CN102098727A

CN102098727A - Data rate control method and device

Info

Publication number: CN102098727A
Application number: CN2009101890086A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 支春霞; 陈燕燕; 刘永俊; 郭小龙
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2009-12-15
Filing date: 2009-12-15
Publication date: 2011-06-15
Anticipated expiration: 2029-12-15
Also published as: CN102098727B

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a data rate control method, a data rate control device and a data rate control system. The data rate control method provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps of: acquiring a group data rate control parameter of a first network element, wherein the group data rate control parameter is a data rate control parameter for a group comprising at least one terminal; determining the related information of the group data rate control parameter of a second network element according to the acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element and the information of at least one second network element connected with the first network element, wherein the second network element is inferior to the first network element and participates in the data transmission of the group; and transmitting the determined related information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network element to the second network element, so that the second network element can perform data rate control. The data rate control over a single terminal is converted into the data rate control over the group so as to solve the problem of network congestion.

Description

Data rate control method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a data rate control method and apparatus.

Background

M2M (Machine to Machine) is a generic term of a large class of services, and multiple services such as intelligent meter reading, remote control, mobile delivery, location tracking, medical monitoring, etc. belong to M2M services. In the conventional communication service, both communication parties are people, and both communication parties of the M2M service are not people in the usual sense. For example, in a remote monitoring service, a typical scenario is that a sensor node acquires environmental information, and then sends environmental data to a corresponding control node through a wireless communication system, and the control node performs different processing according to the data. The communication between the sensor node and the control node does not involve human participation, and belongs to machine-to-machine communication. M2M is a broad concept and also includes the case where the party to the communication is a person, such as a person controlling a device via a remote control.

Currently, cellular mobile communication mobile terminal users are about 30 hundred million, and the M2M service will accelerate the number of wireless communication terminals. The large number of terminals is a great challenge for wireless communication systems. If the number of terminals is large, the data rate limitation is very complex, and the complexity increases as the number of terminals increases, the signaling overhead associated with data rate control consumes a lot of network resources. There is a need to provide a data rate control scheme to solve the congestion that may occur in the network under the condition of a large number of terminals, and reduce the consumption of network resources by the signaling overhead related to data rate control.

Disclosure of Invention

The data rate control method and device provided by the embodiment of the invention are used for solving the problem of network congestion.

The method for controlling the data rate provided by the implementation of the invention can be realized by the following scheme:

acquiring a group data rate control parameter of a first network element, wherein the group data rate control parameter is a data rate control parameter of a group comprising at least one terminal; determining related information of the group data rate control parameter of a second network element according to the acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element and information of at least one second network element connected with the first network element, wherein the second network element is a network element which is lower than the first network element in hierarchy and participates in data transmission of the group; and sending the determined related information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network element to a second network element so as to enable the second network element to perform data rate control.

Another data rate control method provided by the implementation of the present invention can be implemented by the following scheme:

a data rate control network element acquires a group data rate control parameter, wherein the group data rate control parameter is the data rate control parameter of a group comprising at least one terminal; a data rate control network element receives a data packet; and when the received data packet carries the group identification related information of the group, carrying out data rate control on the received data packet according to the acquired group data rate control parameter.

The network device provided by the embodiment of the invention can be realized by the following scheme:

the network equipment is connected with at least one other network equipment, and comprises an acquisition module, a data transmission module and a data transmission module, wherein the acquisition module is used for acquiring the group data rate control parameter of the network equipment, and the group data rate control parameter is the data rate control parameter of a group comprising at least one terminal; a processing module, configured to determine, according to the group data rate control parameter of the network device acquired by the acquiring module and information of at least one other network device connected to the network device, information related to the group data rate control parameter of the other network device, where the other network device is a network device that is lower in hierarchy than the network device and participates in data transmission of the group; and the sending module is used for sending the relevant information of the group data rate control parameters of the other network equipment determined by the processing module to other equipment so as to control the data rate of the other network equipment.

The communication system provided by the embodiment of the invention can be realized by the following scheme:

the communication system comprises a first network device and at least one second network device, wherein the first network device is connected with the second network device, the second network device is lower in level than the first network device, and the first network device is used for determining relevant information of a group data rate control parameter of the second network device according to the group data rate control parameter of the first network device and information of the second network device; sending the determined related information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network equipment to the second network equipment, wherein the group data rate control parameter is the data rate control parameter of a group comprising at least one terminal; the second network equipment is used for receiving the related information of the group data rate control parameter and the data packet determined by the first network equipment; and when the received data packet carries the group identification related information of the group, carrying out data rate control on the received data packet according to the related information of the received group data rate control parameter.

In an embodiment of the invention, data rate control for a single terminal is translated into data rate control for a group to address network congestion. Meanwhile, the data rate control is carried out on the data according to the group, so that the complexity of the data rate control of the terminal can be reduced, and the consumption of network resources by signaling overhead related to the data rate control in the network can be saved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a data rate control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating another data rate control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a data rate control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a data rate control method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

In wireless communications, data rate control for a single terminal may be translated into data rate control for a group to address network congestion. Where a "group" is a collection of several terminals. There may be various bases for the grouping, such as several terminals belonging to the same user or a group of users; or several terminals located in the same geographical area, such as several terminals in the same cell or base station range; or several terminals with the same characteristics, such as several terminals for intelligent meter reading. The data rate control is carried out on the group, so that the complexity of the data rate control of the terminal can be reduced, and the consumption of network resources by signaling overhead related to the data rate control in the network can be saved.

In a wireless communication system, terminals are connected to a core network via an access network, and communicate with other terminals also connected to the core network, or with off-network entities connected to the core network. When local switching is implemented, communication between terminals connected to the same access network may be allowed, without necessarily passing through the core network. When controlling the data rate of the group, the data rate of the group needs to be controlled in the access network or the core network, or both the access network and the core network need to be controlled.

The network elements comprised by the access network and the core network may be different for different communication systems. The access network part may include one or more stages of network elements, such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), and the access network includes BTS (Base Transceiver Station) and BSC (Base Station controller); in a WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) communication system, an Access Network includes a NodeB (base station) and an RNC (Radio Network Controller); in a WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) communication system, an Access network includes a BS (Base Station) and an ASN GW (Access service network Gateway). The terminal needs to be connected to a network element of the access network, such as a BTS, a NodeB, or a BS, and then connected to the core network through network elements of the access network of several levels, such as to the BSC through the BTS, or to the RNC through the NodeB, or to the ASN GW through the BS, and then to the core network. In another case, such as an LTE (long term Evolution) communication system, a terminal only needs to access a core network through a network element eNodeB (evolved base station) of a first-level access network.

The network elements in the core network may be more complex, but usually comprise a service processing network element, possibly a mobility management network element, connected to the network elements in the access network, and possibly an external gateway function network element, connected to a communication entity outside the core network. The service processing element may be an MSC (Mobile Switching Center), an SGSN (Serving GPRS support node), an MME (Mobile management Entity), or an S-GW (Serving Gateway), where the MME belongs to a mobility management element and is not generally regarded as a service processing element, but does not exclude that the M2M service is transmitted through a signaling plane in the future, so that the processing may be performed by the MME. The external Gateway function Network element may be a GMSC (Gateway mobile switching Center), GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node), P-GW (PDN (Packet Data Network) Gateway), or the like. In addition, the core network generally further includes an entity for recording the subscription information and the Location information of the user, which may be an entity such as an HLR (Home Location Register) or an HSS (Home Subscriber Server), and the HLR or the HSS is connected to other entities in the core network to support the completion of the service flow. In the M2M system, there is an entity M2M Server (M2M Server), and the M2M Server may be a network element of the core network, or may be an extranet entity, and is connected to other entities in the core network through interfaces. The M2M server provides services to M2M users and may also be used to manage M2M terminals.

Referring to fig. 1, a schematic flow chart of a data rate control method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

101. a group data rate control parameter of a first network element is obtained, wherein the group data rate control parameter is a data rate control parameter of a group comprising at least one terminal.

Here, the obtaining of the group data rate control parameter of the first network element may include searching for information related to the group data rate control parameter stored in the first network element; or, acquiring the related information of the group data rate control parameter of the first network element from the network element with a higher hierarchy than the first network element; and determining the group data rate control parameter of the first network element according to the relevant information of the group data rate control parameter of the first network element.

