CN102752828A

CN102752828A - Method and system for realizing user equipment (UE) control

Info

Publication number: CN102752828A
Application number: CN2011101010914A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 曲爱妍
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: Jiangsu Shuangxin Group Co ltd
Priority date: 2011-04-21
Filing date: 2011-04-21
Publication date: 2012-10-24
Anticipated expiration: 2031-04-21
Also published as: CN102752828B

Abstract

The invention discloses a method and a system for realizing user equipment (UE) control. After a request for triggering the UE initialized by an application server is received, the method and the system can execute the following operation according to a trigger strategy: refusing to response the request for triggering the UE initialized by the application server or returning a refuse reason; or responding the request for triggering the UE initialized by the application server, triggering the UE to initialize a network access service (NAS) message request, and controlling the UE according to a control strategy after a mobility management unit receives the NAS message request. According to the method and the system, the problem of trigger of MTC (machine type communication) equipment with time control attributes can be effectively solved.

Description

Method and system for realizing UE control

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and system for implementing User Equipment (UE) control.

Background

At present, Machine to Machine (M2M) communication services have gradually become widely used, for example, in logistics systems, remote meter reading, smart homes, and the like. M2M service providers mainly use existing wireless networks to develop M2M services, for example, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks, Evolved Packet System (EPS) networks, and other PS networks. Due to the significant difference between M2M traffic and Human-to-Human communication (Human to Human, H2H) traffic, network deployment needs to be optimized to meet M2M applications while achieving the best network management and network communication quality.

System Architecture Evolution (SAE) is proposed to enable an Evolved Packet System (EPS) to provide higher transmission rate, shorter transmission delay, optimize packets, and support mobility management between Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), UTRAN, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and other non-3 GPP access networks.

Fig. 1 is an architecture diagram of an EPS, as shown in fig. 1, wherein a Network element included in an Evolved radio access Network (E-RAN) is an Evolved node B (eNodeB) for providing a radio resource for a user to access; a Packet Data Network (PDN) is a Network that provides services to users; the EPC provides lower latency and allows more radio access system access, which includes the following network elements:

a Mobility Management Entity (MME), which is a control plane function Entity, a server for temporarily storing user data, and is responsible for managing and storing a context of the UE (e.g., a user identifier, a Mobility Management state, a user security parameter, etc.), and allocating a temporary identifier to a user; when the UE is camped on the tracking area or the network, it is responsible for authenticating the user.

A Serving Gateway (SGW or S-GW), which is a user plane entity, is responsible for routing user plane data and terminates downlink data of the UE in an IDLE (ECM _ IDLE) state. And managing and storing SAE bearer (bearer) context of the UE, such as IP bearer service parameters, network internal routing information and the like. The SGW is an anchor point of the user plane in the 3GPP system, and one user only has one SGW at a time.

A packet data network Gateway (PDN Gateway, PGW or P-GW), which is a Gateway responsible for UE accessing PDN, allocates user IP address, and is also a mobility anchor point for 3GPP and non-3 GPP access systems, and the function of PGW further includes policy implementation and charging support. A user can access multiple PGWs at the same time. A Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) is also located in the PGW.

A Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) responsible for providing Policy control and Charging Rules to the PCEF.

A Home Subscriber Server (HSS) responsible for permanently storing Subscriber subscription data, where the content stored by the HSS includes an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) of the UE and an IP address of the PGW.

Physically, the SGW and the PGW may be integrated, and the EPC system user plane network element includes the SGW and the PGW.

The MTC server is mainly responsible for work such as information acquisition and data storage/processing of the MTC UE, and can perform necessary management on the MTC UE.

The MTC UE is generally responsible for collecting information of several collectors, and accesses to a core network through RAN nodes to interact data with the MTC Server.

