CN110234156B

CN110234156B - Network selection method and device

Info

Publication number: CN110234156B
Application number: CN201910497867.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 于游洋
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2013-05-14
Filing date: 2013-05-14
Publication date: 2022-01-14
Anticipated expiration: 2033-05-14
Also published as: CN105519200B; CN110234156A; CN105519200A

Abstract

The invention provides a method and a device for selecting a network, wherein the method acquires an effective strategy according to the current position information and/or time information of user equipment, acquires a first service provider priority list from the effective strategy, or generates a second service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list and a configured default strategy, thereby selecting a target network from detected WLANs according to the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list. The method realizes the selection of the optimal network according to the position information and the time information of the user equipment, and meets the requirement of an operator for dynamically adjusting the PLMN priority.

Description

Network selection method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for network selection.

Background

In order to meet The challenge of wireless broadband technology, and maintain The leading advantages of 3GPP (The 3rd Generation Partnership project) networks, 3GPP has made a Long Term Evolution (LTE) plan of mobile communication networks in 2004, and under The guidance of The Evolution plan, a new mobile communication network architecture is defined. The architecture is more flat than 2G and 3G networks, and only a Packet Switching (PS) Domain is reserved, so that the architecture may be referred to as an Evolved 3GPP Packet Switched Domain (Evolved 3GPP Packet Switched Domain) or an Evolved Packet System (EPS). The new 3GPP Core Network (EPC for short) not only supports 3GPP Access technologies, such as Evolved universal mobile telecommunications system Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN for short), universal mobile telecommunications system Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN for short), GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GSM EDGE Radio Access Network, GERAN), but also supports non-3 GPP Access technologies, such as CDMA2000(Code Division Multiple Access2000), world wide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WIMAX for short), and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN for short). Especially for a User Equipment (User Equipment, UE for short) supporting multiple access technologies, the UE may perform initial network selection through a configured network selection policy. Meanwhile, the network side may also modify the initial network selection policy of the UE through a WLAN Management entity (WLAN MO), that is, send the network selection policy of the user granularity to the user equipment, so as to guide the user equipment to select a suitable access network.

A user scans a WLAN (Wireless Local Area network) existing around the user to obtain a WLAN network Identifier, such as a Service Set Identifier (SSID). The user equipment obtains the WLAN network identification priority list based on the configuration of an operator or the selection of a user. The user equipment sorts the scanned WLAN networks according to a WLAN Network priority list (i.e., SSID priority list), and starts to query a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) corresponding to the WLAN Network with the highest priority, and then obtains a static service provider priority list based on the configuration of an operator, where the service provider priority list is statically stored in the user equipment and can be modified by a WLAN MO. The user equipment in turn queries whether the surrounding WLAN networks can connect to the highest priority PLMN based on the priority list of SSIDs. If so, the WLAN network is taken as the final target network. Otherwise, searching the PLMN network with the highest priority based on the SSID priority order until finding a suitable target access network.

In the course of research and practice of this method, the inventors of the present invention found that the service provider priority list acquired by the user equipment is static information configured by the operator on the UE, and although the operator may modify it through the WLAN MO, the modified method replaces the old service provider priority list with the new service provider priority list, that is, only a unique service provider priority list exists on the UE at any time, and this list does not change with the location movement of the UE or the change of time.

With the continuous upgrade of WLAN network deployment, roaming relationships between operators are also becoming more complex. For example, operator a has a roaming relationship with operator B and operator C, and operator a considers that the network of operator B is better than the network of operator C, so in the service provider priority list set by operator a, the PLMN B of operator B has higher priority than the PLMN C of operator C. However, in some special areas, such as area X, the network deployment of operator C is better than that of operator B. Thus in region X, operator a prefers to route its subscriber data to operator C's network. But the above requirements cannot be met based on the current static unique PLMN priority relationship.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for network selection, so as to select an optimal network for access according to a current location and/or a current time of a user equipment, thereby meeting a requirement of an operator for dynamically adjusting a PLMN priority.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for network selection, including:

detecting an accessible Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN);

acquiring current position information and/or time information of user equipment, respectively matching the position information and/or the time information with effective position information and/or effective time information defined in a configuration strategy, and if the matching is successful, determining the successfully matched strategy as an effective strategy;

acquiring a first service provider priority list defined by the effective strategy, or generating a second service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list defined by the effective strategy and a configured default strategy;

selecting a target network from the detected WLANs according to the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list.

The first service provider priority list and the second service provider priority list are Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) priority lists, or Organization Unique Identifier (OUI) priority lists, or address field (Address field) priority lists, or priority lists consisting of at least two of PLMN identifications, OUI identifications and real identifications.

In a first possible implementation manner, with reference to the first aspect, the method further includes: and carrying out priority sequencing on the detected WLANs to obtain a WLAN priority list.

