WO2007006198A1

WO2007006198A1 - A method for realizing the dual homing in the network with separated controlling and bearing

Info

Publication number: WO2007006198A1
Application number: PCT/CN2006/001216
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yujun Wang
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2005-07-08
Filing date: 2006-06-05
Publication date: 2007-01-18
Also published as: CN1893684A

Abstract

A method for realizing a dual homing in the network with separated controlling and bearing in the communication field includes: only one link set is configured between the master (standby) MGCs and the MGW, in which the MGW connects all the links of the master and standby MGCs respectively; it realizes the switch between the master MGC and the standby MGC by activating and deactivating the links directly. The method for realizing the dual homing simplifies the configuration of the dual homing and saves the memory space of the link sets.

Description

Dual-homed implementation method in control and bearer separation network

The present invention relates to control and bearer separation network technologies, and more particularly to a dual-homed implementation method in a control and bearer separation network. Background of the invention

Next Generation Network (NGN) is a hot topic in the communication industry. Network operators, equipment manufacturers, telecom standardization organizations, and numerous technical forums are all concerned about NGN. The idea of NGN is to depict NGN from different angles. In the NGN network architecture, a bearer and control separation structure is introduced, that is, a media gateway controller (MGC) that is mainly used to complete the call control function and a media gateway that is mainly used to complete the bearer function. (Media Gateway, referred to as "MGW"). An MGC can control multiple MGWs through a standard H.248/MGCP protocol interface.

Because of the separation of service bearer and call control, the MGC at the control level is in a relatively important position. Therefore, when an MGC fails, the MGW it controls will lose control, and the normal service of the user cannot be processed. To prevent a single point of failure of the MGC network element from affecting all the MGW services it controls, set up the standby device for disaster recovery. Dual-homing is a commonly used disaster recovery processing method. This method can achieve disaster recovery backup in different places. This capability is difficult to implement in the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) network. It is of great significance for dealing with emergencies such as earthquakes, tsunami and terrorist attacks. Specifically, it means that an MGW can be attributed to two or more MGCs with alternate relationships. In other words, in the process of implementing dual-homing, the MGW can be in the case of an MGC failure. Next, register with the MGC of its own standby to complete the subsequent call processing. In order to ensure that the MGW's embedded signaling gateway function can correctly forward the message to the corresponding registered primary or backup MGC after the MGW is registered to the active or standby MGC, the MGW needs to be separately configured between the primary and backup MGCs. The link ensures that subsequent messages are forwarded correctly.

In the existing dual-homing implementation method, it is generally required to configure two link sets for each MGW, one of which is configured to its primary MGC, and the other is configured to its standby MGC; When in the working state, the link to the primary MGC link set is activated, and the MGW will forward the message through the link set to the active MGC for processing; when the standby MGC is in the working state, to the standby MGC. The link in the link set is activated, and the MGW will forward the message through the link set to the standby MGC for processing. It can be seen that, in order to achieve dual-homing, each MGW needs to be configured with two link sets to the primary MGC and the standby MGC, and each link set needs to be configured with a corresponding broadband link to ensure The function of the embedded signaling gateway of the MGW can forward messages to the corresponding MGCs after dual-homing switching. Thus, this approach results in a complicated system configuration and requires a large storage space for storing link set information for each MGW. Summary of the invention

In view of this, the present invention provides a dual-homed implementation in a control and bearer separation network, which simplifies the dual-homing configuration and saves storage space of the link set.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a dual-homing implementation method in a control and bearer separation network, where the network includes at least one MGW, a primary MGC connected to the MGW through at least one link, and at least one A backup MGC connected to the MGW, the method includes the following steps:

Configuring a link set for each MGW to implement a connection between the MGW and the primary MGC and the standby MGC, where the link set includes the MGW and the primary MGC All links connected to the standby MGC;

Dual-homing switching is achieved by activating or deactivating the link between the MGW and the primary MGC and the standby MGC.

In addition, after the method is configured to configure a link set for each MGW, the method further includes: corresponding to each MGW, configuring a higher priority for the link between the primary MGC and the MGW, for the standby MGC The link between the MGW and the MGW is configured with a lower priority; if the link between the MGW and the active MGC and the standby MGC is active, the MGW forwards the message through the link with the higher priority. Go to the primary MGC.

