CN101784113A

CN101784113A - Paging system, paging method and equipment

Info

Publication number: CN101784113A
Application number: CN200910077196A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 温立; 吴晓波; 张戬; 胡华东
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2009-01-19
Filing date: 2009-01-19
Publication date: 2010-07-21
Anticipated expiration: 2029-01-19
Also published as: CN101784113B; WO2010081435A1

Abstract

The invention discloses a paging system, a paging method and equipment. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a paging message sent by a mobile switching center; and selecting one or more bearer from the existing bearers capable of transmitting circuit-switched domain signaling to send the paging message to user equipment (UE) according to the pre-obtained radio access network type information, wherein the existing bearers include a second signaling bearer and a third signaling bearer. When moving to the GERAN or UTRAN coverage area from the E-UTRAN coverage area, the UE still does not release the bearers set up based on E-UTRAN, so that the UE dispenses with re-setting up the E-UTRAN-based bearers when returning to the E-UTRAN coverage area, thus avoiding vast signaling flows and data flows and saving the network and UE resources.

Description

Paging system, paging method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a paging system, a paging method, and a device.

Background

In order to improve system performance, a second generation communication system/third generation communication system (2/3G) is evolving into a Long Term Evolution system (LTE). Among them, the 2G Radio Access Network is a Global System for mobile communications System Radio Access Network (GSM Evolution Radio Access Network, GERAN), the 3G Radio Access Network is a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), the LTE Radio Access Network is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network, eun.2/3G core Network includes a Circuit Switched (CS) domain and a Packet Switched domain (PS) domain, the Voice service in 2/3G is generally provided by the CS domain, the Voice service in IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), i.e. Voice over internet service (IMS), is more difficult to implement due to the cost of Voice over IP (VoIP) System and VoIP System, for this reason, the CS domain of 2/3G needs to be reused to implement voice services. One current solution is to adopt a Generic Access Network-like (GAN-like) Architecture, in which a Generic Access Network Controller (GANC) needs to be added in the System Architecture Evolution (SAE) of the existing LTE, and the voice service of the LTE is realized through the GANC without deploying IMS. In the existing GAN-like architecture, when a User Equipment (UE) resides in 2/3G, a CS domain bearer and a PS domain bearer need to be established, and when the UE resides in LTE, a LTE bearer needs to be established.

The inventor finds that in the prior art, when the UE moves from LTE to 2/3G, the UE actively releases the bearer in LTE, and when the UE subsequently moves from 2/3G back to LTE, the UE needs to reinitiate the GANC discovery process and reestablish the bearer for transmitting CS signaling, which may cause a large amount of signaling flow and data flow, and increase the burden on the network and the UE.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a paging system, a paging method and paging equipment, which solve the problem of a large amount of signaling streams and data streams caused by the existing reestablishment of load in LTE.

The embodiment of the invention provides a paging system, which comprises User Equipment (UE) for receiving a paging message, wherein the UE is connected with a mobile switching center of a core network circuit domain through a first signaling bearer in a circuit domain of a global system for mobile communication (GERAN) or Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), the UE is connected with the mobile switching center of the core network circuit domain through a second signaling bearer in a packet domain of the GERAN or the UTRAN, and the UE is connected with the mobile switching center of the core network circuit domain through a third signaling bearer in an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN).

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

receiving a paging message sent by a mobile switching center;

and selecting one or more bearers from the existing bearers available for transmitting the circuit domain signaling according to the pre-acquired radio access network type information, and sending the paging message to the user equipment, wherein the existing bearers available for transmitting the circuit domain signaling comprise a second signaling bearer and a third signaling bearer.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a paging method, which is applied to the system and comprises the following steps:

receiving a paging message issued through a bearer;

and judging whether the paging message issued through another bearer is received or not, and if the paging message issued through another bearer is received, ignoring the paging message issued through the one bearer.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a GANC, including:

a first receiving module, configured to receive a paging message sent by a mobile switching center;

and the sending module is connected with the first receiving module and used for selecting one or more bearers from the existing bearers which can be used for transmitting the circuit domain signaling according to the pre-acquired type information of the radio access network and sending the paging message to the user equipment, wherein the existing bearers which can be used for transmitting the circuit domain signaling comprise a second signaling bearer and a third signaling bearer.

