanwhile, when one or more sub networks are dependent on root networks such as PDN A 50 to PDN C 70, a separate APN value is not set for the sub networks. Due to this, it is impossible to distinguish the subnetwork in the GGSN by the above method.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to organize and store the structure information of the external network in the GGSN to the sub-network level, APN management for packet incoming service in the mobile communication system that can be identified to the sub-network when retrieving APN information using IP packets In providing a method.

The present invention for achieving the above object, the process of extracting a network prefix (Network Prefix) from the IP packet transmitted to the GGSN in a predetermined external network, the network prefix as a key value, to the network prefix A first search process of searching for an APN information object corresponding to the corresponding sub-network, and if at least one sub-network information exists in the searched APN information object, a source IP address and a subnet mask included in the APN information object ( calculating a new network prefix by calculating a subnet mask, a second search process of re-searching the APN information object using the calculated network prefix as a key value, and no subnetwork information in the searched APN information object. If the APN value included in the searched APN information object is used as an APN for the external network, And a final decision process.

If the corresponding APN information object is not found as a result of the first search, the APN is preferably set to a default value without proceeding with the procedure, and the default value set to the APN value is a PDP type. Characterized in that the information.

The method may further include finally determining an APN value included in the searched APN information object as an APN value for the external network when the subnetwork information does not exist in the searched APN information object. It features.

On the other hand, if the corresponding APN information object is not found as a result of the second search, it is preferable to set the APN as the default value without proceeding thereafter.

In addition, when at least one subnetwork information exists in the searched APN information object, the procedure returns to a new network prefix calculation process and repeats the above procedure.

In this case, the APN information object may be organized in a database form in the GGSN, and may include any one or more selected from a network prefix, a subnet mask, an APN, and a subnetwork list.

1 is a procedure showing a network request PDP context activation process according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an access point name (APN) configuration in which a network is classified using an address band for each class according to the related art.

3 is a diagram illustrating an APN configuration when a network is divided using subnets according to the present invention;

4A illustrates an APN information object without a subnet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4B is a diagram illustrating an APN information object having a subnet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a database configuration diagram of an APN information object according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart for searching for an APN in a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart for determining an APN for a subnet in a GGSN according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, referring to FIG. 3, a difference of the present invention compared to the conventional technology described above with reference to FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an APN configuration when a network is divided using a subnet according to the present invention.

There are a plurality of root networks PDN A 50, PDN B 60, and PDN C 70, and there may be one or more sub-networks dependent on the root networks 50-70. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the sub-networks subordinate to the root network PDN B 60, such as subnet 1 61, subnet 2 62, subnet 3 63, host workstation terminal 64, and the like. May be present. According to the prior art described with reference to FIG. 2, since all the sub-networks are recognized as the same PDN B (60), it is not possible to distinguish from which sub-network the transmitted packet is specifically transmitted.

However, according to the present invention, it is possible to distinguish each sub-network from the GGSN 40 by assigning an APN value to each of the sub-networks, and structuring and storing the APN information of the sub-networks in the GGSN 40.

For example, subnet 1 61 is sub1.pdn2.net, subnet 2 62 is sub2.pdn2.net subnet 3 63 is sub3.pdn2.net, and host workstation terminal 64 is host.pdn2.net. It is possible to distinguish each of the sub-networks by setting this to and storing it in the database of the GGSN 40.

In this case, the classification information of the network unit for the root network stored in the GGSN 40 and the sub-network subordinate to the root network is referred to as an 'APN information object'. Hereinafter, the APN information object will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B. An embodiment of the will be described.

The APN information object may include data fields such as a network prefix, a subnet mask, an access point name, an access point name, and a subnetwork list that are essential elements for identifying a subnetwork. .

4A is an example of an APN information object 90 of an external network in which there is no subordinate network, in which the network prefix indicates information about the external network with 165.213.0.0, and the subnet mask is subordinated with 255.255.0.0. Information for finding the APN information object of the subnet is displayed. The subnetwork list indicates that there is no subnetwork dependent as None, and the external network is finally determined as abc.com. Therefore, the APN value is the same as the value determined in the prior art.

4B is an example of an APN information object 91 of a root network in which a subordinate network exists, and the network prefix indicates information about the root network at 165.214.0.0, and the subnet mask is subordinated to 255.255.255.0. Information for finding an APN information object is displayed. The subnetwork list is PtrObject 1, PtrObject2, and PtrObject 3, and it can be seen that there are three subnetworks directly dependent on the external network. Accordingly, the APN value for the external network is represented as a None value that has not yet been determined, and the final APN value for the corresponding subnetwork is determined by searching for an APN information object for the subnetwork by a procedure to be described later.

APN information objects of the root network and the subnetwork subordinate to the root network may be organized in a tree structure according to the subordinate relationship between the external network and the subnetwork, as shown in FIG. This is the root network in which it is located.

For example, the APN information object 92 of an external network where no subnetwork exists exists alone. Therefore, the subnetwork list does not exist and the APN value is determined in the form of abc.net.

Meanwhile, in the APN information object 93 of the external network where the sub-network exists, the APN information objects 94 to 96 of the sub-networks are linked to each other, and are displayed on the sub-network list as ptObj1, ptObj2, and ptObj3. It can be seen that there are three sub networks linked with.