In a second possible implementation manner, with reference to the first aspect, the selecting a target network from the detected WLANs according to the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list includes: sequentially detecting whether the WLAN with the priority from high to low in the WLAN priority list can access the service providers with the priority from high to low in the first service provider priority list, and if the WLAN in the WLAN priority list is detected to be capable of accessing the service providers in the first service provider priority list, selecting the WLAN as a target network; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and sequentially detecting whether the WLAN with the high priority from the high priority to the low priority in the WLAN priority list can access the service providers with the high priority from the low priority in the second service provider priority list, and if detecting that the WLAN in the WLAN priority list can access the service providers in the second service provider priority list, selecting the WLAN as a target network.

Wherein the configuration policy and the configured default policy are sent to the user equipment by the ANDSF server or the WLAN management entity.

In a third possible implementation manner, with reference to the first aspect, the generating a second service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list defined by the effective policy and the configured default policy includes:

obtaining a third service provider priority list from the configured default policy;

and adjusting the third service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list to obtain the second service provider priority list.

Wherein the configured default policy is a policy without location information and/or time information limitation. I.e. a policy that is valid at any location and time.

In a fourth possible implementation manner, with reference to the first aspect, the method further includes:

if there is a home domain service provider preference indication in the valid policy and set to true, then the home domain service provider and equivalent home domain service provider have the highest priority in the first service provider priority list.

Further, if a pre-registered service provider preference indication is stored in the user equipment, the pre-registered service provider preference indication defines a priority of the service provider in the first service provider priority list next to a priority of the home domain service provider and an equivalent home.

In a fifth possible implementation manner, with reference to the first aspect, the method further includes:

if no home domain service provider preference indication exists in the effective policy or the home domain service provider preference indication is set to false, when a pre-registered service provider preference indication is stored in the user equipment, the pre-registered service provider preference indication defines a service provider with the highest priority in the first service provider priority list, and the priorities of the home domain service provider and an equivalent home domain service provider are only next to the priority of the pre-registered service provider preference indication defined service provider.

In a sixth possible implementation manner, with reference to the fourth or fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: if the user equipment stores a service provider priority list during user-controlled WLAN access, the priority of the service provider defined by the service provider priority list during user-controlled WLAN access in the first service provider priority list is lower than the priority of the service provider defined by the home domain service provider, the equivalent home domain service provider and the pre-registered service provider preference indication.

Further, the method further comprises: if the user equipment stores a service provider priority list during WLAN access controlled by an operator, the priority of the service provider defined by the service provider priority list during WLAN access controlled by the operator in the first service provider priority list is lower than the priority of the service provider defined by the service provider priority list during WLAN access controlled by the user.

In a seventh possible implementation manner, with reference to the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the prioritizing the detected WLANs to obtain a WLAN priority list includes:

and if the service provider preference indication of the home domain exists in the effective strategy and is set to be true, and the WLAN network priority list of the home domain exists in the user equipment, performing priority ordering on the detected WLAN according to the WLAN network priority list of the home domain to obtain a WLAN priority list.

Further, if a WLAN network priority list controlled by a user exists in the user equipment, the step of sorting the detected WLANs according to the WLAN network priority list of the home domain further includes:

continuing to order the detected WLANs according to the user-controlled WLAN network priority list, wherein the priority of the WLANs defined by the user-controlled WLAN network priority list is lower in the WLAN priority list than the priority of the WLANs defined by the home domain WLAN network priority list.

Still further, if there is a WLAN network priority list controlled by an operator in the user equipment, the step of continuing to sequence the detected WLANs according to the WLAN network priority list controlled by the user further includes:

continuing to order the detected WLANs according to the operator controlled WLAN network priority list, wherein the WLAN defined by the operator controlled WLAN network priority list has a lower priority in the WLAN priority list than the WLAN defined by the user controlled WLAN network priority list.

In an eighth possible implementation manner, with reference to the first aspect, the valid location information defined in the configuration policy includes at least one of the following factors: 3GPP location, 3GPP2 location, WiMax location, WLAN location, and physical location; the effective time information defined in the configuration strategy comprises an effective time starting point and an effective time ending point;

when the obtained user equipment position information is matched with any factor in the effective position information defined in the configuration strategy, the obtained user equipment position information is successfully matched;

and when the time information acquired by the user equipment is within the valid time range, the time information acquired by the user equipment is successfully matched.

The configuration policy comprises policy priority, and the policy priority represents the priority order of each configured policy.

When a plurality of configuration policies are in effect, the configuration policy with the highest priority is selected as the effective policy based on the policy priority.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a device for network selection, including:

a detection module for detecting an accessible WLAN;

the matching module is used for acquiring the current position information and/or the time information of the user equipment where the device is located, respectively matching the position information and/or the time information with the effective position information and/or the effective time information defined in the configuration strategy, and if the matching is successful, the strategy which is successfully matched is an effective strategy;

an obtaining module, configured to obtain a first service provider priority list defined by the effective policy, or generate a second service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list defined by the effective policy and a configured default policy;

a selection module to select a target network from the detected WLANs according to the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list.

In a first possible implementation manner, with reference to the second aspect, the apparatus further includes:

and the sequencing module is used for sequencing the priority of the WLAN detected by the detection module to obtain a WLAN priority list.