The embodiment of the invention provides a UE, which is applied to the system and comprises the following components:

a second receiving module, configured to receive a paging message delivered through a bearer;

and the processing module is connected with the second receiving module and used for judging whether the paging message issued by the other bearer is received or not, and if the paging message issued by the other bearer is received, the processing module ignores the paging message issued by the one bearer.

According to the technical scheme, the UE is connected with the voice network through the third bearer in the LTE network, namely when the UE moves from the LTE to 2/3G, the UE still does not release the bearer in the LTE, so that when the UE returns to the LTE again, the UE does not need to rebuild the bearer in the LTE, a large amount of signaling streams and data streams are avoided, and the resources of the network and the UE are saved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a paging system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method for issuing a paging message according to an access network type according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of a method for issuing a paging message according to an access network type according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a method according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a control plane protocol stack architecture diagram of a user equipment according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a GANC according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solution of the present invention is further described in detail by the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

The GAN-like architecture can realize that CS voice is loaded on an Evolved PS (EPS) domain, and the GAN architecture is used to reuse a CS service network to realize IP voice service (VoIP over LTE) on LTE without deploying an IMS network; meanwhile, a Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SR-VCC) switching mechanism between an IMS and a CS (CS) can be used for enhancing the switching mechanism of the GAN, and Policy and Charging Control (PCC) is used for enhancing the VoIP bearer controlled by the GANC.

In the early period of LTE/SAE deployment, the typical coverage situation is that the conventional 2/3G system maintains large-area coverage, and the LTE/SAE system performs dotted coverage as a supplement. In this case, the user may move between the LTE/SAE system and the 2/3G system relatively frequently. When a user moves across systems, according to the processing manner of the conventional 2/3G system, the UE in idle state needs to perform location update again when entering a new system. Thus, when users frequently cross different systems, it is necessary to cause frequent system reselections and add a significant amount of location update signaling. The purpose of Idle-mode signaling Reduction (ISR) method is to reduce the amount of registration/update signaling when the user frequently moves between different systems (especially 2/3G system and LTE/SAE system).

The main idea of the existing ISR scheme is to set a Routing Area (RA) of 2/3G and a Tracking Area (TA) of LTE/SAE adjacent to each other as an equivalent location Area, when a UE enters an access system, register according to a common registration/update procedure, and the network allocates a temporary identifier and a location Area identifier to the UE; when the UE enters another access system under the condition of ISR activation, a location updating process is initiated, and the network allocates the temporary identification and the location domain identification of the new system. At this time, the core network nodes of the two systems for providing service for the UE are registered in the HSS, and simultaneously provide service for the UE, and when the UE moves back and forth between the two systems again, because of the existence of the association relationship, the registration/update process does not need to be initiated again, thereby achieving the purposes of reducing the route update signaling and saving air interface resources. When the association is established, when downlink data arrives for idle-state UE, paging is carried out in the two systems simultaneously. The network will send downlink data to the access system that responded to the paging message. For example, the UE accesses an LTE/SAE system and an 2/3G system respectively in sequence; after ISR activation, both MME and SGSN register with HSS respectively, UE obtains Packet network Temporary Mobile subscriber Identity (P-TMSI) or Routing Area Identity (RAI) allocated by SGSN of 2/3G system and Globally Unique Temporary Identity (GUTI) or Tracking Area Identity (TAI) allocated by MME of LTE/SAE system respectively. When UE moves between registered LTE/SAE and 2/3G systems, according to the incidence relation between P-TMSI/RAI and GUTI/TAI, TA updating or RA updating process does not need to be initiated, and registration/updating process does not need to be initiated again, thereby reducing route updating signaling and saving air interface resources.

