CN101212323A - Method and system for IMS network to provide service for group users - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) network to provide services for group users: acquiring preset group user configuration information; performing group user session routing according to the group user configuration information. The present invention also discloses a system for the IMS network to provide services for group users. By applying the method and system, the IMS can be connected to the group users, and the group users can be provided with services such as session routing and business triggering, which expands the IMS network. scope of application.

Description

Method and system for IMS network to provide service for group users

technical field

The present invention relates to the third generation network technology, in particular to a method and system for IMS network to provide services for group users.

Background technique

IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a subsystem of a third-generation (3G) network defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard. It is a 3G network that provides unified multimedia services for packet voice and packet data. and the proposed target network for applications.

IMS uses the packet data domain as the bearer channel for its upper layer control signaling and media transmission, uses the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) as the call control signaling, and uses the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP), session description Protocol (SDP), Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) and Domain Name Server (DNS) and other protocols cooperate to jointly complete services such as terminal device registration, session routing, and service triggering in IMS.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the existing IMS network architecture. As shown in Figure 1, the IMS network mainly includes the IMS core network, Home Subscriber Server (HSS)/User Provisioning Service Function (UPSF), Application Server (AS) and Internet Protocol (IP) Access network, that is, terminal equipment.

Wherein, the functional entity mainly included in the IMS core network is a call session control (CSCF) unit, which is used to process signaling messages for controlling user multimedia sessions. According to different functions, CSCF can be divided into three types, respectively, proxy CSCF (P-CSCF), inquiry CSCF (I-CSCF) and serving CSCF (S-CSCF): P-CSCF is for terminal equipment to access IMS The signaling proxy entity of the network, all signaling from or to the terminal equipment must pass through the P-CSCF; the I-CSCF is mainly used to determine the location of the S-CSCF by querying the HSS/UPSF; the S-CSCF is responsible for the IMS network session management, which is used to complete call session control.

HSS/UPSF is the user data configuration unit, which is used to store service-related information such as user subscription data. In the 3GPP structure, the user data configuration unit is called HSS, and in the TISPAN architecture, the user data configuration unit is called UPSF.

The AS is used to provide application service control for IMS users. In order to enable users to access the required services, the IMS network introduces the Public Service Identity (PSI). In the existing SIP signaling, the PSI is a Uniform Resource Identity (URI) or a number URI (Tel URI). The AS executes the PSI. For the services identified, each PSI is managed by an AS and does not need to be registered in the IMS network.

With the continuous development of IMS technology, the types of services provided by the IMS network are becoming more and more abundant. In this way, more and more networks will inevitably want to access the IMS network and enjoy the services provided by the IMS network, such as IP dedicated Group user networks such as telephone exchange (PBX)/next generation enterprise network (NGCN).

Group users refer to a group of users with the same attributes, and these users form a user group. For example, IP PBX/NGCN is a telephone system for enterprise network applications, which can be connected to softswitch networks and public switched telephone networks (PSTN). ) and public land mobile network (PLMN) and other networks, so that these networks provide services for internal users of the enterprise. As group users, enterprise network users have the same domain, the same service configuration, etc.

At present, TISPAN organization has initiated the research on IP PBX/NGCN access to IMS network, and defined relevant business requirements, such as: IMS network needs to support the transfer of IP PBX/NGCN identity, and needs to support routing to IP PBX/NGCN internal users And the IMS only saves the IMS subscription relationship for IP PBX/NGCN, but does not save the subscription relationship for internal users of IP PBX/NGCN, etc.

However, the above-mentioned research is only at the stage of formulating requirements. That is to say, in the current research conducted by TISPAN, no clear solution has been proposed on how the IMS network provides services for enterprise network users, that is, group users.

Contents of the invention

In view of this, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for an IMS network to provide services to group users, so that the IMS network can provide services to group users.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for an IMS network to provide services to group users, so that the IMS network can provide services to group users.