In a second possible implementation manner, with reference to the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the selecting module is specifically configured to sequentially detect whether WLANs with priorities from high to low in the WLAN priority list may access service providers with priorities from high to low in the first service provider priority list, and if it is detected that WLANs in the WLAN priority list may access service providers in the first service provider priority list, select the WLAN as a target network; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the service providers with the priority levels from high to low in the second service provider priority list are detected whether the WLANs with the priority levels from high to low in the WLAN priority list can be accessed, and if the WLANs in the WLAN priority list are detected to be accessible to the service providers in the second service provider priority list, the WLANs are selected as target networks.

Wherein the configuration policy and the configured default policy are sent to the apparatus by an ANDSF server or a WLAN management entity.

In a third possible implementation manner, with reference to the second aspect, the obtaining module includes a obtaining unit and an adjusting unit;

the acquiring unit is used for acquiring a third service provider priority list from the configured default strategy;

the adjusting unit is configured to adjust the third service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list to obtain the second service provider priority list.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides another apparatus for network selection, where the apparatus includes: an input device, an output device, a memory, and a processor;

wherein the processor performs the steps of:

detecting an accessible Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN); acquiring current position information and/or time information of user equipment where the device is located, respectively matching the position information and/or the time information with effective position information and/or effective time information defined by a configuration strategy in the storage module, and if the matching is successful, determining the successfully matched strategy as an effective strategy;

The embodiment of the invention acquires an effective strategy according to the current position information and/or time information of the user equipment, acquires a first service provider priority list from the effective strategy, or generates a second service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list and a configured default strategy, thereby selecting a target network from the detected WLAN according to the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list. The method realizes the selection of the optimal network according to the position information and the time information of the user equipment, and meets the requirement of an operator for dynamically adjusting the PLMN priority.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for network selection according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating PLMN priority adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a network selection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of another network selection apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another network selection apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another network selection apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of another network selection apparatus provided in an application example of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another network selection apparatus according to an application example of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical solutions of the present invention better understood, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The embodiment of the invention provides a network selection method, which comprises the following steps:

It should be noted that, the above steps may be performed by the user equipment.

The first service provider priority list and the second service provider priority list may be public land mobile network PLMN priority lists, or organization Unique identifier OUI (organization Unique uniform identifier) priority lists, or address field Realm priority lists, or priority lists composed of at least two of PLMN identifiers, OUI identifiers, and Realm identifiers. That is, the service provider may be PLMN, or OUT, or Realm, and the PLMN flag, the Realm flag, and the OUI flag may also appear in the priority list of the first service provider at the same time, and compare the priority order together.

Wherein the configured default policy is a policy without location information and/or time information limitation, i.e. a policy that is valid at any location and time.

Further, after the user equipment detects the accessible WLAN, the user equipment may perform priority ranking on the detected WLANs to obtain a WLAN priority list.

The selecting a target network from the detected WLANs according to the first or second service provider priority lists may include:

sequentially detecting whether the WLAN with the priority from high to low in the WLAN priority list can access the service providers with the priority from high to low in the first service provider priority list, and if the WLAN in the WLAN priority list is detected to be capable of accessing the service providers in the first service provider priority list, selecting the WLAN as a target network; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

That is, the user equipment sequentially detects whether each WLAN can be connected to the service provider with the highest priority in the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list according to the priority order of the WLAN priority lists, and if so, the connectable WLAN is the final target network. If all the WLANs cannot be connected to the service provider with the highest priority in the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list, the user equipment sequentially detects whether each WLAN can be connected to the service provider with the highest priority in the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list according to the priority order of the WLAN priority list. And so on until a suitable target network is found. The configuration policy and the default policy of the configuration in the embodiment of the present invention may be sent to the user equipment by an ANDSF (Access Network Discovery and Selection Function) server or a WLAN management entity.

Specifically, the generating a second service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list defined by the effective policy and the configured default policy includes:

In the embodiment of the present invention, the prioritizing the detected WLANs to obtain a WLAN priority list specifically includes:

if there is a preference Indication (WLAN HPLMN Priority Indication) of the Home domain service provider in the effective policy and the policy is set to true, and there is a WLAN network Priority List (Home WLAN Specific Identifier List) of the Home domain in the user equipment, then performing Priority ordering on the detected WLANs according to the WLAN network Priority List of the Home domain to obtain a WLAN Priority List.

Further, if a WLAN network priority List (User Controlled WLAN Specific Identifier List) Controlled by a User exists in the ue, the sorting the detected WLANs according to the WLAN network priority List of the home domain further includes:

Further, if an Operator Controlled WLAN Specific Identifier List (Operator Controlled WLAN Specific Identifier List) exists in the ue, the step of continuously ordering the detected WLANs according to the user Controlled WLAN network priority List further includes:

continuing to order the detected WLANs according to the operator controlled WLAN network priority list, wherein the priority of the WLANs defined by the operator controlled WLAN network priority list in the WLAN priority list is lower than the priority of the WLANs defined by the user controlled WLAN network priority list.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is preferentially detected whether there is a WLAN network priority list of a home domain, a WLAN network priority list controlled by a User, or a WLAN network priority list controlled by an operator from a USIM (User Service Identifier Module) card of a User equipment, and when there is no above list in the USIM card, it is detected whether there is a WLAN network priority list of the home domain, a WLAN network priority list controlled by the User, or a WLAN network priority list controlled by the operator from a memory (UE memory) of the User equipment;

that is, if there is a home domain service provider preference indication in the valid policy and set to true, and the WLAN network priority list of the home domain in the UE memory is available, the WLAN networks in the list have the highest priority, and the priority order is consistent with the priority order defined by the WLAN network priority list of the home domain in the UE memory. And then processing the WLAN network priority list controlled by the user in the UE memory, and finally processing the WLAN network priority list controlled by the operator in the UE memory, wherein the processing method is carried out according to the steps.