Under the existing GAN-like csoesps architecture, when a UE camps on LTE, the related CS signaling needs to be transmitted on LTE bearers. When the UE moves from LTE to 2/3G, the UE actively releases the LTE bearer. When the subsequent UE moves back to LTE from 2/3G, the UE needs to reinitiate the GANC discovery procedure, and reestablish the bearer for transmitting CS signaling, and register to MSC/VLR through the signaling bearer. When the UE frequently moves between systems, this increases the burden on the network and the UE, and especially wastes air interface resources. If the network introduces an ISR mechanism, registration/location update which should not be frequently triggered when the UE in an idle mode moves between LTE and UTRAN/GERAN is required, otherwise, a large amount of air interface wireless resources are occupied by the generated corresponding signaling. However, currently, by applying the bearer establishment and deletion method under the GAN-likecsoesps architecture, since the LTE bearer is deleted when the UE moves from LTE to 2/3G, and then the UE needs to reestablish the LTE bearer after returning to LTE, reestablishing the LTE bearer inevitably causes a large amount of signaling streams and data streams, which results in ISR failure, or there is no way to introduce an ISR mechanism to allow the ISR and csoesps to coexist. Therefore, the embodiment of the invention aims to solve the problem of coexistence of CSoEPS and ISR so as to reduce a large amount of occupation of air interface signaling on wireless resources.

To this end, an embodiment of the present invention provides a paging system, including a UE configured to receive a paging message, where the UE is connected to an MSC/VLR of a core network circuit domain through a first signaling bearer in a CS domain of a GERAN or UTRAN, the UE is connected to the MSC/VLR of the core network circuit domain through a second signaling bearer in the PS domain of the GERAN or UTRAN, and the UE is connected to the MSC/VLR of the core network circuit domain through a third signaling bearer in the E-UTRAN.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a paging system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, which includes a UE101, an evolved Base station (eNodeB)102 located in an E-UTRAN, a Mobile Management Entity (MME) 103, a Serving Gateway (S-GW) 104, a Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN-GW) 105, a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) 106, a GANC107, a Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (Policy Control and Charging Rules Function) 108, a Mobile Switching Center/Visitor location register (MSC/VLR) 109, a Base transceiver station/Base station (PCRF/Gateway/Controller, BTS/Base station Controller 110, a Base station Controller (BTS/NodeB/access Network), BSC/RNC)111, and IP network 112 and voice network 113. UE101 is connected to eNodeB102 via LTE-Uu interface, eNodeB102 is connected to MME103 via S1-MME interface, eNodeB102 is connected to S-GW104 via S1-U interface, MME103 is connected to S-GW104 via S11 interface, MME103 is connected to SGSN106 via S3 interface, MME103 is connected to GANC107 via Sv interface, S-GW104 is connected to PDN-GW105 via S5 interface, S-GW104 is connected to SGSN106 via S4 interface, PDN-GW105 is connected to PCRF108 via S7 interface, PDN-GW105 is connected to GANC107 via SGi interface, PDN-GW105 is connected to IP network 112 (e.g. IMS) via SGi interface, SGSN106 is connected to MSC/RNC 111 via Iu-PS/Gb BSC/RNC111, BSC/RNC111 is connected to MSC/VLR109 via Iu-CS/A interface, GANC107 is connected to MSC/VLR109 via Iu-CS/A interface. The S-GW104 may be in the same physical node as the PDN-GW105 or in a different physical node. MME103 and S-GW104 may also be in the same physical node or separate physical nodes. When the above logic entities are in the same physical node, the interface signaling between them is converted into internal node message. Non-access Stratum (NAS) signaling is transmitted between the UE and the GANC through EPS bearer, and then is sent to the MSC/VLR by the GANC simulation BSC/RNC. When UE moves to the boundary of LTE and GERAN/UTRAN, MME instructs GANC to initiate the Intra/Inter-MSC switch through Sv interface, and CS service is switched to GERAN/UTRAN CS network. The GANC has a role similar to BSS/RNS, and its main function is to provide a signaling channel between the UE and the MSC, the UE is connected to the GANC through an IP access network, and the GANC is responsible for data interaction between the user plane and the control plane. The GANC also contains MGW functionality to convert 2G CS based speech coding to IP based speech coding. From an implementation point of view, the logical entity may be integrated in the MSC, may exist separately, or may even be integrated in the packet access network. When fused in an MSC, the legacy MSC and GANC together constitute an enhanced MSC. The interface between the GANC and the MSC can be an external interface or an internal interface (if the GANC is integrated with the MSC, the access is an internal interface), which can be in the form of an Iu-CS interface, or an a interface, or other forms of interface. The connection relationship between the MSC and the GANC can be one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one or many-to-many. Interface between GANC and packet access network SAE: an Sv interface is arranged between the GANC and the MME, and an SGi interface is arranged between the GANC and the PDN-GW.