In fig. 1, the MTC UE needs to transmit data information to the MTC Server or other MTC UEs through the EPS network. The SAE network establishes a GTP tunnel between SGW-PGW for the transmission, and the data information is reliably transmitted through the GTP tunnel.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a UE accessing an EPS network and performing an attach in the EPS network in the prior art. As shown in fig. 3, the related attachment process mainly includes the following steps:

s201, in order to access to SAE network, UE initiates a network attachment request to eNodeB, wherein the network attachment request carries information such as IMSI, network access capability of UE, and an indication for requesting to allocate IP;

s202, the eNodeB selects an MME serving the UE for the UE, forwards the attachment request to the MME, and simultaneously carries important information such as the identity of the UE and the like to the MME;

s203, the MME sends an authentication data request message (containing IMSI) to the HSS, the HSS firstly judges the subscription data corresponding to the IMSI, and if no subscription data is found or the IMSI is listed in a blacklist, the HSS returns an authentication data response to the MME and carries a proper error reason; if the subscription data corresponding to the IMSI is found, the HSS returns an authentication data response message (containing an authentication vector) to the MME;

the MME performs an authentication procedure to verify the validity of the terminal IMSI and a security mode procedure to enable secure connections.

S204, the MME sends a position updating request to the HSS of the home network, and the message carries the identification of the MME and the identification of the UE so as to inform the UE of the currently accessed area;

s205, the HSS finds out the signed user data of the UE according to the identity of the UE and then sends the signed user data to the MME. The user data mainly comprises information such as a default Access Point Name (APN), a bandwidth size and the like;

MME receives user data, checks whether UE is allowed to access the network or not, and returns a user receiving response to HSS; if the MME finds that the UE has the problems of roaming limitation or access limitation, the MME prohibits the UE from attaching and informs the HSS.

S206, the HSS sends a confirmation position updating response to the MME;

s207, the MME selects an S-GW for the UE and sends a request for establishing a default bearer to the S-GW. In this request, the MME informs the S-GW of the necessary information: an identifier of the UE, an identifier of the MME, an indication for allocating an IP address to the UE, default bandwidth information, a PDN GW address and the like;

s208, the S-GW sends a request to establish a default bearer to the PDN GW. In this request, the S-GW informs the PDN GW of the necessary information: the address of the S-GW, default bandwidth information, an indication for allocating an IP address to the UE, and the like;

s209, if necessary, the PDN GW requests a policy, charging rule and decision information configured for the UE from the PCRF;

s210, the PDN GW establishes a default load according to the strategy and charging decision information returned by the PCRF, and returns a load establishment response to the S-GW;

s211, the S-GW sends a response of default bearer establishment to the MME;

s212, the MME sends an attach accept response to the eNodeB, which indicates that the request of the UE attaching to the network is accepted, wherein the attach accept response carries a Serving GW address and a TEID (Tunnel Endpoint Identifier);

s213, eNodeB sends voice load building request to UE, requires UE to save important information of load building, and opens corresponding port. The request message carries: carrying network ID, PDN GW address, IP address allocated to UE, bandwidth information and the like;

s214, the UE sends a radio bearer establishment response to the eNodeB;

s215, the eNodeB informs the MME that the attachment process is completed;

s216, the MME sends a load updating request to the S-GW and informs the identification and the address of the eNodeB serving the UE;

s217, the S-GW sends a bearer updating response to the MME;

s218, if the PDN GW is not appointed by the HSS, the MME sends a notification request to the HSS to notify the HSS of the address information of the PDN GW served by the UE, and the HSS updates the information.

According to the existing PS network architecture shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, existing terminal devices such as a mobile phone can receive a wireless signal sent by a wireless access network, attach to an operator network through the wireless access network, and then perform services such as voice call.

Fig. 3 is a system architecture diagram of UTMS according to the related art. The UTMS Network is composed of Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), GPRS service SUPPORT NODE (SERVICING GPRS SUPPORT NODE, SGSN), GPRS Gateway SUPPORT NODE (GGSN), and Home Location Register (HLR).