102. And determining related information of the group data rate control parameter of a second network element according to the acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element and the information of at least one second network element connected with the first network element, wherein the second network element is a network element which is lower than the hierarchy of the first network element and participates in the data transmission of the group.

The first network element and the second network element may be directly connected, or the second network element may be connected to the first network element through another network element.

In the user data transmission process, if the transmission is uplink data transmission, the network element reached by the data first is lower than the network element reached by the data later. The situation of downlink data transmission is opposite, namely, the network element which arrives at the data first is higher than the network element which arrives at the data later. For example, an LTE access network and an SAE core network form a system, and the network elements from low to high are eNodeB, S-GW and P-GW in sequence. In addition, because the user-related parameters acquired by other network elements in the network include group data rate control parameters, and the initial source is a network element recording the user subscription information, such as an HSS or an HLR, the network element recording the user subscription information is considered as a network element with a higher hierarchy than other network elements although the network element does not participate in the transfer of user data. For example, the first network element may be a HSS or HLR, and the second network element may be an M2M Server, P-GW, S-GW, GGSN, SGSN, MME, MSC, GMSC, RNC, eNodeB, NodeB, BTS, BSC, or BS; or the first network element can be M2M Server, P-GW, GGSN or GMSC, and the second network element is S-GW, SGSN, MME, MSC, RNC, eNodeB, NodeB, BTS, BSC or BS; or the first network element can be S-GW, SGSN, MME, MSC, the second network element is RNC, eNodeB, NodeB, BTS, BSC or BS; or the first network element may be an RNC, BSC and the second network element a NodeB, BTS or BS. Further examples are not listed.

Wherein determining the relevant information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network element may include: according to the number of second network elements connected with the first network element, equally dividing the acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element, and determining that the related information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network element is the equally divided acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element; or, determining the related information of the group data rate control parameter of one of the second network elements according to the acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element, the number of group members managed by the first network element, and the number of group members managed by one of the second network elements.

103. And sending the determined related information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network element to the second network element so as to control the data rate of the second network element.

In wireless communications, data rate control for a single terminal is translated into data rate control for a group to address network congestion. Meanwhile, the data rate control is carried out on the data according to the group, so that the complexity of the data rate control of the terminal can be reduced, and the consumption of network resources by signaling overhead related to the data rate control in the network can be saved.

As shown in fig. 2, a schematic flow chart of another data rate control method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

201. the data rate control network element obtains a group data rate control parameter, wherein the group data rate control parameter is a data rate control parameter of a group including at least one terminal.

202. A data rate controlling network element receives a data packet.

203. And when the received data packet carries the group identification related information of the group, carrying out data rate control on the received data packet according to the acquired group data rate control parameter.

Performing data rate control on a received data packet includes: recording the data volume of the group within a certain time according to the group identification related information of the received data packet; when the data volume of the received group exceeds the limit of the acquired group data rate control parameter, discarding the currently received data packet or caching the currently received data packet; when the data rate of the received group does not exceed the limit of the acquired group data rate control parameter, the currently received data packet is transmitted.

The data transfer direction is divided into an uplink and a downlink, where the uplink refers to data transfer from the terminal to the network side, and the downlink refers to data transfer from the network side to the terminal. The group data rate control is divided into uplink data group data rate control and downlink data group data rate control, the corresponding group data rate control parameters are the uplink data group data rate control parameter and the downlink data group data rate control parameter, and the group data rate control parameters are the data rate control parameters of a group including at least one terminal. Or, the uplink and the downlink can be uniformly controlled by only one group data rate control parameter without distinguishing the uplink and the downlink.

The group data rate control parameters may be stored in some network elements, for example, in the HLR or HSS, as subscription information of the subscriber. The group data rate control parameter may also be set in a network element performing group data rate control.

Implement one

For downlink data transmission, as shown in fig. 3, a schematic flow chart of a data rate control method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

301. the group data rate control network element obtains the group data rate control parameters of the downlink data.

The group data rate control parameter can be stored in some network elements as subscription information of the user, for example, when the group data rate control parameter is stored in HLR or HSS; it can also be set in the network element that controls the group data rate.

When the group data rate control parameters stored in some network elements, for example, the group data rate control parameters are stored in the HLR or the HSS, the HLR or the HSS may search the recorded group data rate control parameters of the downlink data, and send the group data rate control parameters of the downlink data to a network element performing group rate control of the downlink data, such as an M2M server or an external gateway function network element, where the external gateway function network element may be a P-GW, a GGSN, or a GMSC, for example. The M2M server or external gateway function network element performs rate control on the set of downstream data communicated through itself. Since the downstream data may be transferred through a plurality of M2M servers or foreign gateway function network elements, the HLR or HSS may assign a group data control rate parameter of the total downstream data to each M2M server or foreign gateway function network element. The HLR or HSS may allocate the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data according to the number of the M2M servers or external gateway function network elements connected, for example, the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data recorded by the HLR or HSS is 10Mbps, and 2P-GWs participate in the downlink data transfer, so the HLR or HSS may allocate the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of 5Mbps to each P-GW on average, and transmit the group data rate control parameter value of the downlink data of 5Mbps to each P-GW.

In addition, when a new M2M server or external gateway functional network element joins in the downlink data transmission in the service process, the M2M server or external gateway functional network element actively requests to obtain the group data rate control parameters of the downlink data from the HLR or HSS, and the HLR or HSS sends part or all of the group data rate control parameters of the downlink data to the requested M2M server or external gateway functional network element; or when the original M2M server or external gateway function network element quits the downlink data transmission, the M2M server or external gateway function network element actively requests the HLR or HSS to release the acquired group data rate control parameter resource of the downlink data, and the HLR or HSS recovers the allocated group data rate control resource of the downlink data. For example, the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data recorded by the HLR or the HSS is 10Mbps, the first P-GW participates in downlink group data transmission, the first P-GW requests the HLR or the HSS to acquire the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, the request may carry the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data required by the first P-GW service, such as 7Mbps, and the HLR or the HSS allocates the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data to the first P-GW according to the group data rate control parameter of the total downlink data and the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data carried in the request, for example, sends the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of 7Mbps to the first P-GW. And the second P-GW requests the HLR or the HSS to acquire the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, and the request carries the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data required by the service of the second P-GW, such as 3Mbps, and the HLR or HSS allocates the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data to the second P-GW according to the group data rate control parameter of the total downlink data and the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data carried in the request, such as sending the group data rate control parameter value of the downlink data of 3Mbps to the second P-GW. If there is a third P-GW sending a request to the HLR or HSS for obtaining the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, then the HLR or HSS may send a response to the third P-GW indicating that the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data has exceeded the total limit, thus rejecting the request. For downlink data transfer, the group data rate control parameter may also be set in the network element performing the group data rate control. For example, if downlink data transmission is performed only through a unique M2M server or external gateway function network element, the unique M2M server or external gateway function network element may be used as the highest-level network element for controlling the packet data rate of downlink data and managing the packet data rate control parameters of downlink data, and the packet data rate control parameters are configured in the M2M server or external gateway function network element. For example, if downlink data is transmitted through only one P-GW, the P-GW only needs to perform rate control, and the P-GW may be configured with the group data rate control parameters of the downlink data. In addition, in a local switching scenario, the service source device and the destination device are both terminals in the communication network, and both the service source device and the destination device are under the management of a common network element, so that data transmission can be performed only through the common network element, and higher-level network elements are not necessarily required to participate. For example, the source device and the destination device are connected to a common S-GW, the service data may be delivered directly from the S-GW to the destination terminal without being delivered to the P-GW after the service data arrives from the source device to the S-GW. In a local exchange scenario, a network element implementing local exchange may be configured with a group data rate control parameter of downlink data in advance, and the network element implementing local exchange controls downlink group data transmission according to the group data rate control parameter of downlink data. The group data rate control parameter of the downlink data is configured in the related network element, and the method is more suitable for the situation that the position and the traffic of the terminal in a group have smaller changes.

