CN101868001A

CN101868001A - Method and system for controlling UE to access to network

Info

Publication number: CN101868001A
Application number: CN200910082001A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 熊春山
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT; Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2009-04-17
Filing date: 2009-04-17
Publication date: 2010-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 2029-04-17
Also published as: CN101868001B

Abstract

The invention discloses a method and a system for controlling a UE to access to a network. The method and the system are used for controlling the UE to access to a local network. The method for controlling the UE to access to the network comprises the following steps that: a mobility management entity (MME) obtains the information of the local network to which the UE requests to access through a packet data network connection process initiated by the UE; the MME instructs a femtocell to establish the bearer of the local network for the UE according to the information of the local network to which the UE requests to access; and the femtocell realizes accessing the UE to the local network through establishing the radio bearer of the local network for the UE according to the instruction of the MME.

Description

Method and system for controlling UE to access network

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and a system for controlling a User Equipment (UE) to access a network.

Background

When the UE needs to attach to an Evolved Packet System (EPS) (e.g., when the UE is powered on), the UE needs to establish a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection according to the specification of the TS23.401 standard. Thereafter, when the UE needs to re-establish another PDN connection, the UE needs to perform a UE Requested PDN Connectivity procedure.

If the UE initiates a PDN connection, the UE needs to send a PDN connection Request (PDN Connectivity Request) message to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in the core network through an evolved node b (eNodeB). The PDN Connectivity Request message includes: access Point Name (APN), PDN Type (PDN Type), Protocol Configuration Options (Protocol Configuration Options) and Request Type (Request Type).

If the UE requests to establish a new PDN connection, a Request Type in the PDN Connectivity Request message is set as an Initial Request (Initial Request).

If the UE switches from a non-third generation partnership project (3GPP) access technology to an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) access technology, a Request Type in a PDN Connectivity Request message is set as a Handover Request (Handover Request).

In the prior art, a UE with Internet Protocol (IP) capability can access a Mobile operator network (Mobile Operators Core network) through a Home base station (HeNB) through a UE Requested PDN Connectivity procedure, but the current 3GPP specification proposes a new requirement for a Home base station (HeNB, Home eNodeB) of version 9(R9) in the TS22.220 standard, which indicates that the UE with IP capability should be interconnected with a device supporting IP capability in a Home through the HeNB, but no specific implementation scheme is provided at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a method and a system for controlling UE to access a network, which are used for controlling the UE to access a local network.

The method for controlling the UE to access the network provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps:

a mobility management entity MME acquires the information of a local network which is requested to be accessed by UE through a packet data network connection process initiated by the UE;

the MME instructs the femtocell to establish the load of the local network for the UE according to the information of the local network to which the UE requests to access;

and the femtocell realizes the access of the UE to the local network by establishing the radio bearer of the local network for the UE according to the instruction of the MME.

The communication system provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises:

a mobility management entity MME, configured to acquire information of a local network to which the UE requests access through a packet data network connection process initiated by the UE, and instruct a femtocell to establish a bearer of the local network for the UE according to the information of the local network to which the UE requests access;

and the femtocell is used for establishing the radio bearer of the local network for the UE according to the instruction of the MME, so as to realize the access of the UE to the local network.

The user equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises:

the local network access request unit is used for sending the information of the local network access request to the home base station through a packet data network connection process initiated by the local network access request unit;

and the data transmission unit is used for realizing data transmission with the local network through the radio bearer of the local network established for the user equipment by the femtocell according to the control of the femtocell.

In the embodiment of the invention, an MME acquires the information of a local network which is requested to be accessed by UE through a packet data network connection process initiated by the UE; the MME instructs the femtocell to establish the load of the local network for the UE according to the information of the local network to which the UE requests to access; the home base station establishes a radio bearer of a local network for the UE according to the instruction of the MME, so that the UE can be accessed to the local network through the home base station, and the UE can communicate with equipment supporting IP capability in the local network (a home network or a local Internet) through the home base station.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a UE accessing a mobile operator network and a local network through a home base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic general flowchart of controlling a UE to access a local network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a UE Request PDN Connectivity procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The local network in the embodiment of the present invention refers to a home network or a local Internet (Internet) connected to a home base station (HeNB).