In fig. 3, the SGSN has functions of routing and forwarding packet data of a terminal in its own SGSN service area, mobility management of the terminal, and the like. The GGSN provides routing and encapsulation of data packets between the GPRS network and external data networks. The PDN is a network that provides services to users. The HLR is used for storing the subscription data of the user. The SGSN and the UTRAN use Iu-PS interface communication, and the SGSN completes the communication with the UTRAN system and the terminal through the interface to complete the functions of packet data transmission, mobility management and session management. The functions of establishing, releasing, controlling and the like of an IP channel are completed between the SGSN and the GGSN through a Gn interface. The SGSN retrieves data about the terminal from the HLR, which holds GPRS subscriber data and routing information, via the Gr interface. The Gi interface is the interface between GPRS and the external PDN. GPRS is interconnected with various public packet networks (e.g., the Internet or Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)) through a Gi interface, and the Gi interface needs to perform operations such as encapsulation/decapsulation of protocols, address conversion (e.g., converting a private network IP address into a public network IP address), authentication and authentication when a user accesses.

M2M is defined in the narrow sense as machine-to-machine communication, and is defined in the broad sense as networked applications and services with machine-terminal intelligence interaction as the core. The intelligent machine terminal-based intelligent data acquisition and measurement system is an informatization solution scheme provided for clients by taking various communication modes as access means, and is used for meeting informatization requirements of the clients on monitoring, command scheduling, data acquisition, measurement and the like.

The development of the wireless technology is an important factor for the development of the M2M market, and the wireless technology breaks through the space-time limitation and the geographical barrier of the traditional communication mode, so that enterprises and the public get rid of the cable constraint, customers can more effectively control the cost, the installation cost is reduced, and the use is simple and convenient. In addition, increasing demand is driving M2M to continue to evolve forward: contrary to the increasing information processing capacity and network bandwidth, the means of information acquisition is far behind. And M2M well meets the requirement of people, and people can monitor the external environment in real time through the device, thereby realizing large-range and automatic information acquisition. Thus, M2M may be applied to industrial applications, home applications, personal applications, and the like. Industrial applications are as follows: traffic monitoring, warning systems, rescue at sea, vending machines, driving payment, etc.; household applications are as follows: automatic meter reading, temperature control and the like; personal applications such as: life detection, remote diagnostics, etc.

The communication target of M2M is machine-to-machine, and human-to-machine. Data Communication between one or more machines is defined as MTC (Machine Type Communication), in which case human-Machine interaction is less required. A machine participating in MTC is defined as an MTC device. The MTC equipment is a terminal of an MTC user and can communicate with the MTC equipment and the MTC server through a PLMN network. The me (mobileequipment) is a function block attached to the MTC device, and the function block is used to access the MTC device to the EPS system. An MTC Server (MTC Server) manages and monitors MTC equipment.

The MTC devices are mostly specifically applied devices, such as different devices used for automatic meter reading and life detection. MTC devices for different applications have different characteristics, e.g. elevator devices such as elevators have low mobility, PS only properties, while monitoring and warning devices have low data transmission and high availability properties in addition to low mobility, PS only. Therefore, different system optimizations are performed for the MTC equipment with different applications, and the MTC equipment can be effectively managed, monitored, paid and the like.

The communication of an MTC application is time-controlled, that is, the MTC device is allowed to access the network or perform data transmission and reception in a certain specific time period, and the MTC device should be restricted from performing the above operation outside the allowed time period. The HSS signs the time control: access duration (access duration), grant time interval (grant time interval) and forbidden time interval (forbidden time interval). The SGSN/MME acquires time control subscription information from the HSS in the processes of attachment, position/route updating, defines a communication time window (communication window) which is not less than the access time length for the equipment by combining a local strategy, and sends the communication time window to the MTC equipment. To prevent network congestion due to overlapping communication time windows of a large number of devices, the network needs to randomize the communication time windows within an allowed time period. And the SGSN/MME performs access or service control on the MTC equipment according to the communication time window. Whether the MTC equipment is allowed to perform signaling interaction and transmit and receive data outside the communication time window is determined by an operator strategy. There are two strategies in the prior art: one is to reject outside the time window and the other is to have access outside the time window but with a different charge.

