Detailed Description
The embodiment of the invention provides a monitoring method in the packet transmission channel switching process, in the packet transmission channel switching process from a source GAN cell to a target cell, a terminal or a universal access network controller triggers the release protection operation of the packet transmission channel, and the packet transmission channel release information is prevented from being sent or refused to be executed. The embodiment of the invention further provides a monitoring method in the switching process of the packet transmission channel from the source cell to the target GAN cell. In addition, the embodiment of the invention also provides a corresponding terminal and a universal access network controller. The method and apparatus of the embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below.
In an embodiment, a monitoring method in a packet transport channel handover process relates to handover of a terminal from a source GAN cell to another cell using a Radio Access Technology (RAT), where the RAT may be GERAN, UTRAN, or GAN, and a packet service is performed between the terminal and a network. The method flow is shown in fig. 2, and includes:
a1, the terminal judges that the terminal is in the switching process of the packet transmission channel of the switching source GAN cell;
in GAN, packet transport channel switching leaving a source GAN cell may be initiated by a GANC or a terminal, in this embodiment, several specific triggering manners are given, and in different triggering manners, the terminal may make a judgment in the packet transport channel switching process according to corresponding information:
firstly, the switching is triggered by the terminal. The terminal finds that the quality of the GA-PSRTransport Channel between the terminal and the GANC is reduced through local measurement, therefore, a switching reference message (GA-PSR Handoverinformation) is sent to the GANC, and the GANC sends packet transmission Channel switching preparation request information (PSHandoverRequired) to the core network side according to the switching reference message, and starts to execute switching.
In this way, the terminal may determine that the terminal is in the handover process based on sending the handover reference message.
And secondly, the switching is triggered by the GANC. The GANC measures GA-PSR Transport Channel conditions of a given terminal, including error rate, delay, and system load. And the GANC selects a target cell when the quality of the GA-PSR transport channel of the terminal is reduced to a certain degree according to the self measurement result and system configuration, such as GERAN or UTRAN adjacent cell configuration and the like, sends packet transport channel switching preparation request information to the core network side, and starts to execute the switching. And after the GANC initiates the switching, the GANC informs the terminal.
In this way, the terminal may determine that the terminal is in the handover process based on the received handover notification.
And thirdly, the switching is triggered by the GANC and then judged by the terminal. The GANC can send the Indication information of the link Quality (GA-PSRUPLINK Quality Indication) to the terminal when finding that the GA-PSRTransport Channel Quality is reduced to a certain degree, indicating that the switching is needed, the terminal judges that the switching reference information needs to be sent to the GANC according to the received Indication information of the link Quality, and the GANC sends the request information of the packet transmission Channel switching preparation to the core network side according to the information, and starts the execution of the switching.
In this way, the terminal may determine that the terminal is in the handover process based on receiving the link quality indication information or based on sending the handover reference message.
It should be understood that the above-listed judgment modes are only examples, are not exhaustive, and do not limit the embodiments of the present invention.
A2, the terminal triggers the release protection operation of the packet transmission channel in the occupied general access network, and the release protection operation is used for avoiding the release of the packet transmission channel;
and after judging that the packet transmission Channel is switched out of the source GAN cell according to the related information, the terminal triggers the protection releasing operation of the GA-PSR Transport Channel. Because a GA-PSR Transport Channel Timer is generally adopted to monitor a GA-PSR Transport Channel at present, a simple and direct execution mode of the release protection operation is provided in this embodiment, that is: the operation of the packet channel timer is stopped. Thus, during the switching of the packet transmission channel, the packet transmission channel release information is not triggered to be sent to the source GANC due to the timeout of the packet channel timer, thereby avoiding the release of the packet transmission channel. And if the terminal returns to the source GAN cell again due to switching failure, the packet Channel timer is restarted, and the GA-PSR Transport Channel is continuously used for data transmission to enter a normal monitoring process.
In this embodiment, the packet transport channel switching process and the monitoring of the packet transport channel are logically associated, and a simple and direct release protection operation execution mode is provided, so that the packet transport channel is not prematurely released in the switching process, and when the switching is abnormal, the terminal can smoothly and timely return to the source general access network cell, thereby avoiding causing service jitter.