The home network refers to a home network device connected to the HeNB, and includes: one or more home computers, network printers, network video equipment, network cameras and the like, and the local area network formed by the home network equipment is the home network.

The local Internet network is a network that is connected to the HeNB and can access the Internet.

As shown in fig. 1, according to the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention, not only the UE can be connected to the mobile operator network through the HeNB, but also the UE can be connected to the home network or the local Internet network through the HeNB.

Referring to fig. 2, a method for controlling a UE to access a local network according to an embodiment of the present invention generally includes:

s101, an MME acquires information of a local network which is requested to be accessed by UE through a packet data network connection process initiated by the UE.

S102, the MME instructs the femtocell to establish the load of the local network for the UE according to the information of the local network to which the UE requests to access.

S103, the femtocell realizes the access of the UE to the local network by establishing the radio bearer of the local network for the UE according to the instruction of the MME.

The local network in the embodiment of the invention comprises two types of networks, namely a home network and a local Internet network, each type of network can have one network or a plurality of networks, and the HeNB can support the UE to be simultaneously accessed into a plurality of home networks or a plurality of local Internet networks, so that the UE can be selected to be accessed into one network of a certain type or a plurality of networks of a certain type.

Therefore, if there is only one network for each type of network, i.e. when only one network is allowed for the same type of local network to which the HeNB is connected, the local network can be indicated only by indicating the type of local network, and the information of the local network to which the UE requests access may be the type information of the local network to which the UE requests access.

However, when the same type of local network to which the HeNB is connected allows multiple networks to allow the user to access, it needs to specifically indicate which local network allows the user to access, and therefore, the information of the local network to which the UE requests access may be Access Point Name (APN) information of the local network to which the UE requests access, so as to indicate which specific local network or specific local networks to which the UE requests access.

The information of the local network to which the UE requests access in the embodiment of the present invention is notified to the network side by the UE through a packet data network connection process initiated by the UE, and specifically may be carried by a packet data network connection Request (PDN Connectivity Request) message sent by the UE.

Preferably, when only one network is allowed in the same type of local networks connected to the HeNB, the packet data network connection Request (PDN Connectivity Request) message only needs to indicate the type of the local network to indicate the local network to which the UE requests access. However, when multiple networks are allowed in the same type of local network to which the HeNB is connected, the APN information of the local network needs to be carried in a packet data network connection Request (PDN Connectivity Request) message to indicate which local network the UE requests to access.

Specific explanations are given below.

After the UE attaches to the EPS system through the HeNB using the E-UTRAN access technology, the UE has completed establishing a connection with a Packet Data Network (PDN). According to the requirements of the specification, if the UE needs to establish another Packet Data Network (PDN) connection, and the UE needs to connect to the local network at this time, the UE needs to notify the network that the PDN connection to be established is connected to the local network instead of the PDN connection corresponding to the conventional SGi interface. Because the PDN connection corresponding to the conventional SGi interface needs to use a Serving GW (Serving GW) and a packet data network gateway (PDN GW) in the core network, the local network does not need to use the Serving GW and the PDN GW in the core network. After the UE is connected to the local network, as shown in fig. 1, uplink data only goes from the UE to the HeNB and then to the local network; the downlink data goes from the local network to the HeNB and then to the UE.

The PDN connection (UE Request PDN Connectivity) process requested by the UE according to the embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 3, and specifically includes the following steps:

1. if the UE needs to initiate a PDN connection, the UE sends a PDN connection Request (PDN Connectivity Request) message to the HeNB, and the HeNB forwards the PDN Connectivity Request message to a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

The PDN Connectivity Request message includes: APN, PDN Type, Protocol Configuration Options and Request Type.

Both the APN and the Request Type carried in the PDN Connectivity Request may be used to indicate Type information of the local network to which the UE requests access, but in case of allowing the UE to access multiple local networks of the same Type, if it is to be clear which specific local network the UE requests access, the APN is needed to indicate.

If the newly established PDN connection of the UE is to a Home network, the UE sets a Request Type in the PDN Connectivity Request message as a Home Request (Home Request).

If the PDN connection newly established by the UE is to a local Internet network, the UE sets a Request Type in a PDN Connectivity Request message as an Internet Request (Internet Request).

That is, when the Request Type is the Home Request, the information of the local network to which the UE requests to access is the information of the Home network to which the UE requests to access; and when the Request Type is an Internet Request, the information of the local network which the UE requests to access is the information of the local Internet which the UE requests to access.