Further, the method for network selection provided by the embodiment of the present invention may further include: if there is a home domain service provider preference Indication in the effective policy, specifically, the home domain public land mobile network preference Indication (WLAN HPLMN Priority Indication), and the setting is true, the home domain service provider and the equivalent home domain service provider have the highest Priority in the first service provider Priority list.

Further, the method may further include: if a pre-Registered service provider preference indication, which may be specifically a pre-Registered PLMN preference indication (WLAN Last Registered PLMN), is stored in the user equipment, the pre-Registered service provider preference indication defines that the priority of the service provider in the first service provider priority list is next to the priority of the home domain service provider and an equivalent home domain service provider.

Furthermore, if no home domain service provider preference indication exists in the valid policy or the home domain service provider preference indication is set to false, when a pre-registered service provider preference indication is stored in the user equipment, the pre-registered service provider preference indication defines a service provider with a highest priority in the first service provider priority list, and the priorities of the home domain service provider and an equivalent home domain service provider are only second to the priority of the service provider defined by the pre-registered service provider preference indication.

In addition, the method may further include: if the User equipment stores a service provider priority list during WLAN access Controlled by a User, which may be specifically a PLMN priority list (User Controlled PLMN Selector for WLAN access) during WLAN access Controlled by the User, the priority of the service provider defined by the service provider priority list during WLAN access Controlled by the User in the first service provider priority list is lower than the priority of the home domain service provider, an equivalent home domain service provider, and the priority of the service provider defined by the pre-registered service provider preference indication.

Further, if a service provider priority list during WLAN access Controlled by an Operator is stored in the user equipment, which may be specifically a PLMN priority list (Operator Controlled PLMN Selector for WLAN access) during WLAN access Controlled by the Operator, a priority of a service provider defined by the service provider priority list during WLAN access Controlled by the Operator is lower than a priority of a service provider defined by the service provider priority list during WLAN access Controlled by the user.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is preferentially detected whether there is a service provider priority list when a WLAN controlled by a user accesses from a USIM card of a user equipment or a service provider priority list when a WLAN controlled by an operator accesses from a USIM card of the user equipment, and if not, it is detected whether there is related information in a sim (subscriber Identity module) card of the user equipment in the same manner. If the SIM card does not exist, detecting whether an available service provider priority list controlled by the user when the WLAN accesses is available in the memory of the user equipment, if so, continuing to sort the service providers according to the priority list, and then, if the service provider priority list controlled by the operator when the WLAN accesses is available is stored in the memory of the user equipment, continuing to sort the service providers according to the priority order, wherein the priorities of other service providers can be randomly sorted.

Specifically, referring to fig. 1, the network selection method mainly includes the following steps:

s101, detecting an accessible Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN);

upon detecting an accessible WLAN, the detected WLANs may be further prioritized, resulting in a WLAN priority list. In the embodiment of the present invention, the detection of the WLAN may be obtained by detecting a network Identifier of the WLAN, such as an SSID (Service Set Identifier), and then performing priority ordering on the obtained SSIDs.

S102, obtaining current position information and/or time information of user equipment, respectively matching the position information and/or the time information with effective position information and/or effective time information defined in a configuration strategy, and if the matching is successful, determining the successfully matched strategy as an effective strategy;

if there are multiple active policies, the highest priority active policy is selected based on the priority (rule priority) of the active policies.

The valid location information defined in the configuration policy may include at least one of the following factors: 3GPP location, 3GPP2(3rd Generation Partnership Project 2, third Generation Partnership Project 2) location, WiMax (Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access) location, WLAN location, and physical location; the effective time information defined in the configuration strategy comprises an effective time starting point and an effective time ending point;

and when the acquired user equipment time information is located in the valid time range, the acquired user equipment time information is successfully matched.

The current location information of the UE may be obtained by reading a system broadcast message, or may be obtained through a connected network. If the UE is connected to the 3GPP network at this time, the location identity of the 3GPP network can be obtained through a signaling message. Further, the effective time may be represented by a time point and a date.

Each policy may include a plurality of valid location information and/or a plurality of valid time information, and as long as the location information and/or the time information acquired by the ue matches any one of the valid location information and/or the valid time information in the policy, the current location information and/or the time information of the ue matches the policy successfully.