The network element shown in fig. 1 is a network element of an existing GAN-like architecture, and unlike the existing GAN-like architecture, the system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes three signaling bearers.

Specifically, the first signaling bearer is a signaling bearer (for example, shown by a short line in fig. 1) connecting an MSC/VLR, a GERAN, and a UE of a core network circuit domain; the second signaling bearer is a signaling bearer of an MSC/VLR, GANC, SGSN, UTRAN and UE connected to a circuit domain of a core network (for example, shown by a chain line in fig. 1); the third signaling bearer is a signaling bearer (e.g., shown by dotted lines in fig. 1) connecting the MSC/VLR, GANC, PDN-GW, S-GW, E-UTRAN and the UE of the core network circuit domain. In the existing GAN-like architecture, when the UE moves from LTE to 2/3G, the LTE bearer is deleted and the third signaling bearer is deleted. The embodiment of the invention still reserves the third signaling bearer of the LTE even when the UE moves from the LTE to 2/3G, and particularly can realize the reservation of the third signaling bearer by not executing the prior subsequent flow of deleting the third signaling bearer. The specific retention time can be determined by the GANC according to the actual situation.

In this embodiment, by maintaining the LTE bearer, that is, when the UE moves from LTE to 2/3G, the LTE bearer for transmitting the CS signaling is always maintained, so that the problem of a large amount of signaling streams and data streams consumed by reestablishing the LTE bearer when the UE moves back to LTE can be avoided, and radio resources can be saved.

Under the condition that the three bearers exist, how to issue the paging message of the voice network and how to process the paging message by the UE need to be considered.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method according to a second embodiment of the present invention, which includes:

step 21: and the GANC receives the paging message sent by the MSC/VLR.

Step 22: and the GANC selects one or more bearers from the existing bearers which can be used for transmitting the circuit domain signaling to send the paging message according to the pre-acquired radio access network type information, wherein the existing bearers which can be used for transmitting the circuit domain signaling comprise a second signaling bearer and a third signaling bearer.

By maintaining the LTE bearer, the present embodiment can avoid the problem of massive data streams and signaling streams caused by reestablishing the LTE bearer when the UE moves back to LTE from 2/3G.

In order to maintain the third signaling bearer, before the step, the method may further include maintaining a connection state of the third signaling bearer established based on the E-UTRAN, which is available for transferring the circuit domain signaling, when the UE moves from the E-UTRAN into the GERAN or UTRAN coverage area.

In order to effectively save signaling, when the UE moves from one cell to another cell in the coverage area of GERAN or UTRAN, if the LA of the location area where the UE is located is changed, the second signaling bearer which can be used for transmitting circuit domain signaling and is established based on the packet domain of GERAN or UTRAN is released.

The following steps are described in more detail:

before step 22, the method may further include the GANC acquiring the above radio access network type information: the GANC may notify the current access network type (GERAN in 2G, UTRAN in 3G, or E-UTRAN in LTE) of the UE from the PCRF to the GANC during the PCC procedure for signaling bearer negotiation, or the UE may directly report the current access network type to the GANC through an UP' or Z1 interface, or the UE may report the access network type through a CS domain, or the like.