Another method is that, when the network element which controls the group data rate of the downlink data is needed, it obtains the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, if a network element needs to transmit the downlink data of the group G, but it has no corresponding group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, it can request the network element of the higher layer to obtain the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of the group G, and sends the request to the network element of the higher layer, the command has group identification, and can also have the expected group data rate control parameter value of the downlink data or the number of connected terminals, if the network element of the higher layer has the corresponding stored group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, and can allocate to the requesting party, it will directly give the response of the request to obtain the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, otherwise, the request to the network element of the higher layer can be continued until the network element of the highest layer. If the network element considers that the limiting parameter is too low to meet the service requirement or too high to be reduced, a parameter updating request can be sent to the network element at the higher level, the command contains a group identifier and can also contain expected parameter values or the number of connected terminals, and the like, the network element at the higher level can directly send a parameter acquiring response to the requesting party to update the parameters, and can also continue to request the network element at the higher level until the network element at the highest level. In order to simplify the system, it is not necessary that each network element at each level has a function of managing group data rate limiting parameters, and in the simplest case, only the network element at the highest level in the network and the network element at the highest level for data transmission in each service process, such as the aforementioned P-GW, perform parameter management. At this time, if the network element of the higher layer does not support the management function, only the request for obtaining the parameters of the network element of the lower layer and the response for obtaining the parameters of the network element of the higher layer are forwarded. The network elements of the highest hierarchy of data transfer in the local switching scenario may be access network elements such as eNodeB, RNC, etc., and also core network elements S-GW, SGSN, etc.

302. And according to the acquired group data rate control parameter of the downlink data and the group identification related information of the received data packet, the group data rate control network element performs data rate control on the received data packet.

After the network element for transmitting the downlink data obtains the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, the network element performs rate control on the transmitted downlink data packet according to the obtained group data rate control parameter of the downlink data. The data packet carries group identifier related information, which may be a group identifier or an identifier corresponding to the group identifier, such as an IMSI (International mobile Subscriber Identity) or an IMEI (International mobile equipment Identity). The network element transmitting the downlink data may record identifiers corresponding to the group identifiers, such as IMSI or IMEI belonging to a group, and then may search the group identifiers according to the identifiers corresponding to the group identifiers carried in the data packet, and then control the transmission of the downlink data according to the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data corresponding to the group identifier. Recording the data volume of the group within a certain time according to the group identification; when the data volume of the received group exceeds the limit of acquiring the group data rate control parameter, discarding the currently received data packet or caching the currently received data packet; when the received data rate of the group does not exceed the limit of the acquired group data rate control parameter, the currently received data packet is transmitted. When the currently received data packet is discarded or cached, the service source may also be notified to reduce the data rate.

In wireless communication, data rate control of downlink data for a single terminal is translated into data rate control of downlink data for a group to address network congestion. Meanwhile, the data rate control is carried out on the downlink data according to the group, so that the complexity of the data rate control of the terminal can be reduced, and the consumption of network resources by signaling overhead related to the data rate control in the network can be saved.

When the uplink and downlink data are uniformly controlled by using only one group data rate control parameter when the group data rate control parameter does not distinguish between the uplink and the downlink, the data rate control method may refer to the data rate control method implemented in the above.

Carry out two

For uplink data transfer, since the location of the terminal may be relatively dispersed, it may be necessary to limit the uplink group rate by multiple network elements, even by multiple network elements located in different geographical locations. The network element can be layered and controlled, the layering of the network element is according to the order of the network element that the uplink data passes through, the access network element that the uplink data arrives at first is m layers of access network elements, then pass (m-1) layers of access network elements, so until 1 layer of access network element, and then pass to the core network, the first core network element that passes through is n layers of core network elements, then pass (n-1) layers of core network elements, so until 1 layer of core network element. The layer 1 core network element refers to the highest-level network element which really performs control, and can be an M2M server, a P-GW, a GGSN or a GMSC. If there are multiple layer 1 core network elements that may transmit the same group of uplink data, a unique network element, such as HLR or HSS, is also needed to control the data rate control operation of the multiple layer 1 core network elements.

For uplink data transmission, as shown in fig. 4, a schematic flow chart of a rate control method provided by the second embodiment of the present invention includes:

401. distributing group data rate control parameters of uplink data according to the number of group members or geographical area distribution managed by each connected lower-level network element;

for uplink data transmission, it is necessary to allocate the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data, that is, a network element at a higher level needs to allocate the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data to a network element at a lower level. The network element at the higher level can allocate the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data according to the number of group members managed by each network element at the lower level connected with the network element at the higher level; or the network element at the higher level may also perform the allocation of the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data according to the geographical area distribution of the group members managed by each network element at the lower level connected to the network element at the higher level.

The network element at a higher level performs allocation of group data rate control parameters of uplink data according to the number of group members managed by the network element at the higher level and the number of group members managed by each network element at a lower level connected to the network element at the higher level, for example, the network element at the higher level is connected to 3 network elements at lower levels, the allocable data rate of the network element at the higher level is 10Mbps, the number of the members managed by the network element at the higher level is 100, the number of the group members managed by the network elements at 3 lower levels connected to the network element at the higher level is 20, 30 and 50, and the group data rate control parameters of 2Mbps, 3Mbps and 5Mbps can be allocated to the 3 network elements at lower levels respectively according to an average allocation principle. In many cases, a terminal may be one that joins or leaves the network, for example, network element M may only connect to a lower level network element N1 initially, and this network element N1 manages 1 group member, the uplink group data rate limit is 10Mbps, then M sends the group data rate control parameter of 10Mbps to N1, when the number of group members connected to N1 increases to 4, there is no need to change the group data rate control parameter at this time; when a network element N2 added one level lower is connected to M and the network element N2 manages 1 group member, then M sends a command to N1 to change the group data rate control parameters, updates the group data rate control parameters of N1 to 8Mbps, and sends the group data rate control parameters of 2Mbps to N2. Other allocation strategies may be used because the group data rate control parameters are allocated in an even manner, and changes in the number of group members may cause the group data rate control parameters to change. For example, a threshold is introduced, for example, if it is specified that the change of the group data rate per terminal cannot be lower than a certain value v, and in the previous example, v is specified to be 0.5Mbps, then the group data rate control parameters need not to be changed when the number of terminals connected to N2 increases to 2, 3, 4, and M does not update the group data rate control parameters of N1 and N2 until the number of terminals connected to N2 increases to 5. Or setting a plurality of thresholds related to the number of terminals, and changing the group data rate control parameter when the number of terminals exceeds or is lower than a certain threshold. For example, it is specified that 1 to 10 terminals are allocated 2Mbps, 11 to 30 terminals are allocated 5Mbps, and more than 31 terminals are allocated 10Mbps, or in the above example, only N1 is connected to 1 terminal at the beginning, then M sends 2Mbps group data rate control parameters to N1, if N2 is connected to 1 terminal again, then M2 also sends 2Mbps group data rate control parameters to N2, then the number of terminals connected to N1 is increased to 11, the number of terminals connected to N2 is increased to 8, then M updates the group data rate control parameters of N1 to 5Mbps, and the group data rate control parameters of N2 is not changed. If the number of terminals connected by N1 is increased to 31, M may request to allocate more group data rate shares to the network element of the higher layer, it may also reject the request of N1 when N1 requests to allocate more group data rate shares, or all the remaining group data rate shares are allocated to N1, i.e. the parameter of N1 is updated to 8 Mbps.

The number of group members managed by the network element may be the number of terminals that are performing services through the network element, may also be terminals that are in a connected state and uplink data needs to be transferred through the network element, may also be the number of terminals that are already attached to the network, that is, terminals that are connected to the network but may have initiated or not initiated a service, or may also be the number of terminals that are expected to perform uplink data transfer through the network element. The number of group members managed by each network element can be explicitly or implicitly reported to the network element at a higher level. By means of explicit or implicit reporting, the network element at each level can know the number of group members managed by each network element at a lower level and the number of group members managed by the network element.

The explicit mode is that the network element sends a message carrying the group member number parameter managed by the network element to the network element at a higher level. For example, the eNodeB records a group of terminals in a connected state as k, and then the eNodeB sends a report command to a higher-level network element, such as an S-GW in a core network, where the command includes the number of terminals k, and a group identifier or other identifiers associated with the group identifier.