The second embodiment is a monitoring method in a packet transport channel switching process, and the second embodiment relates to packet transport channel switching from a source GAN cell to a target RAT cell of a terminal. The main difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that the execution of the release protection operation is triggered by the source GANC. The method flow is shown in fig. 3, and includes:
b1, source GANC judges that a certain terminal is in the switching process of the packet transmission channel switched out of the cell;
under different packet transmission channel switching triggering modes, the source GANC can judge that the terminal is in the packet transmission channel switching process according to corresponding information. For example, in the first embodiment, the source GANC may determine that the relevant terminal is in the handover process based on receiving the handover reference message or based on sending the packet transport channel handover preparation request message; in the second mode, the source GANC may determine that the relevant terminal is in the switching process based on sending the packet transport channel switching preparation request information; in the third mode, the source GANC may determine that the related terminal is in the handover process based on sending the link quality indication message, or based on receiving the handover reference message, or based on sending the packet transport channel handover preparation request message.
And when the source GANC receives or generates the information of canceling or failing or successfully finishing the switching of the terminal packet transmission channel, judging that the related terminal is not in the switching process.
B2, the source GANC triggers the release protection operation of the packet transmission channel occupied by the terminal, and the release protection operation is used for refusing to release the packet transmission channel.
The source GANC may perform the determination in step B1 after receiving the packet transport channel release information sent by the terminal, and trigger a release protection operation if it is determined that the terminal is in the handover process, that is, refuse to execute the packet transport channel release, and may or may not return a release rejection information to the terminal, where the release rejection information may include a rejection reason, such as during handover.
The source GANC may also trigger a release protection operation after determining that the terminal is in the process of handover, for example, start a timer for the terminal, and refuse to execute if receiving packet transmission channel release information sent by the terminal during the operation of the timer, or return reject release information, where the reject release information may include a reject reason, such as in the process of handover; the source GANC may close the corresponding timer and resume normal response to the packet transport channel release information when it is determined that the relevant terminal is no longer in the handover process.
In this embodiment, when the terminal performs packet transmission channel switching to switch out of the cell, the source GANC performs release protection operation on the packet transmission channel occupied by the terminal, so that the packet transmission channel is not prematurely released in the switching process, and when the switching is abnormal, the terminal can smoothly and timely return to the source general access network cell, thereby avoiding service jitter. Meanwhile, the source GANC can be improved in a centralized manner, so that inconvenience caused by terminal upgrading is avoided.
The third embodiment is a monitoring method in a packet transport channel switching process, and the third embodiment relates to packet transport channel switching from a source GAN cell to a target RAT cell of a terminal. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that another specific way of the terminal to perform the protection releasing operation is provided. The method flow is shown in fig. 4, and includes:
c1, the terminal judges that the terminal is in the packet transmission channel switching process of switching out the source GAN cell;
the specific judgment method can be as described in the first embodiment.
C2, the terminal triggers the release protection operation of the occupied packet transmission channel in the universal access network, i.e. monitoring the operation of the packet channel timer, restarting the packet channel timer after the packet channel timer is overtime, and not triggering the release of the packet transmission channel, such as: the transmission of the packet transport channel release information is not triggered.
Restarting the packet channel timer may define a maximum number of times, and after the number of times of restarting reaches the maximum number of times, the packet channel timer is not restarted, but rather a release of the packet transport channel is triggered, such as sending a packet transport channel release message. The maximum number may be monitored using a counter that increments by 1, such as every time the timer is restarted. The counter may be initialized when the channel is established, released, switched, etc., e.g., with a value of 0.
In this embodiment, the packet transmission channel switching process and the monitoring of the packet transmission channel are logically associated, so that the packet transmission channel is not prematurely released in the switching process, and when the switching is abnormal, the terminal can smoothly and timely return to the source universal access network cell, thereby avoiding service jitter.