It should be noted that, in the configuration policy, only the location information may be defined separately, or the time information may be defined separately, or the location information and the time information may be defined simultaneously; when the effective position information is defined independently in the configuration strategy, the user equipment only needs to acquire the current position information of the user equipment, the current position information parameter is compared with the effective position information parameter defined in the configuration strategy, and if at least one position information is matched in a consistent way, the strategy which is successfully matched is the effective strategy. When the valid time information is defined independently in the configuration strategy, the user equipment only needs to acquire the current time information and match the current time information with the valid time information defined in the configuration strategy, if the current time is within the valid time range, the matching is successful, and the successfully matched strategy is the valid strategy. When the effective position information and the effective time information are simultaneously defined in the configuration strategy, the user equipment needs to simultaneously obtain the current position information and the current time information of the user equipment, and respectively match with the effective position information and the effective time information in the configuration strategy, and when the position information and the time information are successfully matched, the successfully matched strategy is the effective strategy. Based on the above manner, the user equipment searches all policies in the configuration policy set, wherein the policies include policies in which valid location information and valid time information are not defined in the policies, and the policies are always valid policies.

Further, the configuration policy includes a policy priority, where the policy priority indicates a priority order of each configured policy. When the number of effective policies is greater than one, the policy priorities may be used to compare the plurality of effective policies, and the policy with the highest priority may be selected as the final effective policy.

S103, acquiring a first service provider priority list defined by the effective strategy, or generating a second service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list defined by the effective strategy and a configured default strategy;

s104, the user equipment selects a target network from the detected WLAN according to the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list.

Specifically, the user equipment may sequentially detect whether the WLAN with the high priority in the WLAN priority list may access the service providers with the high priority in the first service provider priority list, and select the WLAN as the target network if it is detected that the WLAN in the WLAN priority list may access the service providers in the first service provider priority list; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

That is to say, whether each WLAN can be connected to the service provider with the priority i in the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list is sequentially detected according to the WLAN priority list sequence, and if the WLAN can be connected to the service provider with the priority i, the WLAN is confirmed as the target access network; if not, i is i +1, and returning to execute the step of sequentially detecting whether each WLAN can be connected to the service provider with the priority i in the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list according to the WLAN priority list sequence, wherein the smaller the value of i is, the larger the priority is.

The generating, by the user equipment, the second service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list defined by the effective policy and the configured default policy may specifically include:

the user equipment acquires a third service provider priority list from the configured default strategy;

specifically, the user equipment may search for the public land mobile Network PLMNs corresponding to the detected WLANs, and then perform priority ranking on the searched PLMNs according to a configured default policy, so as to obtain a third service provider priority list, where the user equipment may search for the public land mobile Network PLMNs corresponding to the WLANs through an Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP), or through an authentication and authentication procedure;

and adjusting the third service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list, namely adjusting the priority order of the service providers in the third service provider priority list to obtain a second service provider priority list. Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, (a) in fig. 2 is a diagram of a PLMN priority relationship, i.e., a third service provider priority list, obtained by the user equipment based on the configured default policy, fig. 2 (b) is a diagram of a PLMN priority relationship defined by an effective policy, i.e., a first service provider priority list, and fig. 2 (c) is a diagram of a second service provider priority list, i.e., a final PLMN priority relationship, obtained by performing PLMN priority order adjustment on the third service provider priority list in the diagram (a) according to the first service provider priority list in the diagram (b).

It should be noted that, when the valid policy in the USIM card of the ue is indicated by "HPLMN Priority Indication" and is set to true, the Home operator HPLMN (Home plmn) and the equivalent Home operator ehplmn (equivalent Home plmn) have the highest Priority.

Next, if the "WLAN Last Registered PLMN" in the USIM card is available, the PLMN priority defined by the "WLAN Last Registered PLMN" in the USIM card is next to the home operator HPLMN. If the USIM card does not have the WLAN Last Registered PLMN, checking whether the WLAN Last Registered PLMN exists in the UE memory card, and if so, determining the PLMN priority defined by the WLAN Last Registered PLMN in the UE memory card to be next to the home operator PLMN.

If the valid policy "WLAN HPLMN Priority Indication" in the USIM card is set to false or there is no such Indication, the "WLAN Last Registered PLMN" defined PLMN has the highest Priority when it is available in the USIM card. Otherwise, the PLMN priority defined by "WLAN Last Registered PLMN" in the UE memory card is highest, followed by the home operator HPLMN, and equivalent home operator EHPLMN.

Further, if available "User Controlled PLMN Selector for WLAN access" exists in the USIM card, that is, the PLMN priority list during WLAN access Controlled by the User, the PLMNs are sequentially sorted according to the priority, and the priority of the PLMN defined by the PLMN priority list during WLAN access Controlled by the User in the first PLMN priority list is lower than the priority of the PLMN defined by the HPLMN, EHPLMN and the pre-registered PLMN preferred indication;

further, if the valid policy in the USIM card is that a PLMN priority order defined by "Operator Controlled PLMN Selector for WLAN access" is available, that is, there is a PLMN priority list when the Operator Controlled WLAN accesses, then the PLMNs are sorted continuously according to this priority, and the priority of the PLMN defined by the PLMN priority list when the Operator Controlled WLAN accesses is lower in the first PLMN priority list than the PLMN defined by the PLMN priority list when the user Controlled WLAN accesses.