In order to achieve the above object, technical solution of the present invention is achieved in that way:

A method for an IMS network to provide services to group users, comprising the following steps:

Obtain preset group user configuration information;

Perform group user service triggering and/or session routing according to enterprise network configuration information.

A system for providing services to group users by an IMS network, at least including a call session control unit and a user database functional unit;

The call session control unit is configured to receive a communication request sent to or from a group user equipment, and perform group user service triggering and/or session routing according to the group user configuration information requested from the user database functional unit;

The user database function unit is used for storing group user configuration information, and sending the group user configuration information to the call session control unit.

It can be seen that, adopting the technical solution of the present invention, the group user equipment accesses the IMS network through the call session control unit and the user database functional unit, so that when the call session control unit receives a session request from or to the group user equipment, it passes the request The user database functional unit obtains group user configuration information, and further triggers corresponding group user session routing according to the group user configuration information, thereby realizing the provision of services for group users by the IMS network and expanding the service scope of the IMS network.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an existing IMS network architecture;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the composition and structure of the system in the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a UML description of a public identifier in an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is the overall flowchart of the method in the embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is the flowchart of the first embodiment of the method of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is the UML description schematic diagram of Service Profile file in the embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a flow chart of the second embodiment of the method of the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to make the object, technical solution and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the composition of the system in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2 , the system includes an IMS network 200 and a group user equipment 203, wherein the IMS network 200 includes at least a user database function unit 201 and a call session control unit 202.

The call session control unit 202 is configured to receive a communication request sent to or from the group user equipment 203, and request group user configuration information from the user database function unit 201, and perform group user service triggering and/or according to the received group user configuration information Session routing.

The user database function unit 201 is used for storing group user configuration information, and sends the group user configuration information to the call session control unit 202 after receiving the group user configuration information request from the call session control unit 202 .

The group user equipment 203 is used to send a communication request to the call session control unit 202 or receive a communication request routed by the call session control unit 202 for processing; the group user equipment 203 can have many different physical forms, such as an enterprise network device , SIP access gateway (AG) equipment, access gateway control function (AGCF) equipment, etc., have the function of SIP client (UA) or SIP proxy (Proxy), and further have the function of session control, which can independently process the internal conversations between users.

The call session control unit 202 can be connected with the group user equipment 203 through the E1 interface, and adopts the SIP protocol; A unit that converts non-SIP protocols to SIP protocols or between different SIP profiles, such as an Interworking Function (IWF) entity or a Border Interworking Control Function (IBCF) entity.

The user database functional unit 201 can be connected with the call session control unit 202 and the group user equipment 203 through the E2 and E4 interfaces, and both interfaces can adopt the Diameter protocol. In the present invention, the E4 interface is not necessary. In order to enable the IMS network to correctly identify the group user, it is necessary to describe the group user information in the user database functional unit 201 to identify the identity of the group user. Fig. 3 is the unified modeling language (UML) descriptive schematic diagram of the public mark of the present invention, has described public group user identity mark in the UML of the present invention, and it can be the wild card public group user mark (WildcaredPGI) as shown in Figure 3, A wildcard expression used to identify all users in the group, such as any wildcard form of any SIP URI or TEL URI such as ****@pbx.china.com, and the public group user identity can also be a user group identity Identifiers, such as the enterprise network domain name form of pbx.china.com or the enterprise network switchboard form of huawei@pbx.china.com. In addition, a new category [PGI] and [Matched PGI (Matched PGI)] is used to identify the identity of the user group and the identity of the users in the group respectively.

In the specific implementation process, the public group user identity can also reuse the existing public identification (Public Identification) for identification, for example, as shown in Figure 3, use the wildcarded public service identification (Wildcared PSI) to identify the group The wildcard expression of all users in the same group also adds new categories [PGI] and [Matched PGI] to identify the identity of the user group and the identity of the user in the group respectively.

The user database function unit 201 configures corresponding group user configuration information for the public group user identity, such as group user service configuration files and group user routing address information.