In MTC applications, there are some scenarios that require an MTC Server to trigger an MTC device to initiate communication with an MTCServer for data transmission, such as: in some monitoring reporting applications, except that the MTC device is configured to report a monitoring report to the MTC Server periodically, the MTC Server may also request the MTC device to report measurement data aperiodically, and in this case, the MTC Server needs to send an instruction to the MTC device to trigger the MTC device to connect to a network or establish a data connection to communicate with the MTC Server. The MTC Server can be triggered by regions or groups. However, in the prior art, if the network controls MTC devices according to the communication time window and employs a policy of rejection outside the time window, all devices MTC SERVER signed with time control have no way to trigger. This results in devices with a subscription time control attribute not being able to trigger on an area or group basis.

In addition, since the allowed time period and the prohibited time period of the network subscription are non-overlapping time periods, the network may set that the MTC device is not allowed to be triggered within the prohibited time period, and at this time, the network needs to reject triggering of the MTC device. Otherwise, the MTC Server always attempts to trigger the request, which may increase network load and waste network resources.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the main objective of the present invention is to provide a method and a system for implementing UE control, so as to solve the problem of triggering MTC devices with time control attribute.

In order to achieve the purpose, the technical scheme of the invention is realized as follows:

a method for realizing UE control, after receiving a request for triggering UE initiated by an application server, executes the following operations according to a triggering strategy:

rejecting a request for triggering the UE initiated by the application server and/or returning a rejection reason;

or, responding to the request for triggering the UE initiated by the application server, triggering the UE to initiate a non-access stratum NAS message request, and after receiving the NAS message request, the mobility management unit controls the UE according to a control strategy.

The mobility management unit further learns that the UE initiated the request due to an application trigger, comprising:

the mobile management unit checks an NAS message request of the UE, and learns that the request is the request triggered by the received application according to a UE application triggering instruction in the NAS message request; or,

the mobility management unit learns that the request is the request of the UE after receiving the application trigger according to the UE information stored by the mobility management unit; or,

the mobility management unit checks the NAS message request of the UE, and learns that the request is the request after receiving the application trigger according to the UE application trigger indication in the NAS message request and UE information stored by the mobility management unit.

When the mobile management unit confirms that the request is the request after the UE receives the application trigger according to the UE information stored by the mobile management unit, the mobile management unit further applies to the position information management unit to judge whether the UE initiates the request due to the application trigger; and the position information management unit sends the judgment result to the mobility management unit.

In the trigger policy, the policy for rejecting the response to the trigger of the application server includes at least one of:

the request is used for triggering the UE with the time control attribute, and the triggering time is positioned in a forbidden time period of UE subscription;

the request is used for triggering the UE with the time control attribute, the triggering time is out of the allowed time period signed by the UE, but the operation strategy determines that the UE is not allowed to trigger out of the allowed time period;

the request is for network congestion at the time of triggering, and the operation policy decides to reject non-urgent triggering.

Executing the rejection or trigger operation according to the trigger policy, which is determined by a location information management unit including a home subscriber server and/or a home location register (HSS/HLR); or, the mobile management unit comprises a mobile management entity and/or a GPRS service support node MME/SGSN;

when the HSS/HLR decides to perform the rejection operation, the HSS/HLR sends a rejection message to an application server; and when the MME/SGSN determines to perform the rejection operation, the MME/SGSN directly or indirectly sends a rejection message to an application server.

After receiving the NAS message request, the mobility management unit controls the UE according to a control policy, including:

and if the NAS message request initiated by the UE is triggered by the application server, allowing or refusing the UE to initiate the NAS message request according to the control strategy.