The implicit reporting method is that the network element of the higher layer can maintain the number of the group members according to the command related to the state transition of the group members sent by the network element of the lower layer without specially sending a message. Such as a process of terminal attachment in a mobile communication network, if a terminal belonging to a certain group is attached to the network, the terminal sends an attachment request with a group identifier to a core network, the eNodeB forwards the attachment request to the MME, after receiving the attachment request, adds one to the number of group members recorded by the MME if successful, and the MME sends a service establishment request with a group identifier to the S-GW, the S-GW adds one to the number of group members recorded by the MME if successful, and sends a service establishment request with a group identifier to the P-GW, the P-GW sends a service establishment response to the S-GW if successful, the S-GW sends a service establishment response to the MME, the MME sends an attachment acceptance command with a group identifier to the eNodeB, the eNodeB may add one to the recorded group member number after receiving the attach complete command, and then respond to the MME with an attach complete command. For example, in a mobile communication system, when a terminal needs to initiate a service request, a service request command is sent to an eNodeB first, where the eNodeB has a group identifier, and the eNodeB can add one to the number of corresponding group members according to the group identifier, and then sends the service request command to an MME, and similarly, the MME can add one to the number of corresponding group members, and then the terminal transfers uplink data to an S-GW through the eNodeB, where steps are omitted. Correspondingly, there is also a process of reducing the number of group members, for example, when the terminal is detached, an detach request is sent to the MME, the MME can reduce the number of corresponding group members by one according to the group identifier therein and send a delete service request to the S-GW, the S-GW can reduce the number of corresponding group members by one according to the group identifier and send a delete service request to the P-GW, the P-GW can also reduce the number of corresponding group members by one according to the group identifier, and finally, when a signaling connection release process is performed between the MME, the eNodeB and the terminal, the eNodeB can reduce the number of corresponding group members by one according to the group identifier. Compared with the service request process, when the service is finished, the terminal is switched from the connection state to the idle state, so that the number of group members managed by the corresponding network element is reduced, and the specific process is similar and is not expanded in detail. In brief, if the request and response commands of a plurality of network elements are involved, the sequence of each command is not limited, but in general, a corresponding response command can be sent only after the request command is received between two network elements, and if three network elements are involved, the corresponding request command can be sent to the next network element only after the request command of the previous network element is received, and the sequence of returning the response command first after the request command of the previous network element is received or sending the request command to the next network element first is not limited.

When more data rates need to be allocated, the network element can also actively request the network element at a higher level for updating the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data, and if the network element at the higher level agrees with the group data rate control parameter update request of the uplink data, the network element at the higher level sends a new group data rate control parameter of the uplink data to the network element sending the request; or the network element of the higher layer judges whether the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data of the network element of the lower layer needs to be updated, if so, an update command of the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data is sent to the network element of the lower layer. Similarly, when the network element does not need the high group data rate limitation, it may still give a part of the group data rate share to the high-level network element by updating the group data rate control parameter, or the network element may actively request the high-level network element to update the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data, or the high-level network element determines whether it needs to update the group data rate control parameter of the low-level network element, and the process is similar. Yet another approach is to not explicitly communicate the updated group data rate control parameter, but to communicate a parameter associated with the group data rate control parameter, which is received by the network elements to calculate the new group data rate control parameter. For example, when the number of group members managed by the network element at a higher level changes or the change exceeds or is lower than a predetermined threshold, the total number of group members managed by the network element at a lower level is sent to all network elements at a lower level, or a total group data rate control parameter is added, each network element at a lower level can calculate a new group data rate control parameter of the network element at a lower level according to the total group data rate control parameter and the number of group members managed by the network element at the lower level, for example, the total number of group members is 100 terminals, the total group data rate control parameter is 10Mbps, and if the number of group members managed by the network element at a lower level is 20, the updated group data rate control parameter can be calculated to be 2 Mbps. The method has the advantages that the same information is sent to a plurality of network elements, the total group member number or the total group data rate control parameter can be sent in a multicast or broadcast mode, and the signaling overhead of sending is reduced.

The network element may perform allocation of the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data according to the geographical area distribution of the group members managed by each lower-level network element connected to the network element. For example, the geographical location of the terminal in the network may be limited, for example, a group of terminals may only be connected to network elements N1 and N2, and N1 and N2 are the same type of network element, their common higher-level network element is M, and the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data that M can allocate is 10Mbps, then M can allocate a group data rate limit of 5Mbps to each of N1 and N2.

In the above-mentioned example, the sum of the group data rate control parameters of the upstream data of the network element at the lower hierarchy level is equal to or less than the group data rate control parameter of the total upstream data of the network element at the upper hierarchy level, but may actually be greater than the group data rate control parameter of the total upstream data of the network element at the upper hierarchy level, for example, the group data rate control parameter of the upstream data of the network element M at the upper hierarchy level is 10Mbps, and the group data rate control parameters of the upstream data of the network elements N1 and N2 at the lower hierarchy level connected to the network element M are 6Mbps and 8Mbps, respectively. The method mainly considers that the data rate can not reach the value of the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data under the general condition, if the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data of the network element at the lower level and the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data of the network element at the higher level are just equal, the total data rate can not reach the limit of the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data of the network element at the higher level under most conditions, and the waste of bandwidth can be caused, so that the sum of the group data rate control parameters of the uplink data can be slightly higher than the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data of the network element at the higher level, and under such conditions, the total data rate can not exceed the group data rate control parameter limit of the uplink data of the network element at the higher level and the waste of bandwidth can not be caused. However, if the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data of the lower-level network element is higher than the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data of the higher-level network element, it is generally required that the higher-level network element also performs actual rate control on the group data packet of the uplink data.

In addition, the network elements at the upper level and the network elements at the lower level in the network are not necessarily in a one-to-many relationship, and may be in a many-to-many relationship, so that the share of the network elements at the lower level may come from the allocation of the network elements at the upper levels. For example, M1 and M2 are similar network elements at a higher level, N1 and N2 are similar network elements at a lower level, M1 is connected with N1 and N2, M2 is connected with N1 and N2, a group data rate control parameter value of M1 is 10Mbps, a group data rate control parameter of M2 is 8Mbps, a group data rate control parameter initially allocated to N1 is 5Mbps, a group data rate control parameter allocated to N2 is 2Mbps, both from the allocation of M2, the number of terminals connected to N1 increases later, a group data rate control parameter value of 8Mbps is needed, a request to be rejected to M2 can be made to M1, a group data rate control parameter update can be made to M1, the group data rate control parameter request is provided with a parameter to be updated and a group identifier, and then M1 reallocates a group data rate control parameter of 3Mbps to N1. Another way is that the network element at the lower level can flexibly change the network element at the higher level to obtain the required data rate, for example, in the above example, N1 can request the data rate of 8Mbps from M1, and then release the data rate of 5Mbps obtained from M2, and in the following data transfer, the uplink data of the relevant group is forwarded to M1.

402. And performing data rate control on the received data packet according to the group data rate control parameter of the distributed uplink data and the group identification related information of the received data packet.

After a network element obtains the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data allocated to the network element, the method for limiting the uplink group data may be to record the data volume of the group within a certain time according to the group identifier in the received data packet or the identifier associated with the group identifier, if the limit of the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data is exceeded, the data packet is discarded, or the data packet is buffered for a period of time and then continuously transmitted, and the network element may also notify the terminal or the network element of the lower layer to reduce the uplink data rate of a certain group. If the limit of the group data rate control parameter of the upstream data is not exceeded, the transfer of the data packet can continue.