Fig. 4 is the overall flowchart of the method in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Fig. 4, comprises the following steps:

Step 401: The call session control unit requests and acquires preset group user configuration information from the user database function unit 201 .

The above-mentioned group user configuration information includes group user service configuration files and/or group user routing address information, and may further include group user session identifiers, which are used to identify session participants as group users; group user routing address information is sometimes public group user identity identifiers , such as when the public group user identity is registered in the IMS network; the group user session ID can be an explicit independent identifier, or an implicit identifier, such as implicit in the group user service configuration file or group user routing address information.

Step 402: The call session control unit 202 performs group user service triggering and/or session routing according to group user configuration information.

Fig. 5 is the flow chart of the first embodiment of the method of the present invention, in this embodiment, call session control unit 20 is I-CSCF and S-CSCF, user database function unit 201 is HSS, group user equipment 203 is enterprise network equipment IP PBX, group user is enterprise network user, is the called user in conversation process, as shown in Figure 5, comprises the following steps:

Step 501: A session request (invite) is sent to the target network I-CSCF.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the identity of the called user carried in the session request is Pbx-User@pbx.china.com, which is an internal user identity of an enterprise network user.

Step 502: The I-CSCF sends a Location Information Request (LIR) message to the HSS.

The LIR message carries the identity Pbx-User@pbx.china.com of the called user.

Step 503: After receiving the LIR message, the HSS first judges whether the called user matches the identity of the group user. If it matches, the HSS requests the allocation of the S-CSCF for the session; if not, it performs corresponding processing according to the existing technology .

The method of judging whether the user identity matches the group user identity is as follows: HSS judges whether the received user identity matches the preset public group user identity, such as whether it matches the wildcard expression or user group identity of all users in the identification group The parameter description matches.

The assigned S-CSCF can be set by the HSS through management, or set by the IP-PBX in the HSS through the E4 interface, or obtained by the HSS when the enterprise network registers with the IMS, or the HSS is currently temporarily Selected.

Step 504: The HSS returns a Location Information Answer (LIA) message to the I-CSCF.

The LIA message carries the S-CSCF assigned by the HSS to the session request, and further, the message may also include some group user configuration information, such as the group user session identifier.

Step 505: The I-CSCF sends a session request to the allocated S-CSCF.

The session request carries the called enterprise network user identity Pbx-User@pbx.china.com. In addition, it can further carry the group user session ID, that is, expand the SIP message to carry the group user session ID for subsequent call processing .

Step 506: The S-CSCF sends a SAR message to the HSS, requesting to obtain configuration information of the group user.

The SAR message carries the identity Pbx-User@pbx.china.com of the called enterprise network user.

Step 507: The HSS judges whether the identity of the called user matches the identity of the group user. If the judgment result shows that the identity of the called user matches the identity of the group user, then execute step 508; otherwise, perform corresponding processing according to the prior art.

The judging process is the same as the judging process in step 503 .

Step 508: The HSS sends a Server Assignment Answer (SAA) message to the S-CSCF, and the SAA message carries group user configuration information.

The group user configuration information includes a group user service profile (Service Profile) file and/or group user routing address information, and if required by actual conditions, may further include a group user session identifier for identifying a session participant as a group user.

In order to transmit the above-mentioned group user configuration information, the existing E2 interface Diameter protocol attribute pair (AVP) can be extended. For example, the group user session identifier can be transmitted by adding [Group indicator (indicator)] AVP, and the group user session identifier can be transmitted by adding [Group route (route) ] AVP to transmit group user routing address information.