A system for realizing UE control comprises a UE trigger unit, an application trigger unit and a control execution unit; wherein,

the UE triggering unit is used for refusing to respond to the UE triggering request initiated by the application server and/or returning refusing reasons according to the triggering strategy after receiving the UE triggering request initiated by the application server; or, responding to the request of triggering UE initiated by the application server, triggering UE to initiate an NAS message request;

the application triggering unit is used for notifying the control execution unit after receiving the NAS message request;

and the control execution unit is used for controlling the UE according to the control strategy.

The application triggering unit is further configured to learn that the UE initiates the request for application triggering, and includes:

checking an NAS message request of UE, and acquiring that the request is the request triggered by the received application according to a UE application triggering indication in the NAS message request; or,

according to the UE information stored by the UE, the request is acquired as the request of the UE after receiving the application trigger; or,

and checking the NAS message request of the UE, and acquiring that the request is the request after the UE receives application trigger according to the UE application trigger indication in the NAS message request and UE information stored by the UE.

The application triggering unit is further configured to, when determining that the request is a request triggered by the application received by the UE according to the UE information stored in the application triggering unit: applying for judging whether UE initiates the request due to application triggering to a position information management unit; and the trigger position information management unit feeds back a judgment result.

Executing the rejection or trigger operation according to the trigger policy, which is determined by a location information management unit including an HSS/HLR; or, the mobility management unit including MME/SGSN;

when the HSS/HLR decides to perform the rejection operation, the HSS/HLR is used for sending a rejection message to an application server; and when the MME/SGSN determines to perform the rejection operation, the MME/SGSN is used for directly or indirectly sending a rejection message to an application server.

After receiving the NAS message request, the mobility management unit, when controlling the UE according to a control policy, is specifically configured to:

The method and the system can execute the following operations according to the triggering strategy after receiving the request of triggering the UE initiated by the application server: rejecting a request for triggering the UE initiated by the application server and/or returning a rejection reason; or, responding to the request of triggering the UE initiated by the application server, triggering the UE to initiate a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message request, and after receiving the NAS message request, the mobility management unit controls the UE according to a control policy. The method and the system can effectively solve the problem of triggering the MTC equipment with the time control attribute.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an EPS network system architecture in the prior art;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an MTC UE attaching to an EPS network in the prior art;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a UTMS network system architecture in the prior art;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a network checking whether a trigger is allowed according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a UE carrying a trigger but not confirming the trigger by a network according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating that the UE does not carry the trigger but the network confirms the trigger according to the third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating that a UE carries a trigger and a network confirms triggering according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a simplified flowchart of implementing UE control in the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solution of the present invention is further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

The application trigger is an action that the application server sends a trigger indication to the MTC device through the network, and the MTC device responds to the trigger. In some cases, however, the network may reject the MTC device from responding to the trigger of the application server for a variety of reasons. There are several main situations:

1) triggering the MTC equipment with the time control attribute, wherein the triggering time is positioned in a forbidden time period signed by the MTC equipment;

2) triggering the MTC equipment with the time control attribute, wherein the triggering time is out of the allowed time period signed by the MTC equipment, but the operation strategy determines that the MTC equipment is not allowed to trigger out of the allowed time period;

3) network congestion occurs when triggered, and the operation policy determines whether the trigger (trigger) of the application server is urgent (for example: whether urgent or not may be determined by the trigger value), the trigger network may be rejected if it is non-urgent.