If there is no available priority list defined by "User Controlled PLMN Selector for WLAN access" and "Operator Controlled PLMN Selector for WLAN access" in the USIM card, it is detected whether there is related information in the SIM card in the same manner.

When no relevant information exists in the USIM card and the SIM card, if a PLMN priority list defined by 'User Controlled PLMN Selector for WLAN access' available in the UE memory card exists, the PLMNs are continuously sorted according to the priority, and then if a PLMN priority sequence defined by 'Operator Controlled PLMN Selector for WLAN access' available in the UE memory card exists, the PLMNs are continuously sorted according to the priority, and the priorities of other PLMNs can be randomly sorted.

The configuration Policy and the default Policy of the configuration in the embodiment of the present invention may be obtained from the ANDSF server or obtained from the WLAN management entity, where the obtaining from the ANDSF server is to add a PLMN selection Policy (PLMN selection Policy) node to the Policy of the ANDSF server, and the definition of the node may be the same as that of a node added under the Policy node of the WLAN management entity or a node added in the WLAN management entity. The user equipment obtains the effective service provider selection policy, i.e. the above effective policy, from the ANDSF policy. And if the effective strategy is changed, the ANDSF server informs the UE of modification. And the ANDSF server receives the user location information sent by the UE, and selects appropriate PLMN selection strategy information to reply to the UE based on the location information and/or the time information. And when the scheme for selecting the proper service provider selection strategy, such as the current position information of the user, is consistent with the effective position information defined by the service provider selection strategy, sending the service provider selection strategy or the service provider selection strategy without the effective area limitation or the time limitation to the UE. The UE uses the above-mentioned effective service provider selection policy for initial network selection.

As can be seen from the above, the embodiment of the present invention adopts the method of obtaining the effective policy according to the current location information and/or the time information of the user equipment, so as to obtain the first service provider priority list from the effective policy, or generating the second service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list and the configured default policy, so as to select the target network from the detected WLAN according to the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list. The method realizes the selection of the optimal network according to the position information and the time information of the user equipment, and meets the requirement of an operator for dynamically adjusting the PLMN priority.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a device for network selection, including:

a detection module for detecting an accessible WLAN;

Further, the apparatus for network selection provided in the embodiment of the present invention may further include: and the sequencing module is used for sequencing the priority of the WLAN detected by the detection module to obtain a WLAN priority list.

Thus, the selection module may be specifically configured to sequentially detect whether the WLANs in the WLAN priority list have high priority from low to high in order to access the service providers in the first service provider priority list, and if it is detected that the WLANs in the WLAN priority list have access to the service providers in the first service provider priority list, select the WLAN as the target network; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

The selection module is configured to sequentially detect whether each WLAN can be connected to a service provider with a priority i in the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list according to the WLAN priority list order, and if there is a service provider with a priority i to which the WLAN can be connected, determine that the WLAN is a target access network; if not, i is equal to i +1, and returning to execute the step of sequentially detecting whether each WLAN can be connected to the service provider with the priority i in the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list according to the WLAN priority order, wherein the smaller the value of i is, the larger the priority is.

Specifically, referring to fig. 3, the network selection apparatus specifically includes:

a detection module 301, configured to detect an accessible WLAN;

the detection module 301 may further perform priority ranking on the detected WLANs to obtain a WLAN priority list, specifically, the detection module 301 may scan surrounding identifiers of accessible WLANs, such as SSIDs, and then perform priority ranking on the SSIDs;

a matching module 302, configured to obtain current location information and/or time information of a ue where the apparatus is located, and match the location information and/or the time information with effective location information and/or effective time information defined in a configuration policy, respectively, where if matching is successful, the successfully matched policy is an effective policy;

it should be noted that the present apparatus may be located inside the user equipment, or may be connected with the user equipment in any manner.

Wherein the valid location information defined in the configuration policy may include at least one of the following factors: 3GPP location, 3GPP2 location, WiMax location, WLAN location, and physical location; the effective time information defined in the configuration strategy comprises an effective time starting point and an effective time ending point;

when the location information acquired by the matching device 302 matches any factor in the valid location information defined in the configuration policy, the location information of the user equipment is successfully matched; when the time information acquired by the matching module 302 is within the valid time range, the time information of the user equipment is successfully matched.

The current location information of the present apparatus obtained by the matching module 302 may include a 3GPP location, and/or a 3GPP2 location, and/or a WiMax location, and/or a WLAN location, and/or a physical location. The current position information of the device can be obtained by reading the system broadcast message or the connected network. If the device is connected to the 3GPP network at this time, the location identifier of the 3GPP network can be obtained through the signaling message. It is to be understood that the manner in which the matching module 302 obtains the current location information should not be construed as a limitation on the present invention.

The configuration policy comprises a policy priority, and the policy priority represents the priority order of each configured policy. That is, when a plurality of effective policies are obtained by matching, the effective policy with the highest priority can be selected as the final effective policy by comparing the policy priorities.

An obtaining module 303, connected to the matching module 302, configured to obtain a first service provider priority list defined by an effective policy that the matching module 302 successfully matches, or generate a second service provider priority list according to the first service provider priority list defined by the effective policy and a configured default policy;

a selecting module 304, connected to the obtaining module 303, configured to select a target network from the detected WLANs according to the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list.