In addition to the above method of transmitting group user configuration information by extending the existing Diameter protocol AVP, the group user configuration information may also be transmitted by multiplexing the [User-data (User-data)] AVP of the existing Diameter protocol. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the UML description of the Service Profile file. As shown in Figure 6, the public group user identity can be carried in the Public Identification of the Service Profile file, and the group can be carried in the AS address parameter of the Service Profile initial filter rule (iFC). The routing address of the user equipment 203, that is, configure the "server name (ServerName)" in the iFC as the routing address of the enterprise network device. When the enterprise network subscribes to multiple services, set the priority of the iFC carrying the routing address of the enterprise network device to the lowest to ensure that the S-CSCF can prioritize the enterprise network subscription service after receiving the group user configuration information, such as , when two iFCs are included in the Service Profile file, the priority of the iFC used to represent the enterprise network subscription service (such as ring back tone service) is set to 0 representing the high priority, and the iFC carrying the routing address of the enterprise network device The priority is set to 1 for low priority.

Step 509: After receiving the SAA message, the S-CSCF performs service triggering according to the iFC carried in the ServiceProfile file in the [User-data] AVP, and realizes the subscription service of the enterprise network user.

In this embodiment, the S-CSCF first triggers the session to server@homedomain.com according to the iFC with a priority of 0 to process the subscription service, and then according to the iFC carrying the routing address of the enterprise network device or [PBX route] AVP carries The group user routing address information is used to obtain the routing address PBX@homedomain.com of the enterprise network device, and then the session is routed to the enterprise network device IP-PBX.

Step 510: S-CSCF sends session request to IP PBX.

It should be noted that the above process of the S-CSCF querying the HSS to obtain the group user routing address information can also be completed by the I-CSCF in steps 502 to 504. For example, the I-CSCF will obtain the group user routing address information Put it in the Request-URI of the session request, and put the original called user identity in other positions of the session request such as the To header field, and send the session request to the S-CSCF, and the S-CSCF will route the group user The address information is processed accordingly as the called party; or, it can also be completed by the S-CSCF in step 509 according to an application server triggered by iFC, and the application server will query the HSS or the group user routing address information configured by itself Put it in the Request-URI of the session request, and put the original called user identity in other positions of the session request such as the To header field, and return the session request to the S-CSCF, and the S-CSCF will route the group user The address information is processed accordingly as the called party.

In addition, the S-CSCF can save the group user configuration information and the corresponding group user information (downloaded and saved from the HSS), and the S-CSCF can perform the saving during the above call process, or during the registration process of the group user equipment 203 with the IMS To perform storage, the S-CSCF performs the steps of storing the above information during the registration process of the enterprise network with the IMS, which are similar to the steps of performing the storage during the above call process, and will not be repeated here. In this way, in step 506, when receiving a session addressed to a group user, the S-CSCF can first judge whether the called user is a group user, and if so, perform follow-up processing directly according to the saved group user configuration information, thereby simplifying The process of information exchange with the HSS, otherwise, the process of sending the SRA message to the HSS is performed. After the S-CSCF obtains the group user configuration information from the HSS, it can establish a data update mechanism with the HSS. When the group user configuration information stored in the HSS is updated, it can be updated to the S-CSCF synchronously.

The S-CSCF judges that the called user is a group user: the S-CSCF judges that the called user identity matches the description of the group user information, that is, the called user identity matches the public group user identity or the S-CSCF judges that the received The received session request carries the group user session identifier and the like. The conditions for the S-CSCF to judge that the called user identity conforms to the group user information description may be: according to the group user session identity in the received session request, or according to the analysis of the called user identity, or unconditional.

In addition, similar to step 505, the S-CSCF can also carry the session identifier of the enterprise network in the session request sent out according to the obtained group user configuration information or judge that the called user identity matches the description of the group user information for subsequent calls deal with.

Fig. 7 is the flow chart of the second embodiment of the method of the present invention, and the embodiment shown in Fig. 5 is the method flow when the enterprise network user is the called party, and this embodiment shows the method when the enterprise network user is the calling party The process, as shown in Figure 7, includes the following steps:

Step 701: The enterprise network user sends a session request to the S-CSCF.

The header field of the PBX asserted identity (P_Asserted_identity) of the session request carries the calling user, i.e. the identity mark of the enterprise network user. In this embodiment, assume that the enterprise network user identity mark is Pbx-User@pbx1.china.com, this It is the internal user ID of an enterprise network user.