With respect to step 22:

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method for issuing a paging message according to an access network type in a second embodiment of the present invention, where for a case where ISR is not activated, when a UE moves from LTE to 2/3G. The embodiment comprises the following steps:

step 31: the MSC/VLR issues the paging message of the voice network to the UE through the first bearer, i.e., to the GERAN entity through the Iu-CS/a interface, and the GERAN entity issues to the UE, for example, as shown by the short line in fig. 1.

Step 32: MSC/VLR sends paging message of voice network to GANC through Iu-CS/A interface.

Step 33: after receiving the paging message, the GANC determines whether the UE is currently in 2G according to the acquired access network type, if so, step 34 is executed, otherwise, step 35 is executed, that is, the UE executes step 35 in 3G.

Step 34: the GANC determines whether the UE supports Dual Transfer Mode (DTM), if so, step 35 is executed, otherwise, step 36 is executed. The UE supports DTM, and the PS domain bearer exists, otherwise, the PS domain bearer does not exist.

Step 35: the GANC issues the paging message to the UE through the second bearer, that is, the GANC sends the paging message to the UTRAN entity through the SGSN, and the UTRAN entity issues the paging message to the UE, for example, see the dashed-dotted line in fig. 1.

Step 36: the GANC issues paging messages over the third bearer of LTE, e.g., see dotted line in fig. 1.

Step 31 has no timing constraint with respect to the subsequent steps 32-36.

As can be seen from the above procedure, when ISR is not activated and the UE moves from LTE to 2/3G, the paging message may be sent to the UE from the first bearer in the CS domain and the second bearer in the PS domain, or from the first bearer in the CS domain and the third bearer in LTE. Namely, the GANC knows that the UE is at 2/3G, and decides to forward the paging message to 2/3G PS domain or to LTE after receiving the paging from MSC/VLR. Although there are 3 bearers (CS domain bearer, PS domain bearer, LTE bearer), the GANC may only issue paging messages to two of the bearers by determining the access network type, so as to save air interface resources.

In the embodiment, by determining the type of the access network, the paging message can be sent on a suitable bearer instead of all bearers, so that resources can be saved.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of a method for issuing a paging message according to an access network type in the second embodiment of the present invention, where the second embodiment is directed to a case of activating an ISR. The embodiment comprises the following steps:

step 41-42: corresponding to steps 31-32.

Step 43: the GANC determines whether to network 2/3G. If yes, go to step 44, otherwise, i.e. the UE is currently in the LTE network, go to step 45.

Step 44: the process flow in 2/3G proceeds, as can be seen in particular in steps 33-36 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Step 45: the GANC issues the paging message to the UE through the third bearer, that is, the GANC sends the paging message to the EUTRAN entity through the PDN-GW and the S-GW, and the EUTRAN entity issues the paging message to the UE, for example, as shown by a dotted line in fig. 1.

The ISR activation procedure is completed when the UE performs a combined routing area update/location area update (RAU/LAU) procedure or a separate Location Area Update (LAU) procedure after entering the 2/3G area. The ISR may also not be activated in a combined RAU/LAU procedure or in a single LAU procedure, whether or not to activate the ISR may depend on operator policy, etc. After the UE completes the location update procedure after entering the 2/3G area, the UE may establish a signaling path with the 2/3G CS domain core network MSC/VLR regardless of whether ISR is activated. The following possibilities are possible: (1) if the UE is stationed in 2/3G CS area, the paging message of core network MSC paging UE is sent to GERAN entity by Iu-CS/A interface, and sent to UE by GERAN entity; (2) if the UE is stationed in 2/3GPS area, paging message of core network MSC paging UE is sent to GANC through Iu-CS/A interface, and is sent to UE through UTRAN entity via IP connection between GANC and UE. It can be seen that, after the UE moves from LTE to 2/3G area, since the embodiment of the present invention requires that the signaling bearer of csoesps in LTE is not released, in fact, when a paging message needs to be issued, there may be three paths: the first bearer shown in (1) above, the second bearer shown in (2) above, and the third bearer (IP bearer of csoesps).