The fourth embodiment is a monitoring method in a packet transport channel switching process, and the fourth embodiment relates to packet transport channel switching from a source GAN cell to a target RAT cell for a terminal. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a specific way for the terminal to perform the protection releasing operation is provided. The method flow is shown in fig. 5, and includes:
d1, the terminal judges that the terminal is in the packet transmission channel switching process of switching out the source GAN cell;
the specific judgment method can be as described in the first embodiment.
D2, the terminal triggers the protection releasing operation of the occupied packet transmission channel in the generic access network, that is:
d21, starting a first timer;
d22, after the packet channel timer is overtime, determining whether the first timer is overtime, if not, not triggering the release operation of the packet transmission channel, for example, not triggering the transmission of the release information of the packet transmission channel, and making the packet channel timer count again. In general, the timing length of the first timer is greater than the timing length of the packet channel timer.
The first timer may be stopped when the terminal determines that the target cell has been successfully accessed.
The timing length of the first timer may be set by the terminal, or may be signaled by the GANC to the terminal for setting.
In this embodiment, the packet transport channel switching process and the monitoring of the packet transport channel are logically associated, and an additional timer is used to monitor the sending of the packet transport channel release information again, so that the packet transport channel is not prematurely released in the switching process, and when the switching is abnormal, the terminal can smoothly and timely return to the source general access network cell, thereby avoiding causing service jitter.
Fifth, a monitoring method in a packet transport channel handover process, which relates to a packet transport channel handover of a terminal from a source GAN cell to a target RAT cell. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a further specific way for the terminal to perform the release protection operation is provided. The method flow is shown in fig. 6, and includes:
e1, the terminal judges that the terminal is in the packet transmission channel switching process of switching out the source GAN cell;
the specific judgment method can be as described in the first embodiment.
E2, the terminal receives the release information of releasing the packet transmission channel;
this information is typically sent by the source GANC to the terminal;
e3, the terminal triggers the protection releasing operation of the occupied packet transmission channel in the generic access network, that is: the release information is not executed, or the release information is not executed and the release refusing information is returned, and the release refusing information can contain refusing reasons, such as switching in progress.
The method in this embodiment may be used simultaneously with the method in the first, third, or fourth embodiment, and release protection is performed on the packet transport channel for packet transport channel release operations that may be generated by the terminal itself and the network side, respectively.
In this embodiment, the packet transport channel switching process and the monitoring of the packet transport channel are logically associated, and the terminal performs a rejection operation when the source GANC initiates the release of the packet transport channel, so that the packet transport channel is not prematurely released in the switching process, and when the switching is abnormal, the terminal can smoothly and timely return to the source general access network cell, thereby avoiding causing service jitter.
Sixth embodiment, a monitoring method in a packet transport channel handover process, where the present embodiment relates to a packet transport channel handover of a terminal from a source RAT cell to a target GAN cell, and a flow of the method is shown in fig. 7, where the method includes:
f1, the target GANC establishes a packet transmission channel for a terminal needing to switch into the local cell;
when the terminal performs packet transmission Channel switching from a source RAT cell to a target GAN cell for some reason, the target GANC receives switching preparation information sent by a core network and establishes a GA-PSR Transport Channel for the terminal according to the information.
F2, after establishing the packet transmission channel, the target GANC triggers the monitoring of the packet transmission channel, and releases the established packet transmission channel when the set monitoring condition is fulfilled. In this embodiment, two simple and easy monitoring modes are provided, which may be alternatively or concurrently adopted, including:
in a first way,
F21, starting a second timer for the established packet transmission channel;
f22, after the second timer is overtime, judging whether the packet transmission channel switching of the corresponding terminal is successfully completed, if not, releasing the established packet transmission channel; and, the target GANC can further notify the source network that the handover fails; and judging whether the link resource to the core network is established or not, if so, releasing.
The timing length of the second timer can be set by the GANC itself or through network configuration.
The second way,
F23, the target GANC judges whether the terminal needing switching in cancels registration when the switching is not completed successfully, and the judgment can be based on that the target GANC receives a deregistration message (GA-RC register) sent by the terminal or that the target GANC sends the deregistration message to the terminal; if yes, releasing the established packet transmission channel and informing the source network of the switching failure; and judging whether the link resource to the core network is established or not, if so, releasing.