A method of searching for linked sub-network APN information objects 94 to 96 from the external network APN information object 93 existing in the root region will be described later with reference to FIG. 6. If there is another sub network 97 or 98 connected to the lower node among the sub networks 96 linked to the network, the sub network list is displayed as ptrObj4 and ptrObj5 and the like as above, and the APN value is not assigned. In addition, the subnetwork APN information object linked by the method described below will be retrieved.

If there is no other sub-network connected to the lower node among the sub-networks 94 and 95 linked to the network, the sub-network 94 and 95 is determined as the last searched network, and the APN value is xyz1. boo.com, xyz2.boo.com and so on.

The network APN information objects including the information on the sub-network are organized and stored in a tree structure in the GGSN as described above, and the process of retrieving the information of the network transmitting the packet among the stored network APN information objects to the sub-network is performed. This will be described later with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

6 and 7 are flowcharts of searching for an APN including information from a GGSN to a sub network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, when an IP packet is transmitted from the external network to the GGSN, the GGSN extracts the source address of the packet from the IP packet (S200) and determines a network prefix from the class information of the IP address. (S210).

Using the determined network prefix as a key value, a corresponding APN information object is retrieved from the APN information object database 80 stored in the GGSN (S220).

If the corresponding information does not exist (S230), the APN value cannot be assigned (S240), or the PDP type is set to the APN value according to various service utilization methods. Prescribe exception handling.

If a corresponding APN information object is found as a result of the search, it is determined whether a subnetwork list exists in the searched APN information object (S250). If the subnetwork list does not exist as a result of the determination, since the search target network is determined, the corresponding APN value included in the APN information object is assigned (S260).

If one or more subnetwork elements are present in the subnetwork list as a result of the determination, the process proceeds to step a shown in FIG. 7 to calculate a new network prefix by performing AND on the source IP address and the subnet mask. S270).

For example, referring to FIG. 5, when the source IP address is 165.214.98.123 and the initially determined network prefix is 165.214.0.0, if the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, two 24-bit values of the source IP address and the subnet mask are determined. By ORing in parallel, a new network prefix of the subnetwork 165.214.98.0 is calculated.

Using the calculated new network prefix as a key value, the APN information object corresponding to the APN information object stored in the GGSN is searched again (S280). If the APN information object does not exist as a result of the search (S290), since the APN value cannot be assigned, it is preferable to assign a default APN value as described above (S240).

If a corresponding APN information object is found as a result of the search, it is determined whether a subnetwork list exists in the searched APN information object (S300). If the sub network list does not exist (step c) as a result of the determination, since the search target network is determined, the corresponding APN value included in the APN information object is assigned (S260).

If one or more subnetwork elements exist in the subnetwork list as a result of the determination, the process proceeds to step a shown in FIG. 7 to calculate a new network prefix by performing an AND operation on the source IP address and the subnet mask as described above. (S270).

The above procedure is repeated until there is no subnetwork and continues to calculate a new network prefix according to the subnetwork information.

The APN value of the transmitted packet is finally determined according to the above-described procedure, and the APN value can be distinguished up to the stage of the subnetwork.

As described above, the present invention enables a WCDMA network operator to specifically and variously assign APNs to subnetworks of an agreed external ISP (Internet Service Provider) network, thereby providing more diverse network access methods and services to service subscribers. It has the effect of being able to provide.

Claims (9)

In the APN management method for packet incoming service in a mobile communication system, Extracting a network prefix from an IP packet transmitted to a GGSN in a predetermined external network; A first retrieval process of retrieving an APN information object corresponding to the network prefix and including information on a sub-network, using the network prefix as a key value; Calculating a new network prefix by performing an AND operation on a source IP address and a subnet mask included in the APN information object when at least one subnetwork information exists in the searched APN information object; A second search process of re-searching the APN information object using the calculated new network prefix as a key value; And if there is no subnetwork information in the searched APN information object, determining the APN value included in the searched APN information object as an APN for the external network. How to manage APN for incoming service. The method of claim 1, If the corresponding APN information object is not found as a result of the first search, APN management method for a packet terminating service in a mobile communication system, characterized in that the APN is set to a default value without proceeding with the procedure. The method of claim 2, And a default value set as the APN value is information about a PDP type. The method of claim 1, If the sub-network information does not exist in the searched APN information object, as a result of the first search, the method may further include determining an APN value included in the searched APN information object as an APN value for the external network. APN management method for a packet incoming service in a mobile communication system. The method of claim 1, If the corresponding APN information object is not found as a result of the second search, the APN management method for the packet terminating service in the mobile communication system, characterized in that the APN is set as a default value without proceeding. . The method of claim 5, And a default value set as the APN value is information about a PDP type. The method of claim 1, As a result of the second search, if at least one subnetwork information exists in the found APN information object, the procedure returns to the process of calculating a new network prefix and repeats the process. How to manage APNs for services. The method of claim 1, The APN information object is organized in the form of a database in the GGSN APN management method for a packet incoming service in a mobile communication system. The method of claim 1, The APN information object includes at least one selected from a network prefix, a subnet mask, an APN, and a sub network list.