During the whole uplink data group data rate control process, the network elements in the network may participate in the uplink data group data rate control parameter allocation process, but do not necessarily perform the actual data rate control operation. For example, the interconnected network elements are L, M, N in order from high to low in the hierarchy. L allocates the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data to M, and M allocates the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data to N, but only L and N actually control the data rate. That is, after receiving the data packet, N judges that the data packet belongs to a certain group according to the identifier carried in the data packet, if the limit of the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data of the group is not exceeded, the data packet is transferred to M, otherwise, the data packet is discarded. After M receives the data packet, it does not judge whether the group data rate exceeds the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data, and directly transmits to L. A data rate limiting operation similar to N is performed again at L. Generally, in a mobile communication network, it can be flexibly specified which network elements need to perform actual data rate limiting operations according to needs. For example, in order to better avoid the uplink congestion problem, actual data rate limitation should be performed on the network element closest to the terminal, i.e., the m-layer access network element, such as the BTS, NodeB, eNodeB, BS, etc., while no actual limitation may be performed on the network elements at other layers of the access network, actual data rate limitation may be performed on the core network closest to the external network entity, i.e., the layer 1 core network element, such as the GMSC, GGSN, P-GW, etc., while no actual limitation may be performed on the network elements at other layers of the core network. It is also possible to actually control the other network elements at other levels, so that although a certain complexity is added to other network elements, the capacity of the system may be increased sometimes, for example, when the sum of the limiting parameters of the group data rate of the network element at the lower level is greater than the value of the limiting parameter of the group data rate of the network element at the higher level, the actual limitation may be performed at both the network element at the lower level and the network element at the higher level, so that network congestion may not be caused at a higher data rate, and network bandwidth may not be wasted at a lower data rate. In addition, each layer of network element does not participate in the distribution and management process of the group data rate control parameters, for example, in a WCDMA R99 system, the NodeB only implements the physical layer functions, and placing the group data rate management or control functions in the NodeB increases the cost, so that these functions can be placed in a higher layer of network element RNC. It is also mentioned above that the layer 1 core network element is the network element closest to the external network and the highest-level network element performing actual uplink data rate control, but there may be a plurality of layer 1 core network elements transmitting the uplink data of the same group, so that a unique network element, such as HLR or HSS, is also needed to control the limiting operation of the plurality of layer 1 core network elements, and this network element is referred to herein as a layer 0 core network element, which only allocates and manages the group data rate control parameters of the uplink data, but since data transmission does not pass through this network element, actual data rate control is not needed. The parameter allocation method is similar to the above, but in many cases, there may be only one layer 1 core network element, and then the layer 0 core network element may directly send the stored group data rate control parameter of the uplink data to the layer 1 core network element, and the subsequent parameter allocation and rate control are performed by the layer 1 core network element.

In wireless communication, data rate control of uplink data for a single terminal is translated into data rate control of uplink data for a group to address network congestion. Meanwhile, the data rate control is carried out on the uplink data according to the group, so that the complexity of the data rate control of the terminal can be reduced, and the consumption of network resources by signaling overhead related to the data rate control in the network can be saved.

When the uplink and downlink data are uniformly controlled by only one group data rate control parameter when the group data rate control parameter does not distinguish between the uplink and the downlink, the data rate control method can refer to the data rate control method implemented in the second embodiment.

EXAMPLE III

In an embodiment of the invention, an access network system adopts an LTE system, namely only one layer of access network elements eNodeB, and a core network system adopts an SAE system and comprises network elements such as MME, S-GW, P-GW, HSS and the like. The group data rate control parameters of the group G, including the group data rate control parameters of the uplink data and the group data rate control parameters of the downlink data, are stored in the HSS as subscription data. Of course, the uplink and downlink data can be controlled uniformly by only one group data rate control parameter without distinguishing the uplink and the downlink.

In the process of group number rate control of downlink data, the extranet entity sends data to one terminal of the group G through the P-GW. The core network initiates paging to the terminal, and the terminal initiates a service request after receiving the paging. After receiving the paging, the MME can interact with the HSS, the HSS can update the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of the P-GW, and if the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data is recorded in the P-GW, the HSS can not update the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data. If the updating is carried out, the HSS can directly send an updating command of the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data to the P-GW, and the updating command of the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data carries the group identification and the updated group data rate control parameter of the downlink data; or HSS sends command of inserting user data to MME, the command carries group ID and group data rate control parameter of updated downlink data, MME returns a response after receiving it and sends command of updating load to S-GW, the command carries group ID received just now and group data rate control parameter of corresponding updated downlink data, S-GW sends group ID and group data rate control parameter of corresponding updated downlink data to P-GW through command of updating load, P-GW receives group ID and group data rate control parameter of corresponding updated downlink data and then modifies group data rate control parameter of recorded downlink data. For example, the HSS searches that the group data rate control parameter value of the downlink data in the subscription data of the group G is 10Mbps, and then sends an update command of the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data to the P-GW, where the group data rate control parameter value of the downlink data carried therein is 5Mbps, and if the HSS can confirm that only one P-GW is responsible for transferring the downlink data of the group G, the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of the 10Mbps group can be sent to the P-GW. After the P-GW obtains the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, it can perform actual rate control on the downlink data of the group G that passes through.

In some cases, such as M2M applications, the terminal may be stationary and the downlink data is delivered via the fixed P-GW, and the core network may not need to initiate paging of the terminal before sending the downlink data to the terminal, but may deliver the downlink data packets directly via the predetermined path. At this time, the HSS may send an update command of the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data to the P-GW through which the group data packet passes in advance. Then, after the P-GW obtains the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of the group G, when the P-GW receives the downlink data packet, it may check whether the downlink data rate of the group G exceeds the recorded group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, if not, continue to transmit the data packet, otherwise, discard the data packet or notify the service source to reduce the data rate. The P-GW may also actively send a request command for updating the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data to the HSS, where the request command for updating the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data carries the identifier of the group G. The request command for updating the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data may indicate whether to update the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data or the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, and may also carry an expected group data rate control parameter value of the downlink data. After receiving the request command for updating the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, the HSS responds the request command for updating the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data to the P-GW according to the group data rate control parameter record of the downlink data of the corresponding group stored by the HSS. Or HSS sends command of inserting user data to MME, the command carries group ID and group data rate control parameter of updated downlink data, MME returns a response after receiving it and sends command of updating load to S-GW, the command carries group ID received just now and group data rate control parameter of corresponding updated downlink data, S-GW sends group ID and group data rate control parameter of corresponding updated downlink data to P-GW through command of updating load, P-GW receives group ID and group data rate control parameter of corresponding updated downlink data and then modifies group data rate control parameter of recorded downlink data.

For downlink control in a scenario similar to local switching, the network elements for real control may further include S-GW, MME, eNodeB, and the like. At first, a certain terminal needs to send data to a terminal of a group G, a local switching mode is used, source data passes through an eNodeB to reach an S-GW, the S-GW finds that a target terminal is also connected to the S-GW, a data packet has an identifier of the group G, and if a group data rate control parameter of downlink data of the group G is not recorded in the S-GW or the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of the group G recorded by the S-GW is not enough to support the current service rate, the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data needs to be updated. Then the S-GW sends a request for obtaining group data rate control parameter of downlink data or a request for updating group data rate control parameter of downlink data to the P-GW, carrying an identifier of the group G, the number of connected terminals, or a desired group data rate control parameter value of downlink data, such as 2Mbps, and if the group data rate control parameter value of the downlink data, such as 8Mbps, has been stored in the P-GW, the S-GW directly sends a response to the request for obtaining group data rate control parameter of downlink data or a response to the request for updating group data rate control parameter of downlink data, which carries a parameter value of 2 Mbps. The request for obtaining the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data may be a request for establishing a session, and the response for obtaining the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data may be a response for establishing a session. Thus, the S-GW can perform downlink rate control on the locally exchanged data according to the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, and the downlink data rate control of the rest of the groups G is also completed by the P-GW. If all the services are from local exchange, the P-GW may not record the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, and at this time, the S-GW may forward the group data rate control parameter request of the downlink data to the HSS through the P-GW, and obtain the group data rate control parameter of the allocated or updated downlink data in response to the group data rate control parameter request of the downlink data returned from the HSS.

In the group rate control of the uplink data, when the group rate control parameter of the uplink data is not initially recorded in the network element. When the terminal is attached to the network or initiates a service request, the MME interacts with the HSS, and the HSS can update the group number rate control parameter of the uplink data in the P-GW through the aforementioned process. The P-GW may allocate all or part of the group rate shares of the uplink data to the S-GW according to the allocation method of the group data rate control parameters in implementation two, or the MME may allocate all or part of the group rate shares of the uplink data to the eNodeB again. The P-GW sends an update parameter request to the S-GW, the update parameter request carries a group rate control parameter of new uplink data distributed to the S-GW or the MME, the S-GW sends the update parameter request to the MME, the update parameter request carries a group rate control parameter of the new uplink data distributed to the MME or the eNodeB, and the MME sends a parameter modification request to the eNodeB, and carries a group rate control parameter of the new uplink data distributed to the eNodeB. The message mentioned here can borrow the existing message, but only carry new parameters, for example, the request for updating parameters can use the request for updating bearer, and the request for modifying parameters can use the request for modifying bearer. The other mode is that the terminal sends a PDN connection request to the MME, or sends an attachment request to the MME through the eNodeB when the terminal is attached to the network, or forwards a service request to the MME through the eNodeB, the MME sends an acquisition parameter request to the S-GW, wherein the acquisition parameter request carries a group identifier, the S-GW sends or forwards the acquisition parameter request to the P-GW, the P-GW allocates a group rate control parameter of uplink data to the S-GW or the MME, and sends the acquisition parameter response to the S-GW or the MME, and the MME can send a parameter modification request to the eNodeB and carries the group rate control parameter of the uplink data allocated to the eNodeB by the S-GW or the MME. The command mentioned here can borrow the existing command, but only carry new parameters, for example, the request for obtaining parameters can use the request for establishing a session, the response for obtaining parameters can use the response for establishing a session, and the request for modifying parameters can use the request for establishing a bearer. Of course, the parameter acquisition request may also be initiated from the eNodeB, and other procedures are similar and are not repeated, it is noted that the parameter acquisition request sent by the eNodeB to the MME may be implemented by the same command as the parameter acquisition request sent by the MME to the S-GW and the parameter acquisition request sent by the S-GW to the P-GW, or may be implemented by different commands, and only the same parameters, such as group identifiers, expected values of the parameters, and the like, need to be carried, and the situation of parameter acquisition response is similar. It should be noted here that, generally, MME transfers data of signaling plane and S-GW transfers data of user plane, if in M2M application, actual application data is transferred through signaling plane, MME should participate in management and transfer of group rate control parameter of uplink data, but if only user plane is used to transfer actual application data, S-GW participates in management and transfer of group rate control parameter of uplink data.