This step further includes: the IP-PBX obtains the address of the S-CSCF through configuration, or obtains the address of the S-CSCF from the HSS, or, the IP-PBX first sends a session request to the I-CSCF, and then the I-CSCF sends a session request to the HSS The process of querying to obtain the S-CSCF address is similar to the process described in steps 501 to 505 in the first embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

Further, the session request sent by the enterprise network user may also carry the group user session ID, or similar to the first embodiment, the I-CSCF or S-CSCF inserts the group user session ID into the session request for subsequent call processing .

Step 702: The S-CSCF sends a SAR message to the HSS, requesting to obtain group user configuration information.

The SAR message carries the calling user's identity Pbx-User@pbx1.china.com.

Steps 703-705: similar to steps 507-509 in the first embodiment, wherein, in step 703, the HSS determines the identity of the user, and sends group user configuration information; in step 704, the HSS sends a Server Assignment Answer (SAA ) message, which carries group user configuration information in the SAA message; in step 705, the S-CSCF performs service trigger processing according to the group user service configuration file in the group user configuration information.

Step 706: After triggering the calling service, the S-CSCF performs subsequent processing according to the identity of the called user.

Likewise, similar to the first embodiment, the S-CSCF can save group user configuration information and corresponding group user information, thereby simplifying the information exchange process with the HSS, and will not be repeated here.

The foregoing embodiments have described the situation that the group user equipment 203 is an IP PBX, and they are equally applicable to other forms of group user equipment. For example, the group user is a Centrex user, and a Centrex user generally has both a group user ID and an outside user ID (that is, the public user identity registered in the IMS network), Centrex users can use the public user identity to communicate with users outside the enterprise network, and use the group user identity to communicate with users inside the enterprise network. Within an enterprise network, Centrex users can make mutual calls with IP PBX users using the intra-group user ID. The process is briefly described as follows (not shown):

Step 801: IP PBX user A initiates a call to Centrex user B, and the called number is User-B@pbx1.china.com in the group of Centrex user B, similar to the embodiment in Figure 7, processing IP PBX user initiated session request;

Step 802: Similar to the embodiment in Fig. 5, the I-CSCF receives the session request, obtains the assigned S-CSCF, and the S-CSCF obtains the public group user identity matching the intragroup user identity of the called Centrex user Corresponding group user configuration information;

Step 803: The S-CSCF executes the group user service configuration file in the group user configuration information, such as iFC, triggers the session request to the Centrex AS described in the iFC, and the Centrex AS processes the Centrex service, and sends the called number in the session request, That is, the Request-URI is changed to the public user identity of the Centrex user, such as User-B@chinamobile.com, and the session request is sent to S-CSCF;

Step 804: After receiving the session request, the S-CSCF does not perform subsequent iFC because the Request-URI has changed, but performs session routing according to the new Request-URI, that is, according to the public user identity of the Centrex user.

The flow of mutual calls between Centrex users using the user ID in the group is briefly described as follows (not shown):

Step 901: Centrex user A initiates a call to Centrex user B, the called number is Centrex user B's intra-group user ID User-B@pbx1.china.com, and the calling number can be Centrex user A's intra-group user ID Identify User-A@pbx1.china.com, or the public user identity User-A@chinamobile.com of Centrex user A;

Step 902: P-CSCF receives the session request initiated by Centrex user A, if the calling number is Centrex user A's public user identity User-A@chinamobile.com, then P-CSCF routes the session request to the public user identity Identifies the S-CSCF registered in the IMS network; if the calling number is the User-A@pbx1.china.com within the group of Centrex user A, then the P-CSCF performs a process similar to the aforementioned S-CSCF to obtain the The group user configuration information corresponding to the public group user identity matching the group user identity in the group, and according to the group user routing address information in the group user configuration information, that is, the S-CSCF address, the routing of the session request is performed, and the aforementioned S-CSCF The processing of the CSCF is similar. The P-CSCF can save the public group user identity and its corresponding group user configuration information during the Centrex user registration process;