It should be noted that the "Home Request" and the "Internet Request" provided in the embodiment of the present invention are only specific names used to indicate information of the local network to which the UE requests to access, and other specific names may be used to indicate information of the local network to which the UE requests to access.

2. And after receiving the PDN Connectivity Request message, the MME sends a PDN connection acceptance (PDN Connectivity Accept) message to the HeNB.

The PDN Connectivity Accept message includes: APN, PDN Type, PDN Address (PDN Address), EPS Bearer identity (EPS Bearer Id), Session Management Request (Session Management Request), and Protocol Configuration Options (Protocol Configuration Options).

The PDN Connectivity Accept message is included in an S1-MME interface control message (S1-MME control message), i.e. in a Bearer Setup Request (Bearer Setup Request) message. Wherein, the S1-MME interface refers to a control plane interface between the HeNB and the MME.

The Bearer Setup Request message includes: EPS Bearer quality of service (EPS Bearer QoS), user Aggregated Maximum Bit Rate (UE-AMBR, UE Aggregated Maximum Bit Rate), PDN Connectivity Accept, Tunnel endpoint identity of the S1 user plane interface (i.e. the interface between HeNB and Serving GW) (S1-TEID, S1Tunnel End Point Identifier).

The Bearer Setup Request message includes an EPS Bearer Identity (EPS Bearer Id), an uplink IP address of a user plane interface (S1-U interface) between the HeNB and the Serving gateway (Serving GW) allocated by the Serving GW for the EPS Bearer (EPS Bearer) identified by the EPS Bearer Identity, and a Tunnel End Point Identity (TEID).

The MME needs to inform the HeNB that the bearer established for the UE is for the local network because when the HeNB receives data sent by the UE to the local network, the HeNB cannot forward this data to a Serving gateway (Serving GW) in the core network, but instead to the local network. If the data is not required to be forwarded to the local network, the HeNB receives the data sent to the mobile operator network by the UE, and the data is forwarded to the Serving GW in the core network.

Therefore, the new MME may notify the HeNB of information of the local network to which the UE requests access through a Bearer Setup Request (Bearer Setup Request) message to instruct the HeNB to set up a Bearer of the local network for the UE.

Since the local network may be a home network or a local Internet network. In addition, there may be one or more home networks for the home network, so the network side needs to notify the HeNB of information about which specific local network the UE accesses.

A network (including a local network) may be identified by an APN, and therefore, the way in which the MME informs the HeNB that the established bearer is used by a particular local network may include:

mode 1: the MME sets an APN in a Bearer Setup Request (Bearer Setup Request) message to indicate specific local network information.

Mode 2: if the HeNB can only connect to a home network or a local Internet network at most, the MME may set an indication information in a Bearer Setup Request (Bearer Setup Request) message to indicate whether the home network or the local Internet network is connected, for example, the home network is denoted by 0 and the local Internet network is denoted by 1.

3. And after receiving the PDN Connectivity Accept message, the HeNB sends a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection Reconfiguration message to the UE.

The RRC Connection Reconfiguration message includes: an EPS Radio Bearer Identity (EPS Radio Bearer Identity), and a PDN Connectivity Accept message are also included in this RRC message to the UE.

4. After receiving the RRC Connection Reconfiguration message, the UE sends a radio resource control Connection Reconfiguration Complete (RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete) message to the HeNB.

By the steps 3 and 4, the establishment of the radio bearer accessed to the local network between the HeNB and the UE is completed.

5. After receiving the RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message, the HeNB sends a Bearer Setup Response (Bearer Setup Response) message to the MME.

The bearer between the UE and the home network is completed through steps 2 to 5. Since the bearers between the UE and the local network do not contain the bearers of the core network part, the bearers between the UE and the local network are actually radio bearers between the UE and the HeNB.

6. The UE sends a Direct Transfer (Direct Transfer) message to the HeNB.

The Direct Transfer message includes a PDN Connectivity Complete (PDN Connectivity Complete) message, which includes an EPS Bearer Identity.

7. And after receiving the Direct Transfer message, the HeNB forwards a PDN Connectivity Complete message to the MME in an Uplink Non-Access Stratum (NAS) transmission message, wherein the PDN Connectivity Complete message comprises EPS Bearer Identity.