If the group rate control parameter of the uplink data has been recorded in the network element, but the network element needs to update the record, for example, the actual data rate is close to or exceeds the group rate control parameter of the uplink data, or the data rate is far lower than the group rate control parameter of the uplink data, it needs to request the network element at a higher level for updating the parameter, but the request for obtaining the parameter is changed into a request for updating the parameter, the request command carries a group identifier, and may also carry a desired new data rate control parameter, the request for obtaining the parameter or the request for modifying the parameter is changed into a response for updating the parameter, and the response for updating the parameter carries the group identifier and the updated parameter. The updating of the parameters does not necessarily involve network elements of all levels, for example, when the original group rate control parameter value of uplink data of the eNodeB is 1Mbps, and the updating is 2Mbps, an updating parameter request is sent to the MME, which carries a group identifier and an expected value of 2Mbps, the MME switches to the S-GW, the S-GW determines that the updating parameter can be further allocated, and then the MME switches to respond to the eNodeB with the updating parameter, which carries the group identifier and the updated value of 2Mbps, but if the S-GW determines that the updating parameter cannot be allocated, a state of rejecting the request can be given in response, or an updating parameter response is sent to the P-GW again, which carries the group identifier and the expected value, and the P-GW allocates more data rates to the S-GW, and then the S-GW can update the parameters of. In addition, the network element at a higher level can actively update the parameters according to the situation, such as the change of the number of the connecting terminals.

The actual rate control function will typically be placed in the access network element eNodeB closest to the terminal. When a new terminal is connected to the eNodeB, for example, the terminal attaches, initiates a service, or changes to a connected state; or the terminal stops connecting with the eNodeB, such as the terminal detaching, ending the service or becoming a non-connected state, the eNodeB may acquire the uplink packet data rate control parameter from the core network or perform parameter update. If the eNodeB already stores the uplink data rate control parameters, then the parameters may not be updated. When a terminal sends uplink data to an eNodeB, a group identifier or an identifier associated with the group identifier is carried in a data packet, the eNodeB searches for group rate control of the uplink data according to the group identifier and performs data rate control operation, if the sent data packet enables the data volume in a certain time to exceed the limit of the data rate, the data packet is discarded, a response can be returned to the terminal, the reason for discarding the data packet is carried, or the data packet is cached for delayed sending, or a request command for reducing the data rate is returned to the terminal. The eNodeB may choose to request the update parameter values from the core network, for example, when the amount of data in the group often exceeds a limit, the eNodeB may request a larger group rate control value for the uplink data. The network elements in the core network may not perform actual rate control, but may also perform actual control. For example, the limitation of the uplink data rate of the group G in the S-GW is 10Mbps, and the limitation parameters of the connected 2 enodebs are 8Mbps and 6Mbps, respectively, because in many cases, the probability of approaching the limit value in all enodebs is relatively low, the total rate does not exceed the limitation of the S-GW, but in some cases, the limitation of the S-GW may be exceeded, at this time, the S-GW is required to also limit the data rate, and the limitation method may be similar to that of the enodebs.

In wireless communications, data rate control of data for a single terminal is translated into data rate control of data for a group to address network congestion. Meanwhile, the data rate control is carried out on the data according to the group, so that the complexity of the data rate control of the terminal can be reduced, and the consumption of network resources by signaling overhead related to the data rate control in the network can be saved.

The uplink and downlink data can be uniformly controlled by using only one group data rate control parameter without distinguishing the uplink and the downlink, and at this time, the data rate control method can refer to the data rate control method implemented in the third embodiment.

Example four

In one embodiment of the invention, the access network system adopts a WCDMA system, and has two layers of access network elements, namely NodeB and RNC, and the core network system adopts a GPRS system and comprises network elements, such as SGSN, GGSN, HLR/HSS and the like. The group data rate control parameters of the group H, including the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data and the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, are stored in the HLR or the HSS as subscription data. Of course, the uplink and downlink data can be controlled uniformly by only one group data rate control parameter without distinguishing the uplink and the downlink.

During the group data rate control of the downlink data, the extranet entity sends data to one terminal of the group H. The core network initiates the paging to the terminal, the terminal initiates the service request after receiving the paging, the SGSN can interact with the HLR or HSS after receiving the paging, the HLR or HSS can update the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of the GGSN, if the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data is recorded in the GGSN, the HLR or HSS can not update the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data. If updating the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, the updating method can be directly sending an updating command of the group data rate control parameter to the GGSN, or sending an inserting user data command to the SGSN by the HLR or the HSS, wherein the command carries a group identifier and the updated group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, the SGSN returns a response after receiving the response and sends a request for updating the PDP context to the GGSN, the request command carries the group identifier which is just received and the corresponding updated group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, and the GGSN can modify the recorded group data rate control parameter of the downlink data after receiving the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data. The HLR or HSS searches the subscription data of the group H, wherein the group data rate control parameter value of the downlink data is 10Mbps, then an updating command for obtaining the group data rate control parameter is sent to the GGSN, wherein the updating command carries the parameter value of 5Mbps, if the HLR or HSS confirms that only one GGSN is responsible for transmitting the downlink data of the group H, the 10Mbps parameter value can be sent to the GGSN. After the GGSN obtains the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, actual control can be performed.

In some cases, such as M2M applications, the terminal may be stationary and the downlink data may be delivered via a fixed GGSN, and the core network may not need to initiate paging of the terminal before sending the downlink data to the terminal, but may deliver the downlink data packet directly via a predetermined path. At this time, the HLR or HSS can send an update command of the group data rate control parameter to the GGSN through which the group data packet passes in advance. Then, after the GGSN obtains the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of the group H, when the GGSN receives the downlink data packet, it may check whether the downlink data rate of the group H exceeds the recorded group data rate control parameter of the downlink data, if not, the data packet is continuously transmitted, otherwise, the data packet is discarded or the service source is notified to reduce the data rate. The GGSN may also send a request command for updating the group data rate control parameter to the HLR or HSS, where the command includes an identifier of the group H, an identifier of the uplink and the downlink, and the command may also include an identifier of the uplink and the downlink to indicate whether to update the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data or the downlink data, and may also include an expected parameter value. The request command may also reuse the existing system command, but it only needs to have the aforementioned parameters, for example, the GGSN may carry parameters such as a group identifier, an uplink identifier, and an expected value in a GPRS routing information sending command (Send routing Info for GPRS) sent to the HLR, and the HLR receiving the command carries the allocated group data rate control parameter value in a GPRS routing information response command (Send routing Info for GPRS Ack) and sends the GPRS response command to the GGSN. After receiving the request command, HLR or HSS records the update command of the response group data rate control parameter to GGSN according to the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of the corresponding group stored by the HLR or HSS.