In the embodiment, by determining the type of the access network, the paging message can be sent on a suitable bearer instead of all bearers, so that resources can be saved. The paging message is transmitted through two signaling bearers, or the paging message is transmitted through three signaling bearers to improve reliability.

As can be seen from the above description, when the UE is at 2/3G, the network side may send the paging message to the UE from the CS domain and the PS domain at the same time, and in order to avoid an abnormality in processing the paging message by the UE, the UE needs to ignore the paging message received for the second time. I.e. once the UE receives a paging message sent over the packet domain of GERAN or the packet domain of UTRAN; or receiving a paging message sent by a GERAN circuit domain or a UTRAN circuit domain; alternatively, a paging message sent over the E-UTRAN is received, where the UE only responds to the paging from the CS domain (similar to the CSFB procedure). Thereafter, if the UE repeatedly receives another paging request, the UE does not process the paging request. I.e., the UE has repeated paging ignore capability.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a method according to a third embodiment of the present invention, which is applied to the system according to the first embodiment, and includes, for processing at the UE side:

step 51: the UE receives a paging message transmitted over one bearer.

Step 52: the UE determines whether the paging message sent via another bearer has been received, if yes, step 53 is performed, otherwise, step 54 is performed.

Step 53: the paging message is ignored.

Step 54: and receiving and processing the paging message, and performing normal GAN-like CSoEPS processing.

The embodiment can avoid abnormal collision caused by repeated paging by having a flow of ignoring paging messages.

Fig. 6 is a control plane protocol stack architecture diagram of a user equipment according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Because the embodiment of the present invention still needs to maintain the bearer of the LTE even after the UE moves from the LTE to 2/3G, for this reason, a Control Plane (Control Plane) protocol stack of the UE needs to be appropriately added, so that the UE has the capability of supporting the csoesps. The newly added functional entities comprise Access mode switch, GA Layer3Protocols, TCP/IP and IPSec ESP, and the rest functional entities are the existing functional entities. The existing functional entity is a functional entity supporting E-UTRAN and UTRAN, and the newly added functional entity is used for supporting the CSoEPS service based on GAN-like. Wherein, for GAN A/Gb mode, "GA Layer3 Protocols" are generic Access Resource Control (GA-RC) and generic Access Circuit Switch Resources (GA-CSR); for GAN Iu mode, "GA Layer3 Protocols" are GA-RC and general Access radio resource Control (GA-RRC). The GAN a/Gb mode and the GAN Iu mode are interface modes between two access networks and a core network. GA-RC is control plane protocol, GA-CSR and GA-RRC are user plane protocols. The repetition ignoring capability of the UE can also be realized by the above-mentioned added entity.

The embodiment of the invention is beneficial to an operator to fully utilize an 2/3G circuit domain network, thereby solving the problem that corresponding signaling occupies a large amount of air interface wireless resources due to frequent triggering of registration/position updating when idle mode UE moves between LTE and UTRAN/GERAN on the premise of protecting investment of the operator in the circuit domain. Meanwhile, the problem of carrying and processing the GAN-like CSoPS signaling is solved, and data and signaling are saved; and, the coexistence problem of GAN-like CSoPS and ISR can be solved.

The embodiment of the invention is also suitable for providing voice by a user when the user performs GAN-like CSoEPS in a CDMA20001xRTT circuit domain core network 1xRTT MSC/VLR, namely the embodiment is similar to LTE-1 xRTTCSoPS. Similarly, the embodiment of the invention is also suitable for the conditions that the IP-CAN network is HSPA, WiMAX, 3GPP2, UMB and the like.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a GANC according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which is applied to the system shown in the first embodiment and includes a first receiving module 71 and a sending module 72. The first receiving module 71 is configured to receive a paging message sent by the MSC/VLR; the sending module 72 is connected to the first receiving module 71, and configured to select one or more bearers from existing bearers available for transmitting circuit domain signaling according to the pre-obtained radio access network type information, and send the paging message to the user equipment, where the existing bearers available for transmitting circuit domain signaling include a second signaling bearer and a third signaling bearer.