After the UE Request PDN Connectivity procedure is completed, the UE may connect to the local network through the HeNB and communicate with the device in the local network through the HeNB.

The APN carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message in step 1 above will be described in detail below.

The APN described in the embodiments of the present invention includes four APNs, that is, an APN defined in the prior art, a home network access point name (H-APN) and a local internet access point name (I-APN) defined in the embodiments of the present invention, and a local network-specific APN including two types, that is, a home network-specific APN and a local internet-specific APN.

Wherein, the H-APN may be used to indicate information of a home network (including type information of the home network and information for indicating which specific home network) that the UE requests access, and the I-APN may be used to indicate information of a local internet (including type information of the local internet and information for indicating which specific local internet) that the UE requests access.

It should be noted that "H-APN" and "I-APN" are only specific identifiers, but other specific identifiers, such as "Home-APN" or "Internet-APN", may also be used.

The so-called local network-specific APN is a specially defined APN with fixed multi-characters for indicating type information of a local network, including two types of home network-specific APNs and local internet-specific APNs.

For example, when the local network-specific APN is "Home network.3gpnetwork.org", it indicates that the type of the local network is a Home network; when the Local network-specific APN is "Local internet.3gpp network.org", it indicates that the type of the Local network is Local internet.

The "Home network.3gpp network.org" and "Local Internet network.3gpp network.org" identifiers are merely examples, and other identifiers may be used.

When only one network is allowed in the same Type of local networks connected to the HeNB, a Request Type in a packet data network connection Request (PDN Connectivity Request) message may be set to be a Home Request or an Internet Request, so that the UE is instructed to Request the local network to access by indicating the Type of the local network, and at this time, information of the APN carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message may be ignored and is not processed.

However, when the same type of local network to which the HeNB is connected allows multiple networks, and allows the same user equipment to access one or more local networks of the same type, the APN carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message indicates which local network in this type. The APN may be an APN defined in the prior art, or an H-APN, an I-APN, or a local network-specific APN defined in the embodiments of the present invention, to identify specific information of the local network to which the UE requests access.

It should be noted that, if the UE does not provide the APN or the APN provided is a wildcard APN (i.e., "), it indicates that the UE only provides the type information of the local network requesting access, so the MME may select one local network of the type for the UE. For example: if the UE provides a wildcard, i.e., ", H-APN, the MME may select a home network for the UE, or if the UE provides a wildcard, i.e.,", I-APN, the MME may select a local internet for the UE.

The following provides a description of four application cases of APN in the embodiment of the present invention.

The first condition is as follows: when only one network is allowed for the same Type of local network to which the HeNB is connected and only one local network is allowed for the same Type of user equipment (the UE can access both types of networks simultaneously, but only one network can be accessed for each Type), if the Request Type in the packet data network connection Request (PDN Connectivity Request) message is an Initial Request, i.e. the UE does not indicate information for accessing the local network in both messages, the APN in the PDN Connectivity Request message is an H-APN or an I-APN, or may also be a local network dedicated APN.

In this case, the H-APN or I-APN or local network-specific APN directly corresponds to the respective type of local network.

Case two: when the local networks of the same Type connected to the HeNB allow multiple networks, but allow the same user equipment to access only one local network for the same Type, if a Request Type in a packet data network connection Request (PDN Connectivity Request) message is an Initial Request, it is necessary to indicate a specific local network in the Type through an APN carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message. The APN at this time may be an H-APN, an I-APN, or a local network-specific APN. If the APN carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message only provides type information of a local network, that is, the provided H-APN or I-APN is wildcard (i.e., "x"), or provides a local network dedicated APN, the MME may select a local network for the UE in the corresponding type.

Case three: when multiple networks are allowed for the same Type of local network to which the HeNB is connected and the user equipment is allowed to access multiple local networks of the same Type (the UE may access multiple types of local networks simultaneously and may access multiple local networks for each Type), if the Request Type in the packet data network connection Request (PDN Connectivity Request) message is a Home Request or an Internet Request, i.e., the Type of local network is indicated, the APN in the PDN Connectivity Request message indicates a specific local network under this Type. At this time, the APN carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message may be an APN defined in the prior art, or an H-APN or an I-APN defined in the embodiment of the present invention. If the H-APN or I-APN provided by the UE is wildcard, i.e., ", the MME may select a corresponding type of local network for the UE.