For downlink control in a scenario similar to local switching, the network elements for performing real control may further include SGSN, RNC, NodeB, and the like. In this example, it is assumed that the location of the terminal is fixed, such as in a meter reading application in M2M, so that the group data rate control parameters of the downlink data can be configured in advance in a specific network element. If the highest-level network elements for transmitting the downlink data sent to the group G are RNC 1 and SGSN 2, and the group data rate control parameter of the downlink data of the group H recorded in the HLR is 6Mbps, the group data rate control parameters of the downlink data may be configured in advance in RNC 1 and SGSN 2 as 2Mbps and 4Mbps, respectively, or of course, the group data rate control parameter value of the downlink data may be obtained from the HLR by RNC 1 and SGSN 2 when the downlink service data starts to exist.

In the group rate control of the uplink data, when the group rate control parameter of the uplink data is not initially recorded in the network element. When the terminal is attached to the network or initiates a service request, the SGSN interacts with the HLR or the HSS, and the HSS can update the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data in the GGSN through the aforementioned procedure. The GGSN may then allocate all or part of the data rate shares to the SGSN, which may in turn allocate all or part of the data rate shares to the RNC, which may in turn allocate all or part of the data rate shares to the NodeB, according to the method for allocating group data rate control parameters in implementation two. And the GGSN sends a parameter updating request to the SGSN, wherein the parameter updating request carries the new uplink limiting parameters distributed to the SGSN, and the SGSN sends a parameter modifying request to the RNC, and the parameter modifying request carries the group number rate control parameters of the new uplink data distributed to the RNC. The commands mentioned here can reuse existing commands, but carry new parameters, for example, the parameter update Request can use a Request for establishing a PDP context, a Request for updating a PDP context, a Request for notifying a PDP, etc., the parameter modification Request from the SGSN to the RNC can use a Radio Access Bearer Assignment Request (Radio Access Bearer Assignment Request), a Request for reassigning a Radio Access Bearer, etc., and the parameter modification Request from the RNC to the NodeB can use a Radio link reconfiguration Prepare command (Radio link reconfiguration Prepare). Another way is that when a terminal is attached to a network, an attachment request is sent to an SGSN through an access network (NodeB and RNC), or when the terminal initiates a service, a service request is sent to the SGSN through the access network, the NodeB sends an acquisition parameter request to the RNC, where the NodeB carries a group identifier, the RNC sends the acquisition parameter request to the SGSN, where the RNC carries the group identifier, the GGSN allocates a group data rate control parameter for uplink data to the SGSN, and sends a parameter response to the SGSN, the SGSN can send a parameter modification request to the RNC, carries the group data rate control parameter for uplink data allocated to the SGSN by the GGSN, and the RNC can send a parameter modification request to the NodeB, carries the group data rate control parameter for uplink data allocated to the RNC by the SGSN, and the used command can reuse the existing command, but needs to carry necessary parameters.

If the group number rate control parameter of the uplink data has been recorded in the network element, but the network element needs to update the record, for example, the actual data rate is already close to or exceeds the group number rate control parameter of the uplink data, or the data rate is far lower than the group number rate control parameter of the uplink data, it is necessary to request the network element at a higher level for updating the parameter, but the request for obtaining the parameter is changed to an update parameter request, the request command carries a group identifier, and may also carry a desired new group number rate control parameter of the uplink data, the request for obtaining the parameter response or the request for modifying the parameter is changed to an update parameter response, and the response command carries the group identifier and the group number rate control parameter for updating the uplink data. The updating of the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data does not necessarily involve network elements of all levels, for example, when the original group data rate control parameter value of the uplink data of the RNC is 1Mbps, and when the original group data rate control parameter value of the uplink data of the RNC is updated to 2Mbps, an update parameter request is sent to the SGSN, which carries a group identifier and an expected value of 2Mbps, and the SGSN determines that the update parameter can be allocated, then an update parameter response is sent to the RNC, which carries the group identifier and the update value of 2Mbps, but if the SGSN determines that the update parameter cannot be allocated, a state of rejecting the request can be given in the response, or an update parameter response is sent to the GGSN, which carries the group identifier and the expected value, and after the GGSN allocates more data rates to the SGSN. In addition, the network element at a higher level can actively update the group rate control parameter of the uplink data according to the situation, such as the change of the number of the connection terminals.

The actual rate control function, which will typically be placed at the access network element NodeB closest to the terminal, is implemented only for physical layer functions in WCDMA R99, so this function can be placed at the RNC. When a new terminal is connected to the NodeB, for example, the terminal attaches, initiates a service, or changes to a non-idle state; or a terminal terminates the connection with the NodeB, for example, the terminal is detached, the service is ended, or the terminal becomes idle, the NodeB or the RNC may obtain the group data rate control parameter of the uplink data from the RNC or the SGSN or perform parameter update, which has been described in the foregoing. If the NodeB or RNC already stores the group number rate control parameter of the uplink data, the parameter update may not be performed. When a terminal sends uplink data to a NodeB or the NodeB sends the uplink data to an RNC, a data packet carries a group identifier or an identifier associated with the group identifier, the NodeB or the RNC searches a group data rate control parameter of the uplink data according to the group identifier and carries out data rate control operation, if the sent data packet causes the data volume in a certain time to exceed the limit of the data rate, the data packet is discarded, a response can be returned to the terminal, the reason for discarding the data packet is carried out, or the data packet is cached for delayed sending, or a request command for reducing the data rate is returned to the terminal. The NodeB or RNC may choose to request the RNC or core network for updated parameter values, in a way as described above, for example, when the amount of group data often exceeds a limit, it may request a larger group rate control parameter value for uplink data. The actual rate control may not be performed by the network elements in the RNC or the core network, but may also be performed. For example, the group number rate control parameter of the uplink data of the group G in the RNC is 10Mbps, and the group number rate control parameters of the uplink data of the connected 2 nodebs are 8Mbps and 6Mbps, respectively, because in many cases, the probability of approaching the limit value in all nodebs is relatively low, the total rate does not exceed the limit of the RNC, but in some cases, the limit of the RNC may be exceeded, at this time, the RNC is required to also limit the data rate, and the limiting method may be similar to that of the nodebs.

The uplink and downlink data can be uniformly controlled by using only one group data rate control parameter without distinguishing the uplink and the downlink, and at this time, the data rate control method can refer to the data rate control method implemented in the fourth embodiment.

The actual systems are many, for example, the access network may also be a GSM, WiMAX access network system, etc., and the core network may also be a GSM circuit domain core network, etc., and the basic method is similar and will not be discussed in detail here.

EXAMPLE five

As shown in fig. 5, a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, where the communication device is connected to at least one other network device, the communication device includes:

an obtaining module 501, configured to obtain a group data rate control parameter of the network device, where the group data rate control parameter is a data rate control parameter of a group including at least one terminal;

a processing module 502, configured to determine relevant information of the group data rate control parameters of other network devices according to the group data rate control parameter of the network device acquired by the acquiring module 501 and information of at least one other network device connected to the network device, where the other network device is a network device that is lower in hierarchy than the network device and participates in data transmission of the group;

a sending module 503, configured to send the information about the group data rate control parameter of the other network device determined by the processing module 502 to the other device, so that the other network device performs data rate control.

The processing module 502 may include at least one processing unit:

the first processing unit 5021: the number of other network devices connected to the network device, equally dividing the group data rate control parameter of the first network element acquired by the acquisition module 501, and determining that the related information of the group data rate control parameter of other network devices is the equally divided group data rate control parameter of the first network element; and,

the second processing unit 5022: the information processing module is configured to determine relevant information of the group data rate control parameter managed by one of the other network devices according to the group data rate control parameter of the network device, the number of group members managed by the network device, and the number of group members managed by one of the other network devices, which are acquired by the acquisition module 501.

When the processing module 502 includes the second processing unit 5022, the obtaining module 501 may also be configured to obtain the number of group members managed by the network device and the number of group members managed by other network devices.

It is to be understood that the illustrations in the figures or embodiments are merely schematic and represent logical structures, where modules shown as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and where components shown as modules may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place or distributed over several network entities.

The network device provided in the embodiment of the present invention is used to execute the data rate control method provided in the embodiment of the present invention, and may be a device, such as an HSS or an HLR, that stores the data rate control parameters for packet data in the network; or may be a device in the network that performs group data rate control.

The network device provided by the embodiment of the invention converts the data rate control of the data of a single terminal into the data rate control of the data of a group so as to solve the network congestion. Meanwhile, the data rate control is carried out on the data according to the group, so that the complexity of the data rate control of the terminal can be reduced, and the consumption of network resources by signaling overhead related to the data rate control in the network can be saved.