The embodiment may further include an obtaining module, connected to the sending module 72, configured to obtain, in a PCC process of performing signaling bearer negotiation, type information of a radio access network where the user equipment is currently located from a message returned by the PCRF; or, the method is used for receiving the type information of the radio access network where the user equipment is currently located, which is reported by the user equipment through a UP' or Z1 interface; or, the method is used for receiving the radio access network type information of the user equipment currently located, which is reported by the circuit domain by the user equipment.

In this embodiment, when the UE moves from E-UTRAN into GERAN or UTRAN and does not activate idle mode signaling compression ISR, the sending module 72 is specifically configured to issue the paging message from a second signaling bearer in a packet domain when the radio access network type is GERAN and supports dual transfer mode DTM, or when the radio access network type is UTRAN; and when the radio access network type is GERAN but the DTM is not supported, the paging message is issued from a third signaling bearer of the E-UTRAN. When activating ISR, the sending module 72 is specifically configured to issue the paging message from a second signaling bearer in a packet domain when the radio access network type is GERAN and supports DTM, or when the radio access network type is UTRAN; and when the radio access network type is GERAN but does not support DTM, or the radio access network type is E-UTRAN, issuing the paging message from a third signaling bearer in the E-UTRAN.

By maintaining the LTE bearer, the embodiments can avoid the problem of massive data flow and signaling flow caused by reestablishing the LTE bearer when the UE moves back to LTE from 2/3G.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, which is applied to the system shown in the first embodiment and includes a second receiving module 81 and a processing module 82. The second receiving module 81 is configured to receive a paging message sent via a bearer; the processing module 82 is connected to the second receiving module 81, and is configured to determine whether the paging message delivered through another bearer has been received, and ignore the paging message delivered through the one bearer if the paging message delivered through the another bearer has been received.

Specifically, the second receiving module 81 is specifically configured to receive a paging message sent through a packet domain of GERAN or a packet domain of UTRAN; or, specifically, the ue is configured to receive a paging message sent through a GERAN circuit domain or a UTRAN circuit domain; or, in particular, for receiving a paging message sent by the E-UTRAN; the UE may further include: a response module, connected to the processing module 82, for responding to the paging message from the circuit domain of GERAN or UTRAN.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: all or part of the steps for implementing the method embodiments may be implemented by hardware related to program instructions, and the program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and when executed, the program performs the steps including the method embodiments; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solutions of the present invention and not for limiting the same, and although the present invention is described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that: modifications and equivalents may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A paging system, characterized in that, it includes a user equipment UE for receiving paging message, the user equipment is connected with the mobile switching center of the core network circuit domain through a first signaling bearer in the circuit domain of a global system for mobile communications radio access network GERAN or a universal terrestrial radio access network UTRAN, the user equipment is connected with the mobile switching center of the core network circuit domain through a second signaling bearer in the packet domain of the GERAN or the UTRAN, the user equipment is connected with the mobile switching center of the core network circuit domain through a third signaling bearer in an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network E-UTRAN.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first signaling bearer is a signaling bearer connecting a mobile switching center, a GERAN, and a UE of a core network circuit domain; the second signaling bearer is the signaling bearer of a mobile switching center, a General Access Network Controller (GANC), a serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) support node (SGSN), a UTRAN and a UE which are connected with a core network circuit domain; the third signaling bearer is the signaling bearer of a mobile switching center, a GANC, a packet data network gateway PDN-GW, a serving gateway S-GW, an E-UTRAN and UE which are connected with a core network circuit domain.