Furthermore, the network check is not limited to the above, and there may be other situations where the network needs to reject the trigger request of the application server. Fig. 4 is a flowchart of checking whether triggering is allowed by the network according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The network checks are divided into two types, one is that the HSS/HLR checks whether the trigger is allowed, and one is that the MME/SGSN checks whether the trigger is allowed. The method specifically comprises the following steps:

step 401a, an application server sends an application trigger request to an HLR/HSS;

step 402a, the HSS/HLR checks whether the triggering of the application server to the UE is within the prohibited time period of the UE, and if so, the HSS/HLR sends a reject message to the application server through step 403 a;

the HSS/HLR may also check if the triggering of the UE by the application server violates the operation policy, and if so, the HSS/HLR sends a reject message to the application server, via step 403 a. The operation strategy is as follows:

a) allowing triggering only within the allowed time period, triggering if outside the allowed time period;

b) in certain cases (such as: network congestion, etc.) if it is a non-urgent trigger;

in step 403a, the HSS/HLR returns a reject reason to the application server (e.g. sending a UE application triggered reject response), which carries the appropriate cause value.

401 b-403 b are embodiments of MME/SGSN checks.

Step 401b, the application server directly or indirectly sends an application trigger request to the MME/SGSN;

step 402b, the MME/SGSN checks whether the triggering of the UE by the application server is in the forbidden time period, if so, the MME/SGSN sends a rejection message to the application server through step 403 b;

the MME/SGSN may also check whether the UE trigger by the application server violates the operation policy, and if so, the MME/SGSN sends a reject message to the application server through step 403 b; the operation strategy is as follows:

in step 403b, the MME/SGSN directly or indirectly returns a reject reason (e.g. sending UE application trigger reject response) to the application server, where it carries an appropriate cause value.

Due to the particularity of UE applications such as MTC (machine type communication) equipment, some applications do not require the UE to be online in real time, and only require a certain period of time to report data. Such devices are most of the time offline. At this time, the trigger device can be triggered by broadcasting and short message. The trigger device may learn that it is an application layer trigger by a broadcast trigger mode, a short message trigger mode, or other modes, and notify the network by the UE. Fig. 5 is a flow chart of the method of the present invention. The method specifically comprises the following steps:

step 501, UE receives an application trigger request;

step 502, UE sends NAS news request to eNodeB/RNC, carry UE and employ and trigger the instruction in the request, this instruction indicates UE is NAS news request that initiates after receiving and employing and triggering; the NAS message request mainly includes: at least one of an attach request, a service request, a location update request, and a route update request.

Step 503, the eNodeB/RNC forwards the NAS message request to an MME/SGSN (which may be collectively referred to as a mobility management unit), where the message carries a UE application triggering indication;

step 504, the MME/SGSN checks the NAS message request of the UE, and if the UE application trigger indication in the NAS message request indicates that it is a request after receiving the application trigger, and further confirms that the UE initiates the request due to the application trigger, the MME/SGSN controls the service flow initiated by the UE according to the operation policy, where the specific policy is:

1. checking that the NAS message request time initiated by the UE is in a forbidden time period;

2. it is checked that the UE-initiated NAS message request violates the operation policy, such as:

a) only allowed to trigger within the allowed time period, but UE-initiated NAS message requests occur outside the allowed time period;

b) in certain cases (such as: network congestion, etc.) a NAS message request initiated for a non-urgent application trigger response;

and the MME/SGSN sends a rejection message to the UE through the eNodeB/RNC, and the message carries a proper reason value.

Step 505, if the NAS message request of the UE passes the check of step 504, executing a subsequent procedure corresponding to the NAS message request;

step 506, if the MME/SGSN re-generates a communication time window for the UE according to a policy (such as the UE responds to the NAS message request triggered by the application within the allowed time period but outside the communication time window; the UE responds to the non-emergency trigger of the application), the MME/SGSN can issue a NAS message response to the UE. MME/SGSN sends NAS message response to eNodeB/RNC, the response message carries the new communication time window;

the NAS message response mainly comprises: attach accept request, initialize context setup request, location update accept message, and route accept message, etc.

Step 407, the eNodeB/RNC sends a NAS message response to the UE, where the response message carries a new communication time window. The communication time window may replace the original time window or be a temporarily used communication time window.