By comparison, it can be found that the main difference between the technical solution of the present invention and the prior art is that the method of the present invention configures only one link set between the primary and backup MGCs and the MGW; works in the primary MGC or the standby MGC. When the status changes, the active/standby switchover is implemented by directly activating and deactivating the link. In addition, each MGW further configures a higher priority for the link between the MGW and the primary MGC, and a lower priority for the link between the MGW and the standby MGC.

The difference in this technical solution has brought about more obvious beneficial effects. Specifically, since the method of the present invention only configures one link set, and has one less link set than the prior art solution, the configuration is more simple, the maintenance is easier, and since the link set itself is needed It must be stored in a certain space, so that when the number of MGWs is large, considerable storage space can be saved.

In addition, since the links between the MGW and the primary and backup MGCs have different priorities, when an abnormal state in which the links between the primary and backup MGCs and the MGW are activated, the MGC data is sent only to the primary. Use MGC to achieve fault tolerance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure involved in a dual-homed implementation method in a control and bearer separation network in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Mode for carrying out the invention

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the existing dual-homed implementation method, the link established between the MGC and the MGW is a narrowband link bundled with the signaling point on the MGC, and needs to be bundled with all narrowband links in one link set. The signaling points are consistent. Therefore, for each MGW, two link sets to the primary MGC and the standby MGC need to be separately configured. However, after a broadband link that can be bundled with an Internet Protocol (IP) address, since the link set of the broadband link allows the IP address bundled by the broadband link to be different, it can be The concept of the above-mentioned broadband link is introduced into the dual-homed implementation method. That is to say, in the dual-homed implementation method, only one link set can be set for each MGW, which includes connecting to its active MGC. The broadband link also includes a broadband link to its alternate MGC, which simplifies the link set configuration in the dual-homed implementation.

1 shows a network structure involved in a dual-homed implementation method in a control and bearer separation network in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the network includes at least one MGW, and primary and backup MGCs connected to the MGW through at least one link. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 1, the MGC may be a mobile switching center-server (MSC-SERVER).

In the network structure shown in Figure 1, the method of implementing dual-homing includes the following steps:

A. Each MGW is configured with a link set for implementing the connection between the MGW and its primary and backup MSC-SERVER. The link set includes all links between the MGW and its primary and backup MSC-SERVERs.

In this step, the primary and backup MSC-SERVER of each MGW are processed as one logical entity, and only one link set is configured for each MGW. As mentioned before, in The links in the link set in this step are all broadband links bundled with IP addresses. As can be seen from Figure 1, link A and link B are the links of the MGW to its primary MSC-SERVER and the standby MSC-SERVER, respectively, but they all belong to the same link set.

B. Double-homing switching is achieved by directly activating or deactivating the link between the MGW and its primary and backup MSC-SERVERs.

In other words, the above step B specifically includes:

When an MGW needs to switch from its primary MSC-SERVER to its standby MSC-SERVER, the standby MSC-SERVER activates all links between itself and the MGW, and the primary MSC-SERVER deactivates itself and All links between the MGWs; when an MGW needs to switch from its standby MSC-SERVER to its primary MSC-SERVER, the primary MSC-SERVER activates all links between itself and the MGW, The standby MSC-SERVER deactivates all links between itself and the MGW.

Therefore, in the case of the dual-homing described in the preferred embodiment, although only one link set is configured for each MGW, the activation and deactivation operations of the foregoing link can ensure that the MGW can correctly forward the message to The MSC-SERVER to which the MGW is currently registered. That is, if the MGW is currently registered to its primary MSC-SERVER, the embedded signaling gateway function of the MGW can forward the message to its primary MSC-SERVER; if the MGW is currently registered to its standby MSC-SERVER, then The MGW's embedded signaling gateway function can forward messages to its alternate MSC-SERVER.