Step 903: S-CSCF receives the session request initiated by Centrex user A, if the calling number is Centrex user A's public user identity User-A@chinamobile.com, then S-CSCF executes the public user identity in the registration process The service configuration file obtained in the S-CSCF triggers the session request to Centrex AS; if the calling number is the user identity within the group of Centrex user A User-A@pbx1.china.com, then the S-CSCF obtains the user identity within the group Match the group user configuration information corresponding to the public group user identity, and trigger the session request to Centrex AS according to the group user service configuration file in the group user configuration information;

Step 904: CentrexAS handles the Centrex business. Further, CentrexAS can judge whether the called user and the calling user are users in the same enterprise network, and if so, make the calling number of the session request the ID of the user in the group, if If not, make the calling number of the session request a public user identity;

Step 905: Centrex AS sends the session request to S-CSCF, and S-CSCF routes the session request to I-CSCF;

Subsequent processes are similar to the above steps 802 to 804, and will not be repeated here.

It can be seen that the adoption of the technical solution of the present invention realizes IMS access to group user equipment 203, and further provides functions such as session routing and service triggering for group users, thereby expanding the application range of the IMS network.

To sum up, the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (12)

1. A method of providing a service to a group user by an IP multimedia subsystem, IMS, network, the method comprising the steps of:

acquiring preset group user configuration information;

and performing group user service triggering and/or session routing according to the group user configuration information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the group user configuration information comprises: the group user routing address information is transmitted to the group user,

the routing of the group user session according to the group user configuration information comprises: routing the session to the group user routing address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the group user configuration information comprises: a group user service profile is generated by the group user service profile,

the routing of the group user session according to the group user configuration information comprises: routing the session to a group user routing address described in the group user service configuration file;

the triggering of the group user service according to the group user configuration information comprises the following steps: and triggering the session to the address of the application server described in the group user service configuration file.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein when more than one initial filter rule iFC is included in the group user traffic profile, the priority of the iFC describing the group user routing address is set to be lowest.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method for acquiring the preset group user configuration information is:

in the session process, requesting a user database function unit in the IMS network to acquire the group user configuration information; or,

and acquiring the group user configuration information which is saved before the session and is from a user database function unit in the IMS network in the session process.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the obtaining the group user profile saved before the session is:

acquiring the group user configuration information stored in the registration process; or,

and acquiring the group user configuration information saved in the session process before the session.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method for acquiring the preset group user configuration information is:

and acquiring group user configuration information corresponding to the public group user identity identification matched with the calling identification or the called identification according to the calling identification or the called identification of the session.

8. A IMS network provides the system of the service for the group user, include call session control unit and user database function unit at least, characterized by that;

the call session control unit is used for receiving a communication request sent to or from the group user equipment and carrying out group user service triggering and/or session routing according to the group user configuration information requested from the user database function unit;

and the user database function unit is used for storing group user configuration information and sending the group user configuration information to the call session control unit.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the subscriber database function unit is further configured to determine that the subscriber identity in the request from the call session control unit matches a public group subscriber identity before sending group subscriber profile information to the call session control unit.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the call session control unit is further configured to, in processing the communication request, request group subscriber configuration information from the subscriber database function; or,

when processing the communication request, obtaining the group user configuration information which is requested and stored from the user database function unit before the communication request.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the call session control unit obtains the group user profile stored therein when processing the communication request as:

the call session control unit judges the public group user identity matched with the calling identity or the called identity of the processed communication request, and acquires the group user configuration information corresponding to the public group user identity stored in the public group user identity.

12. The system according to claim 8, wherein the group user configuration information maintained by the user database function unit comprises at least group user routing address information and/or group user service profiles, and wherein the group user routing address information comprises at least a serving call session control unit, S-CSCF, address and/or a routing address of a group user device.

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