In another case, the network may know the device that needs to be triggered, store the information of the UE to be triggered in the network, and when the UE requests the network, the network may determine that the device initiates the request due to the trigger. Fig. 6 is a flow chart of the method of the present invention. The method specifically comprises the following steps:

601, UE sends NAS message request to eNodeB/RNC; the NAS message request mainly includes: at least one of an attach request, a service request, a location update request, and a route update request;

step 602, the eNodeB/RNC forwards the NAS message request to the MME/SGSN;

step 603, the MME/SGSN checks the NAS message request of the UE, and if the MME/SGSN determines, according to the UE information stored in the MME/SGSN, that the request is the NAS message request triggered by the application, the MME/SGSN controls the service flow initiated by the UE according to the operation policy, where the specific policy is:

Step 604, if the MME/SGSN cannot determine whether the NAS message request of the UE is a request caused by responding to the application trigger, the MME/SGSN may apply for a determination to an HSS/HLR (which may be collectively referred to as a location information management unit) through a location update request, where the request message may optionally carry a UE application trigger indication;

step 605, the HSS/HLR judges whether the UE initiates a request for responding to the application trigger according to the locally stored trigger information, and sends the judgment result to the MME/SGSN through the location update response;

step 606, executing the corresponding flow following the NAS message request;

step 607a, delete the information of network to UE trigger stored in MME/SGSN. Such as: a timer can be set and deleted when the timer is overtime; or deleting the triggering information by the MME/SGSN when the requested flow response is received;

and step 607b, deleting the information which is stored in the HSS/HLR and is triggered by the network to the UE. Such as: a timer can be set and deleted when the timer is overtime; or deleting after receiving the notification message of the MME/SGSN;

step 608, if MME/SGSN re-generates a communication time window for UE according to policy (e.g. UE responds to NAS message request triggered by application within the allowed time period but outside the communication time window; UE responds to non-emergency trigger of application), then it may issue to UE through NAS message response. And the MME/SGSN sends a NAS message response to the eNodeB/RNC, and the response message carries the new communication time window.

In step 609, the eNodeB/RNC sends a NAS message response to the UE, where the response message carries the new communication time window. The communication time window may replace the original time window or be a temporarily used communication time window.

In another case, the network may know the device that needs triggering, and store the information of the UE to be triggered in the network. The UE carries the trigger when receiving the trigger request and requesting to the network, but the network also needs to check the trigger of the UE to determine whether the request initiated by the UE is actually caused by the trigger. Fig. 6 is a flow chart of the method of the present invention. The method specifically comprises the following steps:

step 701, UE sends NAS message request to eNodeB/RNC, where the request carries UE application trigger indication, and the identifier indicates that UE receives NAS message request initiated after application trigger; the NAS message request mainly includes: at least one of an attach request, a service request, a location update request, and a route update request.

Step 702, the eNodeB/RNC forwards the NAS message request to the MME/SGSN, and the message carries UE application triggering indication;

step 703, the MME/SGSN checks the NAS message request of the UE, if it is a request after receiving the application trigger, the MME/SGSN further determines whether the UE initiates the NAS message request due to the application trigger according to the locally stored trigger information, and when it is determined according to the determination result that the UE initiates the NAS message request due to the response to the application trigger, the MME/SGSN controls the service flow initiated by the UE according to the operation policy, where the specific policy is:

Step 704, if the MME/SGSN cannot determine whether the UE is really a request caused by triggering according to the local storage information, the MME/SGSN may also apply for a determination to the HSS/HLR through a location update request, and the request message may optionally carry a UE application triggering indication;

step 705, the HSS/HLR determines whether the UE initiates a request due to triggering according to the locally stored triggering information, and sends the determination result to the MME/SGSN through a location update response;

step 706, executing the corresponding flow following the NAS message request;

step 707a, delete the information of network-to-UE trigger stored in MME/SGSN. Such as: a timer can be set and deleted when the timer is overtime; or deleting the triggering information by the MME/SGSN when the requested flow response is received;

and step 707b, deleting the information of the UE triggering by the network stored in the HSS/HLR. Such as: a timer may be set and deleted when the timer times out. Or receiving a notification message deletion trigger message of the MME/SGSN;

step 708, if the MME/SGSN re-generates a communication time window for the UE according to a policy (e.g., the UE responds to the NAS message request triggered by the application within the allowed time period but outside the communication time window; the UE responds to the non-emergency trigger of the application), the MME/SGSN may issue a NAS message response to the UE. And the MME/SGSN sends a NAS message response to the eNodeB/RNC, and the response message carries the new communication time window.