3. A method for paging, comprising:

receiving a paging message sent by a mobile switching center;

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

in the PCC process of signaling bearing negotiation, the GANC acquires the type information of the wireless access network where the user equipment is currently located from the message returned by the PCRF; or,

the GANC receives the type information of the wireless access network where the user equipment is currently located, which is reported by the user equipment through an UP' or Z1 interface; or,

and the GANC receives the type information of the wireless access network where the user equipment is currently located, which is reported by the user equipment from the circuit domain.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein when the UE moves from E-UTRAN into GERAN or UTRAN and does not activate idle mode signaling compression ISR, the selecting one or more bearers from existing bearers available for transmitting circuit domain signaling for issuing the paging message according to the pre-obtained radio access network type information comprises:

if the radio access network type is GERAN and supports dual transfer mode DTM, or the radio access network type is UTRAN, issuing the paging message from a second signaling bearer of a packet domain;

and if the radio access network type is GERAN but the DTM is not supported, the paging message is issued from a third signaling bearer of the E-UTRAN.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein when activating ISR, the selecting one or more bearers from existing bearers available for transmitting circuit domain signaling to issue the paging message according to the pre-obtained radio access network type information comprises:

if the radio access network type is GERAN and supports DTM, or the radio access network type is UTRAN, issuing the paging message from a second signaling bearer of a packet domain;

and if the radio access network type is GERAN but does not support DTM, or the radio access network type is E-UTRAN, issuing the paging message from a third signaling bearer in the E-UTRAN.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

when the UE moves from the E-UTRAN into a GERAN or UTRAN coverage area, a third signaling bearer established based on the E-UTRAN and used for transmitting circuit domain signaling keeps a connection state;

when UE moves from one cell to another cell in GERAN or UTRAN coverage area, if LA of UE location area changes, second signaling load based on GERAN or UTRAN grouping domain setup for transferring circuit domain signaling is released.

8. A paging method applied to the system of claim 1, comprising:

receiving a paging message issued through a bearer;

9. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the paging message delivered over a bearer comprises:

receiving a paging message transmitted through a packet domain of a GERAN or a packet domain of a UTRAN; or,

receiving a paging message sent through a circuit domain of GERAN or a circuit domain of UTRAN; or,

receiving a paging message transmitted through an E-UTRAN;

the method further comprises the following steps: responding to the paging message from a circuit domain of the GERAN or UTRAN.

10. A GANC, comprising:

11. The GANC according to claim 10, further comprising:

an obtaining module, connected to the sending module, configured to obtain, from a message returned by a policy control and charging rules function entity PCRF, type information of a radio access network where the user equipment is currently located in a PCC process for performing signaling bearer negotiation; or, the method is used for receiving the type information of the radio access network where the user equipment is currently located, which is reported by the user equipment through a UP' or Z1 interface; or, the method is used for receiving the radio access network type information of the user equipment currently located, which is reported by the circuit domain by the user equipment.

12. The GANC according to claim 10, wherein when the UE moves from E-UTRAN into GERAN or UTRAN and does not activate idle mode signaling compression ISR, the sending module is specifically configured to send the paging message down from a second signaling bearer of a packet domain when the radio access network type is GERAN and supports dual transfer mode DTM, or the radio access network type is UTRAN; and when the radio access network type is GERAN but the DTM is not supported, the paging message is issued from a third signaling bearer of the E-UTRAN.

13. The GANC according to claim 10, wherein when ISR is activated, the sending module is specifically configured to issue the paging message from a second signaling bearer of a packet domain when the radio access network type is GERAN and DTM is supported, or when the radio access network type is UTRAN; and when the radio access network type is GERAN but does not support DTM, or the radio access network type is E-UTRAN, issuing the paging message from a third signaling bearer in the E-UTRAN.

14. A UE applied to the system of claim 1, comprising:

15. The UE of claim 14,

the second receiving module is specifically configured to receive a paging message sent through a packet domain of GERAN or a packet domain of UTRAN; or, specifically, the ue is configured to receive a paging message sent through a GERAN circuit domain or a UTRAN circuit domain; or, in particular, for receiving a paging message sent by the E-UTRAN;

the user equipment further comprises: and the response module is connected with the processing module and used for responding the paging message from the circuit domain of the GERAN or UTRAN.