Case four: when a plurality of networks are allowed to exist in the same Type of local network connected by the HeNB and the user equipment is allowed to access the plurality of local networks of the same Type, if a Request Type in a packet data network connection Request (PDN Connectivity Request) message is an Initial Request, that is, the UE does not indicate information for accessing to the local network in the two messages, the PDN Connectivity Request message carries APN information indicating both the Type of the local network that the UE requests to access and which local network is under the Type. Thus, in this case, the APN carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message is an H-APN, an I-APN or a local network specific APN. If the APN carried in the pdnconnectionity Request message only provides type information of the local network, that is, the provided H-APN or I-APN is wildcard (i.e., "), or the provided local network dedicated APN, the MME may select a local network for the UE in the corresponding type.

In summary, the PDN Connectivity Request message carries an APN, and possible combinations with the Request Type carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message are shown in table 1 below:

TABLE 1

Wherein, none (APN), that is, the PDN Connectivity Request message described in table 1 does not carry an APN.

In order to show the local access point names H-APN and I-APN, the formats of H-APN and I-APN need to be defined in order to distinguish the local access point names H-APN and I-APN from the conventional wireless area network APN (W-APN) and APN.

The construction rules of H-APN and I-APN are as follows:

an H-APN may consist of two parts:

the first part, The Network identity (The H-APN Network identity) of The home Network to which The UE requests access, is mandatory.

The second part is an Identifier of a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) corresponding to a home network to which The UE requests access, i.e., an Identifier of an Operator. This part is optional.

The HeNB may be connected to multiple PLMNs simultaneously.

The format of The H-APN Operator Identifier is as follows: "h-apn.epc.mnc < MNC >. MCC >.3 gpnetwork.org".

Wherein, the character marks "MNC" and "MCC" are numbers indicating that the following < MNC > and < MCC > are Mobile Network Code (MNC) and Mobile Country Code (Mobile Country Code), respectively. MCC consists of three digits (three digits), such as 345. The length of the MNC is three or two digits (two), which are specified in the TS23.003 standard.

For example, when MCC is 345 and MNC is 12, The H-APN Operator Identifier is "H-APN.

Similarly, an I-APN may also consist of two parts:

the first part, The Network identity (The I-APN Network identity) of The local internet to which The UE requests access, is mandatory.

The second part is The identity of The Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) corresponding to The local internet to which The UE requests access, i.e. The identity of The Operator. This part is optional.

If the local access point name (H-APN or I-APN) does not contain the identifier of the plmn corresponding to the local network, the network side cannot distinguish the local access point name from the existing APN, because the local access point name not containing the identifier of the plmn is the same as the format of the APN, there is no way to distinguish.

The format of the APN coding in the message is shown in table 2 below:

TABLE 2

For APN defined in the prior art, corresponding to a value of Access point name IEI, the embodiment of the invention provides H-APN and I-APN, so the number of the values of the Access point name IEI is increased to respectively represent H-APN and I-APN.

For example, when the Access point name IEI is 51, the APN defined in the prior art is denoted (also the local network-specific APN defined in the embodiment of the present invention is denoted); when the Access point name IEI is 52, the Access point name IEI represents H-APN; when the Access point name IEI is 53, it represents an I-APN.

Therefore, different from the H-APN and the I-APN, the local network dedicated APN does not need to modify the parameter Access point name IEI, namely, does not need to modify the protocol, but only needs to modify the parameter configuration of the terminal and the network, thereby being simpler and more convenient. The local network-specific APN is applicable to the entire 3GPP specification for identifying the type of local network.

Therefore, the network side can know whether the Access requested by the UE is a home network or a local internet or a mobile operator network at the moment through the value of the Access point name IEI.

Obviously, the H-APN and I-APN signed up for the home network in the HSS may be wildcard (Wild card), i.e. the H-APN and I-APN stored in the HSS are "×".

In summary, when the UE initiates a connection to the home network through an attach procedure, the UE carries an APN defined in the prior art, or an H-APN, an I-APN, or a local network dedicated APN defined in the embodiment of the present invention, in a PDN Connectivity Request message sent to the network side, so as to indicate information of a local network to which the UE requests to access.