EXAMPLE six

As shown in fig. 6, a schematic structural diagram of a communication system provided in a sixth embodiment of the present invention includes: a first network device 500 and at least one second network device 600, said first network device 500 being connected to the second network device 600, the second network device 600 being hierarchically lower than the first network device 500, characterized in that,

a first network device 500, configured to determine relevant information of a group data rate control parameter of a second network device 600 according to the group data rate control parameter of the first network device 500 and information of the second network device 600; sending the determined related information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network device 600 to the second network device 600, wherein the group data rate control parameter is the data rate control parameter of the group including at least one terminal;

a second network device 600, configured to receive the data packet and information related to the group data rate control parameter determined by the first network device 500; and when the received data packet carries the group identification related information of the group, carrying out data rate control on the received data packet according to the related information of the received group data rate control parameter.

The second network device 600 is further configured to request a new group data rate control parameter when the data amount of the received group reaches the threshold value of the updated group data rate control parameter.

The first network device 500 is further configured to receive a request for obtaining the group data rate control parameter sent by a second network device, where the request for obtaining the group data rate control parameter carries a group identifier, the group identifier and a group data rate control parameter expected value of the second network device 600, or the group identifier and the number of group members managed by the second network device 600; the information related to the group data rate control parameter of the second network device 600 is determined according to the received group identifier, the expected value of the group data rate control parameter of the group identifier and the second network device 600, or the number of group members managed by the group identifier and the second network device 600, the group data rate control parameter of the first network device 500, and the information of the second network device 600.

The system provided in the embodiment of the present invention is configured to execute the data rate control method provided in the embodiment of the present invention, where the first network device may be the network device provided in the fifth embodiment of the present invention, and may be a device, such as an HSS or an HLR, that stores the group data rate control parameter in the network; or may be a means for performing group data rate control in the network; the second network device may network a network device that communicates data.

The system provided by the embodiment of the invention converts the data rate control of the data of a single terminal into the data rate control of the data of a group so as to solve the network congestion. Meanwhile, the data rate control is carried out on the data according to the group, so that the complexity of the data rate control of the terminal can be reduced, and the consumption of network resources by signaling overhead related to the data rate control in the network can be saved.

Claims

1. A method for data rate control, comprising:

acquiring a group data rate control parameter of a first network element, wherein the group data rate control parameter is a data rate control parameter of a group comprising at least one terminal;

determining related information of the group data rate control parameter of a second network element according to the acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element and information of at least one second network element connected with the first network element, wherein the second network element is a network element which is lower than the first network element in hierarchy and participates in data transmission of the group;

and sending the determined related information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network element to a second network element so as to enable the second network element to perform data rate control.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the group data rate control parameter of the first network element comprises:

searching the related information of the group data rate control parameter stored in the first network element; or, receiving the related information of the group data rate control parameter of the first network element from the network element with higher hierarchy than the first network element;

and determining the group data rate control parameter of the first network element according to the relevant information of the group data rate control parameter of the first network element.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information related to the group data rate control parameter of the first network element is:

a group data rate control parameter of a first network element.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the information related to the group data rate control parameter of the first network element is the number of group members managed by the network element at a higher level than the first network element and the total group data rate control parameter of the network element at the higher level than the first network element;

determining the group data rate control parameter of the first network element according to the related information of the group data rate control parameter of the first network element comprises:

and determining the group data rate control parameter of the first network element according to the number of the group members managed by the network element higher than the first network element, the total group data rate control parameter of the network element higher than the first network element, and the number of the group members managed by the first network element.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

sending a request for acquiring the group data rate control parameter to the network element with the hierarchy higher than the first network element, wherein the request for acquiring the group data rate control parameter carries a group identifier, the group identifier and a group data rate control parameter expected value of the first network element, or the group identifier and the number of group members managed by the first network element;

the receiving the information related to the group data rate control parameter of the first network element from the network element at a higher hierarchy than the first network element comprises: the group identifier carried by the network element with a higher hierarchy than the first network element, the expected value of the group data rate control parameter of the first network element, or the related information of the group data rate control parameter of the first network element determined by the group identifier and the number of group members managed by the first network element.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the information related to the group data rate control parameter of the second network element comprises:

according to the number of second network elements connected with the first network element, equally dividing the acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element, and determining that the related information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network element is the equally divided acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element; or,

and determining the related information of the group data rate control parameter of one of the second network elements according to the acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element, the group member number managed by the first network element and the group member number managed by one of the second network elements.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein when determining the information related to the group data rate control parameter of one of the second network elements according to the acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element, the number of group members managed by the first network element, and the number of group members managed by one of the second network elements, the method further comprises:

and acquiring the number of group members managed by the first network element and the related information of the group members managed by the second network element.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the obtaining information about group members managed by the second network element comprises:

receiving, from the one of the second network elements, information about group members managed by the one of the second network elements; or,

and the first network element determines the related information of the group members managed by the second network element according to the maintained related information of the group members, wherein the related information of the group members is maintained by the first network element according to the related command of the group member state transition.

9. A method for data rate control, comprising:

a data rate control network element acquires a group data rate control parameter, wherein the group data rate control parameter is the data rate control parameter of a group comprising at least one terminal;

a data rate control network element receives a data packet;

and when the received data packet carries the group identification related information of the group, carrying out data rate control on the received data packet according to the acquired group data rate control parameter.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the performing data rate control on the received data packet comprises:

recording the data volume of the group within a certain time according to the group identification related information of the received data packet;

when the data volume of the received group exceeds the limit of the acquired group data rate control parameter, discarding the currently received data packet or caching the currently received data packet;

when the received data rate of the group does not exceed the limit of the acquired group data rate control parameter, the currently received data packet is transmitted.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

when the amount of data received for the group reaches the threshold value for updating the group data rate control parameter, a new group data rate control parameter is requested.

12. A network device connected to at least one other network device, comprising:

an obtaining module, configured to obtain a group data rate control parameter of the network device, where the group data rate control parameter is a data rate control parameter of a group including at least one terminal;

a processing module, configured to determine, according to the group data rate control parameter of the network device acquired by the acquiring module and information of at least one other network device connected to the network device, information related to the group data rate control parameter of the other network device, where the other network device is a network device that is lower in hierarchy than the network device and participates in data transmission of the group;

and the sending module is used for sending the relevant information of the group data rate control parameters of the other network equipment determined by the processing module to other equipment so as to control the data rate of the other network equipment.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processing module comprises at least one of the following processing units:

the first processing unit: the network equipment is used for equally dividing the acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element according to the number of other network equipment connected with the network equipment and determining that the related information of the group data rate control parameter of other network equipment is the equally divided acquired group data rate control parameter of the first network element; and,

a second processing unit: the information processing module is configured to determine, according to the group data rate control parameter of the network device and the number of group members managed by the network device acquired by the acquisition module, and the number of group members managed by one of the other network devices, information related to the group data rate control parameter managed by the one of the other network devices.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein when the processing module comprises a second processing unit, the obtaining module is further configured to obtain the number of group members managed by the network device and the number of group members managed by the other network device.

15. A communication system comprising a first network device and at least one second network device, said first network device being connected to the second network device, the second network device being hierarchically lower than the first network device,

the first network equipment is used for determining the relevant information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network equipment according to the group data rate control parameter of the first network equipment and the information of the second network equipment; sending the determined related information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network equipment to the second network equipment, wherein the group data rate control parameter is the data rate control parameter of a group comprising at least one terminal;

the second network equipment is used for receiving the related information of the group data rate control parameter and the data packet determined by the first network equipment; and when the received data packet carries the group identification related information of the group, carrying out data rate control on the received data packet according to the related information of the received group data rate control parameter.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the second network device is further configured to request a new group data rate control parameter when the amount of data received for the group reaches a threshold value for updating the group data rate control parameter.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the first network device is further configured to receive a request for obtaining group data rate control parameters from the second network device, where the request for obtaining group data rate control parameters carries a group identifier, a group identifier and a group data rate control parameter expected value of the second network device, or a group identifier and a number of group members managed by the second network device; and determining the relevant information of the group data rate control parameter of the second network equipment according to the received group identification, the group identification and the expected value of the group data rate control parameter of the second network equipment, or the group identification and the number of group members managed by the second network equipment, the group data rate control parameter of the first network equipment and the information of the second network equipment.