Further, referring to fig. 4, the apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention further includes: a sorting module 305, configured to perform priority sorting on the WLANs detected by the detecting module 301, so as to obtain a WLAN priority list.

Specifically, the selecting module 304 may sequentially detect whether the WLAN with the highest priority in the WLAN priority list may access the service providers with the highest priority in the first service provider priority list, and select the WLAN as the target network if it is detected that the WLAN in the WLAN priority list may access the service providers in the first service provider priority list; or

Wherein the configuration policy and the configured default policy may be sent to the apparatus by the ANDSF server or the WLAN management entity.

Further, referring to fig. 5, the obtaining module 303 may include a obtaining unit 303a and an adjusting unit 303 b;

an obtaining unit 303a, configured to obtain a third service provider priority list from the configured default policy;

an adjusting unit 303b, configured to adjust, according to the first service provider priority list, a service provider priority order in the third service provider priority list obtained by the obtaining unit 303a, so as to obtain the second service provider priority list.

Referring to fig. 6, the apparatus for network selection according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include a first setting module 306, where the first setting module 306 is configured to set the home domain service provider and the equivalent home domain service provider to have the highest priority in the first service provider priority list when there is a home domain service provider preference indication in the valid policy and the setting is true.

The apparatus for network selection may further include a second setting module 307, where the second setting module 307 is configured to set, when a pre-registered service provider preference indication is stored in the user equipment where the apparatus is located, a priority of a service provider defined by the pre-registered service provider preference indication in the first service provider priority list to be lower than a priority of the home domain service provider and an equivalent home domain service provider.

Referring to fig. 7, the apparatus for network selection according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include a third setting module 308, where the third setting module 308 is configured to, when there is no home domain service provider preference indication in the valid policy or the home domain service provider preference indication is set to false, and a pre-registered service provider preference indication is stored in the user equipment where the apparatus is located, set a priority of a service provider defined by the pre-registered service provider preference indication in the first service provider priority list to be highest, and set a priority of a home domain service provider and an equivalent home domain service provider in the first service provider priority list to be only next to the priority of the service provider defined by the pre-registered service provider preference indication.

Referring to fig. 8, the apparatus for network selection may further include a fourth setting module 309, where the fourth setting module 309 is configured to, when the service provider priority list at the time of user-controlled WLAN access is stored in the user equipment of the apparatus, set a priority of a service provider defined by the service provider priority list at the time of user-controlled WLAN access in the first service provider priority list to be lower than priorities of the home domain service provider, an equivalent home domain service provider, and the pre-registered service provider preference indication defined by the service provider preference indication.

The apparatus for network selection may further include a fifth setting module 310, where the fifth setting module 310 is configured to, when the service provider priority list for operator-controlled WLAN access is stored in the user equipment of the apparatus, set a priority of a service provider defined by the service provider priority list for operator-controlled WLAN access when the service provider defined by the service provider priority list for operator-controlled WLAN access is lower in the first service provider priority list than in the user-controlled WLAN access.

The sorting module 305 may specifically be configured to: and when the home domain service provider preference indication exists in the effective strategy and is set to be true and a WLAN network priority list of a home domain exists in the user equipment of the device, carrying out priority sequencing on the detected WLAN according to the WLAN network priority list of the home domain to obtain a WLAN priority list.

Further, the sorting module 305 may be further configured to: when a user equipment where the device is located has a WLAN network priority list controlled by a user, the detected WLANs are prioritized according to the WLAN network priority list controlled by the user, wherein the priority of the WLAN defined by the WLAN network priority list controlled by the user in the WLAN priority list is lower than the priority of the WLAN defined by the WLAN network priority list of the home domain.

Further, the sorting module 305 may be further configured to: when a WLAN network priority list controlled by an operator exists in user equipment where the device is located, performing priority ordering on the detected WLANs according to the WLAN network priority list controlled by the operator, wherein the priority of the WLAN defined by the WLAN network priority list controlled by the operator in the WLAN priority list is lower than the priority of the WLAN defined by the WLAN network priority list controlled by the user.

The configuration policy and the configured default policy in the embodiment of the present invention may be sent to the network-selected device by the ANDSF server or the WLAN management entity.

As can be seen from the above, the matching module in the device for network selection according to the embodiment of the present invention obtains an effective policy matched with the current location information and/or the time information, and obtains the first service provider priority list from the effective policy, or produces the second service provider priority list according to the first PLMN priority and the configured default policy, so that the selection module selects the target network from the WLANs detected by the detection module according to the first service provider priority list or the second service provider priority list. The device for selecting the network realizes the selection of the optimal network according to the position information and the time information of the user equipment, and meets the requirement of an operator for dynamically adjusting the PLMN priority.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a device for network selection, including: an input device, an output device, a memory, and a processor;

wherein the processor performs the steps of:

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps in the methods of the above embodiments may be implemented by associated hardware instructed by a program, which may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the storage medium may include: read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), magnetic or optical disks, and the like.