In the two manners, the successful completion of the packet transmission channel switching of the terminal is judged, which may be based on the reception of uplink packet data or signaling sent by the terminal, or based on the reception of a switching completion message sent by the terminal.
The method of this embodiment can be used in combination with the first to fifth embodiments, and monitors the corresponding packet transmission channel when the terminal switches in and out the GAN cell.
In the existing process of switching into a GAN cell, when a terminal receives a switching command of a source cell and is switched to a target GAN cell, if the connection is abnormal and the terminal is lost, the GANC may not receive uplink data or a switching completion message of the terminal, and meanwhile, the source GANC has no effective monitoring means and can release the established GA-PSR Transportchannel only after the terminal is considered to be unregistered; in addition, the source GANC cannot timely release resources between the GANC and the core network, which causes resource waste. In this embodiment, the packet transport channel switching process and the monitoring of the packet transport channel are logically associated, and the source GANC monitors the packet transport channel established for the hand-in terminal, so that resources can be released in time under the condition of abnormal switching, and resource waste caused by the fact that the loss of the terminal cannot be detected in time is avoided.
Seventh embodiment, a terminal, as shown in fig. 8, includes:
a handover processing unit 11, configured to perform packet transport channel handover from a source generic access network cell to a target cell;
a packet channel timer 12 for timing;
a channel release protection unit 13, configured to trigger a release protection operation on an occupied packet transport channel in the generic access network in a process that the handover processing unit 11 performs packet transport channel handover, where the release protection operation is used to avoid sending packet transport channel release information to the source generic access network controller; in this embodiment, the protection releasing operation triggered by the channel protection releasing unit 12 is embodied as sending an instruction to stop running to the packet channel timer 12;
a channel monitoring unit 14, configured to monitor the packet channel timer 12, and send packet transport channel release information to the source generic access network controller after the packet channel timer 12 times out;
the terminal of the embodiment can be applied to the monitoring method in the packet transmission channel switching process provided in the first embodiment.
Eighth embodiment, a terminal, as shown in fig. 9, includes:
a handover processing unit 21 configured to perform a packet transport channel handover from a source generic access network cell to a target cell;
a packet channel timer 22 for timing;
a channel release protection unit 23, configured to trigger a release protection operation on an occupied packet transmission channel in the generic access network in a process that the switching processing unit 21 performs packet transmission channel switching, that is, monitor operation of the packet channel timer 22, and send a restart instruction to the packet channel timer 22 after the packet channel timer 22 times out;
a channel monitoring unit 24, configured to monitor the packet channel timer 22, and after the packet channel timer 22 times out, determine whether the packet channel timer 22 is restarted, if yes, not send packet transport channel release information to the source generic access network controller; if not, sending packet transmission channel release information to the source universal access network controller;
the terminal of the embodiment can be applied to the monitoring method in the packet transmission channel switching process provided by the third embodiment.
Ninth embodiment, a terminal, as shown in fig. 10, includes:
a handover processing unit 31 for performing a packet transport channel handover from a source generic access network cell to a target cell;
a packet channel timer 32 for timing;
a first timer 33 for timing;
a channel release protection unit 34, configured to trigger a release protection operation on an occupied packet transmission channel in the universal access network in a process that the switching processing unit 31 performs packet transmission channel switching, that is, send a start instruction to the first timer 33;
a channel monitoring unit 35, configured to monitor the packet channel timer 32, after the packet channel timer 32 times out, determine whether the first timer 33 times out, if not, not send packet transmission channel release information to the source generic access network controller, and restart the packet channel timer 32; and if so, sending packet transmission channel release information to the source universal access network controller.
The terminal of the embodiment can be applied to the monitoring method in the packet transmission channel switching process provided by the fourth embodiment.
Tenth embodiment, a terminal, as shown in fig. 11, includes:
a handover processing unit 41, configured to perform packet transport channel handover from a source generic access network cell to a target cell;
an information receiving unit 42 for receiving release information for releasing the packet transmission channel;
a channel release protection unit 43, configured to trigger a release protection operation when the information receiving unit 42 receives release information for releasing the packet transmission channel, and not execute the release information, or not execute the release information and return release rejection information.