The following is specifically described below with reference to FIG. 1. In the normal case, link A is activated and link B is deactivated. At this time, the message is forwarded by the MGW to the active MSC-SERVER through link A for processing. If a double-homed switchover occurs, link A is deactivated and link B is activated. At this point, the message is forwarded by the MGW to its standby MSC-SERVER via link B for processing. Therefore, in this embodiment, although only one link set is configured between the primary and backup MSC-SERVER and the MGW, since the link including the MGW to the primary MSC-SERVER includes the MGW to the link. The link of the standby MSC-SERVER, therefore, the master/slave] MSC-SERVER switch can be realized by directly activating and deactivating the link. In this way, in the actual system configuration process, it is not necessary to separately configure a link set to each of the active and standby MSC-SERVERs for each MGW. Therefore, the configuration of the link set can be reduced, and the system configuration is simpler and more maintenance-oriented. Convenience. Moreover, since the link set itself requires a certain storage space, a considerable amount of storage space can be saved when the number of MGWs is large.

In order to avoid the situation in the above embodiment, when the abnormal situation in which the primary MSC-SERVER and the standby MSC-SERVER are in an active state occurs, that is, the double-active situation occurs, the embedded signaling gateway function of the MGW cannot correctly forward the message. Another preferred embodiment of the present invention improves the dual-homed implementation method of the foregoing embodiment, and further performs the process of configuring the link set in the foregoing step A:

The link between the MGW and its active MSC-SERVER is configured with a higher priority for the configured link set;

The link between the MGW and its standby MSC-SERVER is configured with a lower priority for the configured link set.

In the case where the link is configured with a priority, even if an abnormal situation occurs in which the primary MSC-SERVER and the standby MSC-SERVER are in an active state, the MGW forwards the message to its master through the link with the higher priority. The MSC-SERVER is used for processing, thereby avoiding the problem of message forwarding errors in the case of double activity.

As can be seen in conjunction with FIG. 1, in the link set, link A connected to the primary MSC-SERVER is configured to have a higher priority, and link B connected to the standby MSC-SERVER is configured to have a lower priority. Priority. At this point, even if the anomaly of the double activity occurs, that is, the main Both the MSC-SERVER and the standby MSC-SERVER are active, although both link A and link B are also active. Because link A has a higher priority than link B, the message will pass the priority. The high link A is forwarded to the primary MSC-SERVER for processing, and is not forwarded through the lower priority link B.

As can be seen from the above preferred embodiment, since the links between the MGW and the primary and backup MSC-SERVERs have different priorities, an abnormal situation occurs when the links between the primary and backup MSC-SERVERs and the MGW are activated. At this time, the MGW will only send the message to its primary MSC-SERVER to achieve fault tolerance.

It should be noted that, in the above embodiments, the MSC-SERVER is used as the MGC, and those skilled in the art can understand that the dual-homing implementation method described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention does not limit the MGC. For MSC-SERVER, it can also be applied to NGN networks controlled by other MGCs.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes can be made in form and detail without departing The spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

Claim

A dual-homing implementation method in a control and bearer separation network, the network comprising at least one media gateway MGW, an active media gateway controller MGC connected to the MGW via at least one link, and through at least one link A standby MGC connected to the MGW, characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

Configuring a link set for each MGW to implement a connection between the MGW and the primary MGC and the standby MGC, where the link set includes all links of the MGW to the primary MGC and the standby MGC. Road

Dual-homing switching is achieved by activating or deactivating a link between the MGW and the primary MGC and the standby MGC.

The dual-homing implementation method in the control and bearer separation network according to claim 1, wherein the realizing or deactivating the link between the MGW and the primary MGC and the standby MGC is implemented. Dual-homing switching includes:

When the MGW needs to switch from the primary MGC to the standby MGC, the backup MGC activates all links between itself and the MGC, and the primary MGC deactivates itself and the MGW All links.

When the MGW needs to switch from the standby MGC to the primary MGC, the primary MGC activates all links between itself and the MGW, and the standby MGC deactivates itself and the MGW. All links.

The method for implementing a Han attribution in a control and bearer separation network according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: configuring a link set for each MGW respectively After that, further include:

For each MGW, a higher priority is configured for the link between the primary MGC and the MGW, and a lower priority is configured for the link between the standby MGC and the MGW;

If the link between an MGW and the primary MGC and the standby MGC is active, the MGW forwards the message to the primary MGC through the higher priority link.

5. The dual-homed implementation method in the control and bearer separation network according to claim 1, wherein the MGC is a mobile switching center server MSC-SERVER.

The dual-homed implementation method in a control and bearer separation network according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the link is a broadband link.