The following describes a system provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 4, a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present invention includes:

the MME 10 is configured to acquire information of a local network to which the UE 20 requests to access through a packet data network connection process initiated by the UE 20, and instruct the home base station 30 to establish a bearer of the local network for the UE 20 according to the information of the local network to which the UE 20 requests to access.

And the home base station 30 is configured to establish a radio bearer of a local network for the UE 20 according to the instruction of the MME 10, thereby enabling the UE 20 to access the local network.

Preferably, the MME 10 includes:

the information obtaining unit 11 is configured to receive a packet data network connection Request pdnconnectionrequest message forwarded by the home base station 30, and obtain Type information that the UE 20 requests to access the local network through a Request Type and/or access point name APN information of the local network carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message.

An indicating unit 12, configured to instruct the home base station 30 to establish a bearer of the local network for the UE 20 according to the type information that the UE 20 requests to access the local network.

Preferably, when the access point name APN information of the local network carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message is a local network dedicated APN, or when the Request Type carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message indicates Type information of the local network to which the UE requests to access, the information obtaining unit 11 obtains, from the PDN Connectivity Request message, information of the local network to which the UE 20 requests to access, and obtains the Type information of the local network to which the UE 20 requests to access.

Preferably, the instructing unit 12 selects a local network for the UE 20 according to the type information of the local network to which the UE 20 requests to access, and instructs the home base station 30 to establish a bearer to the local network for the UE 20.

Preferably, the APN information of the local network is a home network APN or a local internet APN; the information obtaining unit 11, when the value of the cell identifier IEI for identifying the access point name type in the APN information of the local network is a value for indicating that the UE requests to access the home network, determines that the UE 20 requests to access the home network, and obtains the access point name information of the home network that the UE 20 requests to access; when the value of the IEI is a value indicating that the UE requests access to the local internet, it is determined that the UE 20 requests access to the local internet, and access point name information of the local internet to which the UE 20 requests access is acquired.

Preferably, the home base station 30 includes:

a bearer establishing unit 31, configured to establish a radio bearer to the local network for the UE 20 according to the instruction sent by the MME 10 to establish a bearer of the local network for the UE 20.

And a data transmission control unit 32, configured to control data transmission between the UE 20 and the local network to which the UE 20 requests access through the radio bearer.

Preferably, the user equipment 20 comprises:

the local network access request unit 21 is configured to send information of a local network to which the access request unit itself requests to access to the home base station 30 through a packet data network connection procedure initiated by the local base station itself.

And a data transmission unit 22, configured to implement data transmission with the local network through the radio bearer of the local network established by the home base station 30 for the user equipment 20 according to the control of the home base station 30.

The local network access Request unit 21 sends the information of the local network requested to access to itself to the femtocell 30 through the Request Type carried in the packet data network connection Request PDN Connectivity Request message sent to the network side or the access point name APN information of the local network.

In summary, the embodiment of the present invention provides a scheme for controlling a UE to access a local network through a Home base station, where in a UE Requested PDN Connectivity initiated by the UE, when the UE only needs to send Type information of the local network to indicate a specific local network requesting access, or when the UE only needs to indicate Type information of the local network, and which local network in the specific access Type can be selected by a network side, if a newly-established PDN connection is to the Home network, the UE sets a Request Type to be a Home Request in the sent PDN Connectivity Request message; or the UE sets the Request Type to the Initial Request and sets the APN to be the special APN of the home network in the sent PDN Connectivity Request message. If the UE requests the newly-built PDN connection to the local Internet, the UE sets the Request Type to be Internet Request in the sent PDN Connectivity Request message; or the UE sets the Request Type to the Initial Request and sets the APN to be the local Internet network dedicated APN in the sent PDN Connectivity Request message. When a Request Type in a PDN Connectivity Request message received by the MME is a Home Request or an Internet Request, or a dedicated APN for a Home network or a dedicated APN for a local Internet network is received, the MME does not select a PDN gateway (PDN GW) in the core network, and does not send a Create Default Bearer Request (Create Default Bearer Request) message to a Serving GW in the core network. When the MME sends a Bearer Setup Request message to the HeNB, the MME informs the HeNB through the Bearer Setup Request message that the Bearer established by the HeNB is used by a specific local network, so that uplink data only goes from the UE to the HeNB and then to the home network; the downlink data is from the home network to the HeNB and then to the UE. In case that the UE only sends the type information of the local network is not enough to indicate the specific local network requesting access, it may be indicated by an APN (H-APN or I-APN) of the local network, which may be sent by the UE to the network side through a PDN Connectivity Request message, and the network side controls the UE to access the local network according to the APN.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method for controlling User Equipment (UE) to access a network, the method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE requests information about the local network to be accessed, and wherein the UE requests information about the type of the local network to be accessed.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of the MME acquiring information of the local network to which the UE requests access through a UE-initiated packet data network connection procedure comprises:

the MME receives a packet data network connection Request (PDN connection Request) message forwarded by the home base station, and acquires the Type information of the UE requesting to access the local network through a Request Type carried in the PDN connection Request message or Access Point Name (APN) information of the local network.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of the MME instructing the home base station to establish the bearer to the local network for the UE according to the information of the local network to which the UE requests to access comprises:

and the MME selects a local network for the UE according to the type information of the local network to which the UE requests to access, and instructs the femtocell to establish a bearer to the local network for the UE.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE requests information about the local network to which the UE requests access, and wherein the UE requests information about an access point name, APN, of the local network to which the UE requests access.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of the MME acquiring information of the local network to which the UE requests access through a UE-initiated packet data network connection procedure comprises:

and the MME receives a packet data network connection Request (PDN connection Request) message forwarded by the home base station and acquires APN information of a local network to which the UE requests to access.

7. The method of claim 3, 4, 5 or 6, wherein the APN information of the local network is a home network APN, a local internet APN, a home network dedicated APN or a local internet dedicated APN.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein when the APN information of the local network is a home network APN or a local internet APN, the APN information of the local network comprises:

the network identification of the local network to which the UE requests to access; or,

and the UE requests to access the network identification of the local network and the PLMN identification of the public land mobile network corresponding to the local network.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein when the APN information of the local network is a home network APN or a local internet APN, if a value of an information element identifier IEI for identifying an access point name type in the APN information of the local network is a value for indicating that the UE requests to access the home network, the MME determines that the UE requests to access the home network and obtains access point name information of the home network to which the UE requests to access; and if the value of the IEI is a value used for indicating that the UE requests to access the local Internet, the MME determines that the UE requests to access the local Internet and acquires the access point name information of the local Internet which the UE requests to access.

10. A communication system, the system comprising:

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the MME comprises:

the information acquisition unit is used for receiving a packet data network connection Request PDN Connectivity Request message forwarded by the home base station, and acquiring information of a local network to which the UE requests to access through a Request Type and/or Access Point Name (APN) information of the local network carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message;

and the indicating unit is used for indicating the home base station to establish the load of the local network for the UE according to the information of the local network which the UE requests to access.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein when the access point name APN information of the local network carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message is a local network dedicated APN, or when the Request Type carried in the PDN Connectivity Request message indicates Type information of a local network to which the UE requests to access, the information obtaining unit obtains the information of the local network to which the UE requests to access from the PDN Connectivity Request message, and the Type information of the local network to which the UE requests to access.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein said instructing unit selects a local network for the UE according to the type information of the local network to which the UE requests access, and instructs the home base station to establish a bearer to the local network for the UE.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the APN information of the local network is a home network APN or a local internet APN;

the information acquisition unit is used for determining that the UE requests to access the home network and acquiring the access point name information of the home network which the UE requests to access when the value of the cell identifier IEI used for identifying the access point name type in the APN information of the local network is a value used for representing that the UE requests to access the home network; when the value of the IEI is a value for indicating that the UE requests to access the local Internet, determining that the UE requests to access the local Internet, and acquiring access point name information of the local Internet to which the UE requests to access.

15. The system according to any of claims 10 to 14, wherein the home base station comprises:

a bearer establishing unit, configured to establish a radio bearer to a local network for the UE according to an indication sent by the MME to establish a bearer of the local network for the UE;

and the data transmission control unit is used for controlling data to be transmitted between the UE and the local network which the UE requests to access through the radio bearer.

16. A user equipment, the user equipment comprising:

17. The UE of claim 16, wherein the local network unit is configured to send, to the femtocell, information that the UE requests to access the local network through a Request Type carried in a PDN Connectivity Request message sent to the network side or Access Point Name (APN) information of the local network.