Meanwhile, in the above embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have respective emphasis, and reference may be made to the related descriptions of other embodiments for parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment.

The method and apparatus for network selection provided by the embodiment of the present invention are described in detail above, and a specific example is applied in the description to explain the principle and the embodiment of the present invention, and the description of the above embodiment is only used to help understanding the method and the core idea of the present invention; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of network selection, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that user equipment obtains a service provider selection strategy from a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) management entity, wherein the service provider selection strategy comprises a service provider priority list, and the WLAN management entity determines and sends the service provider selection strategy to the user equipment according to position information of the user equipment;

the user equipment detects an accessible Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and performs priority ordering on the detected WLAN to obtain a WLAN priority list;

the user equipment sequentially detects whether the WLAN with the priority from high to low in the WLAN priority list can access the service providers with the priority from high to low in the service provider priority list, and if the WLAN in the WLAN priority list is detected to be capable of accessing the service providers in the service provider priority list, the WLAN is selected as a target network;

wherein the service provider priority list is a public land mobile network, PLMN, priority list.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if there is a home domain service provider preference indication in the service provider selection policy and set to true, then the home domain service provider and equivalent home domain service provider have the highest priority in the service provider priority list.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

if a pre-registered service provider preference indication is stored in the user equipment, the pre-registered service provider preference indication defines a priority of the service provider in the service provider priority list that is only second to the priority of the home domain service provider and equivalent attribution.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if no home domain service provider preference indication exists in the valid policy or the home domain service provider preference indication is set to false, when a pre-registered service provider preference indication is stored in the user equipment, the pre-registered service provider preference indication defines a service provider with the highest priority in the service provider priority list, and the priorities of the home domain service provider and an equivalent home domain service provider are only next to the priority of the pre-registered service provider preference indication defined service provider.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the method further comprises:

if the user equipment stores a service provider priority list during user-controlled WLAN access, the service provider priority list during user-controlled WLAN access defines a priority of a service provider in the service provider priority list that is inferior to the priority of the home domain service provider, an equivalent home domain service provider, and a service provider defined by the pre-registered service provider preference indication.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

if the user equipment stores a service provider priority list during WLAN access controlled by an operator, the service provider defined by the service provider priority list during WLAN access controlled by the operator has a priority in the service provider priority list that is lower than the priority of the service provider defined by the service provider priority list during WLAN access controlled by the user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein prioritizing the detected WLANs into a WLAN priority list comprises:

and if the service provider selection strategy has a home domain service provider preference indication and is set to be true and the user equipment has a WLAN network priority list of a home domain, performing priority ordering on the detected WLAN according to the WLAN network priority list of the home domain to obtain a WLAN priority list.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein if there is a user-controlled WLAN network priority list in the ue, the sorting the detected WLANs according to the home domain WLAN network priority list further comprises:

continuing to order the detected WLANs according to the user-controlled WLAN network priority list, wherein the priority of the WLAN defined by the user-controlled WLAN network priority list is lower in the WLAN priority list than in the WLAN defined by the home domain's WLAN network priority list.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein if an operator controlled WLAN network priority list exists in the user equipment, further comprising, after continuing to rank the detected WLANs according to the user controlled WLAN network priority list:

10. An apparatus for network selection, comprising:

an obtaining module, configured to obtain a service provider selection policy from a WLAN management entity of a wireless local area network, where the service provider selection policy includes a service provider priority list, and the service provider selection policy is determined by the WLAN management entity according to location information of the device and is sent to the device;

a detection module for detecting an accessible WLAN;

the sequencing module is used for sequencing the priority of the detected WLAN to obtain a WLAN priority list;

a selecting module, which detects whether the WLAN with high priority from high to low in the WLAN priority list can access the service provider with high priority from low to high in the service provider priority list in turn, and if it is detected that the WLAN in the WLAN priority list can access the service provider in the service provider priority list, selects the WLAN as a target network;

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the ordering module is specifically configured to: and when a home domain service provider preference indication exists in the service provider selection strategy and is set to be true and a WLAN network priority list of a home domain exists in user equipment where the device is located, carrying out priority sequencing on the detected WLANs according to the WLAN network priority list of the home domain to obtain a WLAN priority list.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the ordering module is further configured to:

when a user-controlled WLAN network priority list exists in user equipment where the device is located, performing priority ordering on the detected WLANs according to the user-controlled WLAN network priority list, wherein the priority of the WLAN defined by the user-controlled WLAN network priority list in the WLAN priority list is lower than the priority of the WLAN defined by the WLAN network priority list of the home domain.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the ordering module is further configured to:

when a WLAN network priority list controlled by an operator exists in user equipment where the device is located, performing priority ordering on the detected WLANs according to the WLAN network priority list controlled by the operator, wherein the priority of the WLAN defined by the WLAN network priority list controlled by the operator in the WLAN priority list is lower than the priority of the WLAN defined by the WLAN network priority list controlled by the user.

14. An apparatus, comprising a processor and a memory;

the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of network selection of any of claims 1-9.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the apparatus comprises a user equipment or a chip within the user equipment.

16. A computer storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9.