The terminal of the embodiment can be applied to the monitoring method in the packet transmission channel switching process provided by the fifth embodiment. In addition, the information receiving unit and the channel release protection unit of the terminal in this embodiment may be merged and configured in the terminal in the seventh, eighth, or ninth embodiment, and the specific configuration may be that the information receiving unit is added in the terminal in the seventh, eighth, or ninth embodiment, and the function of the channel release protection unit in this embodiment is merged in the original channel release protection unit.
An eleventh embodiment is a generic access network controller, as shown in fig. 12, including:
a switching-out processing unit 51, configured to perform packet transmission channel switching from a current generic access network cell to a target cell;
a first channel control unit 52, configured to receive packet transmission channel release information sent by the terminal; judging whether the switching processing unit 51 is executing the switching of the packet transmission channel of the terminal, if so, refusing to release the packet transmission channel. The first channel control unit 42 may also return release rejection information to the terminal when the release information transmitted by the terminal is not executed.
The generic access network controller in this embodiment can monitor the packet transport channel occupied by the terminal that cuts out the GAN cell, and may be applied to the monitoring method in the packet transport channel switching process provided in the second embodiment.
An embodiment twelve is a generic access network controller, as shown in fig. 13, including:
a hand-in processing unit 61, configured to perform packet transmission channel switching from other source cells to the current generic access network cell;
and the second channel control unit 62 is configured to trigger monitoring of the packet transmission channel after the hand-in processing unit 61 establishes the packet transmission channel for the terminal, and release the established packet transmission channel when the set monitoring condition is met. In this embodiment, the second channel control units 62 may alternatively or jointly use the following two structures, for the sake of brevity, fig. 13 only shows the case where the second channel control units 62 jointly use two structures, and in practice, one group of structures may be deleted arbitrarily.
The first structure comprises:
a second timer 621 for timing;
the first control subunit 622, configured to send a start instruction to the second timer 621 and monitor the second timer 621 after the hand-in processing unit 61 establishes the packet transmission channel for the terminal; after the second timer 621 times out, it is determined whether the handover of the terminal is successfully completed, and if not, the established packet transport channel is released to notify the source network that the handover fails; and judging whether the link resource to the core network is established or not, if so, releasing.
The second structure comprises:
a registration monitoring unit 623, configured to determine, after the hand-in processing unit 61 establishes a packet transmission channel for the terminal, whether the terminal cancels registration when handover is not successfully completed;
a second control subunit 624, configured to release the established packet transmission channel when the registration monitoring unit 623 determines that the packet transmission channel is established, and notify the source network that the handover fails; and judging whether the link resource to the core network is established or not, if so, releasing.
The generic access network controller in this embodiment can monitor the packet transport channel occupied by the terminal that is handed into the GAN cell, and may be applied to the monitoring method in the packet transport channel switching process provided in the sixth embodiment.
In practical applications, the logical structures of the generic access network controllers provided in the eleventh and twelfth embodiments may be combined, so that the combined generic access network controller can support the monitoring function for the packet transport channels occupied by the terminals switching in and out of the GAN cell.
It can be seen from the above embodiments that the application of the embodiments of the present invention logically associates the packet transmission channel switching process with the monitoring of the packet transmission channel; when the terminal is switched out from the GAN cell, the packet transmission channel is not released prematurely in the switching process, and when the switching is abnormal, the terminal can smoothly and timely return to the source general access network cell, so that service jitter is avoided; when the terminal is switched into the GAN cell, resources can be released in time once switching abnormity such as terminal loss occurs, and resource waste caused by the fact that the terminal loss cannot be detected in time is avoided.
The monitoring method in the packet transport channel switching process, the corresponding terminal and the generic access network controller provided by the present invention are introduced in detail above, and a specific example is applied in the present document to explain the principle and the implementation of the present invention, and the description of the above embodiment is only used to help understanding the method of the present invention and the core idea thereof; 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.