The NAS response mainly includes: attach accept request, initialize context setup request, location update accept message, and route accept message, etc.

Step 709, the eNodeB/RNC sends NAS message reply to the UE, where the reply message carries the new communication time window. The communication time window may replace the original time window or be a temporarily used communication time window.

The NAS message request may include at least one of an attach request, a service request, a TAU request, and a RAU request.

As can be seen from the foregoing embodiments, the operation idea of implementing UE control according to the present invention can be represented as a flow shown in fig. 8, where the flow includes the following steps:

step 810: after receiving a request for triggering the UE initiated by an application server, executing operation of rejecting or triggering the UE according to a triggering strategy;

step 820: rejecting a request for triggering the UE initiated by the application server and/or returning a rejection reason; or, responding to the request for triggering the UE initiated by the application server, triggering the UE to initiate an NAS message request, and after receiving the NAS message request, the mobility management unit controls the UE according to a control strategy.

In practical application, a UE triggering unit can be set in a network, an application triggering unit and a control execution unit can be set in an MME, and after the UE triggering unit receives a UE triggering request initiated by an application server, the UE triggering unit refuses to respond to the UE triggering request initiated by the application server and/or returns a refusing reason according to a triggering strategy; or responding to the UE triggering request initiated by the application server, and triggering the UE to initiate the NAS message request. And after receiving the NAS message request, the application triggering unit informs the control execution unit, and the control execution unit controls the UE according to the control strategy.

In summary, the technology for realizing the UE control can effectively solve the problem of the trigger of the MTC equipment with the time control attribute no matter the method or the system.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for realizing UE control is characterized in that after receiving a UE triggering request initiated by an application server, the following operations are executed according to a triggering strategy:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobility management unit further learns that the UE initiated the request due to an application trigger, comprising:

3. The method of claim 2, wherein when the mobility management unit determines that the request is a request after the UE receives application trigger according to UE information stored in the mobility management unit, the mobility management unit further applies to the location information management unit to determine whether the UE initiates the request due to application trigger; and the position information management unit sends the judgment result to the mobility management unit.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the policy that rejects the trigger in response to the application server comprises at least one of:

5. A method according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the execution of said rejection or trigger operation according to said trigger policy is decided by a location information managing unit comprising a home subscriber server and/or a home location register HSS/HLR; or, the mobile management unit comprises a mobile management entity and/or a GPRS service support node MME/SGSN;

6. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the controlling the UE according to the control policy after the mobility management unit receives the NAS message request comprises:

7. A system for realizing UE control is characterized in that the system comprises a UE trigger unit, an application trigger unit and a control execution unit; wherein,

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the application trigger unit is further configured to learn that the UE initiated the request for an application trigger, and wherein the application trigger unit comprises:

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the application triggering unit, when determining that the request is a request after the UE receives the application trigger according to UE information stored in the application triggering unit, is further configured to: applying for judging whether UE initiates the request due to application triggering to a position information management unit; and the trigger position information management unit feeds back a judgment result.

10. The system according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the policy for rejecting a response to the trigger of the application server comprises at least one of:

11. The system according to any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the execution of the rejection or trigger operation according to the trigger policy is determined by a location information management unit comprising a HSS/HLR; or, the mobility management unit including MME/SGSN;

12. The system according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein when the mobility management unit controls the UE according to the control policy after receiving the NAS message request, the mobility management unit is specifically configured to: